Financial Goals Update: September

I didn't post "official" financial goals at the beginning of the year, but I've been thinking about our goals a lot lately.  I guess it's because I love autumn and think of it as such a season of new energy and beginning.  I'm more likely to make resolutions in September than in January!

I have mentioned a few times that our main goal this year was saving an emergency fund.  After we bought our house last April our savings were significantly reduced, and for the first year it was very difficult to build them back up at all.  However, this year we've been able to start saving something every week, which has been a real blessing.

We thought it might take us a good while to build up the emergency fund, but I'm excited to say that by the end of October we will have our three months of living expenses in the bank!  Through getting some unexpected tax refunds, we were able to save it much more quickly than we expected.

It's a great feeling to have that emergency cushion in place, but quite honestly I'm even more excited about the fact that this means that we are now officially putting our weekly savings toward buying a second car.  As I mentioned in this post, we've lived on one car for the entire 4-1/2 years of our marriage (3 years of which I've been at home) and there has never yet been a time when we knew when we might get a car.  Now there is an end in sight!

I know it still might take us a while to save for a car, but we're pretty committed to paying for it in cash.  That is the motivation behind my recent resolution to further reduce our grocery budget.  If I can put a little extra money each month toward our savings, we'll get the car that much faster.  It may not be much, but it's a start!

Money Saving Mom has a roundup of financial goals posts here.  Anyone else have any goals they'd like to share?  Please comment.