Atonement = Oscar

That's my prediction -- I give it 2 thumbs up! DH and I watched it last night. I was immediately drawn in by the actors, touched by the story and surprised by the ending. Plus I already liked Keira Knightly anyway. Recommended ...

Crazy Dream

So I had a funny dream last night. First I need to explain that I've been reading Pillars of the Earth (good book, btw) in which the main characters spend a lot of time wandering the forest during the Middle Ages, looking for work.

In my dream, DH and I were traveling from town to town, but in our care was a baby elephant. We didn't know how to take care of it at first, but he followed us around and we came to love him. We'd have to explain that he was friendly when we took him to a new town and they didn't want to let him through the city gates.

My dreams are often pretty literal - the elephant in the room is the baby in my belly. But cute, right? :-)

2008 Resolutions

It's a good time to start a new blog. Following are some goals for 2008, and I've tried to include some kind of plan for actually achieving them. Most are money-oriented, kind of like this blog.

Money Goals

1. File taxes early this year. Yeah, baby is due on April 15^th (tax day), so I need to get that out of the way. And 2006 taxes were not filed on time (although they were paid). Enough said about that. I am pretty sure we are going to owe (as usual), which is an argument for paying at the last possible second, but since I can’t schedule baby like that, I’d better just get this out of the way.

Action Plan: File by March 15th for sure, preferably before the end of February.

2. Track spending. “Where does the money go?” is a question frequently asked by me, DH, and most of America. Well, I’m going to try my damnedest to figure it out this year. I’ve done this to a limited extent many times – the fact that most of our bills are paid online does make it easier. However, I am not consistent, and there always is a big fat chunk of unaccounted for cash. I didn’t do much of even this in 2006.

Action Plan: Now I do love my excel spreadsheets, but I am checking out a couple of online tools – Mvelopes and Mint.com. It tracks everything that happens on your designated accounts, and you can move transactions into folders. This could be very good, since I want to make sure DH’s stuff is included, and I’m not going to sit around and go through his receipts. Or mine, for that matter. I will at least sign up for the 30-day trial and see if it works.

3. Save for Retirement. DH maxed out his 401K in 2006, but I did not. In all fairness, I was between jobs for part of the year, and I make a lot less $. But I started contributing as soon as I started my new job this summer. I can do better this year.

Action Plan: DH and I can both max out our 401K’s this year. The 2008 limit is $15,500.

4. Pay off all debt with an interest rate exceeding 6%. I used 6% because our (fixed rate) mortgage is slightly under that rate, and we have some subsidized student loans which are in the 3-4% range as well. This is “smart debt” as far as I am concerned. Also, I think it is generally smart to take advantage of those 0% financing deals on major purchases – if you can handle it, which means actually paying it off before the rate expires. I have done this successfully on appliances in the past, and I have a low 5-digit bill from Home Depot which needs to be paid by August 2008, or we will be charged the accrued interest.

Action Plan: DH and I pretty much have 1 credit card each, plus a joint card. (I told you we were responsible!) Although I do have some other store cards, I resolve to stop using them, or at least pay off the balance at the end of the month. The card on my mind is the one from Banana Republic – they send great coupons, which I have used for work and maternity clothes, and I suspect may be very useful at Baby Gap come summer. Clear any other cards out of my wallet, which is suspiciously fat.

4. Increase earned income by 25%. I realize that most people can’t do this. But I’m in sales, and if I get more clients, I get more money. And since I started this job in mid/late 2007 and had a few months with NO income, I know I can do a LOT better in 2008. This is still a stretch goal though, because I definitely haven’t reached a good sales “groove” at work yet, and I won't be producing while I am out on maternity leave.

Action Plan: Evaluate progress quarterly.

5. Open up a 529. For the little one of course. The dollar amount isn’t as important to me as getting it set up and funding with small automatic deductions.

Action Plan: Have this done by June.

6. Buy a home in Brooklyn - or not. With all the real estate woes out there, 2008 could be a great time to buy. But prices in NYC have remained pretty stable, so we might be better off continuing to rent for now. We just moved into a 2 bedroom, so we have the space for baby (for now anyway). But while my frugal nature just doesn't like "throwing money away" on rent, I do think stretching to buy in the city in 2007 would have been a mistake. We'll just have to see what happens.

Action Plan: I know this is lame, but we'll just have to monitor the situation. I do a LOT of reading about Brooklyn real estate, so I'm just planning to run the numbers every month or so.

7. Establish a 12-month Emergency Fund. My goal in the past has been 6 months. With a baby and such, I think a full year is prudent. We have a pretty good savings cushion already, but part of this goal is figuring out what the number is and keeping that amount in a safe investment. And if we do buy a place, a big chunk of this is likely to go toward that anyway.

Action Plan: Set a target number by January 15th. Start tracking, achieve by end of year.


Personal Goals

1. Health. Take care of myself. Exercise more. Eat better. Same old, same old. Actually, I’m motivated a little differently now that I’m pregnant. Organic food is a much higher priority, and I am trying to limit my exposure to chemicals and toxins in general. I’m sure I’ll write about this more at some point. Also, I ran the NYC marathon in 2005, and I want to do it again! So part of this goal is to either run the NYC marathon (this depends on my luck at getting in on the lottery) or two half marathons. As last time, my goal will just be to finish, not necessarily speedily.

Action Plan. Cook at home 4x per week and cut my sugar intake. (Will need help from DH here). Exercise 4x a week for at least 20 minutes. (This sounds modest, buy hey, I’m pregnant.) Reach pre-pregnancy weight by the end of the year.

2. Marriage. I'm lucky, I got one of the good ones. For the most part, I really feel we are in sync, and I definitely think we have a great marriage. We are both independent types, and I think that is part of the secret. But when we don't spend enough time together, we sometimes get a little out of "sync". This is not fun. I want to make it a priority to spend time together this year, which is likely to get harder with a new baby.

Action Plan. Take a trip together (maybe just a weekend) sans baby. I know parents of 3-year olds who have never done this. Eat dinner together nightly - exceptions for friends, work stuff, etc are ok. Do outdoorsy things together - going for walks, bike rides and to the beach are always good times.

3. Friends & Family. It's important to me to stay in touch with people - in person, phone or email. Should come naturally, but sometimes gets forgotten in the busyness of life. This is a reminder.

Action Plan. Email my email friends. Call the 'rents. Host a get together sometime this year. Go to my college reunion.

That's it for now. I feel better already. I think this blog is off to a great start!