Looking Back - how did you fare in 2008

[missmanny]

It is getting really close to the end of the year and I have been busy trying to get some thoughts together about what I want to achieve next year.

This prompted me to think back to this time last year when I was considering what I would like to achieve in 2008, I was amazed at how much I had achieved both personally and financially. I sometimes like to take time to reflect on the past so that I can look forward into the future and either not make the same mistakes or get inspiration to continue to do the things that work.

So how did you go? I know that our village has had a mirriad of experiences this year, some of us have suffered great hardship, some of us struggled but managed to pull trough, some of us have overcome obstacles, some of us have challenged ourselves to achieve something and have made it.

With a village filled with people who come from such diverse positions in life and with so many goals and reasons to be here everyday I'm interested to hear, what were your goals for 2008 and did you achieve them, did you have any lifechanging experiences this year, if you could do it over again is there anything you woudn't have done / would do over 100 times exactly the same.

I'll start first in the next post.

[jamie79]

Well with dh being sent to the SGM academy and we are having to pay room rent and food for him plus all our bills here we did ok. We lowered our retirement contributions to handle the extra money going out but when he gets promoted we can put them up higher then they were. So we are ok. Not great but certainly there are alot of people alot worse off then we are

[frugal-fannie]

I have done really well in some areas (I paid off 50k in debt). My one daughter we put thru college and she married this year. An unexpected expense, for us.,we are thankful that at least she has no student loans and is looking to buy a house this next year. So I feel the accomplishment of getting one started on a good note. My plan for fixing up rental houses has not gone so well, lots of unexpected expenses and delays. But I am a big believer in persistence. My goals for this next year are get 2 more houses fixed and pay down at least another 50k in debt. Clear antiques and maybe set up a website for replacements. Since I have thousands of dishes. My other goal is weight loss, that is moving higher up the list. I would like to send my son to England for the summer to do an intensive Physics classes. It will unfortunately cost about 10k. That on top of the 30k for his college is a big load on me but it may be cost effective in cutting time off the end of his 4 year degree in Bio. He has done well and still is maintaining a 3.9 so I do not mind rewarding him for his hard work. If he keeps up at this rate he will have no trouble getting into Med school or Vet School. My oldest daughter will have enough credits for her 2 year degree and will take classes with my younger daughter in Health Information and work to get a job in my field. My goal for her is to help her budget so she can save for a down payment for a house. My other goals are to start planting trees. I would like to plant trees and landscaping that are edible- like Johnny Appleseed but with a little more variety. I am also going to increase my bible study. I am purchasing a gun ammo and increasing my stockpile. And work hard to cut more off the utilities.

[Laura2]

2008 was great for us. After temping for over a year, I was finally hired. We bought our first house in May. We got married in October. But things are definitely tight for us financially. Unfortunately we don't have any emergency fund. We are both hoping that we keep our jobs through the next year.

We hope to build an emergency fund in 2008 and start saving for retirement too.

[ZenTherapy]

2008 was my first "frugal" year! I changed my habits a lot. I started simplifying, decluttering, saving and writing down expenses, diy...
It wasn't easy at first. When I restrained myself from shopping I still had a lingering craving for new things, now not anymore.
This has been very helpful for me, since I'm working as a free-lance since September and I'm tighter on money than before. In a... previous life being at home without much work to do would have been depressing for me, but now I quite enjoy what I can do all by myself. I cook and bake, home is decluttered (well, as decluttered as a very tiny place can be), fridge is clean, pantry is in order... No more 3 year old teas forgotten in a corner, LOL - and we no longer buy more than we need. Also with the help of the new farmer's market, the weekly grocery shopping is roughly 60 euros*... it's amazing to think that we used to spend 70, 80 euros or more!
All in all, I'm pleased with myself

* No way! It's dropping. Last month it was 45 euros per week

[Momto2Boyz]

2008 was our first year debt free with the exception of our mortgage! We didn't meet our savings goal for the end of the year (which I had set really hight), but I'm not kicking myself in the pants about it.

