2016 Financial Goals - Peach fuzz (noob) edition

[arpies]

July Update:
Full student loan repayment. (~24.6k estimated June) Done!
Reduce monthly expenditures to 1500/mo 1600 for this month.Getting closer!
Catch up on my back RRSP contribution room ~18k  On hold due to business plans
Renegade, the series Small progress: 3.2/5!
Working out consistently. Working tons, but not really working out.

New goal: Start an invoice factoring business ~30k $4k in there

Goals Achieved: 1

[StiffUpperLip]

UPDATE! 1 month in...

1. Pay off car loan - currently at £4500 - not quite... Paid off £2k of this so getting a lot closer!

2. Get emergency fund back up to £12k which is 6 months bare bones expenses. - At £10k so doing OK on this one I think

3. Sell about half of my stuff (and convince hubby to do the same)  so we can get rid of the storage unit (at £100 every 4 weeks!) - been slow to start on this one, sold only 3 items so far but it's something I guess.

4. Don't quit making side income from matched betting (I find it sooooo boring but it's my only established side hustle) - Fail! I haven't done any this month.

5. Increase pension contributions via a SIPP such that my taxable income comes in under £50k for the year, saving tax and gaining full Child Benefit. - Decided to wait til after the summer as childcare costs are going to skyrocket with no more free hours for K1 now term has finished and with K2 in aswell now.

6. Develop one additional side hustle this year - likely an ebook or blog/online course. - Been working on an e-course and reading up on building a website/marketing etc. Also started an ebook but still looking into how this works re marketing etc too. Signed up to some slow-hustles survey sites etc but thinking I'm diversifying too much here and need to concentrate my efforts rather than spreading my efforts so thinly over so many areas.

[neo von retorch]

Yeah, I know. It just kills me to see the measly return I'm getting on so much money.
The other question is also what to do once we hit that (relatively arbitrary) figure of $50,000. Keep throwing money at it and have a larger down payment? Stop it there and separate off the new money for other expenses?

Try not to inflate your house budget, and start putting that excess money in investments (unless you're talking about expected irregular expenses that you want to fund before long-term investments.)

[Dancing Fool]

A bit late to be putting goals on paper since it's nearly the end of July, but here goes:

- Max out 401(k) or come as close as possible with employer only allowing whole percentages of deductions. This is a big step up from previous years where I've only contributed enough to max out the employer match.
- Max out Roth IRA - may carry 1-2 weeks over into next year, but not by much. I've done this the past two tax years with the help of annual bonuses, so this is more of staying the course for me.
- Reduce grocery / solo food spending to ~$50 / week: not as ambitious as many on here, but it still represents a 33% or more reduction from where I was at pre-MMM. I also travel 2 weekends out of the month for dance training, so it's not as easy to reduce the spending for those weekends as when I'm in town.
- Hold to a strict discretionary spending budget: this would include flights home to visit family, furnishings for a new apartment, tolls for using the local toll roads, meals / drinks out with friends, dates, etc. I've been a bit liberal with this in the past (I make $XX / year, this isn't so much in the big picture of things), want to avoid absentmindedly spending more than I intend for the year (it's in part made necessary .
- Bike to work at least 3x / week. Currently averaging 1-2x a week; this isn't strictly a financial goal, but it'll save me some in gas, repairs, and (most significantly) tolls on the way too / from work. Plus be all-around good for my health.
- Save up to fund dance travel for Q1 and Q2 of next year in advance: Competitive ballroom dancer, the first two quarters are our highest volume for competitions. I'm allocating $800 every 4 weeks to my dance budget, need to make sure I have low enough spending that there will be sufficient leftover by the end of the year to pre-book two out of town trips in March and April of 2017 (possibly a third in January as well).
- Start monetizing my dance knowledge: I'm unsure how much I'll be doing of this, but I think I'd like to start teaching lessons for a bit of side income to help defray the cost of my dance hobby (plus lay the foundation for a possible post-FIRE career). Plan is to get an add up on some wedding sites, plus maybe building my own website for it. I'd love to be at the point by the end of 2017 where my side income from this covered my rent by itself, but that'll be a bit of a stretch goal.

Some background: I'm a competitive ballroom and latin dancer (passion project, not day job) and travel to a neighboring city 4 hours away to train with my partner. We also have travel for competitions, costumes, and lessons which eat into the budget as well. Because I'm sure people might balk at the $800 / month (really every 4 weeks) budget for it.

[OmahaSteph]

Wow, it's the second week of August. Only 4 more months to finish up 2016 goals.

*Pay off credit card: Transferred as much as possible to a 0-interest card. The balance on the high-interest card continues to decrease.

*Move to more Mustachian apartment when current lease is up: Moving Friday. It is completely funded. :)

*Take work clothes to a tailor to be tweaked instead of buying new: I've sold and given away a lot, but I've developed a ThredUp addition. 

*Limit restaurant spending to <$50 / month: Yeah, no.

New goal is to pay off the high-interest card and build up the savings again since most of it went to funding the move.

In November (open enrollment) I need to evaluate my contributions to the Dependent Care FSA and the Health Care HSA. I'd like to bump up my contributions to the latter but not sure if that's possible at this point.

[neo von retorch]

* Maximize 401k contributions (increasing contributions to 25% in two weeks, for the rest of the year)
* Prepay on mortgage until we reach 78% LTV; contact credit union to drop PMI By the end of this month, we'll be under 80% - will contact CU; might need 78%
* Move all investments to self-managed Vanguard; determine personal asset allocation and start balancing periodically Still haven't sent in forms to transfer assets  - slacker!

* So I didn't realize that banks use the sale price, not the appraised price. Plus, if I want to remove PMI at 80%, I have to pay for an appraisal (even though we just bought in April.) Ironic that they don't use the appraisal for LTV, yet they still require it? So anyway, we should reach 78% LTV by the end of October, at which point PMI is dropped with no action or cost on my part.

