We're working towards our goals slowly, but surely.

The end of the year is coming soon and I’m again amazed at how quickly this year is going. We’ve been busy this month and one of our personal highlights was painting our friends’ new house.  We’re really happy for them and can’t wait to see what they have in store for the new place.

I think a financial highlight this month was socking away 78% of my temporary job’s paycheck. We’re trying to build a bigger buffer for our emergency fund into our joint savings account. Grabbing whatever is quick and easy has been a weakness of mine. I did spend more eating out, but once I planned a bit more, the lunch expenses were lowered.

The other week I signed up for Wachovia’s Way2 Save  program to try and stow away some money at a higher rate than ING Direct.  My husband also wrote Panda Budget,a quick little budgeting tool for GPT readers. It’s beta and it’s completely free.

Our Financial Goals for 2009

We have two goals left until the end of the year and I’m hoping we’ll be able to meet them.

How We Did in October on Our Financial Goals

Spending: We went out a few times this month with friends and discovered two new places with some nice happy hour specials. I enjoyed Brio’s specials and I really think you should try it. We ordered their Brio Burger with chips and pepperoni and sausage flat bread.

I’m looking at something special for my husband for our anniversary next month, so I’m cutting down spending on lunches a bit more to set aside some extra cash.

Savings: I was really happy that we were able to save a big chunk of the temporary job’s paycheck. It was shorter assignment than I expected, but more money is still good.

Your Take

How are you doing with your 2009 goals? Have you had some unexpected changes? What successes have you had so far?

Top Posts This Month

I wanted to share of the most popular posts this month on the blog.

• Quicken 2010 Home and Business Review
• What Comic Book Characters Taught Me About Personal Finance
• How Much Life Insurance Should You Have?
• Eating Out with New Job
• Help a Reader: Raising Credit Score

Thank you all for your support. This blog has grown thanks you telling others about it. Please keep in contact with me through email and Twitter, as I try to make the site better everyday.

Photo Credit: Armando Maynez

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We had a small and relaxing vacation early in September. Not having an internet connection or TV was a good thing and we got to recharge. I managed to get a lot of writing done and had sailing lesson. While I enjoyed it, I completely forgot almost every sailing term thrown at us.

Compared to the past few months, this month has been low key. I’m now ready to get out.  If the weather is good, we’re going out of town this weekend to visit a vineyard and take the tour.

Since you have an ideas of what we did with our free time, I guess I can jump to a review of our financial goals.

Our Financial Goals for 2009

How We Did in September on Our Financial Goals

Debt: We’ve been able to cut down expenses as we didn’t have the air conditioning as much as we did this summer.

Spending: I was surprised how well we did with this. We didn’t mean to cut back; I think it’s now become a habit to think before we go and eat out. We had a couple of great dinners with some new and old friends.

Savings: I’m getting my first paycheck next week from the temporary job and 80% is going to the joint savings account. Since it’s a short project, I want to be as aggressive as possible.

Your Take

How are you doing with your 2009 goals? Have you had some unexpected changes?

Top Posts This Month

I wanted to share of the most popular posts this month on the blog.

• 5 Things Your Parents Didn’t Teach You About Money
• Mortgage and Down Payment
• Find the Best Community Colleges for You
• House Hunting: Mortgages and Interest Rates
• Walking: Good For You, Good For Your Wallet

Thank you all for your support. This blog has grown thanks you telling others about it. Please keep in contact with me through email and Twitter, as I try to make the site better everyday.

August like many months this year has been busy. It got started with a bang with the wedding and now we’re also working on buying a townhouse. This was not a spur of the moment puchase, but we’ve been keeping an eye out for awhile while we were building our savings.

We carefully looked at the costs of home ownership before we went looking at specific places. Hopefully this will work out and I’ll share pictures in a month or so of our new place.

Before you buy a home, see if it makes sense.

Last month I was also a part of HP’s Better Together Back to School Giveaway. It was definately exciting and I’ve met some new readers on Twitter.

Our Financial Goals for 2009

How We Did in August on Our Financial Goals

Debt: I really need to work on this a bit more. Our current bills are pretty much the same which is good. I did search for home insurance options this month and found somecompanies with premiums 30% less than competitors. That counts for something, right?

Seriously, I will be working on reducing some of our expenses this week, so we can free up some money to build the savings a little more than usual.

Spending: We only we went out last month once with some friends. It wasn’t intentional; we just didn’t see something that intrigued us. I’m kind of proud of us. We’re now looking at eating out as a special event and inviting people over more often.

