2016 Goals

hoffse · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

3) Any big plans?

hoffse · December 2015

Financial Goals

-Increase our 401(k) contributions by 1% (Jan)

-Increase our emergency fund by $5,000 (Dec)

-Pay off H's car and begin debt snowball (Sept)

-Achieve a positive net worth (estimated June-July)

Personal Goals

-Complete LLM degree (Oct)

-Complete book 3 of my piano practice (by Dec)

-Read one new book for pleasure per month

-DIY built-ins for our living room and get a piano (April/May)

Big Plans

-Taking an international trip with my parents sometime over the summer

-H and I may TTC at the end of the year

julieanne912 · December 2015

1) While I don't have a set # in mind, I'm just going to continue to work on building up my savings.

2) I'm working on getting myself healthier. We put off seriously TTCing one more year in order to get more ready both health-wise, and financial-wise. I lost 60ish lbs 3 years ago, but I've gained 30 of it back, so I'd like to lose some again to get back into a healthy weight range.

3) We also put off the TTC so we can just spend some time together as a married couple. This past year was a whirlwind with buying the house in Feb and the wedding in Sept, and the year before was crazy because we had to sell the old house and move into a rental, and were building the house. So 2016 will be the year of just "being".

So far we just have our annual trip planned to a country music festival in June. We go with H's family and we camp for 5 days (in our campers with generators, so more like glamping). We also are going to start planning a few more camping trips to nearby places, and maybe one to Mt Rushmore since I've never been and he hasn't been since he was a kid. It's about 7 hours from here. We'll probably just do some of them last minute... hitch up the camper and go kind of weekend trips.

Xstatic3333 · December 2015

1) Financial Goals

I haven't done the math on what will be required to make these happen, but I think they are all pretty reasonable

-Pay off my car (this WILL happen, by June) and then "snowball" that payment into our savings.

-Increase e-fund by $5,000 over the course of the year.

-Save the amount required to have our siding repainted and complete that project. I'm estimating $4,000 here.

-Max out my Roth IRA contribution.

2) Personal Goals

-TTC

-Maintain yoga practice

-Run a 10 mile race in February and another half in May

-If TTC takes some time, I'd like to climb 4-5 of the NH 4,000 footers this summer. I'm guessing that's a no-go if I'm PG, though I'll ask my midwife if/when we get to that point.

3) Big Plans

-Trip to Amsterdam in March that cannot come soon enough!

-I'd like to camp in Baxter State Park in Maine again this summer. It's very affordable and so nice to be completely off the grid for a few days.

-We'll need to get back down to FL to visit the ILs at some point. No complaints about that!

brij2006 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

- Put 15-20% toward retirement
- Cash flow finishing our garage.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

- Lose the rest of the baby weight.
- Get to 1 year of giving DD breastmilk (February). On track with enough frozen to do so.

- Let loose in Hawaii. Not worry about the financial aspect of everything about the trip.

3) Any big plans?

- TTC baby #2. Well, continue to do so. I will start my crazy insane diet in February to hopefully get my body back on track since it's still not doing its thing on its own. If we aren't pregnant by June, we will revisit getting assistance again.

- Trip to Hawaii!!!!!!!!!!!

orangehills · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

Just to keep saving, as much as possible. We have to pay back 3-4k in taxes this spring (it was a tax related to selling our house) and we have to buy new tires for a car which will be around $1000. so beyond those huge goals, and just house maintenance, the goal is to take it easy this year and save.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

2016 is the year of getting healthy. I lost the 55lbs of baby weight this year, but I have 20 more I want gone, and just to start eating healthier and exercising. And learning to cook healthier stuff, I want my family to be healthier! Other than that, just have fun settling into our new house and watching my baby grow!

3) Any big plans?

