Our Current Savings Goals – Nov. 2011

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Savings Goals from 2007

I thought it might be useful to place our savings goals on the blog. This will give you a better idea of who I am and where I’m at with my money. It should also help me to shape the writing on the blog, as I’ll center my writing around some of these efforts. These goals are being made in April 2007.

If you don’t have savings goals of your own, I would highly encourage you to make some. Just having the goal is huge in helping you succeed financially.

The Down Payment - Save enough in cash to have a 20% down payment on our town home. See the previous post. The town home will be ready sometime this fall, b/c they haven’t started on our row yet. Currently, we have 10% saved. We have this with ING Direct earning 4.50% on this balance.

December 2007 Update: Yes, we were able to do this! We began saving for this in September of 2006 and purchased the home at the end of September of this year (2007). We saved a certain amount every month, plus all job bonuses. I was also able to sell my car for a decent profit and finance an older one. The saved money was kept under a mattress (just kidding). We actually put the money in ING DIRECT’s Orange savings account.

The Emergency Fund – Maintain three months worth of expenses in a high-interest online savings account. We also have this with ING Direct earning 4.50%.

December 2007 Update: We haven’t met this goal yet. And now that we have a mortgage I feel it is even more critical to get this completed. We actually have a small emergency fund of around $1,000. Our focus has been on the house down payment and some paying down of debt. To make this goal happen sooner, we will begin depositing half of my paycheck directly into our ING DIRECT Orange savings account. At that rate, as long as we don’t touch the money (which we’ve proven we can do), we should be at our goal in 4 months, or April 2008.

The Retirement Plans – Max out our contributions to our retirement plans in 2008. I have a 401K, and my wife has a 403(b). Until we purchase the town home or have the 20%, I’m contributing 15% and my wife is at 2%. This is why we have this as a goal for 2008. The house down payment is first in line so that we can avoid private mortgage insurance.

December 2007 Update: Since this is a goal for next year, this is really a question of “are we ready to make this change come January 2008?” We will come close to maxing out our contributions to my 401(k) this year, but we won’t with my wife’s 403(b) since it’s been rolling along at 2%. To get to her max next year we’ll need to push that number close to the 25% mark. That’s a huge change and will take some discipline, but I know it can be done. We will need to reevaluate this once the new year gets here. What’s the highest percentage you have ever heard of someone contributing?

What are your savings goals?

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