Snowball Goals for 2008

One of the things you don't know about me/us yet is our fanatical following of all things Dave Ramsey and DEBT ELIMINATION in our lives. It is getting pretty hot in here...so to speak.



Superman Hubby (that's way too much to write all the time, considering I'll be talking about him a lot....from now on, let's just whittle that down to SH) and I had what we thought was this fantastic little idea a couple of years ago. That was after the fantastic Little Bit that was born to us. We thought we wanted a retail business of our own....a food business. I'm quite a foodie, and quite a cook, and sometimes, a bit of an entertainer. SH is just quite a business man. So we delved into the world of food-related retail. It was quite an adventure, but to make a VERY long endeavor short, it just wasn't meant to be. So we ceased that adventure and are now stuck with a bit of debt from it. That combined with our own little bit of debt and we have more than we want. So we are in the Graduate School of Hard Knocks, mastering in Debt Elimination and Living More Simply and Frugally. It actually is kind of fun...trying to get blood from the proverbial turnip (I actually like turnips....raw with just a bit of salt....Yumm!).



Here are our overall financial goals for 2008, which are being reworked and revamped on a continual basis:



1. $1000 in our Emergency Fund---DONE! Thanks to a "failed" business in the eyes of the IRS...we got a great return this year

2. Chase (those evil, evil people!) Circuit City credit card---will be completely paid off in May, this month!

3. Chase Credit (again, another entity of the evildoers!)--paid in full by September 2008

4. All business equipment sold and monies applied to debt--so far, over $4000 paid toward debts. We are expecting only about another $2000 from the equipment and that will go toward the Chase CC.

5. NO NO NO additional credit card debt---As of April, we completely destroyed all our cards. We found we truly had to complete a plastic-ectomy to stop the bleeding. So, that takes care of that!



I'll keep you up to date on how we are doing. I can't divulge just how much debt we have yet....it is truly an emotional issue as well and just too difficult to put those numbers on paper for all to see. We poured our hearts and souls into something that was just not meant to be and in hindsight, realize we should have stopped the bleeding long before we did.

We recognize also what a wonderful lesson from God it has been. We are incorporating many things into our lives at this point, that we know are what we are meant to be doing. We are not only spending less money and living below our means, but recycling more, reusing more, praying more, talking more, and eating less (especially outside of our home). I don't think that it is at all a "coincidence" that in the year I turned 40 that we are experiencing a life change. Each decade of my life has always been very different.

My teen years were well....full of teen things. My 20's were spent close to my childhood home, trying to grow up and grow out of an environment that didn't want me to change or leave it. I left when I was 30. In that decade I lived in 5 different states, started my new career and created an entirely different social network. I still maintained some key relationships near my childhood home in the Midwest but everything else changed. I met my husband, moved several times, got married and had children in my 30's. Seems to me that my 40's will be full of yet a new adventure and the business what just a blip in that process. So far, I'm really liking the change.