A Look Back at 2009

What a year it’s been!  A new President, a new Supreme Court justice, swine flu, mortgage companies failing, health care debates, Cash for Clunkers…it’s definitely been an eventful year.

I’d love to write that 2009 was a huge success for me personally.  In many ways it was.  I was able to travel to a couple of blog conferences and see cities I’d never visited before.  Our family went to Disneyland for the first time.  Homeschooling has been a HUGE success, despite my fears.

But as far as frugality, budgeting, and paying off debt go, I really lost my focus this year. The good news is, we still have no credit card debt.  The bad news is, we didn’t really make any advances in paying down our student loan.

Why? I got overwhelmed, and I didn’t have a strong plan in place. In the first half of the year, my blog really took off.  I was quoted by the Associated Press, and the traffic from the article brought my site down.  I had to figure out a new webhosting solution, and that took time and mental energy.

Around the same time, I was featured in Redbook magazine, and let’s face it.  That was exciting, and I got a lot of attention and questions about that article.  Don’t get me wrong.  It was a lot of fun!  But it did take my focus away from my goals.

And then in April, we made the decision to homeschool for the 2009-2010 school year.  That played a huge part in my financial shortcomings this year.  Instead of spending my time cutting my budget and increasing my income, I spent time researching curriculum and teaching my kids.  I don’t regret it for one minute, but again, it is a huge distraction.

The bottom line is, though I’m disappointed with my lack of focus on frugality and paying off debt this year, I’m extremely happy with my accomplishments in other areas. But I’m ready to get back on the Dave Ramsey bandwagon and get our debt paid off.

So where does that leave me and the state of Being Frugal.net?  Well, I’m excited about starting fresh in the new year.  The media frenzy has slowed way down, and I have a good routine in our homeschool.  I’ve learned that organization and routine are very important in accomplishing goals, and I tend to fall apart when either gets neglected.

To avoid that problem next year, I’ve put forth a plan for both my blog and my finances that will keep me on track next year.  I’ll write about that tomorrow, when I take a look forward to 2010.

How was your 2009?  Did you accomplish your goals?  Or did you get sidetracked?

Photo by mikebaird.

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