Keeping Us Accountable: Update on Our Financial Goals

Two of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog were to hold ourselves accountable financially and to also allow others to see that living frugally & joyfully, at the same time, is more than possible.  I want to be completely open with our financial goals, only because for us, seeing others lay it all out on the table is what has motivated us to work like crazy & pursue financial peace.

 

I posted a few weeks ago about how transitioning to an all cash budget, always breaking our bills & saving our change is one easy way to build savings. We have been on an all cash budget for about 2 & a half years (thanks to Dave Ramsey's 'Total Money Makeover') & we have never felt more in control of our finances than when we do now. 

Within that time, we have met many of our financial goals:

• Saved up an $1100 emergency fund
• Paid off $36,000 worth of student loan & credit card debt
• Paid off $3000 worth of medical bills 
• Paid off over $5400 on our van
• Purchased a cheap used car for my husband for $2000 (lovingly known as a "beater"-which he happened to total after only 8 months!!)
• Paid cash for 3 Disney vacations
• Left the work force to be a stay at home mom
• Paid cash for our daughter's nursery furniture & baby necessities
• Richly blessed our family & friends with gifts for birthdays & holidays

Even after all of the goals we have met, we still have plenty of things we would like to do, financially speaking.  There is always something to improve upon!

Our Goals for 2011:

• Pay off our van
• We have currently paid off $6,450 on the van. Our remaining balance is only $850 (I love that it's only a 3 digit number now)!
• Save the first $2000 for our daughter's college fund
• As of today, we have saved $1,928.  As soon as we have $2000 saved, we plan on opening an Education Savings Account 
• E.S.A's grow tax free until it is time for the child to use the account for college
• You can contribute up to $2,000 per year in an E.S.A
• We understand that it does not follow the exact teachings of Dave Ramsey to concentrate on more than one goal at a time.  But since we mainly save for our daughter through simply saving our change, as well as the fact that she is already 1 year old, we decided to begin saving for her college now.
• Fund a 3 Month Emergency Fund
• We currently have our basic emergency fund of $1100 funded 
• This emergency fund is important to have when paying off debt. It keeps you from relying on credit if/when problems & unexpected bills arrive.
• Eventually, we would like to fully fund our emergency fund & have 3-6 months worth of our necessary expenses saved.
• You do not have to save 3-6 months of your salary....Just 3-6 months of your necessary expenses-expenses you must have in order to survive. 

 I hope that in some small way these posts can motivate you.  In the future, I will be posting specific details about how we have met the financial goals I listed above, details about each of Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, how they have applied to our life & simple steps you can take to get started on your financial makeover!