* IRA has been liquidated from Betterment and is on its way to Vanguard. Taxable account still at Betterment but Vanguard has switched status to "Transfer in Progress" - so it should be completed within 6 weeks. (This will be an "in-kind" transfer.)

[kandilynn]

Okay, I'm super late to the game, but better late than never, right? I just discovered MMM last week while I was trying to figure out how to pay my bills. This summer has been ROUGH! (My husband is going back to school using his GI Bill and since he wasn't taking classes this summer he didn't get BAH AND he didn't have his work study job that he had during the school year. He got a job dealing at the casino, but he had to do two weeks of unpaid training and it was a few more weeks before he got a paycheck and I only make about $900 a month at my part-time job so we had too many bills and no way to pay them. My bank statement is riddled with $29 overdraft fees.) So, now that we are getting back on track I'm trying to figure out our finances so we don't have that trouble anymore and my research led me here. YAY!

So here are my goals for the rest of the year.

1. Find a new job. Right now I clean houses part time at $9.50 an hour. There are no health benefits and I drive A LOT! (So, I need something with higher wages, health insurance, and is closer to where I live.)

2. Start a budget and stick to it! (I'm thinking YNAB. I think we can get it for free since my husband is a student.)

3. Pay off our 3 smallest debts. (We owe under $800 for each of them and if we get them paid off we will free up around $350 to put toward other debt.)

4. Put back money for emergencies.

5. Work toward getting far enough ahead that we can live on last months income.

6. Work toward paying off our credit card. (We've been paying on this thing for 12 years!)

I'm also going to be cutting expenses anywhere I can and selling off some of our books/dvds/games/clothes to get extra money as well.

[thoughtfullymark]

As a recent grad, it makes sense for me to join this now. Granted there is only 4 and a half months left in the year I will make my goals known. This is my first time working a salaried position so it will be exciting to track my goals down and get on track.
My goals:
1.Have a small emergency fund of $3,000.
2. Pay off $7,000 in federal student loans.
3. Max Roth IRA at $5,500.
4. Do a week long vacation to the west coast for <$250. (Slightly off topic)

With a small amount of luck(no major setbacks). This plan should come together and I will set off the new year with a net worth of -$12,000.

[OmahaSteph]

Welcome, kandilynn and thoughtfullymark! Yes, better late than never. Great goals, and the remaining months in 2016 will give you a good idea of what to tweak for 2017.

[arpies]

August:
Full student loan repayment. (~24.6k estimated June)

Reduce monthly expenditures to 1500/mo About 1600 again, might call that my sweet spot
Catch up on my back RRSP contribution room ~18k  5.2k in there
Renegade, the series Small progress: 3.3/5!
Working out consistently. Gone a couple of times, a massive improvement!

Goals Achieved: 1

[kandilynn]

So here are my goals for the rest of the year.

1. Find a new job. Right now I clean houses part time at $9.50 an hour. There are no health benefits and I drive A LOT! (So, I need something with higher wages, health insurance, and is closer to where I live.)

I'm hoping I can check this off soon. I have an interview tomorrow with Midway USA. The job pays $2 more an hour, it's full time with medical/dental/vision insurance and a company matched 401k. And it's 20 minutes closer to my house (still 20 minutes away, but closer.) Wish me luck!

[kandilynn]

Got the job! Goal #1 check!

[song gnos]

Got the job! Goal #1 check!

Congrats! Awesome to see people making these goals and following through with them.

[alewpanda]

I'm jumping in for the last 4 months!

1. Buy half a cow to save on meat costs (happening next month)
2. Eat down fridge, freezer and pantry through September (to make room for cow, and lower bill for the month to help make up for cow expense)
3. Open an HSA account and deposit several hundred to start.
4. Build emergency fund back up to 5000 (at 4200 right now)
5. Funnel all "extra" funds from babysitting, art sales, selling random junk towards the last of the student loans (1175 owed still). 
6.  Cash flow trip to visit family over Christmas time -- including cash flowing gifts

I think thats all we'll manage in the next 4 months. The cow will eat up all of the "extra" money for September, and our income isn't super high right now.  So October's "extra" to emergency fund....and then November's to student loans?  And then some of the extra into an HSA and the rest of the "extra" towards travel and to round out the Christmas gifts in December?   

Seems feasible....

[SuperSaver]

1. Payoff car ($5k left) paid off
2. Continue stashing 6% of salary in 401k and get 4% match. Saving 7% and getting 4% match
3. Beg fiance to open his 401k and get 4% match.
4. Save $7,000 cash for wedding (130+ people, Sunday afternoon in 2017) new goal save $10,000. So far we've saved $3,100 but spent $2,300 on dress and deposits already. Trimmed list to 109 guests
5. Save $3,000 for Aruba Honeymoon (Southwest CC will get us free flights)
6. Fluff up Emergency Fund (currently it's at 2 months expenses) and then all extra money goes towards Student Loans womp womp its gotten lower due to repairs and expenses stacking up

Overall were doing fine. I'm also job hunting as in underpaid by 20-30%.

[beantown]

Was on vacation during last month's check in so checking in for the last 2 months.

August's stats:
Goal 1: Pay off $18k in federal student loans - Loan balance is at $7,500 now. Did not pay off as much in the last couple of months due to said vacation.
Goal 2: Max out 401k for the year ($18k) - On Track. Contributed $13.8k total to my 401k so far in 2016
Goal 3: Save $6k in emergency fund - Actually had to take some money out for a medical emergency. boo but I guess that is what a E Fund is for. E Fund at $3.4k
Goal 4: Hit $0 net worth - Right now my net worth is -$13.1k including loans from parents. Net worth increased $7.9k in July and August despite the vacation and the medical emergency.

[OvertheRainbow]

My new 2016 financial goal is to open a 401k and try to max it out or at least put 25% of my wages into it (approximately 14k) and to stay out of debt.

So far, I am at 25% in my 403b and have 7k in. Should have about 12k by the end of the year. Also have started a 457b and have about 1k in.

