Money Monday-The 2023 Financial Goals

     

     Today's my work holiday since New Year's fell on a Sunday. I've got plans to get the house ready for kids coming home, some of DD2s things ready for her to take back, and maybe a bit of baking. It's a good day to finally think about goals. I'll parcel them out over the next few days in posts. Here was last year's. I'm happy to say, I was more successful than I thought I might be. I've fallen short on group calls though part of that was time zone differences, 2 for 1 purging, finishing the office ( though it's functional), and reading for fun. 

Good Heath and Improved Wellness:

• Lose 10% minimum of my body weight
• Get the cortisone shots as allowable for my knee

Financial Stability and Progress on Retirement Goals

• Develop and stick to budget to live off just my salary (long term savings such as college and house projects not included)
• Thrift and budget challenges that reduce waste, at least one per month

Positive Relationships

• Get together with friends, either couples or my friends at least one time per month
• Continue at least monthly group calls with my kids

Organized Mind and Life

• Continue the  2 for  1 purging challenge, where I get rid of a minimum of 2 things for every one item that comes into the house. 
• Finish office to my satisfaction

Peace and Contentment

• Commit to 10-15 minutes of yoga and/or meditation, at least 3 times per week.
• Read for fun- aim for at least one reading binge a week

     2022 was a moderately successful year in terms of meeting fiscal goals. For all intents and purposes, we did live off just my income, including a few extras. I did not do public challenges every month, but each month I had a personal target or goal. No lottery wins, big promotions, inheritance or other windfall, but wins from every day planning, tweaking needs, priorities, and wants, and keeping eyes on the future.

• We determined DH will retire four months earlier than originally planned, September 2023 instead of January 2024. He's at his wits end there- vacation time off sealed how much he needs to be done. 
•  Our daughter bought a beautiful house. While her hard work, we helped with a few minor things here and there, and lots of moral support, so including here. 
• To add to her life events, as you know, we're helping with her pup. She's the adopter, getting all the costs, but we've added a few things to help as she updated her budget. Transporting a kennel back and forth was not realistic so we bought one for our house too. 
• We've outlined the plans for two bathrooms and patio that need updating/ replaced. Funds are securely tucked away. 
• We covered college tuition and living costs for our youngest for this her final year, graduation in May. She did a solid job working part-time jobs in the school year, full time in the summer, and covered her extra costs for study abroad and travel. She'll even have a little nest egg to help get launched with her next life phase. 
• With a few side games and blogging, I earned a little fun/gift giving money. 
• Maintained donation levels despite the challenges in the car industry having a negative impact on DH's pay. While I had a tiny raise, his salary was down 20%. Add inflationary impact on everything, I'm pleased we didn't cut back helping others. 

     My goals are simple for 2023. The first is the means to the other four. Vacations (5) will be simple and cash flowed, but the main one is in DH's corner to plan.

1. Decrease wasteful impulse buys, like the water resistant hiking boots that jumped into my feed Saturday morning. Actually, I was looking for boots and these were just what I wanted and at least 1/3 less than comparables. But, I need to make sure that's a rarity, not a norm. I classify the boots between a want and a need. 
2. Increase cash savings. I continue to find tune where we spend but also where we can grow side funds. 
3. Fully fund my 401K, and proportionately fund DH's before retirement. The market will turn around eventually, and we won't be touching funds for 5 years. The more cash savings, the more we can defer withdrawal. 
4. Put something in Roth, likely the equivalent cash savings added by April 15, the deadline. The Roth is intended to fund health insurance, copays, and deductibles between my retirement and reaching medicare eligibility. We'll continue to fund a non penalty HSA for wrap around health care needs.   
5. Have a celebratory vacation for both our 35th anniversary ( this past October), and his retirement. Other vacations will be simple, utilizing the cabin and day trips, and basically without added expense. The boat is there for our families enjoyment. We underutilized since buying last summer. We got a cute small cooler from our Godson that is great for adding hours out on the lake. His mom, Sister in law, made logo stickers for the lake place, and put one on the cooler. Very clever. 
   

      I'll keep at the little games, the apps to earn money. My daughter's and I have some ideas in the works too. I need a personal laptop, or at least a Chromebook, and think January might be the month to buy. There's no charge on the laptop I've been using of my daughter's, must be plugged in. Maybe I can keep limping along, but the side perks would go towards one. Best wishes to you all on your 2023 money goals.