Happy New Years Eve (day)!

As this post appears, I should be on my way back to L.A. to celebrate a low key new years with T.  We went all out last year:  party dress, fancy club, overpriced drinks, and tons of alcoholic fun.  It was a blast, but not something I need to do every year.  My plan is to watch the last sunset of 2008, then out for dinner, and a small get together with friends (or maybe just stay in ourselves with champagne).  Sounds fabulous to me!

I have to admit, nearly 2 weeks of close-quarters family time was a bit up and down, but overall it was really great to be home.   I had a lot of fun with my family and friends, even though was the worst December for snowfall on record for my town, and the temperatures have been hovering around zero the whole time.  Brrrr!  Can we move Christmas to July next year?

The most exciting news is that my sister’s baby girl arrived just last night (in a city 4 hrs away, which my flight connects through!).  I desperately tried to change my ticket, but I would have had to completely rebook, and the airlines were all oversold.  They said it was impossible.  I was really dissapointed.  I’m going to be watching tickets and funneling money to my travel fund to come back to visit soon!

On money… I spent more than originally intended on T’s gift, but nothing completely unreasonable.  We did pretty small gifts for celebrations all year, so I didn’t feel too bad spending a little extra.  I also took care of both of my sister’s early January b-day gifts (early for once!), so even though my gift fund is slightly in the red, it’ll bounce back up shortly.  Overall, my budget looks fine, mostly because I wasn’t too aggressive and I spent very little on gas/grocery.

I also met my major 2008 financial goals:  15k in new retirement contributions, and 15k in my E=fund (starting from 8k or so)!  I’m pretty thrilled about that. Really thrilled!

Here’s hoping 2009 brings you wealth in all aspects of your life!