I'm not one for setting resolutions for the New Year, largely due to the fact that I think goals and resolutions should be made and revised all year long, not just once a year. So that being said, it's been a couple months since I last reviewed and revised my goals. Time for a checkup.
Most of the time I don't put a real time frame on my goals. I know what ones I would like to meet first, but beyond that, I try not to set specific dates. I find that too often life gets in the way of hard dates and that I generally feel frustrated and annoyed that I couldn't meet my goal deadline. So here's a list of my previous goals and their progress, and any revisions for the immediate future.
Debt Reduction-Credit Cards
Pay off Bank of America Card, balance about $1200.-CHECK, Paid this account off for a reduced amount of $1000 in the fall. Used a retirement loan at 4% interest to do it, but that beats 20%+ interest any day. And if something happens and I cannot repay my retirement loan, there's no late fees, it just gets reported as income to the IRS. Not ideal, but no accumulation of fees and charges to make matters worse over time.
Pay off MBNA America Card, most recent balance about $3000.-CHECK, paid this one off with my tax return this month. That leaves me CREDIT CARD FREE!!! All credit cards paid and closed! YAY!!!!!
Debt Reduction-Medical Bills
The birth of my daughter left me with quite a few medical bills, first for the OB, then the hospital for the birth, and then the NICU stay because she was a month early and need a little help along.
As of this month, the OB is paid up. YAY! One down.
I only owe about $180 for my hospital stay and the birth, which I hope to pay off in the next month of so. Yay! Almost two down.
And I have about $1400 for Jess's NICU left. I suppose I still have a ways to go there, but with the OB paid, the birth almost paid off, this should start to move more quickly.
Unfortunately, I'll have to add hospital bills for Justin's heart attack in September, about $5000. Thankfully he's still alive and kicking and feeling better overall, so I can't complain about more bills if they keep him with us longer. :)
Debt Reduction-Retirement Loans
I have a few of these from little emergencies here and there. I paid off one in the fall, but replaced it with another to pay off my Bank of American account. So no major progress there except the lowering of an interest rate (which is actually really helpful in the long run).
I've paid down another to about $200 and hope to pay it off next month unless something comes up. So there's some progress. The rest aren't a huge priority yet as I have a car loan still with a higher interest that I would like to get paid off a little faster. The goal though is to have most of these paid off by the end of 2012.
Debt Reduction-Car Loan
Well, as of this month I have just over $6000 left on my car loan. I get going back and forth on making this a priority and throwing all my extra payments into it alone (it is the higher interest rate), or paying off my retirement loans faster (still have several of this with smaller balances that would be easy to have paid off by the end of 2012). The car's maturity date is 2013, so I'm not saving nearly as much interest on it for making the bigger payments as I would have when I bought it. So I'm leaning more towards focusing on the smaller retirement loans and my savings (both of which can be liquidated for an emergency easier than my car, and would be worth more than my car in the long run). That being said, I would really like to trade in my car (a 2005 Monte Carlo-2 door nightmare) for something a little more family friendly (something with 4 doors preferably, like station wagon or maybe a van). Not sure how that's going to affect things. If I can put back a couple thousand in savings, I might be able to buy a used older model family car outright, but that's still going to leave me with added insurance costs... so I see me waiting until I've at least paid off the retirement loans or the Monte Carlo so the extra insurance payment isn't likely to destroy my debt reduction goals.
Debt Reduction-Student Loans
These are the largest chunk of my debt. These have been placed on Income Based Repayment in order to help me pay off my other debts. Income Based Repayment is a program from Federal Student Aid. It's a great help for those with Federal Students Loans who, like me, have chosen career paths that aren't as glamorous or wealthy, or those, like me, who hit on hard times and need a little help, but don't want to keep deferring their student loans constantly. Once you've been accepted (which is a simple process done mostly over the phone, with a few documents faxed or mailed in) your tax information will be automatically sent to the Federal Student Aid office so that they can determine each year what your payment will be.
