Rounding out the Year . . .

I began the year trying out goals instead of resolutions in hopes of sticking to them better.  It seems to have paid off:

ü  Goal #1--get my PMP certification

ü  Goal # 2--start a Blog

ü  Get our Financial House in Order

ü  lose weight

So 2.75 out of 4 is a pretty good percentage compared to my success rate on past resolutions.  We've been working hard at getting our financial house in order but there is still more work to be done.  The Christmas Holiday and a septic tank issue caused a little back sliding, but no worries we'll get right back on track after the new year. 

One thing I've determined during this year of working on our household finances is that you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT try to pay off debt unless you track your spending and have a budget set up.  These are mandatory requirements. 

I've used several softwares in the past including Money and Quicken but they are too much software for personal home finances.  As you will recall from an earlier post, I set up an account using Mint.  This works well and if you use your banks online bill pay is really all you need.  However, we still do a lot of our finances the old fashioned way--writing out a check and putting it in the mail.  (I know, we need to get with the times!).  To that end, I'm considering using this Personal Finance Template I found while doing a Google docs search for budget sheets.  It works like a check book register but allows you to categorize your spending. 

2013 was a good year and 2014 will be even better!!

In closing out the year, from our house to yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a joyous and prosperous new year.

Fall is in the air . . .

We are still working on our "Getting our Financial House in Order" goal.  To that end, we have done some more refinancing to get lower interest rates on our remaining debts.  We are also re-evaluating things that we "buy" every month to determine if we really need it.  We have come to an impasse on how many TV channels we really need.  

Fall means football and while our beloved Georgia Southern Eagles are not doing as well as they usually do, we have had some wonderful game day experiences with some wonderful friends . . .

 

We've also taken a fall weekend trip up to Boone, NC.  We used going to an Eagle Football game as an excuse to take in a beautiful mountain trip, and we got there just in time for the first SNOW of the year.

Still working on those goals, but throwing a little fun into the mix as we go.

Making a list and checking it once . . .

As we get ready to enter the last quarter of the year, I've spent some time reviewing my progress on this "Year of the Goal" and determined a couple of things.

1.  First, my bill binder just wasn't working out for me.  I've discovered that we keep too many receipts, invoices, and statements to use a binder to file them in.  So it's back to the file cabinet for those things.  I downsized my binder to a 1" binder.   This binder still contains a pencil pocket with my stamps, pens, checks, envelopes, etc.    I have narrowed my sections down to:

• My Weekly Planner.  This is a checklist tool that I created from several different checklists.  I hope that by using this, I can stay on track.    This checklist is simply designed to help me stay organized by providing daily reminders of the things I should be doing.  It also contains an inspirational/motivational quote and a "This Week I am Thankful for" section.  Click Here to download a copy for your personal use.

• Our Monthly Bill Calendar.  This is simply a calendar page for each month with the bills written on their due date.  As I pay the bills, I mark through them on the calendar.  At the end of the month, I remove that page from my binder.   A simple system that works for me.

• Our Budget.  This section contains a printed copy of our budget.  Mostly for my husband to take a gander at every now and then. 
• Our debt reduction Plan.  This section contains a printed copy of the debt reduction plan for the items I am working on paying off right NOW.  I find it much less stress to work on 3 or 4 items at a time rather than trying to see the entire big mess picture that is our debt.  

2.  We've really come a long way this year working on our goals. I'm looking forward to finishing up the year in good shape.

And on that happy note, we spent the Labor Day weekend at Jekyll Island Campground enjoying great fishing, great food, and great company.

Busy, Busy, Busy

We've been really busy this summer enjoying life and preparing for an empty nest!

We are still working on Goal # 3 and are making great progress toward getting our financial house in order.   We turned this . . .

into this . . .

Three credit cards paid off and canceled.  One more is currently reduced to half what we did owe on it.  Three more to go and then there will be NONE!!!

It was a lot easier to pile up that debt than it is to get rid of it, but I'm just as determined now as I was in January.

Of course it wouldn't be summer in south Georgia if we didn't have a few of those barefoot, blue jean nights.  We've made a few camping glamping trips up to Strom Thurmond Lake and down to Jekyll and Tybee Islands for some reasonably priced R & R.   We love our travel trailer!

It's almost Fall and I'm finding that having goals instead of resolutions is working much better!

Budgets and Bills . . .

With the help of an account on Mint.com I was finally able to look at our spending patterns habits.   Oh Boy, have we developed some bad habits in the last twenty or so years of not really keeping up with the cash flow.  After tracking our spending for 3 months, I was able to develop a budget.  A realistic budget that we can actually use and stick to.

