Share Your 2008 Financial Resolution for a Chance to Win an iPod!
By Patrick on Nov 25, 2007 in Announcements
Yesterday, I announced the Carnival of Financial Goals, which is a new financial carnival devoted to setting and sharing financial goals. The first edition will be hosted here at Cash Money Life on Wednesday, Dec 5th.
As a way to promote the new carnival and to thank my readers, I will be giving away a 4GB iPod nano
To enter the iPod
All you have to do is share your 2008 Financial Resolution with me using a SMART Goal format and tell why you chose this goal and how you will do it. (You do not have to write exact numbers if you feel uncomfortable doing so in a public forum; just be as specific as possible when writing your goal and your plan to achieve it.)*
If you have your own blog, simply write your own 2008 Financial Resolution and contact me when you publish your post (otherwise I may not know about it). Be sure to write “2008 Financial Resolution” as the e-mail topic. If you do not have your own blog and would like to enter, please leave a comment with your financial resolution on my article My Financial Resolution for 2008.
Please note: Entries that do not meet the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Timely) will not be considered for entry. This is to ensure that people are making a conscious effort at making a real financial goal, instead of simply writing a statement to enter into the giveaway.
- Example of SMART Goal: My financial goal is to pay off a $6,000 student loan over the course of the new year. I will do this by making a $500/month payment. This statement is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Remember, you must also indicate why you chose this goal and how you will accomplish it.
- Example of unsatisfactory entry: I want to pay off my debt. This statement has no specific goal, is not measurable, and does not include the answer to the questions why or how.
To enter into the drawing for the 3 books:
You must send me an e-mail with the secret phrase as the subject. What is the secret phrase? The secret phrase is included in the footer of my RSS Feed or e-mail subscription. Read this link for more information about how to subscribe if you are not familiar with it. You can e-mail me via my contact form. Subscribing is free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
The 3 books are: 100 Minds That Made The Market, The Maui Millionaires for Business, and The Little Book That Makes You Rich
How the winners will be selected:
The giveaway ends December 4th at 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Saving Time. I will use a random number generator to select the 4 winners, and I will announce the winners on this website Thursday, December 6th.
Odds of winning a prize:
This will depend on the number of valid entries received.
The Rules:
First and foremost, this is meant to be fun. It’s an opportunity for me to give back to my readers, and to the Personal Finance community. If participating in this contest will cause any kind of problem for me, you, or anyone else, please do not enter.
- All winners must be of legal age — usually, 18 years of age or older.
- This contest is open to participants in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, but in all cases is void where prohibited by law.
- No purchase is necessary to participate in this giveaway.
- I will choose the winners from the qualified participants. I am the sole judge of adding entries to the list. In general, a substantive financial goal that meets the SMART criteria and is submitted in good faith will be accepted. Plagiarized content, trackback from splogs, spams, non-goal oriented comments, and comments containing abusive or inappropriate languages will not be considered.
- In order to award the prizes, I have to be able to contact you. Please leave a valid email address with your comment, or make sure I can contact you through your web site. Your contact information will never be shared with anyone.
- Prizes will be awarded and shipped by me. Winners will be required to submit a physical address where I can ship the prizes. Again, your contact information will never be shared with anyone.
- Prizes are provided as-is, and substitutions may be made at my discretion.
Good luck, and I wish you and your finances a wonderful New Year!
*This statement was added after the giveaway was posted after a reader brought it to my attention.
Note: The contest is over and the winners have been announced! Thanks to everyone who participated. 
Image source: Amazon 4GB iPod nano
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30 Comment(s)
By Blaine Moore on Nov 25, 2007 | Reply
Heh, I tried clicking through to your “My Financial Resolution for 2008″ article, but got a 404 error. Then I realized that it isn’t set to be published until tomorrow some time.
I’ll check back then…
By Patrick on Nov 25, 2007 | Reply
By Mrs. Micah on Nov 25, 2007 | Reply
Very much coolness! I was planning to do it anyway but I’ve been trying to win an iPod in various contests and this will be another great chance. Since I make iPod cases anyway, it would be a good investment but I don’t yet have the cash onhand.
By Money Blue Book on Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
Are you running this new carnival? Good idea! Are there sub categories?
By Patrick on Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
I hope you participate!
