It should come as a shock to absolutely no one that a self-professed procrastinator is getting her “2020 Financial Goals” post done in the waning minutes of New Year’s Day…

2020 Financial Goals

I have decided to be very concrete about my goals for this year.

1) Pay off Private Student Loan 1 ($8,600.00 remaining as of 1/1/2020) by the end of the promotional period.

This was originally a Discover Student Loan with an interest rate of 9.74% that I balance transferred to two separate credit cards using a 0% interest with a 3% balance transfer fee promotional offer. I blogged about the process here and the psychological reasons propelling me here.

2) Pay off  Private Student Loan 3 – The current balance on this loan as of 1/1/2020 is $8,001.38.

Paying off both of these debts by the end of the year is a bit aggressive. However, it also seems achievable given that I reduced my debt by more than $16,000.00 in 2019. If I am able to pay off both of these student loans, I will be down to three loan servicers and somehow that also seems like an achievement. I will also consider applying for a refinance at the end of the year. While I was unsuccessful the first time I applied, I believe my DTI (debt-to-income) will be much better and give me a better chance of being approved.

3) Start a small business AND generate an additional $500.00/month in income.

For some time I have been considering and writing about getting a side job. While I did find something in early September, ultimately, it wasn’t the best use of my time or gas and I only accepted one assignment. The more I have thought about it and researched, the more I am convinced that what I really need is my own business. I have a couple of ideas that I have been researching and discussing with some folks already in the business and while I am not planning to dive in, I would like to get something going by March.

And that’s really it. It may not seem like much but if I could successfully hit any and/or all of these goals, I will end this year in a significantly better financial position that I am in now.

And while it isn’t financial, I realized one of the reasons I didn’t write as much here is that I was ashamed when I wasn’t making as much progress as I wanted. In 2020, I’m gonna let that ish go, and…

2020 Blogging Goal: One (1) student loan balance post a month AND one update post a month.

I am committing to writing two blog posts a month. While that might not seem like much, it will help keep me accountable and force me to acknowledge when I’m not where I need to be and perhaps work through what needs to change.