I wrote in What’s All the Saving For, Anyway? and in Hocus Pocus! Change My Finances! that our written budget is the foundation for setting financial goals. We look at our weekly budget every Saturday evening for no more than 10 minutes to talk about upcoming needs and look at our progress with long-term goals. Before we got in the habit of setting measurable goals, it felt like we were treading water with our money – hanging in there but never getting much forward momentum.
Not treading water!
After reviewing our budget together, we set two key financial goals for the year.
1. Increase savings by 30% by the end of the year – This goal is 97% complete. We have been focused and also lucky that we haven’t had any surprise home repairs this summer. Yes, I am looking over my shoulder as I type this…
2. Fund each of our Roth IRAs up to the maximum, if possible – This goal is 50% complete. I am cautiously optimistic! Payments made through March, 2014 apply to the 2013 tax year.
I read that Dave Ramsey will begin airing a video version of his daily radio show. The show will be free and, I believe, streaming on the computer beginning this week. If you want your money to swim the 100 Freestyle, you might want to get some Dave-style motivation and tune in!
A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went
– Dave Ramsey
The Healthful Saver 