2010 Preliminary Money Thoughts

I thought I had only really identified a couple of concrete money goals for 2010, but it turns out I have more than just a couple.

They are (in no particular, but somewhat organized, order):

• Take my emergency fund to $20,000.  Should be approximately 13 months worth of living expenses, which should be fairly comfortable for me.  This is less ambitious of a jump than last year, and should free up some cash each month for...
  
• Take my checking account from its normal hovering-around-$300 to hovering-around-$2,000.  I lived for the last year with a low checking account to create a feeling of scarcity.  This kept me from going wild buying tons of stuff, but also led to some unneeded stress, which may have even interfered with my social life/attitudes.  Having a larger operating margin should help with...
  
• Take outstanding balances on my credit card to 0, always.  No more finance charges, no more worrying about paying, etc.  Paying with a credit card should be done for online transactions (or others where I'd like the protection of verifying the transaction before the money disappears), automated transactions, and earning points, nothing else.  Paying it off should happen within days of the transaction.
• Carry cash more often.  I went through various periods where I would carry cash.  One method that worked for a time was to start the week with $100 in my wallet.  I could spend where I wanted, but couldn't overspend, and each week I would only withdraw enough to take it back to $100.  Seems like a good idea to have some cash on hand, and it makes splitting a check, etc. a lot easier.
• Generate an alternate stream of income.  I have some ideas on this, but those will be for future posts.
  
• Open an IRA (either with pay from my severance package, or from rolling my old employer's 401(k) into it).

What are your 2010 money goals?

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