2009 Goals, v1.0
I’ve seen a bit around the pf blogs about 2009 goals, so I guess it isn’t too early to plan them. I’ve had mine sketched out for quite awhile, but it seemed premature to post them in October… Due to a multitude of other unknowns*, these goals are a bit of a shot in the dark. The numbers will likely change, but the core ideas will be the same.
2009 Goals
Retirement
- Max out Roth IRA by contributing a fixed amount each paycheck (same, except changing from monthly budgeting to per paycheck budgeting for Roth IRA only)
- Contribute 10% in 40k (up from 8%)
Savings
- Increase car fund by $5000 (currently at $370)
- Start “Long Term Travel Fund” and get balance to $1500 (not enough, but a good start)
- Maintain Efund up to at least $16k by end of year (will be about $15k by start of year)
- Increase Student Loan Account by $1000 (currently about $1500)
Career/Education
- Continue towards M.S. taking 3-4 classes (might take the summer off, because that sounds fabulous)
- Be proactive about job/career (quite vague… Perhaps should define this more clearly…)
Life
- Camping on Catalina (spring break?)
- Big Sur (summer vacation?)
- Sespe Wilderness area
- Run a half marathon (probably not), or at least, keep up running (probably).
- Visit friend in Portland before she moves back to the Midwest
- Mt Whitney? T really wants to do this, but I don’t know if we’ll have the time to devote to training this year. He’s more optimistic.
- Move to new apartment
Those are my general plans. Once I get into 2009, into my new apartment, figure out my new rent, and see how my health choices affect my take home pay… I’ll play around with the numbers.
(*Unknowns include: Hoping to move in January, hope to have T move in with me in march/april/may, different health care costs, hopefully a raise, hopefully not laid off, and at least one major expense that I’m not discussing just yet.)
One thing I definitely want to do before I leave California is to hike Catalina – Two Harbors to Avalon – and then stay at a fancy hotel in Avalon & experience the nightlife.
I started making my 2009 budget, and it’s full of round numbers and even percentages. I’m guessing this will not be true after January 1st.
I love Big Sur, we went camping there a few years ago. There were some big fires in that area last year, I wonder what it looks like now. I like how your goals aren’t just financial, I’ve only worked on making financial goals so far. I need to find a few “life” type goals to throw into the mix. Where are you looking for an apt (I live in LA too). I’m curious what rent is like right now.