Spending It

I have some expenses coming up that are discretionary but I really should take care of them. Case in point - new mattress and couch because they are hurting my back. I can only sleep on one side of the mattress now. I'm off today, hopefully to finalize my choice for a new one. Think I have found the couch I want as well. But once I update the couch, I realize that the coffee table is quite scratched and while the matching side table is perfect, if I get a new coffee table it will no longer match. So that's two more pieces of furniture. Also, I don't have overhead lights in almost every room of my apt. So it's dark. The table lamps aren't cutting it. I plan to buy ceiling fans with lights and have them installed. So that all adds up. I'm not really excited about these purchases, but I feel like I kind of need to make them.

I am thinking of making a big "purchase" that I am excited about which is going in on a shared beach house. If I can pay a reasonable amount each month, I plan to do this, probably starting in March or so. That would be money well spent in my view.

I've been reading about the clothing fasts people are doing on the MMM forum. I'm thinking about joining, because that would help pay for the beach house. Yay for intentional purchasing!

Happy holidays to everyone!

Getting Serious about Saving

This year was about spending. A LOT of $. Some of that I feel okay about because it was in theory an investment (in my apt.) or at least I view it as prepayment of rent for the future.  The rest of  my spending I feel a little less okay about. I had many one  time expenses that I don't foresee having to replicate next year. The furniture and services that came along with the apt. purchase (although I would like to hire an electrician to install a ceiling fan), a $2600 wedding gift to my brother, new toys for my latest hobby/passion.

Next year, I want to get a lot more disciplined about saving and investing. While I track my budget diligently, I  realize I don't have a target for savings. I just hired LearnVest to help me develop a financial plan for saving and investing and I told my adviser I can commit to investing $500 a month. That is balanced with the $500 a month I prepay my mortgage. Ideally I would like to save another $500 a month in just straight savings. On top of my 401K which I max out, that would put me in a good place, regardless of bonus.

I am finally getting around to reading Your Money or Your Life, which I know has changed many people's lives. So I'm excited to see how that affects me. Maybe it will make me amp up my plan even more.

Know Your Stuff

I have been going through the process of cataloging my possessions for a while now. I read about a great tool in the comments on Get Rich Slowly. It's a website called knowyourstuff.org It's great. It gives you a place to catalog and document (with receipts, images) your stuff. Obviously this will be great in the case of a fire or another catastrophe. I entered most of my stuff and even looked up the original prices from my credit card records for a lot of them. Like my wardrobe, a lot of my furniture is hand me downs, including:
My Television
My coffee table and side table
My kitchen table
My bookcase
My lamp (my mom bought it for me when I was young)

Except for my fancy bedroom furniture that I bought last year, the rest of it is mostly Ikea or of equal cost and quality. I do like most of it, so it doesn't really bother me. My couch is too big for my living room, but it is soooo comfy I refuse to give it up. At least not yet.