Girls Just Wanna Have Funds » 2008 Financial Goals http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com Breaking Financial Ceilings One Stiletto At A Time! Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:21:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en 2008 Personal and Financial Goals http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/2008-personal-and-financial-goals/ http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/2008-personal-and-financial-goals/#comments Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:00:36 +0000 Ginger http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/14/2008-personal-and-financial-goals/

Personal

*Increase productivity

After reading this article on Wise Bread, I realized that I spend way too much time being non productive. I really want to take the time to focus in things that will help develop my interests in personal finance, frugality and put more energy towards course work. My plan is to make sure that every waking moment counts and in doing that I will be more productive. No more waiting up late for Big Shots to start when we have Tivo.

*Join more personal finance forums and network with more personal finance bloggers

While I’ve been a reader of so many personal finance bloggers I never joined in on their discussions. While I enjoy many of the other blogs I read I plan to cut back so that I can make more time for the interests that drive this blog and many other personal interests. I have wanted to start this blog since securing the domain back in 2003 but never really found the time. Now I am making the time and it feels great!

*Spend more time with my husband

This really should go without saying but with our schedules sometimes its hard. Now that he is done with grad school we should have more time, ideally. This year I will make an active effort to spend more quality time together.

*Exercise and Increase Personal Health and Well Being

I am a part of a local exercise group so I plan to exercise regularly since we are imitating Biggest Loser by having teams and weigh ins. The challenge lasts through labor day so this gives us enough time to get on and fall off the wagon in pursuit of our collective goals.

Find 3-4 hours each week to workout. 3 times during the week and once over the weekend.

Yoga. I wish I did more of it but alas this semester I will only have time to do it at home because of 12 hour days. Nevertheless I hope to get some in before going to sleep at night and in the mornings before work.

Thai Massage and Phoenix Yoga are two other relaxation modalities I plan to increase this year. Hopefully I can get 2 sessions each season because not only are they useful in physical relaxation but they help in understanding where your body holds stress and the source of the stress.

Get back on the vegetarian bandwagon. Nuff Said.

Personal Finance (will expand on this in an upcoming post)

*Save $1000 per month.  Will increase to $1800 once debts are paid and even more once husband’s raise kicks in.

*Pay down minor debts less than $1500

*Dedicate $1500 per month towards debt reduction

*Determine how much to contribute to our 401k plans.

*Start paying ourselves first via ING and OneUnited Bank

*Start reading up on investing in the stock market

*Increase emergency fund to $30,000. I go back and forth with the figure because we are a young couple with no dependents but I need to do more research. I don’t like the ideal of having that much money in a HYS account when I can possibly net a higher ROI if I check out other avenues. Then come my concerns about liquidity. If we were in a bind, how fast can we have access and what would it cost us?  Must research this.

*Reconcile Mint transactions weekly in order to keep track of our spending

*Increase personal finance knowledge and implementation. Knowledge —> action is lacking on my part right now

Rules

I will not succumb to impulse shopping. I will allow myself one week to decide if I/we really need want an item over $50. This means that the Dyson Animal, new Faberware cookware set and ultimate carpet cleaning are a go!

We will reduce if not eliminate eating out for the rest of the winter months. We spend a bit on eating out and as such we really should cut back in this area. I don’t think this will be an issue in the colder months.

Reduce random trips to Target and CVS. They are the debil. 

Only shop on designated grocery shop days which will be the 2nd and 4th week of the month.  

Large 2008 Purchases/Savings Goals

$800-42 inch plasma TV

$1200-50 inch plasma TV

$2500-Dale Sofa from ComfortSource.com

$8000-Hardwood floors for upper and main levels

I think they should be a bit more specific and I will do that in an upcoming post. This just helped me lay out my plans and I will flush these out a bit more. This is a working document so it’s open to changes as I/we progress through the year.

Most Popular Posts

]]> http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/2008-personal-and-financial-goals/feed/ Do You Need a Financial Advisor? http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/how-to-decide-if-you-need-a-financial-advisor/ http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/how-to-decide-if-you-need-a-financial-advisor/#comments Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:00:15 +0000 Ginger http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/09/how-to-decide-if-you-need-a-financial-advisor/ The image “http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/01/99/23209901.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

It’s the new year and hopefully you’re giving careful thought as to your financial goals for 2008. Are you planning to save for a new car? Contribute fully to a retirement fund? Save towards an emergency fund? If you are, then you should consider meeting with a financial advisor.

Retirement

Savings

  • Do you have an emergency fund? If no, why not?
  • What are your 2008 savings goals?
  • Are you saving at least 10% of your income?
  • Will you be saving for your child’s college education?

Debt

  • Is your debt manageable?
  • Do you have a plan to pay it off?
  • Has it become overwhelming?

Wills/Trusts?

  • Have you created a will?
  • How about a trust?
  • Do you know what they are?
  • Who will care for your children when you are gone?
  • Who will receive your estate once you pass away?
  • Have you made any preparations in this regard?

Mint gives these tips on what to ask when interviewing a financial advisor:

  • What licenses they hold, in which states
  • What services they provide
  • Their investment strategy
  • How they would prepare and implement your plan
  • Who their existing clients are (ask for references)
  • The average size of their portfolios
  • How their portfolios have performed
  • Their fees and/or commission fees
  • If they sell financial products

These are just a few questions to get you started. Of course, even if your answers to these questions prove that you know little about your fifinancial situation, you don’t need to run out and get a financial advisor. There are tons of personal finance books, blogs and articles on the Internet to help you find the answers to the above questions, so no worries. However, keep in mind that unless the person giving the advice is licensed in the area of personal finance they are unqualified to give advice. We can share tips, strategies and the like and some may even work for you, but in the end it is best to seek the advice of a professional who can run numbers, give advice specific to your situation with experience and education to back it up.

Do you have a financial advisor? Why/Why not?

Most Popular Posts

]]> http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/how-to-decide-if-you-need-a-financial-advisor/feed/ 2008 Financial Goals http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/2008-financial-goals/ http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/2008-financial-goals/#comments Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:00:10 +0000 Ginger http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/05/2008-financial-goals/ http://www.mastercardbusiness.com/apmea/en/images/smallbiz/1106/FinancialPlanSticky.jpg
Ive struggled with this for a few days now and I’m still figuring it out. Every book I’ve read and Podcast I listened to all say to write it down. So this is what I’m doing. I need to be accountable in 2008 so this is my plan starting in February. Why February? I am expecting some cash pay down debt substantially and we are still recovering from the holiday season.

I am also feeling bad because I feel like we should be farther along than we are in the area of saving money. We have both been in graduate school for the last 3-4 years since graduating college and my husband just finished his masters program in December. But I don’t want to make excuses anymore. We are a six figure income household and after meeting with a financial advisor back in October, she gave us a plan and said everything else was within its limits (mortgage, debts etc etc). We told her flat out that we needed to take control of our finances and be more responsible. I also needed her to give us a plan on what to do even though they are things we know already. Do we pay down debt first, save or contribute to our 401k? These are things we hadn’t learned as children and it was so apparent after looking at our spending patterns and trends in 2007. In 2007 we exhausted our savings due to buying a new house which included buying down the interest rate, new furniture, and a few family emergencies. Anyhoo, so I’m taking control and the first step by writing it down.

Wish me luck! I will post the 2008 budget and goals when I nail it down. I want it to be specific, attainable and measurable.

Most Popular Posts

]]> http://www.girlsjustwannahavefunds.com/2008/01/2008-financial-goals/feed/