Wednesday, December 25, 2013

My financial goals for the next few years

I was thinking a bit about what I'd like to accomplish in terms for money over the next few years. I'm impatient and would love to accomplish them all in the next few months, but like when you're paying off debt, it might be best to put them in order so I can stay focused and motivated. I feel like I've lost a bit of my money motivation lately. Luckily my husband got a pretty nice raise last year, so the month to month expenses are pretty much now covered by his income alone. But we still could be doing a lot better so I need to use my money wisely.

Here are some of my current financial goals to accomplish in the next few years.

  1. Pay for new windows and siding with cash ($20,000 to $30,000?). This really isn't my goal, but my husband wants to do it. I'll do it, but I don't want to take out a loan to do so.  I'll have to get some quotes this spring because $20-$30K is a large range and it would be nice to know how much this will actually cost!
  2. Pay for a replacement vehicle for our aging 2001 Ford Ranger ($20,000 - $25,000) Ideally I don't want to buy brand new, but one that is about 2 years old probably is still over $20K)
  3. Increase our emergency fund from $4,000 to $12,000 (about a month's worth of expenses to about 3 to 4 months of expenses).
  4. Pay down the mortgage as fast as possible. I'm currently paying an extra $150 a month, but I want to save for that truck first so why pay down the low-interest/tax deductible mortgage if doing so means I'll have to get a car loan? Once goals 1 and 2 are done, I'd like to pay at least an extra $500 to $600 a month. 
  5. Fully fund my IRA every year. That is unless I ever get a job with a 401(k). I recently applied and interviewed for one, but it doesn't look like I got in this time, but I hear there may be another round of hirings in 2014. 
  6. Vacations - I hate winter and need to escape!
So right now I have about $30,000 in cash not including the $4,000 EF or cash that is being saved for bills. So I pretty much have enough to pay off number 1, and if it's not too expensive, I have a good start on goal number 2. It's tough when the goals are so big and sometimes it takes a year just to accomplish just one.