Looking Ahead - 2008

As the end of 2007 draws nearer, I find myself thinking more and more about my New Year's Resolutions and my financial goals for 2008. While I haven't advanced far enough in my Personal Finance education to lock in any hard and fast dollar figures as goals, I do have some general concepts in mind:

• Revisit my debt repayment strategy. Instead of making decent payments on each of the debts every month, it will save money in the long run to put any extra money towards the higher interest debts first and the minimum on everything else. I also need to get in the habit of using debt snowflakes every time I have extra money, rather than waiting to make a regular payment.
• Stop using credit. If I had an emergency fund, I would strongly consider destroying all of my credit cards. As it is, I have destroyed or frozen all except one card, but I keep one handy since I have no reserve cash. For the longest time, I have used credit cards to float from paycheck to paycheck, with the best of intentions to pay it off right away. However, this rarely happens, leaving me with a credit balance from month to month and every purchase made on the card costs substantially more than it should as the interest accrues.
• Take a vacation -- a really good, well deserved, vacation. I often sacrifice personal luxuries and comforts in favor of more aggressive debt repayment. With the proper planning, I think we can afford a nice, long, relaxing vacation without impacting our savings or debt repayment. Should I use that money for more debt repayment? Probably. But our mental health is as important as our financial help.

That's the plan ...

Jonathan