Tweet
Today is Sunday, a day of worship for some, and Turkey day is a few days away so I thought this would be a thematically-appropriate thread.
What financial goals have you all accomplished this year?
I've achieved the following:
1) Funded a 6-month, emergency fund.
This was a somewhat difficult task but I felt a huge sense of relief and calm once I knew I could weather six months of financial instability relatively well before having to panic.
2) Paid my 2015 taxes within 45 days of April 15, 2016.
Despite not having a very complex tax situation, I always wind up paying maximum penalties and everything else in October. My CPA, a family friend, routinely expresses his fatherly disapproval which goes something like, "You're better than this. Don't do this next year." Like groundhog day, nothing usually changes but this year I "did better."
3) Paid off two small, student loans, approximately $4000 at 5.0%.
4a) Refinanced four student loans, totaling a little over $52000, at 6.08% fixed to 3.5% fixed.
4b) Through a mixture of trial and error, bi-monthly scheduled and extra payments, and an extra lump sum payment each month I've gotten the refinanced term down from 60 months to 24.5 months over a 2.5-month period.
5) Set up a running bank balance excel spreadsheet for my expense account.
Extremely helpful for financial planning and goal setting.
6) Finally dabbled in individual stocks but quickly realized the folly of my ways. Now I have to decide if I should sell the under-performing stocks and claim a tax loss or sit tight and see what happens.
7) Read a good number of the posts on WCI, read(ing) a few of the recommended books and slowly implementing the nuggets found within.
I look forward to hearing what you all have been up to financially this year.
What financial goals have you all accomplished this year?
I've achieved the following:
1) Funded a 6-month, emergency fund.
This was a somewhat difficult task but I felt a huge sense of relief and calm once I knew I could weather six months of financial instability relatively well before having to panic.
2) Paid my 2015 taxes within 45 days of April 15, 2016.
Despite not having a very complex tax situation, I always wind up paying maximum penalties and everything else in October. My CPA, a family friend, routinely expresses his fatherly disapproval which goes something like, "You're better than this. Don't do this next year." Like groundhog day, nothing usually changes but this year I "did better."
3) Paid off two small, student loans, approximately $4000 at 5.0%.
4a) Refinanced four student loans, totaling a little over $52000, at 6.08% fixed to 3.5% fixed.
4b) Through a mixture of trial and error, bi-monthly scheduled and extra payments, and an extra lump sum payment each month I've gotten the refinanced term down from 60 months to 24.5 months over a 2.5-month period.
5) Set up a running bank balance excel spreadsheet for my expense account.
Extremely helpful for financial planning and goal setting.
6) Finally dabbled in individual stocks but quickly realized the folly of my ways. Now I have to decide if I should sell the under-performing stocks and claim a tax loss or sit tight and see what happens.
7) Read a good number of the posts on WCI, read(ing) a few of the recommended books and slowly implementing the nuggets found within.
I look forward to hearing what you all have been up to financially this year.
)
Comment