become financially responsible

I check my bank account online almost every day. I know how much money I have at all times. Every bill gets paid electronically on time. I’m even over-paying some of the credit cards. I can see how it’s possible that one day the credit cards will be paid off.

The very very best part is that I have absolutely no more negative feelings associated with getting the mail and checking my accounts. Totally gone. I even look forward to getting the mail these days. This is huge.

I won’t mark this done yet and I can’t decide right now what “done” means, but I feel like this should remain open for now.

I had no clue how far I’ve fallen behind on this goal. It didn’t help at all that our bank account got hacked and that we had to go back to gasp paper!

I feel so unorganized now about this goal. It’s my goal for this month to get back online now that we’ve wiped our harddrives and changed accounts. I still have some switching over to do. Blech.

Being back online will really help me focus here again.

Over the past couple of weeks I have really made a lot of progress in a lot of different areas. Financially, I have written and began to adhere to a budget. Additionally I have consolidated my credit card debt to one card with a zero percent rate lasting until January 2008. One bill. No interest. HAPPY!!!

I even know how much I can afford to spend on Christmas.

I feel so much more secure financially than I ever have been.

Next up, evaluating our progress on the budget and paying down debt.

There are many bites to take out of this elephant. First up, outlining expenditures on the big white board by my desk. I figure if we see them we’ll be aware of them. Right not electronic payments happen automatically and if we forget about them and don’t have the money in the bank … that’s ok! Overdraft will cover it!

It’s not really ok at all. It’s time to pay attention! I have no clue how much money should be in the bank at what time.

So first up is paying attention.

What follows is:

2. Making a budget
3. Paying down debt

and one day…

4. Purchasing a house

I’m sure there are other financial goals that I can add to this as time goes on. Maybe as space permits on these 43things, I’ll list the smaller goal that I’m working on. But it’s silly to list a bunch that have a hierarchical order.