New Year's Financial Resolutions?
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New Year's Financial Resolutions?
| Mon, 12-12-2005 - 10:18pm |
Hi all. I'm trying to work out a financial plan for myself for 2006 and I wondered if any of you ladies have New Year's financial resolutions.
My financial resolutions for 2006 are:
1) GET MY CREDIT SCORE UP!
2) Pad my savings accounts to start building up an emergency fund and just have some extra put aside.
3) Make a budget and stick to it for good. This include pouring over statements, checking accounts very frequently, utilizing Microsoft money, etc.
4) Generally getting myself in much better financial shape.
5) NOT OVERDRAW MY CHECKING ACCOUNT ONCE!!!
Those are the ones that stick out the most in my mind right now. :) I have resolved to myself that I WILL and I MUST stick to those resolutions.
Cheers!
Angelpie41

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Pay off our target debt which is at 6,000 right now.
Start putting away something for retirement even if it's just $25 a month.
Taleyna
Good question, angelpie!
I think we have made some prgress this year, like finally contributing 5% of dhs paycheck to his 401K. We also signed up to do the healthcare savings account for next year, so that will help too. We have a long way to go. More for 2006:
1) Accumulate and maintain at least $600 in an emergency account. (We raid ours far too often, and we have a lot of unexpected expenses come up because of living away from family members, some of who are not in good health)
2) To get our cc debt under $15,000. It is currently $24,000, down form $29,500 at the start of the year.
We are moving back to OH and into my Dad's 4 bedroom house (He lives there alone and can't take care of the place and isn't getting the medical care that he needs) I will cut my hours back at work so that I can keep up the extra responsibilities with running my daughter's autism programming solo. But we will not be paying rent, or utilities.
3) To consolidate our cc debt so that it is spread between no more than 3 cards...right now it is on 7!, which I find ridiculous.
$)To start planning early, so that dh and i can celebrate our 10th anniversary in August somewhere nice for a weekend, without relying on ccs to fund our little getaway!
I think that is about it. I am really glad you asked. i will pront out this post and put it in my "money book" for future reference. Heather
My goal is to pay off half of my credit card balance (I wish it could be all...but I'm being realistic :-D). Take a nice family vacation in the Fall of 2006, and also pay for my husband to take a weeklong trip to Vegas for a conference next summer. His company normally pays for this trip (which costs around $4000), but they have hinted that they might like to let other employees have an opportunity to go as well....which means we'll have to foot the bill ourselves if my husband is going to go.
So those are my goals. Oh! One more....since I'm ending this year better off than last year, I just want to end 2006 better than I did this year. Each year, I want to get a little better at handling my money and budgeting. :-D
Pat :-D
Pay off at least 1/2 of our debt. Have our freedom account fully-funded. Have an emergency fund setup. We'll be moving into our new home beginning next year.
Pay stuff w/cash. stop using our credit cards.
MYM
My resolutions:
1) Stop all credit card usage. I shouldn't have any problems with this as long as I can get an emergency fund built up before something else goes wrong with my car.
2) Pay off my Best Buy (Scheduled for Jan '06, I'm so excited) and Mastercard. I'd really like to have my Discover Card paid off as well but I don't think that is going to happen.
3) No late charges, over draft fees, or over limit fees.
4) Continue to save $50 a month to my Emergency Fund.
5) As long as I stick to the above my credit score should go up.
6) Get a better idea of where my money goes by tracking all expenses through Quicken.
Oh and I'm buying a different car next year. I wish I didn't have to but the car repairs just keep on coming and I have a hefty payment. Thankfully I'm no longer upside down on my loan. My goal is to find a nice reliable car with a lower payment.
And of course, I am still resolved to move back in my parents and help them out as well.
Edited 12/13/2005 8:54 pm ET by tlenad
Good question
1. No more late fees, I had gotten better at this, but with the move to our new house I still don't have all the bills set up for automatic withdrawl, and I need to do this. I know the late fees kill me!
2. Pay off washer/dryer before interest free period runs out.
3. Start contributing to retirement fund again. (even if just a little bit)
4. Start RESP education saving plan for kids. (even if just a little bit! 0
5. Pay cash to go on a vacation with my husband. We have never been anyplace warm and tropical and I would really, really like to go together. I am also thinking about saving up and taking the kids to Disney (probably 2008)
Heather, what all do you put in your "money book?" It sounds interesting and I think I need to start one. :)
Angelpie41
I use Microsoft money to track my finances, but at the beginning of every month, i write down the balances owed to all of my unsecured creditors in a little notebook. i order them in the order i would like to have them paid off. And then I write on a separate page what i anticipate our earnings to be for each half of the month, and what i would like to pay towards the bills for each half of the month. Taking these extra steps and writing things down (as opposed to just looking at it at the computer) really helps me solidify the plans i have made and stick to them. I get a certain thrill out of crossing each thing off on my list, knowing that i met my goals for that small time period. It probably seems silly, but I have been using this method of sitting down and planning the "outgo" for the month for at least 5 years. What it does is puts the money on assignment before I even have it in my hands, so i don't think payday is my day to splurge. I also always pay the bills on payday. Anyhow, the point of the book for me is that I have a little portable (fits in my purse) snapshot of my financial plans easily accessible at all times, and is one way i keep myself accountable. Anyhow, it just is my little way of making sure I always have a plan, and i figure inserting my year's goals right into the book will be added incentive to make sure I stick to it :) Not much to it, but it works wonders for me. Heather
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