Get Your Finances In Line In 2009: August Recap

Well, lots of things have conspired since my last update. Or so it seems. I'm currently EXCEEDINGLY pregnant and feeling very exhausted.

Cooking has been on the back-burner as of late since my energy level has dropped through the floor, it seems. In fact, I bought about 6 boxes of cereal while I was out running errands this weekend and informed my husband that we could just live on that until the baby comes. He seems skeptical and I can't figure out why.

Seriously though, we've been getting take-out more often than usual and my grocery trips have been far less organized (and coupon-involved) lately, so our food budget was a bit higher than normal last month.

Also, we just found out that my cousin is getting married in March! I'm SO excited to make a trip down to Texas as I haven't been there since I was a child! My cousin also requested that 3 of our 4 children be in the wedding. While we anticipate that that will be an interesting added bit of work, my parents will be there as well so I'm sure we can manage all the wedding festivities and kiddos with their help. Since Texas is a 2-day trip each direction with our munchkins, we're looking at some hotel stays and lots of meals on the road, so our trip savings is starting now. We're so grateful that the Lord has allowed us to reach so many of our financial goals in the past few years so we are able to plan and save up for this trip.

Alright, so....jibber jabber....here's the new, updated version of our goals:

Goal #1: Save up and pay CASH for our 5-day vacation to Mackinac Island in June! :) ---- 100% completed ----

REVISED GOAL #1: Save up and pay CASH for our trip to Texas next March. ---- This goal is brand spanking new and we plan to start stashing away for this in September. ----

Goal #2: Fully fund our 6 month emergency fund and put into a money market account to be left UNTOUCHED unless there is an actual emergency. ---- 56.2% completed!! Not a huge gain from last month, but September is an extra check month for my husband, so we're hoping to make it to 70% by the end of this month! We'll see how things go with the new baby.... ----

Goal #3: Save for my husband to get a "new" (that means used) car. ---- After some adjustments by my husband last month, the car is currently running well, so this is not high on the priority list right now. ----

Goal #4: Raise retirement contributions to 12% (with a 4% match).

Goal #5: Open a money market account for each of our children.

Goal #6: Begin paying extra principal on our mortgage.

Goal #7: Establish a will and testament. ---- Still thinking about working on this... ----

Goal #8: Get disability insurance for both my husband and me. ---- I really meant to have my husband do this paperwork over Labor Day Weekend. But then I forgot. Shame on me. ----

We're so excited to be reaching our financial goals for the glory of Christ and are glad so many of you enjoy hearing our story. We hope you find it to be encouraging and motivating in your own lives!