My Thoughts on My Debt
So it turned out that H cooked at my place last night so I didn’t have to supply the food…but I sorta did anyway, what with bread I’d already baked and party mix that I made on Monday. Anyway, it was fun.
It’s been nearly a year since I began reading all these personal finance blogs. Some are instructional in nature, while others are similar to mine: just updating on our own financial lives and giving tips when we come across them. These are the ones that I like best: just regular people trying to get out of debt.
What I’ve been noticing lately is how my outlook has changed in the past year. Prior to all this reading, I never felt hampered by my car loan and student loans. I didn’t like them, of course, but I felt like it was normal to have these kind of payments going out each month. I had the desire to pay them off early if I could, but I wasn’t actually doing anything towards that end–I simply paid everything due each month. I was going around without concern.
Once I started reading, though, I started feeling like I had to get rid of the debt as soon as possible. I’m constantly trying to find ways to save money or get a little extra money, feeling guilty when I don’t do something as cheaply as possible, etc. Frankly, I’m exhausted and my debt has become a weight instead of a nuisance. And my debt is so managable! I pay $262.72 every month. There are people that would LOVE to only have to pay that each month to stay afloat.
I’m not always exhausted, though. Some days I get really excited, whether it’s seeing my amount of debt lessen or saving a few bucks on something at the grocery store. I just sort of miss not worrying about things so much.
But that’s today. For the rest of this month I’m going to work on my 2009 goals because I’ll feel brighter everytime that I accomplish something…especially the things that get me more organized / neater, etc.
My Resolution Progress
I still need to update my expenses for this month, but I wanted to mention that I’m not doing too poorly on my resolutions so far!
Probably the most important goal that I made was to write 7500 words a month for my novel and I’m at 3538 for the month! Sure, I’m skipping around and writing the fun parts first, but the larger the chunks I have the more inspired I’ll get to finish (I hope). Anyway, all that took less than four hours total, so I estimate that if I simply devoted two hours a week to writing, I’d meet my goal each month. I’m not going to set THAT goal, though, because I really never know when I’m going to get writer’s block.
I’ve finished two books so far, out of the fifty I want to read this year. When I told B that one of my resolutions was to read fifty books in 2009, he pointed out how ridiculous this was. “That’s like me resolving to sit on the couch and watch TV for several hours a week,” he scoffed. He’s right. I should have made it harder…like fifty books I’ve never read…or a hundred books total. Oh well. The main thing is that I keep track of what I read.
I haven’t missed any deadlines yet, either, so I’m not failing yet! Yay!
My NEW New Year’s Resolution
So I’m already thinking of editing one of my New Year’s Resolutions, namely the creating and sticking to a budget every month. It’s just no good. Rather, I’m no good at it. There are certain areas where I know exactly how much I’m going to spend, but others where I have zero clue.
I have to do SOMETHING, though, so I’m going to document everything that I spend. I did this in May and November and I think that I went under budget both months (or if I didn’t in November it’s because of buying in bulk at Costco). I tend to spend more when I’m not paying attention everyday, so the end result of the resolution will be the same: to control my spending.
Since I received a $100 Visa gift card for Christmas, I’m going to start using it on a regular basis for everyday expenses (I know that’s not the point of the gift, but saving money will help me more than a new pair of shoes will) like when I go to Panera every other Tuesday. This way my spending won’t count too much against me, either.
So along with accounting for my expenses, I’m going to keep a list somewhere (maybe a new page to this blog?) where I keep track of what exactly should be in my Gift Fund, Emergency Fund, Car (maintenance/insurance/etc.) Fund, and Regular Savings each month. Here’s my initial plan:
Savings- $100/month
Gift Fund- $50/month
Car Fund- $200 + $50/month
Emergency Fund- $1000
I need to put a lot in the car fund right away because in just a few months I’m going to have to get a new timing belt and that’s going to cost somewhere between $600-700. So, by 31 January, I’d like to see these at:
Savings- $100
Gift Fund- $50 (minus what I spend on B’s birthday gift)
Car Fund- $250
Emergency Fund- $1000 (HA! That won’t happen. The E fund will be funded with what’s leftover or from the Regular Savings until it’s full. Luckily this is a three paycheck month, so it’s a good time to get started on each of these accounts).
