Brian Moon

OK, now that I’ve done my taxes for the year, I’ve figured that I’m getting a Federal refund of $686.00 and an Oregon state refund of $217.00.

Tossing those numbers into my spreadsheet I use to track my credit card payoff and my savings account, and applying the refunds towards my credit cards, it seems that I should reach my savings goal by mid-May 2006. Whoo-hoo! The end is in sight, and I just barely make my spring ‘06 deadline!

According to my spreadsheet, the one I use to track all this financial stuff, I’ll only have around $2000 by the end of April ‘06. If I extend it out through May, then I show about $2800 in savings.

The flies in the ointment are some upcoming purchases. It’s likely that my family is going on a vacation for Spring Break, mid-March, that I will be expected to join, in lieu of our normal Christmas vacation. Also, I’m probably getting a new laptop (one of the Apple Mac Book Pros) in February. I suppose I could hold off… but I probably won’t. My laptop is dying and I’m spending more and more money keeping it running, and I live off my laptop.

I also want to finally buy a car, preferably a diesel so I can take advantage of biodiesel fuels… but I suppose I can put that off, too.

Deadlines tend to slide, don’t they? Damn. I managed to get through the holidays without completely destroying this goal, but I’m still about three paychecks and a state and federal tax refund away from paying off my credit cards.

Still, that’s better than the two-months-until I’ve been stuck at for what seems like forever. If it only takes me an extra two months to reach this goal beyond what I originally said, that’s still good.