Reinventing myself – setting goals.
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I've decided that it's about time that I did something about a few situations.
I've picked up a second gig as a part-time karaoke DJ for a while. I love karaoke! And I love getting paid! So the two just naturally fell in place (and having a background in music and radio helped a bit).
I've started buying foods that are lower in fat. As in, yogurt, fruit and light meals. I've been overweight most of my life, and I need to do something about that. Honestly, I don't even mind if I don't lose all of the weight, but I'd love to lose at least 30 lbs. Honestly, I could stand to lose about 100 lbs...I'm a big dude. Heh.
I've been trying to sleep a little better. So far, that's a little harder than it sounds.
I kind of like feeling like this blog and putting this stuff in public gives me a sense of accountability, because if I fail, I fail publicly.
What kind of goals do you set for yourself?
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How I Will Save $400 Per Month Starting This Week
For a while now, my main goal has not been to get us out of debt exactly. It's true, we have a little bit (from a long time ago, eating away our credit rating). However, what bothers me the most isn't that we only owe a couple thousand bucks total, but the fact that no matter how much money I bring home every week, it just isn't enough to have any left over.
Yeah, right. Something doesn't sit well with me at all about that. For starters, I'm not the one who really takes care of what gets purchased. Oddly enough, neither is my wife. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot that I can do to fix it right now (mostly because nobody will get on board with me for the sake of their sanity).
So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to eliminate the car note.
No, I'm not paying it off. I'm letting the car company take it back.
Wait, before you tell me that a repo is a horrible thing to have on your credit report, let me emphasize that I totally agree with you. It is a bad thing.
Unless it's not on your credit.
See, this car that I'm paying for was purchased by my father-in-law. The car is only in his name, not even his wife's name. Go figure. Well, he passed away about a year and a half ago. The car was passed to me and my family along with an almost $400 per month note (probably more, when you factor in all of the late fees and charges for paying at an authorized agent - $10 per month!!!).
So basically, I'm paying for something that I didn't want in the first place (because I said I couldn't afford it), took anyway (to help out the mother-in-law, as well as my family), and just as predicted, I couldn't afford.
So they can have it back. That's more money in my pocket. Fortunately, it's income tax season. I should be getting a decent chunk back, and I'll just buy the best used car or truck that I can find. Heck, it's not like I go anywhere except for work anyway.
I probably should put some of that $400 in a savings account. Oh wait, I don't have control of my cashflow (except the tiny bits I earn online, which help get me through the week on the road).
2009 will be the year that I begin to take back control of my financial life. I will be keeping track of this on this site. Isn't it great when blogs evolve? Plus, you will get to know me a bit better, and maybe get some of my tips. I also hope you share your advice with me as well. I need all the help I can get.
This will be like trying to stop an advancing tank with a water pistol. What fun.
If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!
Blogroll Update
I've just added Gather Little By Little to my permanent blogroll. It's a site that discusses ways to save money, increase income, and how to do it responsibly.
From their latest guest post, Whatever Happened to 'No Other Gods'?:
And not only have we replaced our gods with money and money movers; we also traded our heroes for the same. We, the little people, no longer need Heracles to fight for us since we have Capital One in our wallets protecting us from the Nordic raiders. When the bi-weekly salary harvest falls short, we can always call upon the gods of plastic to pay for our addictions of choice. We chase money and debt like they’re our best friends while ignoring what really matters.
The post was a guest post by That One Caveman, which I just realized. Nonetheless, it's an excellent post that's worthy of getting the site a permanent blogroll link. Excellent job!
If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!
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