Financial Goals

I just spent a ridiculous amount of time drawing up a rough budget up until the end of the year, and creating a spreadsheet that will track our credit balances, interest rates, and payments to keep a running total of the outstanding balance.  This is going to help SO much.  I'm a very visual person, so the easier it is for me to see at a glance where we are, the easier it is for me to stay on track.

All of that time spent was important, because I wanted to set some goals for us to finish off 2011 strong, and it's impossible to set realistic goals without some semblance of a plan in place.  I know I get discouraged and give up if I'm not even close to obtaining the goals I've set.

So here are my goals:
- Commit to all cash for discretionary categories (spending money, groceries, entertainment, clothing/gifts, and misc) - we are mostly there, but I sometimes slip up if don't get cash right after we get paid


- Keep an accurate record of all money spent - this is going to be my biggest challenge I think


- Commit to earning $1200 per pay cheque - I work from home and get paid per contract, it's sometimes hard to stay motivated to keep going, but I'm going to do it!


- Pay down $10,000 of debt by January 1, 2011 - not including our mortgage


- Have a $1,000 balance in our bank account by January 1, 2011 - it's currently at the bottom of our $2,500 overdraft


- Do NOT use credit cards! - the exception to this is we use one of our Mastercards for gas, I pay $400 towards it bi-weekly, our gas expense is always under $350.

I think we can definitely obtain all of our goals!  We're motivated and we're committed, we just have to stay focused!  I'll try to check in on these regularly to let you all know how we're doing.