Layout:
Home > My 2014 BIG Goals

My 2014 BIG Goals

December 24th, 2013 at 05:24 pm

It is almost the end of the year!

Yikes! It is time to start thinking about next years goals.

My mind is filled with things we need and want. I know I have lots of little goals, that I will go over later, but I have narrowed a list down to 4 things that are my BIG goals for 2014.

1.) I want to put at LEAST $2,000 in a Roth IRA.

I am anxious to get started with our retirement savings. $2,000 seems so small, but at least it is a start.

2.) I want to get my EF to $4,500.

That is 3 months worth of bills, and I think that is a suitable number for us. Although some people need more, we have no outstanding debts, and we both have steady jobs. We will have $1,500 by Jan. so that means I need to come up with $3,000 more.

3.) $3,000 in Animal Fund.

This is a hard one. I have a goat breeding business that has taken a long time to take off. But we are to the point now, that cost is lower and profits are higher. I had to move my herd to my new house when I got married, leaving behind the thousands of dollars worth of fence that I had purchased over the years.

Last year I paid with savings to have two small fences put up, and a shelter so I could get my horse and herd moved. While they are safe, and the pen does work. They are in a small area, and not as healthy or happy.

I have a large pasture that is waiting to be fenced off so they can roam. I will do half at a time, and it is going to cost at least $2,000 for the first half. I would like to get that done ASAP.

I also need about $1,000 in reserve, that should cover all care and feed costs for the year.

I am expecting a lowball estimate of $2,000 of profit from goat sales this year. So that means I will still need to come up with another $1,000 out of the budget.

4.) Pay down Mortgage to below $50,000.

We are planning on refinancing sometime next year or early 2015. I need to build more equity in our home, so we can take out a future HELOC for remodeling. So I am setting a goal of getting the mortgage below $50,000 by the end of the year. Thats about $1,170 away. So it is possible that it will decrease that much with just normal payments. Lower would be even better of course.

That means I need to come up with a total of $9,170 extra this year to meet our BIG goals.

As I said there is a lot more little goals along the way though. And currently we can only save between $200 - $300 a month. So there is a lot of money that will have to be found to meet all these goals.

7 Responses to “My 2014 BIG Goals”

  1. Petunia 100 Says:
    1387908932

    I notice you said it is possible your mortgage will get under 50k with regular payments this year. I suggest you set your mortgage amortization up on a spreadsheet. It is easy to do. Once set up, not only can you see at a glance where your balance will be at any given time, you can play "what if" to your heart's content. As in, what if I send an extra $25 per month? what if I send in an extra $300 from my tax refund?, etc.

    If you don't know how to do it, there are free templates available for download, or e-mail me and I will be glad to send you mine. You would have to edit the amounts and interest rate of course. Or give me the specifics, and I will edit it for you before sending it.

    Best of luck to you with your 2014 goals. Smile

  2. snafu Says:
    1387911779

    Seasons greetings, I trust your holiday will be all you want it to be and more.

    Great job writing major goals with targeted sums. In hope of being helpful, I hesitatingly offer some unedited thoughts...
    Could DH be persuaded to write his top 4 goals for 2014? How best to meld his goals with those you've listed?

    ROTH: research low cost/fee administrator, minimum investment to open, specific initial investment, lump sum or automatic monthly contributions all within 'allowables'.

    EF: brain storm possibilities to increase income, perhaps freelance web design, change employer, follow up idea to shadow at mom's employment... 2nd examine regular expenditures for possible savings

    Mortgage: perhaps try a bar chart for a visual to show how those payments are distributed between Escrow Interest Principle
    since that bank's system is fraught with problems. More long term... since you plan to re-finance in the future, what will help boost your credit score? Would it help to flow basic expenses through CCs following the rules for ideal usage debt to credit ratio? This presumes you'll use the most effective cash back CCs for example paying the balance in full at least two business days before the due date.

  3. klarose Says:
    1387912551

    I already look at tons of charts for the mortgage. They do not really match up with what actually gets paid though. Because it all depends on what day I make the payment. The different that goes to the principle can vary by almost $100 dollars! Of course it all evens out on the end. I believe regular payments should get the balance below to close to $50k. I will change the goal as the year goes on if I feel we will greatly go over.

  4. klarose Says:
    1387912693

    I already have my Roth all picked and planned out. Just waiting on the funds now.

    I have plenty of ideas on boosting income too! Not to fret, my post was just already so long. I will add all that info later on.

    We are already doing all we can to boost credit score. We already use a CC monthly and pay it off in full.

    Thanks for all the tips though! I do appreciate them.

  5. klarose Says:
    1387913159

    According to an amortization calculator with my regular payments it would be about $400 short of reaching $50k.

    But I will be sending an extra $29 a month to it. And it should reach it or be within a couple dollars. Smile
    I could throw more at it, but my extra will probably be going towards fencing or retirement this year.

  6. Jenn Says:
    1387986847

    I wish I had been on-the-ball as much as you are when I was in my twenties. You're doing great!

  7. klarose Says:
    1388072317

    Thanks! A lot of times it seems like we are going slow, or that it will take us forever. But then I remember we are well ahead many people our age. So that is a confidence booster.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]