2009 Financial Goals- Better Late than Never!

What better way to begin my journey to financial freedom than with a few measurable goals to track during 2009:

1.) Establish $1,000 Emergency Fund
-As of today at 5pm this has been fully funded with $1,001:)

2.) Pay off credit card debt- $1,950

-I consider this debt already paid off. I will receive my 2008 tax return in a few weeks and it will automatically be applied toward this debt.

3.) Pay off American Honda Finance auto loan by July 2009- $5,466

-My plan is to begin making larger payments on this loan by late February/early March. This will require a monthly payment of roughly $1,000 but I'm aiming high. July is my birthday month and I cannot think of a better way to celebrate than with a debt pay-off!

4.) Pay off $6,500 of my $13,455 Sallie Mae Student Loan

-After the car loan is paid in full it's on to Sallie Mae with my "super-sized" repayment plan. I will need to make roughly $1,200 payments for 5 1/2 months in order to have a nice chunk paid off by December 31, 2009.

I am being very idealistic in my approach; in my opinion a good attitude is the only way to approach debt pay-off. Although I have budgeted for unexpected items in my monthly budget, I certainly do not have the money on hand for something very expensive (furnace, for example) but I plan on doing what I can and dealing with the obstacles as they arise.

Here's to a wonderful start to 2009!