2012 - Hope For A Better Year

by Kevin Surbaugh

Despite rumors of 2012 being the end of the world, because the Mayan calendar doesn't go past 2012, I believe we will see 2013. As such I am anticipating 2012 will be far better and brighter year then 2011 and will be the year I get back on trek after starting over in 2010, when I gave up everything to move to a new state.

First a look back at the resolutions from this past year.

Happy New Year 2012

Books
- I plan to get at least (one book hopefully more) finished by the end of the year. Even more I hope to find a publisher for the (those) book(s)

I have researched this possibility but currently I am still working on one book and the other book is still just an idea in my head. The cost of a subsidy publisher is kind of prohibitive and I am not sure I can get published through a non-subsidy publisher.....One publisher that I talked to wants to charge me $1,000-$3,000. Money I really don't have at this time.

Rebuild my savings
- there is no question that I must rebuild my savings ASAP.

I really expected to be further along on this one, but so far I can't say that I really have rebuilt much of anything in this fund. Being underemployed and not getting a full 36-40 hours per week doesn't help with the matter, because I am not earning enough to do anything. At the same time revenues from the blog/website are not making up the difference needed.

Either become my own boss or get a full-time job with insurance
I would say health insurance is one thing I need more then income. While earning enough to pay the rent and utilities would be nice; I really need insurance for my wife and I.

Okay, so now my resolutions for 2012:
1. Full-Time job
   It is imperative that I get a full-time job this year. My company is opening a new store and I have put myself on the list to go to that new store. I am trusting that I will be full-time by the end of March.
   
   
2. Emergency Fund
   I will get my God Only Knows Fund reestablished and be moving forward with building my savings this next year. In addition, I and my wife wife get back on trek to saving for our new house, by building our savings for that goal.
   
   
3. Travel
   It has been more then four (4) years since my wife has seen her family. It is important to her and me that we get to North Carolina to see her family this year. So we are making it a goal to save enough money to visit her family this year.
   Likewise it has been over a year since we have seen my family. Haven't seen them since the wedding. It is a goal to also get back to Kansas and see my family. My biological family have had some medical issues but otherwise fine. My foster family has seen the loss of my foster dad back in September, which I learned of this past month. My foster mother Phyllis is not doing to well after several bouts with cancer she is again cancer free. Still we would like to see her again. We miss or families so much.
   
   
4. Book
   I will continue working on getting both book finished and finding a publisher for them.
   

Happy New Year Everyone

What are your resolutions for 2012?

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Revisiting the Resolutions 2011

Just over 6-months ago, in fact almost 7-months ago) I posted my resolutions for 2011. Today I thought I would take a look at them and see how I am progressing with them.

Books

- I plan to get at least (one book hopefully more) finished by the end of the year. Even more I hope to find a publisher for the (those) book(s).

So far I am still working on the book(s) but they have been placed on the back burner. One publisher that I talked to wants to charge me $1,000-$3,000. Money I really don't have at this time.

Rebuild my savings

- there is no question that I must rebuild my savings ASAP.

I really expected to be further along on this one, but so far I can't say that I really have rebuilt much of anything in this fund. The only savings that has $1,000+ is the house fund. I really need to become more focused on this.

Either become my own boss or get a full-time job with insurance

I would say health insurance is one thing I need more then income. While earning enough to pay the rent and utilities would be nice; I really need insurance for my wife and I.

This is still a goal. Although I am working at a job that has insurance I am wasting way to much gas to that job. At the same time I do like the job so I am not sure what to do. If I could get a break into full time ministry and blogging that would be absolutely the best scenario. However, for this to happen all my blogs/websites would need to see an increase in traffic in order to earn enough to make this happen.

Finally some things that weren't in the New Years resolutions that I posted in January, but are goals of my wife and I.

1. Anniversary
- After the horrible honeymoon trip we are hoping that this August we can have a honeymoon on our 1st anniversary to do things right. The dream is 2 nights (the weekend) in an Embassy Suites and on the day of the anniversary itself have a limo take us to dinner at diner.
2. Family
- In addition I have never met my wife's family (who lives in North Carolina) our desire is to save enough money to go visit them latter this year as well as visiting my family back in Kansas. We are estimating such a trip that we would coordinate with her son as well would cost us about $2,000. Hopefully we can earn/save enough money and hopefully the gas prices will drop so that it won't cost as much. Well there you have it. That is where we are at on our goals and dreams. Please continue to pray for us in these matters as well as all our prayer requests listed on our prayer page. Thanks.

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Happy New Year - Resolutions (past year and this)

The 3 C's of life: choices, chances and changes ~ You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change..Happy 2011

Time to look back at last years Resolutions and see how I did. Twenty-Ten was a great year in many ways. In others not so great. Lets have a look shall we?

Finish paying off the car. (I expect to have the last $800 paid off by the end of February.) As expected I paid off my car in late February. You can find a video of the final payment on youTube.

Book (I have started working on a book, that I hope will be very different from any other personal finance book out there. It is my hope to finish it and find a publisher for it by the end of the year.)
This is a project that I am still working on. In fact I actually have 3 books in the works. If you count the book idea my wife has then that is 4 books. As 3 of these 4 books will be collaborative efforts.

