Have a few seconds? I’d love your vote in the RetailMeNot BlogHer giveaway!

My trip to BlogHer has been booked for months, but I’d be positively giddy if I could put some of the money I’ve saved for my trip ($20 a week for the last 10 months!)  towards some nasty credit card bills and winning a ticket would do just that!

All you have to do is click over to RetailMeNot, check my entry, and click vote! Entries appear randomly on the page, so here’s what you’re looking for…

Did I mention you’re looking especially thrifty lately?

Thanks for your vote!

Can you believe it’s almost May? This year is flying so I thought I’d give an update on how I did reaching my financial goals for the first quarter of the year and share some adjustments I’ve made going forward.

Here’s what I had planned for January thru March:

• Increase emergency fund balance to $5,000
• Pay Banana Republic in full
• Pay Bill Me Later in full

Here’s what I accomplished:

• Increased emergency fund to $2,000
• Paid Banana Republic in full
• Paid Bill Me Later in full

Not too shabby, right? Since I’m back to being employed fulltime and my husband and I have made some decisions regarding our future, I’ve updated my goals for the rest of the year.

2011 Q2 Goals

• Increase emergency fund to $4,000
• Pay Chase (1 of 3) in full
• Begin regular contributions to Roth IRA

2011 Q3 Goals

• Pay car loan (Corolla) in full
• Begin regular contributions to emergency fund (amount TBD)
• Continue regular contributions to Roth IRA

2011 Q4 Goals

• Pay Chase (2 of 3) in full
• Continue regular contributions to emergency fund (amount TBD)
• Max out year Roth IRA contribution

So, how have you done reaching your financial goals this year? Do you have any goals for the rest of the year?

You can’t see it, but I assure you, I’m doing a happy dance. A very enthusiastic happy dance.

See why…

• $376 car payment – Corolla
• $165 Sallie Mae
• $14 vet
• $26 Maudie’s takeout (craving queso!)
• $164 Sprint
• $300 Chase
• $1,864 Banana Republic PAID IN FULL
• $2,157 Bill Me Later PAID IN FULL
• $640 ING savings

Those last few items are courtsey of our tax return, which was deposited today! I couldn’t wait to write those checks and get those accounts paid off. I litererally let out a sigh of relief when I put the stamps on the envelopes.

I’ll be posting an update to our 2011 financial goals in April. Are you working towards any financial goals this year? How’s your progress?

2010 has been interesting, to say the least.

We moved across country, I’ve been unemployed most of the year, and my husband has changed jobs three times. We’ve struggled to keep our head above water all year and have finally gotten ahead in the past few months thanks to a special assignment my husband has taken working on oil rigs in the Gulf.

I’ve got big goals for the year ahead, so I divided them into quarters to make them more manageable. If necessary, all goals can be accomplished on a single income, but I’m hopeful that the job market will improve and I’ll be gainfully employed in no time, putting us ahead of schedule with our savings and debt repayment.

2011 Q1 Goals

In the first quarter of the year, I’d like to double our emergency fund and pay off any small balances we are carrying.

• Increase emergency fund balance to $5,000
• Pay Banana Republic in full
• Pay Bill Me Later in full

2011 Q2 Goals

In the second quarter, I’d like to snowball the payments from the accounts in Q1 with the existing payments on our highest interest rate credit card.

• Pay Chase (1 of 3) in full
• Begin regular contributions to home down payment fund (amount TBD)
• Continue regular contributions to emergency fund (amount TBD)

2011 Q3 Goals

In Q3, I hope to hit our stride with regular contributions to both our emergency fund and home down payment fund as well as have the title to one of our cars in my hot little hands.

• Pay car loan (Corolla) in full
• Continue regular contributions to home down payment fund (amount TBD)
• Continue regular contributions to emergency fund (amount TBD)

2011 Q4 Goals

In the final quarter of the year, the car payments from Q3 will be snowballed with existing payments on our second highest interest rate credit card.

• Pay Chase (2 of 3) in full
• Continue regular contributions to home down payment fund (amount TBD)
• Continue regular contributions to emergency fund (amount TBD)

2012 Goals

In 2012, I’d like to pay off the remainder of our consumer debt, leaving us with just my car payment and student loans (which has a near non-existent interest rate) and putting us in the position to purchase our first home!

