Mindy Memories

Monday, May 28, 2007

How about those New Year's Resolutions?

I've been working steadily on at least one of my goals for 2007 and wanted to check on the others that I listed here. This is a long post, but it's good for me to get it "on paper," so to speak.

1. Financial -- I don't want to share a lot of my financial stuff here. Suffice it to say that I have created a reasonable spending plan that will allow me to slowly pay off debt while allowing me to save and still buy little luxuries. I've tried depriving myself of basics in order to pay off debt, and it doesn't work for me. All that happens is I fall off the wagon and give up and spend more money than I did before.

Today: This is the goal I've really been paying attention to. I still don't want to go into details here as it's embarassing. Suffice it to say I've paid off all my small acounts (small = under $200) and have been paying all my bills on time and having extra money to spend here and there, as figured into my spending plan. I actually overpaid my car insurance and got a refund back and don't have to pay again until I renew in November! I spent that money this weekend on new spring/summer clothes as a reward to myself, as I've REALLY been wanting to buy some but haven't because I wanted to get some more debts paid off. Now I'm working on my initial emergency savings before I continue to pay off the bigger debts. I'm following Dave Ramsey's plan, thanks to Bea in TN who sent me the book years ago. I am finally taking it seriously after reading it a few times.


2. Health/Weight Lost -- yes, I'm back to this again. I'm in better shape than a year ago, but I've really stalled on this one. My goal is to lose forty pounds by 2008. I think that's pretty realistic; I'm not over-reaching but it will take general effort to make it. I'd like to get back down to where I was when I met Tim almost 8 years ago. I was still overweight at that point, but I wasn't in too bad shape.

Today: Oy. I haven't gotten far on this one at all. A few weeks ago I did a great job exercising, but then stopped for no real reason. I'm going to get back on this bandwagon. It's still possible for me to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year, as it averages 6-7 pounds a month through November, assuming I can control myself during the holidays, lol.


3. I will make a living will and regular will. That's on my 101 List, but it's something I've been putting off and really need to just do.


Today:
It's funny, I've been thinking about this lately and forgot it was on the list. It was in the Ramsey book that I reread over the weekend for motivation. I really don't have much to leave to people, but need to think about these things. Once I actually get debt paid off and lots of money in savings, it will be important. I need to get my living will together, most importantly. I keep putting it off because I don't want to think about it, but I don't want to be in the same position as poor Terri Schiavo.


4. I have work goals in my office that I need to refer to every so often so I don't lose track of them. In addition, I will create weekly and monthly goals at work to help keep me focused. I'm going to try to do that at home, too. It's hard for me, as I'm not an organized person by nature and it takes a lot of energy to do it at work. I often come home and don't want to be organized anymore, but I need to apply the same rules here.

Today: I've been on and off on this one at work. I'm going to work harder this week to start making these weekly and monthly goals a habit. It's so easy to lose track of these things when you're in the middle of several projects, but I know it will help.


5. I will visit Gettysburg in 2007. I'd prefer to be there for a few days, but even if I just go for the day it's something. It's a 2-3 hour drive, so I'd really be happier staying over at least one night.

Today: I'm thinking of doing this during Rosh Hashanah. We get those two days off at work, Thursday and Friday. It would be a perfect time to go out there as the September weather should be nice and Thursday and Friday probably won't be as busy as it would on Saturday and Sunday. Of course, two weeks later I'm going to Hershey CATS, so it's a matter of how much money I want to spend. If I go to Gettysburg, I want to stay overnight at least one night if not two. I'll have to see how things are as I get closer. If nothing else, maybe I'll take some days off in November or December when it's cheaper to stay out there -- colder, yes, but I can handle cold better than hot and humid.


6. I will attend a Quaker meeting to see if it's for me. I've been toying with this for some time, but haven't done it yet.

Today: Nope, still haven't done this. I'm still planning on it but have been procrastinating. I will attend one this summer, either close to home or downtown after work.

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2 Comments:

  • At 9:15 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Don't give up on this stuff! Just stay focused and be diligent and I promise you, it will pay off.

     
  • At 10:35 AM, Blogger DEBTective said…

    Keep plugging away and deep-six the debt, baby. Remember, each dollar you put on debt, instead of getting more in it, is money that you don't have to pay ever again. Good luck following Dave's plan!

     

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