New Year's Resolution

I have been so remiss! I told everyone about our resolutions, but I forgot to post them!

Our big one is be debt free by the end of 2009. That includes finding ways to save more money, but mostly its about planning. Two weeks ago, we used this spreadsheet to put together our debt snowball. We entered every debt we had in it, and how much we would pay each month, and it showed us how long paying off our debts would take, and how much interest we would pay. Though our major debts are at very low or zero interest, paying everything off this year will still save us over $2000 in interest payments!

It was extremely empowering to see everything on paper. Instead of just intending to pay down our debts as much as we can, we can see exactly how much we need to pay every month to reach our goal. Its inspired Jeremy to get a solid job, and me to get going on my other resolution:

To learn to do something new for myself every month. This absolutely feeds into my MIY workshops, so I'm stoked. This month, I'm learning to do my own manicures (see below) as the first MIY workshop is for bath stuff, which I already know how to make.

Next month, isn't planned yet. But I do really want to get on trying out that earthbox, or a container garden with an olla. So maybe that'll be February.