As 2020 approaches, I think I need to add some measurable numbers and dates to my previous goals, and also add a few other things to help keep me motivated. Many of you hit the nail on the head when you said I am motivated by having goals. Yes, I am! So, here are my 2020 Goals Expanded:
- Get rid of PMI. $125 for the BPO. Achieve by March 1.
- Complete house remodel/addition plans. Zero OOP. Achieve by April 30.
- Use the remainder of the certificate. Wild guess of an added $2,500 needed. Achieve by September 30.
- Fix our truck and get new tires. Achieve by May 31. Wild guess of $2,000
- Repair our zero-turn mower. Achieve by June 30. Another wild guess of $1,000.
- Save $12,000. Achieve by the end of the year.
- Increase 401K to 12%, Achieve by the end of the year.
And now for an added goal, which is likely not achievable, but it never hurts to try!
- Reduce mortgage principal by $40,000. In 2019 we paid off a smidge over $23,000 in this area, so this is really aiming high! In a perfect year, this goal might be achievable, but have we ever had a perfect year?
And a previously mentioned goal:
- Reduce our electric bill. I’m aiming to see a reduction of at least 20%, which would save us around $200.
And as for Motivational Mondays:
- Use our house remodel/addition plan as a motivator to earn more from M-Turks. I think I’d be more inclined to do more with M-Turks if the money earned was being saved for something exciting. I’m going to add what I’ll call “Motivational Monday” to the blog. That will be the day I’ll transfer the money earned for the week into a designated savings account. For fun, I’m also going to set a goal of earning $2020 for 2020. I do think this is doable IF (and that is a big IF) I stick with it.
And last but not least, do a better job tracking our numbers, and I do mean ALL of them! I haven’t quite decided on how just yet, but I’m thinking about maybe blogging about more of our specifics. It might be just what I need to stay on course with this goal. Perhaps a “Where the Money Went” blog post each month? I’ll give it some thought.
It is a bit scary putting these goals with numbers and time frames into writing, but weirdly, it is also exciting! Could 2020 be our biggest year yet for financial wins? That is what I’m aiming for!
Yay for goals! I know you will achieve them :). Did you find that getting that new furnace made your electricity bills go down? I’m amazed at our heat pump/furnace combo. My electric bill for November was $232.
I’m aiming to hit them! Hard telling on the eletric bill. It was down a little over $12 from the same time the last year, but I think some of that may be from not needing so many lights on for our dogs.
WONDERFUL goals!!! I know you will achieve every one of them – you are that motivated!!! Ours are:
(1) to do all the remodeling within budget UNLESS we have saved up cash for anything else we would like/have to do.
(2) to do Christmas COMPLETELY through Swagbucks rewards – spend less than $50 oop
(3) add another $600/month to our retirement funds in addition to the $400 that goes in there now…tough, but doable
(4) wrack up NO NEW DEBT since we will be debt free with part of the re-fi money
(5). make double payments to the mortgage every 3 months….again, tight, but doable.
(6) keep track of grocery/household/pet spending – KNOW WHERE THE MONEY GOES!!!!
Here’s to us all acheiving our goals!!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I do loving having goals! You’ve made some excellent ones too. Let’s make 2020 the year we achieve them all! Merry Christmas, Sue!
I really love your goals and I really need to make some but I have a hard time deciding between saving (DH is in construction) and paying off debt (a lower monthly nut would be nice).
Finding a balance is something I struggle with too. While paying down our mortgage won’t reduce our monthly out-go, it will give us a needed boost to getting it paid off before Hubs retires. How to do this AND plan for making some major changes to our house…the struggle is real!
It’s way pass the time but I still like your goals and I’ll take it. I’ll bookmark it too. So that I can remind myself every time I’m browsing. This would be the first goal for me from you. I look forward to new goals.