I’ve decided there are some things I want to change. I’m sure everyone feels that way to an extent, and I’ve certainly felt it for long enough that it’s time to do something about it. I thought about waiting until January to really kickstart some of these, but then I thought of how much time three months really is, and decided to start in September* instead.
This weekend I started reading The Happiness Project and I’ve already starting drafting my own, even though I’m only on “May” in the book. I obviously won’t have the whole thing planned out by Thursday, but I do plan to have the first few months set up, so I can start September 1st, and move forward from there. Some of my goals and resolutions match what Gretchen discusses, but I also have my own set of things I want to accomplish over the next year.
Due to the financial circumstances that Justin and I are finding ourselves in right now, I’ve decided to make September my “Money” month. Gretchen’s resolutions are completely unrealistic in my life, as I don’t have money to just spend on whatever will make me happy!
We’re not broke, but we do have an overwhelming amount of debt between the two of us. We have attempted to put ourselves on “spending freezes” but they never work. I have a compulsive shopping problem, and we go out to eat far more often than is necessary. We make it very difficult to dig oursleves out, let alone save for this big thing called a wedding that we have coming up!
When it comes to paying back our debt, we really have no idea what we’re doing. My problem is, I pay as much as I can to each of my credit cards, not really making a dent anywhere, because it’s spread over a number of payments. Justin’s problem is that he has a huge car payment, which hinders how much he can put toward his other debt.
Last night I decided to finally research Dave Ramsey, who was receommended to me months ago by my friend Whitney. I showed it to Justin, and we’ve decided to try his debt snowball thing. According to his calculator, I should have my debt payed off by 2016 (including my student loans!) and Justin should be done by 2014. We haven’t done the math putting everything together yet, but I’m excited to see the results. If this really works, it could mean amazing things for us. We just have to stick to it and hold each other accountable.
Here are the resolutions I came up with for the first month of my Happiness Project:
- Pay the church for the wedding (it will definitely make me happy to know we have secured a beautiful location for our ceremony)
- Get the debt snowball rolling (I actually think I can even pay off a credit card this month!)
- Build a savings account. (At least the beginning of one)
- Joint Bank Accounts (We already pay for everything as if it’s coming from the same pot. It might as well be! Plus we will be more apt to hold each other accountable, when we’re pulling from each other.)
As for the next couple months of my Happiness Project? I think October will be like her first one. Getting organized and getting rid of stuff! And November will be the like her February. Remembering Love and building a strong foundation for this marriage we’re about create! I will break it down further for you at the beginning of each month.
*This is all with the knowledge that the chance of losing that important person in our life is very high in September, and therefore may blow all of these plans out of the water for a few weeks. But I figured it’s good to put it out there anyway.
Have you done anything like a Happiness Project? Any suggestions for me?
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