A Fresh Start and a Big Goal

*tap tap tap*  Is this thing on?

Happy 2019, friends!

I haven't opened up a fresh Blogger page in about 3 years, so this is giving me plenty of flashbacks right now.

The beautiful (and at times cringe-worthy) thing about recording your life on a blog is that you have a space to revisit and remind you of the journey you've been on.  I'm so happy that I created this blog 6(!) years ago as an outlet to finally focus on my biggest passion- personal finance.  This blog helped me start to outline some of my favorite tips and tricks, and that focus helped my family pay off a steaming heap of credit card debt a few years back.

The last 6 years have taken us on an epic tour of what Murphy's Law can do to a family (surgeries, hospital stays, vast unanticipated medical bills, broken cars, moves) and have really brought home what proper financial planning (or the lack thereof) can do.  We worked hard to pay off all our consumer debt a few years back, only to find ourselves back today in a position of debt due to lack of planning for emergencies (and, let's be honest, not living below our means at all times).

One visit to Chik Fil A does not a mountain of debt make...  But things like consistent lack of meal planning, using emergency credit cards in not-so-emergency situations, and failing to plan for inevitable things like major car repairs (it's a machine.  It IS going to break one day.) can build up a risky financial  house of cards that could come crashing down.

I'm not here to play the "woe is me card", because despite some of the surprise cards we've been dealt (like the 5 figures in medical and therapy bills we've paid over the past few years) I'm a grown up and am responsible for all of the financial choices we've made.  What I AM planning on doing here is being a transparent as I can be about the mistakes I've made, and how I plan on fixing them going forward to set our family on a strong financial path.

Not only have I set some pretty lofty goals for our family's finances over the next 12 months, but I've set some pretty lofty professional goals for myself as well.  I'm heavily considering pursuing the career path of becoming an Accredited Financial Counselor this year, and want to use this little blog space as a way to track both journeys.

Here's to a year full of hard work, accountability, and helping hopefully 1 other person gain control of their financial future!