Goal: Save 10%

This year my goals were fairly simple; save money ($6,000 for the year), continue to grow my blog (375 readers daily), and ride my bike (1,000 miles this year). Using the SMART technique, I came up with a plan to meet each target goal. I also added in paying off the car, but that goal is soclose to being completed, I almost can’t count it as a “New Year’s” goal. So how am I doing at day 31?

Biking

One month into the new year I’m finding that riding my bike 1,000 miles this year is going to be a piece of cake. I’m super motivated since I’ve started a bike blog, Bike Lane Living, and the weather has been sublime. It helps that this is something I have complete control over; it’s up to me to wake up 15-30 minutes earlier than usual and it’s up to me to psyche myself into “You gotta ride, the weather is terrific!” There’s really few, if any, outside factors working against me to meet this goal. Progress: Ahead of the game.

Blog

So starting another blog this year may be splitting my time and focus in two and could detract from my initial goal. However, I’m realizing I need to outsource some of the “busy” work it takes to “run” a blog. But of course, some of you know this already! I’ve enlisted the help of a couple of colleagues to help me network more often; submit to carnivals, comment on blogs I just don’t have time to catch up on, etc. This should assist me in meeting my blog goal and expanding my readership. So far, my page views have been consistently improving and this is a good sign. Progress: On target.

Saving Money

I just wrote an article the other day mentioning some strategies for those of us (i.e. ME) that need mind tricks to SAVE MORE MONEY! If finances were completely up to me, I think I’d be on schedule (Ah, Um…I need to save so pay me more! Or, hey, we don’t really need that, do we?). But let’s face it; outside factors influence how much I can save and what I have to work with. Yet, sticking with a 10% savings plan, I think I’ll be able to play catch-up in the next couple of  months. I’ve also been good at stashing the Lincolns in my Mason Jar, so hopefully that will add up to some extra green by March. At only $200 saved so far this year, I’d say I have a bit of catching up to do! Progress: Behind.

If only saving were as easy as biking, I’d be doing great. I need to break the cycle and save more because this is becoming a recurring theme (and post)!

How are your New Year’s goals or resolutions going so far?

This post was originally published on October 21, 2009. However, some of my best posts were written within the first few months of blogging when I had only a handful of readers. Enjoy a blast from the past… (can you tell I’m swamped this week!)

My husband and I love watching movies at night, thanks in part to Netflix, it’s really easy for us to download a new or older flick. However, we have noticed a disturbing trend in movies, even those that are 20 years old or more. The characters in films, whether they are broke, middle-class, or wealthy, have beautiful homes. It doesn’t matter if the character in the film has a high paying job, or a minimum-wage salary, or is out of work, they somehow own a substantially-sized home. How can this be? Basically, as my husband so eloquently put it, the film industry is selling us the lie of the American Dream.

Whorush: 5 sites by this AdSense ID

Whorush: 5 sites by this AdSense ID

Let me begin by saying that I know a few years ago, with the whole mortgage fiasco, many people were able to purchase a home well above their financial means. So, perhaps 20 years ago, it was a similar situation, which is why we also see this trend in older films as well as newer ones. I know films also exaggerate life, and films only want to show us what we want to see. According to tinsel-town, the American public wants to see all families living in large, beautiful houses. So, the lie perpetuates because we want it to.

Yet, it got me thinking, is this American Dream something that is a reality for most people? Does the film industry take the majority of the population’s living situation and just expand it for all it’s characters? I did a little homework on BestPlaces.net to check the percentages of home ownership across the nation in a few different cities and this is what I found:

• First, I took a look at Los Angeles, CA, since this is the county I live in. The home ownership rate here is 37%, compared to the national average in the United States of 64%. Okay, so this makes sense considering the high cost of property. What doesn’t make sense is the recently released movie, Smother, (a really bad movie, by the way) showing a young couple owning a beautiful Craftsman-Style home in Los Angeles on a beautiful tree-lined street. In this movie, the character’s include a wife, that is a teacher (we all know that teacher’s aren’t wealthy by most standards), and a recently laid-off husband, who goes back to selling carpet. My take: Selling the American Dream by Lying. (Two other movies off the top of my head with similar scenarios that take place in LA: I Love You, Man and Big Trouble : outrageous homes on a small income).
  
