Goals

A Year in Review

I keep posting super sporadically as I’ve been drowing in work as of late. But now that I’m on holidays, I figure I should do an update. I’m going to try to post (minimum) twice a month next year, hopefully it goes more to plan than this year.

But, on for the fun — here’s what I planned for my 2011 goals, and here’s how it really went down:

2011 Financial Goals

I have a few big goals over the next few years in terms of finances, including…

• Pay off my $10,000 student loan by the end of 2011:
  SUCCESS! — paid this off by Oct 2011
• Save $10,000 by the end of 2011 (for retirement/down payment)
  SORTA — My bonus got bumped to January, so I figure I’ll hit around $9,000 by then. 
• Buy a home in the next few years
  ON TRACK — planning for late 2013
• Earn an additional $5,000/year from sources other than my full time job
  FAIL — earned approx $500. Didn’t feel like working, after working a fully day! 
• Become financially independent and work for myself
  ON TRACK — but no set timeframe

Overall, I’m fairly happy with myself — nocking off my student loan felt great, and I’m well on my way to having a decent down payment for my eventual home. I didn’t hit all the goals, but I got pretty far on the ones that mattered the most. I think I need to rethink my extra-income idea for 2012… just with how my work is, I don’t think its going to happen.

For 2012, I’m going to come up with a list of goals — mostly focused around saving, eating out less, finding the work/life balance, and becoming more active.

Goal Setting

I was at a conference over the weekend, and it really nailed on the value of goal setting and how they play a part in life. Without them, its pretty easy to go aimlessly around, letting day by day pass you by. With a goal, you’re at least able to focus your energy in a direction, know when you’re falling behind, and when you’re succeeding.

The most important part of a goal isn’t actually accomplishing it (though that would be good), its working towards it. As we all try to achieve our goals, things come up, plans change, but they do so as we try to achieve it.

Over the past several years, I’ve always had the goal of paying off my student loan. But as the stock markets crashed, I pushed off that goal deliberately, and shifted money into the stock market to buy at a low, and cash out at a high. Well, pushing off that goal was a good thing for me, and worked out well.

As of this month, I’ve officially paid off my entire student loan, and closed the account.

I could have kept this student loan for almost 5 more years, based off the loan agreement, but I really wanted to get rid of it. While it took a couple years longer than my original plan, it feels great to scratch it off.

For the first time since I started school, I’m 100% debt free — it feels great. Granted, it will be short lived, as I’m hoping to buy a place next year, but I will enjoy it nonetheless.

This year, I’ve already completed 2 of my big goals — Pay off my student loan, and graduate with honors. My third goal for the year was to save $10,000 for retirement, and it looks like I’m on course for that by the end of the year. So far, 2011 has been good!

I’m slowly working in my head to set goals for 2012 — both professional, financial, and life goals. These will all help fall into the longer term goals, but will help make 2012 much more focused of a year.

May Challenge: Halfway Point

Earlier this month I wrote a post about how I’m going to try to clean out my cupboards/freezer of food, by actually eating at home. It’s been going alright — I’ve definitely been making a dent, but theres still a lot left. So far, I’ve had a lot of soup, a bunch of frozen food, a bunch of canned food, and some of the random crackers/granola bars.

Here’s where I’m at so far — still have half the month left, hoping to make it even further. A couple things, I outright threw out, as it was expired. But its getting there.

May Challenge

With it being a new month, I figure its time to do some spring cleaning. I’m normally pretty good about getting rid of things I don’t need, but I seem to have stockpiled a bunch of food — time to eat!

Here’s the before picture of my storage cupboard — by the end of May, I want to have about 25% of it left, at the most. This works well, as I’ve been trying to get more in line with cooking at home, and bringing my own lunch to work.

So, from the picture to the right, the next month is going to involve a lot of Cereal, chili, mustard (or not), soup, oatmeal, pasta, and granola bars. I think I’m up for it… and it will probably be a bit healthier than the fast food fixes I’ve been used to.

And then there’s my freezer — here, theres lots of frozen food, ranging from home made soup, waffles, fruit, chicken, burritos, hamburgers, etc. Again, I’m going to try to get down to 25% of it, by the end of the month.

I’m not going to eat this exclusively (I’d be sick of it in 3 days), but will be the primary source of inspiration for meals for the month of May. And looking at most of it, its stuff I do like to eat as it is, so I just have to follow through.

And once the goal is met…. I’ll figure out how to go to Costco and not get suckered in by the cheap ass prices!

I’ll post an update every week or two, and see where I’m at. For the month of May, I have 30 days x 3 meals = 90 meals to eat, so it should be dooable.

My 5 Year Goals

This time of year, it seems everyone is setting their 2011 goals. I set mine the other day, but also set a few longer-term goals to help guide my way.

Just like anything in life, the farther out you look, the harder it is to accurately determine outcomes or set goals, so I take these with a grain of salt. As life happens, and situations change, these will likely need to be updated.

