Tuesday, September 09, 2014

My Top 4 Long Term Goals, Fall 2014 edition

I know it's not quite fall yet, but it's definitely starting to feel like it, and some of the leaves on trees are starting to change colour already. Back to school time always felt like a fresh start when I was going to school so I thought I'd freshen up my top 4 long term goals, and hope that putting it in writing where others can see may keep me more accountable.

1) Get out of debt, including the mortgage in 10 years. That's a pretty hefty goal, given my total debt right now. But I have to do something. I'm now maxed out on all my credit cards and my overdraft. That's not good. I don't want to be a slave to my debt for the rest of my life, and I want to retire debt free. 10 years allows me to still have some time to contribute to retirement savings, although I won't do as well as I would have if I could be saving more for retirement now.

2) Turn hobby into full time career. I mentioned my new hobby of jewelry making in a previous post, and I would love to be able to make this my full time job. For now, it's just a hobby, as I'm still learning the ropes, but I do have a few places to sell some of the items I think are good enough. I know being self employed isn't easy, and I'll have to work hard, but I need to do something about my current situation. It should be a great job, and it is, for someone else. It's just not a good fit for me. And I think it greatly contributes to my depression, so to get out of this environment would be a big benefit.

3) Save for retirement. Mentioned earlier, I need to save for retirement. I have some, but nowhere near enough. I took money from my RRSP for a down payment on a house, and I'm still trying to pay that back, but it's a struggle right now. Getting out of debt goes hand in hand with this goal, as not having to service my debt will allow me to put that money into savings, which should go a long way.

4) Organize my home and keep it clean. I'm not the best housekeeper in the world, and, shall we say, a bit of a pack rat. On top of that, my mom moved in with me and brought all her things, and she's a bit of a pack rat as well, at least with clothes and yarn! Not to mention, a friend of my mom's from a different province was taking a course here, and I somehow inherited a bunch of things from him. I hate to admit this is on my long term goals list, but it's not something that will change overnight. So I'm giving myself time to get my home the way I want it. And to keep it that way!

Those are the goals I'm looking forward to accomplishing in the long term. None of them will be particularly easy to accomplish, but with a lot of hard work, I'm sure I'll slowly start making a dent in these goals.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and feel free to leave a comment on your long term goals.

Kendra

Monday, September 08, 2014

If I Could Change One Thing....

If I could change one thing in my present life, it would be my career/job. I am really struggling in this job--I should have done more research into it before I started. But then again, I kind of quit my previous job without having a back up plan, so I pretty much had to take this one.

It's not only the job, it's my entire career I'm struggling with right now. I just want out. I feel like I made a horrible mistake in choosing this career, but I think there was a time I may have actually enjoyed it. I wish I'd done more research, and if I had, I'd probably have figured out it doesn't mesh with my personality.

I work in healthcare. I've worked in hospital settings, and now I work in home care. With this job, there is selling involved, and I do not enjoy that part of it at all. If I could just focus on the clinical, I probably wouldn't dislike my job quite a much as I do, but who knows. There are expectations that I just can't follow through on.

My motivation is so low, it's hard to get anything done. Some days, I can't even do the simplest of tasks. As I mentioned in my intro post, I do believe this job contributes to my depression quite a lot, and that compounds the issues.

I know I need a change. My psychiatrist and counsellor both believe the same thing. But financially I'm stuck here until I can find something with at least the same pay scale.And living in a rural area, that's not an easy task. I've even thought about moving to a city, but when I look at job listings there I still don't see anything I'm qualified for.

Some ideas I do have, which I will probably go into detail about in future posts are: jewelry design, freelancing, web design, assisting some local businesses with their social media, etc.  The challenges are that I just started making jewelry, and so not everything I make works out the way I want it to. I haven't been writing much, so I don't have a portfolio to try to get freelance jobs, and I really don't know anything about web design. I purchased a couple of books a while back to try to teach myself, but I haven't been consistent with my reading. And until I do more of all of these things, they're just hobbies, not anything I can make money with. Real money, anyway. I do have an Etsy shop set up with my mom, and there's a little craft store I've taken some items to and I guess I've sold a couple of items (I'll be getting my cheque tonight probably).
But again, I need to get more photos of our items up on Etsy, and do a better job at editing the photos.

Well, I know this post is sounding a bit negative, but I'm excited and hopeful. I have started making goals and plans, which is more than I've been able to do in a long time. If I put in the effort, I should be able to make some of these things work for me.

If there was one thing you could change in your life, what would it be? Please do leave a comment, I'd love to read your thoughts.

Kendra

Friday, September 05, 2014

Starting over with a fresh, clean slate

I've been trying this blogging thing out off and on for a while now, and I feel more committed now, so I've decided to start fresh. Still not entirely sure where I'm going with this blog, but I hope you'll follow along, ask questions, and comment to help me make this the best blog I can.

A little about me. My name is Kendra, and I live on the beautiful Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Although not ocean front, I am lucky enough to have a home where I can see and hear the powerful roar of the ocean. I live in a rural community, which has its own advantages and disadvantages, which I'm sure will come up in my posts in the future.

On a really personal note, I struggle with depression. It's actually been getting a little better lately with a new prescription, but it's still something I am trying to fight. I believe my current job is contributing to the depression, and am thinking of alternatives, although change is hard for most people, and for those with depression, change can seem insurmountable.

As mentioned, I have a job I'm not very happy with right now. In fact, I would like to change careers entirely. It's a good career, and it's a good job--I have a boss who is fair, and although I work in a one person office, my co-workers in other offices are all friendly and helpful--but it's just not the right career/job for me. Maybe it was at one time, but not any more. I've been in this career for 11 years now, and this job for 6 years. It's time for a change. I'm of the generation x era, so I guess I've done quite well in one career as long as I have.

I have some ideas of where I want to go from here, but I'll save those for future posts.

I guess that's about it in a nutshell. Again, if you've stumbled across my little blog, and have any questions or comments, please do share. I really would like to build a community here, and it starts with you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Kendra