I'm in! "Saved Quarter Challenge: Setting Your Goal"

I've been on a blogging rut lately and I find these challenges very motivating. I've been a huge follower of The Saved Quarter and found her website very helpful thru tough times. Penny's one of the main reasons why I started a personal money blog.

This week's challenge is to  set your goal and write it all down.

I just finished reading "You're Broke Because You Want to Be" by Larry Winget - and a HUGE part of the book is WRITING down what your goals are & actually acting on them. A goal would just be a stupid statement without actually working on it. He advised to create different goals in life - Financial, Personal, Family, Relationship, Home etc. I'll be keeping my 'Personal' Goals to myself but I'll be posting financial goals here.

For 2011 My Financial Goals are:

1. Save $2,000 in Liquid Emergency Fund - I'd love to be able to save 1/4 of a year's salary, but for me - I think it's impossible. That would be $16,000! Hopefully next year when everything is running smoothly. I think my goal for $2,000 is more tangible. 
2. Create a budget. I'm such a looser when it comes to budgeting. I have a basic knowledge of Budgeting, but I just can't stick to it. Maybe I've made my past budgets WAYYY to complicated when budgets should be simple, easy, and basic. I plan on reviewing my budget twice a week (On Wednesdays & Weekends) and adjusting as needed. I need to realize that budgets are not permanent. I also need to make sure that every dollar is accounted for.
   2.a - We're gonna give the Envelope Budget a go for variable expenses.
3. Cut down on Stupid Expenses. This is another weakness.
4. Write every expense down.
5. No More PAST DUEs/LATES/Overdrawn Accounts. We paid $1,620.50 in Overdrafts/Bank Fees in 2010 = CRAZY. I could have paid a few credit cards down with that money! Or build a darn emergency fund! 
6. Blog Regularly. I need to really get into the habit of blogging. It's a great way to see progress. As Flylady puts it "Progress not perfection" and I'd like to see PROGRESS. Blogging to me is just to tell my story & to hopefully look back at these hard times in the future and laugh them off. It's also proof that we were Young & Dumb BUT we can overcome.
7. Plan meals. I used to follow www.organizingjunkie.org's Menu Plan Mondays. Then, I fell off the bandwagon. Planning menu's ahead of time sure decreased the stress of going home. It also made sure that my family was well fed. It also gave me a good picture of how much money we're spending on food & it also avoids dinners out (costly) and takeouts (usually unhealthy)

We have a lot of work and changing to do and it is going to be WORK! If we can get out of this rut, then anyone can. 

So there you have it. Our goals for this year (or before the year's end) Let's go!