So here I am, 4am in the morning, and trying to think of something interesting/inspiring/useful to say about money. So here it is. If you haven’t already, you should set yourself a 6-month financial goal. Maybe it’s “I will pay off my credit card with the biggest balance.” Or “I will put $1,000 into an emergency fund.” It should be something challenging yet attainable. Making a goal increases the probability of it happening increase 15.8 times at least.
List your 6-month goal in the comments below. Leave a contact e-mail (will not be shared), make the name anonymous. If you check in with the same e-mail at the 3-month mark (February 16th, 2006) with a status update and also at the end of 6 months (May 16th, 2006) you will get some sort of prize, no matter if you reach it or not. Everyone! (Prize value will be non-zero, but don’t expect an iPod or anything.) I want to see what percentage of people actually reach their goals.
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Make your goal now!
The Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – October 2024
Big List of Free Stocks from Brokerage Apps
Best Interest Rates on Cash - October 2024
Free Credit Scores x 3 + Free Credit Monitoring
Best No Fee 0% APR Balance Transfer Offers
Little-Known Cellular Data Plans That Can Save Big Money
How To Haggle Your Cable or Direct TV Bill
Big List of Free Consumer Data Reports (Credit, Rent, Work)
Okay, I will start it off.
My 6-month goal is to have $50,000 in 100% cash for a house down payment.
I’ll stop accepting comments after 1 week (Thankgiving Day).
Nice post. My six month goal: to be making a comfortable living from my websites.
My 6 mo. goal is to payoff the LAST of my $1500 credit card debt.
I want to have a bank balance of Rs 2,00,000. I have to pay off 1,00,000 by December End. After that I want to have a bank balance of 1,00,00. So in the sense I want to have Rs 2,00,00 with me.
I will finish saving the $6,500 I’m putting towards my Freedom Account, and will pay off about $5,000 towards one of my student loans.
I’ll go next… 🙂
My 6-month goal is to have paid off $30,000 (slightly more than half) of our credit card and HELOC debt.
This might be easy or it might be hard, depending on whether our house sells by then.
My financial goal is to get my last student loan paid off ($2,000) and to quit my part time job which I had been using to pay off debt and handle some expenses.
Interesting….my husband and I determined earlier this week that we want to get all of our credit card debt (approximately $25,000!!) paid off in the next three years. Then all we’ll have is a mortgage payment. We’re going to sit down this week-end and see exactly where we are. We’ve set the long term goal…now it will be interesting to set a short term goal. I’ll be back after the week-end with the 6 month goal. Also, good idea, this…I’m interested to see what other peeps goals are.
OK. A goal challenge…..
My 6-month goals is to have enough $$ to cover the family trip to Disney while getting my acquisitive daughter to save for college. (If she’s as smart by then as she is now, it’ll become her “beer and pretzel” money).
I realize I have no actual dollar amounts in these goals at this time, but having been to Disney once before, I know it’s like hooking up a shop vac to your wallet. More is better and any excess (yeah right) will be routed back to high rate savings accounts.
It’s funny that you should write this today. Yesterday I was looking at my budget which tracks my savings and projected savings after reading your site and I set a 12 month goal for myself in 2007 to save another 10K to reach an amount that I have never been close to. I will use this magic number to negotiate for a raise, since I am in a unique position to ask for more money.
Thanks Ben! Love the site!
My goal is to max out my 2006 Roth IRA contributions (so really a 5 month goal for that) and to have put $1,000 towards my 2007 contributions. Since I haven’t contibuted anything for 2006, I have a bit of a climb.
My 6-month goal is to pay off $10k worth of debt. My spouse and I will be living off of his paycheck while putting 100% of mine towards the goal.
Sorry not Ben….. Jonathan.
6 Month goal is to save up $2500 in an emergency savings account. This may not seem like much, but we’re taking on a new mortgage December 1, so it will be challenging for us to take this on while still saving each month.
My 6 month goal is to land a job making 80% or better of what I left at (I’m unemployed).
This after working for the same co. for 14 years! I’m sitting on a year’s worth of emergency $$, but for all those wondering.. even that can’t prepare you for the emotional impact of not working 🙁
My 6-month goal is to pay down $10,000 in credit card debt.
