5 year financial/ personal plan

[Phoenix]

Date: 3/4/2009 11:00:50 AM
Author: lucyandroger
Phoenix, Don't apologize!!!

That's some really great advice...thanks so much for sharing!!! It is always so helpful to hear how other people achieve the goals that you're trying to achieve yourself. You must have some really great self-discipline. I must admit that I'm guilty of eating out and grabbing coffee from Starbucks out of convenience. We've really cut down on dinners out and only order in once a week now.

I also really like your suggestion of automatically depositing money into savings accounts. When it's not there, you can't spend it! I need to sit down and do a budget so I can do that.

Thanks again for the advice...I think a lot of people are going to find it really helpful!

That's very sweet and gracious of you. Thank you.

Whilst it is true that I've a bit more self-displine that I'd say yr average person (I guess it's the hungry stomach that did it, LOL!), these 10 golden rules are very easy to achieve, or at least most of them are - for *everyone*. What you will find really great is that once you've set yourself a target, you can watch your savings grow since you now have something concrete to work towards. You can also watch how the time interval between the date you set the target and the actually target date shrinks as your savings grow. It's really FUN!! (I love seeing how my/ our money accumulates in the savings account, I even have spreadsheets that I set up to monitor it). It's also AMAZING once you've bought your first home. I cannot describe it, it's a feeling that's unlike anything else youv've ever done (I'd guess the only thing better than that is having a child, even if we don't have children yet

)! It gives a tremendous sense of accomplishment, pride, even more determination to save for something bigger in the future.

Yeah, that Starbucks, I bet practically everyone on this board is guilthy of that, LOL. You just cannot walk into a Starbucks and spend less than $5-6 at a time. Just imagine how much money could save a week, a month, a year if you gave up this habit!

(Actually, you know what, don't go cold turkey altogether, you can still go one or twice a month, just don't make it a daily habit

).

The transfer of a fixed dollar amount into somewhere that you can't touch is really really KEY. I cannot overstress that.

Once you've started saving and investing in something, it's like a snowball, it just keeps on rolling, and you know what people say: "Money makes money". You start small and with that, you'll make more money and even more money.

You know what else? They say "money does not buy happiness", well guess what?! Not having money makes a person REALLY miserable!

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 3/4/2009 12:59:18 PM
Author: fleur-de-lis

Date: 3/4/2009 10:06:34 AM
Author: Phoenix

(I apologise to LucyandRoger for the threajack, yet again. I hope this is of some help to you too).

Phoenix, I also really appreciate your post; it''s always very helpful and centering to read a first-person account from someone who has walked the walk.

Since the OP is so gracious and letting me threadjack, I''ll reply to you guys too

. (Thanks, LucyandRoger).

Thanks for your kind words, FDL.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 3/4/2009 1:43:16 PM
Author: MC
Thanks so much for your info, Phoenix!!!

Right now, our only plan is keep living the current, pretty simple, lifestyle we do regardless of how much money we make. Put all the diffence into savings rather than increasing our unnecessary spending. I''m not sure what else we''ll end up deciding to do.

MC, you practically saved my life! I owe you a debt of gratitude.

You''re definitely on the right track. I like your thinking!

Oh, the power of savings. Good for you

.

The next step is investments, wise investments. You can continue to save whilst you''re investing too. Watch those babies grow

.

Lemme know if there''s anything I can do to assist.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 3/4/2009 3:50:23 PM
Author: hoofbeats95
Thanks Phoenix! It all makes sense. I need to work harder at saving and maybe a bit on the eating out. But I'm trying to eat healthy so eating out doesn't really factor into that. I'm uneducated on how to make wise investments. I have a 401K but that's it. And I'm trying not to freak as it's dropping. Especially the larger one from my old job. Right now we need to plan a wedding and build a house. I'd like to do the house while the economy is bad for better interest rates. But I'd like to get married before starting on that. I can't wrap my head around how to accomplish this without going broke. I'm 30 and would like to have whatever kids I'm going to have before I'm 35. So I feel a clock ticking so to speak. I will not have kids before we have the house. But I also don't want to get married, build a house, have a kid . . . bam bam bam. . . with no time to enjoy being married ourselves. That's too much stress on a relationship. So I'm freaking! Mathematically I haven't found the solution to do the wedding and the house at the same time.

Aww, thanks.

Kudos to you for eating healthily. Doesn't that feel great? I of course have been guilty of eating junk and it makes me shudder to think of the c%## I've put in my mouth!

I don't really know much about 401k to comment, I am afraid. I think Suze Orman touches on that a lot. Do you watch her? She makes an awful lot of sense. If it's investment in general, I wouldn't freak out too much, particularly since you're still so young. You've still got a lot of time to catch up. We've managed to get rid of most of our share portfolio before all this bloodbath but we've still got some left (a tiny fraction of our original portfolio). Their values have certainly dwindled, but we don't sweat it. Really not much you can do about that right now. I'd just continue to save and buy back in when the time is right (whenever that is, but I personally don't reckon that'll happen this year). But if and when you do do that, remember to cut short any losses and do not get overly greedy (I have and have been burnt

).

It's tough to juggle the house, marriage, kids, jobs etc. I personally reckon that women have it much harder than men. We also worry a lot more, it's just in our nature.

I wouldn't worry about any kind of mathematical solution. There's really no magic or secret in this. A lot of it is just common sense. Spend less, save more, invest wisely (again familliarise yourself with financial journals, make it a habit to read the financial pages/ columns in the papers, watch the financial gurus on TV, do a lot and I mean a lot of research before you take the plunge, buy low, sell high - always). I don't have any formula and I am no Suze Orman. I've made mistakes too, both DH and I have. You just start small, very small and if you make mistakes, you'll just write them off as learning (but do NOT ever invest, particularly at the beginning whilst you're very new and inexperienced, with money you cannot afford to lose, because it might happen). BUT you *will* recognise what works for you. Stick to it, stick to what works for you. Some people like investing in stocks, some like properties. I've personally invested in properties and currencies mostly and less so on stocks. But that's what *I* am comfortable with. Do NOT invest in anything that you don't know anything/ much about, or feel comfortable with. That's one sure way to failure.

Oh also, set up a year's worth of salary as yr emergency funds. Suze says 8 months (i believe) but I personally think that's not enough, particularly in this economic climate when it's soooo difficult to find a job if one's looking. This is the money that you can't touch, for spending, for investing, for anything - at all.

Re the wedding, I don't know what you're planning (and of course you don't have to tell me), but far too many people spend far too much on their wedding. It's about you, not about anyone else. I see people going into debt to have this big fancy wedding and end up being miserable and that's no way to start your lives together! We saved up and paid for our wedding out of our savings. It wasn't too big nor too small. It was just right for us and we didn't spend a fortune (you know, my w. dress only cost USD300!

and it was beautiful).

And, I wouln't put off having kids for too long. That's one major mistake I've made. I waited too long, I waited until we had enough money and before I knew it, I was too old to have kids. You can never have "enough money"! You know what Suze says: "People first!".

Good luck.