Eh.. camping at Donner Lake in the summer. Some day trips to the beach. That's about it. I live in CA 2 hours from the ocean/SF, and 2 hours from Tahoe/Sierra Nevadas, so we want to utilize that and do a lot of day trips to visit all the cool places around us! This year is going to be cheap, coz we want to play catch up for the next 2 years on finances and just get more in savings and retirement.

vlagrl29 · December 2015

1 - I want us to keep putting more in emergency fund and start putting money in savings for hardwood floors. We have a company coming out on Monday for a free quote so I at least have a $$ goal to shoot for. Currently I want to save for 3 years and then get them installed. You guys talked me off the ledge of financing 100%. I've backed off but I still want them but less financing. In general I want to buy less clothing for myself and DD and put that into savings. Keep contributing to retirement and hopefully increase that a bit.

2 - TTC#2 - hold me Im scared but know it needs to be done before I get too old

crank up the yoga goals. I've gotten pretty good at arm balances and inversions, so I I want to get even better by learning super hard transitions from inversions into an arm balance. I want to get as advanced as I can before getting pregnant so I can continue that level during the pregnancy. We would also like to get 1 more vacation in before I'm pregnant. If I have the same pregnancy I did with DD there will be no going out of town during those 9 months.

3 - Nothing major as of yet besides TTC and another vacation.

For those of you still wanting to loose the baby weight - it is possible! I gained a hellish 75 pounds with DD on a small petite frame. Lost it all by the time DD turned 1. Just keep plugging away and set goals and small rewards for accomplishing them. It's so worth it in the end to have your body back

I'm actually smaller than I was when we were TTC DD.

als1982 · December 2015

I Iove these types of threads!!

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

Finish paying off our student loans. We started with $85,000 and have about $30,000 left to go! After that, we'll save up to replace our cars - paid in cash, of course.

Max out 401k/403b. We're fairly close right now contributing 10% and 15% respectively.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

I've been asked to present at a pretty major professional conference in April in LA. I'm not a confident public speaker, so this will be a challenge. But it's an incredible opportunity and I feel honored that the program I've established is being recognized in this way.

3) Any big plans?

Keep TTC. We'll hit a year in May, and will evaluate at that point next steps. In the meantime, we're thinking a two stop EU trip in the Spring... Hungary, Germany, the UK and Spain are all at the top of our list.

smetter04 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?
-Pay off H's last student loan (currently unsure if will payoff in lump sum or split between 12mos)
-Starting in January we will be trying to save all of my income and live on H's income, to test our ability to live on his income alone and to save at a very high rate.
-Purchase a vehicle to replace mine.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?
-Organize the house/basement (purchase or make shelving units, workbench)
-Finish some other smaller house projects
-Practice yoga more frequently, get active, get healthy
-Keep to the budget - we've been total DINKS and our wallets and waistline show it through the mindset of 'oh, we can afford it.' Keeping to the budget is not only financial, but a lifestyle change, too.

3) Any big plans?
-My brother is getting married in September and both and H and I are standing up, so that'll be fun

-We were going to start TTC next September, but now that we're looking at our finances and our goals before we have kids, we're thinking about pushing it off by a year. Although everyone thinks our trip to Europe this year was our last to-do before TTC, and annoyingly ask us about it.

-Take a vacation somewhere TBD.

csuave · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

Keep savings at the target level.
Save enough to contribute about $5K from our household account to retirement.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

Play chess. Technically I already learned once but I have pretty much forgotten. I'm getting a board for Christmas and want to play it semi regularly next year.
Continue to clean and organize the house.
Landscape the front and back yard.

3) Any big plans?
H and I have a wedding to attend in TX in March. That will count as our vacation.
I'm planning to go to Australia with my aunt. It will be my 6th continent!

simplyelise · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

Pay off DH's student loans! Should happen in early August.

Get up to 3 months in the efund and save as much as possible towards 2016 Roths.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

I've set up a 16 week plan of study for myself on continuing ed classes. I'm going to pretend like I'm in school for a semester (even gave myself a "spring break") to beef up my skills and my resume. I might start looking for a new job next summer. It's hard because my last boss died soon after I got my current job and since I was the only employee (state rep), it's hard to figure out references. Plus I don't really want current employer to know I'm looking. We'll see.

3) Any big plans?

