Photo Credit: jurvetson

This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Dollar Frugal.  

A new year has started and it’s already feeling pretty good. It’s not that things have been going smoothly (for example, my brother’s car broke own on his way to see us and the estiate is $1,100 to replace his clutch), it’s just I feel like appreciating things when they go right. January is already over, so I’m going to review our progress on some of our financial goals. 

Our Financial Goals For 2009

How We Did in January

Debt: We’re around$500 on the car loan. We decided to hold back on paying the car loan because we didn’t want to deplete emergency funds. It may not be the best financial decision, but it gives me some piece of mind to have our cushion in tact. 

Spending: Good news: We went twice out for dinner. Bad news: We cheated and ate out for lunch a few times. We did cut down our expenses overall, so we’re happy. Reducing our dinners out has also enhanced the experience, as it’s a special occasion. 

Frugal: He keeps forgetting. I think packing the night before would help out a bit. I got some fresh honey ham, cheddar cheese, and hone wheat bread. I’ve reduced eating out for lunch to around twice a week during weekdays. Weekends are a bit harder, but I have to learn to just say ‘no’ once in a while.

Savings: I forgot to set up an automatic transfer, so I did that last night. We now have a regular deposit going into the joint savings account. The money based on what we saved from reducing our dining out.

One month down, eleven left to go. I’m expecting time to fly like it did last year, but my goal is focusing on achieving our goals. How is everyone else doing with their 2009 goals? Have you had some unexpected changes?

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