Eliminate the Chase credit card debt.
I finished paying off the last of this card in September or October of 2010. Finally no more playing with fire.

Pay off the IRS
This debt is gone to. Well I think. I have been in negotiations with the IRS on this and they have eliminated part of the debt. I am waiting on an official letter letting me know of a final decision. In the process I have sent some cash (since October) to help reduce this amount even further. If the letter is not in my favor as I expect it to be I would still have to pay $400.

Marriage and Honeymoon
The goal at the start of the year was to pay for this fantastic day with cash. A task that was accomplished, that we made several changes to the honeymoon to make it happen. Much of the event was paid for by June and certainly all was paid for by the day of our August wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. One that can be seen in a video on this blog or on youTube.

Now time for the resolutions of 2011

1. Books
- I plan to get at least (one book hopefully more) finished by the end of the year. Even more I hope to find a publisher for the (those) book(s).
2. Rebuild my savings
- there is no question that I must rebuild my savings ASAP.
3. Either become my own boss or get a full-time job with insurance
I would say health insurance is one thing I need more then income. While earning enough to pay the rent and utilities would be nice; I really need insurance for my wife and I.

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Resolutions For 2010

Last year, I made four (4) resolutions. Lets see how I did. Then see what my new resolutions are.

1. Pay off the WaMu balance transfer I made in 2008.
I have faltered in this area. It should have been paid off several times, but I have ashamedly used the card and charged more. That is something that must stop if I am going to get out of debt. I will have to focus on this debt now owned by Chase.

2. Pay off the Car loan.
Again an area, I didn't quite succeed in, but am close. I am within $800 of having the debt paid off. That is equal to 2 payments. So, there is no question, I will have it paid off in 2010. The question is how soon.

3. Pay off the IRS
This debt, which is in hardship deferment isn't much further along then it was last year. Still, I see actual payments beginning in 2010 thanks to other debts being eliminated.

4. Find love
This I was very successful in. It did cause me to slow my debt elimination process, but I am in love and engaged to be married in August 2010.





Now let's look at my New Year's Resolutions for 2010.

Finish paying off the car.
I expect to have the last $800 paid off by the end of February.

Book
I have started working on a book, that I hope will be very different from any other personal finance book out there. It is my hope to finish it and find a publisher for it by the end of the year.

Eliminate the Chase credit card debt.
Last year WaMu, was taken over by Chase and I intend to have this debt paid off this year. No more playing around. No more playing with fire.

Pay off the IRS
This year, I intend to start putting a focus on this debt and have it paid off as quickly as possible.

Marriage and Honeymoon
My fiance and I have talked about honeymooning in New York, but reality is that it will more likely be Omaha. We are both committed to paying for the wedding and honeymoon with cash. Cash that we must save up quickly between now and August. Currently, we have saved $25 and paid for the wedding and reception locations. We also have the wedding dress and tuxedo, though I do need to get the red vest to complete the outfit in our wedding colors. We may have to rent the wedding parties outfits. We are making every effort though, to get everything paid for before the big day.



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Resolutions For 2009

Last year, I made three financial resolutions. 1. To get my home improvement loan is paid off. I was successful in this area, and moved on towards debt freedom. 2. Get everything except the car paid off. Didn't quite make that goal, but I am close. and 3. was love. Well, I am happy to indicate that love is in the air.
OK, so now re have recapped last years resolutions, what about this years?
1. Pay off the WaMu balance transfer I made in 2008.

With less then $1000, I should have this done in no time. I just need to stop adding to it.

2. Pay off the Car loan.

Once I get the balance transfer paid off, I all I will have left is my biggest loan. The car. I am hopeful, that I will be able to have this car paid off in July. Now that would be a great birthday gift to myself.

3. The KGB IRS

I am hopeful that by the time I get my taxes done in April that this will be eliminated as well. Even though, they have worked with me and put me on deferment, I would love to see this debt gone once and for all.

4. Love continues to blossom

My desire for 2009, is that love will continue to blossom.

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Are my Resolutions Realistic for 2008

As the new year comes upon us, it is time once again to consider one's New Years Resolutions, and to look back at the past year's. As a personal finance blogger, perhaps I should take a better look at my financial situation for 2008. Will I really be able to reach my goals or am I being overly optimistic?
Our first stop is to see how I did with the resolutions that I made last year.

Officially pay-off and eliminate the credit card.
Since I still had charges being charged to this card for part of 2007, I didn't make this goal. I did make significant inroads on this debt in the last 6 months, having eliminated 3/4 of the debt. I expect this debt to be gone no later then Feb. 29, 2008.

Eliminate the remaining Home Improvement Loan. - While I didn't finish getting this debt paid off, I did make significant inroads to reducing the debt. It may be optimistic, but I am hopeful that I can get the last $950 paid off by the end of July, so that I can focus on the my bigger debts. Of course to do that I will have to figure out whee I am going to come up with the additional $100 over my current minimum payments.

