ohmomto2boys
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Post by ohmomto2boys on Sept 7, 2016 11:15:26 GMT -5
Our goals were the typical pay down debt - save more money. We are doing that. Only $2900 left on the Home Equity. This will be paid off by 12/31/16. 401k savings has increased this year. Short term savings - not so good since we are taking chunks of that to pay off the Home Equity balance. So far, we both still have our jobs. Took some nice vacations this past summer. We are NOT losing weight. We are not doing anything about it either. Kids are doing well back in school. We are looking forward to DH getting a bonus better than last year. Not counting on it - just hoping. This will go directly into savings.
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lurkyloo
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Post by lurkyloo on Sept 7, 2016 21:06:38 GMT -5
Other good news: DS is no longer acting out since we moved him out of preschool back to the lower class. And I no longer have to deal with the gorramn judgmental b!tch of a preschool teacher (sample quote: " if he can't succeed in preschool, he'll never succeed in life!" Preschool teacher, meet my fist...that happens to make six figures in my own right and be married to the kid's carbon-copy father that outearns me roughly three-to-one. How much did you make, again? Tell me more about being successful in life...) OMG. My preschool teacher was thrilled that my goal for DD2 was not to eat paste. Seriously, she's three. The preschool teacher then proceeded to tell me that other parents would come in with a list of goals for their kids..and real academic goals.. At my kids' school, there's a weird trend going on to make sure the kids are "college ready." Which has translated to more computerized assessment and making middle school kids (who already own smart phones and iPads) buy an iPad for school use. I guess only having one iPad doesn't make you quite college ready. You really need two..who knows, maybe having two won't be enough by the time the peanut gets to middle school. Right?!?! It's freaking preschool. Frankly I think it's pretty sad and disturbing the amount of pressure on kids at younger and younger ages. (I do wonder a bit about your middle school's requiring kids to buy an iPad...are they getting a kickback from Apple or something? Seems like something the school ought to loan out on a school-year basis, the price point seems like it'd be a burden to a significant fraction of families.)
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Sept 7, 2016 22:01:21 GMT -5
Right?!?! It's freaking preschool. Frankly I think it's pretty sad and disturbing the amount of pressure on kids at younger and younger ages. (I do wonder a bit about your middle school's requiring kids to buy an iPad...are they getting a kickback from Apple or something? Seems like something the school ought to loan out on a school-year basis, the price point seems like it'd be a burden to a significant fraction of families.)Not really. There are few families on full scholarship, so I'm sure the arrangement has been made. Most of the families that attend the school are middle class, upper middle class, and wealthy families, with a very heavy wealthy population. Upper middle class and wealthy families can afford an extra $175/year.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Sept 10, 2016 11:21:07 GMT -5
I've still been faithful with budgeting, it's been a year! I might move numbers around a little, but everything is covered, there is an "official" emergency fund, slush funds for car repairs/maintenance/eventual replacement, clothing, all the bills, etc. I will likely need to buy new tires this winter, and have the money earmarked already, even after a large repair bill on the pickup this summer. We should find out soon exactly how much my son will be getting for college tuition, so I will reevaluate what I set aside for that soon. If it is all covered for his first two years I will divert more toward the house I want to build. I canceled a (stupid) life insurance and got a nice chunk of money back from that, so that is a big part of the new house fund. I'm also trying to open a new term insurance (cheaper) so I can drop my life insurance from work (gets more expensive as I get older, for less payout). My biggest goal was just to "de-stress" this year. I've been very successful with that. The new job is going well, and I've picked up new, relaxing, but productive hobbies--sewing, quilting, and crocheting. I've found an amazing group of women to hang out with for the quilting, even ran into a couple in the fabric store and got invited to lunch I have quite a bit of time off coming up over the next few months, so will be working a lot harder on the decluttering (and setting up a sewing room).
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Dec 3, 2016 8:10:33 GMT -5
Bunping, because it's almost years end..and pretty happy with progress. 1. Improve our financialsYes. What a relief. I'm almost at capacity for teaching, found a lunch job, day job. Actually saving money bits at a time. 2. Grad School
I'm set to take the GRE, talked to my boss about support, and have three references. I still have to write a statement and get my grades.Those will be for the new year. 3. HealthTook care of my teeth. Not an original goal. With the lunch job, I've been more active. 4. Start working through my stash.
