It is that time of year again, time to plan out our saving/investing goals for 2009. We sat down and talked about what we want to accomplish this year, what we accomplished last year, our long term plans, spending plan, etc.

(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000 (we have not tracked this goal in the past, but I think its important to keep track of it and to include it in our yearly savings goals.)
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000

The total seems super high for us, but that is due to the fact that we are counting our 401k contributions.

(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000

(1) $833
(2) $3000
(3) $262 (We already had a small ING account set up for house projects, I'm counting the amount in that account towards this goal)
(4) $131 ($5131 currently in ING baby fund account)
(5) $0
(6) $0 ($19,579 currently in ING e/r fund)**
Total - $4226

** If you followed my 2008 goal fiscal fitness journal, you'll note that when we closed out our 2008 goals we had $2302 more in our e/r fund than we do now. We put $1000 towards our mortgage principal at the end of 2008 and Mr. Sam bought an expensive toy. I won't count additions to our e/r fund until we are back up to $21,881.

good luck! what is your house project?

We have a historic house with limited closet space so we want to redo all of our closets to maximize storage space.

We are kind of off to a slow start in 2009.

(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000

(1) $1881 (6%)
(2) $3000 (30%)
(3) $312 (3%)
(4) $142 (3%)
(5) $0
(6) $0 ($20,158 currently in ING e/r fund)**
Total - $5334 (7%)

** If you followed my 2008 goal fiscal fitness journal, you'll note that when we closed out our 2008 goals we had $1752 more in our e/r fund than we do now. We put $1000 towards our mortgage principal at the end of 2008 and Mr. Sam bought an expensive toy. I won't count additions to our e/r fund until we are back up to $21,881.

You've gained ground in '09. Good Job!!

(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000

(1) $1881 (6%)
(2) $3500 (35%)
(3) $312 (3%)
(4) $142 (3%)
(5) $0
(6) $0 ($20,158 currently in ING e/r fund)**
Total - $5835 (7%)

** If you followed my 2008 goal fiscal fitness journal, you'll note that when we closed out our 2008 goals we had $1752 more in our e/r fund than we do now. We put $1000 towards our mortgage principal at the end of 2008 and Mr. Sam bought an expensive toy. I won't count additions to our e/r fund until we are back up to $21,881.

Made some stock purchases in my 2009 IRA earlier today when the market dipped.

Hey Sam, I got Lasik doen in October, and it was $1900. Has he checked around?

Thanks DTR, we have not shopped the lasik price. I got the $5000 number from a close friend who had the surgery done on both eyes by a very well regarded doctor. The lasik surgery is last on our list and our plan is for him to actually have the surgery done in very early 2010 because we will fully fund a 2010 FSA so we can pay with pre tax dollars.

1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000

(1) $3075 (9%)
(2) $4000 (40%)
(3) $362 (4%)
(4) $142 (3%)
(5) $0
(6) $0 ($20,466 currently in ING e/r fund)**
Total - $7579 (10%)

** If you followed my 2008 goal fiscal fitness journal, you'll note that when we closed out our 2008 goals we had $1415 more in our e/r fund than we do now. We put $1000 towards our mortgage principal at the end of 2008 and Mr. Sam bought an expensive toy. I won't count additions to our e/r fund until we are back up to $21,881.

We closed on our REFI this past Saturday. Sitting tight waiting for the pay off of our current mortgage. Happy to have that behind us, we'll put the savings between our old payment and our new payment back into our emergency fund until we refund our e/r fund.

For those that followed my fiscal fitness journal from last year, you will recall that we saved up $17,000 and purchased a new (to me) car in Sept. of 2008 with cash and my 1999 trade in.

Sadly, on Saturday my new car was smooshed when a driver t-boned me after running a red light. The good news is I'm not hurt (a bit sore) and the other good news is the driver of the othercar is not hurt. We both have insurance and I've started that process, waiting to hear about whether the car is fixable or totaled. And even though the new car is smooshed, I'm happy I was in my new car for the accident because it is much bigger and heavier and I'm sure it did a better job of protecting me. And I'm also glad that I have great neighbors, Mr. Sam wasn't at home and didn't have his cell phone with him so I called one of our neighbors who is a mechanic and he came to pick me up, helped me unload my car (I was running errands so I had all kinds of stuff in my trunk) and helped me answer the police officer's questions about where to send the car, etc.

Money wise I have a $500 deductible and we've already paid $700 for a rental car for the month (I'll get some of that back if we turn the car in before then). Depending on the police report and how the insurance companies work it out I may be able to recover the deductible and the rental car expenses from the other driver's insurance. There were no witnesses to the accident so the police officer couldn't (or wouldn't) ticket the other driver, but he told me that based on the circumstances (the fact that she hit me dead center of my passenger side car in the middle of the intersection) of the crash he believed me. I'm glad that we have an emergency fund to cover these costs. If I need to buy a new car I understand that used car prices have gone up in the last six months but new car prices have come down so we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Glad to hear that no one was hurt! YIKES!

I was in a similiar accident in '06 and my van was totalled. Eventually, the other driver's insurance paid, but I was very thankful for our EF during that time. We purchased a used van months before the insurance claim was final. I hope that process goes smoothly for you.

Thank goodness you are ok, Sam.
I hope the insurance companies are quick about settling your claim.

Update on the car, the estimated repairs get close to the threshold for the car to be totaled. As a result, sad as it makes me, I'd rather have it totaled and that's what I'm pushing for.