This Week in Review

My Fab Five (plus one extra) this week:

The Sacrifice of Eliminating Debt by Deliveraway Debt. This is a great article. Do you realize the type of lifestyle you need to maintain in order to eliminate debt? And are you ready to make those sacrifices?

Good Debt is for Dumb People by Ninja at Punch Debt in the Face. The Student Loans…The mortgages… perhaps considered “good” debt, but wouldn’t you have done it differently if you could go back?

$5 a day? from Small Steps 4 Big Change. Would you miss $2 a day or even $5 a day? What if you automatically deferred this money into paying down your credit card bill. SS4BC has the numbers worked out. I think it’s a fabulous idea!

You liked my idea? Here is a visual… by Musings of a Midlife Mom. I can totally smell the sugar cookies with the virtuals from this article. A simple, frugal, and delicious Christmas gift idea!

We’re free of consumer debt by Clever Dude. This totally sparks my interest because they kicked off $113,000 of debt in 3 years. Glad I found this through Budgets Are Sexy. Can’t wait to read up on how they did it (cuz the fraction of debt is close to matching theirs).

Last minute addition. 5 Challenges of the Great Exodus by My Money Chat. Thinking of leaving your workplace for the life of self employment? Then check out this post to understand the good, the bad, and how to deal with the issues when you chose to stand on your own two feet.

Enjoy the read!

The Bucket List

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Blog to note: Marelisa Online is owner of the AbundanceBlog. One blog, I fantastically stumbled upon.

As the new year is getting closer, I am growing older, and thoughts continuously ramble in my head… I think about what I have accomplished and have not accomplished in my life. What goals have I not set on paper? What goals have I not accomplished?

And one says, “Christine, why do let these heavy thoughts bog your mind?”

“Because” I say,”my marriage is ill, I hate where I live, I feel like I have been in purgatory for years, and I have yet to complete one of my major goals I hold dear to my heart.”

(begin the rambling)

I remember when i was a kid. I could sit for hours, draw detailed pictures of the brain (yes, I was no normal child), and locations of all where all the senses were located.

I had dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon

I loved to look at the stars and figure out constellations

I wanted to be an astronaut

I loved Halloween. I wanted to be a vampire.

I wanted a life being Indiana Jones with all of his adventures

I dreamed of going to the countryside of France – I think this is a past life issue

I used to write for hours creating books, poems and haikus.

I dreamed of traveling all of europe

Perhaps this should be my post about the 6 things you didn’t know about me

I have losts all interests in those things above. And now, I feel as though I am losing my dreams.

If you know me, you know that I am not one to sit and sulk for too long. I usually, with full force, will change my circumstances to realign my life to my pleasing. Even if changing hurts me acutely. As long as I know chronically it is better for me.

But, this time… I am at a crossroads of hardships. Why? Because my children are precious to me. And I do not know if they can survive being that bold in life. The realignments, the adjustments. Anyway, let me return to my topic!

I don’t want to lose my dreams. I have decided to do something TODAY that can get me jumpstarted back into finding my dreams. So, I think there was a coincidence that I ran into this post on Marelisa Online called, Start 2009 with a bang – Create a life list. Creating a list of all that you want to do before you kick the bucket.

Things happen for a reason. I believe this post was a fortunate sign in my life. You just have to look out for those opportunities.

Even though I am undecided about my decisions to make regarding my marriage, I have vowed to set my dreams and goals on paper. This way I can begin to work towards them by considering “what can I do today to make this dream a reality?”

Let me share a few of those dreams with you:

Traveling

United Kingdom – my 6th grade puppy love lives there

Italy – trying to make it there in 4.5 years (son’s 18th; daughter’s 13th bday)

Germany

France – Bastille Day

Japan

Oxaxca, Mexico – Day of the Dead Festival

New England states – I want the colonial tour

Languages I want to learn

French

German

Conversational Italian

Things I want to accomplish

Rock climbing

Finish a quilt

Open a restaurant

Expand my Baking Skills

Of course, these are only a few things I want to do. I still need to complete my list. I think that it is my new year resolution to step up to the plate and make some of this happen. My daughter is all with me on learning Italian. lol!

What are some of the things you would include on your bucket list?

p.s. – sorry for the personal aspect, but sometimes I just have to ramble my thoughts in order to get my brain cleared and situated.

Tips to Keep Motivated – Blog to Note

I can’t help it, I’m an 80s Ghostbuster fan. And my weekend trip to Knott’s made my heart skip a beat when, there…. I saw… THE STAY PUFT MARSHMALLOW MAN! And of course, the GhostBuster’s car. How cool is that?

Well, my reason for writing. I just did a post on Reaching Your Financial Goals. And although a great post, one also needs to know how to stay motivated in reaching those goals. As I pondered to write a post on the subject (and blog hopped while at work – oops), I came across a post that hit the spot! Sharon Rose’s Tips to Keep Motivated in a Credit Crunch. Although it’s her reflection of personal monetary habits, it’s genuinely a fantastic article that all of us can value. This is this week’s Blog to Note.

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Finances and Emotional Attachments

I have deleted the main content of this page, regarding my dilemma, due to the fact that I was self loathing and having a seriously ‘weak-minded’ moment.

Quick recap: do I stay and finish my degree (10 classes @ $7900) or stop so I can start cleaning up the finances and be sure I can provide for my son’s tuition in 4 years? But, I also have been going to school off and on since 1992, for a 4 year degree. And then, blah, blah, blah on my part. I listed the pros and cons and asked you for your advice.

What I decided to do: I am going to stay in college and finish out the degree (completion Dec 2009). I think that the $7900 remaining will be worth it. No one can take my degree away from me. These days I am way more self focused (thanks to my husband) and determined to stay on course. I promise to myself that I will keep with this major in Computer Science and I will complete this degree in Dec. 2009. I have a set goal and I will obtain it.

Why I think I needed and why I wrote this blog: I need to talk things out with myself. Get a little feed back. My mind is once again clear. I can’t always be strong. And writing is a good medium for therapy. Luckily, I can edit the self loathing so that you don’t have to hear me groan.

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Okay, well in regards to finances and emotional attachments, here are two awesome valuable articles:

Simple Dollar wrote a great article on, “The Psychological and Emotional Attachment to What We Have and What We Want”. It really got the mind rolling about what emotional attachments I have with objects and money.

Also, read First Step Marketing called, “Letting Go of What You Want”. If you are able to really understand the article, it makes for excellent advice. You can find my self loathing response in the comments to that article.
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Enjoy the read!

Sometimes, there is (negative) comfort to regress to old ways of thinking. And that is what the self loathing was – a comfort to an old way of thinking.

I am really happy that fighting to gain control of my family’s finances is bringing some wonderful and invigorating new ways of thinking. It will make me strong and it will make me successful, not just in achieving financial independence, but also to achieving a wonderful inner spirit.

“Blogging is great therapy!”

Credit Score for Free! (No strings attached. Really!)

I was blog reading around and found Credit Karma offers a free credit score in seconds!!!

Put in a few details, choose to receive or not receive future offers, and WhaLa – Your credit score appears.

I am glad to have discovered this site!

Oh, you want to know the score, huh? 664 – Could be higher, but not going to complain. It’s better than the 528 (yes, that low) I had a few years back. Climbing out of the trenches.

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