I have been tracking my finances for a couple years now but this is the first year I actually feel proud of them. Without getting into exact monthly budgets and all that, here are my 2018 numbers overall. I would say it was a really good year and made a lot of progress toward our family goals. Paid off a total of 43k in debt principal!
- Eliminated credit card debt. Yay! This is one of the most satisfying things I've done in my life. Once you get sick of being in debt, you think about every little thing you paid for with a credit card. Beer at the bar that satisfies you for one night or a video game that now sits on your shelf. It really makes you think about the purchases you want to make with cash.
- Completely paid off my wife's car. Looking to upgrade soon and nice to know the trade in is all in our favor.
- Reduced student loan debt by half. This is the first year the debt snowball was able to touch them. Total of 22k paid off in student loans principal alone.
- Started an HSA. I know that's not a huge deal but I feel really adult getting that set up and building up nicely.
We didn't stick to every monthly budget and made some big improvements to our home, ie new floors and a shed in the backyard. It's just nice to see that hardwork and a bit of education can really make a difference. I owe a lot to this reddit.
Goals for 2019:
- Get out of consumer debt completely. That includes the new vehicle we plan on buying soon.
- Build up out emergency fund. I hate having the 1k starter fund but thankfully we haven't had to touch it the last year or so.
- Travel. We haven't seen a lot of family due to money restrictions and new work schedules.
Thanks everyone in this community for the support and the constant questions asked/answered. It has opened my eyes to personal finances.
Submitted December 31, 2018 at 10:28PM by sgoda14 http://bit.ly/2F1n0uv
