Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Savings Goal 2009

For the past few months I have been reading a lot of personal finance blogs (ok 2 or 3), and I have been really interested in the idea of an emergency fund.

Right now if something major was to happen, that we needed some extra money to take care of, we would be screwed, to put it politely. We have no savings per se. Yeah at the end of the month there is usually some extra money in our bank account, but not enough to pay for major car repairs or anything of that sort. We have no financial cushion what so ever. And that scares me.

My goal over the course of 2009 is to get at least $1500 saved up in an emergency fund. No that will not cover much, but at least it is something. Who knows I might even be able to save more than that. The way I see it is if I put $20 every 2 weeks from my paycheck, and $20 every week from my husbands paycheck, that would be around $1560 saved in a year. That would put me just over my goal for the year.

I joined the NCN Network and have created a chart to help me track my progress. I also added a nice little chart to my side bar too. (Look to the right)

I am going to talk with my HR department and see if it is possible to have that $20 sent to a savings account automatically every pay period. If not I will just have to make myself put that $20 to the side.

I am going to try and keep updating my progress on here. So please feel free to send me email reminders every week, that you are reading and are expecting me to put that money in savings. Help me stay motivated please!

*************UPDATED***************

I opened an ING Direct account and set it up so that $20 is transferred from my bank account that my paycheck is deposited into every 2 weeks. I also went ahead and made and initial deposit of $60 so I am only 96% away from my goal now!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Natalie... You're one of the best! I swear if it wasn't for you and Lisa, I'd be even broker than I already am, stressed, and having panic attacks on a daily basis. I'm in the process of compiling a blog on all the things that's changed about me since about a few weeks before our bottle cap class. And all I have to say is thanks :)
And I'm going to start packing my lunches!

Jessica said...

You may want to check with your bank about having money withdrawn on a specific day or two each month which goes to your savings account. I'm not sure on fees on this, but it may be free.

I'm on the bandwagon with you in the emergency funds area. We need to get this set up ourselves.

Unknown said...

This is a goal my hubby and I have for this year. We realized we were losing money on our 401K, so we've slightly decreased withdrawals to that account and deferred it to a savings account. We really have nothing saved up for emergencies.

Lisa Brawner said...

that is great natalie !!!!

Lisa Brawner said...

You gotta start a barter blog…even if it is just a wish list section.Consider it a “part time job ” Add anything at all that you would look for. You could even trade daniels outgrown toys for ones more to his age.