We had a really rocky start to the year, with Dh being let go from the company the crappy company he had been with for 7 years. We literally lived on unemployment for months, since neither one of us could find anything. He had been on the waiting list for the company he is with now, for over 2 years, so he was shocked to find out that in March, he had made it to the top of the list! He passed all of his tests and physicals, and finally the silver lining showed up! Great job, great pay, awesome benefits and a company who values the time and effort he puts in! This in turn allowed me to continue to be home with the kids, which is one of our goals until they are both in school!

So all in all, we did pretty well! I'm setting another high goal for savings in 2009 and hopefully, we will hit it!

[TheRootedNomad]

Well here were my goals from the 2008 thread:

Financial:

~ Pay off an additional $15,000.00 morg. Principal. (45,900.00)
I didn't manage an extra $15 but I did manage an extra $10.

~ Increase retirement saving $15,000.00 (intrest counts)
I was on the right track here but I don't care to look at the moment as I'm sure I didn't meet this.
~ Continue to stay debt free
Done


Health:
This whole section was completely neglected. I have been on a downhill spiral as far as taking care of my health is concerned.

~ Stop Smoking (again )

~ Drop weight to under 145

~ be able to jog 1 mile


Home:

~ Start gutting, stocking for, and redoing the original bathroom
We have started picking up small odds and ends.
~ Finish living room restructure/remodel
Done
~ Finish hallway restructure/remodel
Done

Over all the year went well even if it doesn't really look it by the goal sheet. The biggest problem actually comes down, this year, to something I had/have more control over then the downsides we usually run into. My overall general health is sliding downhill and out of control. I was aware of the issue everyday and yet I continued to focus my energy on eveything else. Staying with my unheathy habits to some degree is comforting. I need to make sure in 2009 that I make the other areas of my life less stressfull so that I can be "uncomfortable" while breaking some of these bad health practices and installing good ones.

On the positive side both DH and my job still appear secure. Our emergency fund is in place and we have stayed debt free other than the mortgage even while working on some big ticket remodeling at home. My immediate family is healthy and I have spent more time slowing down.

[MomToTwoBoys]

2008 has shown us that with some work and determination to change the way we were living, we could drastically improve our circumstances.

In 2007, DH made 41k and I brought in about 6k for pension. We got another $1200 for one tax credit, and then another $2500 or so for the other tax credit. That was all part of our monthly income. We also got about $2800 back for taxes, which we used most of to pay off the Best Buy card when it had $1600 on it. 2008 was definitely different. DH made about 10k less than he did last year, which proved that we had to buck up and be more responsible.

So far this year, I'd say DH has made about $30k so far. Our one tax credit got reduced considerably, and my pension was affected by the exchange rate. We had to make due with what we had, so we changed our entire financial plan. We started with joining Frugal Village in May and came up with our first budget that same month. We buckled down a ton and put $1k into savings in about two months' time. We then looked at how much extra we were spending outside of necessities and worked really hard to cut back on things.

I'm happy to say that in the last twelve months, not only did we pull ourselves out of constantly being in overdraft but we also ended up with money in our accounts after paying bills. Being more frugal has changed the way that we handled our money and helped us prioritize what we needed vs what we wanted. We were able to buckle down and pay $900 in three months on a TV that we'd normally let sit and collect interest by paying the minimums. We prioritized our debt repayment order and have been working really hard on putting extra cash onto our debts.

We've grown up considerably in terms of being frugal, and I have everyone to thank here at FV for that.

[Buc-O-Mama]

2008 has been an incredibly difficult year emotionally. Our pastor and his 13 yr. old son were killed in a small plane crash in May. Our worship leader died after a heart attack 3 months later. Our daughter has been quite ill, and it took 10 months to diagnose her and get her treatment. Watching her suffer about tore my heart out. This year I learned that when I have no strength on my own, that God will carry me through. My faith is so much stronger than it was a year ago.

