Still on track!

So the job change has cased a little bit of a hiccup in my financial plans, which I had planned for and am happy to say I am now done with. It’s not a big deal – it basically comes down to my new job having a slightly different payroll schedule, and of course the fact that there’s a certain lag between when I start and my first paycheck. In order to be prepared, I basically held off on Baby Step 2 until my first paycheck from my new job. At that time I figured everything would be okay, and I could use the accumulated amount towards Baby Step 2.

It worked – but I have to say that psychologically, I felt very much off-track during that time. I had almost forgotten how much I loved putting money on my car loan and seeing the balance drop. So when I finally put another principal payment on my car loan, which was an amount equal to what had accumulated while between jobs, well, it felt pretty good.

I’m happy to say that I feel like I’m on track again – not that I was really ever off track – but I feel good that I’m able to see progress again.

I like my new job, although, I have to admit I miss my old job. A lot. It’s strange how you miss the things you took for granted. At my old job my lead was able to teach me a LOT. I like being on the learning side of things. At my new job – I hesitate to say this, but it’s true – I’m smarter than my lead, and it bothers me. I continually have to explain things to him, and sometimes he doesn’t get it. I think he’s just inexperienced, and maybe a little over his head in his position. He also likes to argue, especially when he feels defensive (I sense just a little bit of male machismo in his defensiveness/argumentativeness). Now I know that all this sounds pompous, but I’m not sure how else to explain it.

I really miss my old job. I miss being able to ask my lead questions and learn from him.

After my first week at my new job I had made the decision to work this all out as a challenge – in other words, see if I can learn from the experience rather than run from it. I was in a very similar situation a long time ago, and I found another job as quickly as I could. This time I’m going to see if I can work through this, and learn from it.

At any rate, I’m on-track, or back on the Baby Step 2 express.

My last day at my old job is tomorrow. :(

So it’s probably obvious I did in fact take the new job.  It was such a difficult decision, but ultimately it matched up with what I want to be doing – and it seems like a more secure job in terms of layoffs.

So aside from leaving people I’ve worked with for the past few years, I am looking forward to the challenges of the new job.  It comes with access to a gym, so I’ll be able to continue working out – and moving forward with both my health and financial goals.

I’m STILL in Baby Step 2.  My last car payment is inching closer every single day.  It feels great that I’ll finally be free of that albatross – and of course I’ll be focusing on paying off the last of my debt:  my student loan.

I’ve somewhat settled into the routine by now.  My biggest struggle has been that I can’t make it happen in hours or days instead of months.  I’m okay with that now.  I know it’s going to take some time – but I can stay the course and implement my plan.  It’s actually, well, no big deal.  That’s how it’s supposed to be I suppose.

I probably wrote this before – but I’ll write it again:  Having the plan and implementing the plan is just about as good as having achieved the goal itself.  It is the best I can do right now.

I have been looking forward to Baby Step 6.  You see, Baby Step 3 will take me a couple more months, and Baby Step 4 is a flip of a switch.  I don’t have children, so Baby Step 5 is a non-issue for me right now.  Baby Step 6 is the one I’m really looking forward to.  Baby Step 6 is to pay off your home early.  For me, this means actually saving up for, and buying a home.  I’m still going to have to get a mortgage, but I’ll pay 20% down first and get a 15 year fixed rate, which I’ll probably pay off in about 7 years if I stay on track.    I’ve already set up the spread sheets.

So it’s basically same ol’ same ol’ for me right now.