Welcome to the First Edition of the Carnival of Financial Goals. This edition is focused primarily on 2008 Financial Resolutions, but includes other financial goals as well. There are 55 great goals and goal setting tips in the inaugural edition.

I believe each of these goals is a strong personal goal, but I highlighted 5 as Editor’s Choices. These goals struck me as being well thought out, had a very good plan of action, and are something the most people can learn from and apply to their own situation. The Editor’s Choice selections are filed under their respective category, but the blog name is bolded in red.

Alternative/Passive Income:

• Steve from Brip Blap wants to earn $1000 alternative income per month in 2008. His plan includes income from his blog and other freelance ventures.
• Randall at Credit Withdrawal shares his Financially Smart Goal for 2008 - to earn alternative income to replace his mortgage payment. Not everyone will be able to replace their mortgage payment with money earned from alternative sources, but adding an alternative income stream to your budget can work wonders for your bottom line.

Budgeting:

• Pinyo from Moolanomy has a great plan to reduce energy costs 10% during 2008. I’m a bug fan of reducing energy use, so I think this is a great idea! Good luck in ‘08!
• Mark @ TheLocoMono has a goal to create an emergency fund during 2008.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter plans to track and categorize all money coming in and going out of his household during 2008. Hopefully Quicken will be a big help here!

Career:

• Plonkee from Plonkee Money shares her 2008 Financial Goal to obtain a Chartered status, which is a professional qualification in the UK. She plans on using her Chartered status as a means to get a promotion and earn more money in the coming year.

Debt Reduction:

• Glblguy from Gather Little By Little presents his plan to become debt free. This involves paying a minimum of $1,000 per month toward debt. This is very aggressive, but that’s what I love about this goal! Good luck glblguy!
• Single Guy Money will reduce the balance on his car loan during. his plan calls for extra payments. Good luck meeting your goal!
• Amanda from Me Vs. Debt has a plan to pay down almost $17,000 in debt in 2008! Her plan involves sticking to a budget and earning extra income on the side. What a great goal. I wish you the best of luck!
• paidtwice from I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… has a goal of No More Credit Card Debt in 2008! Her plan calls for total credit card debt elimination by August. I hope you do it!
• The Happy Life presents has a goal to reduce student loan debt. There is a secondary goal to save money on eating out.
• Fecundity has a goal to pay down student debt in 2008. The goals are specific, and achievable. Good luck!
• Laura from Green Panda Treehouse plans to aggressively pay $700/month towards her car loan bill and pay it off by July 31, 2008.
• Broke Grad Student states he will pay off half of his student loans by the end of 2008. This is a solid plan and looks like a winner!
• Matt from How I will Be Rich has a 2008 Financial Resolution to reduce credit card debt from $11,000 to $0!
• Cynthia at Cynthia’s Debt Marathon plans to pay off the credit cards, reduce her HELOC loan to under $11k by year end, and reduce her student loans to under $3k by year end. Read how on her article 2008 Goals and Budget.
• Wealthy_1 from Collecting My Cash has a W2008 Financial Resolution to reduce credit card balance from $11,000 to $2,000 by December 31, 2008.

Education:

• Father Sez shares his financial goal for 2008 - to teach his 5 children the most important financial lessons he has learned. There is no more noble goal than this.
• Kris from The Financial Engineer has a plan to learn how to evaluate and invest in bond options.
• Lynnae from Being Frugal shares her 2008 Financial Goal - to read 12 personal finance books in the coming year - 1 each month. The best part is, she plans on sharing what she learns with her readers!
• Patrick (that’s me!) from Cash Money Life has a 2008 Financial Resolution to learn more about investing, specifically value and dividend investing, apply this knowledge, and share it with my readers on this website.

Income:

• Mrs. Micah shares her Financial Goal for 2008 - to earn a stable monthly income. Her sources include her job, and additional income from sewing, freelance, blogging, tutoring, and other avenues. Wow, she’s busy!

