Elevate Your Finances in 2011 - Goals

With 2011 upon us, it's time to make new financial goals for the year. 

Experts say that when you make goals, you should make them SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Timely 

There's lots of information on the Internet about good goal-setting; I won't repeat the information here.  But in this case, I think "Attainable" is the most important when it comes to financial goals.  As you choose a financial goal, be sure that you'll be able to meet the goal within a reasonable timeframe.  Meeting that goal, however small it might be, will give you the confidence to set another, higher goal.

My main financial goal this year is to reduce the amount of my home equity line of credit, a goal which I started on last year. Though I would like to completely pay it off in 2011, I'm not sure this is attainable given my situation.

So, my first financial goal is by December 2011, I will have paid off 50% of the remaining balance from January 2011.

My second goal is to straighten out my finances... literally. This will include:

• Creating a list of all of our important papers, accounts, investments, etc. so that all the information about our finances is in one place, in case of an emergency.  This will be in place by February 2011.
• Rolling over our 401(k) accounts with previous employers into self-directed IRA accounts.  This will be completed by April 2011.
• Redoing my financial paper filing system.  Right now, it's more of a piles of paper system. This will be completed by June 2011.

Tomorrow, I'll be posting my blogging goals.  Happy New Year!

What are your financial goals for 2011?  Leave a comment below, or if you have a blog, link up to your blog post!  Please link back to Elevate Your Goals in 2011 at Frugal Follies.