2010, where have you gone?

So my commitment to one post a month isn't work out so well thus far. I've been very busy with the basement remodel. I haven't done much more than a few weekends work but it's the constant thinking about finishing it and making sure we can get it done on time is what takes up my free time. We should be wrapping up renovations by end of May. It will be much better to have a 2nd full bath as well as another living space to chill.

I think my 2010 goals are ongoing. Basement will definitely be done. Landscaping backyard shall be done shortly after the basement. The issue currently is getting the slate to build the patio. We currently have a few in place but our backyard just looks like a dump right now. It will be nice to get the slate laid and the new garden bed completed and things planted. We may need to skip this years garden because of how late things will get into the ground. I don't know much about gardening so who knows. Savings has definitely been working. We are trying to save ~$400/month for the Europe trip. We currently have around $1,900 of the 5,000. Also Emergency fund is at $7,400 of the $10,000. I see no problem meeting this goal. The reading has definitely slowed because I've been reading the same book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, for a few months now. It's a good book just can't get into reading more than 20 pages at a time. The weight loss has been the procrastination/laziness on my part. This week I'm shooting for running 4 times. I haven't done that in a long time. Ever since I moved to the new house, working out has taken a back seat. Soon there will be no valid "getting married", "remodeling the basement" excuse. Ali and I have been talking about registering for the Baltimore half marathon and we need to do that soon. I was spending honest time with Rosetta Stone and learning Portugese but that has been put on hold since the basement remodel started. I hope to get back into that in June and continue for the rest of the year.

We increased our mortgage payment as well as are paying more principal since our city property taxes have been reduced. Last month we put over $5,000 towards the principal because of money from our tax credit. Our balance is currently around $206,000. We've paid $13,000 in less than a year. At current pace our 30-year mortgage will be payed off in 14, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars saved in interest.

Besides two mini vacations, this year should be close to home. We are doing a Fingerlakes memorial day weekend vacation and back up to NY the next weekend for Mountain Jam. I have to save as much vacation time as possible for our Europe 2011 tour. Brasil was a great time, and got to see how Luis lives. It was a good time, great food, people, and weather.

2010 Goals, and 2009 year in review

A lot has gone on since my last post, before updating here is how I did with my 2009 go:

• Pay off car loan


• Save $20,000 for Downpayment


• Combine Bank Accounts w/ Ali


• Add Secondary Job


• Get to 185 lbs by August


• Read 24 books Close, I read 20 books


• Run half-marathon


• Finance self-education


• Learn Portugese I'm working on this

I would consider 2009 a successful year. A lot happened, I got married, bought a house, got a dog, paid off my car, ran a 10 mile run, went to many live music shows. I did not fulfill all the goals, but considering all that happened this year I don't think it was an unsuccessful year. Going forward, I want to roll over the goals I did not achieve and perhaps add some addtionial ones.

Buying a house was a large investment, and we are already taking steps to eliminate this debt within 13 years instead of the 30 that the loan was signed for. I utilized the snowball method and rolled most of the money that was used to pay of my car into the mortgage. It was also very helpful that our city taxes received the homestead tax credit which reduced the bill drastically. I did not put 100% snowball money towards the house because we want to save a huge chunk of money for our European vacation in 2011. So, we will use the additional $380 to put into a savings account for Europe. We did not put together a budget yet but will probably do so within the next six months, it won't be cheap because the dollar sucks.

Nov 2009 we got a greyhound, her name is Felicity and so far she has been great. We didn't want a puppy because the time involved training was too much for us and we didn't want to deal with the energy of a young dog. We went with a greyhound rescue because greyhounds are very low maintenance and very docile.

I'm not into this blog as much as I was before but I want to give my 2010 goals and try to update with a post once a month. I would really like to add a secondary job but it has to be something I enjoy and probably not seek this out. It would have to come through talks with friends so here are my goals:

• Weight 185 lbs by August
• Read 24 books
• Run half-marathon
• Learn Portugese
• Plan trip to Europe(Spain to Norway, stops in between)
• Redo basement
• Redo backyard
  
• Get emergency fund to $10,000
• Save $5,000 for Europe fund

I currently weigh 207, gained some weight from the holidays and our vacation to Brazil. It's been hard to regularly workout since I moved into the house but I will begin working out at least 4 days a week starting in Feb. I will continue on the pace of reading 2 books a month, I was a little short this year but should be ok in 2010. I want to train for the Baltimore half-marathon, no excuses this year. I have been doing Rosetta Stone and should be done by end of March with Portugese. We are already planning our vacation in 2011 to visit my host family in Barcelona, eurorail it to denmark then fly to Norway to see Suzi. Saving has been going well and hopefully can increase our emergency fund from 5,800 to 10,000 by years end. We will have some expenses with the basement and backyard but should not be too significant and also should be covered by our tax returns this year. Also, save $5,000 for expenses will taking our 2011 vacation which should be in May.