Investing:

• The Dividend Guy has a goal to increase his stock holdings by $12,000. The current value is roughly $60,000, so that represents a solid increase of 20%. The Dividend Guy is tracking his goal on the front page of his website. Good luck Dividend Guy!
• Dividends 4 Life has a goal to publicly track his annual dividend income.

Multiple Financial Goals:

• Amanda from Click. The Good News has multiple financial goals for 2008 - Eliminate all revolving credit card debt, adjust budget, start emergency fund, tithe more to her church, and evaluate her ever changing newlywed lifestyle.
• J.B.R. at Me, Only Better, plans to reassess expenditures and financial planning during 2008, and hopefully increase income through a home business.
• Be This Way presents It’s About the Money, Honey posted at Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You?. These goals include budgeting, investing, and more!
• Banker Girl shares her 2008 financial resolution - to continue paying down credit card debt, increase savings prior to her wedding next fall, and to contribute 8% to her 401(k). Great goals, and I wish you the best of luck with them - especially the wedding part!
• Clean Simple Finance has a plan to consolidate and simplify financial accounts during 2008.
• Remodeling This Life has multiple financial goals - increase emergency fund savings, snowflake debt, increase regular savings, and increase income. Wow, that ’s a busy year being planned!
• Working For Financial Freedom has several financial goals for 2008 including paying off debt, selling their house, funding an emergency fund, and having some fun!

Net Worth:

• Madison from Our Dollar Plan has a 9 year net worth plan mapped out. Talk about goal setting!
• Ashley from College of Cash has a goal to increase her income and net worth during December and shares the results from her November goals. Way to make some progress!

Real Estate:

• Interesting Money wants to sell his house without a real estate agent in 2008.
• The Writer’s Coin plans to save for a down payment for a house.
• J Peterson plans to pay off a 2nd mortgage by November 2008 by paying extra each month.

Retirement:

• Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life has a plan laid out in this article - Quitting My Job, Retiring Early: 5 Steps To Lifestyle Change.
• Free From Broke says We Will Retire!, and shares his plan to save $8,000 toward a retirement fund in 2008. Great goal!
• A Renaissance Canuck shares the goal to retire within 10 years. The goal is broad based and aggressive, but also achievable.

Saving:

• Bouncing Back From Bankruptcy plans to save for a new car during 2008.
• Torture Training wants to save money during 2008 by increasing alternative income streams and not increasing expenditures.
• Blunt Money has a solid plan to increase savings by $4,000 in 2008.
• Not Living on Ramen has a solid savings goals for 2008 - “to have $17,000 in savings set aside by graduation in May.” Very impressive.
• Chief Family Officer plans on saving up to pay cash for a car in 2008.
• One Day at a Time has 2 savings goals - to boost the emergency fund, and to save enough money to purchase a decent used car.
• UV Searching also has 2 goals for saving - to boost an emergency fund for 6 months, then continue saving the same amount, but splitting it equally to go toward reducing a car loan and funding a Roth IRA.

Tips on Goal Setting:

• Pinyo presents Transforming Goals Into Actions posted at Moolanomy.
• Money Walks tells us why goals are important.

Even More Financial Goals!!!

• If you like these goals be sure to read the comments of the following 2 posts for financial goals left by readers of Cash Money Life:
• 41 financial goals were left in the comments of My Financial Resolution for 2008.
• 23 financial goals were left in the comments of Share Your Financial Resolution.

Thank you for sharing your goals. I wish to express my sincere thanks to everyone who participated in this event and for making it successful - to all the bloggers who used their blog as a platform for sharing their financial goals, and especially to the commentators for sharing their goals on my website. I wish everyone the best of luck with their financial goals in 2008!

Notes: If you would like to contribute to next month’s Carnival of Financial Goals, you can use the Carnival of Financial Goals entry form, please be sure to follow the entry guidelines. If you would like to be considered as a host for a future edition of the Carnival of Financial Goals, please contact me using the contact page on the header of my blog. Thanks!

Photo by xymonau

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