2012 is here already!

Where does the time go? Seriously? Here I was in October, 2010, minding my own business, and all of a sudden 2011 is over. Scary!

Anyway, this year was financially awful. Truly. Right from the get-go I was spending like...well, like I had a lot of money to spend. I was about $3K from being completely out of debt and I'm now more than $7500K in debt again. 2012 is going to be a challenge for sure. Where did I spend it all? Let's see...

Two courses, one each in Jan & Feb. Another in October.

A month-long, 8800 km road trip in May (although this was, mentally & emotionally, priceless). Best thing I E.V.E.R. did for myself. Also did a 4-day course during this time. But spend, spend, spend...oh my...

Books...generally. And many.

I'm currently registered for two more classes at the college, and although education is never a waste, it IS expensive initally.

Backed into a fence and had a $1400 bodywork repair bill to the truck, plus had to replace the taillight assemblies (one got broken on my trip in May, so they replaced that one for me too. The other got busted in the Fence Meets Car moment). *Sigh*

Joined, then cancelled, eHarmony (total waste of $) after less than a month.

One of my cats is diabetic and was at the vet 4 times in two weeks before I went away for Christmas. *Sigh* Poor little princess.

Physio sessions,

And likely a whole lot of other stuff, including a trip to Victoria for Christmas, which was mostly covered by a flight credit, so wasn't QUITE as bad as it could have been, but didn't account for all the other spending I did while I was there. Ahem.

Despite all this spending madness, I am feeling quite accomplished this year, actually. I've worked hard at decluttering the apartment and while that's still ongoing, I've made much progress. I had a wonderful visit from a friend I haven't seen in 13 years and a trip to lovely Juneau, Alaska with her. I've taken some really interesting courses: Reiki, BodyTalk, photography, am currently doing a writing course and taking an English class starting in January. I made my first Vision Board. Volunteered for a couple of days at a horse sanctuary and drove up the breathtaking Oregon coast with a friend. Spent a month driving from Whitehorse to Vernon to Victoria and Vancouver and Oregon and back. Reconnected with old friends and made several new ones. Got another cat. Stepped off the Humane Society Board. Was published. Moved an entire library. Read a lot.

Learned a LOT. (Not kidding).

I've had "awareness" bells going off like mad all year, so the work I've been doing since the beginning of the year is paying off (reading, energy work, paying more attention to things). Last January I gave myself a year to see what I could accomplish, like taking on New Year's resolutions. People do it because it's a significant time in the year and one that can be counted. By the end of March, I was once again feeling low, so instead decided that my birthday was going to be the start of this plan. It's a significant date - probably more so than New Year's - and so I have another 4 months ahead of me to accomplish things and be within my goal.

Goals for 2012 include:

Saving $1500 - $2K towards a trip to the UK in 2013
Paying off my credit card in full (again...did this once already this year...*blush*)
Paying my line of credit down to $2500 and capping it at this amount
EFund at $1000
Couch to 5K
Writing a book and sending it to a publisher within 6 months (this is a challenge my brother set for me)
Spending more time with my friends instead of alone
Practicing BodyTalk
Choosing 4 or 5 charities and contributing monthly to their work (PlanCanada, WSPA, WWF, that sort of thing)
Exercise more. But start slow.

Oh, yeah. I'm going to suspend my Facebook account, too. Starting tonight. It's a huge time suck and I need to break that addiction.

There are more, but I've got them scattered in several lists. They're all pretty good - I think - and some are ones that can be used as a springboard for next year (e.g. EFund can go to $2K or $2500 next year). I'm going to follow Carla's no-spend 2012 in January and see what sort of jumpstart that gives me on the year: http://halfdozendaily.blog.com/no-spend-2012/. Good luck to all those following along! :)

Anyway, that's a nutshell update for this year. Wishing you all a safe, happy, healthy and fun 2012 from the North!

See you on the other side! :)