My current short-term target is to have 1000 euro in my checking account to act as a buffer.

I won't include it in my Net Worth calculations... it'll just be like an overdraft I have there for myself...

My bank pays 5% interest on money on checking accounts...

I'm planning to put 75/100 a month towards this goal and any extra money that comes my way...

So my computer went on Work-to-Rule again !

Another 50 euro to the Repair Shop - a different Repair Shop.

They exchanged the Vista Operating System for the XP one.

Also broke the screen on my cell-phone last Friday - It took 4 days for my old network to transfer my number to my new network...

Got a Samsung Tocco Lite.. nice phone... and free on my price-plan... which is 20 euro a month for 200 minutes and 200 text messages a month.

So will be debt-free in 4 months time..

Have been thinking about my relationship with money..

It won't be my master in 4 months times, but it will still be a Limiter. As I won't have an Emergency/Opportunity Fund, I won't be able to do as I please. I'll still need a job, any job.

So when I'm debt-free next April, I'm gonna have 3 long-term areas of saving:

Emergency/Opportunity Fund (200 per month)
Retirement (15% of Net Income)
Accomodation (35% of Net Income less rent)

After that and all the other expense categories (car, food, electricity etc)... the rest of my income will be for enjoyment...

As a non-money-lusting Batchelor, I don't need a large income... My medium term financial goal - in say 5 yrs - is to be able to leave my "job" and take up a more precarious lower paid position simply because I love doing it and not having to sweat about debt or if something bad happens...

Is this possible ? Sure is.. To paraphrase the big man in the big house "Yes I can !"

In a weird way, I feel I have let you all down by my first decision:

Postponement of becoming debt-free from before End of 2009 to before April 2010... well, not so much a choice... I won't have the money to pay off loan before Xmas... so have decided on April.

I like April - In my attempts at setting financial goals for myself in the past, I have chosen April as the review month. It means I can have all my financial plans up-to-date and executed before my birthday in early May. And it means I can keep the Xmas Period and New Years Eve for general family good times and "where am I going with my life" self-reflection instead of messing around with budgets...

So yeah... will be debt-free next April..

Other financial news:

I've decided to give 10% of my monthly salary away each month. The plan is to give:

25 euro to sponsoring a child in Africa.
75 euro to an Irish charity which helps sick children have fun - it's a Hole in the Wall Gang thing - Paul Newman used to be heavily involved.
Finally I'm gonna save 113 into a savings account each month for helping out people I know in need in my local community.

I heard Suze Orman say that in order to receive goodness your hand has to be open.

I'm hoping I'll get a sense of well-being and even wealth from being fortunate enough to give money to others.

From next April, I'm gonna put 15% of Net Income towards Retirement and 35% towards Accommodation savings (this 35% will include Rent I pay now... the difference between my Rent and the 35% will be put into a savings account to pay for future accommodation either as a deposit or as rent to be paid in the future).

Over the last few months, I've been thinking of having a goal of increasing my Net Worth by 10,000 every year. But then I said to myself "why put a limit on it ?". So I'm not gonna to aim for a specific net worth increase every year.

Ala The Secret I've asked the Universe for 100 million euro.... don't know when I'll get it... I realise that if I read this in someone else's blog, I might say "he/she is crazy !"

Well... maybe I am crazy ! AND maybe there's nothing wrong with that ! lol :-)

My computer has been returned to me after about 5 weeks...

After:

...300 euro approx
...being taken to TWO repair shops
...getting a new Graphics card when there was nothing wrong with the old one...
...after getting a new Motherboard which is slower than the old one...
...after getting a new Operating System..
etc etc etc

Ah well... at least it's over now... although its performance is noticeably slower than before it was "fixed"...

I toyed with the idea of purchasing a new PC altogether for 500 to 600 euro...

BUT my plan is to plan a powerful MAC in approx 2 years time so I can use Final Cut Pro to edit short films....

Obviously I want to buy it with cash, I'll start saving for it when I'm debt free in January 2010.... so I just wanted my old computer patched up until I have enough cash saved to buy my Mighty Mac..

Oh.. and I finished my 7 weekend Introduction to Film-making course today... we finished editing today and have a short film !!

It's called Ada and Bob... It's about an old couple where the lady is unappreciated and she leaves in the end.... it wasn't my script idea.. personally I think it's a cliche BUT I learned an AWFUL lot making it...

I was in charge of Lighting... We will be getting DVD copies sent out to us in the near future... If someone could tell me how I could share it with people here who would like to see it, I would appreciate that...

Anyhow.. it's great to be back.. I hope you are keeping well !! :-)