Savings: We’re trying to sock as much money as we can for house expenses and savings. We will not empty out our savings for this house. The plan is to have some money still in savings as a cushion.

Your Take

How are you doing with your 2009 goals? Have you had some unexpected changes?

Top Posts This Month

I wanted to share of our most popular posts this month.

• Deciding on Home Ownership
• Marriage and Money: Financial Game Plan
• Marriage and Money: Joint or Separate Accounts
• What’s Happening with Cash for Clunkers Program?
• Achieve More By Having Smart Goals

Thank you all for your support. This blog has grown thanks you telling others about it. Please keep in contact with me through email and Twitter, as I try to make the site better everyday.

Photo Credit:  Fabio

This week I wanted to share with you an interview with a relatively new blogger. Jason was kind enough to answers some of my questions on personal finances, goals, and blogging.

Please subscribe to One Money Design and chat with Jason on Twitter.

Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I live in Frisco, Texas (Dallas metro area) with my family.  I’ve been married to my wife for 7 ½ years and have 2 children.  My daughter is 4 ½ and my son is almost 10 months old.  When I’m not spending time with my family I enjoy providing financial counseling help to people as a Crown Financial Ministries Money Map Coach.  I also love soccer!  I played as a youth and all through college.  I’m a regular follower of Major League Soccer (MLS) and FC Dallas.

What motivated you to begin blogging about personal finance?

I have a passion for personal finance.  It’s a subject that has always interested me and something that comes easily to understand.  I love to counsel and coach people and have found that blogging can be an extension of helping people, but also a great way for people to get to know me.  Our finances aren’t perfect, but we’re working hard to achieve our goals.  I think blogging, either at One Money Design, or in participating on others blogs helps me learn more about personal finance.

What are your favorite personal finance books?

There are too many to mention them all so I will pick two.  I like The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey and Your Money Counts, by Howard Dayton.  Dave has a great plan.  It’s easy to understand and it’s relatable to people no matter where you are on your journey.  Howard Dayton wrote Your Money Counts which has a lot of Biblical Financial reference.  I try to base all of my money management on Biblical Financial principles.

What do you think is the worst mistake that banks and credit unions are making?

I think if you lose sight of people, you’re off track.  The focus seems to be on money and how to get more of it while taking advantage of people.  At the same time, people have a responsibility to know what they are signing up for with loans, credit cards, etc.  It’s okay to be confused and that’s the help bloggers and financial counselors can provide, so there are avenues to get help and learn.

But financial institutions, as with any company, have ethical and moral responsibilities which in many cases today have been disregarded.  My heart goes out to those who have made unwise choices or somehow found themselves in trouble with debt.  It happens, we all make mistakes.  I feel some responsibility in offering hope to them and to help them build a plan in the right direction.

What do you hope to accomplish in the next year with your blog?

More than anything, I want to connect with a great deal of people.  I hope readers will come to appreciate my content, enjoy my personality and participate in discussions at One Money Design.  Having discussion about money and personal finance that helps people would be a great achievement.

If you received a tax free $10,000 check, how would you spend/save it?

I would allocate the money in this order.

1. 10% would be tithed to my local church: $1000
2. Pay off the remaining portion of my car loans:  $6000
3. $2000 to emergency savings
4. Celebrate with $1000.  Maybe a weekend away with my wife and a few toys for the kids!

What topic do you notice your readers gravitate towards?

That’s a tough question because my blog is just getting started.  I hope people gravitate towards real life personal finance discussion.  There are a lot of great how to (how to create a budget) articles out there.  I have some of those at One Money Design.  However, I really hope to engage with people on topics like the question above.

“I just got $10,000 what does everyone think I should do”?  Or, “I just got overcharged $1000 on a medical bill, I see here you have 10 steps to get this resolved”.  “Can we talk about it”?  Having that type of discussion in the comments would be great!  Not only do I want to share my knowledge, but I want to talk about what’s going on with personal finances in my life.  Chances are we are all experiencing similar things and can learn from each other.

What’s the most important/practical financial tip someone should remember?

In my experience as a Money Map Coach, I’ve found people run into problems when they don’t have a plan for their money.  The common misunderstanding with having a spending plan is that it’s constricting or limiting.  However, having a spending plan is quite the opposite.  It’s liberating in that you can avoid issues such as debt, know where your money is going and have a great sense of excitement when you see you’re able to make progress towards your financial goals.

Be a busy bee and work on your goals.