My New Year’s Resolutions
Happy New Year, folks!
Generally, I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions because I never stick to them. On the other hand, I never even TRY to do stuff without goals, either, so maybe it’s time that I make an attempt.
Here goes:
1. Write 7500 words per month for my novel. This should put me at over 100,000 words when added to the 10,000+ words that I already wrote. That still probably won’t be enough for a full novel, but it’ll give me a humongous chunk.
2. Write 10+ songs (lyrics only). I enjoy song-writing, or used to enjoy it, anyway. Now, I rarely think about it. I think that I might tailor them to fit aspects of my novel to keep everything related.
3. Save $2000. I think that if I have $2000 “extra” money by 31 December 2009, I’ll be pretty pleased with myself. That’s less than $200/month, after all.
4. Update Redskin Letters at least once a week in the off-season.
5. Update Living Paycheck to Paycheck at least three days a week.
6. File my tax return EARLY this year; I’m saying by 14 February 2009 (St. Valentine’s Day) as long as my parents have their copy of Turbo Tax by then.
7. File away all my “important papers” (tax documents, credit card bills, bank statements, car repair information, etc.) by 31 January 2009. Yup. I have a stack of stuff that I haven’t sorted in over a year. I’m great. This is to cut down on the massive amounts of clutter. In fact, I’ll change this to “File away all my ”important papers” by the last day of EVERY month.”
8. Limit my “Sims 2″ playing to 15 hours a week, or rather 60 hours every four weeks. This goal also requires that I keep track of this, and I really want to know how much time I’m wasting spending on the computer when I could be doing other, more productive things.
9. Use my pool once a week in the summer. B and I hardly used the pool at my complex this summer, mostly because we were away so many weekends, and I want to change that. Maybe this is where I can spend some of my non-Sim hours. Also, it’ll help with my tan.
10. Get down to a solid 130 lbs. I don’t know what I weigh right now, but I’m expecting that it’s not good since I’ve been pigging out like crazy since Christmas and I still have fudge and other chocolate in the apartment. I should just invite B over; he’ll take care of it for me.
11. Create a budget every month and stick to it. Haven’t for this month yet, but I’ll try to get on that.
12. Create a gift fund like I’ve been saying I’ll do for a long time now. One that will be for birthdays, weddings, showers, and Christmas. I figure that if I tuck away $50/month that should cover a large chunk of anything thrown my way.
13. Read 50 books (and keep a list). I’m not requiring that they be NEW books because I love rereading old ones, but I do require that they’re read from front to back; no skipping parts that I don’t like.
14. I’d like to resolve something to do with cooking, but I hate cooking. And as long as I don’t HAVE to cook, I’m just not gonna. I enjoy baking, though. I already make awesome cookies, so no need to mess with perfection (haha), so maybe I can try out biscuit recipes until I find a kind that I love? Sure. I resolve it.
15. I will write things down as soon as they pop into my head (unless I’m in the car or otherwise unable) instead of not writing stuff down and forgetting it later and being sad that my memory ain’t what it used to be.
16. I will finish what I start. This is something that I’m TERRIBLE at (hence so many resolutions). I’d love to start a chore and finish it before starting something else and not finishing that, either. Take this weekend, for example. I did five loads of laundry on Saturday, but didn’t fold them until yesterday. Guess what hasn’t been put away yet? Likewise, I cleaned one of my kitchen countertops and then set up my new knife set rather than finishing cleaning the other countertops, stove, etc. It’s amazing that I finish getting dressed every morning before work.
I may add more to the list as the year goes on, but right now this works for me. And I haven’t broken any yet (so long as I make that January budget).
