Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone had a safe New Year’s Eve, be it out with friends, sitting at home, or sleeping through the event (all of which are completely acceptable activities).
I think a lot of people are ready for 2009. Clean slate and all. Unfortunately, the economy doesn’t quite work that way, but there is a good possibility that 2009 will end better than it started, and the idea of things looking up makes me happy.
I am still crunching the numbers to figure out my final net worth (some numbers won’t be available til tomorrow), but I did end 2008 with a lower net worth than I had at the beginning of the year. On a positive note, I managed to save a significant amount of money in cash and CDs, so clearly I’m doing something right, even if my investments are falling. That’s all for long term use, and will come back by the time I need it.
I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but again this year, my goals are to spend wisely, save what I can, and try to keep in shape and stay healthy. These seem to be my resolutions every year. I succeeded in saving money this year. I also lost 2 pounds which isn’t much, but it’s better than gaining weight, plus I’ve finally gotten into a good workout routine that I’ve been able to stick to. Here’s to hoping that 2009 is even more successful for all of us.
Megan is a 30-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
Heya! Happy New Year! (:
Droppin’ by.