In 2017, we were able to pay a bunch of it off. Ruby’s braces. A loan we took out in a moment of desperation three years ago. Some credit cards.
We’ve still got a few more of those cards that need attention. And a car loan.
But, I feel like this goal needs to be bigger than just paying off debt. It needs to be about becoming something I’ve NEVER been: financially stable.
Here’s what financially stable means to me:
- We STAY debt-free.
- We have a solid savings.
- We are planning for our retirement.
- We understand where our money is coming from and where it’s going.
- We aren’t dependent on each pay check to support our family.
Paying off debt is going to be the easiest part of this. Because I sold a book this summer, we have a chunk of money set aside for this purpose. It’s happening, except for the car loan, in January.
Harder is the goal of STAYING debt-free. So a big resolution for 2018 is to not go into more debt. No credit card usage. Period.
Most financial-guru type people suggest a savings of at least three months income. That sounds good to me. I’m a little embarrassed to admit (okay, a bunch embarrassed) that I don’t really know what that number is. But we’re going to figure it out.
Kevin’s parents are in their mid-70s. They live in our basement apartment. While it’s nice to have them here and I think it’s especially good for Ruby to have her grandparents here everyday, they aren’t here by choice. They can’t afford to live on their own because they did nothing to save for their retirement years.
I strongly STRONGLY don’t want that to happen to me in 30 years. In fact, if I had to pick one life goal it would be to not have to live in one of my kid’s basements because I can’t afford an apartment when I’m old.
So, while I don’t have the exact plan of action in my head yet, we’ll put some energy into figuring out a retirement plan in 2018.
Some energy in January will also go into figuring out just exactly what we spend every month. And also how much we have coming in, which can be chaotic because we have a bunch of income streams–and almost none of them are stable weekly or biweekly paychecks.
But for now, I’m going to say that at goal of saving $10,000 and paying off our car loan sounds solid. And doable, but not easy. Which is what a resolution should be, right?
We’re not going to become financially independent in one year. But, I think we can make big strides in stepping back from that edge where we’re one pay check or wrong step away from financial disaster.
Whew. That’s a lot. This is a big fat MAJOR resolution.