This post is inspired by Steve over at ThinkSaveRetire, whose post listing ways he “Won’t be a Dumbass” in 2018 just landed in my inbox.
I don’t typically do New Year’s Resolutions either; while there are absolutely things I want to achieve each year, they’re rarely oriented around January 1st. So, let’s start with a retrospective of 2017. Last year, we:
- Paid off two major credit cards, each with a balance higher than $10,000
- Met our goal of adding $500 a month in “side hustle” income each and every month (which, of course, is a large part of HOW we paid off those two credit cards)
- Simplified by getting rid of extra vehicles, boats, and projects
- Wanted to get rid of a 10×20 storage unit my husband has had since before we met. At around $200 a month, it just doesn’t make sense to keep it – and since the move, we have plenty of room for the stuff at home. But cleaning it out is a big project, and it just hasn’t happened yet.
- Hoped to fully pay off a major outstanding debt of Don’s. We’ve been in discussions to get this resolved with a single lump-sum payment, but again, it just hasn’t come to fruition yet. We’re still hopeful that it will be finalized in the first quarter of 2018.
- Planned to stop paying storage for our boats. One boat, which we rather infamously left in the Florida Keys for Hurricane Irma, is still in storage at $100 per month. The other, which is here locally, is $56 a month. One of the reasons we picked our new home was because there was room to store both boats here at the house, eliminating $156 in storage fees each month. But, again, we just haven’t gotten around to moving the boats here, so we’re still paying fees.
- Move our Proline boat out of storage in Tampa, and to our house, eliminating $56 a month in storage fees. Target date: 1/15/2018.
- Travel down to the Keys and retrieve our Grady White boat from storage, eliminating $100 a month in storage fees. Target date: 1/31/2018.
- Renew my scuba instructor license (I just need to do some refresher work). Target date: 1/31/2018.
- Empty Don’s storage unit, eliminating $200 a month in storage fees. Target date: 2/15/2018.
- Pull Don’s credit report and address any issues or inconsistencies. I believe that, in the shuffle of back-to-back hospitalizations, some medical bills were overlooked, and we need to sort through this and get back on track. Target date: 2/28/2018.
- Complete the Elite Blog Academy course (which I’ve already started). Target date: 3/31/2018.
- Completely pay off Don’s major debt. Target date: 4/30/2018.
- Earn at least $1,000 a month in blog or other online income. Target date: 6/30/2018.
- Purchase one rental property (there’s more to this, which we’ll share soon). Target date: 9/30/2018.
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