My 6-month goal is to open an IRA and fund to the $5000 max for 2005 by April 15, 2006. (I guess that’s more of a five-month goal…)
My goal after that would be to fund the $5000 for 2006 before calendar end of 2006
Pay off my wife’s new (used) car loan balance ($4700) in six months.
My 6 month goal is to have $4000 cash saved for next year’s trip to Europe. At the same time, my goal is to contribute savings monthly so that by the end of the 6 month, aside from the $4000, I’d have $15,000 in my high yield savings account.
My 6-month goal is to have $1500 in Emergency Fund
My six month goal is to pay off my unsubsidized student loan (approx. $7000) while continuing to save 15% of my take home pay.
My current status is $15,000 in cash for a house down payment and $11,000 in my emergency fund.
My 6-month goal is to have $30,000 in 100% cash for a house down payment and $15,000 in my emergency fund.
My plan to get there is to save money from my pay checks and to transition my stocks into cash.
My 6-month goal is to set up a 529 account for my daughter and start contributing $666.67/month to it. This will give her $8,000 at the end of each year. Not enough for Ivy League, but definitely enough for a good in-state, public school.
I also want money for a down payment. I’m shooting for $25000 to start with and see how it goes from there. Great idea!
I am a Senior in college, so here are my goals: By May 16th, I want to have my 2 credit cards paid off (balances currently at $1400), start a ROTH IRA and increase my cash savings account by 20%. So technically, it is 3 goals, but I feel that they are all attainable and will keep me on point to finish my college career on a strong note!
This is a good idea Jonathan to encourage others to set achievable goals.
I’m trying to save $12,000 for my upcoming wedding in May.
November 2006 = $5,700
May 2007 = $12,000 (So $6,300 more to go in six months.)
My goal is to have $5,500 cash in savings (currrently ~ $1,100) and have paid off $3,600 in credit card debt (out of $15,000 total).
Not exactly on a 6 month frame currently, but…
Current goal is to make sure I actually max out my IRA contribution this year (not entirely trivial on a grad student stipend).
I suppose although the real cutoff date for this is April 15, it can also be thought of as “did I make my montly contribution?” once a month for 6 months….
Have 100k in retierment savings, 401k and Roth IRA. Currently 83643.
My goal is to be debt free (except for the mortgage) in six months. Right now I have only a small amount of credit card debt (~2500) and a car loan that I married into (~11,000) along with a personal loan my wife’s parents made to her to have some dental surgery done (~1500). If I manage to do that my next goal would be to build up some savings… I think I’d probably do a T-Bill ladder at this point to avoid creating taxable interest.
Oh.. I like one of yours.. I will have my highest balance credit card paid to zero in 6 months.
My 6th month goal is pay off my car, which is the last bill I have, without dipping into my investments. My house is paid for, my wife’s car is paid for, and some land we purchased last year is paid off.
17k @ 2% is what I owe
Mutual funds with broker = 53K (seems to be doing okay with ING)
Cash in Money Market = 35K w/ ingdirect @ 4.40
1k w/ HSBC (to try) @ 5.05
Family money coming into around 300K (dont have this yet)
My 6-month financial goal is to have at least $7,321 in my home buying fund.
This is a great idea–I find that I always exceed the financial goals I set for myself because the goal helps me focus on what I want to achieve.
My 6-month goal(s) are:
1. to save an additional $8,000 cash (in my Emigrant Direct account) for our wedding next year.
2. to finally open a Roth IRA (Vanguard Target Retirement 2045) and fully fund it for the 2006 tax year by April, 2007.
My car fund will be at $1,500.
It’s funny but just like you my goal in 2006 was to save $50,000 for a downpayment on a house.I have managed to do that and more but for $250,000 you don’t even get a decent house in New Jersey anymore.So my 6month goal would be to increase that amount to $65,000 so that I can look for $300,000 instead.
My emergency fund will be at $3000 and everything will be paid off but the mortgage.
My 6 month goal is to increase my monthly student loan payment by $100/month and increase the payment on my car loan by $50/month. Since I dont expect a raise until next June, I will have to accomplish this through reduced spending in other areas.
I think your 6 month goal is to sleep on a regular hour. What are you doing at 4AM?
I am 24 and my goal is as follows (I am getting married in July):
Have a total of 25K saved between my future wife and I (we currently have 18K) in our “House Down Payment account”. This goal will be extended to 45K at the end of the year, which will be after money from the wedding and the cost of the honeymoon. Our long term goal is to save 65K by the end of 2008 for our first home (we live in Westchster County NY).
