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Changing / Adding to Year 39 goals / This and That

December 14th, 2014 at 01:14 am

I have been doing a lot more thinking the past two weeks about my Year 39 goals. As much as I'd like to save up for a house downpayment, I think it would be smarter to get a larger EF in place. I currently have roughly $5100, which I could stretch out for 4 or 5 months. I have decided to make my goal to be a 1 year EF - or $12,000. So that means trying to save around $7900 this year.

Partly how I'll do this is reduce the amount I put toward my car repair/replace fund. Instead of $150/month, I'm going to put $75/month. My car is a 2010 model, so I don't expect any big expenses beyond oil changes and tires, etc. for awhile. If something bigger comes up, then I'll use EF funds.

It is looking more and more likely that there is going to be a high school reunion. The place I graduated from in 1993! shut it's doors in 2006? I went to my ten year reunion, but that was the last one we had. Members of classes from 1992 - 2006 have been talking and organizing on FB about getting together. This is something I think I would really like to do.

Of course I also have my mom (TX) and my CA family clamoring for me to come visit them as soon as I have vacation days available (Feb 1!)It's highly likely that my CA family would probably pay for my ticket ... but I don't want to assume that. (Nor am I sure I really want to accept that ...)

So I'll have around 12 vacation days accumulated by next December. (I have 3 right now I think.

I really would like to go to CA - mainly because my grandma is getting on in years and I just hate to not see her as much as I can while she's still alive and lucid. But ... I haven't been back to TX since my mom got married Dec 2012, and I know she's feeling like I've kind of abandoned her.

May and July are probably the best months for me to go anywhere since I could tack my vacation days to paid holidays, thus helping to stretch them a bit.

I think I'll wait to make any final plans until I see how the plans for the reunion flesh out. In the meantime though, I need to put aside money for trip expenses.

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The third goal is kind of related to the reunion Smile I'd like to lose at least 30 lbs. Smile By June would be nice. Big Grin

Right now my weight fluctuates up and down two or three pounds for seemingly no reason at all ... So hopefully once I get my thyroid back under control, I can make progress again.

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So for my two financial goals .... Windfalls/Snowflakes will be allocated like this:
60% to EF
20% to Spending Money
20% to HS Reunion/trips



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My boss K lent me this fantastic book - Unbroken - it is a movie that is either coming out soon or has already come out. I finished it today. It's about Louie Lamperini(sp?) who was a 1936 Olympian, and then during WW2 was shot down, survived 40+days adrift on the ocean, and then was captured by the Japanese and terribly tortured. Amazing story!

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I have spent some of my spending money this week ... gave in to temptations. Chocolate ... BK ... banana bread. But not *too* bad.

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I received my last Bubblews payment (from October earnings) $55.xx - that will be going into my Snowflake category

I also cashed out for another $25 PP payment from Swagbucks. When that comes, it'll also to to my Snowflake category.

By Tuesday I think I'll have enough Bing points again for a 500 SB reward (thanks to the double points weekend!) Might be able to do a second one this month too - especially if they have another double points weekend this month. Smile

I'm at about 20k PerkPoints - need another 4500 to get a $25 AGC or iTunes card. Hoping I'll be there by Thursday.

I entered a 12 days of Wellness contest at work. Basically it's self reported - do one different activity from one of four categories daily. It ends on Dec 23rd. One of the items was "take the stairs twice." I laughed loudly at that one ... the first day of the contest I went up and down the stairs at least 7 times ... Big Grin

I have started walking in circles for the last 10-15 minutes of my lunch each day. Once I finish the main portion of my lunch and just have my treat left (usually a granola bar) I can walk and read. Big Grin It's adding around 2k steps to my day so far.

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Tomorrow I need to go to the library to pick up a hold (and return Switch.) That'll be a good 2.5 miles round trip. Big Grin

NE and I *might* be making a trip to Independence, MO tomorrow if the speaker he's evening isn't sold by then. Since I'm taking Monday off, I can go with him on the road trip without worrying about being overtired for work. (His car is in good working order now, so I'm not worried about a breakdown. Also, no snow in the forecast!)

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I am thinking about couch/chairs again. NE would like to invite his friend and family to dinner. His place (NEs) isn't an option ... would take a LOT of work to get it company ready (a LOT LOT LOT.) My place ... need to finish unpacking/decluttering - but main issue is seating. I have my office chair, my bed and two decrepit wood chairs (one of which has a broken seat - can sit on it with a pillow on top of the seat.)

Last weekend I finished up my bathroom. Tommorrow/Monday I'd like to get at least three boxes unpacked / settled. Then have a goal of three boxes per week. Once that's done, then I'm going to look seriously again at Craigslist, etc for couches/chairs.

It isn't just for this one time dinner I'm thinking of ... it would be nice to just have my place in a state where I *could* invite people over if I wanted to. Right now I would not want to invite anyone over because there'd be nowhere for them to sit.

6 Responses to “Changing / Adding to Year 39 goals / This and That”

  1. Petunia 100 Says:
    1418523230

    Unbroken opens on Christmas Day. It is our Christmas afternoon movie this year. Smile
    Where do you think you might want to buy a home someday? Your current location? Near family? Still up in the air?

  2. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1418523852

    I'm thinking of allocating some of my spending money to see Unbroken. Smile
    As to the house ... a lot depends on the status of NE's and I relationship six to 12 months from now. If I'm still single at 40 ... then I'll continue renting inexpensive places until I have enough to purchase a *small* home in a small town where cost of living is really low. That wouldn't be til I was ready to retire / be fairly Financially Independent though, since a house I could afford probably won't be very near places with lots of job opportunities. I'd want a large EF (30k?) saved in addition to the house purchase price (paid in full cash.) There are places around here with small homes in the 30-40k range in small towns.

    OTOH if NE and I end up getting married ... then who knows. His dream is a house on acreage in the country. I'm okay with that - just not sure about how it'd work in conjunction with a job/commute.

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    1418529762

    I read Unbroken earlier this fall. Very inspiring and quite the story!

    Great plans, Laura! I tend to lump all of our savings together. We do have some home proceeds that are combined with our emergency fund. We really don't dip into any of that money at all, but I do know which portion is which.

  4. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1418538374

    Thanks CCF - My funds are pretty much all lumped together into one account as well - except the untouchable EF. I just opened a new account tonight to take advantage of the 1.05% interest rate - will probably move my EF there from Barclay's. YNAB allows me to have all my funds in one account if I want, and then divvy it up from there into categories.

  5. scottish girl Says:
    1418568002

    I think you're doing fantastic. I'd love to have 5k in my EF (or £500 even) You're making me think where I want to be in the future. Good job! Smile

  6. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1418568852

    Thanks SG - you'll get there too. I only have me and my cat to cover with my income, so it's a little easier to save.

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