Not as awesome as I hoped, but next year should be even better!

[frugalfanny]

A check in is a good idea. Here goes:

Total noob here.

My 2016 goals:

-Reduce student loan balance from $35,000 to $25,000 (this is really my main goal... I wish I could pay the whole thing this year.) Down to $33,682.
-Use my budgeting spreadsheet to track expenses This is now an established habit.
-Switch to cheaper car insurance (currently $82/month) No action on this.
-Switch to cheaper phone plan (currently $60/month) No action on this.
-Reach a total of $50,000 in my retirement accounts I'm really hoping for better return this year, although it's not looking great. Down from $46,000 to $43,000

Additional goals:

-Hike 2x a month
-Take a walking break (~15 minutes) 5 times a week
-Keep snacks stocked in the car and at work to prevent fast food binges
-Bring lunch everyday (no fast food) (save $70/month)
-Cancel gym membership in February (save $12/month)
-Put extra money to student loan payment ($70+$12+$50 raise=$132)
-Step back in other budget categories to bring total student loan payment from $1100 to $1300

Student loan is down to $32,747 with aim for $25,000 by end of year
Retirement account back up to $46,000 with the aim for $50,000 by end of year
Still haven't done anything with car insurance, phone or gym membership
I have only eaten fast food for lunch once this month, which is a huge improvement. Every other day I have brought food from home.
Haven't hiked at all this month so that sucks.
In March I have taken an average of 3.8 walks per week, which is not great but much better than before so I am going to keep trying!
I have not been able to add any more to my student loan payments because I am taking a trip to Denver, CO in April. Waiting for refund from work for travel expenses. And tax refund.
And I'm out of car snacks!!

Also I need to get items ready to sell in a flea market in July.

I think I  made too many goals. Back to basics. Paying down student loan and saving for retirement are my primary goals.

Student Loan goal: $25,000. Down to -$26,992 (so close!)
Retirement Goal: $50,000. Today's value: $52,526  (whoohoo!)

My car insurance went down to $63/month from $82/month on my birthday. Got two unexpected (small) raises so far this year and my yearly review will result in a raise as of Nov 1. Looking forward to that and exceeding my financial goals this year!

[alewpanda]

I'm jumping in for the last 4 months!

1. Buy half a cow to save on meat costs (happening next month)
2. Eat down fridge, freezer and pantry through September (to make room for cow, and lower bill for the month to help make up for cow expense)
3. Open an HSA account and deposit several hundred to start.
4. Build emergency fund back up to 5000 (at 4200 right now)
5. Funnel all "extra" funds from babysitting, art sales, selling random junk towards the last of the student loans (1175 owed still). 
6.  Cash flow trip to visit family over Christmas time -- including cash flowing gifts

I think thats all we'll manage in the next 4 months. The cow will eat up all of the "extra" money for September, and our income isn't super high right now.  So October's "extra" to emergency fund....and then November's to student loans?  And then some of the extra into an HSA and the rest of the "extra" towards travel and to round out the Christmas gifts in December?   

Seems feasible....

1. Cow is going t o the slaughterhouse tomorrow, so within the week we will know exactly what we will owe for it.  We have money in savings set aside.
2. Slowly eating down pantry.  More food was given to us by a neighbor who was moving....so, still a reasonable amount of food there.  On the other hand, much of last years beef is gone...just in time for this years!
3. Found out my husbands FSA that is used strictly for monthly payments may inhibit this.  However, I am being forced to find new insurance again in December because my plan is being discontinued.  By then I will have researched and figured out how 'limited' a 'limited' FSA has to be in order to also qualify for an HSA
4. Emergency fund has been static, but hasn't gone down...so...good?
5. Student loans are almost gone!  519.00 left :)))
6. Trip dates need to be set..hubby has been earning extra comp time that we may be able to apply.  Gifts are half bought/made already...so far, so frugal ;)

[Rhoon]

- Max out 401K ($18K): On track, should be done in November
- Max out tIRA for both my wife and I ($11k): Wife: On Track, Mine: $1500
- Increased payments to DWs student loans to $600 month, payoff is roughly 5 years ($34K) Had to remove this one due to budget constraints.
- Pay off truck ($45K), yeah, we bought a new one; I used my escrow overage check to make a couple of extra payments and reduced the payoff to 5 years from 6. Still on track.
- Get solar panels installed to eliminate power bill ($24K -$8k federal tax credit). Payoff in 5 years by making larger payments, which don't exceed my current power bill. Free power in 5 years. Goal Accomplished for the installation. Went Live in May, new bill is $16/mo
- Spend more time outside with my son. Mission accomplished this summer.
- lose 20 lbs . Down 7 lbs and 2 inches off my waist.
- increase e fund by 5% (currently at $19K). Stalled on this one till the repairs in my house are done. Getting the insurance company to pick up most of the bills though.
- Shop for lower costing house insurance. In process.


In short, in 5 years we'll be debt free other than our mortgage. Looking to be FI in 10 years.

[dogboyslim]

Updated through September:

1. Stay employed So far so good.
2. Maximize contribution to roth 401k Hit 18k this month.  Employer Match to date is 19.8k
3. Pay off Mortgage (~34k) Done by 3/1
4. Not buy a new(or used) car So far so good. As of April: Old cars starting to break more...we did look at a replacement car, but did not fail on the goal  FAIL!  Brakes failed and car tried to kill us.  Decided to buy a used replacement.  Financed due to low APR.  New debt is spendy-pants embarrassing
5. Only purchase wear items for bikes/fitness nothing crazy here, but not strictly meeting the goal
6. Get down to 1 gym membership (Choosing the Y since kids swim there)FAIL.  I joined a different gym but I'm actually going.
7. Add $18k to Savings emergency cash fund (currently at 6 months, want to get this to 12, then begin more investment) $17,500/$18k.  Looks like we will hit $25k by year end.  We dumped the idea of big emergency fund and have gone to 10k cash.  Everything else goes into investments for 5-10 year time horizon.
8. Investigate ways to put more tax deferred money away (No roth due to income, no backdoor roth due to pro-rata rule and $900k in traditional IRA from 401k rollover, no HSA since my health plan doesn't qualify me) FAIL

