2010 Goal Final Status

2011 Goals are up, but how did we do in 2010? I really should have tracked my progress quarterly, like any other blogger worth their salt, but such is life. Maybe thats another 2011 goal. Anyway, here is our one and only 2010 check in.

SAVINGS
Save $2669.48 to bring long term savings up to 40k.
STATUS: DONE AND DONE. Actually pretty much blew this one out of the water. Mostly due to the acquisition of job number 2, and some other unexpected windfalls.

Build a CD Ladder.
STATUS: Decided this wasn't such a good idea after all. With CD rates as pathetic as they are, I saw no reason to lock up my money to receive a meager .10%. I actually ended up consolidating my money somewhat.

Build slush fund back up to $1500.
STATUS: Done. Actually maintained a much higher balance than that on the slush fund for most of the year.

Save $2315 to open Roth IRA account.
STATUS: Done, but I opted not to open the IRA account. I am feeling less and less positive about putting my money into the stock market. I ended up rolling all this into my long term savings account.

GIVING
Donate $25 per month to my charity of choice.
STATUS: Abject failure. I think we did this once. We did make several food pantry and Goodwill donations. In general our cash giving sucked.

SPENDING

Outside House Projects.
To be accomplished in Spring, no earlier than April, no later than end of June.
Paving or graveling the driveway/back patio area. Husband has been assigned the task of getting quotes for this by EOM January. In my mind I think it will be ~$1000.
STATUS: Half Done. Did the patio, postponed the driveway due to monetary restrictions.

Rebuilding the side gate to backyard. Its a large sagging gate, so the project is bigger than it sounds. The husband can do the labor (thankfully). We need a quote for materials. Again with the EOM January assignment. My guess is somewhere in the $250 neighborhood. Time frame is roughly the same as the paving.
STATUS: Postponed same as above.

Inside the House.
We are in desperate need of more seating for our living room. Have been ever since we moved in. I am working on getting my Mother to pass down a family chair she had re-upholstered a few years ago. That prospect looks pretty grim, so I am adding it to prioritized spending for the fall no earlier than September, no later than mid-November. Max budget $250. Preferably chair should be used.
STATUS: Done. Mother relented. Family chair acquired.

Pets.
Spend no more than $100/week on pet supplies.
STATUS: Mostly an abject failure. Started off good, and snowballed to hades from there. I did demonstrate that it can be done though, and I added a few new tricks to my bag. Must get back in the swing of this.

New Laptop.
STATUS: Done. Used family contributions from my birthday to subsidize the purchase of my lovely new MacBook Pro.

Live without Cable for a year.
STATUS: FAIL! I am still with cable. This goal is making a return appearance for 2011, where I intend to bust it out of the park.

30th Birthday Trip.
STATUS: Another very sad fail. Due to a myriad of circumstances (employment and unemployment mostly) we were in now position to take a grandiose trip last year. We celebrated my birthday at home in the back yard. It was a lovely time.

Final Thoughts.
This was the first year I set formal goals. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it was a mixed bag in the way of accomplishments. 2010 took so many crazy twists and turns for us. At some point pretty early on, I got derailed. It became much more about survival than goals. It likely would have been good to circle the wagons and regroup with the above list. But, I didn't. Considering, I dont think we did that bad. All I can really say is onward and upward.

2011 Goals

2011 has been dubbed the 'Year of Staying Put' for our household. No major moves or game changers are on our horizon, at least to our knowledge. As a matter of fact, we are pretty darn sick of change. 2008, 2009, and 2010 were all pretty big years for us. Is it bad to have a goal of coasting?

Savings
Boost long term Savings to 55k.
This is not very ambitious. It means savings 5k, and increasing our savings by 10%. Not too shabby.

Maintain slush fund at a $1500 low water mark.
That is actually where its at right now. I am not comfortable with it being any lower. $2500 is much better in my opinion.

Open a Car Savings account.
Eventually one of us is going to need a new car. At the moment, we would have to tap our long term savings for that, which I do not like. I have no bigger plans than just to stash a little money away for this. I'd be happy if we get a few 1000 for the year.

Career.
Number One Goal is for me to be down to 1 job by 5/1/11.
Not sure yet how this is going to be accomplished or what it will look like. But 1 job and having my life back is my absolute goal.

Mortgage
Get balance down to $X55k. Pay $8388 on principle. Since our principle payments should total somewhere in the $6000 range, this should totally be doable.

Giving.
Do it. As much as possible this year.

Travel.
Nothing terribly exciting. Again, this is the year of staying put. Also, getting a pet sitter has proven increasingly difficult and expensive in recent history. Our humble travel plans include...

Make a trip to Portland sometime before June.

CDA for friends wedding, with possible a side trip to Montana included.

Return to Eastern Oregon in Spring/Summer.


Other Random Goals.
Cancel Cable. This is another DO IT! And a repeat from last year.
We are back on the Netflix and I have been weaning myself off the cable teat for sometime now.
I must do it! I have a date for cancellation in mind. Now I must prepare myself for the psychological hurdle of making the call.

Fitness/Weight.
Maintain weight within 10lbs of current.
I would also like to run at least a 5k, if not a half marathon too. Entry fees and time are hard to come by for such activities, but I am putting it out there all the same.

Thats it! Here's to a quiet 2011!