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?
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?
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?
Putting that chunk of money into savings felt good. I’m resting a little easier knowing we have enough in our emergency account to cover two months of living expenses. Ideally, I’d like to have enough for six months, so we’ve got a ways to go.
I can’t be the only one who always thinks this is an ING commercial until the last ten seconds (and then feels a little disappointed).
In my opinion, ING has done a much better job of tying their brand to the color orange than AT&T has and they are now reaping the benefits of another company’s advertising dollars.
I know that whenever I see this commercial, I’m reminded to make a deposit into my ING IRA.
And for whatever it’s worth, I’m a Sprint customer.
This week’s Thrifty Tip comes about from a purchase I made this weekend.
I know, I know. Not thrifty, but I like to think of it as an investment.
I collect Buddha statues, so when I was out shopping with my mom and sister (who were in Austin visiting from Chicago and New York) I couldn’t pass up a Buddha piggy bank from a junk store to add to my collection!
I think piggy banks are great for kids and adults. My husband and I have used a piggy bank since we got married and we cash out the change to use as our spending money on vacation every year.
I may even have two separate piggy banks; one for silver and one for pennies.
Here are my criteria for a piggy bank:
Big (to hold a lot of cash)
Cute (to hold my interest)
Cannot be opened without smashing (to keep me honest)
Either way, that house is adorable and we would buy it.
Is MTV Cribs still on television? Given the current state of the economy, do people still like to see celebrity indulgence? I don’t see it as fun and lighthearted when that lifestyle is so unattainable.
Are there any stats on how many celebrity cribs have been foreclosed on? Especially those featured on MTV Cribs?
Not that I would laugh at celebrity misfortune. Oh no.
Have a few seconds? I’d love your vote in the RetailMeNot BlogHer giveaway!
$490 car payment – Prius
This week’s 
