2014 Goals

And...I'm back! Almost a year to the day later. Weird how things like that keep happening. What's new? Well, a new job promotion recently. Salary still to be set, but whatever it is will help me achieve my goals. Goals, which incidentally, have not changed at all from last year. A little closer in some goals, a little further away in other goals. Such is life. And life has been very good to me lately.

2013 Goals

Updating my 2013 goals.

EMERGENCY FUND:

Replenish emergency fund once credit card & student loan debts are paid in full.

DEBT:

My car is now paid for. I do have student loan & credit card debt, that I am paying down aggressively. I have paid a good portion of the student loan debt I incurred from graduate school.

RETIREMENT:

Continue contributing $675 biweekly to my 457. That is an annual contribution of $17,500. My match will add an additional $2,900 for a total of more than $20,400 annually. Continue to fund my Roth IRA to the maximum. That will be $5,500 in 2013. That's nearly $26,000 in retirement savings annually. I don't expect the limits to raise again, but if they do I will meet the maximums again.

HOUSE:

My payments are $285 biweekly.

CAREER AND SCHOOL:

Graduate school has been completed. I enjoy my job & have been there over 5 years. Upward mobility looks good in the next few years.

What are your goals???

Reunited & it feels so good!

I just rediscovered this blog. Over 5 years since I've posted. And so timely now that just today I met with a group of local Bogleheads for lunch. I may have to get back to blogging about personal finance again. Little has changed in the last 5 years. I am still going by the "set it & forget it" philosophy.

I have Vanguard for my Roth IRA and have rolled over my retirement accounts with my previous employer into the Thrift Savings Plan. Both have low cost index & target funds available.

New Job, New Start

I started a new job April 14. My new job isn't considered a promotion, but I feel that the opportunities for promotion and movement will be greater with this organization. Since I am leaving my old job and being paid several hundred hours of leave, I also have the opportunity to really grown my retirement accounts. I'm not cashing out any of my leave but rolling it directly into my 457(b) and 403(b) accounts. That money will have 30 years or so to grow. I'm excited to see my accounts grow so quckly with these leave payments.

I finally decided to track my financial goal with spreadsheets. Yes, I know that I'm so behind the times. I just liked to keep it old school with the pen and paper. But I do still track my wealth on some other online sites. I'm just a little OCD with having to calculate my money as often as possible in as many places as possible. I swear I don't have a money fetish. Really.

I've not abandoned you.

I've been horrible about posting to this blog, but I promise to completely abandon it. I'm busy with graduate school and a new job, but I'm still very dedicated to talking and learning about personal finance. Stay tuned, still.

2008 Goals

I'm pulling my post that I just made at my Personal Savings Advice blog.

I decided to write down my goals for 2008.

EMERGENCY FUND:

Contribute $245 to my three accounts. My goal is $15,000 in 3 years, my current balance is just over $5,000.

DEBT:

I have about $2,000 on a credit card. I will contribute $500 plus the amount of my monthly purchases every payment.My original Sallie Mae loan is now at $300. With automatic payments my loan will be paid off in about 4 months. My grad school loans will begin repayment 6 months after my December 2008 graduation.My car payment will be $326. After finishing with the credit card balance I will contribute the extra to the car payment.

RETIREMENT:

Continue contributing $400 biweekly to my 457. That is an annual contribution of $10,400.Continue to fund my Roth IRA to the maximum. That will be $5,000 in 2008.

HOUSE:

My payments are $313 biweekly. I occasionally get a few pennies interest from a savings account and will transfer to principal. Otherwise, my payments will continue as is for this category. I'm more focused on the other debt.

CAREER AND SCHOOL:

In somewhat related plans, I want to focus on school and looking for a new job. I'm off this week since I worked the holiday (12 hour shifts for 4 days) and I'm writing papers and taking civil service tests. The lady asked why I wanted to take the test again since I scored so well. I told her that I wanted an 80 on the test. I scored a 74. She said that few people score so well and I must be a perfectionist. I'm not. What I am is really motivated to move on to a better position.I took another test since it hadn't been the required 28 days since I took the one that I wanted to retest on. Next time I'll take a different one again. I'll keep taking them until I'm where I want to be.

What are your goals???

Car Decisions

My car was put in the shop Monday for the 2nd time in 3 months. I have a 1997 Toyota Corolla. I paid $700 and $500 in repairs. It's time for me to let my baby go. Violet has been good to me, but I need something a little more reliable for my commutes to New Orleans. So I'm cleaning her up and getting ready to sell her. I've been approved for a car loan up to $50k. I won't spend even half that, but I am looking.