28 and counting

I turned 28 a week ago. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I'm to the point where I need to just get down to business and get serious about a few things. So, here I go--my list of things to "git done" before I turn 30. And yes, I realize I just skipped over 29, but let's face it--nobody stresses about 29. Not that I'm stressed about 30, it's just that I need to grow up a bit before I get there.

1. Stop procrastinating on everything. And by "everything," I mean literally everything. Housework. Grading papers at work. Getting my lesson plans into a written format rather than just the Power Point slides I use in class. Painting my rickety old steps. Paying off my credit cards. The list goes on...
2. Tithe on my income rather than keep it all to myself. This "keep it to myself" plan has not served me well. Tithing, on the other hand, always does. And, it helps others even more than it helps me.
3. Pay off my darn Gap Visa. As much as I like being able to use it in a pinch, too many things became "pinches" when I moved into my current home. Money was tight, and as we all know, it's easy to pull out the plastic that isn't directly attached to the checking account and get whatever it is we need, telling ourselves that we'll pay it off (in full, of course) next month. Next month always stays "next month." I'm done with this.
4. Pay off my darn car. I drive a 2005 Cobalt. It has 141,000 miles on it and a busted taillight. It is not worth the $3350 I still owe on it.
5. Go on a yarn diet! This will help with #3. As hard as this may be to believe (for those of you that know me personally), I have well over $1000 worth of yarn in my possession. Knitting is my stress relief...but buying the yarn doesn't need to be. I have enough yarn to keep me knitting for about 3 years, with no trips to the yarn shops or fabric stores.
6. Start cooking more and stop making so many trips to local restaurants. We can save loads of money in that area. And, that will help me achieve number 7:
7. Get back down to "college weight" and stay there--for good. I'm 12 pounds closer than I was at Thanksgiving...and I believe I have about that many left to go. I like what I see, so that's motivation enough to keep it up.
8. Get Wade on board with these things. I don't think he'll have much of an issue with #5...or numbers 3 and 4, for that matter. We'll see about the rest of 'em...

I've never been much of a list-maker, but I think this is what I needed to kick myself in the seat of the pants and get things going. I feel kinda dumb putting this on a blog, where everyone can see it, but maybe that's what I need.
So, next month, to help me keep myself accountable, I'll be posting my credit card balances as well as my car loan balance, and revising it each month until they're paid off, or at least at a reasonable amount.

In the words of my favorite comedian, "Git 'er done!"