I've been thinking about this for awhile, and already have some things set up so I won't have to pay much attention to them.
1) Save up enough by the fall to pay our next car insurance bill in full. We're still paying the current installments, plus I have monthly transfers set up to an ING account.
2) Save toward replacing one of the cars. I have a $300 monthly transfer set up for that.
3) Get the maximum match on DH's 401K. We already turned in the form so his contribution will be 7%, plus a 3% match. (They only match 50%, and only up to 6%).
This is where it gets tricky. The Dave Ramseyites over on another site say that his Step 3 Fully Funded Emergency Fund isn't for things like car repairs. Once you get stabilized and debt-free, you are supposed to budget for those things, and only use the Emergency Fund for something really big like extended unemployment.
So, my original (baby) Emergency Fund account is now for car and house repairs, and based on last year, $4000 will be going in and back out of there in 2007.
I want to try and build up 3 to 6 months worth of expenses in paper I-bonds as the Step 3 FFEF. But there's no money left in the budget. So what I'll really have to work at this year is finding the money to fund it.
I also have one big Not To Do for the year: The only way I'm going to get involved in rebates, trial offers, test drives or surveys is if I'm completely caught up on the rest of my life. Since I always seem to be behind on housekeeping, exercising, food prep, paperwork and reading--I kind of think the "deals" just aren't going to be happening this year!
2007 Goals
December 31st, 2006 at 09:55 pm
December 31st, 2006 at 11:31 pm 1167607902
The interest rate can be good on them, or not, depending on how the US Treasury sets both the fixed and variable rates on May and November. When you buy one, you can't redeem it at all for a year (11 months if you buy at the end of the month), and if you redeem it before 5 yrs you will pay a penalty. Useful to keep you from spending them, but bad if your emergency happens within a year.
I have my emergency fund in an online bank and in 4 week T-bills.