The Chevy. - When I did my resolutions at this time last year, I wanted to figure out how to get out from being upside down in this loan. I was hopping to either get a significant amount of this debt paid, or to sell the car and get a cheaper car to drive around in. At this point, I still have the car, and the Credit Union is withdrawing $100/week from my account to keep this loan current.

Education. - While I looked at taking some classes in finances, none of the schools I looked at worked out. They wanted me to go into debt and said they had no grant money whatsoever to help finance my further education. Since, I refuse to go into deeper debt, I am continuing to look.

Love. - Last year my resolve was to be in a better place financially, so that I could once again date and find my soul mate. While, I did go on one date this past year, it did not develop into anything more after that one date. Besides, I am not financially able to date at this time anyway.


So now that we have looked at last year, my goals for 2008 are:

Get everything except the car paid off - I feel more confident then I did this time last year that I will be able to get all of my debts, excluding the auto loan, paid off by the end of this year. I will finally see an end to several of these bills that I have spent nearly the last 2-years working on. (You can see my position by looking at the chart below).

Home Improvement - Once my home improvement loan is paid off (by March 31), I would like to get insulation installed in the walls of my house, finally get central air-conditioning and repair parking in the back. I want to do this without taking on additional debt, which means I will have to save up first. I am not sure I will actually be able to do this in 2008, but I certainly would like to see it happen.

Love - Waiting for God's timing is what I keep telling myself, but that is hard to do sometimes, especially when one desires a helpmate. It is my hope that I will be able get more financial stable in 2008, so that I can feel comfortable dating again.

Account	Outstanding Balance	Monthly Minimum Payment	Payments This Month
Providian Credit Card	$395	$25	$200
Amerifirst Mortgage	$990	$75	$35
FingerHut	$1,000	$50	$10
Car Loan	$10,745	$400	$405
IRS	$3,796	$0	$0

Would love to hear your thoughts.

"Strange things happen when you're in debt. Two weeks ago my car broke down and my phone got disconnected. I was one electric bill away from being Amish."
- Comedian Tom Ryan

Sir! What Debt? Sir!

Have you seen that commercial for the tide stain stick? In case you have missed it. Here is the jest of the commercial. A group of soldiers fall into line, for an inspection. As the Sargent goes down the line, he notices a ketchup stain on one of the soldiers shirts. As the Sargent begins to holler about the stain, the soldier is secretly handed a tide stain stick. He then quickly treats the stain. The commercial ends with the Sargent walking back to the soldier and asking what he has to say for himself. The young private responds, "Sir! What stain? Sir!" The Sargent shocked, looks down, and not seeing the stain anymore asks, "OH, what did they send me? A Houdini?"

So what does this have to do with personal finance? Wouldn't it be nice, if there was a product on the market, that made getting rid of debt as easy as the stain stick gets rid of a stain?

There is a reason it isn't that easy. Actually several reasons. One is the lenders don't want it to be that easy. As the Bible says, "The borrower is SLAVE to the lender." The other and more important reason, is if it was that easy to just eliminate our debt, we would not learn good money management skills.

That is what we must learn, and it is not an easy lesson to learn. As I have mentioned often in this blog, I struggle with this. The principle is so basic and so simple, yet so hard for our society to grasp. I may not be rich yet, but I understand this basic principle to become rich, I need to spend less then I make.

Obviously, to do this, one of the things I MUST do is stop borrowing and stop paying interest. You cannot borrow your way out of debt. No! As Dave Ramsey's grandma is so famous for saying, "There is only one place to go, when you're broke. To work!" So if you're looking for a simple way to get out of debt. It is simple, in theory, but it isn't going to be quick. It is going to be a lot of hard work!


And that's my view, what do you think?

2007: Resolutions, Plans & A look Ahead

I don't usually make resolutions, in fact the last time I did, I was a teenager in high school, some 20+ years ago. Well this year, as the year comes to a close. I would not be the Prince of thrift if I did not at least take a look at what I plan to do in 2007 about the nasty debt that I have spent the last 9 months actively fighting.
So without further ado, here are my 2007 resolutions (aka goals)

Officially pay-off and eliminate the credit card. While the credit card has been cut up, auto payments continue to hit it and my balance continues to fluctuate between $800 and $1000.

Eliminate the remaining Home Improvement Loan. I still owe approximately $1400. I have been paying this down and in 2007 I will escalate my payments and get this debt paid off.

The Chevy. - In January of 2006 I took out a loan for a car that I should not have bought. Yep it was a stupid tax. I reasoned that I needed a new car because my old truck had been totaled twice by hit and run drivers and was dangerous to drive. While the reasoning may have been true, I did not need a 2004 nor did I need to spend $14,000 for a $11,000 car. I could have bought a $3,000 car to get around as I saved for a nicer car. In 2007 I resolve to find a way to either get out from the upside down loan or to find a way to escalate my payments and get the loan paid off quickly.

Education - I want to look more in depth to seeking CPA or other financial certification.

Love - I want to get to a position financially so that I can again consider meeting a special girl and dating.