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Review of my 2010 goals May 10, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : annual goals , 3comments

It’s already May, and I had wanted to do a quarterly update on my 2010 Goals, but clearly I’m a little late with that. So I figured I’d better do them now.

You know, I didn’t realize I had made so many freaking goals for myself this year!

Financial

Personal

Professional


My Review: 2009 Annual Goals January 4, 2010

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Well, looking back on 2009, a lot has changed. And I didn’t do very well in accomplishing the goals that I set out for myself … and part of it is situational, but most of it was me. I’m going to work very hard in 2010 to make sure I achieve the goals that I’ve set for myself.

2009 Finance Goals:

2009 Personal Goals

Looking at this list of goals that I didn’t accomplish is a pretty huge wake-up for me. I need to focus and dedicate more energy into improving myself.


Christmas bonus December 24, 2009

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Yesterday with my regular pay stub, I got notice that I would be getting a $500 bonus. :) Totally unexpected, because last year they didn’t give out bonuses at all. And this is on top of the paid week off we get in between Christmas and New Year’s.

So, here’s what I am going to do with the money:

And you know what THE BEST part is!? Last week I was lamenting about how I didn’t think I was going to reach my 2009 goal of making an extra $5,000 above and beyond my FT income. Well, with this bonus and a few other side income projects over the past week, I’ve made it! You’ll see exactly how much I was able to make when I fully recap my 2009 goals next week.

Yippee!!!


2009 Annual Goals: only 3 months left September 29, 2009

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The last time I reviewed my 2009 goals was back on May 22nd, so this is long overdue.

Personal Finance Goals:

Personal Goals

How are you doing with your 2009 goals?


How am I doing with my 2009 Goals? May 22, 2009

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Hmm. Well it’s almost June, so let me take a look at my 2009 Goals to see how I’m doing!

Personal Finance Goals:

Personal Goals

Anyway, there you have it. I feel confident that I can meet all of my goals this year (with the exception possibly of the $5k Emergency Fund). How are you doing with your 2009 goals?


2009 Goals December 11, 2008

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I saw that Wellheeled had posted her 2009 goals already, so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and do the same.

Personal Finance Goals:

Personal Goals


Updating my networth and reflecting on the year November 17, 2008

Posted by gmbmfb in : annual goals, motivation, saving money , 1 comment so far

Well, I updated my NetworthIQ. So far this month, I’ve put in $400 into my RRSPs, and it’s disappeared. At this rate, I won’t be able to see my portfolio grow to $22k (which was my goal for 2008), but at least I know I’ve contributed enough to have seen me over that amount, had there not been such a financial disaster.

Also, my cash reserves fell a bit because I took some money out of the Travel Fund to cover Vegas, and I bought BF’s anniversary present.

I feel stalled. I’m not going into debt, but I don’t feel like I’m getting ahead either. And I know a lot of it has to do with my RRSP contributions bringing down my NetWorth, but it’s so demoralizing. I’ve been staring at a $30k networth for at least half a year, and I’ve gotten so close, but I’ve yet to crack that barrier.

Life happens, I guess. Moving twice in one year, two job changes, and the falling markets really didn’t help me at all this year. Plus, living in Vancouver is a lot more expensive than my hometown. I’m paying a lot more rent, it’s expensive to get anywhere, and there’s way too much to entertain myself with. We went to Seattle three times, Edmonton once, and Calgary once. I had 2 weddings to travel to (one up island and one in Toronto), and a trip to Las Vegas. That’s a lot of traveling!!!

So as I look towards 2009, I’m going to have to really focus on my goals. I made goals for 2008, but because my life has changed so much since then, I wasn’t able to focus on them as much as I would have hoped. Which is too bad, because while I feel like overall, 2008 has been the best year ever (awesome new job, new friends and I’m with the greatest guy ever), I didn’t even come close to achieving what I wanted to achieve financially.


Creating a budget for myself January 17, 2008

Posted by gmbmfb in : annual goals, budget, saving money , 1 comment so far

I spent last night and some of this evening researching apartment prices in the area of Vancouver that I want to live in. Luckily, this area is a lot cheaper than most, but it’s still pretty expensive considering I’ve been paying $150 rent for the past two years. The average 1 bedroom basement suite is going to run me around $650 including all utilities. Pretty cheap if I do say so myself … so I’m kind of glad that this job isn’t located in downtown Vancouver, otherwise that rent would easily double. And yes, I could save more money and have a roommate, but at this point in my life (I’m already 25 and have done the roommate thing many times before), I think I want to have my own space. If I find it’s too much of a burden on my budget, then I will definitely try to find a cheaper place with a roommate. But for now, the plan is to live on my own.

This evening, I also constructed a loose budget based on my projected $40,000 income from the FT job for 2008. Provided I pass the probationary period, my salary will be bumped up (it’s written in my offer letter) to the low-mid $40′s. But I’m not going to count on that, so I’ve based my goals on what I’ll be making at the present time.

Have I missed anything?

If I haven’t, that means I would be able to save $1,000 per month. Plus, I do plan on getting a second PT job – and if I only work 8-12 hrs/week (could be less, depending on wage), I could bring home an extra $400-500 per month, which I would save. If I find I can work more than that, then so be it … but if it at all interferes with my FT job or I’m finding it too stressful, I’ll scale back the hours. There is no way I’m going back to working as much as I was working last summer. That was just crazy. And I’m living in a new city! I want to have fun and take time out for myself. It’s important to lead a balanced lifestyle.

So that means, potentially, I could save $12,000 (FT job) + $5,000 (PT job) + $4,500 (2007 tax refund) = $21,500 … and if I end up saving $21k+, that would exceed the amount of $18k I set for myself when I made up my 2008 Annual Goals a few weeks ago based on an annual salary of $50k.

I must be missing something out of the budget.