• I then compared Fargo, ND, whose home ownership rate is 45%, to the national average of 64%. One of my favorite, slightly older, movies is Fargo. According to BestPlaces.net, less than half of the people in this city are homeowners, so again the reality of all the movie’s character’s living in a terrific home is off. My take: Selling the American Dream, though the freezing cold winter’s may keep some people from settling down permanently.
• A more realistic view from a film that I like would be Singles, a movie about single people living in Seattle (again a film from the early 1990′s). The characters in this film all rent apartments and struggle to meet a life partner and pay the rent. According to Bestplaces.net, this is a more realistic view with the home ownership percentage at 45%. My take: A realistic perspective of young 20-somethings and early 30-somethings trying to keep their heads above water and get their life figured out.
• Another city I compared is Albuquerque, NM, with a home ownership rate of 56%. You could almost call it Americas Home Place since more than half the residents own homes. I recently watched Sunshine Cleaning, set in Albuquerque, NM. The film stars the lovely Amy Adams (from Enchanted). The house the main character owned was quite a fixer upper, but it made sense considering she was a single mom who cleaned houses for a living. My Take: a much more realistic version of life, which is refreshing in a film.

Sunshine Cleaning - a more realistic life view coming from the film industry.

Of course, I’m not quite sure where Bestplaces.net came up with the national average figure of 64%. Each city I researched, and there were quite a few others that I didn’t list, kept coming up around the 50% range. There must be one state in which the majority of the population owns homes, but I didn’t find it.

Do any of you notice this in films you like? Do you ever find yourself sneering at the characters saying, “How did you afford that lifestyle and that house on your meager income?” Do you think the film industry is purposely selling the American Dream or just trying to lift our spirits and give hope to those that haven’t achieved it yet? I’m I being too cynical, or obessing over this topic?

Last month while my husband and I were shopping for a couple of Christmas gifts, we encountered some unusual (and perhaps pretentious) ceramic savings banks that made me chuckle due to the idea behind them and how timing in the retail market is uncanny. Obviously the creator of these items was somehow affected, even if creatively, by the current recession and saw a need to monetize on the misfortune of others. Notice in the photo below how the “Mall Money Fund” is the same size as the “New House Fund.”

Mall Money and New House Fund banks

If one were to take this literally (silly, I know) one could almost say it’s maybe what got us into the whole housing fiasco; spending at the mall is somehow equivalent to saving for a new house. Of course, during the housing boom years when potential buyers didn’t need much, if any, down payment I guess someone could equivocate that buying a house was similar to going shopping at the mall.

Or, looking at the savings containers from a different perspective, it could be viewed as a way to categorize your savings in general. Maybe that was the point of the containers – savings needs to be specific. Either way I look at it, it still strikes me as humorous. Another photo below is a retirement savings piggy bank compared to a “Shoe Fund” container. I’m pretty sure the “Shoe Fund” is larger.

Retirement Fund vs. Shoe Money Fund

Of course there were plenty of other ceramic banks such as a “Green Fees” and “What the IRS Missed.” All of course the same size. I guess that just seeing them on display might be a positive enough action that could subconsciously promote people to save for specific goals. Motivation is half the battle; doing it is the other half.

What are your thoughts on these photos? Do you think that it would motivate one to save money? It caught my attention enough to write about it.

Today I’m guest posting over at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. My post focuses on savings strategies for non-savers and becoming a better ‘saver’! Be sure to check it out.

I’ve created specific strategies that will help me reach my main financial goal this year: boost my savings. Since this is a 3 part series for this one goal, here were the first two parts:

1. Part 1
2. Part 2

Today, I’m focusing on another strategy that will help me meet that goal and find an extra $200 a month to deposit into my savings accounts. That strategy is a Cash Only system for certain expenses. My daily habits are now under control with the help of a finite gift card, but the more seldom luxuries, like eating out, need to be monitored more closely. Though I’ve been better about eating at home and making sure I eat something before leaving the house (this was always a problem – drinking sugary coffee, thinking I’m not hungry, then a few hours later crashing and burning only to find the closest fast food restaurant I could drive thru!).

Using a cash envelope system, I’ll deposit my budgeted amount into it at the beginning of the month then when it runs out, ce la vie eating out. Not only will it be better for me financially, I’m guessing it will also be better for my health. I’m also getting into the habit of drinking only water with a slice of lemon instead of ordering a drink, thanks to Sam, which saves a few bucks every time.

Two additional strategies that will help me meet my financial goal this year, and I’ll quickly sum them up in this part, are keeping track of additional income that comes in and making sure it ends up in savings and making sure I hold myself accountable. Being that my income is slightly erratic, some months are better than others. Instead of seeing that money disappear into the black hole of my checking account, moving it into my savings accounts will immediately save that extra cash ahead of time.

I’ve also just figured out how to measure my progress using a Financial Planning widget. I also came up with a plan to track my savings progress even though I’m tracking 3 accounts with a fourth one waiting in the wings – how I love excel sheets!

My other two goals this year aren’t as difficult for me to obtain, basically ride my bike more (which I’m tracking my progress already), and guest post more often. Watch for my quarterly summaries!

I’ve also joined The Saved Quarter challenge. Though my goal isn’t to save a quarter of my income, I’m setting attainable savings goals that I intend to meet.

Do you have specific strategies to help obtain your 2011 goals?