[afuera]

Goals for the remainder of the year:
Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  He's a Mechanical Engineer in Houston so if y'all know of anything... ;)
Spend less than 40K in 2016.
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K (max down payment we could need)
Max out Roth IRA for 2016.
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self).  My hubby will have to wait till 2017 for Lasik.
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the Fall.
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K)

Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  Mr. trappedinmyoffice has an interview this week! (cross your fingers!!)
Spend less than 40K in 2016. Our avg spending right now will put us at 45K.  Time to refocus and kick butt for the rest of the year.
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K. Currently at 57K.
Max out Roth IRA for 2016. On track.
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self).  at 2K
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the Fall. Not started :(
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K) Currently at 137K

Mid-Year Update:

Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  An internal employee got the job hubby was interviewing for.  He was feeling very confident (they took him on a "ride along" type of interview) so this was a hard pill to swallow.  Back to the drawing board.
Spend less than 40K in 2016. Avg is around 44k. Still need to bring this down.
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K70K. Currently at 62K. New goal for the year is 70K
Max out Roth IRA for 2016. On track. Rolled husband's old 401k into a tIRA and on track to max that as well.
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self).  Still at 2K after spending $1000 on wisdom teeth removal.
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the Fall. STILL not started :(
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K) Currently at 158K

Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  Hubs is still jobless. Really sucks but its nice having him take care of everything around the house and errands.
Spend less than 40K in 2016. Fail. We were on track until we bought our house. Between closing costs and a huge plumbing repair, average for the year is going to be closer to 60K :(
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K70K. Done! We used this cash to buy our house! Still have 10K in the account as our E-fund.
Max out Roth IRA for 2016. On track.
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self).  At $3,700 and will have 4K by next paycheck!  Guess I should schedule my consultation :)
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the Fall. Fail. We delayed this trip until next year because of the whole buying a house thing.  Substituted a couple short, close by vacations and having family come visit us instead.
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K) Currently at 175K.  We might be able to barely get to 200K by EOY.

[neo von retorch]

Because I want to type this out so it's in my brain (and a moment ago, I thought I had no financial goals this year)

* Maximize 401k contributions (increasing contributions to 25% in two weeks, for the rest of the year)
* Prepay on mortgage until we reach 78% LTV; contact credit union to drop PMI
* Move all investments to self-managed Vanguard; determine personal asset allocation and start balancing periodically

As of tonight (once this month's normal payment is processed) the mortgage will hit sub-78% LTV. I believe PMI will not be deducted from escrow this month; not sure if escrow payment will be recalculated. I'll wait for the Oct. 15th statement, and if not, I'll request that at that time.

All investments are in Vanguard (except my wife's IRA). Haven't re-balanced yet, except when I moved the IRA (which was liquidated) into Vanguard. Doesn't have to be done often... :)

[andy85]

1) Pay off CC
2) 10% 401k minimum
3) Get E.Fund up to 4500-5000
4) Spend no more than $32k for the year
5) NW increase to $50k+ (currently right at $40k)

(6. switch departments and get a raise)

edit: also, thanks for this thread. I always feel silly posting in the ones where every single member is just maxing everything out. I am a few years out from being able to do that (in terms of salary). Guess I'm still a noob. Maybe after a NW of 100k i'll move on to those threads :)

1) Pay off CC - Done
2) 10% 401k minimum - Done
3) Get E.Fund up to 4500-5000 - Done
4) Spend no more than $32k for the year - On pace
5) NW increase to $50k+ - Will easily do by May.

(6. switch departments and get a raise - Promotion coming in June-sih, same dept unfortunately, but a title and pay bump)

Additional Goals:
7) Pay off car (was at 5700 at the beginning of the year, around 4400 now)
8) Get E.Fund up to $7500
9) Contribute $2000 to my IRA (then max out 2016 and 2017 early next year)
10) NW increase to $65k (currently right at $48k)

Its only the end of March and I've pretty much already hit my goals i set at the beginning of the year.

Forgot about this thread...let's see how things look going into the last quarter of the year..

1) Pay off CC - Done
2) 10% 401k minimum - Done
3) Get E.Fund up to 4500-5000 - Done
4) Spend no more than $32k for the year - Nope. Going to be closer to $40k, but $10k of that was to pay off my CC and car loan, so i guess not a complete failure.
5) NW increase to $50k+ - Done

(6. switch departments and get a raise - It is now October...still no pay bump. It is still coming down though this year...or so I've been told.)

Additional Goals:
7) Pay off car (was at 5700 at the beginning of the year) - Done!!
8) Get E.Fund up to $7500 - This isn't going to happen. Will be closer to $6000
9) Contribute $2000 to my IRA (then max out 2016 and 2017 early next year) - This won't happen either. I will still max it out by tax day of next year, but no contributions this year. so this isn't a total loss.
10) NW increase to $65k (currently right at $48k) - This is going to be close. Should for sure be over $60k, but not sure if i will  hit $65k

Goals are always changing throughout the year. Definitely got a little ambitious thinking i could get my emergency fund up to $7500 AND get $2000 into my IRA this year, all while paying off $10k in debt.

[OmahaSteph]

We're into the 4th quarter - how's everyone doing with their 2016 goals? I see some of you have been killing it!

I've accomplished some of the bigger goals, but things are ebbing and flowing. We'll see where things pan out at the end of the year.

[Jschange]

My emergency fund, new sofa fund, vacation fund, and taxes all have the exact amount in them that they need at this point in the year.

I'm panicking slightly, because I move into my fancy high cost of living, way more than 1/4 of my net pay apartment this month. I know that my numbers make sense, but I am very scared they won't translate to real life.

