2024 Goals

[lolalolalola]

Our goal is to spend no more than prudent - no extras this year over what’s been planned. Our budget now will let us pay off our car and our landscaping loan by the end of the year. But there is no wiggle room. 2023 was not kind to either of our companies which means low bonus payments in 2024. We are used to having ‘slush’ so this should be interesting.

[aspentosh]

Nothing too crazy this year. H's job is up in the air (again, sigh) and he may be looking at a pay cut. We can swing it, but that means cutting savings somewhere.

1. Continue maxing 401k for and Roth IRA for both of us.
2. Continue saving each month to 529 and ideally increase it again.
3. Figure out the new/salary/expenses for H. He's currently virtual and we only have one vehicle, but he's at least going hybrid so we might need a second vehicle.... though hoping not. And if he takes a pay cut we need to figure out where that money is coming from.
4. Take a big spring break trip to Arizona (most of this is already booked).
5. Get H's truck loan to under $5k. This is a bit of a stretch, especially if his salary decreases, but I'd really love to have this loan paid off by mid 2025 (we took it out in January '23). I hate debt.
6. A couple smaller home projects and purchases (driveway sealing, a new entry mirror, redoing some cabinet faces).
7. Lastly, I want to continue being conscious about where our money goes. Not buying something because it's on sale or buying three of something because I loved the first one. Really minimizing waste and impulse purchases.

[Stan]

1) do a kitchen reno, this should be paid for with a bonus for me around 35k, but the FY24 amount has not been put out yet.

2) Rebuild savings, we had a very spendy year for our house last year, and I'd like to be at a better spot.

3) Inch towards maxing out my TSP again. It was very easy to do while I was on orders but I'd like to get back on the bus. Takes different planning since I have both a uniformed and civilian account.

[twinmomma]

1. Continue my monthly savings. I have an automatic transfer set up and it's made a huge difference to do it that way like a bill.
2. Pay extra on the mortgage principal each month. Even if it's only a small amount, DH and I want to make a point to do that.
3. Figure out some kind of college savings for the kids. I don't have anything set up for them right now and they're already 11 so I'm pretty behind.

[Roc A Bee]

I don’t have any big goals.

1. This is a roll over: finish updating my name on accounts. I did the major but there’s a few still hanging on.

2. I may buy a car from my stepmom this year. If I do, I’ll work to get it paid off quickly. Until then, I’m saving as I can towards a bigger down payment.

3. If the car doesn’t pan out, I want to explore a CD for some longer term saving goals.

[ohgillian]

1) Set up recurring transfers from my HSA to HSA bank. Or if recurring isn't an option, do whatever I need to do to start moving my funds there a few times a year.

2) Close one of the Chase SW cards and related, look into travel hacking a vacay we want to take in December.

3) Figure out if I want to stay at Vanguard or not.

4) Update the "if I die" document for DH; I did it about a year ago but things change quickly in terms of what accounts we have and so forth. It needs to be updated. Happy to share a blank copy of my template w/anyone who wants to PM me your email address.

[jinkies]

As of right now, my goal is to find a job that makes 6 figures. It's doable, but I would give up the flexibility of my current job (self employed consultant, set my own hours). It would require selling my soul to a corporate giant (either pharma or publishing) but I'm staring down the barrel of my kids' college tuition starting in 2026 that will most likely continue through 2034, so selling my soul doesn't seem so bad.

[ellipses84]

1. Financially recover from 2023! Inflation + we traveled a lot and attended many events so we are going to try to keep that to a minimum in 2024.

2. Set a realistic monthly budget. Change all financial account passwords. Find a replacement for Mint.

3. Get out of job limbo and take a full time / full benefits position.

4. Re-evaluate all insurance and try to save $$$.

5. Get organized, purge, donate and sell what we don’t need.

6. Resist shopping for new things we don’t need. Use free time to finish all the projects I bought supplies for in the past. No new projects until the house is completely organized and all old projects are finished.