Goals for 2010
Another year, another new set of goals. Some are familiar, things that for one reason or another didn’t get accomplished last year. Others are new things we want to try and accomplish.
As I’ve mentioned before, I like to set high goals for myself and make them something we really have to strive for. It helps me to grow when we have to really work to accomplish them. So without further ado, here are the financial goals we hope to accomplish in 2010:
1. Save $30,000 for a down payment. We got sidetracked last year, and had to raid our house fund to help pay taxes and a business loan. At the end of the day, it was inconsequential, as we couldn’t sell our house anyway without taking a huge hit. The housing market is still awful, but it has been improving (slightly). We want to be ready to move as soon as we can – which means having the down payment ready.
2. Live on one income. This wasn’t even feasible in last year’s budget. We were close, but the car loans put us over the edge to use some of what I make as well. I will be switching my direct deposit to our savings account soon, and then living on one paycheck will commence. This will also help a lot with goal #1!
3. Earn $3000 on the side. This past September, I took part in an Earn More Challenge and worked to earn extra money on the side. I enjoyed it so much that I want to challenge myself to earn more this year. Any money counts – eBay, Craigslist, ad revenue – as long as it’s not from our employers. I want to earn 10% of our down payment goal on the side to speed up the process.
4. Pay off Car Loan #2. We made some significant progress this year towards this goal, and we are now over halfway to having this last car loan paid off. If we continued making our regularly scheduled payments, we would pay it off around the end of 2011. I want it gone before the end of 2010.
5. Develop and stick to a blogging schedule. As much fun as it is to post sporadically, it’s confusing to me and annoying to readers. I don’t plan on having a post for every day, but I think a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule would work out very nicely. I also want to play around with the blog design to something more individual.
I am very excited for 2010 – there is a lot of promise this year. I hope good things are on the horizon for everyone in 2010!
January 15th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Living on 1 income is a great goal for 2010.
It really shows that you have the security in place for your finances
As for blogging, even 2x a week is fine. Like Mon/Wed …
January 15th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
These are great goals! I’m sure you can save alot living on one income while making two. I wish I had done that! Selling and buying a new home can be very expensive, saving ahead of time is a smart move!
January 16th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
FB - Thanks! I look at blogs like yours with posts scheduled for the next 6 months and I don’t know how you do it! I start composing posts in my head and never get them to paper so I’m trying to remedy that.
Sharon - Thank you Sharon! I am a little scared to try living on one income, but I think it’s worth the attempt.