I'm also toying with working 6 days a week for a few months. It would boost my finances, but at what cost?

My taxes care saved up for all of 2016, I have a 1 month emergency fund, I've spent the vacation fund, I'm hitting the student loan aggressively and my apartment will be furnished by the end of December. Pretty happy with the current state.

I've been lazy about the side hustle but I'm very bust starting a second clinic.

[onecoolcat]

1.  Contribute 18k to my 401k.  I'm going to get 15k into this by the time I leave my current job (this pay period)
2. Contribute 5.5k to my tIRA.  Done!
3. Contribute 3.35k to my HSA.  Done!
4.  Pay off my car note of $7,583.  $2,333.32 to go.
5.  Invest 10k into a taxable account.  $5,300 to go
6.  Obtain a job in a firm that will provide me with a better career path.  Actively searching but as a young attorney this is proving more difficult than I had imagined. Done!
7.  Take advantage of more bonuses for opening credit cards/checking accounts/CD accounts.  Actively doing this!

I removed 8 & 9 as my goals  changed and I'm no longer interested in buying another home as my new job is nearby. 

My new goal is to increase my net-worth by 7k between the start of November through the end of December.

Things are going to slow down in 2017 but for a good purpose.  MsCoolCat and I are having a baby!

[Rhoon]

- Max out 401K ($18K): Complete
- Max out tIRA for both my wife and I ($11k): Wife: Complete, Mine: $2700
- Increased payments to DWs student loans to $600 month, payoff is roughly 5 years ($34K) Had to remove this one due to budget constraints.
- Pay off truck ($45K), yeah, we bought a new one; I used my escrow overage check to make a couple of extra payments and reduced the payoff to 5 years from 6. Still on track.
- Get solar panels installed to eliminate power bill ($24K -$8k federal tax credit). Payoff in 5 years by making larger payments, which don't exceed my current power bill. Free power in 5 years. Goal Accomplished for the installation. Went Live in May, new bill is $16/mo
- Spend more time outside with my son. Mission accomplished.
- lose 20 lbs . Down 7 lbs and 2 inches off my waist.
- increase e fund by 5% (currently at $19K) Canceled for this year -- unexpected reno of kitchen and master bath
- Shop for lower costing house insurance. Saved $5K


In short, in 5 years we'll be debt free other than our mortgage. Looking to be FI in 10 years.

[alewpanda]

I'm jumping in for the last 4 months!

1. Buy half a cow to save on meat costs (happening next month)
2. Eat down fridge, freezer and pantry through September (to make room for cow, and lower bill for the month to help make up for cow expense)
3. Open an HSA account and deposit several hundred to start.
4. Build emergency fund back up to 5000 (at 4200 right now)
5. Funnel all "extra" funds from babysitting, art sales, selling random junk towards the last of the student loans (1175 owed still). 
6.  Cash flow trip to visit family over Christmas time -- including cash flowing gifts

I think thats all we'll manage in the next 4 months. The cow will eat up all of the "extra" money for September, and our income isn't super high right now.  So October's "extra" to emergency fund....and then November's to student loans?  And then some of the extra into an HSA and the rest of the "extra" towards travel and to round out the Christmas gifts in December?   

Seems feasible....

1. Cow is going t o the slaughterhouse tomorrow, so within the week we will know exactly what we will owe for it.  We have money in savings set aside.
2. Slowly eating down pantry.  More food was given to us by a neighbor who was moving....so, still a reasonable amount of food there.  On the other hand, much of last years beef is gone...just in time for this years!
3. Found out my husbands FSA that is used strictly for monthly payments may inhibit this.  However, I am being forced to find new insurance again in December because my plan is being discontinued.  By then I will have researched and figured out how 'limited' a 'limited' FSA has to be in order to also qualify for an HSA
4. Emergency fund has been static, but hasn't gone down...so...good?
5. Student loans are almost gone!  519.00 left :)))
6. Trip dates need to be set..hubby has been earning extra comp time that we may be able to apply.  Gifts are half bought/made already...so far, so frugal ;)

1. Bought the half cow...spent less than expecting, so some extra was put towards student loans. 
2. Pantry is cleaner ;)
3. HSA is a no go as I will be beginning a cost-sharing membership in leu of traditional insurance.  This will, however, save 80.00+ a month, which we will put aside for out of pocket expenses.  Legislation is in the works to allow HSA contributions with cost-sharing programs, so if that changes, we will open up the HSA.
4.emergency fund still static, mostly because of the focus on the loan and some vehicle repairs that were unexpected.
5. student loans should be paid off by the end of the month.
6. Trip dates are set.  Comp time used for half of the trip, vacation days for the rest.  Gifts are 3/4 bought.

[SuperSaver]

1. Payoff car ($5k left) paid off
2. Continue stashing 6% of salary in 401k and get 4% match. Saving 7% and getting 4% match
3. Beg fiance to open his 401k and get 4% match.
4. Save $7,000 cash for wedding (130+ people, Sunday afternoon in 2017) new goal save $10,000. So far we've saved $3,100 but spent $2,300 on dress and deposits already. Trimmed list to 109 guests
5. Save $3,000 for Aruba Honeymoon (Southwest CC will get us free flights)
6. Fluff up Emergency Fund (currently it's at 2 months expenses) and then all extra money goes towards Student Loans womp womp its gotten lower due to repairs and expenses stacking up

Overall were doing fine. I'm also job hunting as in underpaid by 20-30%.

Got a new job 11/14/2016. 5 minute commute from our new place and one street over from my fiances work. We carpool and I got almost two hours less commute time back a day.

[beantown]

Haven't checked in for a while now, but only 1 more month left in 2016. Actually on track to hit all my goals for 2016- especially with a bonus coming in December!