By Nancy on Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
As I am only in the embryo stages of starting a blog, I have to enter the ipod giveaway through the comment section. My main financial goal for 2008 is to pay off a no interest x 1 year purchase of a new central a/c unit. This will be $4,485 due in July. During the second half of the year my goal is to pay off all remaining medical bills from an unexpected 10 day hospital admit and two surgeries. Right now that is approximately $2,000. Being optimistic now my goal for the remainder of the year will be to pay off my car. I am so looking forward to no car payments (ever).
By L in MO on Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
Still haven’t jumped into the blogging world so a post will have to do…
My goal is to cut our credit card debt in half this year by increasing our monthly payment another $100. (Since we just payed off a student loan - woohoo!) I’m also going to finally finish paying off my student loans by the end of this year with an additional $15 per month toward that!
By Craig on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My goal is to make absolutely certain that I will put half of my paycheck into an online high yield savings account, for the sole purpose of making it just a little bit harder to spend quickly.
My second goal is to automatically invest 30 dollars a month into my stock portfolio (I am 20 and this is the first time that I would have done anything more than my somewhat substantial, but until now ERRATIC investing.
By jon on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal is to remain debt free and save/invest at least 30% of my paycheck to reach my goal of 75k net worth by the end of 2008. The non-retirement savings will eventually be put toward a downpayment on a house/condo/apt.
My second goal is to cut down on eating out costs that add up to a large % of money spent/month. Food costs in NYC are easily built up
By ryan on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
my current goal is to save up enough money to max out my Roth IRA contribution after January 1st. After that I need to save money to replace my 15yr old car, as it will leave us one day soon.
My disposable income each month is about $1500. so saving $1500 a month starting from scratch now, I will be able to max out my Roth by mid March.
I have found that at least $6,000 will get a car that wont need to be replaced in a year, so that will be mid July I will have both goals accomplished. Hopefully my current car makes it till then.
By Lauri on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal for 2008 is to begin aggressively paying down my $20K in consumer debt, by $5000. I will do this by using the snowball method of debt repayment, not using the cards at all, and making at least $200 extra a month from my at-home job to go towards this goal. My consumer debt will be no more than $15,000 total at the end of 2008.
By tycoon on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal for 2008 is to increase my passive income by $500/month. I will achieve this by investing $60k in oil and real estate deals with an average ROI of 10%. In order to come up with that kind of cash, I will take up additional consulting work.
By hamburger on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal for 2008 is to become free from credit card debt. In order to achieve this I will triple my monthly payments to $400 on my highest interest rate card until it is paid off, then repeat for the remaining two cards. If (or, when) I faulter I will get a second job, and sell off my excess bicycle parts (sniff sniff).
By peter on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal for 2008 is to pay off all my credit card debt. I am about $3000 in debt, so I plan to pay $300/month. With this, I should be able to pay it off in 10 months. Then, I will tackle my student loan, paying it at the same rate. I am still in school, so I do not have to pay back on it yet. But I want to try to pay as much of it as possible. I have started a tutoring side job, so I should be able to do it.
By wendy on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal for 2008 is to pay off all my credit card debt. I have about $3000 in debt. In order to do so, I am going to pay $300/month. I should be free of that debt in 10 months. Then, I will start paying off my student loan at the same rate. I am still a student, so I do not have to pay back anything now, but I would like to pay off as much of it as possible. I have started a tutoring side job, so I should be able to do it.
By Jill on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
I have 2 financial goals for 2008. The first is to establish a household budget, which I’ve never done before. I’m going to do that by tracking my spending with Mint, as well as writing down every single thing I buy in the month of December, to help keep track of those small cash purchases that tend to slip from my memory by the end of the month.
My second goal is to establish a $1000 cushion / emergency fund in my checking account. I’m going to do this by saving an extra 4% of my paycheck each month - which, based on my current salary and my estimated raise for next year, will get me just over $1000 by 12/15/08!
By Alaine on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal for 2008 is to put $100 a month into my Roth IRA and to put $100 into an online high-yield savings account that is specifically earmarked as my mortgage down-payment fund.
By John on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My goal is to prepay the balance ($5000) of my car loan using my year end bonus by Dec 2007. I have already maxed out my 401K and other retirement avenues. With my high yield savings bank interest dropping lower than my car loan interest, it makes financial sense to pay it off.
By Aisha on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal for 2008 is to sell my condo for at least $20,000 (not a typo, I live in somewhat ghetto neighborhood). I will do this by investing $2,000 in funiture, paint, and repairs to make it look as nice as possible (a la HGTV’s Designed to Sell), by posting on craigslist to gain exposure, and by listing it 2-3 months before I want to move to hold out for the best offer if I need to.
