Cash/Credit Goals

I continue to think about the financial / lifestyle goals from The Prudent Homemaker.  (I was also thinking about when FAFSA would get my parent plus loan on Renee’s account, but that finally happened and I am in good shape mentally.)  I know the first goals for 2 financial things and how to incrementally grow them.  On the 7^th of each month is the best day to assess them – the biggest bills are paid and whatever is left in my account is truly ours.  So here we go.

Cash Goal        $1000 saved up between all 3 savings accounts

Credit Goal       $1000 reduction in the Discover card balance

Now the Discover card is a dicey topic.  I want it gone, but it has the capacity to handle a lot of emergencies if needed.  Renee’s implant will go on there; there’s nothing else that can be done.  So the Discover card balance will not be listed until September 7, after the tooth is on there. 

Here’s where things stand on Aug 7:

Cash Goal        $824.16 – need 175.84 to meet goal.

Let’s see if I can find that between now and September 7!

Goals of a Different Sort

I love lists.  I admit it.

And goals are part of list-making.  After all, what are goals, except dreams with deadlines (at the most optimistic) or things that must get done for your mental health (more practical).

I read several different blogs, not always of the same viewpoint as me.  That's OK; it helps me learn viewpoints and stretches my world view.  It also can provide new avenues for me to reach my goals.

Sometimes I've had goals.  I wanted to own a home and either be very content or married by the time I was 30.  (Marriage was not a requirement - just a goal - and not one to compromise on.  I've been married for 23 years.  I got married when I was 25.)  I wanted to get my MBA by the time I was 40; I turned 40 in my last term of school work, a goal that I shared with many, and many celebrated right with me!

And as I get ready to send my girl off to college, I am realizing I need some new goals.  One goal I've had percolating for a while is to be out of debt by the time I am 60.  I turn 49 next month.

OK, I thought, that's do-able.  We refinanced the house a few years ago. (Always have your spouse meet you at the paper signing meeting with milkshakes.  OMG what a wonderful treat!  My love language is the little things and this is one of his top gestures!)  Anyway, we had been here 10 years and I changed it from a 30 year to a 15 year,  I knew I was close to the done-at-60 goal, and since the payment comes straight from my paycheck (mortgage through work's credit union), I make one extra payment per year.  I did some recent math on my mortgage to find out I have 12 years to go.  Not much adjusting to make this 11 years to finish on time.  However, I consider this managed.

Next up are cars.  Just finished paying off Ted's car.  I ask for 12 months of no payments from the driver before they ask for a replacement car.  I believe Ted will try to go all 4 years of Renee's college career before asking for another car.  He wants an SUV next time, as it is getting harder to bend down into a car.  Additionally, he and I love to roadtrip for vacation, so I am OK buying a nice vehicle for this purpose.  Hopefully we can replace and pay off his next car before I am 60.

Then there are the 2 Sonics.  Renee and I each have Chevy Sonics - hers is a 2013 and mine's a 2015.  They were bought used.  My car is to be done in 2 years and hers in 3, but I am making advanced micropayments on hers to make it finish when mine finishes.  For me, I've learned that when a car is 10 years old, I need to turn it in because then it's good money after bad.  So in 2025 I will get a new car, used no doubt, and probably another small Chevy, and have it paid for by the time I am 60.  For Renee, the goal is for this to be the only car we buy her.  She knows this and she knows she needs to replace her car a few years after she graduates.  (If something happens, we are willing to evaluate that situation as it happens.)

That leaves credit cards.  Well, that is always hard to handle.  I always overpay each month.  I try to get the other two to limit purchases but the struggle is real for all 3 of us.  Renee has moved over many of her fun purchases to her own accounts so that has been a help.  I keep reevaluating things and it will another thorough review once we adjust to life as empty-nesters.  Another financing thing will also end in 4 years, so that helps as well.

But the big goal - OMG, the Big Goal - will be the Parents Plus loans for Renee's education.  It's like buying Chevy Sonic every year for 4 years straight.  Please note she is taking loans as well, so she is not getting a free ride from her parents.  She also earned a scholarship for half her tuition and the other half of her tuition is a benefit from Ted's work, as her school and his employer are in the same university system.  These loans have a 10 year period and when she is done with school, I will be 52, so that does not make my plan.