August's stats:
Goal 1: Pay off $18k in federal student loans - WOOH DONE- PAID OFF
Goal 2: Max out 401k for the year ($18k) - On Track. Contributed $17.4k total to my 401k so far in 2016
Goal 3: Save $6k in emergency fund - Up to $5K saved
Goal 4: Hit $0 net worth - Right now my net worth is -$4K

[MsPeacock]

I feel like I am still gettting started, about a year into this now though.

Very recently I: used savings to pay off lingering cc debt (about 22k remaining from legal bills for the last custody go-around), traded in my car's equity for a paid off car. This year has been really a major shift for me in many ways: cut way way back of clothing purchases and shifted to a "uniform" for work, cut out cable, cut cell phone to Ting, paid off cc debt with snowball and finally chunk from savings. No winter vacation this year. Trying to decide about summer that will be economical for 2 weeks time w/ my kids. Also recently:

1. Max 401K contributions. I adjusted my withholdings last week.
2. Increased payment to equity on my mortgage for an additional $200 per month (more than 1 extra payment per year) to hopefully reach payoff by retirement

Goals:
1. Track monthly spending more effectively.


 I suck at this. Maybe I will start trying again in January. I've tried a few different methods and just fall apart on it.


2. Find new job - with either increased pay or increased opportunity for promotion (or, hopefully both). I have my lines in the water, just waiting for a bite.

I was offered two jobs. One with a 15k pay cut,,which would have been an awesome job but I couldn't afford to take it. The other with ~5k cut and 1000 red flags and horrible commute. Didn't take that one either. Have shelved the job search. Not much available at my pay grade in my area. Recently got news that there may be an opening at my current job for a promotion so I'll keep my eyes on that.


3. By years end be set up to take a few private practice patients at home (included remodeling one room slightly to accommodate a private office space).

It took months to get my state license to practice. I have it now. My schedule is busy but I have an eye on doing this in the next year or so. Remodel is too expensive expensive but I know of very cheap offfce space.


4. Figure out monthly budget (tied to number 1, obviously) and set amount for standard contribution to IRA, savings, college savings for the kids as monthly allocations from pay by years end.

I did not succeed in making I a coherent budget but did set up automatic contributions to ira and college funds.


5. Continue low-buy on clothing (currently no-buy). Purchase new clothes only if work wardrobe needs to be upgraded for new job.

Done. Continues.


6. Emotionally work on if I can tolerate renting out the extra bedroom in my basement... I am not there yet, but I am working on physical preparation of the room.

done. Currently seeking new tenant. Room rented out successfully for 8/10 mo this it has been available.

End of year check in. I think I did pretty well. Right now trying t find a new tenant. Seems to be a slow time of year. Also time to think about my 2017 goals. (I tried and failed to insert other ink colors above.).

[afuera]

Goals for the remainder of the year:
Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  He's a Mechanical Engineer in Houston so if y'all know of anything... ;)
Spend less than 40K in 2016.
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K (max down payment we could need)
Max out Roth IRA for 2016.
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self).  My hubby will have to wait till 2017 for Lasik.
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the Fall.
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K)

Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  Mr. trappedinmyoffice has an interview this week! (cross your fingers!!)
Spend less than 40K in 2016. Our avg spending right now will put us at 45K.  Time to refocus and kick butt for the rest of the year.
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K. Currently at 57K.
Max out Roth IRA for 2016. On track.
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self).  at 2K
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the Fall. Not started :(
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K) Currently at 137K

Mid-Year Update:

Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  An internal employee got the job hubby was interviewing for.  He was feeling very confident (they took him on a "ride along" type of interview) so this was a hard pill to swallow.  Back to the drawing board.
Spend less than 40K in 2016. Avg is around 44k. Still need to bring this down.
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K70K. Currently at 62K. New goal for the year is 70K
Max out Roth IRA for 2016. On track. Rolled husband's old 401k into a tIRA and on track to max that as well.
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self).  Still at 2K after spending $1000 on wisdom teeth removal.
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the Fall. STILL not started :(
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K) Currently at 158K

Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  Hubs is still jobless. Really sucks but its nice having him take care of everything around the house and errands.
Spend less than 40K in 2016. Fail. We were on track until we bought our house. Between closing costs and a huge plumbing repair, average for the year is going to be closer to 60K :(
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K70K. Done! We used this cash to buy our house! Still have 10K in the account as our E-fund.
Max out Roth IRA for 2016. On track.
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self). At $3,700 and will have 4K by next paycheck!  Guess I should schedule my consultation :)
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the Fall. Fail. We delayed this trip until next year because of the whole buying a house thing.  Substituted a couple short, close by vacations and having family come visit us instead.
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K) Currently at 175K.  We might be able to barely get to 200K by EOY.

EOY Update:


Help husband find a job (laid off 1/25/16).  Hubs got a job!!  He is making about 15K more than his old job. He starts on the 12th.
Spend less than 40K in 2016. Fail. Spending currently 56,235 :(.  We will try again next year and see how we do without the home buying expenses.
Increase online savings from 50K to 63K70K. Bought our house and still have E-fund sitting at 10K.  Next year we hope to have 15K for 6 mos. expenses.
Max out Roth IRA for 2016. Just transferred the final amount needed to max it out!
Save 4K in HSA for Lasik (self).  I didn't qualify for Lasik but I had PRK surgery 2 weeks ago which cost ~3.5K.  Vision is improving everyday!  HSA has about 1K in it which will go towards husband's Lasik Surgery in early 2017.
Save 5K for a trip to Madrid in the  Fall. Rolling the goal over to next year.  I should brush up on my Spanish...
Increase NW to 200K (currently ~125K) Currently at 186K.  We won't meet this goal but should get to 190K by the end of the month. Still proud of that increase especially since my hubs was unemployed most of the year so our income was cut in half. Stretch goal for next year NW will be 300K.


So looks like we failed about half our goals mostly due to buying our house (increased spending and delayed trip) but also due to DH's prolonged absence from the job market (10K short of NW goal).  Can't wait to start on next year's goals!!

[Mongoose]

I feel like I should set some new mid-year goals since we quite unexpectedly actually accomplished 100% of this year's goals. (I'm still dazed...what happened?)