Did really well until Sept. Then it got shot to shit. I did actually finish things. Cross stitch stash was acquired...but paid for by gift certificates.. I bought more yarn, though. Need to work on this again. Learned how to make hats. 5. Work on our HouseYes. Sort of. Better in the beginning of the year. Saving for windows next year will be a priority. Then we have another couple of projects and I think we can relax about that. What the hell, I'll shoot for the stars: 6. Read something other than blogs and messageboards.
I should stick to goals that I can count on one hand
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Dec 3, 2016 8:47:51 GMT -5
I never started with a goal, but I guess I'm feeling good about my/our progress financialthe only financial goal I had was to max out my 401k - and I am on track to do so! $24k! (because I'm an oldster, now, or so they say) I did en up paying a wee bit of cc interest this year do to putting so much into 401k, but not alot. education
meI am getting close. Prelim has incorporated advisor's first round of comments, he will look at my changes over break and then *hopefully* I will clean it up (accept changes, remove comments back and forth between me and advisor) and then it is sent to committee for review and pass/revise/fail determination. I'm nearly finished with my proposal! proposal will include prelim (80 page lit review, identifying knowledge gap, and my research questions to fill the void ) plus my methods (about 20-30 more pages). To finish the proposal, I need to get back any committee change requests to see if I need to revise my research questions which would potentially change my methods. Once I am know that, then I get advisor input on methods, then the proposal goes to committee, and then I need to schedule an oral defense of the proposal with the committee. I have done the general part of the methods, and now am outlining specific methods for each research question. I've finished 2.5 out of 10 questions. Each question is taking about a light day's worth of work. kid1 and kid2Both are doing really well and making progress towards their degrees. DD is already talking of doing a doctorate , and DS may switch schools for a better program. They are taking charge of their lives and it is fun and gratifying to observe. Just trying to help them both finish up their first degrees with minimal debt. But that is not priority one. careeris going well. Started Rukh, inc. Made some money on that. Working on 3 research articles to send for publication. I really need to get 2 out the door before the end of the calendar year, just to feel closure on some of this. I don't think I can though, and finish proposal, and take some time off for you know - holidays, family, etc. but I'll try and see where I get. Teaching again next semester. Very glad they asked me again. Looking forward to the cash, not so much all the work. Day job is super hectic sometimes and about 3-4 times a year I have to work 12 days straight. but other than that, it is pretty relaxing without the nemesis. I could stay for a while comfortably. Not much going on now, so I've been able to relax on that score. houseours need work too. I've kind of been punting on the that with all the school and work stuff I'm juggling, but next spring, going to have to take out a loan and do quite a bit of stuff, I think. They like you to take a whole year between proposal defense and dissertation defense, so I have been racing to get that clock started. then I can relax and take 1 semester to do the results, and 1 semester to do the discussion/conclusion. yardworkmore on my spring to do list! this was getting so bad, I was looking forward to the first freeze and wanting all my negligence buried in snow.... healthneed to get EOY dentist, optometrist, and medical visit schedule. DD and I did dentist already. meant to call this week, oy. hope its not too late.... I've been doing a bit more exercise, only cuz I was getting carpal tunnel symptoms....want to have more salads/fresh fruits......
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Dec 3, 2016 11:20:37 GMT -5
Financial GOAL #1: Sell the MFH Complete Goal #2: Transfer 2nd Mortgage from my house that is rented out that has XH's name on it to another line of credit without his name on it. Complete Goal #3: Push to have PMI removed from our primary residence's mortgage. Tabled. The comps are not putting our house high enough to be able to remove the PMI. Goal #4: Establish a new plan for paying off all debt except for primary residence and rental house mortgages by 2022. Plan is complete; now we just have to follow the plan. DECEMBER UPDATE: We are following the plan. We are also taking additional steps by listing my house.
Personal GOALS: Lose 15 pounds and maintain that loss & Reduce gossiping Week 2: down 1.5 - 2.5 pounds, which is where I was prior to Thanksgiving. Week 22: I was down four pounds, but I'm back up to a 2.5 - 3.0 pound loss. I've been doing well with not talking to people. December update: Epic Fail. I'm up four pounds from my weight one year ago. Starting over. I believe I've done well with the reduction of gossiping.
Professional GOAL: Decide what to do with my career: stay in teaching or return to school administration Completed: Staying with teaching. Our quality of life is much better this way right now. My retirement plans are taking a hit, and I do need to solve that financial problem.
