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?

  

A Head Start On My Goals

I am jumping on the new years goal bandwagon early this year. I’m hoping it will give me a little adjustment time so that I don’t fall off the bandwagon by the beginning of February. 

I used to write and update goals on a regular basis. Back in Fall 2009 Lululemon was selling t-shirts and packaging up merchandise in reusable bags that gave you space to write your goals. They had space for the goal, and space for the date you planned to achieve it by. I was paying off my school debt at the time and dreaming of when I wouldn’t be a renter anymore, so I wrote that my goal was to buy a house by October 2011. I had to re-sharpie it a couple times because it was obviously a medium-long term goal, and it wore off a couple times. I carried my lunch to work in that bag, and could see the goal sitting on my desk every day at work. I reached the goal and officially became a home owner on November 27, 2010, almost a year in advance of the goal date.

I definitely believe in the power of writing down your goals.

So, in that spirit, I’m writing my goals for the New Year here in a public forum, free for the world to see, keeping me accountable.

1. I will budget using a cash in envelope type system for the entire year (more on that another day)
2. I will save enough spare change to make an additional mortgage payment by the end of the year.
3. I will rent out my spare bedroom by June.
4. I will sell my car, and pay off at least one of the 3 debts with the proceeds by July.
5. I will plant a garden that will produce at least 25 lbs of root vegetables for the winter.
6. I will fill at least 3 of the holes in my wardrobe without going into debt (See:http://diggingoutandup.blogspot.com/2010/11/still-under-budget.html)
7. I will run a 10k race.
8. I will produce a blog that nets at least $100 quarterly (basically to at least pay for the internet I need to write it)

Those are my goals for 2011. Note that I wrote “I will” rather than “I want to” or “I’ll try to”. I have a few longer term goals as well, so while I’m at it I may as well let you in on those:

9. I will pay off the CMHC insurance on my mortgage in extra payments before my mortgage is renewed in 2015.
10. I will obtain a net worth of $100,000 by the time I’m 30
11. I will obtain a net worth of $1,000,000 by the time I’m 40

Number 9 will be much easier to accomplish once I’ve paid off my debts, but I’m taking the first step in achieving it in goal number 2 above. Providing the housing market in Canada doesn’t completely implode, I’ve got a decent running start at number 10 too. I bought a house in foreclosure for $250k, which was assessed at $305k in its trashed state. I’m in the process of fixing it up, so hopefully it will eventually be worth the $325k that other similar homes in the area are selling for. Number 11 is more of a pipedream, but I figure I may as well shoot and miss rather than not shooting at all. Even getting half way on that one by 40 would be fantastic :)

What are your goals for the upcoming year?

Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It

Your Money or Your Life: A Practical Guide to Managing and Improving Your Financial Life

Black & Decker The Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair: with 350 Projects and 2000 Photos (Black & Decker Complete Photo Guide)