This year, I decided to just focus on five things I want to win and five other goals.
This is my list. Breaking them down and why I chose each of them:
1. Upstairs bathroom working
Right now, our upstairs bathroom is not working as the toilet it leaking. We turned the water off to that so it wouldn't ruin the floor. I would like to be able to get that working again. It feels so 'poor' to have a bathroom in your home that you can't use because it doesn't work properly. This is one of my main goals.
2. Credit Cards paid off. This is a no-brainer. We have debt because of medical bills. I have been most of my adult life without debt, but an interesting phenomenon happened once I had insurance after 20 years of avoiding medical care -- when it became sort of affordable to me, I decided to take care of my health. Because I neglected myself for decades, I'm still trying to patch things up from the past 20 years, and it's caused us to go in debt. The same with my husband, only he was without insurance for about 8 years. When you have two people who are going to the doctor to try and get numerous things fixed that couldn't be taken care of back in the day because of money, it adds up. Some of this stuff might not have been a big deal years ago, but the cost was a big deal without insurance, and now those small things have turned into bigger things, and even with insurance, medical bills are our #1 expense.
3. Car paid off. We have a relatively new Prius which we bought used. That sounds like it is a luxury, but where we live, it's almost 40 minutes round trip to a primary care physician. If you need anything beyond that, it's at least a 70 mile round trip. When there can be 200+ miles a week put on the car for medical purposes, let alone the 60 my husband puts on the car for work, well, that is a LOT of driving, and we decided to go with a car with good gas milage rather than a cheaper one that got lower gas milage. I cringe each time I pay the car payment, but I remember we decided on that trade off.
4. Emergency fund. I think that's pretty self explanitory.
5. Move. I've lived in this town since I was born, and in the same house since I was 12. Thirty five years in the same house makes you want to move. Not to mention, this is the house my mother died in, and I have to pass by the spot I last saw her in this house -- dead on the floor -- multiple times a day whenever I go to the bathroom (another reason I want to get the upstairs bathroom working. I like to avoid the room she died in whenever possible, and I just can't do that at the moment.)
6. Refrigerator. This is the oldest appliance we have in the house. I believe it is 14 years old, and the average fridge has a life of about 15 years anymore. My mom purchased this refrigerator when my father was still living because I know he was still alive when she won all new large appliances. She sold the ones we didn't need, as we had purchased some less than a year previously. I would like to win a refrigerator so that we can replace ours before it needs to be done -- or have the gift cards to somewhere like Lowe's on hand so when it does go out we can purchase it without having to spend the money.
7. Mattress. My husband and I cannot sleep in the same room and get a decent night's sleep. I won a mattress about three years ago, but it's broken down so much I find it uncomfortable. His mattress is one I bought when my Dad died over 13 years ago-- although people were talking through the town about how I was "spending my daddy's money" when I got a small amount of life insurance, the one thing I did was purchase a new mattress and boxsprings. I had been sleeping on the floor for a number of years. I don't think purchasing a bed was such an extravagance. In fact, I often see posts on Facebook asking for a bed for someone because it's an "emergency" because they don't have a bed. As someone who went without a bed for years and just slept on the floor, I certainly don't think of a lack of bed as an emergency. To me, it's an American acquired "need". Although, now I'm getting to the age where I can't easily get off the floor, so being on something higher is needed for me, but I recently asked my husband to just get a wooden board from Lowes to help me have something to sleep on. With the upstairs bathroom not working and as sick as I have been the last several months, I have had my husband move boxsprings into the living room for me to sleep on. But ideally, I would get the new mattress and my husband get my old one if I were to get a new mattress.
8. Freezer. I have a cousin who loves to hunt, and we need a place to store our yearly deer. Plus I am a coupon queen. About 10 years ago, I won an iPad from a company who purchased it from Best Buy. They included the receipt, so I was able to return it to Best Buy and exchange it for a freezer. I don't know what I would have done with that freezer. Mom was unable to open the freezer above the fridge in her later years, so we used it side by side with our fridge. Everyday stuff like ice cubes and the like that my mother would need were stored in the upright freezer. Once my mother passed away five years ago, we were able to move it to the garage, but it is constantly filled with meat and bargains from my couponing.
9. Mower. This is not an immediate need but because I do want to move, my ideal home would be a bit more in the country. I have lived in town my whole live, and I'd love to be able to go outside without neighbors being able to see me. Right now, our back porch overlooks a store. Walk 10 paces straight out of our front door and you are in the middle of a main street in a town of 1500. Even where we live now, a riding mower would mean much less time spent on yard work -- or saving the money we currently pay for someone to mow our yard.
10. Snow blower. I live in a town that gets snow. Even though a snowblower couldnt' handle some of our snowstorms, it would be nice to have, especially if we get to move like we hope.
I'll be back later this week to explain how I plan on tackling some of these goals. :)
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