We're going to have a conversation about TTC on our 2 year anniversary in October. Right now I'm not feeling it. I kind of want to wait longer, but I've got a long time and could change my mind.

We're going to take a trip to celebrate debt freedom, but we might keep it simple. H is an elections specialist and we get debt free in August of an election year...so it might just be a long weekend in Chicago lol.

Mustard76 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?
- Add an additional $7500 to our move money account by EOY. We still call this one out move money, but it has morphed into our vacation/liquid cash/extra stash account.
- Add $5000 (minimum) to our regular savings.
-Pay H's truck in full. This currently comes out of his allowance, but I want it gone, so we'll take additional household funds to aid in payoff.
- Make full IRA contributions for both of us.
- Furnish our upstairs living room.
- Furnish the loft.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?
- Carve time out of every week to be intentionally grateful. H and I used to have a "phones off day" once a week. I'd like to get back to that.
- Break up with Facebook.
- Use all of my vacation days next year, and not use a single one of them to move.

3) Any big plans?
- SIL is getting married in Vegas in April, so we're going to go for a few extra days. H wants to renew our vows, I'm not such a huge fan of that. We'll see.
- Hopefully get to Disney by the end of the year. I've been trying to get there for the last 2+ years.
- I'm going to Denver for work in February, and I would love to extend that trip and fly back into Albuquerque to see my friends for a few days before coming home.

AprilZ81 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

Max out ROTHs again for 2016

Increase 401(k) by 1% for each of us if we get raises.

Remodel master bathroom with little/no use of the HELOC

Pay down the HELOC more (we are paying more than double the minimum)

Replenish savings after the bathroom remodel

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

Become a mother

Relearn how to play the piano

3) Any big plans?

The bathroom remodel and fertility treatments are the big "scary" plans and we just booked a family vacation (my parents, us, my sister and her family) for Febuary so that will be fun.

brij2006 · December 2015

AprilZ81 said:

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?
Max out ROTHs again for 2016
Increase 401(k) by 1% for each of us if we get raises.
Remodel master bathroom with little/no use of the HELOC
Pay down the HELOC more (we are paying more than double the minimum)
Replenish savings after the bathroom remodel

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?
Become a mother
Relearn how to play the piano

3) Any big plans?
The bathroom remodel and fertility treatments are the big "scary" plans and we just booked a family vacation (my parents, us, my sister and her family) for Febuary so that will be fun.

Love, Love, Love this so much!

BlueBirdMB · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

-We're doing some bathroom and kitchen renovations (new countertops mostly). We've been saving for it, but letting go of the money is going to kill me.

-I'd like save the money we are spending on the renovations again as a "baby fund".

-Increase mortgage payment by $100 per month

-Increase retirement savings by $100 per month

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

- Stay on a more frequent exercise routine that I started last month

- I need to get some health issues sorted before I TTC, hopefully in early 2017

3) Any big plans?

- The renovation. We haven't done much major to our house, so this is a first!

- Taking a NOLA trip in May! So excited!

JoanE2012 · December 2015

Financial Goals

- Open one or two mutual funds (earmarked for long term savings) and set up auto withdrawal.

- Increase savings earmarked for new siding for 2017 (we may do a 5 yr 0% interest deal in the end, but I like to know we have funds set aside)

- Pay off DH's car (and then get me a new one!)

Personal Goals

- Lose 20lbs

- Exercise more - we have a treadmill and I'd like to try and do at least 30 min a day.

- Read more - I'd like to do a book a week

- Go through boxes from moving in spare room and store or discard (we moved THREE years ago, it's been too long).

- Paint all the ceilings - previous owners had off white everywhere and it drives me nuts. Especially since I already painted crown molding, doors, etc bright white. I dread this.

Big Plans

- European river cruise this spring with my folks. Our 2nd river cruise, can't wait!

