OK, I know I've been MIA for the last few months, but what better way to get back in the blogging habit then committing my 2012 resolutions to writing...
Finances: If you recall Operation Finance, I had planned to be credit card debt free by 1/1/2012. Yeah, that obviously didn't happen. So this isn't really a resolution as it is a personal ultimatum. I NEED to get this shit UNDER CONTROL!! I made some SERIOUSLY stupid decisions last year when it came to $$ and, well, it's time to rein it in... Thankfully I have a few phone-a-friends that are willing to say "no" for me if I ever put myself in those situations again. OK, so... the plan:
1. I will put my January bonus and entire tax refund toward paying off Credit Card #1. (See? I mean business this time...)
2. Use the extra cash saved from paying off CC #1 to pay down CC #2.
3. Once CCs are paid down/off, use that $$ to increase payment on car (which, by the way, if I HADN'T traded in my beautiful Civic with great gas mileage, this payment would be ZERO right now... stupid).
4. Take $100 out every 2 weeks for frivilous spending. Once it's gone, it's gone. (I start this on Thursday...)
5. Seriously cut back on my shopping addiction... and by that, I mean by at least half. (This one's gonna be haaaarrrrrrd....)
6. Potentially get a 2nd job to ease the pain of my self inflicted financial noose...
GOALS: Have CC #1 paid off, most of CC #2 paid off, and increase car payment by at least $50 a month by end of year. And have at least 1 month's salary in savings...
Whew. A little ambitious, but I think it's doable.
Health: Not only am I not altogether happy with my body, I got some bloodwork done recently and apparently my vitamin D levels are low. I live in the Pac NW. Who knew? :-\ So... I resolve to not only eat healthier (aka, cut back on the Ben and Jerrys) and be more physically active - whether that's going to the gym (which I did yesterday for the first time since October!), dancing, walking the dog, or just plain doing yardwork when I'd much rather be catching up on my TV shows - but to also take a multivitamin every day. FYI, I am terrible when it comes to vitamins. For some reason I have no problem remembering to give the dog his daily fish oil pill, but when it comes to me, I'm a flake. This one's gonna take some work.
Speaking of the dog, I'd like to take a slight tangent to tell a short story...
Just before Christmas, the little punk escaped from the backyard. It was totally my fault. The gate wasn't fully latched... So he took off, probably whoring himself out to every wretched smell within a mile radius, while the neighbor kids that saw him bolt chased after him. He made a cameo appearance INSIDE the grocery store a few blocks away, but for a good 18 hours, he was gone. The little shit was picked up by the police the next morning about 6 miles away near the Wal-Mart just off of the MF Highway. Needless to say I was a wreck and put him on house arrest for 2 days. Ugh. We're fine now, but shit man. If anything had happened to that dog....
Anyway, back to the resolutions.
Travel: Yeaaaah... this one's going to be a little difficult with my financial ultimatum, but I'm going to make it happen anyway. One, I want to go back to Orlando in March/April to cash in on my dolphin swim. And if I can't find a friend willing to go with me, and I have to do it alone, then so be it. I've got peeps in O-town. It'd be an adventure. :) Two, I want to go to Hawaii with my Caribbean ladies in September (Amelia - we decided this when we were in Vegas. So mark your calendar). Three, I want to go back to Vegas. :) Eventually I will make it across the big pond that is the Atlantic and get my fill of the European culture, but 2012 probably won't be the year. Maybe in 2013...
Operation Relocation: My last "resolution" if you can call it that, is to get out of the Dub Dub. Unless I get a substantial promotion at work (which is highly unlikely), in which case I'll stick it out for another year.... Until then, I've been applying for jobs the last month or so with the hopes that I can a) make more $$ (which is always nice) and b) move somewhere with a substantially better selection in the single-guy-that-doesn't-live-with-his-parents department. I haven't applied for that many positions yet, I'm still just getting my feet wet, so not much has come of it, but I'm confident I'll find something. I just have to be patient. I'm just proud of myself for actually taking steps to move on instead of only talking about it. It's time, and I'm excited for the possibilities. :)
slr
