Some Goals

Well, for the first time in absolutely AGES, I spent an entire hour in the library, by myself! I was able to pick up quite a few books I have wanted to read for a while, as well as browsing other interesting titles - as a result, I borrowed more books than I can possibly read in 3 weeks, but I can always renew the ones I don’t get to!

The mix of books I borrowed is a reflection of the things running through my mind at the moment… Women and Money, Buddhism and Refashioning T Shirts.

I’m very committed at the moment to getting my finances sorted, so after reading a couple of the books, I have a new plan that I will put into place as of January 1^st 2010. And I have started thinking about my financial goals and future.

To start with, I have set myself 3 goals to have achieved by June 30^th 2010.

1. Pay off my small Visa debt by the end of November 2009

2. Repay the loan from my brother, which enabled me to move, by the end of January 2010.

3. Save $2000 by the end of June 2010 to replenish my now non-existent emergency fund.

I believe these 3 goals are achievable and possible without a lot of effort - but will hopefully instil some confidence that I can do it, and also improve my financial position.

I figure these are my immediate goals. Now I just need to set some short, medium and long term goals as well. Long term goals are easy – I want to live comfortably in retirement!

My medium term goals are probably to really get serious about saving and investing for my future.

Short term, well, I’d really like to go overseas. At this point in time I am thinking along the lines of a Contiki-type tour of Europe in the next 2-3 years. I am 30 now, so to do a tour like this means I have to do it in the next 5 years! And, seeing as there is every chance I will be travelling alone and it will be my first trip overseas, the idea of travelling in a group makes me feel safer.

I’m thinking Winter of 2012 would be the best time to go – Winter so I can reduce the amount of luggage and clothing I will need seeing as it will be a European Summer! Also, that gives me 2.5 full years of saving and planning.

If I can save $2000 in 6 months at the start of next year, I could expect to save around $10K in 2.5 years. Of course, if I can be more frugal this amount could be more, and if unforseen events occur, it could be less…

But, I think I will hold off on any major decisions until the later part of next year – once I’ve seen how my new system works, and seen just how effective my saving plan is.

I feel very excited at the prospect of doing all of these things by myself though – I really am finally 100% responsible for me!