Goal for December Made!

If you take a look at my sidebar over there, you will notice a rather large jump recently. Well, I've made a few sales on Amazon lately and... no, I am just kidding. While I have had some nice sales lately, the bulk of that money came from a year end holiday bonus from my employeer.

We had a company meeting back at the end of November and my boss pretty much laid out that the bonuses this year would be slim - and compared to the roaring late 90s, they were. However, in the "will I have a job tomorrow?" 08s, they were much larger than expected. I had a great time handing out the payslips to my employees - it was so fun to see their eyes light up. Mine too, to be honest.

There is some question on what I will do with the overage. Right now I am considering putting a portion towards my credit card and the rest in emergency savings - goodness knows I could use a boost in that direction. Since the end of May when I started my blog and drive to make $900 to keep my home out of foreclosure, I have only gone over my goal once. I think that is to be expected - there will be good months and bad, and building up various income streams takes time. Putting the overage that I get into savings will help protect against the down months.

So, why don't I put the whole thing toward the credit card?

Well, I could and it is certainly something I am considering. If I were able to pay off or almost pay off the credit card, I would have an additional $75 per month. Theoretically, that $75 could then go into savings. However, since I start each month needing $900, it is more likely that $75 would go towards regular bills. My credit card's balance is under $950, and the interest is practically nil, so I think I feel better putting a chunk towards it and keeping the rest pretty liquid. As wacky as my life is, building up my emergency fund is pretty high on my list.

In fact, I've been working on my goals for 2009 and getting my emergency fund built up is a big one. More and more I find that being frugal isn't so much about having a lot of money - it is about making wise decisions so you don't have to worry later.


Appropriate Christmas coins photo by: Ronayne.