So what about those goals?

My last post exposed to everyone where I stand financially. This was the first time I've actually added together my student loan debt, and at the start of this blog, my net worth is tallied to -$18,723.16. Ouch. Today, I want to outline my goals to tackle increasing my net worth, and address other goals I think should be considered.


As I will be joining the work force in about a weeks time, my salary is marked for three things,
1. Savings
2. School Loan Repayment
3. Fun
and pretty much in that order. My fiances' pay is marked for household bills and savings. So, with that being said, below I set some short and long term financial goals:

Real Short Term Goals (3 month):
Financial
1. Increase cash available in savings to $12,500.

2. Roll-over: I have a non-vested pension that is doing nothing for me where it is now. Since I do not plan on returning to that field/company for future employment, there is no reason to keep it where it is. I have been dragging my feet (2 years now) about rolling it over, since I have not done the research on how and who to roll it over with. This needs to be done now!

3. Eliminate the balance on the PLUS loan that my mother is paying, balance $3,300.

4. Track monthly spending.

Other
5. The wedding planning needs to begin. We've both been dragging our feet, as neither of us are interested in planning this event. The only thing we've determined so far is that we want to have a smaller, personal gathering.
a) Determine location. This is our biggest hump. We both think if we figure out location, we will be more motivated to start on all the other plans.
b) Determine Venue
c) Find dress
d) Determine guest list
e) Find engagement ring

6. Blog- Its definately challenging to blog everyday, especially as schedules get hectic. Right now, I'm trying to log on three days a week to work on my blog. Beyond writing, the things I need to focus on are:
a) Fix the aesthetics of my blog. Right now, the header size is skewed, and I need to figure out how to resize it so its more appropriate.
b) Figure out how to add goal bars to the side of my blog to track my networth, financial and debt goals.
c) Add links to my favorite blogs.
d) Consider monetizing blog with advertisements.

Short Term Goals (6 month):
Financial
1. Increase savings to $16,500. My goals is to save $4000 every three months. After I see my progress for the first three months, I'll consider adjust this accordingly, but based on what I believe my monthly income is, I think this should be possible.

2. Once I have established $12,500 in savings, I want to open a retirement account, which I need to do alot of research prior to actually opening an account. So the steps I need to accomplish prior to having the financial goal is:
a) Research retirement options: 401k, Roth, or Roth-IRA
b) Research companies
c) Know and be confident in investment options
d) Open account, rolling over $3,000 from my savings

3. Eliminate one of my unsubsidized loans that has not been consolidated. I currently have two unsubsidized loans, the lower balance of the two is $3,556.

4. The rates from my graduate loans seem high given the current offers, and is at 6.8%. I don't think consolidating will offer any benefits, since how I understand it, the rate just gets averaged over all loans. Research other options for my educational loans. Is is possible to decrease the interest rate?

5. Analyze expenses, consider setting a budget, see where we can cut back on expenses.

Other
5. Wedding - Have everything planned in its entirety. Since I don't know everything that goes into this yet, I really don't know what to set as smaller broken up chunks.. I'll get back to this.


Right now, this list looks small, and I feel as though I should have some other substantial things to work towards. However, I think this is a good start and believe that everything stated here is reasonable and accomplishable. I plan to analyze my progress monthly, to keep me focused on accomplishing the goals outlined.

I would consider working on my blog this weekend, but I'll be away for the next for days! Yay! So you can look forward to seeing some aesthetic changes on the blog next week.

BeyondYourHorizon