The Weight of Money

2007 is basically over in my book, time keeps rushing past and there is no slowing down in sight. As I start thinking about 2008, I’m starting to panic — just a little. I feel like we’re teetering on some major financial obstacles that I don’t think we’ll be able to skirt around as we have this year. Basically, there are five major expenses simmering under the surface and 2008 looks like the boiling point. As I reflect on the goals that did or did not happen this year, I need to get a very thorough action plan in place for what we are going to do about next year. Time to get off the procrastination wagon.

• Buy a family/commuting car. We need a vehicle that is better suited for commuting than the small SUV the partner is currently driving or my stick shift vehicle. The mpg on the SUV isn’t the greatest, but the issue is mostly that it’s falling apart, slowly and surely — I’m pretty sure I said this last year too and the new commute is hastening it’s demise. Also, it’s a two door family car and we’re finding that just isn’t enough any more. So, we need a new (to us), four-door, family/commuting car. The reason my car doesn’t fit this bill is that its two-doors, manual transmission, and has no a/c. The manual transmission doesn’t lend itself to low-stress, stop and go commute driving, and while the lack of a/c has been a standard in all of our vehicles (and our home), the partner has reached the end of the line for putting up with that.
• Buy a truck. We both need new vehicles (partially explained above and left somewhat vague intentionally) and the truck is to replace my car. We need to be able to haul stuff and my car can’t do it and the SUV is dying. We do have a utility van, but we often need to haul stuff and people and the van only seats two. Now, it may end up being another SUV type vehicle, even though I don’t care for those very much, as long as it has a hitch and the ability to pull a trailer. Whatever it is, it’ll be my new get-around-town vehicle, as the new car should be more suitable for commuting. Despite my long-stated reluctance to get a larger vehicle, I’m starting to accept this idea; though I’ll still mourn the lost off my little compact car.
• Build a shop. Even though this big-ticket item fell off my fall agenda, the need for it hasn’t decreased. It’s not an optional choice, though the need for two new vehicles makes it a financially more painful one. Now, I can ramble on about the differences between needs and want, but the end result is that a shop is a must have and another year without one is not acceptable. Hopefully the partner and I will find time to evaluate our outdoor space a bit more and figure out what the bare minimum is for the initial structure (with plans to build on more as finances allow). We already have a few required elements that are already having a pretty serious impact on the price — as in the need for a two story shop (not just one with some attic space) — and we need to figure out how to get the minimum erected and hope to do more on our own as time and resources allow.
• Orthodontia for the daughter. I’ve been putting this off for the past two months, but we’ll need to get started. I’ve finally decided to continue with our current providers, versus finding someone new, and just need to bite the bullet and sign the agreement to part with several thousand dollars over the next year or so. Maybe we’ll be able to drag it out a bit longer than usual to make it a little more manageable.
• Medical Expenses. Looks like there are some upcoming medical expenses that we probably won’t be able to avoid next year. The non-insured amounts are still somewhat vague, but it’ll still be significant compared to the less than $100 we spent on medical expenses this year.

Oh boy, looks like I’ve got some work cut out for me in making these things happen. Winning the lottery looks more and more appealing every day as I struggle to figure out how to make these things happen. Luckily, my business is expanding rapidly at the moment and next year looks even more promising for new avenues of income.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 3:17 pm and is filed under budget/goals, general, vehicles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.