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Saturday, January 3, 2009

New Year, New Plans

We just ushered in the new year, and with it came a renewed determination to get ourselves back on track. I did December's numbers yesterday (which included doing the final numbers for the entire year), and while things certainly could have been much worse, we did not end the year on a high note. But rather than wasting even a second dwelling on that, we are taking action. Today.

I really want to move into a bigger house, and in order for that to become a reality a few things need to happen. The market needs to improve, we need to pay off our credit cards and cars, and we need to pay down our second mortgage. Now I unfortunately have no control over the market, but I can make changes to more quickly pay down the debt. So with the goal of a new house in mind, I am going to get a part time job. I don't NEED to get a job, and for that I am eternally thankful. We are able to pay our bills, keep a roof over our heads, and food on our table without it. But do we want to spend 5, 10, 15 or more years paying on debt that we could pay off in two if we get aggressive about it? No.

Today we put it all down on paper - our budget, our short-term goals, our long-term goals. For 2009, a few simple (but important) things are changing. We're setting up an automatic contribution for church so that isn't something that goes by the wayside when things are tight. We're reinstating our savings for gifts and car expenses. We're bumping up our credit card payments again. Step one though is finding me that job...

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