I would also like to increase our emergency account from the 9K it has in it currently to 12K.
I like this idea a lot! My goal is to add another $1200 to my unexpected expenses/emergency fund.
6-month goal: Save money to max out 2007 ROTH IRA: $9K altogether.
Not easy considering all other expenses but manageable.
Max out 2006 roth ira (4000$).
Add 2500$ towards my emergency fund.
Add 10k to my HSBC Savings account.
Increase 401k contribution from 15% to 20%.
I have already enrolled 15% of my salary to ESPP, it going to be a challange. I have to stay on tight budget to accomplish all my goals. Lets see…
How perfect! My wife and I want to start trying to get pregnant in about six months. Our goal is to have (savings + investments – 0% credit card debt >= $10000) before then and $15000 before we actually have a baby.
My goal is to ensure that my husband saves $10,000 in the next 6 months. only he works in my family..
My 6-month goal is to pay off the rest of my $7200 car loan.
My six month goal will be:
1. to look into and start a long term savings plan – and also to keep up with each monthly contribution (not sure how much yet);
2. also to have save enough cash ($ 5,000 -8,000) to fund the production of a demo / development shoot of my next film.
My 6 month goal is to open a joint Roth IRA account with my wife and try to contribute max for year 2005, and 2006.
My 6 month goal is to save another $1000 (college student.)
My 6 month goal is to increase my networth by $10,000. My 1 year goal is to increase it by $20,000.
Interesting, if not six months…1 year. Pay off my 2006 bmw(yes, I got your car Jonathan) car loan, successfully create decent income 1K+ a month from my website, start an LLC with three houses for rent, and find a rich girl to marry..haha..jk with the last one.
Anthony
My 6-month goal is to have our credit card debt paid down from $8200 to $2200.
This is very timely as I just finished coming up a full year plan to finish paying off that credit card debt by the end of 2007, so that will be my 12 month goal.
My goals are to have $55K in my retirement accounts and to get a Job that pays at least $62K/year+Bonus. My current pays $55.5K+Bonus
My 6-month goal (coincidentally when my contract is up) is to have $6000 in an emergency fund.
My 6 mo. goal is to have the combined value of my 401(k), Roth IRA, Taxable investing accounts, and Savings account to equal $11,500. The total is now at $3,200.
My 6-month goal with be to increase my net worth by $15k. Best of luck everyone!
Save $10,000 for wedding
My 12 month goal is to earn my keep. I’m living in my GFs home and I’m not helping pay mortgage. Not quite sure that earning my keep means yet. Maybe paying half?
My financial goal is to actually purchase one foreclosed property and sale it making a profit in the next 6 months.
6 month goal -> Save $7500.
My 6 mo goal will be to fund my RothIRA by another $1000 before tax day, and another $1000 after that. I’m a college senior, so it will be a bit challenging to save that much, but we’ll see!
Have $4800 in an emergency fund. (2 months worth of mortgage payments).
My goal is to save $10K for emergency funds. Max Roth IRA contributions and invest $5k in mutual funds.
And pay off a motorcycle purchase. I paid off all my existing credit card debt! Yay!
My goal is to accumulate 25K cash for down payment towards my house.
Whoah! This is one cool and motivating post.
I’m just about to complete $2K for my emergency fund savings on the first half of December.
Now for the next 6 months I’m planning to raise $6k either as an investment fund or a house downpayment.
My six-moth goal is to save an additional $6000 in my online savings account.
I want to avg 5 dollars a day from my website
6 month goal: pay of the last of my student loans! current balance: $3200
My six months goals are to reach A$1m net worth, and to get my weight down to my ideal (
My 6-month goal is to complete the payments of a couple of properties I plan to buy: $24000 more to go towards those.
As part of a longer-term plan to pay off debt, in the next 6 months my goal is to pay $500 a month on a loan from my mother (low interest, high guilt) totalling $4000, and to pay $400 a month for credit card debt (which would include paying one completely off) totalling $2400.
As for savings–I hope to put away $300 a month into my online savings account, totalling $1800.
As for career–I hope to bring in $300 extra a month by playing music and raising $200 a month extra through cd sales and pre-sales (yes, the financial mishandling of my music career has a lot to do with my butloads of debt!).
