It has now been just shy of month since I moved and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s a fantastic place, reasonably priced, and the dog has lots of others to play with. My professional life is very busy and only getting busier; I’m writing between phone calls.
Unfortunately (or not, as you’ll see), one of my short term goals has hit a bit of a snag lately in that I ended up getting a new car last weekend. With fuel prices consistently on the rise, my faithful 2000 Blazer was no longer an economical choice for transportation after just over four excellent years of service. There were problems on the way that would have cost both more than I owed and more than it was worth. Luckily, I not only was able to get a great interest rate (so low you’d probably get mad) AND a great warranty/service plan, I was able to find someone who was willing to buy the truck for almost double what I owed.
It was a no-brainer. I am now the proud owner of a 2010 Ford Focus. No, it isn’t anything flashy or super special. They’re everywhere. Hell, this one even has a sizable dent in the driver’s side that doesn’t affect performance (but drastically reduced the price!).
While I did increase my overall debt, the numbers don’t lie. Not only is it significantly more fuel efficient (28mpg city vs 16 for the Blazer), my monthly payments don’t change. Since I sold the truck instead of trading it, I’ll have a significant amount of cash left over. As of now, the idea is to use it to kill some high-interest credit card debt well ahead of schedule, which will free up a pretty fair chunk of change per month.
What’s the point? If I’d chosen to stick rigidly to my original idea of paying everything off, I’d be stuck with an inefficient vehicle that cost entirely too much to operate and maintain. I’d still be paying higher interest on the credit card debt for longer. By having an outline instead of a strict A to B plan, I had the flexibility to recognize that I could do it better, do the legwork to figure it out, and then put myself into a MUCH better overall position.
This same idea can be applied to any goal. No matter what you want to do, you won’t get it unless you start pushing toward it. Once you’ve got some time and experience in and build your momentum, you can begin looking at what can be done better and then doing that. Having a rigidly determined path can get things done but at the cost of missing other opportunities to improve your plan.
Whatever your target happens to be, don’t be afraid to change how you aim at it if you have a real chance to do it better.
