
As the new year comes upon us, it is time once again to consider one's New Years Resolutions, and to look back at the past year's. As a personal finance blogger, perhaps I should take a better look at my financial situation for 2008. Will I really be able to reach my goals or am I being overly optimistic?
Our first stop is to see how I did with the
resolutions that I made last year.
Officially pay-off and eliminate the credit card.
Since I still had charges being charged to this card for part of 2007, I didn't make this goal. I did make significant inroads on this debt in the last 6 months, having eliminated 3/4 of the debt. I expect this debt to be gone no later then Feb. 29, 2008.
Eliminate the remaining Home Improvement Loan. - While I didn't finish getting this debt paid off, I did make significant inroads to reducing the debt. It may be optimistic, but I am hopeful that I can get the last $950 paid off by the end of July, so that I can focus on the my bigger debts. Of course to do that I will have to figure out whee I am going to come up with the additional $100 over my current minimum payments.
The Chevy. - When I did my resolutions at this time last year, I wanted to figure out how to get out from being upside down in this loan. I was hopping to either get a significant amount of this debt paid, or to sell the car and get a cheaper car to drive around in. At this point, I still have the car, and the Credit Union is withdrawing $100/week from my account to keep this loan current.
Education. - While I looked at taking some classes in finances, none of the schools I looked at worked out. They wanted me to go into debt and said they had no grant money whatsoever to help finance my further education. Since, I refuse to go into deeper debt, I am continuing to look.
Love. - Last year my resolve was to be in a better place financially, so that I could once again date and find my soul mate. While, I did go on one date this past year, it did not develop into anything more after that one date. Besides, I am not financially able to date at this time anyway.
So now that we have looked at last year, my goals for 2008 are:
Get everything except the car paid off - I feel more confident then I did this time last year that I will be able to get all of my debts, excluding the auto loan, paid off by the end of this year. I will finally see an end to several of these bills that I have spent nearly the last 2-years working on. (You can see my position by looking at the chart below).
Home Improvement - Once my home improvement loan is paid off (by March 31), I would like to get insulation installed in the walls of my house, finally get central air-conditioning and repair parking in the back. I want to do this without taking on additional debt, which means I will have to save up first. I am not sure I will actually be able to do this in 2008, but I certainly would like to see it happen.
Love - Waiting for God's timing is what I keep telling myself, but that is hard to do sometimes, especially when one desires a helpmate. It is my hope that I will be able get more financial stable in 2008, so that I can feel comfortable dating again.
| Account | Outstanding Balance | Monthly Minimum Payment | Payments This Month |
|
| Providian Credit Card | $395 | $25 | $200 |
Amerifirst Mortgage
| $990 | $75 | $35 |
| FingerHut | $1,000 | $50 | $10 |
Car Loan
| $10,745 | $400 | $405 |
| IRS | $3,796 | $0 | $0 |
Would love to hear your thoughts.
"Strange things happen when you're in debt. Two weeks ago my car broke down and my phone got disconnected. I was one electric bill away from being Amish."
- Comedian Tom Ryan
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