As a college student, who just came into some cash. I’d like to make 50% of the money on hand again in 6 months. Shoot for a little under $10,000 and pay off my credit cards! Current balance of $750 on a card. Let’s look forward to the future!
As a college student, who just came into some cash. I?d like to make 50% of the money on hand again in 6 months. Shoot for a little under $10,000 and pay off my credit cards! Current balance of $750 on a card. Let?s look forward to the future!
I’d like to start/buy my own company. I don’t know if I can do it within 6 months but I hope within the year. Additionally, I’ll continue to work full time and max out my 401K
6 month goal is to have 2000$ credit debt paid off and be debt free.!!
1) Increase net worth by 10%….approx 15k
2) For 2007 set up auto equal monthly contributions to max out my ROTH IRA
In six months, I would like to have at least $2000 in my Roth IRA (currently at $1200) and another $600 in my savings account. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s over 15% of my grad student’s stipend.
I really love this idea, maybe if I write it down, I’ll do it… I am 28 years old, single and live in LA. I make $100k a year, but hate my job. No credit card debt but I likely can’t do a ROTH in 2007 due to my salary. I contribute the $15k max into my 401(k).
So, my 6 month goals are to
1) up my emergency savings fund to $10k (currently $4k)
2) find a job that feeds my intellectual and emotional needs as well as my wallet… it’s time a for a new job…
3) pay for the $6k in dental work I need from cash and not have to dip into my savings.
We’ll see how it goes…
–Liberty–
Great idea! Okay, I would like to have $6ooo in emergency fund (currently have $4000) and save $4000 for my roof replacement. Total to save $6000.
This will be a bit steep, but if I could reduce what I spend on food, I would be thinner and richer!
My 6 month plan (I’m about to graduate college) is to start a Roth IRA and fund it $4000 for this year and start towards an additional $2000 for next year.
I have two goals:
1. Form an LLC to buy, renovate and sell real estate
2. Form a plan for funding my childs college education.
6 month plan:
1. Finish my grad program.
2. Complete funding 06 Roth.
3. Fund the Freedom acct to 5k.
6 month goal:
Either 1) to have saved $6000 cash rainy day fund (using an ING Direct savings account for this purpose) or,
2) to have successfully moved to the midwest and found a new job without incurring debt
Depending upon whether the employedness survives the next six months.
Save at least 15% income for retirement, get a pre-approved mortgage so as to start apt hunting.
6 month goal:
1. to have found a new job either doubling my salary or being in a great position for advancement
but more importantly. . .
2. to have bought a 4 unit apartment building.
i will be 26.
My 6 month goal is to:
1. Have saved up $5k in emergency savings
2. Start up an investment account seperate from my 401k and put in at least $2k
My 6 month goal is to:
Reach more than $5000 in my online savings account.
6 Month Goal is to generate 5% of my salary from passive sources.
My goals are to pay off $4000 of credit card debt, add $1000 to my “rainy day fund” and find a new job making 20% more than I do now.
I’ve got several six month goals including:
– go back to school next semester for language courses and build-up job skills
-fund $2,000 into my ROTH IRA
Wow — great response!
My 6-month goal is to gross an extra $1,000 per month in side income.
Mine is a lot in the short period of time, but I think I can do it.
1. Have 60,000 in 401k (currently @ 52,000)
2. Pay off two CCs. ~$4,500
3. Max out ’06 Roth IRA contributions ($8,000)
4. $2,000 in cash savings
Well, since my one year goal is to have all of our debt paid off, then my six-month goal will be to have the student loan balance below $10,000. And since that seems too easy, my other goal will be to not use the credit cards at all except for the two things that are charged automatically to them (car insurance and mail-order prescriptions).
My six month goal is to net $12,000 during that time period from my main business.
(sorry if this posts twice)
My 6 month goals-
1) Have $30,000 in online savings (currently at $20,000)
2) Read extensively on mortgages and real estate, so I can plan on buying a new house August 2007
I’m currently ?4500 in debt. My 6 month goal is to not go any further into debt while saving a one month emergency fund. My one year goal is to get a better paying job so I can get out of debt and start saving!
In six months my goal will be to pay off my Visa with a $1250 balance
I’d like to get my financial assets over the $500,000 level.
