I've spent time the last few months trying to get my life in the shape I want it. So far, so good. Some of it has been stuff I've physically done, and some of it has been a change in perspective. I didn't seek to do the latter; it just happened. I've come to realize what matters, and all that good stuff.
The other day, I decided it was time to sit down with my spreadsheet and play with some numbers. I developed a five-year budget. I like this budget. It's ambitious, but I really believe I can do this. If I hold to it, I'll have everything short of our mortgage paid off much, much sooner than I'd imagined I could. And that will be a very good thing, indeed. It will open doors to a lot of new possibilities.
Something else good? Some key relatives gave me cash for Christmas. It wasn't a huge amount, but it wasn't anything to sneeze at. I took it down to the bank the other day and opened a savings account. That money is just going to sit there for a while minding its own beeswax, and from time to time I'll transfer in a little more, as I'm able. I don't know what I'll do with the money down the road, but frankly I'm not interested in "what are you gonna do?" deal. I just like knowing the potential is there, and how that makes me sleep a little easier at night.
This budget I've developed will require serious discipline. It's like losing weight (and that I know, for I've been through serious weight loss); you have to develop a plan, and you have to develop the discipline, and you must resist temptation. But the goal you set will be so totally worth it. I'm grateful I've done this; I just wish I'd done it sooner, but at least I did it now. In a few years, the future will belong to me, not my creditors.
That's gonna be so awesome.
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