• Pay Chase (3 of 3) in full
• Reach down payment fund balance of $10,000

So, what are your financial goals for 2011? Are you thinking into 2012, like me?

Congratulations to our winner…Breanne!

Here are your random numbers:

112

Timestamp: 2010-11-08 15:15:00 UTC

There’s an administrative aspect to financial responsibility. Organizing and filing, budgeting and tracking. Even if you’re completely debt-free, there’s one administrative duty that still needs to be tackled…

Shredding.

Between old credit card statements, receipts, and junk mail, a stack of papers containing personal information that could compromise your financial well-being can accumulate quickly. Just look at all the paperwork I accumulated in a single week!

To dispose of all my personal information properly, I’m putting the iShred Verical Shredder from Black & Decker to the test. The iShred is the only verfical shredder on the market and can turn up to 6 sheets of paper and credit cards into tiny shreds for maximum security. It also handles staples without jamming!

With nosey kids or pets around, the fuly enclosed shredder head with sliding safety shield blocks access to exposed blades. To empty, just twist the base and dump.

In addition to being functional, the iShred’s super sleek design means this shredder isn’t an eyesore in your home or office.

Look at the iShred go! (Sorry about the sideways video!) One sheet, three sheets, six sheets, six sheets with a staple, and a credit card (which I just noticed should have been fed at the bottom, not the top).

Black & Decker makes a whole range of paper shredders for home, office, and industrial use and they’ve offered (Okay. Fine. I asked if they’d let me give one away. The important thing is that they said yes.) a 6 sheet Crosscut Paper Shredder from Black & Decker for one of you!

Just leave a comment telling me how you dispose of your important papers. Do you shred? Do your fingers cramp from using scissors? Do you trash it all and hope for the best?

You can earn an extra entry for following @CorrinRenee (that’s me!) on Twitter. Leave a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!

The fine print…Entries will be accepted until midnight, Sunday, November 7. One (1) winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email. Please use your real first name a valid email address when entering. I am not responsible for incorrect contact information. Prize will be shipped to winner directly from sponsor.

This is a sponsored review and giveaway courtesy of the lovely people at Black & Decker. Please see my site policy with any questions.

I am all about living within your means while still enjoying small indulgences, and Hot (broke) Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too, by Nancy Trejos is a practical guide to doing just that.

Nancy is a personal finance columnist for The Washington Post , and while she was doling out financial advice to her readers, she was also struggling with debt.

Hypocritical? At the time, yes. But it makes Hot (broke) Messes that much more of a compelling tale knowing that the advice is based on personal experience.

As a reader, not only do we get advice about credit card debt, student loans, impulse buying and emotional spending, and how to have a social life on budget, but we also see Nancy’s journey from hot (broke) mess to financial security.

Have you read Hot (broke) Messes ? What did you think?

I received an advanced copy of Hot (broke) Messes a long long time ago and just recently got around to reading it. Affiliate links are included in my review if you’d like to contribute a few cents to help me out of debt when purchasing. Please see my site policy with any questions.

The Debt Free Manifesto is taken from My Super-Charged Life because it deserves reiterating -and I totally hope to experience all ten reasons why it’s awesome to live debt free before I die.

The Debt Free Manifesto

1. You can spend more quality time with your family, instead of on the job trying to pay off things you enjoyed yesterday.
2. Your marriage is less likely to be marred by the destructive nature of stress and money fights, directly related to spending more than you make, month after month.
3. Through your wonderful example, your ability to teach your children a more responsible and sustainable way to manage money.
4. It frees up your paychecks to do other more important things like: saving, building wealth, and my personal favorite—GIVING!
5. It’s never cool when someone else owns the fruit of your labor before you even labor.
6. You can enjoy the additional freedom of not having to worship at the altar of the “supposedly” all powerful FICO.
7. It feels WAY BETTER to sleep in a paid for home, walk on paid for grass, drive a paid for car, and eat already paid for food.
8. Being debt free gives you more options in life, and opens up doors that society has told you couldn’t be opened. (Psst…don’t listen to them)
9. The act of becoming debt free neutralizes your natural attraction and desire to “need” more STUFF, or at least provides some restraint—until you actually have the money to buy something.
10. A survey done by Forbes magazine states, 75% of the Forbes 400 (the richest 400 people in America) said the best way to build wealth is to become and stay debt-free.