Saying Hello to 2013

Gosh, just a few days ago, it was all Doom and Gloom!

FISCAL CLIFF!

LONGSHOREMAN STRIKE!

TAX CRISIS!

Um, yeah. That was yelling.

But look, our elected officials put their heads together and came up with a plan that everyone agreed on. Yeah, right. ::snicker:: ::cough::

Apparently, when you are the government, it's ok to sort of bury your head and pretend it doesn't matter that you don't have enough money to pay this months bill. We can just pay them next month, or the month after that. Do not worry, everything will be just fine.

That's not going to work. At least, not in my house, and most likely, not in yours. So. What ARE you going to do?

However, if you are like me, with the name FRUGAL, sometimes not so dominantly noticeable, you will be just fine.  You continue to do the same thing that you know you should be doing:

LIVING FRUGALLY, BENEATH YOUR MEANS.

Yes. That's brutal. But it's the truth. And it's the ONLY way to keep your head above water.

I am a believer that 2013 will be rough. Go ahead, come back to me on December 31st, 2013 and tell me how wrong I was to actually type that. I'm fine with being wrong, and in this case, I hope I am.

But in the event that I'm right, here's what I plan on doing ... call it my list of goals, new year's resolution, what have you ...

1.  Say no to commercialism. I do not need to have the newest, greatest gadget out there. I realize that. I do cave in because, damn, those people in the commercials look so damn happy.

2.  Focus on health. I've slid on the healthy eating and exercising. I know, for myself, I am a much better functioning person when well fed and tweaked. Fluffy stuff is highly disruptive to my positive outlook on life. I intend on eating more whole food, not processed stuff and hitting up this website at least 3 days a week (go ahead, give it a shot, it's pretty impressive what you can do in a short amount of time). Don't let the picture discourage you.

3.  Pretend that I'm moving in 2 months. This is my decluttering strategy. I do it every year, and well, it works in the short term but then I slack off. If I say no to commercialism (see #1) then I should be just fine.

4.  Focus on saving. I really need to get that back started again. Now that the VA stuff is kicking in effective January 1st (please, don't let the Cliff take that over the edge) I should be able to put away $500 or so a month. Yes, I have bills to payoff too, which is why I'm not forcing $1000 a month into savings.

5.  On the same note as the savings, I need to get some of the debt I've accumulated this past year under control. Credit cards. So very easy to get sucked in to them and now I must pay the price and pay them off. Plan on making a list on January 1st, lowest to highest and start with the lowest one and then  move on as I pay them off. My goal is to pay every last one off by the end of the year. It's about $7000 or so (I think, since I've not totalled the balances in a while). The minimal payments that were made the past 10 months have done nothing to help pay them down ... this will be a priority this year.

6.  Get back on track with the frugal way of living. No, I've never been one to save milk jugs and I've stopped saving the glass jars after having a shelf nearly crash down on me a few years back. However, I do need to re-evaluate the way I view my day to day living.

7.  STOP EATING OUT as much. Um, yeah. I menu plan. But it's only about 80% effective. The other 20% is usually because we have leftovers, unexpected friends over OR just plain laziness. It happens, lets be real :)

8.  Get organized. My stuff. Family stuff. Dad's stuff. I just need to tackle all of the papers and be done. I have a tendency to go through stages where I toss everything and them regret it afterwards, but I just need to do it. Need to do this with EVERYTHING (clothes, papers, files, kitchen gadgets, etc.)

9.  Focus a little more on ME. As mentioned above, it's been a rough year and well, I need to focus on ME and make myself more content with what I have.

10. Thrift shopping. Only for the things I really really need, not the cute little dishes that will never be used ... clothes, replacement kitchen items, or something that will make my life a million times easier. Going to try and avoid any NEW clothes in 2013.  

What are your  plans for the New Year?

Comments

  1. Buying thrift store clothes has saved me a ton of money the last few years. Now anything I need I try and buy used first (except undergarments and I am not going there). I finally got over buying used shoes and now can buy them if they look brand new - I actually found brand new ones this month for $3.25 as they still had the plastic attaching the left from right shoe so never had been used. Good list!

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    Replies
    1. That's great about the shoes! I have no problem with buying used shoes so long as they aren't, well, "used"... sometimes the ones I see look pretty bad, other times, brand new!

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