New Years Rituals

I am replacing the Cross Stitch calendar on my desk it is a very small thing that I have discovered makes me happy. This year I feel like they gypped it a bit. There is one pattern for every 2 days instead of a pattern a day. Really? you couldn't do a pattern a day? Sigh. But I feel like I have started the clean slate process with setting up my calendar, Next up scanning to clear off my desk. What can I purge?

That process starts a few rituals that I do every Year in the December/Jan time frame.

The first thing I do is buy a new calendar for my purse. Yep no matter how tech I am I like my little paper pocket calendar. $7.00 (rounded up) and I am good for the year. Most if the info is is in other places but this is my at a glance when I am in the Dr's office am I free/ busy can I make this appointment first place I check.

The second thing I do is try and clear off my desk. This is going to be a BIG challenge this year. Last year I was without a scanner on my desk for about 8 months. It caused a terrible backlog in what is on my desk. Regrettably I am trying to start scanning again to move forward.

I also need to look through all these papers to see if there are any tax documents. I do have some stocks (that I debate on weather to sell to pay off debt or to keep and hold) and they send me 1099's so I need to track those. I also need to make sure I have last years return backed up. and I gather the same info for this years return.

FAFSA needs to be done as early as possible for maximum financial aid (I am writing a separate post on this topic.) and I need the w-2's to at least estimate our income so we can get that ball rolling.

I also like to empty out all last years credit card statements. Shred any old health information that makes no difference any more, and look for any outstanding questions there. I know of at least 3 things on the Health care front that needs to be addressed right away.

I like to create budgeting spreadsheets for the upcoming year. Create folders in windows that will contain my bills for the upcoming year etc.

This is a great time to back up your data. At work I bought for myself a 2 Terabyte drive for a whopping $100. It makes it SO easy to back up all my stuff. I took it to work and put all my personal files that I had been saving on my work computer onto this drive. DONE. But it reminded me that I have a TON of scanned documents that need to be backed up at home and how would I like to handle that? Ahhhh I also have a terabyte drive at home. Time to copy over the files. Especially those Christmas photos that I have yet to post for my family.

The last item on Gather little by little's list is check his safety deposit box. I don't have one, But I do have a "vital documents" folder for each kid that houses their birth certificate, bonds given to them, social security card and and pertinent data. My husband has been looking for his Birth Certificate. Perhaps I will make a folder for him too. I think it would be smart to purchase a fire proof box to house these items. I also want to get passports for each of us. Because frankly you never know when you might need one. I used mine when my wallet was missing and while it was expired it was still an acceptable form of ID. If we travel with the kids each should have their own passport for ID purposes. If I do it now then in the summer when we may travel there wont be a big panicked rush.

The digerati life suggested scheduling financial mile markers. I think its a good idea... So things I need to schedule throughout the year so I don't forget...

• Quarterly credit checks
• Make a will
• 529 plan for kids
• Create a financial and emergency disaster plan.
• add big payments to calendar (car insurance)

So there we are.... On our way to 2011 success. Lets Roll

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

New Years Reading

Reading has become front and center this week. I have a new set of glasses and I literally see things in a new way. I also asked for and received a kindle for Christmas. I just finished reading the girl with the dragon tattoo. I now understand why it was on the best seller list for so long. It was quite a compelling read. I am torn between downloading the next book or taking a break and organizing my Cross stitch. Some Combo there in I think I will find balance. Typically I alternate - Read, Stitch, do a project, Read, stitch, do a project. In the last two years I have not been doing much reading. That is unusual for me. I love to read and my desk is quite covered in books. Currently there are a LOT of SharePoint books. This is good as I move forward in trying to expand my career and increase my salary.

Yesterday I was rebuilding my computer at work and I discovered a new Mozilla Add on. It is fabulous. I am so thrilled. I did not like the new look of Bloglines and while I had been a faithful Bloglines subscriber I have a new solution. I do still like netvibes. But the Feedly add-on in Firefox is SO cool. I am content. I have done more reading this week then in the past 4 months. I am starting to feel that I am back. This is good.

Here are some of the blogs I would recommend to a reader:


10 personal finance blogs I love:

1. Clever Dude I like reading about the personal finance journey. Clever posts often with info I like to explore. In short his blog makes me think and I like that.
2. Boston Gal Boston the city has a special place in my heart so when I started reading Boston's blog I really enjoyed her thoughts. It reminds me of someone I know. She also does a huge amount of reading and sends me to other sources I would not have read.
3. Graceful Retirement I really like Grace. She has a saucy way of looking at things and I really enjoy getting to know her.
4. Man vs Debt Lots of resources. Interesting read.
5. Lazy man and money The title appeals to me. Should I be the lazy woman regarding debt. I think it would be better if I applied "Gazelle intensity"! LOL
6. No Credit Needed - This guy I followed closely and really enjoyed. Lately he does not post as often and I read it less. But go through the archives and share his journey. Very cool and interesting.
7. Fabulous Financials I really like single Ma's tude. She cracks me up. I don't agree with everything she does but I love being on the journey. I guess I relate because I was single for so long with a DD too.
8. Wise Bread Lots of resources around the net. Variety of ideas, always something new.
9. Blogging Away Debt
   
10. We're in Debt
    

I read hundreds of Craft type blogs. I love to see what others are working on. I believed for a time that Cross stitch was dying. But there are stitchers out there. and I am ever inspired by their work.