If you’re like me, then setting goals  and keeping them is not your nature. I have learned the hard way that have specific goals helps me get more down instead of doing several things at once and getting nowhere.

A very productive way to write a goal is to use the SMART method. Basically, it boils down to:

• Specific: Choose a specific goal. Don’t say ’save more’, but instead choose ‘put aside 5% of my paycheck into a savings account.’
• Measurable: How do you know when you reached your goal? If you are saving an emergency fund up, consider setting aside 3-6 months of living expenses.
• Attainable: Work on 1 or 2 goals at a time so you don’t feel overwhelmed. 
  
• Realistic: Make sure your goal is something you can do and truly believe in.
• Time Based: By setting a deadline, you can work backwards and break down the steps into mini goals.

It’s helped me acheive some of my career goals and I’m using it for my financial goals that I update very month.

Photo Credit: Todd Huffman

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I hope your summer has been going well. We’ve been busy, but it all came together this weekend with the wedding. I was so happy for my friend and my brother in law. They make a beautiful couple inside and out and the wedding was a great reflection of that.

Since we’ve been busy with family, this month’s review is a bit shorter than normal.

My husband and his dad before my brother in law's wedding.

Our Financial Goals for 2009

Debt: We would like to pay off my car loan by March 31, 2009.Goal Met.

Debt: I’d like to reduce our expenses in July by 10%. Not Met This Month.

Spending: We’re going to limit eating out $100 this month. Goal Met.

Savings: We want to have 6 months worth of expenses saved by July 31, 2009 . We also want to build our house fund. Not Met This Month.

Health: I want to lose 12 lbs by July 31, 2009. Not Met, but I did lose weight!

How We Did in May on Our Financial Goals

Debt: Driving out of town has increased our gasoline expenses a bit. It should go down this month. Our power bill went up this last month with the A/C we’ve been running to combat this high 90s weather we’ve been having. Otherwise our bills have remained the same.

Spending: Considering how much we were out of town and hanging with friends, I was surprised we met our goal. I think we’ve gotten smarter on where to eat out. We have our sushi spot that we paid a visit on, but we made sure to go there for their buy one, get one roll 1/2 off deal. You can also get wines for 1/2 off.

Savings: It’s been a slow uptick this month, but my husband has gotten a bonus from his job at the end of July, so this will be transferred into the joint savings as soon as it cleared. We’re grateful for him to be in a job he enjoys and to have bosses and managers that appreciate his contribution.

My father in law and I posing for a quick pic.

My blog income will continue to be directed towards joint savings and personal expenses. I appreciate the support I’ve received from readers and other bloggers. I decided that we’re going to push back the saving goal date until December 31, 2009.

Health: Man vs. Debt’s PF Blogger Weight Loss Challenge is now finished. I didn’t lose the 12 lbs, but I managed to lose a smidge more than 8 lbs. I plan on continuing to work on my goal and to increase my exercise routine.

How are you doing?

How is everyone else doing with their 2009 goals? Have you had some unexpected changes?

Wow, the year is halfway over! The last week in June has been an eventful month personally. The key word this month was hectic. The days flew by and I felt as if went by too quickly.

I’m finding personal finances coming into my life besides this site.Yesterday I helped my mom automate some of her bill payments during a visit and I talked about the pros and cons of bill pay and auto debit.  My friend was asking about the difference between Roth and traditional IRAs. A buddy asked about the deal we got on the tv this month.

It’s nice to chat with others and learn how they handle their finances and why.

Our Financial Goals for 2009

How We Did in May on Our Financial Goals

Debt: Things were looking good until my VW’s check engine light came on. We had the catalytic converter replaced for my Jetta and that set us back $700.

Spending: We grabbed Salsarita’s when we went to see Transformers 2 last month and we only went out one other time for dinner. We went to a pub, split a rib and briquette combo, and enjoyed some drinks. All in all, not bad.

Savings: We dipped into the emergency fund to fix the car, so the emergency fund has to be replenished a bit.

My blog income will be directed towards joint savings and personal expenses.

Health: Man vs. Debt’s PF Blogger Weight Loss Challenge is still going on. I’m using the Lose it app to keep a food diary for this contest. It’s been eye opening so far, as I realize how easy I make unhealthy choices.

By the way, check back tomorrow to see how the Alpha team is doing so far.

How are you doing?

Now that the year is halfway done, I’m asking all my personal finance bloggers to share their progress with their financial goals.

How is everyone else doing with their 2009 goals? Have you had some unexpected changes?

Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on June 2009: Progress Update