New Goals
1. Stay out of debt. It's been 19 days so far. I have emergency fund money in place. I want to keep my debt-free-except-for-mortgage status this time.
2. Build business to pay one of us half time. As soon as our contract money comes in, we're halfway there.
3. Restart savings. Right now we are breaking even with spending and earnings. It is nice to not be watching the accounts dwindle but I'd like them to grow instead.
4. Stretch goal: start funding a "move away from this horrible town" account. :-)

We have stayed out of debt. We could probably pay ourselves out of the business but we're not sure about potential expenses (equipment is just now up and running) so we haven't started yet. We haven't saved much because we have chosen to do some targeted spending (replacing items that were worn out but hadn't been replaced in years. And we don't have a "moving" account.  Overall, I'm pleased with our 2016 progress though.

[Rhoon]

- Max out 401K ($18K): Complete
- Max out tIRA for both my wife and I ($11k): Wife: Complete, Mine: Complete
- Increased payments to DWs student loans to $600 month, payoff is roughly 5 years ($34K) Had to remove this one due to budget constraints.
- Pay off truck ($45K), yeah, we bought a new one; I used my escrow overage check to make a couple of extra payments and reduced the payoff to 5 years from 6. Still on track.
- Get solar panels installed to eliminate power bill ($24K -$8k federal tax credit). Payoff in 5 years by making larger payments, which don't exceed my current power bill. Free power in 5 years. Goal Accomplished for the installation. Went Live in May, new bill is $16/mo. UPDATE: If my bonus comes through in January and my calculations are correct, should be able to pay this off by April of next year.
- Spend more time outside with my son. Mission accomplished this summer.
- lose 20 lbs . Down 7 lbs and 2 inches off my waist.
- increase e fund by 5% (currently at $19K). Stalled on this one till the repairs in my house are done. Getting the insurance company to pick up most of the bills though.
- Shop for lower costing house insurance. Saved $500/yr


In short, in 5 years we'll be debt free other than our mortgage. Looking to be FI in 10 years.

Will have to carry over the weight loss, student loans and vehicle payments to next year. But otherwise a great year in 2016.

[GoConfidently]

I'll join! My 2016 goals are:
Pay off credit card balance by April 30 (7,000)
Pay off 80% of student loans (20,000) by December 31
Increase side hustle income
Run a 5k (not financial, but I wanted to include it)

Simple, but that will be a big step in the right direction for me. 2016 is going to be my year!

End of year report!
1. DONE!
2. Not quite. I ended up about $5k short of my goal, but it was a stretch goal so I'm trying not to be too disappointed.
3. I ended up with about $2500 in side-hustle income. A good start, but I'm looking to double it next year.
4. DONE! Trail running got me out of my rut and made running fun again. I did my first 5k at Thanksgiving and I'm looking to do another in February.

All in all, it was a good year. I gave in to some wants and took a vacation that contributed to not making my debt repayment goals, but those were awesome experiences that I don't regret. I'm looking forward to making my new 2017 goals soon and continuing the progress!

[Lanthiriel]

I'm considering myself peach fuzz because we still have non-mortgage debt and our net worth is low. Our goals:

1. Max out both 401ks
2. Max out HSA
3. Pay off student loan debt (about 12k)
4. Pay for new driveway and gutters in cash (est. $5k)
5. Funnel any remaining money into a vacation fund for Ireland in 2017

So many people on here making great progress on their goals! I figured I'd do a mid-year check in. 2016 has been rough for us with a layoff for my husband, so our goals have changed. He's working a seasonal job through October, and we're getting set up for a potential winter of unemployment. Here's where we're at:

1. Max out 401ks. We were in track through May (so far have saved about $16k) but dropped this down to 10% of our pay in favor of pulling together a more robust emergency fund. So this goal is now save an additional $10k for the efund (preferably $15k) to bring that fund to $15k (preferably $20k, which is 6 months of expenses).
2. Max out HSA. Still on track.
3. Pay off student loan debt. On track to be done by August 5. Current balance is $5252.
4. Pay for new driveway and gutters in cash. We did the gutters in February, which has stopped the issue we had with water getting in the garage. We decided to hold off on the driveway until next year.
5. Funnel any remaining money into a vacation fund for Ireland 2017. This is all now going to the unemployment emergency fund.

1. Fund efund to $15k minimum ($20k stretch goal). Complete! We ended at $18k.
2. Max out HSA. Done!
3. Pay off student loan debt. Done!
4. Pay for house improvements in cash. Done!

It would be too unfair to be too cocky about meeting my goals since I changed them mid-year, but it feels good that, despite my husband's lay off, we are ending the year in much better financial shape than we started. It looks like we'll be selling our house and moving, and I'm not going to lie... it's going to be amazing to be debt free for a few months/years until we decide to buy again!

[Ebrat]

I just found MMM a couple weeks ago, but we had about a 45% savings rate last year.  With a slightly higher income and more conscious spending this year, I'd like to get over 50% (hmmm...seems like we should be able to do better than that...).  I'm also determined to get rid of PMI on our house.

ETA: Actually, I was counting the money we get from our property management company as income and the rental mortgage and water bill as expenses.  If I just treat the rental income as net income (rent collected minus expenses; it usually breaks about even), it's almost 45% for 2015 and about 58% for 2016.  Makes me motivated to push for 60% this year!

My update:
I just recently figured out that I was calculating our savings rate wrong. Forgot to add the pre-tax savings to the income side of the equation. Oops! So using the formula: (pre-tax savings+post-tax savings+principal paydown on debt)/(pre-tax savings+post-tax income) we were at a 36% savings rate in 2015 and will end up around a 46% savings rate this year. 

Side note: Am I calculating that right?

