Resolution Update

Seeing that we're almost through the first 90 days of the year (76 and counting..), I thought I'd look to see how I'm progressing towards my new years resolutions. The original post is in quotes...

* Drop Sixteen Pounds by April 1- just before hunting season '07, I weighed in at 166#. This morning I'm 180#. I have this really cool Navy Seals exercise and diet plan that worked very well for me a few years ago. I'll begin that plan again to help reach this goal.

With two weeks to go, I've made progress, but I'm not nearly as close to my target. Right now I'm at 174#. At this rate, it will be the end of April before I'm down to where I'd like to be. Good news is that I'm going in the right direction!

* Payoff the MBNA Visa Card- I have a few more months at the intro rate of 1.49%, then it will adjust to prime +. The balance is right around $7k (I intentionally charged some big ticket expenses and purchases instead of taking the money out of a high yielding money market account, of which I will do when the rate on the credit card adjusts.)

I was able to meet this goal, although I didn't exactly pay it off. In reality, I paid off about $4500 of the amount owed and refinanced the balance into long term debt. The good news here is that we are down to a car loan, our mortgage, our HELOC, and a small personal loan. Other than our monthly living expenses, this is all of our debt. Progress!

* Sell the boat- not the little fishing boat, but the run about. On top of being expensive to insure and maintain, the price of gasoline is becoming quite prohibitive. The only problem with selling it now is I'll be taking a bath in losses because I'll need to price it low enough to attract a buyer. The boat, although in extremely good condition, is 20 years old this year. This 23' Regal Valenti runs like a top, powered by a 7.4 liter Mercruiser. I've owned it now for 4 years and loved almost every minute with it! In case you or somebody you know wants to buy it, I'll email you pictures! It has a brand new 2006 Venture Trailer that can go with it, if the price is right!

This is one thing that I really do not want to do, but understand that I really should. It's not yet the right time of year to put a boat up for sale (we still have a foot or two of snow on the ground..). I think that my bath might be worse now than what I originally thought. I'm not in a position where I NEED to sell the boat, its just that if I don't use it more than a few times a year, is it really worth keeping?

* Read a book a week- right now I'm finishing up Rudy Giuliani's biography (not that I'm a fan or anything, just reading the book). Next in line will be Tim Ferriss's 4 Hour Work Week or Lee Iaccoca's latest.

I finished reading Giuliani's biography. I'm glad that's over. I also finished Tim Ferriss's 4 Hour Work Week. This has to have been one of the most eye opening books that I have ever read. Highly recommended! I probably would have read a couple of more books by now, but I've been so engrossed reading, and re-reading this book, I haven't wanted to use the time that I've found for anything else, yet!

* Work 4 hours per week!

It was relatively easy to shave off a few hours a week by employing some of the methods discussed in the 4 Hour Work Week. Progress!

* Stay within the budget!

Anyone who has ever tried to stay within a budget will tell you that one of the hardest parts of establishing a budget is keeping track of everything that you spend. Simplifying our spending was and is the hardest part. However, the fewer the daily expenses, the less there is to keep track of. More progress!

* Continue to grow my business- will be adding a few new services to include tax prep and plastic card POS processing.

Thus far, I've progressed to the point of having the plastic card POS processing service available, but haven't yet pursued it. It's on the back burner right now. I need to work on the game plan.

* Visit Graceland

Our plans for this goal have changed a tad. Instead of going to Tennessee, we're going to DC. We'll be visiting all of the attractions.. We'll be there for about a 3 days, so we should have enough time. From there, we're going to visit Hershey, PA, going to Hershey Park. No telling how long they'll be open now that they're moving operations to Mexico....