2015 Financial goals

I'd be posting 2015 goals on the following areas in separate posts shortly:-

(i) Financial (this post you're now reading)

(ii) Health and personal care

(iii) Personal development

(iv) Family & friends

(v) Career

(vi) Housekeeping / Home / Decluttering

A few things would be happening in 2015. I maybe getting a raise sometime later in the year (or maybe the next...), and my commute costs might rise since there's a new option going to work: train. If things go according to plan, most of the money from the raise would go straight to the savings (most probably due to me being too occupied by work to care about shopping anything else). 

Earlier on I talked about 2+ trips in 2015 but those would come before the raise, so that travel expense would come out of the savings' pocket, not from the raise. This is not the best idea but if I don't take my parents to travel next year, I'd be hard pressed to find another time in the coming 2 years, and they are getting old.

Let's start with financial goals first:

1.  Make 150 No Spend Days happen, aiming for 12 days/month (currently 10 days/month)
2.  Make extra 2-3k from side hustles each month (fluctuating earnings atm), explore other side hustling opportunities come April (the companies and their jobs I get assigned is seasonal)
3. Put up a blog sale (ideally before February) on another page
4. Track savings progress monthly - put up a progress bar on the blog
5. Set aside a designated amount for "yearly replacement items" (things that are expected to be replaced/bought/encountered) each month after each paycheck
6. Never buy anything full price, always ask for friends/staff discount first. Thoroughly analyze each purchase, no impulse buying. Do better to turn a blind eye on sales (sales = more stuff / more clutter). 
7. Related to (6), if something is needed, wait until there's a good deal (FF sale or GWP). But don't fall for GWP. Rinse, repeat (6) & (7). 
8. Learn about the stock market, funds, and ETFs (Question: where to start?)
9. Put *some* investment into ETFs, mutual funds, dividend-yielding stocks and bonds
10. Manage and organize retirement fund accounts, request online access to manage the funds easier
11. Continue building up the emergency fund (at the current state this should take about 2-3 years more, this is NOT a travel fund)
12. Say NO to friends asking for sponsors 
13. No buying of "gifts" (re-purposed gifts are OK) to colleagues and friends. Unless it's someone special or the relations are worth keeping
14. No new handbags / shoes
15. Switch to cheapest cell phone plan to the previous service provider once the current contract expires in Nov 15
16. Don't enter supermarket/grocery store without specific things in mind, aka no random browsing
17. Make a habit of not bringing credit cards on most weekdays (I do better on days without cards in the purse)
18. Cook more at home and reduce frequencies of meals out, or reducing cost per meal out (need to talk with bf about this)

Phew, it's a long list for one aspect (financial) alone, with "don't" more than "do". Some tasks that are "restrictive" in nature (item 6, 12-14, 16) might be a no-brainer for some but it's a challenge to me, and I really want to beat a challenge for real and for once! Honestly a restrictive approach might not work for some but I decided 2015 will be a year of saying NO to a lot of things.

Don't worry, the financial goals are the longest...I'm going to be focusing on money A LOT more than other aspects this year.

Item 4 may look ambiguous without a real percentage given for monthly savings rate. Still figuring that one, but I'm hoping to be able to save 40% of income (exclude earnings from side hustle) but then it doesn't leave me with much wiggle room. However when I get a raise, the savings rate would pump up higher.