Beginnings

I resolve in 2009 that I shall accomplish the following things:

1. Pay off 1 student loan ($2,510.03).
2. Ride my bike 1200 miles.
3. Generate $300 beyond my salary.
4. Stretch. Have at least one solid split.
5. Create and maintain a “professional” blog.

When I first came up with number one my initial reaction was ‘that should be easy’. However in considering it further and re-evaluating my budget, I’m rethinking a bit and have decided that this could be a challenge. But really these resolutions are not supposed to be easy as pie things that do nothing for my personal growth so I intend to have quite a go at it. Previously I was budgeting $100 per month for my student loan, this was based on the $99 and some odd change requirement over the 10 year period. Before I even thought this up as a resolution I had increased that amount to a barely significant $120 per month. Now it is my intent to throw my entire extra paycheck (January’s a 3 pay period month) at it. That will be exciting (I’m not being sarcastic I’m a huge dork and this excites me).

Number two initially was 1000 miles. Mostly because that’s a nice even round number. But I decided that it would be too easy to attain. This past year I probably hit 800, and that includes not starting until like June and being a beginner who was afraid that the whole 20 mile loop would be difficult.

The resolution that I am most concerned about is number three. This is something that I’ve seen many other pf bloggers do, generally in much larger amounts. And while it’s something that I’ve considered many times I’ve never actively set any goals. Some current thoughts on how to accomplish this are: interest which is kind of cheating but I still think it fits, sell crafts (most likely paper cuttings) on Etsy, find occasional handy jobs on Craigslist, or maybe even try and sell some things that I no longer use or need. It could be very exciting if I am able to do these things and generate a bit of extra cash in my pocket.

Number four is something that I’ve tried to convince myself to do a million other times. And as of yet have never gotten very close to accomplishing. I think my best run is probably stretching about 3 days in a row. How shameful. My side split is dismal and I have little to know hope for it. But right now my right is somewhere around 6 inches up I'd imagine. The left is a bit behind it. So if I'm persistent a few months could see some good progress.

Five should actually be some fun. Blogs are big now not only in the random completely personal sense that I am posting now. Hopefully I can put out some good ideas, and maybe eventually I’ll even generate some readership.

Now I shall endeavor to overhaul the design of this site and add *gasp* progress bars!