I'm only really writing this out to be able to qualify the numbers (quantities) I calculated last night. I created a spreadsheet to tally where my non-committed monies were going.

This does NOT count bonuses. This does NOT count the extra $$$ I deposit in savings each paycheck. This does NOT count hurricane cash I stash away. This does NOT assume any raises.
This also does NOT assume any loss of job, income, or increase in committed expenses.

According to the spreadsheet, I will fulfill 5 of my financial goals before the end of 2007. In order, I will:
* Refill my $1K cushion (just a few dollars low)
* Pay off my Visa ($575 limit at a relatively reasonable 12.9%)
* Save 1.5 months worth in my emergency fund
* Resume funding my Roth IRA for $50/mo
* Save $1,000 for my car's A/C repair

2008 will be dedicated to paying off my student loan, and should happen right about the end of that year.

2009 should see me:
* Start saving to Long-Term Savings
* Maxing out my Roth IRA at $4K/yr
* Saving 3 months of bills in my emergency fund
* beginning to take yearly, week-long vacations (from LTS)

2010 and 2011 have me saving for 6 and 9 months in the emergency fund, respectively.

2012 sees me saving for the final 12 months in the emergency fund, and beginning a 3-month CD ladder with the money.

It's amazing how easy the goals seem when I sat down and did the math to figure them out.

I do this sort of thing, too. In fact, I intend to write about it for the blog at some point. Basically, every few months (whenever the urge strikes), I sit down and draw out a map (very similar to the financial plan Dylan wrote about today). I write down my current income and outgo (is that a word?) and then decide where I want these monies to go.

Last night, as I was cleaning my office, I found one of these plans from 2005. Some of my targets were off — I wanted to have my home equity loan paid off by Dec 2006, but it's going to be Mar 2008 — but I've basically followed the course I laid out at that time. Because I don't use a budget, these plans are valuable to me. They help me get an overview of my financial situation.

I liked seeing your plan, KlfJoat. Good stuff.

I did this as well, and I got to year 3 (which for me was 6 months living, ultra-maxed 403c, maxed IRA, and several thousand into high yield savings)

Its amazing how it motivates you