Goals for 2009

Last January I posted a set of goals for 2008, so here is my list of what I hope to accomplish this year:

• Save $6,500 toward our wedding - Ms. Loonie and I will both be aggressively saving for this throughout the year, and I should be able to pull this together without hampering my other financial goals. A cash-only Christmas is one thing, but I really don't know how well we'll do with having a cash-only wedding. Only one way to find out, I suppose...


• Reduce my revolving debt to $7,500 - With the increased savings in our Wedding Fund, there will be a bit less cash to throw at my debt, but this number should be manageable. That will leave me with 27.3% of my $27,610.74 starting debt.


• Grow my Emergency Fund to $2,000 - I really just want to repeat the success that I had in 2008, and get this savings cushion back up to where it was in October.


• Give $2,000 to charity - I'm not increasing this from my 2008 goal, but I want to make sure that we give at least as much as we did last year.


• Weigh 195 pounds - I've got the hunger for getting in shape. I have shoes that are kind to my feet, convenient access to a gym and a squash court, and a fiancée who's also excited to get back into an exercise regimen. With all that going for me, losing some weight should be child's play.


• Write at least three "researched" posts each month - My posting frequency really fell apart in the last half of 2008, so this is an attempt to get things back on track. In addition to my month-end and payday updates (which are highly cookie-cutter affairs), I intend to have at least three posts each month for which I need to do some background research. Hopefully, this will lead into far more than three a month, but it's a manageable goal that will get me started.


• Be promoted to the next job level - I usually prefer to list goals over which I have control, so this one is a bit of a stretch. This really puts a concrete success measure around my wishy-washy "be productive" goal. I've recently transitioned into a sort of "pre-management" role at work, and I can leverage this opportunity by showing my aptitude for the next job level (i.e. actually leading a team). It will take a lot of work on my organizational and project management skills, but I can do it. Even if I don't actually get the promotion, I'll be very well positioned in my career development.

That's what I'm looking to get done in 2009. What are your goals for the year?