5 stitching blogs:

1. Becky Bee She does such beautiful work
2. Blacksheep's bit of the web Edgar is creative and thoughtful I like him a lot.
3. Cherry Hill cottage I just love the designs that they post here. Gives me inspiration for things.
4. The Stone Rabbit One of the Most creative blogs I read. I do like her style.
5. All the beautiful things The photograph of her work is amazing and I am so impressed at the sheer quantity of projects she is able to do being the mom of two girls.

If your gonna increase your income you gotta be up to date on your topic of choice....

5 SharePoint blogs:

1. Everything SharePoint - Steve is a great resource. I love the links he puts up he saves me a lot of hunting in my reading.
2. Meet Dux - I just love this guy. He has energy, a balanced perspective, and something interesting to say.
3. Office & SP Dev Cool resource. I also try to follow as many women developers as I can.
4. End user SharePoint Always something going on and new here I get tons of ideas and things to try from this site.
5. Woody Windischman excellent developer.
   

As I looked at my favorites I did see a trend emerge. I like a good story and I also like bloggers who link to other resources. I can get so lost linking to other things. I like learning new things and exploring the world.

5 great books for 2011 - I am not sure what to do here so I am going to ask you readers to make suggestions.

New year new reads... What can you recommend for me? I would love to hear about it.


I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

New Year - Refreshed goals

Typically I like reading other blogger s new years goals and their year long wrap ups. To my horror I looked at my blog and have not posted since July. Wow. I am not sure where all the time passed to.

In quick summary I have had a new DD child#3. She is beautiful and wonderful I am so happy she is here. She arrived via C-section so my recovery was slow. I also fought mastitis, bladder infection and nursing. Toddler adjustments to a little sister being born were tough but he is handling it OK and we are on the road to being a happy family. Lots of family visitors this time and my DD#1 home from school. In Nov I returned to work for 2 weeks only to skip out again for Thyroid surgery. It took a LOT of effort on family to make that happen and I cant say enough how grateful to my mom I am that she came for a stay.

So here we have arrived at the end of December.
Yesterday was an insane day and I want to blog about the choices I made.
As this is pretty much a pf blog lets look at yesterday from a financial perspective. I am still not sure I made the right choice and I am a bit nervous about it. It really helps me to see things written down

Yesterday was Health Care. So here we go...

Currently I have been paying $578.26 per month

If I left my health care alone it would cost me $855.82 per month. So Obviously we are NOT going to spend that kind of money

The PPO plan is $369.28 per month
The ALT plan is $288.64 per month

So.... I am going with the ALT plan. It makes me nervous but we are going to try it for one year to see if we like the plan. If I don't like it, I will change it to the PPO. We are done with the HMO.

I will save $289.62 per month by making the switch. That adds up to $3475.44 per year. Hmmmm that is two credit cards in a year. Well there is the reason right there to do it. Done. I just needed to see it in black and white. And if we end up paying a lot of $ out of pocket will deal with it when it comes.

Here were my last years goals:

1. Pay off 28,077.53 amount of debt, or this year about $9000.00. That equates to $750.00 per month. I am budgeting about $800.00 to debt but some of that is interest. So we’ll see how I do.
2. Lose 20 lbs
3. Learn to be a SharePoint developer/programmer

#1 was not so hot. Over the course of the year despite paying down some debts here and there they were also increased here and there the net sum for the year: I paid down $ 581.81 total. UGH So goal #1 will be renewed. Pay off $9000.00 of debt.

#2 I have indeed lost 20 pounds. Goal for 2011 Keep it off and loose 20 more.

#3 I did not start a blog and I did not write enough code to be considered a developer. But that is a higher priority this year. Baby is here. No more kids I have the IUD to prove it. Focus is going to be on self and career. Because if I truly want to get out of credit card debt I will have to increase my salary. I have one more year at my employer so they pay the % of my DD tuition. After that I want the economy to be solid enough to risk looking. But I think I can do it. I just have to sharpen a few skills first. So Goal #3 is really #1 and I have a plan on how to accomplish it.

I have a SP environment in which to practice writing code
I have 3 developer books that I can use
I WILL sit down each morning for 1 hour per day and write code. To be a good author you have to journal and write every day. Same with programming to be a good developer you have to write code each Day. The blog has somewhat successfully helped me to be accountable to my finances and I hope the same effect will happen with SharePoint.

So there we go nothing new under the sun except t scars and a beautiful daughter. Good bye 2010. Welcome 2011!