My 6 month goal is to be completely debt free (other than our mortgage). This is a huge goal, but I think it is a worthy one!
I know I may be a little late but, today is my 28th birthday. I figured there is no day like the day of your birth to take stock in yourself. So, with that said, in 6 months I would like to have at least half of my $17,000 credit card debt paid off. It may be difficult for me but I am going to do everything in my power to achieve it.
My six-month goal is to have my honeymoon 75% funded in six months. Also, my goal is to have one of my credit cards completely paid off.
Here’s a bookmark as to the end of the tracking contest. But people are still very welcome and encouraged to share their goals and send them off as part of history.
my 6 month goal is to have $3000 in credit card debt paid off.
I hope to add $20,000 to my mutual fund accounts.
In this order
1. Pay off private student loan. Just sent them a 10K check, have $7700 left.
2. Fund 2006 Roth IRAs for my wife and I
3. Fund 2007 Roth IRAs for my wife and I
4. Pay down debt on house, $6400
This adds up to $22100. Seems agressive, but I am in sales and am expecting (hoping for) commission checks at EoY. I have to rank cash spending because in my line of work, compensation is variable.
1. To contribute 250 dollars to my Roth IRA by the end of the year.
2. To eliminate the last bit of credit card debt. (About 150 dollars).
3. Research Passive Income
Gee, I love this site…
Recently I have been very interested in personal finance and been doing alot of reading but still feel like I learned nothing. I think i may be reading too many books or websites. BUT I LOVE THIS SITE.
Anyway, my 6 month goal
1. get a better paying job
2. save atleast 3,000
3. Open another saving acct. besides ING.
My 6 month goal is to have constant 25% 401k contribution for myself.
Pay more on principal of my 30 year Mortgage.
Fully fund Roth IRAs for myself and my wife.
my 6 month goal is to pay off my $950 debt
Goals achieved!
My goal is to have saved enough money in cash to go on a family vacation without using credit cards or money in our regular savings account. We need $1000 since we’re keeping it local and affordable this year (we have twin infants).
Goals changed. Flights to Disney are too expensive and my wife’s working on her Masters. So my realigned goals are:
-continue to pay off Master’s without taking a loan at higher interest than we can make in savings.
-pay more principal on mortgage
-prepare for possiblity of increasing family size
-start DW’s Roth fund and contribute for 2006/07 and add my 2007 contribution
My 6 month goal is to save 10,000 and to earn the most money with what I have saved already. I’ve been keeping it in a Money Market account at my bank that barely earns any interest.
I am starting late but I think the goals I have are acheivable.
1.) Pay off $3000 in high interest credit card debt.
2.) Pay for major part of my own wedding $20K out of which I need to get more $9K…(I know a lot will say dont do it.. but then family emotions ha ha… other $11K is coming out of my 401K as a loan.
3.) Save additional $2000 in ING savings acct.
4.) Lend atleast $500 in micro loans at Prosper.com @10%+ interest.
I think I can get there. best of luck people.. see you around feb 16th.
Great challenge, Jonathan. As I’ve heard too many times, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
My 6 month goal is to pay off the second mortgages on the only two rental properties that have these. It’s a stretch goal but achievable.
My financial and personal life goal is to get a new job. I have been “underemployed” for too long and I need to muster up the confidence to get out there and change my life! Great site Jon.
I currently own four credit cards with a combined CC debt of around $9,000. My six month goal is to try and pay off at least the two with the lowest balances so I can focus on the card with the highest balance of $5,000.
Update:
I was actually able to meet my 6-month goal of getting my financial assets over the $500,000 level a little early.
January was actually pretty close to $1000, but this included ads that were for more than one month, so I probably only netted an extra $400 during that month.
Getting a business set up to keep things clean helped to get me on track with tracking the income of the business to see if I can make the extra $1000/month that I want to.
Update: My six month goal was to deposit $1200 into my savings, I’ve actually exceeded that, but then I took some out to pay off my car, but I will reach my goal by May 16th.
It is Feb 16th, so I will start with the updates.
1. Have 60,000 in 401k (currently @ 52,000)
—Currently @ $58000, so I am on track provide the market holds!
2. Pay off two CCs. ~$4,500
—Paid off the first one and have a the funds to pay of the second ready!!
