Evolving Personal Finance » goals
When to Start Saving for a Mid-Term Goal
Mid-term goals – what the heck do we do with them? Kyle and I currently have no mid-term goals, but I’ve put some thought into them this week because of some interactions I’ve had with friends and financial clients. Some of our peers in NC are looking forward to buying homes! Mid-term goals take a bit of different thinking than short-term and long-term goals. For example, the long-term goal of retirement is something we expect to … Read entire article »
Filed under: goals
Budgeting, Tracking, or Neither?
I’ve added a new podcast to my rotation – Ric Edelman’s The Truth About Money. I don’t know how well-known RE is nationally, but he works in the area where my parents live so I’ve heard of him a few times. He has a totally different money philosophy than Dave Ramsey (low-interest debt is great!) so I started listening to it to safeguard against becoming brainwashed by DR. During last week’s show the hosts were discussing … Read entire article »
Laying a Path from Here to There
I’m afraid of drifting through life – of letting time pass without accomplishing anything. Sometimes I feel like we’re drifting financially while we’re in graduate school because we don’t have several major monetary objectives toward which we are working. While I think goal-setting has been a bit overblown and doesn’t necessarily work well for everyone, I believe we all need to have a vision for our lives and to take steps to realize those visions. If … Read entire article »
My Dream in 23 Years – What’s Yours?
One of the important components of the All Your Worth Balanced Money Formula is the Dream Fund. Of the 20% of take-home pay that is supposed to go toward savings, 25% of it is for your dreams – aside from retirement and all of that. When I was a kid I thought I would want to own a beach house. Maybe some other people want a plane, an around-the-world cruise, or to pay for their … Read entire article »
The Fact and Fiction Behind “Two Can Live as Cheaply as One”
Everyone’s heard the phrase “two can live as cheaply as one.” In one sense it’s absolutely true: when you live in a home by yourself and someone moves in with you – a roommate or spouse who pays his own way – your per capita expenses will go down. You have someone to split the rent and utilities with. But the way the phrase is usually applied is to married couples – as if just … Read entire article »
Filed under: budgeting, choices, frugality, goals, lifestyle creep, marriage, spending
Where Should We Give?
In March 2009, I pledged a certain amount of money to our church for an expansion campaign. It included an up-front donation and monthly installments over a three-year period. Next month is the last I’ll make that monthly installment and (after re-adjusting my tithe) we are going to have $58 a month freed up in our budget. Since we are accustomed to giving away that amount of money, we are not just going to completely keep … Read entire article »
Where Are My Resolutions?
It seems like the blogosphere has exploded with financial, health, and other goals this week – all for the first, I suppose. I love goals and I love watching other people accomplish them (or admit failure/delay). However, my husband and I haven’t made New Years goals of any sort. And why not? 1) New Years is not my favorite time for goal-setting – my favorite time for goal-setting is immediately. My last two major goal projects … Read entire article »
Christmas 2011 Goals Recap
We did fairly well accomplishing our monetary goals for Christmas. Goal 1a: Cap spending at $10/recipient for extended family members. Result: While we didn’t succeed in capping each individual gift at $10, we did get the average under $10 – $9.65/recipient for Kyle’s extended family (about 15 recipients) and $5.30 for my extended family (one gift for a family). Goal 1b: Cap spending at $50/recipient for extended family members. Result: We succeeded in spending less than $50 per recipient … Read entire article »
Psyching Out My IRA
For the last six months or so I’ve wanted to max out my IRA. Like, I’m dying to. I’ve looked at our budget numerous times, attempting theoretical cuts here and there that could get me to the limit. I took my contribution from just under 10% of my gross income to about 16% but going the rest of the way is just not happening. Why do I want to max out my IRA? Two psychological precepts … Read entire article »
Filed under: budgeting, goals, retirement, savings, stock market
Keeping Christmas in Perspective
Christmas 2010 was a financial disaster. It was our first Christmas as a married couple and we had major clashes over gift-giving philosophies that resulted in higher-than-usual spending for both of us. We also flew to CA – our largest single expense. When I tallied it all up in January I resolved that we wouldn’t let another year play out that way. I completely lost focus on “the reason for the season” and got caught … Read entire article »
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