Additionally, I'm hoping to stay in my current or similar job situation where I fall under the Public Employee category. By making my IBR payments on time for ten years (not missing ANY payments) I can apply for the Public Employee Loan Forgiveness program. This means, that as a state employee, teacher, federal employee, etc... you may be able to have your loans forgiven, that's right FORGIVEN, after 120 consecutive payments. By combing these two programs, I hope to have my loans taken care of in about 9 more years. The trick is, I have to be a public employee for that entire time. Not likely a problem, as I don't see myself being able to quit working before then, and I don't see myself leaving the type of public servant job that would qualify me for forgiveness later. So, it's a bit of a gamble, lower payments now, that may not meet my interest each month and thus extend my payments considerably (though they will still qualify for forgiveness after 25 years on the IBR plan, and with other payments out of the way, I can always pay more each month), or maybe get lucky and only have to pay a fraction of my student loans as a reward for public service (even easier if I joined Americorps or the Peace Corp).
Live More Simply-Embrace Frugality More
This goal is more recent. Just here in the last couple years. I've never been one for a lot of extravagance, but that doesn't mean I'm above wastefulness. :( So I've been trying to live more simply, more frugally, and more mindfully. This partly goes hand in hand with the desire to become debt free, as frugality is a GREAT way to cut costs and pay bills off faster. But in all honesty frugality and mindfulness as more than just a way to save money. By being more mindful of my purchases I can be more aware of their impact on my life, on my family, on the community, and the environment.
Ultimately, I hope that simple living will help me become more self reliant, more focused on my family than my things, more aware of how my purchases affect my local economy and the environment. Right now, I know I'm still purchasing things that are chosen more for their convenience and price than for their quality and such, a matter than falls under both necessary evil and annoyance for me. But as I repay my debts, learn to live below my means (something I think has become a foreign concept for most of America), and become more self reliant (growing some of my own food, sewing and repairing my clothes instead of just buying new ones, taking care of what I own)... I hope that I will move more toward mindful purchasing in the future.
Already, I am starting to avoid purchasing cheaper, low quality clothing, and trying to purchase one or two strong, quality items that will last me a long time and will meet many needs. I'm watching Goodwill and thrift stores more for quality used clothing that's still cheaply priced. This speaks to my desire to improve my environment my reusing and recycling clothing that people might otherwise have just thrown away.
Live More Simply-Declutter
Lately I've been looking around our space and wondering if we really NEED everything we've crammed into it. With Netflix, do we really NEED to keep a collection of hundreds of DVDs when we can just as easily stream most of them online? Probably not. Are there movies worth keeping? Sure. I will likely keep a BluRay set of the Harry Potter films, our Monty Python DVD boxed set and a few favorites that we love, but I really would like to cut our collection to 50 or less. The rest I would like to try to sell first in a yard sale, $1 a piece. Those that don't sell will either be donated to our local library, giving us continued access to them, and giving us the chance to write them off our taxes as a charitable donation. Part of me is tempted to just write them off, though a little extra cash to put back now would be nice too, and the fact that we get a return pretty much every year means we're already paying more than we need to, so a write off isn't going to be that big of a deal for us.
Same goes for books. We both have Kindles now, so for future book purchases I would like to stick with Kindle editions. As for the books we already own, I'd like to really look at them, decided on which ones we most want to keep, and start purchasing Kindle versions of them as we can. Cutting our DVD and book collections alone will create an exceptional amount of space in our rather small home. Books will likely go to the library. They just don't sell that well in yard sales and I really like the idea of sharing them with lots of people.
Clothing has already started to be purged. Things we don't wear or that no longer fit us have largely been boxed away and are awaiting a run to Goodwill. A few old band shirts of Justin's have been held back for a t-shirt quilt. The hope is that I will take the time to get this done so that Justin gets to keep his treasured shirts in a useful way instead of donating them or throwing them out. Here's me crossing my fingers that they don't just sit around the house. :) I do tend to collect "projects" from time to time. I don't mind it when I get progress on them, but I hate having them lie around indefinitely. I'm already working on a Blue Jean quilt and rug with lots of little hand embroidered blocks... so cross your fingers the t-shirt quilt doesn't get "lost".
There's still plenty of decluttering to do. I would like to sell off extra furniture, look into purchasing shelves for the kitchen for food storage, and I'd like to rearrange some of the rooms to make more efficient use or our space.