3. Max out ?06 Roth IRA contributions ($8,000)
–Not done yet
4. $2,000 in cash savings
–Currently exceeded this with almost $8000 in cash savings.
While it would be easy to move the cash savings into the Roths, we decided a few weeks after this post to buy a new house. We should close on the 1st of March, so I am holding on funding the Roth’s until after that is complete.
Sadly, I haven’t done anything with that money. It still sits exactly where it has for- wow- 3 months. Now, as a college student, I feel scared of putting my money anywhere without knowing what I’m getting into. I look forward to working in the finance industry, and so hope that my self, albeit, slow investment studying will help both my small pile of cash and my future. May 16th here we come!!
My goal was to have 100k in retirement accounts, I passed 100k on Feb 15th with my monthly 401k contribution.
Great job everyone! Thanks for the updates so far.
For my first goal of saving 15% of income for retirement, that is coming along swell with my new 401k. As for the second goal of getting pre-approval for a mortgage, I’m re-thinking buying a house. I’m not sure if I am ready for the hassle of home-ownership. Or maybe I’m just lazy right now because I’d rather get a start on my freelance side business…
I just discovered this site today! Love all the info and have set a goal for myself…that within the next six months I will pay down a carrying balance on a credit card of $7000 to ZERO. My first step towards this goal, was to apply for a Zero% interest and Zero fee for a balance transfer to my new Discover card and ripping up this current 14% credit card, which on the average is costing me $70/month; while trying to pay it off! Once I attain this goal, I look forward to being debt free and can better invest more towards my savings and retirement…
I want to have maxed out my Roth for 2007 by June.
Continuing on my goal setting….
-Looks pretty obvious that family will increase in size.
-Start college funds.
-Make necessary improvements for addition(s)
-Keep up REGULAR vehicle maintenance (rear calipers “blew clean off” my car…it needed brakes as it was)
-Reduce personal effects clutter to what I can enjoy.
-start tithing right
My stated goal is to pay down $10K in debt. At three months in, I’m only down $3K.
I’m still chugging away and despite moving 1400 miles away next month and still no job lined up, I’m going to try and make it!
A year ago, I have achieved my goals – at least where I want
my finances to be. But it went down the drain when I started
helping my kids with their student loans and credit cards.
My goal is to have enough savings to cover 6 months living expense with 10k in savings.
I made it!
Paid off $30K in debt in six months without reducing our liquid assets or investments. link
I’m currently 23 years old:
My 6 month goal is as follows:
– reach $30,000 in savings – currently at $24,500
– reach $7,500 in my 401k – currently at $6,700 (depending on the market)
– renew for another year my leasing contract with my current tenant – knock on wood she has been excellent, never a complaint from her, rent checks always on time, never had to visit the condo EVER!!!
These are my goals, not too hard yet still challenging to attain…..
We’ll see…..
Retirement accounts dropped with the dip in the market at the end of February, but have recovered nicely since then. Accounts are over 106k now.
Hmm..well, I didn’t take any steps in moving my chunk o’ cash to a high-yield savings account, yet it’s definitely increased in value. I’m glad college makes it possible for me to dump any money I earn right into savings! Whoohoo! Don’t think I reached increasing the original amount by 50%, but at least with my summer internship, will be much more able to add $5,000 to make it a grand total of close to $40,000.
My wife and I made the goal about 5 months ago to buy a house.
Well, last Thursday we went to closing and are now proud OWNERS of our residence. NO MORE RENTING! We are also contributing regularly to a money market account, and beefing up our savings.
We also set up a goal of traveling “somewhere cool.” Not sure if it counts, but we are going to Oregon to see some family near the end of this month. Does that count? 🙂
My initial goal was to pay off $10000 in debt.
At six months I’ve now paid off $16K, so I beat my goal by quite a bit. Yay!
Well, I’m over the deadline but I figured I’d check in anyway.
I have almost $3000 in Roth IRA contributions (goal was $2000) and exactly another $600 in savings, so all in all not too shabby. Woot!
I haven’t made my second ROTH contribution or even the $2,000. But I accomplished my career-related goals by going back to school to sharpen my language skills. I entered a speech contest through school and won third prize. And I’ve been freelance writing more which leads directly to finding a job somewhat or completely related to journalism.
