A lot happens in four year! I figure I'll detail all of this in a case study just because there sheer whiplash from where I was 4 years ago to now is so drastic. In short, though:
- My annual day-job income shot up 30% (Bonus!)
- I moved my father across country so he's local, with all the expenses that entails. (Good, but super expensive!)
- I saved a good amount of money at first. (Sweet!)
- I'm engaged (Bonus!)
- We bought a house! (super expensive, as we're in a high-cost area.)
- We paid off the partner's previous home and turned it into a rental! (Bonus!!)
- I still had student loans and credit card debt. (What?!)
- I financed a brand new fancy-pants car to commute to work every day, across a congested toll bridge, so that I could park in an outrageously spendy parking garage! (Whoa, LCM... what's happening to you.)
- I bought lunch almost every day! (*sound of grave being dug*)
This is just a small sample of the financial boons and criminally wasteful volcanic meltdowns that occurred. There's so much more to the story that I'll have to unpack and share with everyone here as it should make for some pretty scandalous reading! There's so much I would have done differently if only I had kept focus, but the panic / elation roller coaster I was on only allowed for short term thinking. Now that things are so much more settled, I've again cast my eyes up and forward, feeling thankful to have reached this position I'm in now.
Alas! You asked of my current goals! After so many tense years, at the beginning of 2017 I resolved to "deleverage" myself. Old debt, over-booked schedules, too much worthless stuff cluttering up this sweet house I share with my partner... it all has to go. I am genuinely surprised at my progress, too, which reinforced to me what the power of focus can bring.
2017 Goals
- Eliminate credit card debt (+/- $15,000)
- Eliminate the last of the student loans (+/ $28,000)
- Clear up my calendar of meetings, conventions, trips, engagements etc that I don't want to attend
- Eliminate car loan ($12,000 @1.9%)
- Quit eating out, except for once a week.
- Wipe out all the clutter in my office, kitchen, bedroom etc
- Restore emergency fund ($20,000)
Next up in the crosshairs is the car payment, which is the last debt I have before the mortgage on our primary residence. How exciting! To be honest, I thought the credit cards and the student loans would take me the bulk of this year. That they're gone and we've only just touched June is very, very gratifying and motivating. It's freed up mental capacity that I didn't even know I had...! But that's a post for later.