That means that we saved the majority of our income increase this year but didn't reduce our spending. In fact, our spending increased a little. But we had several "wins":

Maxed our Roth IRAs (finished 2015 and funded 2016)
Maxed our HSA
Refinanced our house. This reduced our PMI from $90/mo to $36 per mo, dropped our rate from 4.25% to 2.875%, and cut our time to repayment because we switched from a 30-year to a 15-year mortgage. We also threw a few grand at the principal to get under 85% LTV (meant reduced PMI and getting rid of PMI faster).
Paid off a student loan.

So I'm pretty happy with how we did, but I think we could've done better.  2017 will be focused on tracking spending will the goal of reducing variable expenses by about 20% and paying off a lingering student loan.  The overall goal is to spend consciously and in ways that align with our values/priorities, instead of just letting money evaporate.

[chaskavitch]

May update: My goals for 2016

1   Pay off 0% interest credit card by Oct (~$1500 left, putting $250/mo toward it) - On track - now $1095.57.  The hardest part is putting our extra money into our e-fund or into savings for other things instead of paying this off.  I have to remind myself weekly that we're not paying any interest on this.
2   Get e-fund total to $10,000 (need $1600) - We had to use a little of this for replacing the plumbing under our sink, but DH did it himself so it only cost us $100, and now we know how to use PVC for plumbing.  We're up to $9,743.91, $256.09remaining :)
3   Increase our net worth (without house) to $100,000 (currently at ~$85,000) - We're up to approximately $91,000, thanks to the stock market going up.  I'd really be ok with a sale on stocks, but it is nice to see the NW number go up.
4   Max out my and DH's IRAs - On track
5   Figure out how to roll over DH's PERA account into Roth or tIRA - at least get access to online account for management - Still no clue about this one, the paperwork is being used as a bookmark...
6   Pay down mortgage by at least $50 extra/mo - Extra $200 in May
7   Only semi-financial - convince boss to let me work 32hrs/week once I come back to work after maternity leave, so I can have an extra day every week with baby :) - Again, this is still in-process.  I don't think I'll know for sure until about 4 weeks before I come back to work.
8   Stick to our budget - Check! Under budget by about $100 for May, even with over-spending on food.

Baby Chaskavitch is still not here :(  I'm only 2 days overdue, but I'm still super impatient.  Boo.  I finished everything at work on Friday just in case he came on his due date, but now I don't have anything to do, thus the update during work hours. 

End of year update:

Baby Chaskavitch is definitely here and 6 months old and adorable, so we're spending a ton of money on daycare, but breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and secondhand clothes are helping.

1. 0% credit card is paid off, but another is opened - we needed a new roof, so that's on 21 months no financing.  Zero fun, but also zero interest.
2. E-fund total - $10500, yay!
3. Without the house, our net worth is up to ~$107,000, with $87,000 in retirement.
4.  IRAs are both maxed for the year!  And I increased my 401k contribution by a whole 1%.  Moving up slowly.
5. DH should be working on his PERA account this week, but I'm not sure it will ever be moved.  Ew.
6. We didn't pay down our mortgage by $50/mo, BUT we did lower our payment by getting better insurance, and we're lined up to have an assessment done to get rid of our PMI.  DH has finally gotten on the MMM train, and he's excited to put that extra $100/mo toward our mortgage.
7. I got to come back 4 days a week for a month after Baby Chaskavitch was born, which helped a LOT.  Pretty painless financially, too.
8. We're cutting our budget back, so we're going over in a few places by accident, but overall, we generally have money left over at the end of the month, which goes straight to savings :)

Like I said, DH has gotten on the MMM bandwagon, because he wants to go start a homestead in case everything in the world goes to pot in the next 50 years.  I'm cool with it, because I want a homestead because I want 50 acres of land with no one building new apartments on them all year.  Anyway, it equals way more savings (we finally got rid of our cable, and we're working on lowering our food budget significantly), and more money, because DH should be starting a new job soon with a raise.  Add in Baby Chaskavitch, and it was an excellent year :)

[SuperSaver]

1. Payoff car ($5k left) paid off done
2. Continue stashing 6% of salary in 401k and get 4% match. Saving 7% and getting 4% match New job. 7% me, 5% match and 2% "gift"
3. Beg fiance to open his 401k and get 4% match.
4. Save $7,000 cash for wedding (130+ people, Sunday afternoon in 2017) new goal save $10,000. So far we've saved $3,100 but spent $2,300 on dress and deposits already. Trimmed list to 115 guests done
5. Save $3,000 for Aruba Honeymoon (Southwest CC will get us free flights) done
6. Fluff up Emergency Fund (currently it's at 2 months expenses) and then all extra money goes towards Student Loans womp womp its gotten lower due to repairs and expenses stacking upbought our first house end of April. So only a few grand saved currently.

Overall we're doing fine. I'm also job hunting as I'm underpaid by 20-30%.

Got a new job halfway through November. Same base pay, now with a Chance for earn up to 25% of my salary in bonuses & a 5 minute commute. Saving 7% with a 5% match &extra 2% of my salary as a yearly one time deposit into my 401k from my company (14% of my pay is going to 401k). Nicer work environment, love my coworkers now.

[beantown]

Final closeout post for 2016 a couple days late. Was very happy to see that I made all of my goals with the help from my bonus in December. Looking forward to 2017's noob edition!

Goal 1: Pay off $18k in federal student loans - Paid Off!
Goal 2: Max out 401k for the year ($18k) - Maxed
Goal 3: Save $6k in emergency fund - Saved $10K in emergency fund
Goal 4: Hit $0 net worth - Ended the year with net worth around $16K (this was definitely helped by bonus)

[Irish in Valencia]

Get my mortgage balance from 98k down to 80k. M
Maintain 500 in emergency fund

[FausseBourgeoise]

my goal is to set aside $15k this year. A stretch goal is to set aside an amount that matches my available RRSP deductions (regardless of whether it ends up in RRSP).

15k reached. Will not earn enough money to catch up on RRSPs this year, but now targeting 25k.

26k reached in 2016 (12k pension, 14k cash).