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Lizard Queen
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103/2024
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Post by Lizard Queen on Dec 3, 2016 12:13:50 GMT -5
Aww you remembered this thread! I forgot for the most part, but thought about it briefly a few weeks ago, then promptly forgot again.
I'm not sure where my goals morphed, but the originals went like this:
Career: Going nowhere. Kid #2 does terribly in the bigger daycare because he just doesn't settle down for his afternoon nap there with so many other kids around. He gets ugly with no nap, though he's starting to grow out of them. I did get a lead for an in-home daycare, so maybe I could start looking again. The job search was tabled anyway when DH was ramping up for surgery in October, and now that he's had it and it didn't fix everything, I'm still picking up all the outdoor chores--soon consisting of dealing with snow, as well as many indoor chores. I know other people manage doing everything themselves, but wow. It's a lot of work. I've been tracking my time doing stuff lately (including helping my mom), just to see, and it truly matches a full-time job.
I still need to take the GMAT so that I can at least make some progress in this area. (I don't know. This is the source of much of my frustration and resultant anxiety. May be better to table this area altogether.)
$$: Not getting more, but spending less (other than home repairs, aka new roof). Not doing YNAB--I'm not sure that level of tracking will ever be for me. Just watching what I'm spending is all I can or need to do at the moment, anyhow. (Well, plus making more, but that goes with the above.) We ditched the cable and Hulu that we rarely watched. yay! Had a garage sale where we got rid of most of the baby gear, bringing in money and clearing out clutter. Need to take some returns back to the store and fill out a rebate for my mom.
Habits: This is going well in some areas. Lost 20 pounds, give or take. Exercising. Feeling healthier and stronger. Eating more veggies and lean protein. Being more proactive with household chores, but there's a lot more to do as well. Tracking time spent doing stuff, just so I'm aware how my time is spent. Now taking some time to enjoy watching shows on Netflix with DH. Didn't realize how down I was getting from never doing anything fun. Need to work on: even more decluttering. Still need to develop better habits with consistency. Applying for good jobs when I see them, instead of thinking too much about the logistics and then talking myself out of it.
Finishing/follow-through: Clothes are getting put away more promptly and completely. Yard clean up the same (Though some leaves may remain over by wood-pile until spring.) Roof has been replaced, but that was DH's project. Finally used up VS giftcard I've been hanging onto for a couple years. Need to finish: reading a couple books, studying up for GMAT, etc. Everything else.
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snapdragon
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Post by snapdragon on Dec 6, 2016 17:34:45 GMT -5
2016 Goals
Financial -
1 ) Pay off the 2nd Mortgage. -- DONE 9-8-16
2 ) Put $1000 into savings this year. -- spread out among my accounts DONE
Personal -
3 ) Meet with friends at least 3 times this year.
--- Managed to get in 2 visits this year and I believe I can deal with that.
4 ) Start a game night with work friends
--- It's happened once. It was fun and I will try something next year. Maybe only 2x a year so there is no pressure.
5 ) Try a new recipe every month.
--- Done a few but I have been in a funk and not interested in cooking/experimentation.
6 ) Go out of state on vacation this year. -- For myself not to visit Mom.
--- Didn't happen.
7 ) Work on decluttering the house.
--- Got some things done and I have more to do. Stuff left the house on Saturday.
8 ) Check out a different podcast every few months
--- Sticking with Campfire and it's backlog. Still have not gotten through the backlog.
9&10) -- Magically disappeared. They were never here.
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Dec 6, 2016 18:50:52 GMT -5
My goal was to control the stock market. My investments are up over 100K YTD. I spent over 53K but still up over 47K so pretty happy. I wish I really had control, sometimes just being happy is enough.
I am considering paying off or down my mortgage next year. I owe almost 120K and the ARM is expiring in 2018 so I could pay down maybe half before then and the payments would go down even if the rates go up.
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Plain Old Petunia
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bloom where you are planted
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Post by Plain Old Petunia on Dec 6, 2016 20:03:01 GMT -5
Well, let's see. My 2016 goals were:
Pay off credit cards. Done. It was BF's debt, but in my name. His house finally sold and he repaid me.
Pay off car. Done. The last $8,800 came from savings. This is my 2013 Ford Focus which I bought in November 2014. The loan started at $16,099.00.