I put away $200 for my travel funds this month and hopefully I can survive the rest of the month without eating out. And I finally moved my low-yield WAMU savings into the 5% high-yield savings account!
My goal is to maintain a savings rate of 30% of our income.
My 6 month goal, by the end of this year is to have
My Roth IRA to grow at 75K, right now it is 63K.
Have 50k for downpayment for house. right now i have 15.5k.
Turn my websites into profitable condition.
Have 5k in emergency fund account.
My goal is to be debt free by paying off my student loans and credit cards ($1500 total) and to have $500 in savings in six months.
My 6 month goal is to save $2,000 for downpayment in some real estate outside the country.
So glad this post is still open! Do I still get a prize? Maybe I’ll make that one of my goals 🙂
6-M Goals:
* Save Emergency Fund for 8-months ($3500 p/m): Currently at $6400
So tricky while on unemployment, but possible
* Pay off $30,000 of $50,000 HELOC
* Continue down-sizing & Save, Save, Save
* Enter and succeed in Real Estate Game
* Get a Prize for doing this?
6 month goals:
*Continue paying down my $15,000 in cc debt.
*Continue adding money to my ING account. Plan on looking into an account w/ 5+% as opossed to the 4.5% at ING.
*Continue learning about fianance & NOT over-spending!
hey cici-
fnbodirect.com has 6% / bankdeals.blogspot.com
Hey, 3 month goal is to
– max out my Roth IRA to $4000
– save $1600 for my certification exams
– stop using my credit card
My 6 month goal is to
save $10,000 in my emergency fund. wish me luck.
Great blog! Really enjoy reading it.
My goal will be to fund my prosper.com account to roughly $4,000, then re-invest the principal back to increase the cashflow. I have done a quick calculation and every month, I would be able to utilize 4% of the principal (~$160) to futher funding the prosper account. This way I will be able to accumulate more money in a shorter amount of time. Once the $4,000 mark is reach, Afterwards, I’ll prepare to fund my ROTH-IRA account. Prosper.com is of higher priority because it would generate the immediate cashflow with a small enough amount of money, plus I can recycle the principal.
Cheers!
Alex
My goal is to earn $10,000 from my own niche market web business by 04/12/08.
I will set up the eCommerce website and produce the eBook product in first 3 months and then earn $10,000 in the next 3 months.
My six months goal is to build a giant webside that can make me money.
My 6 month goal will be to pay off my 2007 Toyota Yaris. I also would like to pay off my $7500 in credit card debt.
My six-month goal is (in several parts) to:
-pay what I owe to collection (~$2500)
-save at least $3,000, ideally $5,000 in a high-yielding online savings fund
-to have my online business live and profitable
-begin using credit cards to MAKE MONEY ONLY for the first time in seven years
My 6 month goal is to have a great job and/or to be supporting myself with my new business.
6 month goals:
-Convert my various ~$13K credit card debt all at 4.99% through my BofA card.
-Get my real estate agent license
-Get my credit fico score to 750 from 690 (as of 12/06)
12 month goal:
get a second rental property (a 4-plex) with at least a $1K positive cashflow
____________
Things I’ve accomplished recently:
-finally closed my BofA checking and savings which charged me $6/mo for the past 10 years (ouch)
-opened a Wamu 5% savings and free checking (no fees)
-converted 10K debt at 30% (at that rate for a year – yeah, it was a messy year) down 3.99%, but I got a few late payments and lost that rate. Hence goal #1 above.
-put all my bills paying through wamu bill pay with a 3-day email notification so I’m not surprised. When I had it set from all the institutions auto-payment, I lost track and had major overdraft fees.
-last year, I finally got my first passive income of about $1200/mo from renting out my condo and living in a tiny studio that costs me $450.
Yeah, I’m a hodge-podge of amazing passive income and horrible credit card debt. But most of it is not at all from consumer spending. It’s from not having health insurance and having to pay for emergency room bills. My monthly expenses are about $1200 with just the basics. I only eat out about $100/mo worth. No cable (tv, only internet). No furniture. I read “Clutter’s Last Stand” and ended up selling about 80% of everything I own. It was life transforming. Highly recommend it.
Well, I’ll stop here, otherwise, I should start my own money blog (and get paid). 🙂
I’ll be back.
My 6 month goal is to pay off $10,000 in debt.
My long term goal is to pay off another 10,000 in car debt and then save for a house downpayment.