CREATING THE NEW YEAR

Well its new years so I like many others feel compelled to create goals for myself. Of course its obvious to me my top three.

Here is what I am focused on:

1. Pay off 28,077.53 amount of debt, or this year about $9000.00. That equates to $750.00 per month. I am budgeting about $800.00 to debt but some of that is interest. So we’ll see how I do.
2. Lose 20 lbs
3. Learn to be a SharePoint developer/programmer

I am starting a new blog for #3. I think it helps to keep me on track and focused. I like blogging. Lets see if I can make a little additional income and get some referrals for technical work by putting it out there. I am not going to blog about #2 because from my observations people who are on a debt diet then start talking about a real diet never seem to come back to the debt blogging. And really getting out of debt is more important. It makes me feel like I have lost my friends when bloggers go away. I really am missing I've paid for this twice. She was really inspirational in my focus. Of course I also like NoCreditNeeded. But he blogs much less often and his journey is less about debt and more about skills after the debt. I need and want those skills but I need to remain focused on my own goals.

As I write this blog entry I received in email David Allen's productivity tips email. You can subscribe to it yourself here... http://www.davidco.com/productive_living.php

I Love how he re-frames New Year’s resolutions...

CREATING THE NEW YEAR
What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?
What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?
What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?
What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?
What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?
What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?
What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?
What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?
What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?
What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?
What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?
Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?
What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010?

So Here are my responses:

CREATING THE NEW YEAR

Love the positive language that I can create the year I want to have.

What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?
Having baby #3 we are attempting it, but have not had success there yet. Second biggest triumph will be to get the debt back under control. For the last six months things have been a little (a lot) crazy.

What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?
Have persistence in paying off your debt. Perseverance and diligence these are the skills that will accomplish getting rid of debt. Towards the end Oct, Nov and Dec stay focused on the goals instead of dithering away on auto pilot. Make allowances for the fact that it is a busy time and try to put away extra before the fall to compensate for the time you know you will have more demands on yourself.

What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?
Increase my income, decrease expenses basic but HARD
Learn to be a SharePoint developer to increase my income.
We are giving up cable to decrease expenses further. And as I type this the thermostat is set to 65!

What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?
I would like to read more books. I have not been able to focus my attention for long enough on any single book. I just look long enough to read the answer I need. I would like to learn the information in a textbook really commit it to my skill set.

What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?
Ahhhh chocolate comes to mind. Then Cross-stitch, But also it is an indulgence to learn a new skill. To dedicate so much time (which I have little of) and focus (which I find harder and harder to obtain) is a luxury and therefore an indulgence. So I plan to dedicate 2 hours each week to reading about SharePoint development.

What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?
The back sliding. I know it happens but I find it so frustrating. It is exactly these circumstances for which Dave Ramsey has you create an emergency fund in the first place. I have dipped into it a lot recently. I want to put back. (I will post more about this in a further blog)

What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?
SharePoint development
Better budgeting
Making a SharePoint Blog produce an income.

What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?
Having another child is a very expensive choice. But I am too old not to try to take action right away.

It is also a risk to learn programming. In two years will I be able to leave my job and take a contracting position to do development. I like security. We will see.

What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?
1) Learning tract for SP development
2) Be a better teacher
3) Working towards preparing my team at work for the next version of SharePoint that is coming out.
4) Encouraging users them not to be afraid of the new tools.

What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?
Undeveloped talent… My first thought is leadership. But what I really want to develop is the skill to lean something by reading and doing. I want to be a self learner. In the past I have learned very well by taking classes and reading blogs. Now I need to strengthen the ability to take what I read and turn it into a doing action. I need to retrain my brain.

What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?
Joy... My children, my husband and cross stitch. These are my biggest pleasures. I would like to spend more time with each of those things. I need to remember when I am spending time with each of those people how much I appreciate them for who they are and how much they support me and bring me happiness.

Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?
Family, my children, my husband, my brother, my parents.

What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010?
Progress

So those are my answers, what are your goals? Feel free to comment.


I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

January begins again

January begins again. Thank God that I put my goals on automatic pilot. I have just added up all my payments with the year end and in 2008 I paid down 13,255.42 in debt. I paid off 33.3% of my total debt. Man I rock. I even made progress in December even though I was trying to hold steady at no new debt. I accomplished that and more. I am so proud of myself. I managed to pass through Christmas without getting further into debt. WOW. I did it. Wow. I need to take time to bask in that.

Plans for 2009... The same as this year but at a slower rate. I will not have as much money for bills as I did before. Happy baby boy needs Daycare. I have allocated Some funds to pay off the debt though and I will continue to try.

My credit card #1 is paid off. My credit card #2 is paid down to 68% of the original amount. I will keep chunking away at it. My DH yelled at me to take care of myself. He thinks I need new socks. I think I need to make due with what I have until the debt is paid off. By paying off the debt I am taking care of myself.

I will post more later. For now Lunch is calling.