- One, possibly two additional trips - we've talked about China, Disneyworld, Puerto Rico, Fiji and Norway. We're really all over the map but probably won't talk seriously about anything for a few months.

lbonga1 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

Well, I'm really not liking my new job. I'm an independent contractor, and I'm not getting as much work as they made it seem like I'd be getting, plus the work is very labor intensive and not even in the field that I'm in school for. So I'm still looking. I'd like to find a normal 40-hr/week job before we have to renew our lease in March, in case we have to move for the job (very likely). I'll be paying off the last of my credit card debt at the beginning of February. I was then going to start saving money for a larger down-payment to buy my car at the end of the lease, but I decided it'd make more financial sense to start paying down my 6.5% interest student loan. How long that will take will depend on my job situation.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

Try not to overwork myself and get too stressed out! I wear a million hats and always have a ton I need to be doing, so that's been hard for me lately. We're also planning to TTC our third, but that will also depend on my job situation.

3) Any big plans?

I'm starting a graduate certificate program in software programming in January, and I'm actually really excited to start. It'll improve my job prospects significantly, and computer science is really interesting to me. Also, my oldest is turning three in February, and she'll be starting preschool next Fall.

blondie42107 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

- Sell our current home and buy a home that's bigger (yard and square footage).
- Add to our Efund
- Up our 401K. (currently at 12%, each)
- Pay down more debt (H's car will be done in 6 months).

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

- A new job. My line of work can get extremely stressful. I need a new environment.
- Get rid of clutter! For all those TTC - you don't need three large totes of 0-3 clothing! Lol. We really want to declutter before we sell/buy. So much easier to move!
- Focus on a hobby. I'm not sure what that will be yet.

3) Any big plans?

- We are trying to figure out a bigger family vacation. Kids are now 5 and 3. (We are still up in the air about a third.) We are trying to decide if we do a bigger vacation in 2016 or wait until 2017. In 2017, H and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We'd like to to a trip (just the two of us) but we're not sure about doing two big ones in the same year. We need to get a better idea of where we'd want to go first.

PurpleBookmark · December 2015

1) Financial Goals:

- Save money every month towards building up our emergency fund
- Possibly save money towards owning a home

2) Personal Goals:

- Inject some more magic and fun into my kids' lives. My DS starts kindergarten in the fall and I want to cry thinking of putting him on that school bus! I feel like it's my last chance to really do it up with the early childhood fun which is ridiculous because my DDs are still very young.

- Inspired by a PP, possibly leave Facebook.

3) Big Plans:

We're traveling in the spring to my extended family so they can meet the new addition. In the summer we're going camping!

CuriousKiddosMama · December 2015

My major financial for for the year would be to sell our rental house and pay off or at least down our current mortgage. I want to take the cash from the sale and put it mostly towards our current house, but because of the uncertainty in oil right now dh is thinking we need to keep an extra large emergency fund.

2. Personal goals. Be more present. Take ds #1 to more fun places and things. Put away the cell phone and the camera and just enjoy what's going on.

3. Have a baby in February! I don't know what will be bigger than that for us this year. Maybe if things go right work wise we will go tropical again winter 2016/2017.

dragonstarjk · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

-Pay off at least $5K of our front porch

-Pay off my car loan

-Increase my Roth IRA contribution

-Have more in savings at the end of 2016 than we did this year

Less realistic financial goals that we would like to accomplish:

-H gets a new shotgun

-Replace our A/C; we'd really like to do the whole HVAC system at one time, but that's probably not going to happen

-Remodel basement stairs/laundry room area

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

-Lose 20 lbs, sure why not

-Complete at least 5 things on my bucket list (I actually have a bucket list diary that I keep track of things in)

-Be okay with all of the crazy changes going on at work

3) Any big plans?

-Going on a road trip/camping trip to Glacier, Banff, and Jasper National Parks in July or August

-Nothing else planned yet. We'd like to plan a spring trip to see some baseball, but it's probably not in the budget. 2016 is going to be a lean year while we try to save more and pay off the front porch.

abrewer5 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

Pay off my student loans. I have $8200 to go... Woo hoo! Once that is paid off I want to seriously buckle down and finish out our few house projects before starting to save for a DP but that will probably be 2017 goals.

Save up to pay cash for everything for our June trip to the Bahamas

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

Lose 20 pounds.

