New Year's Resolution

[SAR-EMT1]

2008 goal........give up soda pop for good.  I gave it up almost 15 years ago, and had a "relapse" this past year.  Got to get back on the wagon.  Also, I plan on traveling more this coming year.  I want to make it back west (Texas, Oklahoma, California) to visit friends. 

Military wise......I need to burn some leave up this year. 

Money wise....... Invest what I saved while I was overseas.  It just sits in my account at USAA collecting pennies. I have also been looking into opening a Chick-Fillet restaurant with my Army cash.  They only require $5,000 upfront, they buy the land, the building etc, and all they ask in return is for the owner/operator to pay them 7% a month net.  Plus they are closed on Sundays! 

Possible......get training for the Philly Marathon.  OR give up beer.  Haven't decided yet. 

How can you give up soda and beer at the same time?! 
Not harping on you, just amazed at your tenacity.

[SAR-EMT1]

As for myself...

Personal:

Turn some fat into muscle. Im 160lbs and 5 ft 8 but can only bench 130.
Regain the ability to smoke the PFT like I could in ROTC
Continue to pay off my existing debt.

Career: Paramedic Training, HAZMAT Tech, move to a better paying dept.

Educational: Go back to school (at least part time) to finish my bachelors

CAP: Complete Scanner and Observer Training, go on a mission that actually results in my first FIND.

mod'd for readability

[Capt M. Sherrod]

I saw an Oprah show that talked about debt and called Consumer Credit Counseling Services.  Now there's a whole bunch of them.  But in 2 years I had it all paid off.  They contact your creditors, the IRS and everything; consolidate your paymets to one low monthly payment and  there you go.  In fact, some creditors lowered the interest to 0%.

Just some FYI from a BTDT in that area.  Since then, been debt free, minus car payment and mortgage.  That was 7 years ago.

I'm glad that it worked for you, however, based on my experiences having BTDT and having processed mortgages in a different life.  CCCS is actually treated worse than a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy while you are in the program.  Your credit rating takes a nose dive down the toilet.  Everyone here that is talking about paying off debt needs to remember that there are pros and cons to each method.  PM me if you want more details about what I know now compared to what I knew 10 years ago.

[mikeylikey]

2008 goal........give up soda pop for good.  I gave it up almost 15 years ago, and had a "relapse" this past year.  Got to get back on the wagon.  Also, I plan on traveling more this coming year.  I want to make it back west (Texas, Oklahoma, California) to visit friends. 

Military wise......I need to burn some leave up this year. 

Money wise....... Invest what I saved while I was overseas.  It just sits in my account at USAA collecting pennies. I have also been looking into opening a Chick-Fillet restaurant with my Army cash.  They only require $5,000 upfront, they buy the land, the building etc, and all they ask in return is for the owner/operator to pay them 7% a month net.  Plus they are closed on Sundays! 

Possible......get training for the Philly Marathon.  OR give up beer.  Haven't decided yet. 

How can you give up soda and beer at the same time?! 
Not harping on you, just amazed at your tenacity.

It is going to be pure HELL.  I am trying to finish up all the soda I have before 1 JAN, the beer was gone a while ago.  I am a huge Iced Tea drinker......I went and got myself a Mr Iced Tea Machine in hopes of that saving some cash.  I will just carry around my own instead of buying it. 

[Stonewall]

CCCS is actually treated worse than a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy while you are in the program.  Your credit rating takes a nose dive down the toilet. 

That may be, but doesn't bankruptcy stick to your credit for like 7 years?  Truth is, I never had credit problems, I had debt problems.  And compared to a lot of people, mine were nothing.  Mine were mostly accrued due to the cost of school. 

My sister filed bankruptcy and I remember her not being allowed to have an ATM card, let alone a credit card, for 7 years. 

At the time, I had a TS/SCI clearance, and I think filing bankruptcy would have been the wrong choice for my career.

[mikeylikey]

At the time, I had a TS/SCI clearance, and I think filing bankruptcy would have been the wrong choice for my career.

Correcto!  You would have been an automatic "interview" if you filed bankruptcy.  If your credit rating today is below (I believe) 400, you also get the interview.

I actually went through my credit report and spent 2 days getting BOGUS items removed from it, because I was paranoid on being denied my re-cert 2 years ago.

I found out 3 retail store credit lines were opened in my name, as well as a Sunoco card.  They were all closed in good standing, but the fact that someone else pretended to be me was weird.