By C on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
My 2008 financial goal is to put aside a minimum of $15,600 throughout the year for use as part of a down payment towards my first home. This will involve controlling my spending so as to free an additional $300 / month to be saved.
Looking at my budget, I know that I can spend wiser in order to reclaim that money (dining out is a killer). I want to own my own home more than anything right now, and I’ve already started to work toward my goal.
By Patrick on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
By Jeff on Nov 29, 2007 | Reply
I’ve been starting to get my financial house in order and after reading a few books on personal finance and many of the blogs out there I’ve given myself a goal. I plan to pay myself first. That is, put 10% of everything that I earn into long-term savings/investment. This may not seem much to many, but I do believe it is the first step for me and my family towards financial health.
Since I will be changing jobs in 2008 and don’t know where I’ll be headed, the end total of what I hope to have saved is not totally clear.
By Miss Grad on Nov 29, 2007 | Reply
My goal is to open a Roth IRA and invest in a Vanguard index fund. To do this, I need to save $2000 more in order to meet the $3000 minimum investment. I plan to put away 10% of my paycheck as well as any windfall money (especially from Christmas cards!) into a high-interest savings account and then roll it all into the Roth when it gets to be enough.
By Patrick on Dec 1, 2007 | Reply
By Matthew on Dec 1, 2007 | Reply
Well CashMoneyLife-
I am new to your site, but I saw a link here, so I thought I might post my goal. Since my debt payoff is more than a year away I don’t get to set a end date goal that falls in 2008, so I’ll do this:
We have $45,000 in student loan debt. My goal is keep my monthly contributions over $3000/month. Currently we hover right around $3000, my goal is to always keep it above $3000. By doing this we will have all debt [we only have SL debt] paid off by March 2009. Now obviously raises, bonuses, and the like will likely contribute to the date being sooner, but this is something that is tight, but realistic.
It’d be easier/more fun to give you my 5 year plan. We REALLY want to get into a house, this debt payoff is what we’ve chosen to do first. So March 2009, then save about 5 months expenses, then 20% down for a modest home. So our goal for all of that is by the end of 2010. We can do it, we’ve been on track for a few months of intensity and don’t see us slowing down.
Thanks for your great site, I look forward to reading more!
By Jamie on Dec 1, 2007 | Reply
My 2008 goal is to max out my ROTH IRA contributions. For the ROTH I have been putting $200 a month in a money market account and will continue to do that. When my balance hits 3k I transfer it into my ROTH. I plan on increasing my monthly savings to $400 a month to take advantage of the increase in 2008 contribution limits. End of year bonus should hopefully put me over!
By Don J on Dec 2, 2007 | Reply
My goal for 2008 is to get serious about contributions to my RRSP (Canadian retirement plan).
My plan is to make contributions equal to 10% of my gross income for 2008. I will do this by making a contribution to my ING Direct RRSP savings account every month when I get paid. I will set up an automated transfer so that I do not need to bite my lip and make the payment every month.
Looking at my current income, the idea of putting 10% of every month’s paycheck into my RRSP is terrifying. It does help a lot to make a commitment in a forum like this one, though!
By Alan on Dec 2, 2007 | Reply
My financial goal is to save 3000 dollars for my emergency fund by June 1st so I don’t have to depend on credit cards to get me through tough spots. I will do this by saving at least 500 dollars every month by paying myself first when I am paid and reducing expenses. Any extra money at the end of the month will also be saved for this purpose. Once this is done I will continue saving at the same rate with the goal of contributing the money to a Roth IRA.
By Dave on Dec 3, 2007 | Reply
My goals for 2008:
Currently have approx. $6,700 in CC debt from an emergency move last year and various poor financial decisions (which I have learned from). I had it all transferred to a 0% card for the next 12 months. I have been and will pay $350 per month on this debt for 2008.
I plan on saving $100 per month for investing in index funds at ShareBuilder ($4 per purchase). I will invest this based of 5 different index funds until December 2008.
I currently have a $500 emergency fund and plan to add $100 per month to that as well for all of 2008.
Plus, I am currently contributing 12% to my 401k and plan to increase that to 15% by the end 2008 (if not sooner).
By Mrs. Wang on Dec 3, 2007 | Reply
My goal is to continue to save $500 a month in my emergency fund in order to have a 6-month emergency fund set aside. This is to ensure that I have a large buffer of savings in the event of an unexpected job loss.