muneeee. $$$.

Finances. Sigh. I have come to the realization that despite a *few* financial missteps through the years the most impactful has been the one to bring me the greatest joy. Olive Oil (hyperlink goes to the breeder where I bought her - yes she is on the homepage - & here she is pooping in case you've forgotten who she is) ::

$2300 up front + (Approx. $500/yr in costs x 6) + 1 week sick in '09 $6700 = ~ $12K

She is not worth the fur she is printed on.

On another note, financial health is a huge accomplishment. I am jealous of those that are there and if I stick with my goals I'm about 1 year away... I really recommend a financial tracker of basic life expenses, debts, weekly allowances & income to prioritize how you spend... Please see Exhibit A ::

 

You see, in the upper right I listed out my basic monthly bills/expenses. Then I pasted it on repeat in the left including rows for income.  Then in the very bottom I divided what these add up to (or subtract down to, depending on how you view your glass) by the amount of weeks til that date and determined my weekly "allowance" for food, gas, fun, etc.  If this amount is higher than what I will need, the leftover is tossed onto any debt or into a savings account (currently I'm hacking away at a moderate lump of credit cards + college loans <15K).

One great resource is Dave Ramsey, if you have debt I recommend his tactic of snowballing it (pay off smallest debts first but then roll those payments into the larger debts...ultimately living at the same means despite things being paid off).

Then there is always the flip-side of the coin, which is too risky for me... But this guy talks about how he paid off his house but would have made exponentially more in his other investments had he left the money there.

One thing I know, you can't take it with you in the end & it will only make you happy to a point, so maybe the bad little bulldog has brought enough joy and entertainment into my life in ways that will far exceed how -$12K impacted me. At least that's the way I see it, but my glass is 1/2 full :)