My Updated 5 Year Financial Goals

1. Dad debt-free except the house by end of 2009 – This one is very on schedule to happen around October. This includes his loan that will be paid off in August, and his Tractor Supply bill.

2. Pay back remaining down-payment loan to friend by August 2010 – Once dad’s interest-free debt is gone from #1, we’ll be piling all of those payments onto the very last person who loaned us money for the down payment on the house. I’ve already paid all of the other awesome people back. My payments plus my tax return for 2010 leads me to believe I can have this paid off by August 2010. But the time frame is lenient so I’m not too worried about it.

3. Save up $20k in emergency savings – I’m happy with the emergency savings I have now, but I like a big cushion. $20k seems like a very respectable cushion, and I live cheap as it is. I think a lot of my fears would not be so bad if I had $20k in the bank for emergencies. This -may- take 2 or 3 years to do.

4. Buy dad a new pre-owned vehicle in cash (and subsequently build up the $20k again if needed) – Though I never plan to buy a new car ever again, I would like a newer car for my dad. A nice pre-owned car that I don’t have to worry about him in. I’ve also made the commitment to never have a car payment again after paying off my mustang in February, so this will be paid for with cash. I’ve already started looking around at prices for pre-owned cars and they are -really cheap-. Lets hope they stay cheap for a few years 🙂 This also may interchange with #3 as far as priority.

5. Pay back interest-free first-time home-buyer credit to government – Being a first-time home-buyer, I qualified for the $7500 tax credit from 2008 (sucks that they made it so much better for 2009). Since it’s an interest free loan that you can pay off over 15 years ($500/year), it’s really last on my priority list, but I do plan to get rid of it just to get it out of the way as soon as I’m able.

6. Start maxing my contributions to my Roth IRA – I will probably up my contributions to my 401k as well, but I really want to max my Roth IRA. Can’t do that until we’re debt free though. At least I am still contributing to it as much as I am able. That compound interest is important at my age.

7. Start heavily paying down on the mortgage – While I still plan to put a huge chunk of money on the house when the boyfriend sells -his- house, in the mean time I still want to put at least 2 extra payments a year on the mortgage, and any additional money I get throughout the year. -If- the boyfriend happens to move in, I suspect we’ll have it paid off in 5 years. If he doesn’t, then it’ll take me a while longer, but I still plan to pay it off way early.

8. Increase my income – I’ve already started this by taking up a second part-time job, but I am going to be looking at other ways to increase my income. This is only last on the list because it’s an ongoing thing with no set time-frame. I want to make sure I’m at least making enough to supplement my dad’s contribution after he passes away.

In addition to this, I received an offer from USAA for a no fee 0% balance transfer for a year. However the offer ends July 13th. I was going to wait until August to transfer over my fathers Tractor Supply balance, because I wanted an accurate count on how much money and such I spent on my dad’s loan without the interference of any other debt, but I don’t think I can pass up this offer. Honestly I think I can figure out the numbers enough to keep things accurate.