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Goodbye 2009! Hello 2010!! As we enter a new year and a new decade, it's important to set and/or review your financial goals as well as your personal goals. Without having goals and plans in mind, you don't have a clear path of what you want and/or need to accomplish in your life.

Prior Months Income.  This is new for me. I don't know how it will work out but I am going to give it a try. I used to setup my budget based on the projected income and projected expenses for the month. Now, I will budget based on last month's income. Here's how I'll do it: Each month, I'll transfer the amount I've budgeted for the month into my checking account. My paychecks and any other income will be will be deposited into my Money Market account. At the end of the month, any money remaining will be transferred to savings. Using this method, I can clearly see how much money I have left to spend for the month.

50k Savings Challenge. My goal is to save $50,000 cash by the end of December 2010. I'm currently at approx $37,000. If 2010 is anything like 2009, I am pretty sure that I'll meet my goal. Once that goal is met, I will increase the amount a little bit higher.

Organize and Destroy Paperwork. I am really bad about keeping paperwork much longer than needed. I have a small section in my home office filled with papers that I need to go through and destroy. There is very little in the pile that I NEED to keep. I was looking through the stack and there are still bank statements in there from when I was in college (over 10 years ago).

Consolidate Accounts. Over the years, I've managed to accumulate a number of checking and savings accounts over the years. My plan was to close the old account once I opened a new one but I never got around to it. I am embarrased to even tell you guys how many open accounts I have. Most of them are no longer used and have only a few dollars in them. I plan to narrow that down to only one or two checking accounts and no more than 2 savings accounts.

Have you set your 2010 financial goals?

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This is a guest post from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), a non-profit dedicated to improving the financial literacy of all Americans. NEFE operates the site Smart About Money and have developed a series of articles filled with tips to help you make 2010 the year of financial freedom.  You can also find Economic Survival Tips, worksheets and articles focused on financial education related to housing, spending, credit and job change. Follow NEFE on Twitter at @nefe_org

Control Spending.  If you spend less you'll have more money available to pay down debt and save for the future. Write down your expenses for a month to see where your money is going. You might be surprised by how easy it is to find places to scale back.

Create a Debt Repayment Plan.  If you carry credit card debt, write down everything you owe and make a plan to pay it off. Start with small items you can act on right away–it will make tackling the bigger debt easier. Also, try buying with cash only. It’s a sure-fire way to prevent increases in your credit card debt.

Setup Auto-Savings Plans. Arrange with your bank or another financial institution to have a set amount deducted from your checking account to a savings account each pay period. Of the Americans who have been able to contribute to emergency savings funds, automatic withdrawal is the most popular method, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Here's why you need to save money.

Boost Retirement Savings.  If your employer offers a 401(k) plan, increase your contributions. If you don't have an employer plan, open an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and arrange for contributions to be made automatically from your checking or savings account.

Create a Long-term Plan. Write a list of your long-term goals, such as buying a home or saving for college or retirement. Visit the Life Events section of Smart About Money for concrete tips on accomplishing those goals.

Protect Yourself. Be prepared for the unexpected by making sure you, your family, your assets and investments are insured and fully covered. If you do not have a will, make 2010 the year you establish a life plan. Not sure where to start, Quicken offers a Willmaker program to get you going.

Find a Financial Buddy. Share your financial resolutions with a friend, colleague, or family member, and you’ll be more likely to keep them. Find someone else who wants to turn around their debt or cut their spending, and establish a mutual support system.

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The practice of New Year’s Resolutions goes all the way to Ancient Rome. Where we look at the past, examine our life and seek to make ourselves better for the New Year. These resolutions can include improving one’s health, getting rid of a bad habit, or re-prioritizing what’s important in our lives.

Typically, there are a few money-related resolutions that are popular: start budgeting, manage debt and save more money. However, there are many other money resolutions you should consider:

Clean Up Your Credit Reports

Sometimes mistakes can happen with your credit report. Someone made an error when applying a credit card payment. You were confused with another person. A Social Security Number was read incorrectly by a lender. Inaccurate information on your credit report can stop you from getting the credit you deserve. It’s important to contact the credit bureaus and dispute these credit mistakes.

Get Out of Debt

It’s not enough to just manage your debts, start a plan to get out of debt. That means making a list of all your debts, their interest rates, and minimum payments. Try to eliminate your highest interest rate payments first and then work your way down. Don’t exclude your secured debts, such as mortgage and car payments. Even as you pay down your debt, don’t reduce what you’ve set aside to pay off your debts. The more you put towards principal, the faster you’ll get out of debt.

Get Rid of the “Little Extras”

Sit down and figure out where your money is getting wasted. Then make a plan to eliminate that unnecessary expense. For example, my money waster was the morning latte on the way into work. At $3.86 a cup, I was spending $1,003.60 a year on lattes. So I bought a coffee machine and starting making my own lattes in the morning. The money from that little extra went towards my emergency fund.

Reduce Financial Stress

USA.gov lists reducing overall stress and work-related stress as popular New Year’s Resolutions. However with the recent economic turmoil and a slow recovery, financial stress is a serious issue that’s going to plague many Americans this year. There are many ways to manage your financial stress. Keep your problems in perspective, and work towards improving your finances. Get support from your family and friends. Exercise or start a low cost hobby to reduce stress.

Increase Your Financial Literacy

Knowledge is power. The more you know about credit, debt and money, the better you can manage your personal finances. If you’re successfully managing your debt, saving money and budgeting your finances, consider branching out into learning more about investing or building wealth. Don’t depend on others to manage your money for you. Take the time to increase your financial literacy.