My 5 month goal is to find a job with my terrible work history and save up enough money to buy a car in the $1000-$2000 price range. My main goal is the car, whether I find a job or not.
Im only 22….
Woohoo!
I just got a house for 30% off including the down payment. This gives me enough equity to roll my other debts into my house payment. Both goals completed in one fell swoop!
Still some work to do, but it will come together fairly quickly.
Thanks for the inspiration.
My goal is to pay off credit card debt of 1300.00, While saving and starting a retirement fund…which i am way behind at 42..
My goal… to generate enough income from investment such that I don’t hav to work, unless I want to! I give myself 5 years for this goal, by which time I’ll be 45.
My 6-month goal:
(a) to set aside $4500 (3 months) emergency funds
(b) open a $1000 share certificate in a Credit Union
(c) keep paying 3 times the EMI towards my car-loan
(d) keep feeding my 401K … yeah I know
that may be too much but I will do it … I am already on my way 🙂
just found this blog.
Six month goal is to have 5k in savings.( i think having credit cards is doing me in. i squandered all my savings had about 20k on clothing and shoe purchases i don’t even wear. Plus, since february, i’ve spent over 11k on clothing purchases in addtion to the 20k i had last year. I don’t need to see a sephora or victoria secret or any other clothing store on my statement for the next 6mos.
2nd goal is no more clothing or shoes. No matter how much i want or crave it.
3rd goal, will have my other CC paid off. just paid off 2400 on the first one yesterday and i should pay off the 4k on the next one by the end of this month once i sell my 2nd car i haven’t been drivng. ( i never used to carry a balance!)
4th is to invest in a CD or something. currently have 3k sitting between my online savings and my brick and mortar checking. don’t much knowledge about investing and school and work keeps too busy to read.
5th goal is a maybe, i may sign up for a 401k since my employer matches 6%. i have a parent screaming at me since last year to sign up. i always feel i’m going to leave for med school in 3yrs so it’s not worth having it since i need to save everything for med school.
I think these are decent goals for a 24y.o student with a mom in africa to support.
check in time.
I did get crazy and spend so much during the christmass season.
i did pay off my credit cards.
i just sold my old car today so i’ve 2k cash in hand. the car was worth a lot more but i had it sitting for a year. it’s a honda civic with just a cracked windshield. everything was perfect. actually got purchased by a dealer 25min after i posted on craigslist.
I did open 4k in CDs with ally. i plan on investing half of the money from my car sale into another cd and sending the remaining to my mom in africa.
I didn’t reach my 5k savings goal because in addition to taking classes at the community college, i had to take some upper level science courses at a university and i pay for tuition myself so i only saved a little over 4k.
i failed goal 5. i didn’t open the 401k even though my employer still matches 6% despite the various cutbacks during the recession.
i don’t know what my new 6month goal will be. no more school after this semester, just studying this summer for my exam so i should save more. maybe i’ll sign up for the 401k(i’m still not sure if it’s smart to sign up for that cuz i may leave my current employer next year or definately in 2012), and maybe save 5k more. God help me.
Not sure what mine is either but I would like to make more that I spend 🙂
I’m thinking of taking getting a credit card, it will be my first one since leaving school. I need a way to build my credit.
I found a agency called The Alternative Loan Machine, has anyone heard of them or can I get some advice of what type of credit card to get that I won’t get into much debt?
My 6 month plan is to pay off at least half of my credit card ~1500 and make at least 1 payment towards my student loan.
Wow. Looking at my old goal really makes me feel good. I blew the goal out of the water!
Six Month Goal (5 month by end of year)
1. (2) month’s living expenses ($4k) in emergency fund.
2. Be on schedule to have funds available to pay wife’s taxes for the year next April. (she is self employed)
My 6-month financial goal: I will put $5000 for my emergency account. This should keep me safe in case I loose my job and before I get a new one.
Also, I think that having some funds to live for 3-5 months is necessary to make a change – to go out of your comfort zone and try something different. Without the money set aside, people become slaves of the system.
Hi Jonathan,
Just started following your blog. Today is the first day actually. Found reference on StackExchange.com’s website.
My Six Month Goal is to pay all of my Credit Card Debt and own a new motorcycle. Already started working on it.
I hope to learn things from this blog.
Cheers!