My Financial Goals

I shared with you on yesterday that I am not where I would like to be financially. Most of that is because I'm working my first "real" job so of course I now have to pay back those things called student loans and then the dynamic of my family has drastically changed (for the better) . Anyway, here are a few of my short term goals. I haven't listed all of them, and I will periodically update you on my progress. I'll get with you on tomorrow with my long term goals. I was about to do short and long term goals today, but my twins say otherwise.

SHORT TERM GOALS -- To Be Completed Within One Year

1. Invest in a 529 College Savings Plan for Skateboard Boy (SB)-- SB is 9 years old and will be 10 this year. I plan to open an account for him by the end of the year with at least $$1,000.00. I have looked into my state's 529 College Plan and it seems pretty straight forward. I've also looked at the plans from other states near me, but if I invest in those, I wouldn't get the tax benefits offered through my state. Unfortunately, my employer does not do a payroll deduction for 529 Plans. My how I wish they did!

2. Find a New Bank!-- You might wonder why this is a goal, but it is. I live in a small town where there are only 2 banks, so you can imagine that they try to milk the customers out of every penny they have. Of course, Mr. High Maintenance insist on us banking at the same bank, but I refuse to pay a maintenance fee of $10.00 a month on each checking account I have at the bank! I have a total of 3 checking accounts which means I pay $30.00 a month in fees! What the heck! If you figure that out for a whole year, I am paying my bank $360.00 . Are you serious!? At first, I was banking at this wretched bank because it was convenient and I live in my husband's home town and he has always banked there. Code for "I have always given away my hard earned money to them." Yeah, I'm not feeling it. I have got to do better. I will be ending this banking relationship really really soon!

3. Educate myself on investing and start investing-- As I told you on yesterday, I don't know crap about investing. Yes, I should know. Yes, I'm embarrassed that I don't. What do I plan on doing about it? Educate myself. I am working on a list of books, blogs, and websites that I will be reading throughout this year to get myself up to speed on investing. Stay tuned for how my progress is going.

4. Save $1,500.00 in MY Personal Savings Account -- This account is separate than the account me and Mr. High Maintenance have together. To some of you, this might not be that much money, but as I told you before, I am working my first "real" job and starting my career, raising a new set of twins and a 9 year old, and Mr. HM has 2 new businesses.

5. Curb My Spending Habits -- I spend about $1.43 everyday on a cup of coffee . Well, actually it is coffee and cappuccino mixed. I know that is relatively cheap compared to what you spend at Starbucks, but as I said, I live in a small town. The nearest Starbucks is an hour away which is a good thing . If it were one closer, I would truly be broke. Anyway, if I didn't buy coffee every work day, I could save $7.15 week which is a little over $28.00 a month. I'm addicted to coffee, but I' m optimistic.

I spend roughly $24.00--$50.00 a month on my nails. I'm still up in the air about cutting this expense. People look at my hands all the time. I like them to look good---but at the same time, I want to go on a "spending diet". We'll see how this goes as well.

Since I just had twins, I haven't gotten back to my original size. Frankly, I don't want to either. I was a stick. Now, I have a little "meat on my bones" and I like it. The only problem is that I can't fit anything I wore before I was pregnant. For that reason, I have to constantly buy new clothes, especially for work. I will have to figure out a way to cut down on clothing cost. Maybe buy a few key pieces and mix and match? I don't know. I'll figure it out.

Like a lot of other people, I like to eat out. I have already started working on cutting this out. I feel much better when I cook my own food anyway.

Now that I've published my goals here, I feel compelled to really stick to them. I'll give you an update in a month or so on how it's going. Blog with you tomorrow!

My Life, My Love, My Finance

Love ya,

Ms. High Maintenance