New Years Eve was a sensational time, as I made the trip down to South Jersey to spend the evening with Jeremy, Keeley, the Hondawg, Jeremy's brother Eddie, and his son. We had an awesome time. After the ball came down in Time Square, we toasted to glasses of champagne and went outside afterwards to light up some firecrackers with the neighbors. What a way to begin a new year!
It's crazy how fast the time flies by, isn't it? This weather has been even crazier with these near-record freezing temperatures. Winter storm Hercules certainly marked its territory on Thursday night, prompting the first snow closing at my job since December 2010. That's right, I got a free day off on Friday. That doesn't happen all that often, so I was thankful for that. Still, I am not a winter person and I don't do winter very well.
Regardless of the temperature outside or whatever time of the year it is, I am trying to make the most of it and focus on some goals that I will be attempting to meet in the next several months. One of those goals is to once again get the finances in order in terms of credit card debt as well as money saved for a rainy day. In the first half of the year, I have a history of being able to pay off my credit card debt, only to rack it back up again in the second half of the year due to the holiday spending and some other monetarily influenced indulgences. I need to get that under control and start living within my means consistently.
In the next few months, I have plans of moving to the Montclair area, which would place my residence significantly closer to my office at work. That's something that I feel needs to happen, not only because it's time to get my very own place, but also because it's becoming a financial hassle to pay for a monthly train pass from D-town to Newark. The commute itself is also taking a toll on the personal time that I have available in my day to day life. I would like to take back at least one or two more free hours each day to give myself a little bit more time to go to the gym in the morning and handle other forms of business (writing, journalism, dieting, finding ways to make more money, etc) that I would like to conduct after my work day has concluded.
These pursuits take time and dedication, but in order to dedicate myself, I need to get back some of the time that my current agenda is holding hostage.
