I've got goals!!!!

Hi there. My name is Joy & this is one of my blogs. This particular blog is focused on personal finance. My hope, as always, is that the shame of public scrutiny will force my off my butt and into action.

The big goal: pay off all my credit cards & get a mortgage for a house (probably a townhouse or larger condo)

I have balances on 3 credit cards. One has a really low balance (about $200) and no interest; I hardly count it except that it is there. The other 2 have higher balances (I'll get into specifics later, but the total is 5 digits) with really high interest rates. I have another card with no balance on it right now.

I also have about $60,000 in student loans from grad school. Blech.

To Do:
re-draft my budget & stick to it.
pay much closer attention to my accounts.
DO MY TAXES
Find out my credit score

For pretty much the first time in my adult life, the issue is not money. In the past I've always blamed my financial difficulties on not having money, but now I actually have enough money to put some away for retirement, put a little away for emergencies and to knock out my debt - you know, be responsible and forward-thinking. But that's not happening. I mean for the most part thinge are going ok. But, I'm not doing as well as I should be. The debt isn't moving very fast & I can't seem to hold on to anything for emergencies.

On what I consider good advice, I'm looking into a personal loan or credit card from my credit union to do a balance transfer for my credit cards. In general, my credit probably isn't good enough to go out and get a regular loan, but credit unions are usually more flexible about dealing with their members.

I'm working on a plan to have my credit cards paid off in less than 3 years and to start looking at houses in 2008. So here's hoping (& working). Wish me luck!