Death to the Michelin Man

So here I am, not spending, and maintaining happily....and daggone if I don't casually drop my car off at the dealership to get the Maintenance Required light turned off, and I get SMACKED with a $1300 bill!

Okay...I'm breathing...let me start from the beginning. I just put about $1100 into my car no more than 6 months ago, and I was told that it was for early maintenance and the light wouldn't come on. So...I'm thinking this is just a matter of switching off the light. Lo & behold, my car needs service at 30,000 miles and 40,000 miles. So, the maintenance required was truly required. AND on top of that I needed new tires...which my car happens to have top of the line Michelin's according to the dealer. And he's right, I didn't find them anywhere for under $200 each. (squirming). As soon as I buckle down and get it together, I get hit with this. I don't even drive my car everyday, I METRO!!! And my car is only a 2005 with 39,000 miles on it. How and why is it costing me this much money?!!!!

I digress, I'll continue to stay motivated in spite of that goal buster. Life happens and I'll keep failing forward.

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Suze Orman Has a Plan for You in 2009

Visit Oprah's site by January 15th to receive a free download of Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan. The book also sells on Amazon for $5.49.

I'm not sure how good the book will be, but it's free, so what is there to lose?!

YAY to the freebies!!!

Set a Goal Not to Quit

I got my monthly eNewsletter from Dave Ramsey and there was a very interesting paragraph or two at the top about setting a goal to not quit in the new year. So another goal is "Don't Quit on my Goals that I've set."

Think back to December 2007. Doesn’t seem very long ago, does it?

Well, now we’re finished with 2008. We’re all making the new year’s resolutions that will last to mid-January—lose 20 pounds, get out of debt or maybe even read a book. Statistics show that most of us will quit before we get anywhere close to those objectives.

This year, set a goal to not quit!

If you had stuck with the goals you made last year, then you would already be done. Wow! Last year went by quickly, and so will this year, so don’t let the time get away from you. The sooner you make something part of your routine, the less you’ll notice that you’re doing it, and the quicker you’ll be finished.

Don’t make a goal and then look at it as something you have to do. That’s the wrong attitude. Soon you’ll come to resent doing the thing that is supposed to make you better. Remember that every time you pay off a debt, get on the treadmill, or do something else productive, you become stronger and get closer to your target.

Think about when you graduated from college. You were used to going to bed at midnight or later. But now that you have a job, you need to get up earlier. So you start going to bed at 10 or even 9:30 p.m. You didn’t like it at first, and it took some adjusting. But now you’ve done it so much that you don’t even notice. It’s part of your routine.

Getting out of debt, losing weight, or anything else is the same way. Do it for a while, and it goes from being difficult to being a bother to just another thing. By the time beating debt becomes just another thing, you are reaping the rewards from it, which makes the process fun. And when it’s fun, the year passes quickly.

Whatever your financial goals are for 2009, we have resources to help you. Go and seize the year with full force!

Happy 2009!!

I'm late...I know, but Happy 2009!

Nothing much new here...boyfriend and I have decided to set goals and stick to them. Boyfriend tends to be much more disciplined than me (hehe), so this should prove to be a worthwhile exercise. I read a brief blurp in Shape magazine about setting goals...and according to a survey (by some college or research institute) it's better to set monthly goals. So if I stay, "I'm going to save $50 this month" vs. "I'm going to save $600 this year," I'm more likely to save the $50 on a monthly basis. Setting realistic short goals on a monthly basis tends to provoke people to save more over time than setting a large long term goal.

So with that in mind, here are my January goals:

1. Don't overspend. I know what I make, and I know what I have to pay. So when that money is gone, that's it. Period. No credit cards. I will accomplish this by monitoring my spending and truly thinking through purchases before I swipe my debit card. I have a closet FULL of clothes...so much so that I wear things once and often forget about them. I gave 35 sweaters and 13 pairs of shoes to Goodwill and my closet is still full...I have clothes in waiting?! No more...
2. Push all extra money towards credit card debt. I've decided to take all of my extra money and put it towards my debt. This in addition to my tax refund, which I hope will be grand. What's the point of me saving money that's earning 3% interest, while I'm racking up interest on my credit card at a rate of 8.99%?! Not a huge difference, but over time...I'm sure it is. So as of now, all savings is halted...I have more than 6 months living expenses saved up, so the next responsible thing to accomplish is to pay off my debt.

That's it...simply said. No fancy resolutions, just simple goals.