2008: A Year in Review

What a great year this has been!

Yes, Brads 401k lost 30% if its value and the value of our house dropped about $15K, but since we don't plan on moving or retiring in the next 10 years, I don't really care,  they'll come back!

So what made this year so great?

1.  Starting this site:  while this site may have helped you, it has helped me even more.  By constantly beating the Frugal Couponers Drum on this site, it has kept me on track (although I fell behind on my coupon clipping/sorting.  I guess that's the good thing about no coupon inserts the past 2 weeks...I finally caught up!).  Oh - and how do you like the new look?

2.  Finally creating and living within a budget:  Aside from helping us to finally get our finances under control, this has done wonders for my marriage.  Brad and I have been together for 18 years and the only thing we ever fought about was money.   We did have a little tiff about a month ago, but that was because I tried to take away some of his gas money budget (due to gas being half of what it was 3 months ago).  I decided it wasn't the hill I wanted to die on, and it was over in 10 minutes.

3.  Switching to a Cash Envelope System:  this has been THE most important thing that has helped us stay within our budget.  I tend to stick to the envelope system a bit more than Brad (he gets his money every 2 weeks, but doesn't stick to the category spending).  But since I get almost 3x the amount of money that he does every two weeks, and he has never run out of money and needed to use the debit card, I can't complain.

4.  Realizing that Frugality is not an all-or-nothing thing.  I admit that I fell off the wagon a few times, but I got right back on track.  Now let's see if I can do the same with Weight Watchers and finally shedding those last 20 lbs!

4.  Paying off more than half of all our debt (except the house) in under 6 months.  The remainder of our debt (including my car) will be paid off with our tax return, if not sooner.  I cannot WAIT to be debt-free!

As for non-money issues.....

Finally growing up:  In some ways, this is related to money, but it applies to many other areas of my life.  I am bringing back my "old blog" (some of you may remember it...it's coming back under a new name with new hosting and all of the old snarkiness!) where I will likely lay it out in excruciating detail.  For now, suffice to say that I closed many doors that needed closing and let go of some old ghosts in the past few months.  It has been very liberating.  Stay tuned for more info about my new site.  You're gonna love it!

How did 2008 work out for you?