Let's do a recap on my 2023 goals.

1.       Increase Net Worth

My net worth went up $30,038 in 2023! Mostly market gains but I'll take it.

2.       Save $1,000 Extra in HSA

I was able to do this as well! 

3.       Save $3,000 in IRAs

Front-loaded this with my tax return.

2024 Goals

I am still a bit undecided on my goals for this year but here is what I am currently thinking

1. Save $3,000 in IRAs

2. Save $2,500 in EF

3. Get & keep both checking account buffers at $1k each

That is is total of around $7,000 in savings. Which will be hard. But I really want to work on building up our cash this year. Especially if we want to do home projects anytime in the near future. 

This year the goals were hard to figure out. Our budget is going to be super tight so honestly the main goal is to just survive without accruing more debt.  Which puts us at our first goal.

Increase Net Worth

2022 was the first year we had net worth loss. This was a combination of overspending, new land debt and market decline. For 2023 I want to go back to saving more than we are spending overall. Which I think the next two goals will help with.

Save $1,000 Extra in HSA

We already do an automatic paycheck deposit weekly but it’s not enough to cover our entire OOP max for medical bills. We don’t have enough in the weekly check to set anymore up on auto pay so I would like to send more directly over the year with windfalls. $1,000 is kind of an arbitrary number, I want to deposit enough to cover all our medical bills for the year so we can use tax free money. This number could be $0-$2,900 depending on how health issues go throughout the year. $1k is a good starting point.

Save $3,000 in IRAs

I was hoping to save $5,000 this year so we would hit 15% of our income but it is looking unrealistic for our budget. We’ll start with this and see how it goes.  

2023 is going to be the year for hustling and scrounging. With our barebones basic budget covered by paychecks, spending and saving are going to have to be fought for. At least I am aware in advance so I can tighten the purse strings and start looking for ways to save/make money. Our first big decision will be our tax return. It is going to be tough to decide where the money should be allocated. I am eagerly awaiting our W2 so I can get a rough estimate of what I’m working with. Hoping the return is bigger than I’m expecting and I get a nice surprise. It would be great to fund the IRAs and HSA at the beginning of the year.