Them there goals and such....

Happy Tuesday people!

I've been talking a great deal the last couple of days about goals. It is the 4th quarter of 2013 and I think it's high time I revealed my first set of goals. These should keep me on pace until the end of the year. You'll find that I'll be doing a lot of lists here. They keep me organized and they're easy to read....so there.

1. Start saving so that I can live on last month's income.

I'm tired of the stress of not having enough month at the end of the money(let it marinate). Many people think the answer to this problem is to make more money or find a second stream of income. I can't seem to stay out of trouble at my current job (we'll discuss that at a later date) so asking for a raise is out and while I would like for this blog to be making passive income, I don't see that happening anytime soon.  What I CAN do is to set aside a small portion of my income every month and then subsidize it with a portion of my tax refund (we'll talk). That way in a particular month (I figure April or May 2014) I can tap into those savings and not have to touch any part of my working wages for that week. Doing this should lead me into a surplus so that I can start working on the next goal:

     2. Start adding to my emergency fund.

By years end I should have the ubiquitous Dave Ramsey "baby step" amount fully funded. My overall goal is to have 3 months worth of income stockpiled. I can use it for emergencies like my car, a health issue, etc. however my biggest fear is a sudden job loss and I'll try to cover as many "rainy days" as I can in cash so I can keep it funded for this reason.

     3. Automate all regular financial transactions.

I'm about 90% complete on this one. Nearly all of my bills, saving and investments are on autopilot and that saves me time and in some cases even money.

    4. Start and finish 1 new book every month.

This month I'm going to be reading The Broke Diaries  by Angela Nissel. At months end I'll post my takeaways and like to places where you can buy the book.

    5. Write a new blog post 2-3 times a week.

Ideally I'd like to post 4-5 times a week but let's face it...I'm too busy to write that much and you're too busy to read that much...unless you subscribe *wink, wink*

And now for the most important goal of all:

   6. Play hooky from work one day a month until the end of the year.

Hard to try new things if I'm stuck in a cubicle all the time. Ferris Bueller, you're my hero.