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Home > Goals Review - April

Goals Review - April

April 28th, 2008 at 01:42 pm

A third of the year is almost gone already and I am doing great on my goals so far. Paid off another debt this month and made a substantial debt in another.

So, let’s jump into things, shall we?
My goals for 2008 are:

1) Pay off debt (except mortgage) by October 1st
. a) Pay off CC by April 1st
. b) Pay off Car 1 by June 1st
. c) Pay off Car 2 by Aug 1st
. d) Pay off wife’s braces by June 1st
. e) Pay off son’s medical by October 1st
2) Invest $10,000 by year end
3) Invest $15,500 in 401(k)
4) Review and reallocate retirement funds by end of Q1
5) Will by end of Q2
6) Life Insurance by end of Q2

1) Pay off all debt but the mortgage by October 1st

Total Debt
04/30/2008 - $23,057 ($15,059 paid)

Car 1 (4% interest rate)
04/01/2008 - $0 ($4,264 paid)

Car 2 (3.9% interest rate)
04/30/2008 - $5,029 ($10,139 paid)

Wife's braces (0% interest rate)
04/30/2008 - $2,028 ($156 paid)

Son's medical (0% interest rate)
04/30/2008 - $16,000 ($500 paid)

True, I did have a huge tax refund of $13 k and I put about $11.3 k towards the debt but I also but in an additional $3.7 k. That means I put more then $15 k towards my debt.
We received the title for the first car, which just got my wife a little jazzed up. I only owe $5 k on my second car and I am hoping to have most of that paid of in May. May has 5 pay weeks for me, so I am hoping on putting a majority of that last paycheck towards the debt.
I am still on track on having car 2 and the wife’s braces paid off in June. That will leave me with only my son’s medical, which is looking at earlier September, if I can keep the pace up.

2) Invest $10,000 by yearend

Looks like we will start hitting this in September. If my calculations are correct, I can surpass this goal and throw $4 k total into my sons 529 plans. That would be sweet. And, I’ll have very close to a fully funded emergency fund (about 6 months).
So I am currently looking at making upping this goal to $15,000 and adding another goal of a 529 savings of $4 k. I have to run a few numbers and scenarios and should have it done for my mid month update.

3) Invest $15,500 in 401(k)

Invest $15,500 in 401(k)
04/25/2008 - $6,547 invested

I am 42% through this goal so I am still planning on this being hit by end of October. Then I plan to use this money towards Christmas, New Years, and Thanksgiving. A lot of wine and presents need to be bought and I also host a little family get together. Hoping not to have debt after the season and it looks like it shouldn’t be a problem.
That’s right. I’m already planning for Christmas.

4) Review and reallocate retirement funds by end of Q1

DONE

5) Will by end of Q2
6) Life Insurance by end of Q2


Yep, I still got to get on this and still plan on getting it done this quarter.

Summary

I am pretty happy as debt still continues to drop off. Now is the point in the race where I have to remain focused and it is getting harder. I feel myself starting to want to stray a little bit, which I think is odd. In other words, I feel myself saying look at how far you have come, loosen up the reins and enjoy life.

I have to stop and look at myself in the mirror and say, that’s great but we have a lot of work to do this year and debt is only the first goal of 6.


9 Responses to “Goals Review - April”

  1. 76Chick Says:
    1209387356

    Wow. Great job! I love seeing it all spelled out like that. Something I will look forward to doing - once all the surprise debt stops coming in! lol...

  2. Petunia Says:
    1209388034

    Good work Merch! You are an inspiration! It's not enough to set goals, we also have to regularly review them to see if we are achieving them. Smile That is where I usually run into trouble.

  3. Broken Arrow Says:
    1209389596

    Congrats!

  4. merch Says:
    1209389916

    Thanks everyone.

    76Chick, why are you waiting. If you are concerned about suprises just have a line item in your budget where you set aside a certain amount.

    I took a guess at my son's medical of 18k. It was the high end of what I owed but there could be an additional 6k out there or other suprises.

    I am in a far better place now then if I waited for all the suprises. Just jump in and move forward. No time like the present and there will always be surprises.

  5. ceejay74 Says:
    1209411158

    Merch, great job. If you're feeling restless, I think I would budget in a couple treats periodically--nothing too expensive, but will feel extravagant. You won't fall off the wagon; it'll feel really luxurious and it'll satisfy you enough to keep going.

    And I absolutely agree with your note to 76chick. When I wanted to get started, I had committed to two more big expenses--a trip to England and a college education for my husband--but I didn't know exactly how much those would end up costing. So I put in "debt" for both on my balance sheet, at the high end of my estimates for both. That way, the debt was already there, so I wouldn't get depressed when these expenses came up, and I'd have a realistic picture of how much debt I was going to have to pay off. Besides those, and a dishwasher I could have paid for but put on a 0% card while I focused on other debts, I haven't taken on any more debt since I got started.

  6. terri77 Says:
    1209424007

    You're doing a great job! Love reading about your goals.

  7. scfr Says:
    1209424523

    Get that will done, d***t! Make an appointment with the estate attorney for about a month from now, and then you'll be committed but still have some time to think about things.

    But other than that, you are doing great.
    I don't know who is the bigger over-achiever, you or Broken Arrow or ceejay!

  8. merch Says:
    1209473151

    SCFR... you are totally correct. I'll get then done...

    i am just trying to get my financial foundation solid as quickly as possible.

  9. Englishteacher Says:
    1209586426

    Nice!

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