| The year is off to a good start. Not only was I repaid some debt, but I ended up playing music gigs every single weekend in January, topped off by a decent return in the stock market. This is probably a good time to counter the gain with a few ticks off the house price, but I'm only doing that until I get my next property assessment.
I've already estimated the taxes for 2011, and because of all last year's expenses with the house, I should actually get a decent return this time (I usually break even any other year). Whatever refund I receive will go straight to savings. I do not rest until that gets back to $10,000 (currently at $6700-ish). From there I will slowly build back up the road trip fund to $2000 (currently $400), then I'll pad my checking account with 2 months worth of bill-paying funds (around $6,000). Provided nothing drastic or life-altering happens, I'm confident I can get it all there by the end of the year.
As my car continues to age, I'm entertaining the idea of starting a new separate fund for a new car. I don't plan on buying one anytime soon unless the current one gets totaled. I'm looking at a purchase in late 2015, so I have plenty of time to think about what I would like. I'm hoping hybrid/electric technology has vastly improved and become cheaper by then and I can rely less on petroleum.
Onward ho... |