I have nearly $1100 set aside that I was trying to decide what to do with. I now know what it is being used for.

I sent my husband to get the oil changed in the car yesterday. Turns out a major repair was needed to the tune of $975! When they lifted the car (2002 Ford Taurus) up the strut on the back left of the vehicle broke stabbing the tire at the same time. Guess what? We HAD to get new struts on the back and a new tire.

We already had a similar thing happen to the front end about a year ago. This is VERY common on these cars. It won't happen again since these are manufactured different than the original. Thank goodness! I'm so thankful we were not driving it at the time.

This car repair will set us back at least another two weeks on the home equity loan. At this point, I might just save up the money I need and then pay it off rather than little bits at a time. With my husband's overseas travel getting closer there are bound to be unplanned expenses. What I mean is my husband hasn't thought ahead to what those are and/or hasn't thought to tell me. Ugh!

My stress level has gone through the roof in the last 24 hours because of this car repair on top of other things going on. Crazy, really. I should be grateful we have the cash right now to pay it off without dipping into the emergency fund. I'm just disappointed with the set back. I will get through this!

I just finished cutting my Christmas cards into small gift tags for next years holiday gifts. I often use sticky gift tags I find on clearance or even blank address labels. Next year I won't need these. I will write on the back of the card tags I just made, punch a hole in the top and tie it to the gift.

My sister actually did this for this past Christmas and they turned out great. The holiday colors of the cards coordinate with the wrapping paper. I realize this isn't an original idea. It's been around. One can just write on the wrapping paper with marker to avoid the gift tag altogether.

It took me all of five minutes to make over 36 gift tags. I recycled the remainder of the cards and scraps. I will toss the tags in with my holiday wrap so I can find them next year.

I really am thrilled with this. I almost bought a package of sticky gift tags for $0.99 just before Christmas. The tags were wrapped in plastic, so I decided not to buy them. The cut up cards will be a great free and plastic free alternative.

You could find a pair of sissors and cut up your cards, too!

Our basic goals for 2010 break down like this:

1) Max out our Roth IRA's
2) Save 7% of basic pay in TSP
3) Pay off home equity loan
4) Save money for college
5) Add money to our emergency fund
6) Pay down/off van loan
7) Save cash for a truck
8) Convert IRA's (if feasible)

I plan to flesh these goals out with exact numbers soon. These goals will take us into 2011 when we expect my husband to return from overseas.

The retirement goals are automated, so these will be easy. The home equity loan is top on my list with an expected payoff at the end of February!

We often have focused goals. One or two big ones at a time. My husband's deployment will bring in extra cash so we are going to tackle several goals at a time.