I'm still working on 2012 goals, but I always try and start by reviewing what when right and what went wrong for the year before.
This year I had 5 goals. I figured I could reasonably achieve 2 of them, possibly 3. As of right now, I have achieved NONE of them.
They are:
*Get EF up to 5K.
*Pay off both cars (one will be paid off in Dec 2011 even without extra payments)
*Fully fund Roth IRA for 2011
*Max out 401K
*Pay mortgage down to the point where we can get rid of PMI
So here's what happened:
*Get EF up to 5K.
--- This probably would have happened except I dipped into it twice. First was to make a contribution to my 2010 Roth IRA and the second was to cover car insurance. Right now it's about $3300.
The good news is that we are continuing to fund it at $200 a month and I increased automatic withdrawals for my Roth IRA so I shouldn't need to raid it next year.
*Pay off both cars (one will be paid off in Dec 2011 even without extra payments)
--- I kind of decided to bypass this goal, since the interest is pretty low and we had other financial goals of higher priority. We did pay off one car in Dec as planned. The second car is scheduled to pay off in Aug 2012.
*Fully fund Roth IRA for 2011
--- This one isn't done yet, but will be. I've put in $4000 out of $5000, and I will come up with the last $1000 before April 15th. I was really hoping to have it done by Dec 31st and not have to use the run out period this year, but it didn't happen. The biggest thing helping me was that I started automatic withdrawals of $250 per month so when I got to Dec I only needed to find $2500 instead of all $5000.
*Max out 401K
--- This was a real stretch goal for us. We had a hard enough time juggling other commitments that I didn't change anything. DH currently puts in 14% and this will go up to 17% in Jan. I put in 4%, which is the max amount for me to get the most company match.
*Pay mortgage down to the point where we can get rid of PMI
--- This was kind of a stretch goal, but a lot more realistic for us than maxing out 401K's. We did manage to pay extra on 8 months out of the last 12, but not enough to be able to get rid of PMI. We need to knock out another $10K worth of principle.
On our overall financial picture, this year went really well. DH and I both remained employed all year AND we both received raises. We were able to save a significant amount on car insurance. We paid off one of the cars. We hit a significant goal for us as far as net worth goes. We have stayed even on the house (not underwater - if we had to sell it, we could still pay off the mortgage balance).
The only major negative drawback this year financially was our mini basement remodel. It cost us about $8500, and we put approx $5500 of it on a 0% credit card. I'm ok with carrying zero interest credit card debt, but it's still something we'll have to pay off next year.
I'm still working on my 2012 financial goals. The biggest challenge for me is that we're having another baby in May, and I'm trying not to be overly ambitious, but I don't want to sell myself short, either. I am hoping to have them posted by next week.
This year I had 5 goals. I figured I could reasonably achieve 2 of them, possibly 3. As of right now, I have achieved NONE of them.
They are:
*Get EF up to 5K.
*Pay off both cars (one will be paid off in Dec 2011 even without extra payments)
*Fully fund Roth IRA for 2011
*Max out 401K
*Pay mortgage down to the point where we can get rid of PMI
So here's what happened:
*Get EF up to 5K.
--- This probably would have happened except I dipped into it twice. First was to make a contribution to my 2010 Roth IRA and the second was to cover car insurance. Right now it's about $3300.
The good news is that we are continuing to fund it at $200 a month and I increased automatic withdrawals for my Roth IRA so I shouldn't need to raid it next year.
*Pay off both cars (one will be paid off in Dec 2011 even without extra payments)
--- I kind of decided to bypass this goal, since the interest is pretty low and we had other financial goals of higher priority. We did pay off one car in Dec as planned. The second car is scheduled to pay off in Aug 2012.
*Fully fund Roth IRA for 2011
--- This one isn't done yet, but will be. I've put in $4000 out of $5000, and I will come up with the last $1000 before April 15th. I was really hoping to have it done by Dec 31st and not have to use the run out period this year, but it didn't happen. The biggest thing helping me was that I started automatic withdrawals of $250 per month so when I got to Dec I only needed to find $2500 instead of all $5000.
*Max out 401K
--- This was a real stretch goal for us. We had a hard enough time juggling other commitments that I didn't change anything. DH currently puts in 14% and this will go up to 17% in Jan. I put in 4%, which is the max amount for me to get the most company match.
*Pay mortgage down to the point where we can get rid of PMI
--- This was kind of a stretch goal, but a lot more realistic for us than maxing out 401K's. We did manage to pay extra on 8 months out of the last 12, but not enough to be able to get rid of PMI. We need to knock out another $10K worth of principle.
On our overall financial picture, this year went really well. DH and I both remained employed all year AND we both received raises. We were able to save a significant amount on car insurance. We paid off one of the cars. We hit a significant goal for us as far as net worth goes. We have stayed even on the house (not underwater - if we had to sell it, we could still pay off the mortgage balance).
The only major negative drawback this year financially was our mini basement remodel. It cost us about $8500, and we put approx $5500 of it on a 0% credit card. I'm ok with carrying zero interest credit card debt, but it's still something we'll have to pay off next year.
I'm still working on my 2012 financial goals. The biggest challenge for me is that we're having another baby in May, and I'm trying not to be overly ambitious, but I don't want to sell myself short, either. I am hoping to have them posted by next week.