Less eating out as always

Run a half marathon (possibly in Oct)

3) Any big plans?

In June we are actually trailering our boat from MD to FL and then taking it from FL to the Bahamas for a week. I'm super excited. We booked the hotels last week! It will be a 12 day trip in total and should be a lot of fun. MM wise it's actually not as expense as I thought it would be I think we're going to come out to around $1400 per person including food, fuel, hotel, etc.

cbee817 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

- fully fund Roth IRAs for 2016

- add 1% to retirement once I get my raise (currently 11%)

- keep adding to the girls' 529 plans

- get DH's 403B contribution up to 10% (currently 5%)

- vacation fund up to $10,000 (currently $8,500).

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

- keep working out in the morning before work

- finish up 2 quilts and start 3 more

3) Any big plans?

- gut and redo upstairs bathroom

- we're planning a trip to Disney in February 2017 so we'll need to have things booked by the end of 2016 (airfare, hotel).

- It is our 10th anniversary in 2016 so we might head to NYC for a few days and leave the girls home with grandparents.. we'll see.

LibbyL123 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

We are hoping to have all SL and car paid off by the end of 2016 if not a few months later. Everything else will stay the same until all is paid off.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?
Get more sleep!!! The baby has been tough and I am exhausted!!! No major plans maybe get back into running/ more organized work outs.

3) Any big plans?
DH and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We are working on figuring out if we should put on an addition or move into something bigger. That will be 2016 planning!!

jessica490 · December 2015

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

Keep building that e-fund (in case I get laid off in the future)

Keep adding to retirement, bump up contributions, open 1 or 2 ROTH's for us

We have many house projects we want to get started on (painting,fence, refinishing floors, new furniture, decorating etc)- just need to make sure we can afford them and do a little at a time

Sell stuff we don't need in the new house. I want to do a little decorating, but would like to keep things simple and easy to clean. I don't want to get over materialistic in this house...

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

My main goal is to get back to the gym, it's been a really busy year. My health insurance refunds us for our yearly/monthly membership costs so I attended Planet Fitness for years but am getting bored with it because it's only cardio machines and weights. Well, they finally added LA Fitness into their partner gyms so they will pay for H and I to go free for the whole year, I'm excited! We will sign up in January.

3) Any big plans?

In May we will take our yearly anniversary trip to Florida this year (my parents condo)

September we have a family wedding in Cape Cod so we will make it a long weekend and visit Newport, RI as well (haven't been there in a looong time)

We have many projects for the new house this year (painting,fence, refinishing floors, new furniture, decorating etc)

short+sassy · December 2015

@orangehills, oh! Lake Tahoe is one of my all-time favorite places. I'm hoping to buy a cute and cozy little log cabin vacation home there when I retire. Though I realize "cute and cozy" in Lake Tahoe is still big bucks!

1) What are your financial goals for 2016 - big picture or specific?

--Buy at least 2 more investment rental homes with a cash flow of $800-$1,000/month per house.

--Sock away $4500/month toward my HELOC balance. Thought that balance will increase as I achieve Goal #1.

2) What are your personal goals for 2016?

--Take better care of myself!!! I have multiple steps for this

--Take my medications at the right times of day. Check my blood sugar 3-4 times/day.

--Exercise more. Make healthy, but convenient, meals at home. Hopefully this will help me to lose weight, of which I need to lose a lot. But, if not, hopefully it will at least give me more energy, stamina, and strengthen my heart.

--Better dental health. Lots of flossing and using mouthwash to kill bacteria.

--De-clutter! This is the key for a lot of other home projects I want to take care of over the next 1-2 years. Already made great progress this last weekend. Have two big totes to go to Goodwill and threw out two trash bags of stuff.

3) Any big plans?

--Finally, FINALLY go to Europe. I've never been, but have always dreamed of going. We've started looking at packages, but need to get plans firmed up. We are shooting for September.

--Repaint home interior

--Replace the "ugliest laminate tile ever" with hardwoods, in our bedroom.

2016 Goals

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