Improving your financial health can improve other aspects of your life. Take the time to clean up your financial mistakes of the past and start planning for a better future. Make 2010 a good year to remember.

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About Kathryn Katz

Kathryn Katz is a working mom, internet marketer and professional copywriter. Kathryn is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor and works for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services.

I can't believe how fast 2009 has gone by. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were just coming into 2009. I made 4 goals that I wanted to accomplish in 2009. Now that 2009, is just weeks from being over, it's time to review how close I came to meeting my goals. Right now, it looks pretty bad since I only completed 1 of the 4 goals.

My 2009 goals were to:

SGM Savings Challenge. I had a goal of saving $50,000 over the next 24 months. Back in December of 2008, I was at about $28,000 and set a goal of saving $14,000 in 2009 and $14,000 by the end of 2010. I'm happy to say that I was able to save a little over $14,000. Here is the last savings update.

Student Loan. My goal was to pay down my student loan balance from over $23k down to $18k. I didn't meet this goal. Unfortunately, the balance did not change very much. I paid down a little bit of the principal but the majority of the payments went towards interest. I think the main reason for this was that my extra cash was going towards my Savings Challenge. The only good thing about paying interest on this loan is that I can write it off when I file my taxes.

Increase Alternative Income. My goal was to bring in an additional $7500 in alternative income on top of my regular salary and rental income. The additional income for this goal would come from this blog, Ebay sales and online survey sites. Right now, it looks like I was able to bring in an additional $4300. While it is not near the amount I'd hope for, it's still nothing to complain about. Any extra money you can bring in on top of your regular income is great!

Purchase an Additional Rental Property. There are so many properties in the Atlanta area that can be obtained for less than $50k due to the collapse in the housing market. I wanted to use this to my advantage and pick up an additional rental property. I put in offers on 2 properties and was outbid by investors with deeper pockets and a lot more resources than I have. I've decided to put this goal on the back burner for awhile. I don't think the housing market will rebound that much in the next year or two so the opportunities will still be there.

How did you do on your 2009 Financial Goals?

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I'm a little late (by about 2 months) posting an update on my 2009 Personal Finance Goals. I'd originally planned to do an update every quarter. As you can see, I failed to do so. This weekend, I had a chance to sit down and review how well I've completed my financial "to do list". Overall, I'm pleased with the way things have been going this year.

Here is a recap of my 2009 Financial Goals and an update of the status:

SGM Savings Challenge
My goal is to save $50,000 by end of December 2010. The goal was going pretty well until I had to withdraw $12,000 to refinance my mortgage. My home dropped in value so I had to pay closing costs and an additional $7,000 to bring my loan-to-value down to 97%. I'm currently at about $32,000 and hopefully, I'll hit $50,000 by the end of this year. I will more than likely be bumping up my saving challenge goal to $75,000. Here is the last update on the status of the savings challenge.

Student Loan
My goal was to pay an additional $5000 towards the principal balance of my student loan. This is my last non-mortgage debt that needs to be paid off. I've been making additional principal payments of $100 per month to try and knock down the balance. I haven't decided if I will go ahead and apply the extra $5000 since I am trying to work on boosting my savings account balance.

Increase Alternative Income
My goal was to earn $7,500 on top of my regular earnings from my job. Any additional income I earn comes from a combination of EBay sales, online surveys sites and blog income. The bulk of my additional income comes from the blog but the amounts have been a lot less than last year. Any purchase you make through this blog are greatly appreciated.

Purchase an Additional Rental Property
Earlier this year, I put in an offer on a property that I thought would be perfect. It seemed as if everything was going to work out until I was outbid at the last minute by someone with deeper pockets. The investor came in and bought several properties at one time. As they usually say, if something seems to good to be true, it usually is. I've decided to put this on the back burner for now.

I'm going to keep plugging away at my goals and hopefully, by the time of the next update, I'll have more positive news to report.

Follow along on my financial journey.

We are less than a month away to a brand new year. Around this time last year, there were several financial goals I wanted to accomplish in 2008. This weekend, I had a chance to sit down and review how well I completed my financial "to do" list.

My 2008 goals were to:

Increase My Networth to $75,000. Like alot of other financial bloggers out there, I don't think I am going to hit this goal. I used to post monthly networth updates but I've decided to focus more on increasing my savings.

Increase Freedom Savings Account to $5000. This is the account I use to pay for those infrequent bills such as automobile insurance premiums, Umbrella policy premium, automobile maintenance, small emergencies and any other expenses that I had not accounted for in my regular monthly budget. I've hit and actually exceeded this goal. The account currently stands at $5404.00.

Increase Rental Property Savings to $1500. I use this account to pay for small repairs to my rental property. I met this goal also.

Decrease Non-Mortgage Debt to $40,000. I'm happy to say that I completed this goal and then some. I paid off my car loan in full which pushed my total non-mortgage debt to around $23,000 which is the current balance of my student loan. By the way, I love having $556 to distribute to my savings account instead of having to send it to the auto finance company. I never want to have another car loan again!!!!

Increase My Credit Scores. My goal was to have at least a 720 credit score with all 3 bureaus. I met this goal earlier this month when my Experian credit score finally jumped above 720. I guess 4 out of 5 ain't too bad. I probably would have met all 5 goals had I not lost over 45% of my 401k and over 40% of my brokerage account balance. I've determined my goals for 2009 and I'll have those posted in a few days.

Related Posts:
Paid Off A Past Financial Mistake - The Car Loan
Credit Score Checkup
Another Reason For An Emergency Fund

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