Within the next 5 years, I want to…

1. Buy a Home
   This one has been on my radar for some time, and figure it will likely happen in the next few years. Right now I rent, and judging by home prices in the region, renting isn’t necessarily a bad thing in my case. As I get more established career wise, buying a home will be a smart investment.
2. Travel
   I used to travel a lot when I was living with my parents, but since I finished high school I’ve been almost no where, as I’ve been in school non-stop. I want to turn this around, and head over seas (Europe? Australia?) to get another perspective on the world. I’m not talking 2 weeks, I’m talking a few months.
3. Start and Grow My Own Business
   I’ve always had the entrepreneurial bug in me, and want to venture out on my own and create my own career path. I’m still figuring out exactly in what area, and how to do it, but its on the radar. My guess is, it will involve developing a variety of revenue generating properties, which is in keeping with what I currently do for my employers.
4. Figure out the Work / Life Balance Once and For All
   I’ve spent the last 5 years attending work and school at the same time, and have never been able to set a real ‘routine’ for life, that balanced work, sleep, school, exercise, and fun. I want to find a way to do all of this, without burning out, once and for all.
5. Build a net worth of $150,000
   This is through a combination of saving, investing, and eliminating any debt. I’m at $22k right now, so its a long way to go!

These are pretty broad buckets, but are the big priorities I want to accomplish over the next several years… I figure if I can reach all of the above, all of the other goals in my life start to fit in place.

Do any of you have any 5 year goals? Share them in the comments below!

My 2011 Goals

It seems all of the personal finance bloggers out there are posting their 2011 goals, so I figure I’d take the hint and write my own down too. I’ve been thinking of these for the past month or so, but its probably good to document it on here. These goals span both personal finance and life goals, because they essentially go hand in hand.

In 2011, I’m going to…

1. Eliminate my student loan of $10,000 (yahoo!) (accomplished October 2011)
   I really hate having a student loan — or any debt — hanging over my head, so in 2011, I’m going to get rid of it once and for all. In reality, I could continue on for the next several years paying $100/month and be fine, but I’d rather it be gone.
2. Save $10,000 in my retirement / house fund
   I’m saving up to buy a home in the next couple of years, so I’ll try to max out my RSP’s again in 2011 and enjoy the tax deductions along the way. Then, using the First Time Homebuyers Loan, I’ll withdraw part of it for a down payment when I’m ready to buy.
3. Eat better and be more active
   A big part of this will be to cook a lot more meals at home, bring my lunch to work, and avoid the over-processed fast food crap I’ve been eating, along with cutting back on the amount of caffeine / pop I consume. In doing so, I’ll not only eat better, but save money. As well, I’m going to try to be really active 2 days/week minimum.
4. Follow a Budget
   This is to help me stay on track with where my money is spent, so I can accomplish the above goals. I’m not one to over-spend as it is, but I think I could save more if I keep better track of this. You can read my budget here.
5. Earn $5k more next year, outside of work
   I’m really passionate about eBusiness, so I’m going to see how I can earn some additional money from it through consulting and side projects. As well, I’ll see what I can unload on Craigslist and eBay. This also include my growth of my various investments.

So those are my five goals — they’re all fairly broad for a reason, as I find these tight “do X by Y” don’t factor in the realities of life very well. But, at the end of 2011, if I reach all of these, I’ll have had a great year.

See you in 2011!

Welcome to Twenty Something Money

I’ve been reading personal finance blogs for the last couple years, and realized it was finally time for me to start my own. It seems most of the blogs are about married people with kids, struggling to pay off their mortgages, where my blog is slightly different — I’m a twenty something guy, who rents, and has no kids…

But I’m at the point in my life, where I’ve got my college degree, have a good job, and am now struggling to set a solid financial plan for the future. This blog is to keep track of where I am financially, and where I want to be.

I’ll be posting a couple times a week about my personal finance, debt repayment, as well as how life affects it all. Follow along by bookmarking or subscribing to the feed above!

Where I’m at Today

• Student loan of ~$10,000
• Retirement Fund of ~$28,000 (in a variety of stocks)
• Tax Free Savings Account of ~$4,000 (liquid savings account)
• No credit card debt (always pay off on time)
• Bank account of $400 on average

Income

• Earn around $4,500 (before tax) / month from full time job
• Earn about $75 / month from advertising on another website

Monthly Expenses

• Rent for Studio Apartment: $975
• Cable / Internet: $55
• Cell Phone: $65
• Misc Living (insurance, hydro): $50
• Food, entertainment, savings, etc, take up the rest.

Where I Want to Be

• Pay off my $10,000 student loan by the end of 2011
• Save $10,000 by the end of 2011 (for retirement/down payment)
• Buy a home in the next few years
• Earn an additional $5,000/year from sources other than my full time job
• Become financially independent and work for myself

My goal for 2011, is to get on track financially with a budget I can actually achieve, increase my savings (for a home down the road), and minimize spending on things I don’t really need.

To learn more about me and my story, read the About section.

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