have $5000 in savings by the end of the year

It was totally doable, but required some stretching on my part. And today it’s done! I just opened a new higher-interest savings account with an opening balance of $5042.

For me, putting my savings in an account with a withdrawal penalty was the key to succeeding at this goal. Before, I used to save a couple of hundred dollars and then take it out to cover some emergency or special purchase… and then I’d have to start over. Now pillaging my savings just isn’t a viable option.

So now I am exactly on schedule and my Dec 15th paycheck will bring me sliding into home. And there won’t be any need to dip into my holiday bonus from work. Yay!

And I’m already saving as fast as I can. I don’t think I can squeeze that much out of my budget in the next 6 weeks, especially given the amount of holiday dining, cooking and gifting already in my plans. However, I anticipate a bonus from my employer in mid-December and I think I can use that to complete this goal (and hopefully still have some left over for me!) It will feel good to spend my bonus that way and call this done (my first ever large savings goal!), and to purchase an investment certificate that will mature at year-end in 2008.

That’s going to help a lot.

I looked at my options for higher-rate savings accounts, and picked the one most advantageous to my financial goals. Now I know where this $5,000 is going to go, when I have it.

Certainly I can scrape together another $50 from somewhere!

Once I have that much, I will have the minimum balance to open a higher-interest savings account, and the rest of my savings goals will move along that much faster!

My current savings plan brings me close to this goal, but I will need to make some adjustments to complete it by December 31.

My husband and I managed to save $5000 by putting it into a high interest earning on-line savings account. It’s totally the way to go. It earns high interest and it forces you to save because its harder to access the money (takes a few days), so you can’t stupidly spend it on things you don’t really need. Good Luck!