Wow, it?s been a while since I posted here. Sorry, readers. There?s not much to report except for a couple thoughts that have been stewing around in my head.
Since I hit ?submit? on my last big credit card payment, I?ve spent a lot of time thinking about the ?what?s next? with my finances. Obviously, I?ve written all about this before. Obviously, you all know I want to save money and do something great with it in the near future. I know that buying a house will be one of my biggest goals over the next few years. But, how, when I want to be out of debt?
Here?s the thing: BF & I won?t be able to buy a house without taking on more debt with a mortgage. It?s just the reality. I won?t be able to save $50,000 in 2 years when I?m only making about $30,000 a year. Not with rent and food and gas going up like it has. Not with my penchant for going a little bit overboard with the budget, especially when it comes to traveling and spending on my family. And the student loans have not gone away yet. I?m probably going to be a bit over my usual budget every month at this rate, but I always tend to come out on top because I work so much. In a perfect world, I?d be socking away every extra dollar and be able to buy a house outright ? but when does that happen? It?s certainly not going to happen with me. I?m just being realistic here.
It?s always good to approach goals already knowing where I might go wrong. I?ve also got some crazy ideas ? as usual ? that will probably cost me money. I?m talking the whole ?career change,? ?going back to school,? or ?going abroad for a year? kind of craziness. Yeah, I need to temper myself there. But, to keep me going back to work every day, I have to have something to look forward to now that I?m out of the nasty consumer debt. Sitting here at home just counting pennies and saving money isn?t going to cut it.
Even though there?s plenty of potential pitfalls, I also have a lot working in my favor. I?m already half-way there to my e-fund being fully funded again. In November, I?ll be getting another one of those magical ?third of the month? paychecks, without the car payment and health insurance premiums coming out. My family is instituting the Christmas drawing again this year, which means I?ll only have 1 family member to buy a gift for this year. Besides BF and his family and some close friends, I won?t be going all out. But here?s what I want to do: still live it up and have a good time while keeping myself out of debt and saving up some of that rainy-day aka house money!
Here?s what I want to do: 1) entertain more for family and friends; 2) work on some projects around the house; and 3) travel more with the BF! The key thing is: I have to do this while sticking to my budget.
The first goal will be simple: I just want get back into the habit of entertaining at home with friends. I could do this by organizing some potluck dinners and getting some new board games. Some of my friends? birthdays are coming up, so I think I could manage to put stuff together for them. It?ll make them feel special without breaking the bank on my end.
The next one is a bit more complicated. I?ve got a lot of projects just sitting around here as it is, but they?re just picking up dust and adding to our clutter. I tried to clean out our office yesterday but came a complete standstill with BF?s old stuff in the middle of the floor. For one, I was too sunburned to move a whole lot of stuff by myself, and BF doesn?t like to throw anything way. We have an old stereo with gross speakers, a broken video game drum set, and an old CRT-style TV that weighs 50 pounds sitting in the middle of the office. They really need to go. I really want that floor space back so I can go to work on scrapbooking and framing all my pictures, so wish me luck with BF!
Finally, travel. You all know I love to travel. BF loves to travel too. But we?re both cheap, so that makes that a bit difficult. However, I do have a nice little gas-efficient car and there?s quite a few places across this country that I?ve never been to, like New York City. We could do it. We just have to set aside enough money and enough time.
Now that I?m not wholly consumed in paying off debt, but saving up money for a house, I?m starting to think I need to re-name this blog or start over elsewhere. Any ideas, readers?
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Graduated college with plenty of debt, slogged it out working 3-4 jobs, then finally moved up to the "real world" full-time job in the city. Still trying to make it in this world without losing my mind or my creditepisodes idris elba kelsey grammer martin henderson mlk day golden globes 2012 winners golden globes 2012 red carpet
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