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've posted about how transitioning to an all cash budget, always breaking our bills & saving our change is an easy way for us 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 
• 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
• I 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
• Paid off $6800 on our minivan

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: 

• Replace the $395 we had to spend out of our $1100 Emergency Fund
• As I've mentioned before, my husband's car's air conditioner hadn't worked in over a year & although he was willing to deal with it before our daughter came along, we agreed that it was not safe for her to be in the car without a/c, since summer temps can get well into the 100's here.  Thankfully, our mechanic friend was able to fix it, but we did have to use $395 out of our emergency fund.
• As of right now, we have replaced about $200 of it, so we need about another $200 & then we can move on & FINALLY FINISH paying off the van!
• Pay off our minivan
• We have currently paid off $6,800 on the van. Our remaining balance is only $500!
• Save the first $2000 for our daughter's college fund
• As of this week, we have met this goal! We went ahead & met with our financial advisor & have decided to open a 529 savings account for Piper's college fund. 
• Although we have met this initial goal, we will continue to add to this fund once we have met our other financial goals.
• Please Note: 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 over 1 year old, we decided to begin saving for her college now.
• Fund a 3 Month Emergency Fund
• We feel we can fund a 3 month emergency fund (3 months worth of our necessary expenses) by the end of the year.
• If, for some reason, we fall short come December, we will use our tax refund we will receive in February/March to finish out the fund.
• 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!

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