Frank the Financially Savvy Atheist - The F.S.A.

After recapping my goals for 2007 it's time to take a look at where we want to be at the end of 2008.
Before I do that I need to mention that we were able to accomplish one more goal from 2007. We actually were able to double the kids 529 plan balance with Christmas contributions. We had an unexpected gift from my dead-beat dad and with it the kids balance stands at a total of almost $4,000. Thanks dead-beat dad!

Looking ahead to 2008, here's what we hope to accomplish:

• Pass Level III of the CFA in June. The plan is to do what I've done for the last two exams in terms of studying.


• Lose 10 lbs by June 1st. The plan is to make small but meaningful changes to my lifestyle. One change will be to drink mostly water. Another change will be to try and walk on a daily basis (when it's no longer snowing outside of course). If I was really motivated, I could do this in a month, but I'm not so I'm giving myself till June with the small changes I listed above.


• Spend more time with the family throughout the year. The plan is to get to work earlier and leave earlier so that I can get home at a decent time. To try and maintain my current level of output, I will also have to do about an hour's work from home. This will allow me to get home at a time when the kids aren't just getting ready for bed. That way I can actually do something with them such as helping my eldest son practice his piano.


• Implement a form of GTD by the end of January and continue with it throughout the year tweaking as necessary. There is no way I'm implementing the complete system, but I'd like to have a variant of it to help me be more organized.


• Publish a weekly report for my work. Hopefully this gets my name out there to more people and "adds value".


• Increase "face-time" at work. I have some ideas about how to do that.


• As part of my review for the year, my manager told me he wants me to speak up more at work. I plan to start by adding commentary in smaller meetings where I feel more comfortable and then moving on to the larger meetings once I feel sufficiently comfortable. Hopefully in a month or two I'll move on to the larger meetings, but right now I'm going to stick to the smaller meetings.


• Double our 401(k) balance again. This should be an automatic thing given my contribution, but I'm putting it here as well.


• Contribute $5,000 to both of our Roth IRAs.


• At the end of the year, we'd like to have $10,000 in our Emigrant Direct account.


• We'd like the balance of the kids 529 to be about $4,800


• We'd like to continue nurturing our eldest son's social interactions so that he feels more comfortable interacting with other people. So far, he's been doing a tremendous job since starting preschool.


• On the budget side of things, we want to stick to our $100/month eating out budget. Looks like it's time to go back on the envelope method.


• Lastly, for the blog I'd like to generate $20/month in income by the end of the year and I would realistically be able to start on that goal after June '08. I picked $20/month because that's about enough to pay one utility bill.

Whew, that seems like so many things. I'd be happy if we fullfil 60% of them come the end of 2008.

Happy New Year to all.