Welcome!

Happy 2013!

Everyone has their ups and downs in life. I am currently crawling back from the devastation that was 2009.  That was the year I closed my business and walked away from my house.  I lived in an area with one of the highest levels of unemployment in the country (topped out over 15%) and was hit twice during the year by distracted drivers, totaling my car each time.  Then my dog died.  By December of that year I was sleeping on my brother's couch so that I could walk to a $9/hr temporary, part-time job.  My debt was enormous.  If I could go back and do it all over?  I don't think I'd change a thing - it was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life.

I spent the first half of 2010 applying for jobs in any and every field.  I was offered a job 400 miles from my hometown and I jumped at it.  I borrowed $1,000 from my aunt, packed up some of my clothes, a sleeping bag and a tent and off I went.  I camped at a KOA campground for just over two months while I saved my paychecks so I could rent an apartment.  This was in a fairly expensive area of the country and now I understand why they were having trouble filling the position - a decent apartment in the town I moved to was around $1,000/month.  So I settled down 30 miles outside of town in an apartment that ran $650/mo.  In retrospect, I'd have been much better off paying $1k per month to be 5 minutes from work...but yes, hindsight is 20/20.  I spent an awful lot of money my first 18 months on gasoline and utilities as the apartment was in an historic building with high ceilings...but, again, it was a learning experience.

By April of 2012 I had moved closer to work and was now paying $900/month for my apartment, no utilities included.  I was fast sinking underwater with my living expenses and I stopped making the drive home for visits.  After weighing the pros and cons carefully, I went with my gut and decided to transfer to SC, where I am currently living.  I've been here about 5 months now and I've already managed to pay off another chunk of my debt and I have $800 in savings as an emergency fund.

Things are steadily improving.  But I want to be out of debt, I want to lose the extra weight I've been lugging around for the past 10 years, I want to improve my health...I want it all, and I want it NOW!  This blog is going to keep me on track with my goals and honest with myself.  I'm going to track my spending, my exercising, my weight loss...you name it, it's going to be here for all to see!

I welcome constructive comments, insights and criticisms along the way - we can all learn from each other.  Thanks for stopping by!