Greetings, my fellow debt-fighters. I stand here before you, a general in this War on Debt! Though I only enlisted some four months ago, I have been fighting this war for much longer… since The Debt led a sneak attack against me when I began my university education. But I have joined up, and I’m taking the fight to them! Here are how things have progressed since my “Resolutions are for sissies!” speech:
The Main Objectives
Get a job: I have a part time job now, and this website has become a part-time job on it’s own. I’m also looking for some other income streams, because money is my ammunition, and I need a lot of it.
Sell something on eBay: Ok, I haven’t yet. But I have sold several textbooks and some furniture using other internet sites, so it’s a start. Getting ready for the move to the suburbs is unearthing a lot of items to sell (for ammunition)!
Get rid of all this stuff: I’ve been going through everything in the process of packing. I’m really hoping to get it down to a bare minimum, which really requires going through each box of “stuff” multiple times. I burned a lot of stuff in a bonfire this past weekend (which was awesome).
Make a budget… again: I’ve actually kept on top of my spending and my budget (which is really just a balance sheet) this whole time. It’s a habit now, and I freak out if it gets messed up. Point is, I know exactly how money has flown in and out of my life since the beginning of 2007.
Start a retirement fund – for serious: Nope, haven’t done this. I really don’t think I will until my credit card is paid off, and I’ve started a mini emergency fund.
Go back to school: Currently, it looks like I should be back for the Fall 2007 term. Woot!
Pay off my credit card: I haven’t made as much progress as I would like, but that could change very soon. Now that I have my part time job, I’ll have more ammunition to throw at this Axis of Evil!
Secondary Objectives
Pay off my car: Been making steady progress, but even better, it looks like my loan may be forgiven after this month’s payment. Either my grandmother, who is the one I bought the car from, will just forgive the loan, or my mother will pay the rest off for me (I may, however, have to start making payments to her, if she does that!). If the loan is forgiven, that’s one Enemy Nation of Debt conquered, and I can take all the troops that were fighting there, and direct them at Credit Cardonia and The United Forces of Student Loan.
Get a better job: I’m not gonna lie, I like my new job, and because it’s all online work, I can do it from anywhere (I’ll likely live out half the summer in Los Angeles) and I can continue to do it when I go back to school. Still, I’m on the lookout for additional streams of income, and may even start another business when I go back to school. More ammunition!
Organize a killer garage sale: So far, this has consisted of packing up boxes of stuff to sell. The garage sale will probably take place just before or just after we move (July 1st).
Start up that business I thought of: This really isn’t relevant until I go back to school.
Start up some other business I haven’t thought of yet: No ideas percolating right now, but I’ll let you know.
Try out Prosper: As a lender, I mean. This is probably also a “after I have defeated the credit card” thing.
Start a protest outside a Wal-Mart: Not yet, but it’s always possible!
Final Thoughts
This war may never be truly over. There will be conflicts with The United Forces of Student Loan for a long time yet. And if our imperialist nature brings us to conquering a house of our own, we can expect attacks from Greater Mortgage Payment. However, all is not lost, so long as the interest rates are low, our aim true, and our payments on time.
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5 responses to “State of the War Address” 
You had a bonfire… without me…
*tear*
I suppose the Wal-mart comment is mostly for fun, but don’t kid yourself. Wal-mart can help you hold on to more of your ammunition. Or perhaps there’s a good reason you spend more for identical items at other retailers when you could be shooting down debt?
That’s not to say they are always the cheapest. They’ve been sued successfully for saying that. And it just isn’t true. My local HyVee has unscented dryer sheets for a dollar cheaper than Wal-mart. Their yogurt tubes, most of their meat, and fat free cheese slices are all cheaper too.
Perhaps if I care about saving money I shouldn’t buy some of those things. But I do buy most of those things, so its good to know where they cost less. One gallon of milk, cheaper at HyVee. A half gallon, cheaper at Wal-mart.
You can get ahead thinking like that.
Don,
I have a vendetta against Wal-Mart because of how they treat their employees, the environment, small business, their customers… everyone, really. I’m always very concerned with which businesses I’m “sponsoring” by shopping there, and Wal-Mart really stands out as the business I never want to give money to again.
Of course, it doesn’t really matter at the moment, since I’m compacting (not buying anything new except food), so I’m not shopping anyways. And for food, we have Wegmans here, which is about the exact opposite of Wal-Mart in terms of how they treat their employees, etc. Even if every item were twice as much at Wegmans (which isn’t true, most things are the same price or cheaper than Wal-Mart), I would still shop at Wegmans.
[...] Than You presents State of the War Address, an update on the financial objectives she set for herself at the beginning of the [...]
Well done!