Agreed, I too feel the repercussions from stepping back from any activities that involve money. While 2018 was a really good year for me - I met all my goals, I also had a complete meltdown in the spring when I kept on the pressure to save-save and never-ever spend, except on things that were unavoidable like car tags.
Embarking on long-term tough goal(s), encountering financial roadblocks and making it happen anyway may be MMM worthy but it drove me over the edge. I took a one month break to keep my sanity and acknowledge that I needed to be kinder to myself. Then I continued saving like crazy, because I'd already committed myself to two separate goals and was frazzled about the ramifications of not meeting my goals.
In the end, I cooled off one friendship which I regret deeply. I am working to restore this friendship if possible. I also found that I had over projected for one of my goals, which made me super successful on the other.
So for 2019 - I refuse to stress about money, period. I am in a good place - I do have a plan in place, but already circumstances require that I change my plans. So I will - no problem, I can deal with it thanks to all the steps I've taken since I joined this forum.
But there will be no bada$$ery in the savings department - I may hover and find ways to control the damage, but I am spending the money helping out family first and foremost (I set a $5K limit even though I'd love to take on all - I cannot, it just isn't in my best interest financially) and I am feeling very good about that. Dental surgery in the US costs more than a damn car!
My list for 2019:
1. Finally finish my ultimate goal - $50K cash cushion for FI (I'm at $32K+). Deadline - Dec 2019. Send SS each month to the CD's and voila:)
2. I am in the position to save an extra $250 a month - as soon as I paid $5K to mitigate the family emergency situation, probably done by March.
Debating on how to make the best use of those extra funds - I will allow myself to keep it all one month for my birthday.
Beyond that, I think paying extra on my car loan - principal only - might be a good use to end that car loan sooner.
I'm already paid up through May as far as car payments. Also, for two months I'll send it to my Holiday Club Sav Acct which pays 2.5% interest and is rather handy at the end of the year.
3. I'd like to see around $1K at least, in side-income, mostly bank bonus, some photo sales and whatever else comes my way. Looking into writing and kitty sitting - I have some ideas, we'll see if any of them have merit.
February will see my foray into writing and possibly kitty sitting and working on my photo website.
I just made a nice sale, but I'm having issues with paypal - ugh!
That's it - I feel like I am in a good place and while I don't want to lose traction I'm on board with loosening up my death grip on the finances.
I'm optimizing and diligently looking for whatever opportunities come my way.
My main focus this year is my health - everything else is secondary.
I also want to pursue a couple of home improvement projects but my health is interfering with my projects at the moment. Socializing needs to improve and I have some personal projects I'd like to pursue for fun - all of it will require spending money, but nothing outrageous.
Bottomline - I'm aiming for cruising the financial trail in 2019 instead of trailblazing.