Hella Stella

So here's the deal. I'm giving myself a year to get in awesome financial shape.

Yes, it's a little (a lot) overly-optimistic, considering how tight things are around here, but I've crunched the numbers and I think I can do it. My goals are pretty simple: pay off my post-album loan (yup, it's still there), pay off my credit card, be balanced by next spring.

I've got several motivating factors pushing me, other than simple common sense.

I'd like to have a clean slate when my BH finishes his degree so that we can tackle his student debt with the ferocity of a rabid mountain lion when he starts working. I can't do that if I'm still paying off my own loans.

I'd also like to have some wiggle room if I want to record another album, which will hopefully have some grant money attached to it, but still. Albums always have unexpected hiccups and I need to be able to manage them. I also want to be able to record even without grant money, although the thought of producing another self-financed behemoth makes me want to cry.

I'd like to buy a house someday, and I'm not going to get a great mortgage if I'm dragging debt behind me on my way to get approved.

I'd like to go to Japan next year without having panic attacks about money every time I take a train. That's a really stressful way to travel.

This is my grand plan. Let's see if I can do it. Jesus, it already feels like I have a giant countdown clock looking over my shoulder. I figure that I'm never going to accomplish this without being really aggressive, so aggressive I will be. Grrrrrrr.

Also, hallelujah, the Vinyl Cafe is going to play one of my songs on their show this weekend!!! I love them with the fire of a thousand suns. I actually feel a bit guilty that I don't have a shiny new album to offer them, but I think it speaks well of the old one if they're playing it two and a half years after the release.

Three cheers for the CBC! They make this whole songwriting thing feel really damn rewarding.