A final look at Financial Goals 2010

Of course as the year is ending....we can't help but think about the future.  What changes do we need to make...where have we veered from the path. But we have to look back to know where to go.  So how did we do.

Financial Goals 2010

1) Become a better team member of Team Mysti/G-man Financial Debt Relief by actually INCLUDING G-man in my plans!  I would give myself a B- on this one. While I think I tried to include him in the final decision, most things were driven by my thoughts.

A) TOGETHER, find a minimum of $150 of expenses to cut per month. - Big fat F on this one
B) TOGETHER, pay the bills, so he can have a better sense of where our month goes, and what it FEELS like to do it.- Another big fat F.  I still do it all.  And he has no interest in it. 
C) Remember we both deserve to have a small amount of money that we don't have to account for to each other; therefore, TOGETHER decide what is appropriate and budget that in.  - I would say D on this one.  We agreed this needs to happen.  We agreed how it would happen (auto debit into ING account).  We just haven't figured out the appropriate amount.  And I am having a hard time with letting part of the budget go towards this.

2) Pay off G-man's retirement loan. I outlined the plan for this here.  - Well, this totally got busted here.

3) Pay off $5,000 worth of debt, outside of the retirement loan. - A+ on this.  I erred and didn't quite note what our January 1 balance was. However, I found a post in January where we had paid off $1000. At this point we are at just over $8000 paid off.....or about $7000 more than we were in January. It would have been more, but we also incurred some debt and then had to pay THAT back.  Anyway, we are over the $5000 goal.

4) Track expenses as they happen...not after! - Eh.....C+ for this.  I am better about tracking, but it still tends to be afterward. 

A) Work toward a Zero Balance Budget - I have one.....but we still aren't actually consistent with it.
B) Finalize usable spreadsheets (Excel and I are intimate friends ;) ) - sadly, my spreadsheet was lost in the Computer Crash February 2010.  I have new sheets, but they aren't really usable. I am constantly messing with it.  Right now I am playing with one on Gail Vaz-Oxlade's site.
C) Keep track of our coupon usage, to help spur us on! - *sigh*  I think all my coupons are expired.  We stopped getting the newspaper, so my coupon usage slowed.  Then I ran out of printer ink.  I am hoping to get back to this.


5) Open ING accounts for A) Christmas and B) Long term saving goals. Continue to fund as we go. - WOO HOO.  Did good on this!!  Even though we didn't start the Christmas one, we do have funds for camp, the car maintenance, home repair, Lending Club, and savings for particular items.

6) Find one thing each day to be proud of that I did or didn't do, related to finances. - nope

7) Keep coupons organized in new binder, allowing maximum usage, and minimal waste! - nope

8) Send in rebate offers within 1 week of purchase of said product, before I can lose the receipt, forget, or some other lame excuse.-Of the rebates I could send in, I did.  But I didn't actively seek anything out.

9) Start teaching Sassy and Bossy about money!!!! This will include starting a weekly allowance for each, and teaching them how to save for later, give to charity, and how to responsibly spend!!! - This will start for January 1.  So F for 2010.  But we do have the process down, the amount, and the concepts.

10) Respond to 75% of MyPoints and Paid Email entries..- I think I did pretty well on this one.  I added in Swagbucks, and so far so good.  I am saving points, money, GC for a new dining room set....funded completely from these type vehicles.


I would say we certainly could have done better this year.  But at least we gained insight. We aren't superstars.....but we are more aware than we were, and we are making some progress...minus the Christmas backslide. ;)

Stay tune for our 2011 goals!