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Spent most of my life with the exception of mortgage and small car loans, debt free. 2018 had a few unexpected events that resulted in accruing debt... So the goal in 2019 is to get back to debt free and get back to contributing to savings.
I am also moving so:
* Purchase house in the new location -- currently underway
* Sell existing townhouse -- hopefully quickly
* The new house doesn't need much updating, but I will want to have some landscaping and a fence put in, in the Spring -- don't go into debt for this
* Be debt-free except the mortgage -- close to there now.
* I was putting 20% of my salary into my 401K with my former employer. With my new job, I've set it up to start at 6% (which is the match amount), with the plan to bump that up once I am a few months in and have a handle on how all of the finances will shake out.
* Continue to push money into my emergency fund (I was able to put in about 12K over the course of 2018, so I would like to add at least that much in 2019).
I'm 60 1/2. At the moment, I'm 100% tactical and defensive with my financial planning. If I get to Dec 31, 2019 with my non-real estate net worth the same adjusted for inflation, I'll be happy. If it turns out better than that, great. At the moment, I'm completely out of the stock market so the market craziness isn't impacting me. I don't see an opportunity to get back in but that could change. The only extraordinary spending I'm planning is a paint/flooring project at my Vermont place so it's cosmetically perfect in case I opt to sell it. Part of the whole defensive thing.
1) Sell the condo. I'm at the "break-even point" with regard to owning vs. renting with transaction costs. The condo is going to be around thirty miles away from the office I'm being moved to. I want to leave the general area anyway and plan on doing a short-term lease until I can leave. As long as I recoup my costs, I'm fine with that.
2) Avoid any major mistakes. I had a DUI in 2017, but that spilled over and most of those expenses were paid out of this year's budget.
3) Jettison the girlfriend I'm taking care of. Unless she makes real, concrete steps to improve her situation (long story), I'm not willing to stay. The financial aspect is just one side of it.
4) Move and increase income by 20%. I live in a small metro in Tennessee. I want to move to the Carolinas or maybe Nashville. I make $60,000 and want to increase my income by 20%. I think that's doable.
5) Simplify and declutter. My life right now is borderline unmanageable between work-related and relationship stress. I missed a credit card payment last month because I simply forgot to pay it. That one wasn't used often and isn't on auto-pay. I have too many things I rarely or don't use costing me money that are basically on autopilot. I need to take inventory, and determine what is absolutely necessary and what can be closed/cut-out.
With any luck, I should be debt-free other than a small car note by the end of next year.
The good side? Everything I have is "new" and I have most of the consumer stuff I want. I expect my "stuff" spending to be way down next year.
I'm hoping the total stock market index goes up by about 7 or 800% so I can retire. Otherwise, not much keep working, keep investing, try not to get taxed out of my home by F'ing Illinois Democrats...
I found out we spend $300 a month at Costco. My dream is to go there only once a month. Too bad that'll never happen because my husband loves to go there. I'm an out-of-sight-out-of-mind person, so if I'm not there, I can't buy stuff. But if I'm there, I'll buy stuff, so I wish we could go there less, but it's impossible to out-argue him.
Now that I am completely debt free...I am hoping my financial advisor will teach me how to navigate the stock market and learn the basics. I am in my 20's and I want to learn how to do it the right way while young and hopefully retire early. If someone has suggestions on where to start I'm open to it. Sometimes I browse investopedia
1. Finish the year to vest my employer 401k balance thats five figures I could potentially lose.
2. Continue to hit the 401k match. Resist the urge to touch my allocations with the obvious turmoil.
3. Another year of clearing student loan debt.
4. Maybe try to drop the PMI off my house as it has appreciated as we’ve been paying it down. Although, this is probably a 2020 event.
5. Continue to stagger and utilize credit cards for rewards and using their money for free while simultaneously earning with my money elsewhere.
This year I did interior maintenance, repair, and redecorating that was fairly extensive and expensive. Next year my only project I hope to do is to have the driveway redone; it is concrete and has some cracks that are getting worse.
I don’t travel much but I am close to the ocean and may also take a couple trips that require an overnight stay.
I will work on some macramé projects, some rugmaking projects, and a few other things like that. I may take up weaving classes. That requires driving to and from, about an hour each way.
I hope next year is like this year, except with a stock market year like 2017.
Last edited by Gusano; 12-19-2018 at 07:02 PM..
Reason: My space bar sometimes doesn’t.
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