Saving for a Sunny Day?

I wondered today whether this new, building interest in personal finance really has to do with short-term, long-term, or a mixture of goals.  I think it's the latter - I have goals over the next few years and I don't want achieving them to compromise long-term goals.  My thinking on this is similar to the whole "freedom" fund vs. "emergency" fund nomenclature.  Or even the FU fund.  It goes to the heart of how and why you manage your money.  I want to be smart and save for the rainy days.  But I sure as heck want to have the moolah to have some fun in the sun, too!

So what are some of these goals?

• $10k Emergency Fund - This is the number I think will provide a strong, reasonable cushion should anything go too wrong -- loss of job, health problem, etc.
• Travel - I have been firmly bitten by the travel bug.  International species.  I want to keep experiencing, but not sacrifice the budget too much!
• Retirement - I don't have a quantitative goal for this, but am sure to continue to my company's 401k (matched 1:1 up to 3%) and am considering a Roth IRA for 2010.
• Life milestones -- eep, it's hard to put specific words on these, but there are things that will require savings and strong finances.  These are definitely not things in my short-term plans, but will require chunks of cash in the 5-15 year range:  wedding, down payment, kids.

That's just a taste of the plans and goals.  I am sure to get into these in greater depth and uncover others in future posts.  Not seeing what's a rainy day vs a sunny day financial need yet?  Maybe the sunny day items aren't needs at all, but they are important.  I want to feel confident in buying a new pair of jeans or booking a plane ticket that I am making a sound, responsible decision.  So, to that I end I am here to budget, exercise frugality when I can, and work my way to wiser and more savvy spending, saving, and living.

Boy oh boy - that sounds cheesy.