Backing Up

In my June post entitled "Moving Forward: Part 2", I set some goals for myself. Since then, things have changed quite a bit...so I'm going to back up the financial train and set some new goals; however, seeing that I'm now married (to the man of my dreams of course...love you honey!), we need to set financial goals together. I would say, for the most part, we want the same kinds of things, so that's a good starting point. I think my husband likes the idea of working towards financial freedom so we are not completely dependent on a job for income.

One challenge to reaching our goals, in my mind anyway, is getting used to the fact that we both have to consider the other person when we make decisions, including financial ones. Sometimes my husband wants to spend money on something that I don't want to buy (and vice versa), so we have to find a way to compromise so that we can be happy in the present but still reach our long-term goals. Depending on how you look at it, I guess compromising could be either a good or bad thing, but I think it's a good thing because it requires me to consider his needs and desires. If spending money on something makes my husband happy, and we can afford it, then it's really not a big deal because I want my husband to be happy. Human relationships are more important than money. On the other hand, I think the story changes if we continually neglect our long-term financial goals just so we can satisfy our short-term desires. As with anything, it is important to strike a balance between the two, and luckily, I think my husband and I are on the same page with that.

So...as we approach our four-month anniversary, we are still (surprise! surprise!) figuring things out, including how to communicate about and handle our money together, but I believe we are doing a pretty good job. I think it's safe to say that I am a little more...ummm...shall we say...aware...of our money situation. Ok...it's probably more like obsessive, but I've always been like that, and frankly, always will be! My husband is less so...not to say he is oblivious or doesn't care. To be honest, he's probably just more in the normal category! For example, the other day, my husband admitted to me that he looks less at our accounts then he used to because he knows that I'm on top of it...that I can't go more than a few days without looking at our checking account. Well that's true...I have to know where we stand financially! Every month (actually several times a month), I update our Personal Net Worth Statement and let him know how we're doing. I made up a budget (that we discussed together) and a list of all bills and their due dates (along with iPhone reminders so I don't forget to pay any). We've set financial goals. We made a list of all debts, their amounts, payment dates, the form of payments, etc, and then I printed out receipts and bank statements showing our payments and put them in a file. Yes, I realize that may be slightly over-kill, BUT in my defense, you have to be precise with debt collectors...they have no mercy. You are considered guilty until proven innocent!

Yet despite all this, there is still much to do...like creating an estate plan (wills, power of attorney, etc), property documentation for insurance, checking our credit reports to ensure accuracy, 2011 tax filings, deciding whether we want to contribute to my husband's 401(k) plan and/or create ROTH IRA's for ourselves, and setting up a usable filing system for all our documents. Those are some of our "little" goals that need to be taken care of.

Now let's talk about our bigger goals! Here they are:

1. Pay off my husband's old debts. Done! We completed that around Christmas time...hooray! We are DEBT-FREE :)
2. Finish an emergency fund of $20,000. We have $6,000 right now so that leaves $14,000 more to go. I am estimating that we can finish that in April or May. Having two incomes really helps!
3. Buy food storage for one year. We believe it is important to be prepared for emergencies (natural disasters, job loss, etc). This is also a great way to save money because food prices, in my opinion, are going to keep rising.
4. Buy other emergency preparedness supplies (i.e. tents, camping stove, sleeping bags, etc) although we do have many things already. I figure that goals #2 & #3 will be finished by the end of the summer, if not sooner, and will require several thousand dollars.
5. Save a down payment for a duplex (or house). We are shooting for $40,000, since we want to put at least 20% down on a property priced up to $200,000. If possible, I would like to pay down the mortgage substantially, if not completely, before we have kids, since I plan to quit working full-time once we do.
6. My husband wants to complete a BS degree so we will be paying for that; however, I'm encouraging him to get excellent grades so he can qualify for scholarships going forward. If we have to pay for all his schooling, it could cost anywhere from $15,000-$25,000, depending on where he goes and how long it takes him to finish while working full-time; however, these expenses will be spaced out over the next several years so we can save up for it as we go along.

Beyond that, we want to do some travelling and buy rental properties in the future, but the goals above are what we are focusing on right now. We recognize that we have been very blessed to be able to accomplish so many worthwhile things and look forward to achieving all our dreams for the future!

My Epic Blogging Failure

Well...hello there!

Ummm...so to the four readers I used to have...I completely apologize for my epic blogging failure. My life turned upside-down last summer and blogging went way down on the priority list! And although you probably don't care what happened, I want to make myself feel better, so I'm going to give you a list of excuses as to why I haven't paid any attention to my blog for six months. Here they are:

1. Work has been crazy and I taught a new class last semester that...shall we say...kicked my trash. I also got a new boss in July so that has been a transition too
2. Vacations ;)
3. I got engaged
4. I planned a wedding
5. I got married
6. There were holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Labor Day, 4th of July, ummm Columbus Day, Veterans Day, a bunch of birthdays, also New Years' and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day...the Chinese New Year...or is that coming up? Boxing Day, Black Friday...anyway there are lots of holidays during the year. It's busy.
7. I trained for and ran my first half-marathon (woohoo!)
8. I moved
9. I was lazy
10. I was forgetful

Ok some of those excuses are pretty lame and actually inexcusable; however, it's a new year, and I have decided to make my blog a priority again. It's something I enjoy doing, and I like to think that one day somebody will email me just to say how much my cyberspace ramblings actually helped them. Uhhh...yah right!

At any rate, blogging definitely helps me remain accountable and focused, even if it's just to myself. So this entry is just to get me going again...it's not for any readers who I hope may still be out there!