Now that 2007 is coming to a close, it's a good time to reflect on what the old year has wrought...before making resolutions for the next year.

So, how was 2007 for you?

Thanks to the GRS community, I made some serious headway on a longer-term goal. From the New Years' Resolutions discussion last year, I learned about www.sparkpeople.com, and with the help of its program have lost 35 lbs in the last year. My goal is 50 lbs in 2 years, so 2008 is gonna be easy, right?
I also competed in and finished my first triathlon this summer. Yeah, baby!

Financially, the picture is a little mixed. My earning outlook is good for 2008 and I'm sharpening up plans for some good intermediate-term goals (buying another house and renting out the current one, in the next 5-7 years). My husband is anticipating a raise, too, yay! However, our savings are currently low and we've got some annoying credit card debt, by design, as a result of a largeish home improvement project in the fall. We're paying off the debt and rebuilding our savings, so we're headed in the right direction. But I've got such an ingrained hatred of credit card debt that, even if all is going as planned, I still detest having those balances! So, I'm not as "at peace" with money as I'd like to be, but I think the debt arose from the right choice and we are handling it.

Let us know what 2007 taught you, cost you, or earned you!

I had to think for a while to remember what last years resolution was. I was suppose to do more things that I enjoyed doing. or something along those lines I do recall that it involved doing things like going to the park, museum and other things that I like to believe are a reflection of me [as opposed to the work, eat, sleep routine]. i wish i had kept doing it though out the year.

2007 was a really good year for me. I started taking control of my finances [still on that journey], made extra payments on my student loan, started an emergency fund [well i always had one but i started putting money in it and leaving it there], and started an RRSP.

Right now i'm putting together a year end financial check-up. that way i'll have a clear view of my savings and debts. I'm going to put it somewhere safe [ie where i'll be able to find it] so that at the end of next year i can compare the two and see how i've done.

I made no resolutions which made it very easy to hit my targets. As they say in customer service, aim low and over-achieve.

we don't make resolutions, because there is no need to do so if you have goals established and adapting them along the way. new year resolutions are a joke, because, bottom line, if you haven't resolved to achieve the goal, you simply will not. as part of our larger financial picture, we had set to save $90k in 2007. We fell short about $13k. for 2008 goal, we will shoot to save $60k, since we will be operating under one income, and we will reduce our "wanted" expenditures which accounted for $6k of the $13k we were short in 2007.

But, with interest, your emergency fund is probably up to about $1.05, right? Maybe $1.03 after taxes?


New Year's resolutions are simply a way for people to resolve to achieve a goal. While they usually are a joke, that's simply because there are often contrived when people think that some arbitrary calendar date is a reason for self-improvement. Doesn't mean they are a joke for everyone though.

Personally, I thought about having a resolution, then I woke up fantastically hungover on the first and thought "I'd better just wait another year".

I tend to formulate goals for the year around New Year's, but I've never been much for resolutions per se.

considering the vast majority of NY resolutions are never fulfilled, they are a joke. of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.

Normally I write up a whole list of New Year's goals/resolutions and I work at them but I don't really make huge strides. For example, I'll set a goal to read 10 books from the greatest books of the 20th century list and maybe I'll read 2 from the list but I'll also read 20 other books over the year. For 2007 I only set one goal (along with my husband), pay off all unsecured debt ($55,500). We are $2,800 away from meeting our goal. I think that I've learned that I should really focus all my energy on one goal and become obsessive about it and I'll make real progress. We are setting money goals for next year but I need to set a big goal for myself.

I didn't have any specific goals. My overall goal was to take my head out of the sand and learn more about pf and yes, I've learned a lot this past year.

I usually record my New Years' resolutions in my journal. 2007's were to dress more emo, stop letting my friends drag me to gay bars, remain a vegetarian, and avoid getting a nautical-themed tattoo. So I'm halfway there, which is probably better than average for these things.

I know I achieved a few of my 2007 objectives. I set up and funded Roth IRAs for my husband and I, I opened and am funding an account at ING, and I re-balanced my 403b portfolio. I also managed more balance between work and home. And I'm starting to get some handle on controlling my self-imposed stress. I didn't save quite as much as I wished, so for next year I will set up a tracking mechanism for savings.

I met my major goal: getting out of debt. Now I've set some big goals for 2008, and I'm worried that I can't hit them. Oh well, they're so big that even if I miss, I'll still have done a lot!

I didn't really make any resolutions last year, but I did buy a book about procrastination. It's still sitting on the end of my couch, half read.

I don't make resolutions, but 2007 was a great year for my wife and I .Today one year ago she had major fusion surgery on her neck and it made a major difference in the way she felt, terrible headaches gone . At our age you learn to take it one day at a time and enjoy the blessings of life the Good Lord has allowed us to have.She and I were talking just this morning how much different today is from one year ago.

I was lucky and exceeded my goals. I had planned to pay my credit card debt down to a certain amount but actually ended up paying it all off.