Financial Goals Update...and a Splurge

Back in August, we set some financial goals in hopes to have them completed by July 1st; we base our goals around the school year as that's when our money comes in as Pete's a teacher and I babysit during the school months.

We met all of our goals in February and set some new ones.

Here's where we stand as of today:

#1: When the rest of our tax refund came in, take part of it and buy Shawna a new laptop

I got a laptop! It's pretty, and Pete was able to get an awesome deal on it. The screen doesn't shut off whenever I tilt it like the old one did, and although it also has some overheating issues, we got a cooling pad for it and that helps immensely.

#2: Have $17,000 in our savings account by July 1st.

This one is a no go.

If you remember back in March, we had some van issues and had to get a new one. This took our savings from about $12,000 down to just above $1,000. We were pretty depressed seeing all our money fly out the window, but knowing that we had a safer vehicle and we were able to pay cash for it was reassuring. We decided to change our goal from $17,000 to $5,000, figuring that was about how far we had to go to get to the $17,000 goal.

We met that $5,000 goal on Tuesday, almost 4 weeks away from our deadline.

We are in complete disbelief...with all the things we've had to buy or replace this year (a brand new water system for the house, dishwasher, mattress, heater for the basement, furnace repairs, and a van) and the debt we've had to pay off, we shouldn't be here financially. Seriously. The numbers don't add up.

All the credit goes to God. We could not have done this without Him.

Me, being the spender (or as Dave Ramsey says, the Free Spirit) is depressed with all this saving and responsibility. Yes, we've bought a lot of important things, but Pete and I have worked so hard this year and I feel like we have nothing to show for it. So totally not even close to being true, but I wanna see something fun and shiny and feel like the hard work was worth it. I want to CELEBRATE!!!! I feel so selfish thinking that, but if you're a spender, you probably know what I mean.

Pete, being the saver (or Nerd, according to Dave), is totally fine and content with what we've done.

So when we met our goal, I asked him what we should do next. He thought we could try for $6,000 by July 1st. I thought that was impossible, but hey, the rest of the year had been pretty impossible and surprising so far, so who was I to question it?

However, I asked if we could buy something fun. Pete was really hesitant, but he told me I could make a list of things I had in mind and we could discuss it.

I only put two things on my list. First thing on my list was patio furniture. If you know me, you know how badly I want patio furniture! I also put a new TV on the list. We had a really old TV (okay, so maybe not really old, but we've had it for almost 7 years, and it had been used when it was given to us), and it was starting to have issues with connections, so the screen wasn't always clear and the sound was getting muffled.

Pete told me I had to choose which one I wanted.

It was hard.

I really really really really really wanted patio furniture, but we'd use a TV more.

And he found a TV with a great deal: 37% off, plus an additional $50 rebate (a total savings of $270!). Because the sale ends tomorrow (Saturday), he ordered it Wednesday night.

And it got here this afternoon:

It's fun AND shiny!!!!

We were naughty and borrowed from the babysitting money I was earning the remainder of the week as well as the first couple days of next week. We really don't recommend putting big purchases on the credit card like that, but we knew we'd have the money and as we pay off our credit card in full on time every month, we decided to go for it.

It's also awesome because it makes our living room feel bigger. Having a big entertainment center took up a lot of space:

...I think I like the after better...

Watching a movie with the kids on the big TV was so much fun! It was nice having the TV on the wall because kids could stand in front of it and there was no yelling to get out of the way. It's the simple things in life :)

We've started talking about new goals for next year, but our list isn't complete yet. Here's what we have so far:

#1: Have a fully funded emergency fund by July 1st, 2014
We could probably get away with a $15,000 fund, but we'd feel better having $18,000.

#2: We'd like to not have to buy a vehicle in 2014
We've bought a vehicle every year since we got married. We're hoping that just for one year we can keep the car and van we have without accidents or major catastrophes that cause us to have to purchase new ones.

#3: Have our mortgage paid off by the time we turn 45
Okay, so this isn't for next year. But we really want to start chipping away at it. We're giving ourselves 15 years to do $92,000 of work.

Yikes.


What financial goals do you have right now?