January Goals

Dear Little Miss Moneybags: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

1. Stay the heck out of Target.  Okay, this one is a little sad.  I love Target.  Living in the Twin Cities, a Target run pretty much qualifies as patronizing a local business.  I can get pretty much everything I need in one shiny co-branded stop.  The toddler department is always good for at least one $5 shirt featuring a digger or fire truck, and they might even know I’m pregnant before I do.  But Target is poison for those trying to avoid mindless spending and an influx of stuff I don’t really need (exclusive holiday Hershey Kiss flavors!).  So I’ll be trying to head to the regular grocery store for regular groceries, even if the ice cream is $2 more expensive.

2. Get a new quote for life insurance.  Sometime last summer our financial advisor found a company that may be able to save us $100 a month or so on our term life insurance.  That sounds great, but it involves filling out forms and getting new insurance physicals (ugh). We put it off for a bit, then were hit with a job loss and everything else fell by the wayside.  Things are back on track now, so we need to get it done.  We currently have our life insurance with the same company as our home and auto insurance, so we’ll need to figure out how dropping the life might impact our discount.  One step at a time, though.

3. Organize the kitchen cabinets.  This is pretty self-explanatory.  I plan to get this taken care of on Martin Luther King Day while my employer is closed but our daycare isn’t.  Score!  I’ll be doing some paint color rumination, too, in hopes that new paint might distract me from all the things I don’t like about the kitchen for a little bit.

4. Go to yoga.  At least once.  I’m in desperate need of some regular physical activity and stress reduction.  For one shining year (seven years ago) I went to yoga classes over my noon hour.  I don’t have the same option any longer, but there is a yoga studio about three blocks from my current office that I want to check out.

A Year Without New Clothes

One of the reasons I’m starting a blog (again) is to help me feel a bit more accountable for the gap between my values and my behavior.  It’s very easy to say that I value frugality and being happy with what I have, but my behavior would say something else.  Namely, it would say “I like buying clothes.”

I bought a lot of clothes while I was in college and cute, but gradually tapered off as I aged, gained weight, and was unhappy with myself for a variety of reasons.  Once I emerged from depression after my son was born, it felt like the sun had just come out.  I felt better about myself than I had in a long time, and I started paying attention to my wardrobe again.  I shopped sales, discovered new stores, had packages waiting for me on my doorstop at least once a week, and I enjoyed it massively.

The financial impacts were undeniable, though.  I’ve been able to keep out of credit card debt, but I’ve also blown through a lot of money that should have been saved or used for other things.  I tried to rein it in on several occasions, but have always backslid a bit.  I even made a deal with Husband that I would ask his permission before buying anything.  That added an odd dynamic to our relationship, though – I was uncomfortable asking, and he was uncomfortable granting permission.

My habits are better than they used to be, but I’m still guilty of buying clothes I don’t need.  A recent review of my closet revealed far too many items that I bought on sale and wore once or twice (or not at all) and didn’t really think about any more.  It also showed that, without question, I have all the clothes I need.  I can cover the bases for cocktail dress, interview suit, daily workwear, wedding dress, funeral dress, and tons of business casual and around-the-house attire.

For me, buying new clothes has become a quick pick-me-up, a little shot of excitement in the daily routine.  I am a master at justifying these sorts of purchases – it’s a good deal, I’ll wear it often, it fills a hole in my wardrobe, and so on.  All of those might be technically true, but they aren’t very good reasons for purchasing something I don’t actually need.  If I my values are truly non-consumerist, my behavior needs a reality check.

In order to change my ways, I need a rule that I can’t weasel my way out of.  It has to be black and white and non-negotiable.  So here it is – no new clothes in 2013.  Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis for underwear or essential items that are truly ruined.

Financial Goals for 2013

This is the “just start writing” post.

My husband and I sat down this afternoon to talk about our monthly budget and major financial goals for 2013.  We have these conversations periodically – they usually end up being brief, with an air of “why did we actually have to schedule a time to talk about this?”  We have a good idea of what our goals are already, but the point of sitting down and talking about it is supposed to be getting it “out there” and increasing the odds that we’ll actually accomplish what we set out to do.  It doesn’t usually work that way, though.  It’s easy to forget.

So it’s safe to say that the overarching goal for 2013 is to improve our follow-through.  But here’s what we need to follow through on:

  1. Get our emergency fund up to $10,000.  This doesn’t really represent X months of living expenses, but it’s a number that we’re both comfortable with.  It would cushion us enough to give us time to make harder decisions if need be.
  2. Max out Husband’s Roth IRA.  Now that he’s self-employed, he no longer has a 401(k) or an employer match.  My employer has a generous match, but he needs money in his own name as well.
  3. Try for another baby.  For us, this means IVF.  Our son (also conceived via IVF)  is two, and after much deliberation we’ve decided to give it another try.  Our insurance and FSA will cover some of the costs, but we’re on the hook for several thousand dollars.  And then double daycare bills if we’re successful.  Gulp.
  4. Buy another car.  Husband’s car has been driven hard for eight years and has never been quite the same after being rear-ended by a semi.  His daily commute is about 60 miles round trip, so something reliable with good gas mileage is a must.  The idea of two car payments (especially with the prospect of double daycare bills) makes me very nervous, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.  Right now the agreement is that we’ll talk about a car once our emergency fund is at $5,000.

Other related goals: finally buy ourselves bikes and a Burley, and for me to go an entire year without buying new clothes.