Out of the areas I'll be focusing on, finances will likely be the easiest area to mark progress in. My current goal in this area is to be debt free except for my mortgage...again! I did this a few years ago, but now have small amounts on my credit cards and, of course, now a good amount of medical bills. I'm still praying about this, but I believe my 'return to school' marker in this area will be for my credit cards to be paid off. That is a bit hard for me to swallow as I really 'want' to return to school for the summer semester. Want...not need.
My Unexpected Emergency Fund had already been funded with an amount equal to one yearly medical deductible. Though my recent hospital stay was unexpected, I did not have to pay anything up front, so those bills will be worked into my monthly spending plan as they come in.
With that already taken care of, my attention turned to my February Spending Plan. I decided that would be my first financial marker for my new focus.
Area: Finances
Marker #1: Balanced spending plan for February - to include minimum payments to all verified medical bills and credit cards, as well as amounts designated for incidentals accounts - car maintenance, vet expenses, clothing needs, doctor visits, etc.
After a good amount of time and thought, it has been finalized. All areas that I could think of have been at least noted on the plan - including the unexpected additional doctor appointments. Minimum payments have been scheduled for all verified medical bills, as well as one of my two credit cards, and an extra amount has been allocated to my other credit card - the one with the lowest balance. That leads to my second marker:
Area: Finances
Marker #2: Pay off credit card #1
Thankfully, this credit card has a pretty low balance. Reviewing the account today, I realized I only need to squeeze an additional $67 out of February's spending plan to meet this marker by the end of the month.
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