2008 Financial Goals

So, I need to set some goals for myself. I have divided my goals into three categories; Yearly Goals (1 year), mid-term (10 years) and long-term (40 years).
Year Goals - Dec 31st 2008

1. Save $1000 in cash as an emergency fund
   
2. Reduce Credit Card Debt as much as possible (Minimum to <$5k)
   
3. Save $ 2000 cash as down payment for car (I'm currently leasing)
   
4. Eliminate Credit Card Debt completely
   

Mid Term Goals: Time Horizon – Dec 31st - 2018

1. Have $10,000 in non-retirement savings.
2. Pay off Student Loan Completely
   
3. Set up and contribute to Roth IRA to limits.
4. Travel all over the US.
   
5. Travel to Europe, Japan, South America, China, and China.
   

Long Term: Time Horizon – Birthday 2048

1. Net worth > $2,000,000
2. Own at least two properties including primary residence and vacation/weekend home/time share.
3. No long-term debt (Mortgage, Car, Loans, Self or for Family)

I've been following Dave Ramsey's total money makeover, so my first few goals are based on that.

For my yearly goals; I currently have about $500 in cash savings. I save about $50 a week without trying a whole lot so the first goal should be gone pretty quick. The credit card is a big deal. I will have to really focus and budget on that. I was thinking about paying all of my furniture off with my tax refund, and then taking the rest and saving it for the car down payment. That way my mind will be clear to focus on the credit card. Chime in if you don't think so.

For my mid-term goals. The the big ones are completing that emergency fund. I can't imagine the kind of freedom having 6 months of expenses saved up would give me, but I want to try it. I also have always wanted to travel. I've never had time, other things were always more important. I can to realize that unless I take charge and start really going after it, it will never happen. I want to do it in the next 10 years. I'm not that old, but I'm not really very young anymore either. I'm sure I would enjoy doing it more sooner rather than later. I also have a student loan. It's a 30 year loan with about 27 years left as of writing this. I would really like to take care of this as soon as possible, but it's only at 2.5%.

Long term goals. I want to have a comfortable retirement. I hope that $2M will allow me to have that, if it doesn't this goal will be increased. I think it's possible. I have a lot of time to work on it. As for the long-term debt. I don't want to owe anyone anything. I also want to make sure that my family is well taken care of.

More to come, I'll go through my Net Worth in a future post. For the mean time, you can get a preview by clicking in the top right corner there. I'm tracking it at My Networth IQ like I see so many other people doing.

That's all for now.

Here's to the Future,
Nyte

First Post

There is a great chance that no one, or at least no one but my friends and family, will ever see this. On the off chance you made you way here WELCOME!

Introductions are in order I suppose. I'm Nyte. No of course that isn't my real name. Maybe someday I'll be comfortable enough to give out my name, but for now we will just go with Nyte. I am a 28 year old single man, living in Dayton, OH. I've never been married and have no children. I recently bought a house and have a school loan payment. I'm in a really good financial place, compared to most people I know, but only recently have I begun to realize just how bad that "most people" situation really is. I have about $10k in credit card debt, about $30k in a student loan. I'm currently leasing my car, and have about 8 months left in the lease.

I hate being in debt, but until recently I didn't look at credit cards so much as debt. WRONG. Luckily most of that is on an interest free credit card, and the rest is on a zero % finance for my furniture. So I'm not paying any interest on that $10k credit card debt now. It still floors me to realize how bad I really am.

I've been reading a lot lately. Mostly Dave Ramsey, and couple other highly recommended books. The gives me the information. The motivation is coming from several financial blogs I've read. So basically I'm going to blog about my financial situation and hope that it gives me some sense of worth, direction, and progress. Kind of like an online diary. Why blog, well that is the question. Why would I possibly think anyone out there cares if I am rich, in debt or dead? Well, at this point I think it's unlikely anyone will. Maybe someday, someone will, but at this point its mostly for me. I've recently discovered Jonathan's MyMoneyBlog. He and I are close in age, although vastly different in terms of finances and places in life. I thought if he can do it so can I. I doubt I'll be as popular, he knows his stuff and I am still trying to understand why it takes three days for money to move from my checking account to my online savings account.

In any case, greetings and salutations. I will sign off by saying a few things.

1. I am a horrendous speller. The blogger site catches most things, but you can't cure stupid, so you will just have to deal with it. I have to be detail oriented at work, I don't want to do it at home. So just expect typos and poor grammar.
2. At this point I'm not in anyway successful in managing my finances. So by all means, leave comments. I'm pretty thick skinned. If my ideas are terrible and you know for a fact it will ruin me, let me know. If you have better ones, then for the love of the light (a cookie for those who get the reference) POST THEM!

Here's to the Future,

Nyte