Savings Goals

Today I sat down and actually worked out what my Savings Goals are. I'm a goal oriented person, and goals do well to make me feel as though I am making progress.
Currently, 5% of my paycheck goes straight into saving for my Emergency Fund. Now that I have a second job too, I want to take 5% of those new checks and split them across several different savings account. I'm using ING for this because they have great interest rates and sub accounts are so easy to set up. So whenever my check comes in from my other job 1% will go into each account and the other 95% will go to paying down debt.

I am now working (slowly) towards the following savings goals:

Emergency Fund - $3000
This is approximately three months worth of minimum living expenses.

Thailand Fund - $4000
This is for a really good non frugal trip to the country I have always wanted to go to.

Auto Fund - $2400
This is the Blue Book value for my car, essentially this is me self-insuring my vehicle.

Medical Fund - $685
My deductible, plus my emergency room copay, plus a doctors copay, plus a specialist copay. I want to be very prepared.

Down Payment Fund - $12000
We'd like to buy a house pretty soon. This goal is the most unrealistic of the bunch but I really want to be working towards it.

I'll post an update on how I am doing with my monthly Net Worth update.

Have you set concrete savings goals yet?

Human Life: The Unexpected Perk of High Gas Prices

They may be placing a strain on your finances, but high gas prices may be having a much more beneficial impact to some Americans... they are saving lives.

Over the course of the year, automobile accident deaths have been steadily decreasing, with an average drop of 9% between January and May of 2008. There are fewer cars on the roads, more people are using public transport, people are limiting their driving, and hypermiling advises you to drive more slowly.

It's interesting that a downturn of the economy can have such a dramatic impact on society. If we can take the number of deaths reported in 2005 as an example, a 9% reduction in fatalities comes out to about 3,700 people. I don't like paying so much for putting gas in my car any more than the next person, but at least the next person might not be dead on the side of the road any time soon.

I also think it's important to point out that these kind of improved driving habits should be something society tries to do anyway, regardless of the price of gas. Who knows what would happen if everyone just drove 5mph slower. The benefit of saving money and saving lives would probably be worth the extra two and a half minutes it takes you to get to work. Hey, if you just cut that time out of your shower, you'll be saving water too.

The benefits of frugality are multiple and limitless.

Source : AP

Guest Blogging Welcome

When I scour through my Google Reader each day, I notice that a lot of my favorite blogs have Guest Writers on a fairly regular basis. I am a huge fan of collaboration so the idea of this greatly appeals to me. 

I would really enjoy having Guest Writers here on Distilled Rose, and I would also love to write Guest Posts over at other blogs. I am open to any of the topics that I cover on here from personal finance to freelance writing to food, books and movies and blogging. I will certainly entertain any ideas you throw my way!

If you are interested in either having a guest post here, or having me write one for your blog, please feel free to contact me using this handy form. 

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Weekly Financial Round Up 07/20

A big week for me financially in a bad way. I just had to buy a car and made the first payment on it, I'll have to pay car insurance now and have had to start a payment plan for my MRI. My finances are weighing on me very badly right now and I feel like I'm sinking. I did start a weekend job this week though, it's a hourly wage plus commission, so I don't know how much I'll end up making, but I need to offset this car somehow. I haven't had to put gas in it yet, but I know that when I do it won't be pretty.

Spent - $74.33

Entertainment - $11

Food - $14.50

Medical - $37

Writing Materials - $11.83

Made - $19

Etsy - $14.50

Sold a DVD - $4.50

Click here to see how I did last week!

The Business of Freelance Writing Carnival #26

Today I have the pleasure of hosting the Business of Freelance Writing Carnival #26.

Here is the round up of this weeks articles for your reading pleasure!

debergerac78 presents Are You Interested In the Project or the Payment? - oDesk Insider posted at oDesk Insider.

A good reminder to us all to check our motivations in this business.

AmyM presents Interview…with children's author Gail Langer Karwoski posted at 3 Questions...and Answers.
A fantastic discussion on the process of writing children's books with a published author.

Hendry Lee presents 7 Reasons Why Numbered Blog Post Titles Work — and a Simple Formula to Create Them posted at Blog Building University.
This is a handy article about why numbered posts are successful and some advice on how to create them. 

Patrick Schwerdtfeger presents Website Optimization for Targeted Keyword Phrases posted at Tactical Execution.

And from here at Distilled Rose:

A Port in the Storm

Querying : A Brief Introduction

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Dark Knight Tonight

I know I'm flat broke, but there have been so many good movies out this summer and my friends and I enjoy going to them as a group. It's hard to be firm with my budget all of the time and this is the one place I keep slipping.
But, this isn't just any random film. This is The Dark Knight. I confess, though, I am not going to see it because I am a follower of the Batman Saga. I only say Batman Begins a couple of weeks ago, actually. I'm going for Heath Ledger. I've been a fan of his for a very long time and was very upset over his untimely death. It's odd that the fact that this is (almost) his last film would give me such a strong incentive to go. I also feel like there has been so much hype over it that if I don't go, I'll be wondering what all the fuss is about over the coming weeks. So to a certain extent, I am going for me, but I am also going because of peer pressure.
I wonder what else I do because of peer pressure, and how that impacts my life. What do you think?