1. Pay off credit card debt this year. Yep, it has got to go. We have about $11,5000 in stupid credit card debt. With our current living arrangements (we moved in with my sick parents to become their caregivers) our expenses are low(er). No Change. In fact, due to remodeling... it is going up. :(
2. Increase Emergency Savings from $1000.00 to $3000.00. Right now our emergency fund carries about $1200.00, but by the end of the year we would like to increase that to $3000.00 for a little more piece of mind. Same.
3. Building online income. My work situation has changes totally. I am now a fulltime care giver for my dad, and soon for my mom. I will be able to (hopefully) find time during the day and night to learn more about HOW to successfully do that. You know I did join the $30,000 Online Income Challenge, right? Situation as caregiver has changed. Online income is small, but I am grateful. For January, it was about $300.00
4. Christmas 2012. I again will be working my $500 Holiday Challenge. I was able to stay pretty close to the spending/ shopping budget this year, so I am pretty happy about that. Acquiring gifts all year round at deep savings really helped the bottom line. No shopping yet, but I am auto-transferring to my Christmas ING account.
5. Have more fun! Life is short and I know that saving money, budgeting, and being frugal is important. But.... having fun and enjoying life is just as important! Living in Central Florida provides many opportunities to visit theme parks and be a kid again. We have not yet decided which park we are going to get a year long pass for, but I am leaning towards SeaWorld. And next year.... Disney World. I will be getting passes for me, my husband and my grandson. Money well spent. Nope, not yet.
6. Plan a Trip out West. We want to go to San Francisco, visit Alcatraz ( I find that place to be very fascinating), Cross the Golden Gate Bridge, to name a few. It may not happen this year, but it will happen. I plan to save at leat $4000.00 dollars towards this goal. No change, BUT I might include FINCON12 into this.
7. Roth IRA..... hello.... you remember me, don't you? My retirement planning has taken a BACK seat lately. Time to get all that back under control. I have a 401k with a previous employer that I need to do something with..... and I do recall a Roth IRA too. I am a huge slacker when it comes to this stuff. Help please. Fail. There is the rest of February to get it changed.
11. Get our wills done. Enough said. This has been on my goals list for the last two years. Nope, not yet.
So, there you go. Not much progress, but that is okay. These last few months have definitely been different. Looking forward to normal again.
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16 comments:
Lisa, I think you're doing really good job. The most important is that you keep on working on your goals. When I went through my goals in the end of January I was so dissapointed I didn't do much last month but there is always some progress, right? Next months will be yours! ;)
there's still 11 more months, don't get discouraged!
i actually was thinking i made mine too easy because i've completed about half already. perhaps they were little generic, though.
I think you're doing good. I hope the rest of the year is great for you!
Take it one day at a time, lots of life changes for you guys right now. It will all come together soon. If your folks are on medicare do they pay a little something for in home care? Might want to look into that could bring in a few more $$
Credit card debt is hard... You really do not want to increase credit card debt any more than what you have now. Have you considered paying off credit card debt using emergency fund? It may or may not be ideal to do this depending on your situation, however... Good luck!
Lisa you are doing very well and the best thing is that you are progessing even if is not so rapidly.
you're got a lot going on - caregiver for one and soon to be 2 - it's HARD - I never had to be afulltime caregive and I thank God for that because the little bit I did do I was worse than ntohing It hink sometimes. my parents passed relatively quickly and the only help they needed was in the last month (well someone stayed there 'just in case' with my mom if my dad was gone) and my dad went steadily downhill for about 6 months but the worrisome part was about 3 monts I guess. So sometimes all you can do is hang tight on the finances and do the best you can and not lose sight of your goal and dreams. I hope you can fit some great memories in with your hubby and grandson - even if they're not disney world - some of my fondest memories with my Grandma are her taking us to her house in the 'boonies' and playing outside and going to the lake and garage sales with her! the ot her grandmother wasn't too 'hands on' and grandpa wasn't really into kids I don't think. the other grandfather had passed and that grandpa was divorced from the 'fun' grandma. anyways hope things look up for you soon.
For the love of god please get your will done asap. It doesn't take long to create a simple sweetheart will that will carry you over until you meet with a professional about creating one. While you're at it. Makes sure you get a living will and durable power of attorney done. These documents are vital!
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Thanks for you comment. Everyday this situation changes. We will have to play it by ear but hoping mom recovers enough to resume her normal day to day life. Still working on the memories with hubs and the grandson!
Thanks for your input! There are some changes coming.. possible job...one day at a time definitely.
Hi Debby, Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely do that. And you are right, it will all come together :)
Hi Shovellicious, Thanks so much. We both have 11 months to do better, don't we? good luck on your goals in February :)
There are a lot of reds up there. Is it too early to go over the goals? It's only been one month after all. I usually do a check up once a quarter and that's usually a bit more encouraging.
Hi Joe, I think a monthly review will help motivate me. Last year my review of yearly goals was minimal at best. But thanks so much!
Keep going Lisa considering how much you've got going on you're doing great! :)
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