Speaking of paying of debt--two more credit cards are paid off.  YAY!!!!!!  Three more of those evil, nasty things to go!

I've also created a Bill Binder with a calendar, check register, stamps, pens, etc.  All the things I need to pay bills.  Until we get a better handle on our debt, I pay bills every week (because we get a paycheck every week).  My plan is to cut that down to paying bills on the 5th and 25th.

Things are looking good for the Year of the Goals.  I just have to stay focused and we'll have this debt issue taken care of well before our nest is empty. 

Spring Time has been a Busy Time . . .

I've recently spent a little time volunteering with The American Cancer Society local Relay for Life.  Succinctly put, CANCER SUX!  It's a bad enough disease, but when it strike as close to home as it has us, it just makes the fact that there is no cure even more intolerable.  Relay for Life not only helps fund research but also helps aid families affected by cancer during their treatments.  More information about this charity can be found here: Relay for Life.


We are also Georgia Southern University Eagle fans and baseball season has been in full swing.  My Eagles are not having their usual stellar year, but the games have been fun.

The NFL Draft day was also good to this  FCS Football Power, sending 3 players to the NFL including the 80th pick overall.

Lastly, I have still been working on my ACTUAL goals of budget and debt reduction.  The first step to building a budget is determining what you are actually spending.  In order to make sure I get an accurate measure of our spending, I will not have my budget complete and ready to go until June 1.  In the meantime, I've create a Mint.com account to see how we are actually spending our money.  By simply linking our checking account only to our mint account and categorizing spending, I can actually see what we are really spending and where changes need to be made.  Budget and Binder to be complete and ready to use by June 1.

It's looking like a busy summer is headed our way, but so far the Year of the Goal is working out much better that the years of making resolutions.

Order of the Financial House Part Deux . . .

We have been making remarkable progress toward our Goal of getting the financial house in order.  This past week

• We sold our boat.  Have you ever had one of those Happy and Sad at the same time moments?  Selling the boat was one of them.  We love boating.  We love being on the water.  Problem is, we live AT LEAST an hour from any water big enough to use this boat.  So, we made the grown up decision to sell it.  
• With the proceeds from the boat sale, we paid off our son's truck! (and had a little left over for some other stuff) YAY!!!!!!!
• I made the final payments on the medical bills from Ed's last kidney stone surgery.  Thank goodness that is over and we hope to never have to go through that again!
• I started building our Bill Binder and Budget.  --  This will take a bit of time to get sorted out.  The goal is to have it completed and begin using it fully on May 1.  Until then, I'm going to keep working on paying off stuff.

Order of the Financial House

Goal # 3 for the year of the goal is to get our financial house in order.  WOW what a major under taking, but something that must be done before we become empty-nesters in the next couple of years.  In an effort to help me keep on track with this goal, I'm going to break it down into sub-goals.

1. Contact our current mortgage company and work with them on reducing our interest rate for a better payment.  We completed this goal on March 8 and reduced our payment by $293 a month!  
2. Pay-off our son's truck.  Our plan is to have this completed by June at the latest!  Every extra cent we get right now is going toward this goal.
3. Build a "Bill Binder".  After hours of researching how to handle budgets and bills, I've determined that this will be the best way to handle things so that Ed is aware of our finances too.  (Poor guy, he's clueless!)
4. Develop a Budget and a Spending Plan.  We've always sort of functioned with a "budget"--meaning what comes in goes right back out.  The goal for this year is to develop a budget that allows us to concentrate on debt reduction.  I'm still researching this one.

We welcomed 2013 in with good times and great friends and after many years of failed resolutions, I decided that this year I would not make the FIRST resolution.

Instead I'm moving through 2013 by completing GOALS instead of worrying about resolutions.

Goal # 1--Sit for and Pass the PMI PMP Certification Exam. This was the hardest freakin' test I've ever taken in my life.  Goal # 1 was completed on February 27, 2013.  I'd like to say with flying colors, but that'd be stretching the truth quite a bit.  But now I'm Certified, or Certifiable, I'm not 100% on that.

Goal # 2--Create a Blog.  I didn't realize this was a goal at all, until tonight when I sat thinking of a way to make my goals for this year have a more visual impact.

Goal # 3--Get our financial house in order.  This is a doozy and since it's such a large, all encompassing goal.  I'll have to break it down into smaller more manageable units.  The first step is to do a little research and see if I can come up with some plans for debt reduction and budgeting.  I'm leaning toward using an envelope system for our discretionary spending with a plan for savings.

Goal # 4--Loose that final 30 or 40 pounds.

I'm feeling pretty good about the year of the goal--we are 3 months in and I have two goals completed and one in progress.

It's gonna be a great year!