May Check-In

It's hard to believe it, but it's 1/3 of the way through 2011 already.  How are your resolutions & goals coming along?

I am continuing to fully fund my ROTH IRA, so the progress on my future is coming along nicely.

I am continuing to put money away in my annual savings funds, though not as much as I would like.  I can tell you that Christmas will be slim in 2011, judging by where I am right now, although I am still putting some into the fund each month, as well as contributing to my future car fund and my current car repair fund.

I've been on a bit of a spending spree of late.  Not sure why that always happens in cycles, but I've learned in the past five years it certainly does.  We have some new furniture.  I have a new wardrobe.  I've had all sorts of one-on-one training at the gym.  It's cut back on how much goes into savings, but on the other hand, it's increased my comfort, it's increased my health and overall the purchases were all well worth it.

Summer is coming.  A time for vacations and traveling.  A time to watch the price of fuel and plane tickets sky rocket.

Perhaps a time for cookouts at home and lazy evenings watching the sunset.

But I'm rambling.

The point is, now is a time to assess and be honest with yourself.  Do you have the savings budgeted for your vacation?  For your summer wardrobe and activities?  For back-to-school purchasing?  Halloween? Thanksgiving? Christmas? New Years?  

The second half of the year is a downhill slide of spending that you have to be prepared for and budget for now.  

How much do you spend on cable?  Can you cut back for the summer and put that $30, $60 or $90 a month into the funds you've been neglecting for four months?

Now is the time of year to check on saving on auto insurance, to see you can scale back your cell phone plan, to remember to leave the lights off until it's actually dark out, to turn off your heat and avoid turning on your air conditioner.

I tell you this because I need the reminder.  For a month or two money has been flying out of my pockets, and it has me below the 1/3 mark of my annual goals.  But summer will come, and entertainment will be as inexpensive as reading a library book in the sunshine.  New clothes will last, new furniture will last, and the lessons that I learned at the gym will continue on long into the future.