Savings
Savings has never been a strength of mine. Once I get a good sized sum of money, I can usually avoid spending it quickly, but as for really "putting back" money, I've never succeeded in saving much at a time. Generally, that's been due to unexpected expenses here and there that eat away at my savings before it gets very far, but to be honest that's not terrible. At least they are keeping me from further debt in that case. But ideally, I would like to save back a couple thousand dollars for emergencies, enough to buy a second car once other things are paid off, and eventually enough to buy some property and a home (nothing special, but a nice little place to call our own). I hope to buy the second car, acreage and house with cash, or at least be able to put half down on them and pay them off before any other major purchases. After that I want to put back as much into savings for retirement as possible, as well as possibly helping us start our own business.
Health
With our recent scare in September with Justin's heart attack, both of our cholesterol scores being high and the addition of our daughter to our daily lives, I'd really like to see us get into better shape. Personally, I'd like to lose about a 100 lbs or more (something I haven't gotten any headway on since September when I made the goal), and get back into trail running shape and start hiking more often. We had hoped to be able to go hiking together at least once a month, but that hasn't worked out with the recent weather and our lack of a dedicated babysitter option. Right now, we're lucky to walk outside without freezing our toes off... lol, and cold temperatures with heart problems aren't a good combination. So for now, we're in a holding pattern. Hopefully as the weather improves (crossing my fingers) we will be able to at least start walking around town more on our days off. I also want to talk to my doctor about checking out my risk for heart disease since Justin's heart attack nearly scared me to death, I'm overweight, and I have a family history. Let's just say, that I'm more cautious of my health of late, and I'd really like to avoid a surprise like we had in September.
We had hoped to take a hiking trip this spring if we lowered our cholesterol numbers (CHECK) and got in better shape (not quite there yet), so that trip's up in the air still. We had successfully hiked 8 miles back in October or November, so I guess I'm not as out of shape as I look, but I'd like to be able to do that hike in half the time and with less effort. Eventually I would like to try short trips along the Appalachian Trail.
To help our health, we've already moved to all whole grain breads, lean meats, and increased veggies. I'd like to cut back our portions more, and of course get more exercise, and I think as things progress we'll come up with more things to improve upon. I am concerned that my current working/childcare situation is creating unneeded strain both mentally and physically for both of us, though I can only fully speak for myself, and this is something that is going to have to be dealt with soon to avoid more serious health issues.
To Wrap Up
Well, that's about it for my goals review and revision. We're a little closer to being debt free. We've got a lot of work to do to get completely debt free, and to save back for our future. Our health could use a lot of work still... both with weight management and knowing where our health stands to help us avoid "surprises". We're cutting back on our stuff and trying to make more room for living and worrying less about making room for stuff. We're staying about as social as ever (neither of us are real social animals), though we may want to change things up in the future, especially if improving our health improves our energy levels. I really am going to HAVE to find a daycare/babysitting situation that doesn't have me working a slightly different schedule each week and working myself stupid all the time. I think this is having a HUGE impact on my immediate mental and physical health, so we will have to renew our search for quality, inexpensive daycare, even if for only 1-2 days a week. I would rather stay home full time with my daughter, but I've committed myself to paying off my debts, not just for me, but as an example and lesson for my children, so that they don't see me walking out on my debts and responsibilities, especially just to make life easier. There's a big difference between making like BETTER and making it easier. I want a BETTER life for me and my family. A life where our debts are paid and we aren't owned by our impulses, enslaved by our stuff, and always waiting for the lottery to give us a break. I want to teach them how to do for themselves so they don't have to wait on someone else to have the time to do it for them or to be able to afford to have someone do it for them. I don't care if they choose to NOT go to college, because if I teach them to be life long learners they'll have all they need to keep learning and be their own teacher.
As a treat for the progress we've made overall, I'm buying us new hiking shoes, and trying to work out a short vacation with my brother and parents. And that's about it. Time to take a step back, continue working on my goals and to check back again in a couple months to see where we're at.
If you've got any goals you'd like to share, either successes you've already met or things you're working toward for the future (there really isn't much in the way of failing our goals, we postpone them, but as long as we're still breathing, our goals are fluid things that can be reached or revised, but rarely failed), post them in the comments below. I wish you all a blessed life.
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