This is where I am racking my brain.  I'm not deferring payment - let's get the show on the road.  Ted's car payment is done, so I can afford her payment for now.  But I want to just shorten the life of the loan.  I think I might do micropayments every 2 weeks.

The way I micropayment is to take the monthly payment and divide it in half.  Then round that up to the next $5 (no pennies.  just no.)  Make that payment every 2 weeks for 3 months.  Each quarter, I add $5 to those biweeky payments.  While it doesn't seem like much, I do make one whole extra payment per year, plus all those little $5 extra payments add up.   I've been doing this with Renee's care and I am 6 months ahead on it.  At this rate, I will be done with her car in 2 years.  So I am a firm believer in micropayments!

OK, that's a lot of what I am doing.  But yesterday I was on one of those blogs that is different from me and they pointed me to another blogger who, while the polar opposite of me, has some great money-saving, money-stretching ideas.  She also acknowledges not everything works for everyone, but everything should be worth a try.  Fair enough. 

She blogs at theprudenthomemaker.com, and the most intriguing thing is the idea on feeding her large family for 40 cents a day on average.  While I will never get that low, I wonder how low Ted and I can go.

And the challenge begins.  She talks a lot about being mindful, and while I won't post every week, I will post every once in a while on this...

Quilty Goals - 2008

Another post. I pilfered off my LiveJournal account so that my blogspot has a clear thread about what I am thinking on the quilting front. This was written a few weeks ago, so some paragraphs will have updates.

I have taken some serious stock of my quilting stuff since I had to integrate my cousin’s stash into my own and man, I have enough fabric. I have decided to participate in some quilty challenges in 2008. I’m on a yahoo group called Stashbusters, and they have several challenges to get people using or donating their stash and not making the problem worse. The 4 challenges I hope to participate in are:

The No Buy Challenge – I will not join officially, so I will do what is know as the Spirit of No Buy, which a lot of us do. The premise is that you can only buy to finish a project you are doing RIGHT NOW. These are legal purchases. I would love to do this for a year, if not longer. Right now I am aiming for starting after I get back from retreat (November 5) and getting through year end. I am thinking of saving up $10 per week for every week I can make it through. By the end of 2008, that would be a tidy sum. I am including books and patterns in that, but I do have a running tools list that I keep. If I find it, I buy it, as not every shop carries every thing. UPDATE: I bought nothing at the retreat, and so I need to start saving my $10 bills!

The 100 Yard Dash Challenge – Everyone just does this one by themselves; there’s no official challenge as we cannot come to a consensus on how to count it. Some want to do only things in your stash, but if you had to make a purchase (as indicated above), that doesn’t count. I just take the measurements of the project, count the front and back, convert to square inches and add the binding. Then I take the total square inches and divide it by 42” for the width of the fabric on the bolt and then by 36” for yardage. Right now, I’ve used about 20 yards in 2007, but should I bang out a ton of finishes here in the last 2 months, that could ramp up quickly. My goal would be 200 yards (this year and next) by the end of 2008.

The UFO Challenge – this one I join for real. It’s complicated to explain, but my personal goals for 2008 are 12 twin sized (or greater) finishes. This is basically finishing up old projects that have been abandoned. Another goal is not to start any more; the count needs to go down.

The WIPs and WHIMMs Challenge – this is another one I join for real. This rewards the projects started and completed within the same calendar year, thus reducing new UFOs. I don’t care how many of these I have.

UPDATE: I was the Linus Lady for my guild and then I moved. I spoke to my fellow guild members/bee members at the retreat last weekend (it is fantastic when your guild President and VP are in your bee. You can get so much done!), and they solved the problem for me. The ruling was that the guild will no longer support Project Linus as a guild. People are free to do their own thing. As for all the supplies and fabric that people dumped on me for Linus that I paid to move, I can sort through them and donate them in my local community to a like charity. YAY! I have been going through boxes and bins for the last 2 days, sorting into charity for Linus, charity other, garbage and my stuff. 3 boxes are gone, 1 more is full of Linus stuff, 1 garbage bag is other charity donations and there are 3 bags of garbage. YAY! This has been a huge hassle in my garage and we need to get it resolved. Now that it is, full steam ahead!