My two main goals for 2019 were to pay down debt and to to lose weight. Unfortunately I yo-yo'd all over the place with my weight and still haven't gotten my act together. But on the debt pay down I excelled. I had planned to pay off $12,000 this year, but ended up paying off $16,000. I exceeded my goal by $4000. This is the first year in a long time that I have felt like I was making serious progress.

My goals for 2020 are:

1. Lose Weight and Go Back to the Pool.

2. Finish paying off the $9000 we owe by June. Sooner if possible.

3. Save $12,000 to the EF from July through December. That will put our EF close to three months of expenses. It will take one more month than I have in 2020 to get it there unless we get a windfall (and MIL has been giving us quite a bit).

4. Up retirement savings to 7% in July. Once the EF is met, I'd like to up it to 10%. There is also the possibility of a raise. When DH got the last one, they told him he wouldn't be up for another one before July 2020, so here's hoping he gets one even if it is just COL.

5. If I hit the EF amount before the end of this year we will be able to start saving up for a house. That will be a long process, though. We ought to be able to save $24K a year once the EF is up to snuff. The way house prices keep rising we need at least $75K for a down payment of 20%, but if we want breathing room in a mortgage payment I would want to double that. So we'd be at this for 6 years, maybe.

Used to be you could buy a house for $350,000 and now it is more like $450,000 to $650,000. This is just in the last five years. I would love to move to a low cost of living southern state once we retire. Just not one with crocodiles, snakes, and scorpions. The warmer weather would be better for my health.

Another option we might consider is to save up and buy a piece of land, then save up and put in a well, then save up again and put in a septic system. Once that is done, we could get a construction loan with the new, improved price for the land as collateral and build the house. We can still get land for about $35K for an acre in some parts of the county that are not too far from where DH works. A well is about $40K and septic is about $30K. Having it ready to go though, will increase the value of all of it from $105,000 to $150,000. Anyway it is something to think about as we get closer.