Contribute 15% of gross to retirement accounts. 7055/8116 so far. I will finish up in a couple of weeks.
Rebuild savings to 15k. 5704/15,000 so far. This excludes short-term savings for car insurance, maintenance, house maintenance, etc. I will definitely still be working on this next year.
And here is a new goal: I borrowed 10.5k on a HELOC to replace my roof and rain gutters. I've already paid the deposit and have the balance sitting in savings. I still owe the 10.5k.
So next year's goals are easy. (To list, I mean).
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Dec 7, 2016 17:15:35 GMT -5
I did pretty well with my goals this year, and have pretty much the same goals for next year.
I picked up some hobbies to help de-stress-- learned how to do simple crochet and finished my first "large" quilt last week. Might make a similar simple quilt for DS next week.
I changed the amount I would put away for DS's college and started to allocate some overtime money to other goals, like saving to build a new house. Current goal for college is to save an average of $1k/month. Might bump it up depending on where he goes to school for a four-year.
My tires came in $150 under the quote! I was able to put them off by a year (because they didn't have my size in stock last year, and I convinced them I'd be fine since I don't commute anymore), so that gave me extra time to prepare for the expense.
Still using a budget, still moving the numbers around a little. Will try to be more faithful to the desired budgeted amounts next year, now that I have a better handle on what I really spend.
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lurkyloo
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“Time means nothing now,” said Toad. “It is just the thing that happens between snacks.”
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Post by lurkyloo on Dec 12, 2016 22:17:17 GMT -5
This thread reminded me to go do the IRA thing for the year I have to do the backdoor roth conversion, so I throw it all in at once...I've been trying to do it for months, but couldn't remember password or login, then couldn't remember the answers to my challenge questions so they made me call them. THEN they'd purged the traditional IRA since it had been empty too long. Blah. 401k is on track, I assume, since I set it appropriately at the beginning of the year. DS is making steady progress--his language skills have really been taking off lately And he loves his new daycare...he's even napping often for them AND sleeping OK at night. We have always had an awful time getting him to go the f*ck to sleep, so I suspect that's been a major contributor to/exacerbator of his ADHD type problems. He loves gymnastics, swimming and hockey and all of those teachers are pleased and a little impressed with his progress, especially the swimming teacher. He's started on the non-parent gymnastics class, which is sort of mixed, but frankly that class is basically herding cats so he's in good company. Very little progress on #2 potty training. He's earned a couple of big presents by pooing in the potty exactly twice, about a month apart I think his lack of attention/focus is going to keep him in the lower room for a bit yet anyway though. Hopefully we can make some progress over vacation. House is a moderate mess. Parents are declining, which is sad to see. We're spending Christmas with the in-laws, which is going to be interesting. I'm practicing dead silence as a response for MIL's inappropriate, ineffective, blatant attempts at manipulating me into doing what she wants. Cooking is limited by what DS will eat, and the amount of energy I have to cook multiple dishes (all three of us are picky). Good head start on Christmas chores, though, and I have a couple extra vacation days ALL FOR ME Which I will probably spend cleaning, wrapping, ordering, packing and doing laundry. Work is ok. I have a project that's going very well, so that's nice, and have done a little bit of outreach although not as much as I'd like. In my defense, 2016 has just been a remarkably sucky year on many levels. Sometimes you make it to the end of the day and everyone's alive/fed/appropriately dressed, you just call it a win and go to bed.
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ohmomto2boys
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Post by ohmomto2boys on Dec 13, 2016 11:31:07 GMT -5
DH got his bonus and it was 53% more than last year! Woot woot! It is being divided into long term savings, Roth, and a little bit to kids 529's. It was an excellent bonus. Mine - not so much. But again, it isn't counted on so it will go into savings too - most likely vacation fund.
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Post by mojothehelpermonkey on Jan 5, 2017 16:50:20 GMT -5
Checking in late here...
Moving: Winter has been a bit rough on FH (his skin is getting so dry and itchy), but we are enjoying our new town. Also, we got a puppy!
Wedding: The idea of having a traditional wedding was starting to trigger my anxiety, so we decided to just go down to the courthouse sometime within the next few months. We might still throw a party for friends and family next time we visit California though.
Career: I took a break from thinking about this for a while, but now I am ready to start focusing on finding a good job again.
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