A few days ago, I shared my new year’s resolutions with you here. You’d probably recall that one was “To save at least $10,000 this year”, but that I also mentioned that I hope it would be $20,000… and then I turned somewhat pessimistic and said that $20,000 would be too challenging. Well, after thinking it over for a number of days, I’d like to take the greater challenge and go for $20,000 – and that’s just the minimum.
Actually, with what I normally earn and spend, I could comfortably aim to save $1,000… but $20,000 would really be a challenge. Glancing at my financial forecast for this year, I would really need some extra income to achieve that goal, or forego the Philippine holiday which I plan to take this year. I’m not going to share the specific details of my finances here, but I’ll let you know that I have a few big expenses which I am anticipating this year. Some of these are:
Philippine holiday:
- Airfares – $2,000
- Pocket money – $3,000
Hubby’s immigration:
- Visa application charge – $2,000
- Airfares – $2,000
- Pocket money – $3,000
(plus budget for processing his visa, including medical exam fees, etc)
Now, I do believe (and I really hope!) that my budget for airfares are more than what I might actually spend. The last time I went (Oct 2010), I spent less than $1,500 for a return ticket (2 international flights and 2 domestic flights) and I do believe my budget for pocket money is also way more than what I’d actually need. However, I’m also considering the fact that I’d most likely be shipping one or two huge packages from ‘pines to Melbourne, containing a lot of my stuff back there. As of this moment, my financial forecast tells me that with these expenses, plus all my monthly necessary expenditures, I’d be able to save approximately a little over $13,000 at the end of the year.
Unless my visa won’t let me go (which would be unlikely), there’s no way I’m going to forego the Philippine holiday. Why? Because I need it. My hubby is back there, has no visa yet to come here, and that would be the only way we could see each other again in person, after missing each other for over a year! Sorry, but my relationship with my husband is far more important to me than saving $20,000, and for everyone who has a heart, I know you would understand that.
Why am I sharing all these? Because I believe that as a wife, learning to budget and save money with wisdom is very important. We learn from experiences of others, and I hope to also share with you this year my experiences in relation to working to achieve my goal. Maybe you’ll learn something from me. I hope to learn something from you. And I know that if I keep this goal in mind, with your help and encouragement, I’d be able to achieve this.. and maybe even more! (Then, hubby and I can go and get our own home! Exciting!!!)
So, how do I plan to achieve this?
Here are a few things I’m currently doing (and hope to continue doing)…
- Maintain a financial forecast and update it regularly to see how Im going (mine’s on MS Excel, something like I saw my mum doing back home years ago)
- Put away some funds in term deposits (make sure they’ve got competitive rates thouh)
- Stop hanging out in eBay when not absolutely necessary (the temptation to buy on impulse there is often sooo strong!)
- Always pack food for work (those daily $5+/meal meals out really add up, and they’re not healthy too)
- Educate myself further regarding finances, by reading really helpful and motivating books and blogs on related topics
- Maintain the online shops, keep blogging, and plan better business that require very minimum capital or none
Well, there I go. So far so good. But of course, the list will not stop there. It will be an ongoing process, as I discover and consider more ideas every now and then.
What do you think of my goal? Have you got tried-and-tested ideas on how to accomplish this? Are you also challenging yourself to improve your finances this year?
