2009 Personal Finance Goals: Draft

Posted by Cent With Love | 9:49 AM | , | 8 comments »


I've been scribbling down financial goals that I would like to accomplish in 2009 for the past few days. Now, it's time to type them up, ponder, critique, edit and carve them into stone.

This is my list so far:

1. Stick with my current envelope system. The $$ amounts seem to be working well for me, so I'm not going to fiddle with it.

2. Make $200 extra each month to put towards my debt snowball.

3. Pay all credit cards and bills on time and avoid any additional fees.

4. Increase credit score by 100 points.

5. Maintain $1k Emergency Fund.

6. Keep the debt snowball rolling and set a schedule for when each card should be paid off.

7. Be more organized/Type A when it comes to PF.

8. Use this blog as a motivational tool for myself and others to achieve financial freedom.

I'm still researching other goals for myself. Please feel free to comment on all of the above and lend any suggestions. I'm very new to this, and I know my goals may seem amateur to many. I feel like I need some more concrete goals so that I can check them off the list as motivation to keep going - like graphs or check marks or lines through items. So, if you can help me with some PF bling, I'd appreciate it. Maybe a list of long-term and short-term goals? Everything seems so long-term, though.

8 comments

  1. Anonymous // December 31, 2008 at 12:30 AM  

    Your PF goals don't seem amateur at all! And number 8 really does help keep one on track. I like the feed back from people and I like that I can easily track my progress.

    I think they are great goals for 2009!

  2. Ms. MoneyChat // December 31, 2008 at 7:38 AM  

    Hi Cent w/Love, my blog pal Christine pointed me to your site. First, I think your goals are pretty good. Second, I just say to make sure that your goals are measurable and that you can identify action steps to help you reach them. For example, you mentioned making an additional $200 a month ... be sure to have an action plan as to how you're going to do that (i.e. overtime, part-time job, raise, side business, etc).
    Good luck and I look forward to reading more about your progress.

  3. Anonymous // December 31, 2008 at 11:31 AM  

    You seem like your are doing great!
    I like to keep monthly goals, too, so I can look forward to things. Like in January I want to save $300. By, July 2009, I want to be out of credit card debt. etc.

  4. RTC // December 31, 2008 at 11:47 AM  

    I think your goals are on track. I, too would like to be able to see my progress on graphs. I wonder if an Excel graph can be inserted in a blog? Does anyone know how?

  5. Sharon S // December 31, 2008 at 12:14 PM  

    Hi there-best of luck with your plans for 2009! I would say do your very best to stick to budget and try to live below your means too! good Luck to you!

  6. Unknown // December 31, 2008 at 2:21 PM  

    Your goals seem very realistic. I agree with Ms. MoneyChat that you need a specific plan to make that extra money. Good luck!

    Happy New Year, too!

  7. Budget Mama // December 31, 2008 at 3:35 PM  

    I think your goals are great! Best of luck with them and happy new year!

  8. Anonymous // December 31, 2008 at 3:47 PM  

    Your goals look good. I agree with Moving on Up about setting time frames for each goal. I'm not sure how your debt looks but if you have a list like Debt 1 paid by ???, Debt 2 paid by ???. It will actually give you a reference point.

    Good luck and have a great 2009