I thought there would be more fanfare with this. I thought that I would meticulously plan out my personal finance and career goals in an excel spreadsheet so that I could start the New Year off right and with the perfectly planned budget. Apparently this will not be the year of unfettered organization.

The goals, they are fairly simple and done without much gusto because they are things that need to be done and while there is some thought that will be required, it all feels like a natural progression of things. No major surprises here and proclamations of giving a certain percentage of my income to charity or saving a very specific amount each month. For those are ‘been there, done that’. And I’m sure as hell not about to announce No Frivolous Spending because there is this blazer at Gap – completely superfluous at best – but I’ve had my eye on it for a few days now and every girl could use cute blazer.

My first financial goal is fairly simple: Purchase a car. It’s been on my mind for roughly three years now and each time I step foot into a car dealership or peruse consumer reports, I end up indecisive and with cold feet. I sit around contemplating the necessity of four wheel drive and whether or not I need a six CD changer. I live in upstate NY, I’m a baby and find the former to be imperative every time I drive out of some snow bank. The latter, not so much. I actually know what I want this time around. Ok that’s a lie, it’s a toss up between two vehicles and that is no matter at this point but what matters is the financing of a vehicle. The question of whether or not to lease or buy? How much will I need for a down payment? How will I work out a finance plan or loan based on previous credit imperfections? These are the questions that keep me up at night every time I see a Jeep Liberty and drool. There aren’t multiple financial goals because everything I’ve done with my savings, etc. has led to this. Like I said, natural progression. I’m both terrified and excited at the same time. So my overarching financial goal is how do I get to a place where I feel financially secure enough to make my largest – in size and in value – purchase to date.

My career goal is so very ‘quarter life crisis’ of me: To continue to do well at my work and get better at it. I went to see Chris Rock last night and he made reference to the differences between a career and a job. He was also far more hilarious in 90 minutes than I am in 90 words regardless, this is the first time that I’ve been able to make that distinction. I don’t just have some hour-by-hour job where I look at the clock and want to jump off the roof. Though I feel like such a fraudulent adult when I say this but I have a…um…career. I go to work and sometimes the day goes by without me ever noting the time and then I travel and I am addicted to the crackberry and my God; I wear a suit for crying out loud. Sometimes I go in and I’m feeling great like I’m on top of the world and I can totally do what I do and I’m going to kick some ass on my next trip. Other days I feel like I suck. Plain and simple. I need to move more out of the realm of being completely unsure and wavering all the time to being and feeling a little more confident in what I do. I cannot stand it but people look at me like some 14 year old I need to project that I am a smart 24 year old woman who knows what the hell she’s doing and that I was hired for a reason. Or I could just ‘fake it till I make it’ and give up my firstborn to get someone to come to my side.

It’s short and sweet, I know. But I don’t want to continue to make these various resolutions that I know I will fail upon come January 3rd and then spend the remainder of the year stressing out about my monthly budget and sweating over the percentage I give to my 401(K). I feel good about these ‘resolutions’ – a word I despise by the way. They’re goals. They’re attainable and I feel prepared to do what I need to do in order to accomplish these goals so that I can continue on the (sappy and loquacious) path towards owning a car that’s anything but a sedan the width of a mack truck.

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Financial Goals from other Personal Finance Bloggers:

Plonkee Money
Blunt Money
The Bag Lady