Financially, we are about the same. Paid off some debt, saved some. Blessed to still have our jobs. We made lots of changes this year regarding our wastefulness. We've become more green, less disposable and more appreciative of our resources. Our energy costs have come down dramatically because of that and more importantly, my kids have learned a new respect for our resources. We all hit the thrift store first if we need something. It's been a good year of change in that respect.

All in all, we're still living in this awesome country, our family is together and we have everything we need. Life is pretty good.

[winner]

I personally can say money wise I did great in 2008, (my RRSP and my svings account are in good shape),but being married to a big spender my husband failed a big time. Well, being independant woman I put my foot down, "you made your bed you sleep in it". Take responcibilities for your actions. I am your wife and a partner, not your mother to bail you out. So now he is "paying for his foolish mistakes being back home in UK. It is our second marriage and we are married almost 3 years, but still unsettled. My motto is: I didn't marry for money and would never take advantage of anyone financially, but I want the same from a partner.
We are still in love, and want to spend our lives together, but he has to learn cut down, because I will never put myself in the position where I will be scraping penny by penny and he will just blow hundreds, just because it is his money. Before we start any financial future together he has to clear his act. I can see baby steps taken by him and working on a realistic plan how to build a secure future. He asks me twice before he does something when spending is involved. I have one, it is him at 50 who acted like a teenager when it comes to spending. He was shocked, that with his experience he could not get a job, now with this credit crunch and his money gone and almost loosing his marriage he learned a lot. Is it cruel, am I heartless? No, I don't think so.
He is in UK, has a job to pay his unneeded debts, has his army pension, free rent lives with his brother, so he will be OK. At this present moment he is on his way to London for an interview for a job in Middle East he worked there for 2 years before he met me, that why money was no subject to him), so lets see what happens, I will keep you posted. If he gets a job I will join him in Middle East. Hi is kind, too generous, he made lots of mistakes, but made me happy as well, so I I will keep him and shape into a practical if not frugal husband. I know what you all say about changing a man, but believe me there is a potential!
That my drama in 2008, hopefully 2009 will be a better one.

[mmy2grls]

This last year was my worst. I made more money but somehow everything fell apart.

[FrugalMomof3]

I think our family did pretty well this year despite all the downsizing, prices going up on food, etc... we managed to NOT incur any new debt, save over $6000 and still keep afloat. We pay our bills on time, eat nicely, even rent a movie now and then.

I am proud of how things went for us this year and hoping next year will be just the same. We anticipate 2009 being a bit tighter for us this year but we're planning for that.

[nandmsmom]

We had a very good year. DH's businesses did exceptionally well. We did not incur any new debt and paid down lots. We even took a very fun, but quite frugal vacation and bought a new tv to replace one that died. Barring any craziness, we should do better next year and be down to only the mortgage for debt.

[pat in east texas]

A great year! We''ve been retired over10 years, had no debt to start with, and have none now. My 401K has gone down in value, but that's not what we depend on to live. We've decided to stay home this winter except for a few weeks in south Texas to visit the dentist and pharmacies in Mexico, instead of spending the whole winter there. We started a Square Foot garden late this year, but the tomatoes, cukes, carrots, peas and potatoes did great. Our health is still good. DH was in the hospital a few weeks ago with cellulitis (that used to be called blood poisoning, and before strong antibiotics, people died from it). He's doing fine and I'm very grateful that we are living now rather than 100 years ago!
We had an almost full house at our annual "Thanksmas" family and friends gathering - 25 of us this year, and it's more fun each year. DBIL and his wife didn't make it - she's battling lung cancer and it looks bad. That's really been the downside of our year. We can just hope for the best.

[redhead68]

We had our ups and downs. On the plus side, after years of careful savings, we were able to purchase a house in the neighborhood of our choice. On the down side, my husband lost out on a promotion that he had worked very hard to attain.

But, when all is said and done, we have much for which to be thankful: our health, a new home, my husband's stable job, and two wonderful children who make it exciting to wake up each day.