2009 Goals

So here are my financial goals for next year.

1. Buy a house

Okie, not really financial but since it affects so many other things I thought I'd get that one out of the way.

2. Grow net worth by $5000.

That's half of 2008's growth. I decided on this goal because if I accomplish number one, my funds will be somewhat depleted if I have to pay closing costs and buy appliances. Secondly, and more importantly, my saving power will be diminished. I expect the mortgage principal and interest to be roughly equal to my rent but then there's property tax, increased insurance costs, water and garbage, and increased maintenance costs. Probably some stuff I'm forgetting. Oh yes, a new pet. I intend to get a dog when I'm no longer a renter. Additionally, I'm not counting on a raise this year nor huge gains in the market, although both would be lovely.

3. Establish a plan to generate some secondary income.

I would love to have a couple of hundred extra bucks a month coming in. I haven't yet decided how to go about this. I have 3 ideas and may combine as needed.

a - Concentrate on making more investments that throw bones my way. The simplest idea would be to buy mutual funds that have a goal of generating income and have low expenses. I like how ING savings is working for me but I don't really want to set a goal of increasing my fixed savings, you know? This would be the most feasible but also the least lucrative I think.

b - Sell soap. I'm very much enjoying this hobby and one of the consequences is producing much more soap than my family and I can use. Now is probably not a good time to enter the market since I don't think most people are spending their extra money on these things. This would be the most labor intensive but probably the best opportunity in the short term. Costs would be small as I already have the supplies I would need to start with and the real cost would be insurance and setting up some sort of business structure that limits my liability.

c - Rental property. This would be more of a long term idea since I'm more interested in my own home right now, unless I happened on a good duplex I could afford. But if this is something I really want to do, I can start saving up some down payment money now and start doing some reading on what it takes to be a landlord. This is probably the most lucrative over the long term but also takes a fair amount of work, I'm sure. I bet there are good months when the tenants behave and pay rent timely and nothing breaks, but there are sure to be vacancies and bad tenants eventually.

4. Pay off 20% of car loan.

Slight increase over this year.

5. Pay off 10% of student loan.

Again, a little increase over the current year. Probably a trickier goal since I tend not to pay much extra on this one. I used to when it was my only loan but now I'd rather have the car paid off and have padded savings.

There they are, my goals..