New Goal: No Spend 2010

Hi All -

So, it's been a little over 1 year since my last blog post... my bad!

I've decided to start blogging again as a way to motivate myself to achieve my personal and financial goals.

Updates

To get everyone up to speed, here's a quick synopsis of the past year:

• Career: Got promoted about 8 months ago. Really just a new title - no material change in salary (~5% increase) or responsibilities/expectations.
• Grad school: I plan to apply Fall 2011 for matriculation in 2012. Still need to take GMAT and all that fun stuff.
• Debt: Made a tiny dent in student loans, but very far from being paid off (I have about $24,900 to go); bought a new car in early 2010 and added a $15,000 car loan. Total debt = $40,000.
  

Financial Goals

My main goal for balance of 2010/2011/2012 is to pay off all of my debt. Right now, I'm paying over $1,100 a year in interest on my student loans (and a similar amount on my car loan). Talk about money wasted! Arrrgh!

My 3 loans are as follows:
-$14,000 student loan @ 6.375% interest
-$10,900 student loan @ 2.890% interest
-$14,700 car loan @ 5.5% interest
Total: $39,600

My plan is to pay $1,000 towards my debt every month. If I can stick to this plan, I'll be able to pay off all of my student loans before grad school, with only the car loan left in 2012.

It's quite an aggressive goal - $1,000 is pretty much all I have left each month after paying for rent, food, and other essentials... I won't have anything left for the fun stuff, like entertainment, dining out, clothes, or vacations (eek!). It'll be tough as hell, but I look forward to tackling my debt.

Alright, enough for tonight. Must get ready for bed and another long day at work.

-Bacon