Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2011!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

A little too much enthusiasm for the hung over folks this morning? Maybe just a teensy bit....

I’ve never been one for partying personally, not hard anyway. The year I turned legal to drink I was home by 10pm on my birthday and my dad looked at me like I was nuts. What’s kind of funny about that scenario is that my dad doesn’t drink either.

So, I’m actually feeling pretty good this morning :) Reasonably ready to meet the new year. It’s great, because last year I DEFINITELY wasn’t ready. I wasn’t hung over last year either, instead I was trying to bring myself down off a bad case of anxiety and depression as a result of my last job (which I had just quit), and gear myself up for my new job (which I’m still at). I’ll go into that further another day, for now I’ll just say that I feel much better prepared to greet 2011 than I was 2010.

I spent part of yesterday doing prep work for my goal of going cash only this year.  I had a stack of Christmas cards I bought on sale a while back which had apparently gotten damp. The cards themselves were fine, but the envelopes had all sealed themselves shut. Rather than chuck them out and get different envelopes for my budgeting, I sliced the tops open with a paring knife. There was exactly as many sealed envelopes left as I had categories, it’s like it was meant to be. Rather than using my canning jars for the “Oh Shit!” and “Mortgage Extras” categories, I repurposed a couple containers headed for the recycling. “Oh Shit” is now housed in a mayonnaise jar, and “Mortgage Extras” is in a 4L milk jug. Not pretty, but to be fair they never really had to be. I’ll probably get bored one day and decorate them anyway.

I went around the house gathering up everything money related: a gift card here, a stack of change there, a whole whack of grocery cards... It really is amazing how much change can hide in the bottom of a purse. This compounds when you have more than one. Between my existing change jar and the coins I rounded up, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s $15 - $20 in the “Mortgage Extras” jug already. All of the other envelopes (and the mayonnaise jar) got $5 - $10 worth of seed money to start the year with. I put the gift cards (Starbucks/Aveda/Sephora/Holts/Save-On-Foods) in their respective categories. I think I may actually put their points cards in the envelopes too; no point in hauling them around when the money I’d be spending is sitting at home.

That reminds me, I should check to see if there is a cheaper chequing account option for my new spending patterns. I want to cut down on unnecessary fees.

I feel like I’m putting the right foot forward this year, I’m looking forward to meeting my goals. How about you guys? What steps are you going to take to make your goals reality this year?