2011 Savings Goals - December Update

(1) Max out 401k(s) - $31,329 (95%)(goal is $33,000)
(2) Max out IRA(s) - $10,000 (100%)(goal is $10,000, this goal is completed)
(3) Add to e/r fund - $9,200 (92%)(goal is $10,000)
(4) Pay down mortgage - $5,000 (100%)(goal is $5,000, this goal is completed)
(5) House projects - $2,161 (40%) (goal is $5,000)

Total - $57,690 (92%)

Based on my calculations and projections, we will complete three out of five of our 2011 goals.  Two goals have already been completed, maxing out our IRAs and paying down an extra $5000 in mortgage principal..  We will come very close to maxing out our 401ks and I likely will count that as completed for 2011.  I will max out my 401k contributions and Mr. Sam will be just a couple of hundred dollars short of maxing his out.  And, since Mr. Sam has already received $5,000+ in matching 401k funds in 2011, in addition to his contributions, I think it is safe to say we completed goal number 1.  We will also complete goal number 3 and we will finish up adding $10,000 to our emergency fund this year.

I don't see how we will finish funding our house project account, at most I might be able to get it up to $3,000 by the end of the year.  I was trying to bump up the house project account by year's end, but we just paid out $2000 for Mr. Sam to take a Six Sigma green belt class so that is $2000 that we don't have to bump up the house account.

Overall, I'm generally pleased. We have saved $7000+ more in 2011 than we did in 2010 and we still have a couple of weeks to go. However, as I've discussed in other posts, we think we can do better and someone we respect is challenging us to look closer at our numbers and see if we can save more in 2012. This year we basically saved more because we saved our salary increases. So, we kept our expenses generally flat and we banked our increases.

I have to give us a pat on the back for fighting lifestyle creep. But, as previously discussed we could be doing better on controlling our expenses.