Goals 2008

Every quarter and at the beginning of the new year, David and I always sit down and discuss our goals; financial, family, personal and it's always nice to go over goals previously set, to see where we are at obtaining them. With all that has happened over the past two years since moving here, having our first child and losing David's mother, we've met a lot of our financial goals and sort of lost track of a few others.

Since I wasn't really keeping up with our blog back in January (who, me?), here are our goals for 2008, a lot of them met already:

Financial:

• DONE Pay off our consumer debt (both car loans, credit cards, student loans, personal loans)
• DONE Sell the 2008 Jeep and buy a 2008 GT500
• DONE Open an ING Account that contains 6 months' living expenses for an emergency (David losing his job or a death in our family)
  
• DONE Open an ING Account to house Emily's college fund until we choose a 529 Plan
• DONE Meet with our Financial Advisor about 529 Plans
• DONE Adjust David's withholding on his W-4 ("married", 5 exemptions) so we DO NOT get a refund next year
• DONE Adjust David's 401(k) contributions to 8.75% in order to max out the IRS limit for 2008 of $15,500
• DONE Contribute to my IRA in order to max out the IRS limit for 2008 of $5,000
• DONE Revamp our monthly budget to include savings for short-term (annual travel, weekend fun, gifts, birthday and anniversary celebrations, etc.) and long-term goals (intercontinental travel, a new car, Emily's first car & wedding, etc.)
• Increase the death benefit on David's life insurance policy from $250K to $1M
• Increase the death benefit on Amanda's life insurance policy from $100K to $500K
• DONE Purchase a small, whole life policy for Emily $50K
  
• Downsize our cell phone plan (we waste over 1,000 minutes a month because we don't use them and can talk to everyone we know for free anyway!) to less than $150/month
• DONE Purchase a new MACBookPro laptop
• Purchase a new color printer
• Be more conscientious of my "extras" spending and not so wasteful with stuff we just don't need (Emily does NOT need anymore shoes!!!)
• DONE Save $8,500 so we can move this summer (rentals in our area requre 3x monthly rent as a deposit upon move in, argh!)
• DONE Cash in AMEX rewards points for 4 free roundtrip flights and give them to my mother so she can continue to fly out here to see Emily
• DONE Sign up for CreditSure Credit Monitoring Services and review our credit reports every quarter
• DONE Plan and save for our trip to Disneyland for Emily's 2nd Birthday
• DONE Plan and save for David & I's romantic getaway to Las Vegas

Family:

• Set aside Sunday as "family day": no plans with other people, just a day with each other
  
• Plan and save for an annual family vacation (just the three of us) every year
• Begin creating Photobooks from the thousands of pictures we've taken and stored, digitally, over the past 4 years
• DONE Move over all photos, videos and documents from the computer's hard drive to our new, external hard drive monthly AND make a backup copy on a DVD to put in our safe
• Have our family portrait made every Christmas
• Have lunch together up at Pixar once a week
• DONE Enroll Emily in fun, social activities that meet up weekly including: tumbling class, Gymboree, Fun With Music Together and purchase annual memberships for Habitot, Studio Grow and The Oakland Zoo
• DONE Hire a nanny to watch Emily once a week so David and I can enjoy a night out
• Invite Emily's Gran and Aunt Jenny to come out and visit once a month
• Host Christmas at our house in 2008
• Continue our family traditions for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter
• Plan to expand our family in 2010
• Move into a bigger house this summer
• Clean out our storage unit and donate everything

Personal:

• Loose 15lbs before summer so I can take Emily to the pool and feel great about myself!
• Go dramatic this year with hair color and a new cut
• Wear "real" clothes anytime I leave the house, not my old mom gear: black yoga capri's and a t-shirt
• Be sure to wash off all makeup before going to bed and use Firming Night Cream
• Wear sunscreen every day
• Avoid sugar and other "empty calories"
• Do a better job of having my cell phone turned on and within earshot
• Keep up with the housework!
• Don't shop just because I am bored!
• Continue to keep in touch with friends on a weekly basis and meeting up with my mom's group as often as I can
• DONE Donate Emily's outgrown toys and clothes to friends
• Set aside time for myself at least once a month for a day at the spa and some shopping time to actually try on clothes