I’d be a liar if I tried to say 2008 was a good year for me. Or, not horrible. I left one job, took 2 months to find a new one, then got laid off at the end of the year. My debt levels went kind of like this:
| Account | Starting | Current | Change | Paid Off |
| Capital One | -5415.1 | -7725.09 | -2309.99 | -42.66% |
| Sallie Mae | -29281.79 | -30271.64 | -989.85 | -3.38% |
| Sister | -650 | -550 | 100.00 | 15.38% |
| LFCU | -5029.8 | -4200.96 | 828.84 | 16.48% |
| AES | -2625 | -2380.07 | 244.93 | 9.33% |
| Ellis College | -3061 | -3061 | 0.00 | 0.00% |
| Scooter | 0 | -5300 | -5300.00 | 0.00% |
| Totals | -46062.69 | -53488.76 | -7426.07 | -16.12% |
That Capital One figure isn’t quite accurate, as they’ve locked me out of their website in a desperate attempt to get me to call them. How sweet. And the Scooter amount is only an estimate, and probably high, as my mom has all that information, not me (as it’s really her scooter, her loan, and her debt).
After reaching as high as $700, the emergency fund currently stands at $113.12. Better than zero. A couple of weeks ago I started an automatic weekly $10 deposit to my ING Direct account to help out in that area.
Barring death or dismemberment, 2009 is pretty much guaranteed to be a hell of a lot better. In two months, I won’t have any rent or utilities to pay, which means the vast majority of my income will be able to go straight to debt. You know, when that whole income thing starts up again (I’ve given up on getting that magical phone call, and am on the hunt again – will probably end up right back at the temp office soon enough to take that job I really don’t want).
As for goals for 2009, I’m not putting anything in stone. I have several outlined in my spreadsheet, some of which will be ignored, some missed, some adjusted, and some met. They’re that varied. Basically, get out of as much debt as possible.
Popularity: 5%
Seems like 2008 was a bad year for goals all around with the economy the way it is. I had 5 for the year and only was able to accomplish 2 of them which is rather depressing looking back.
Wish you luck accomplishing your goals in 2009!
Wow I am sorry to hear that your year went badly on the job scene and your debt increased.
Remember that no matter how bad you have it:
1. someone else is always worse off and
2. when you hit bottom the only way left is up and out.
2009 WILL be better for you….just keep working on it and posting here. All the best for the new year.