Par for the (recent) course, I'm a day late. But here are my 2018 financial wins and fails. For ease, I've picked my 3 biggest of each after looking back at the year.

Financial Wins:
1) YNAB - I cannot even begin to describe how eye-opening it's been since YNAB has finally clicked. It took several tries, but last March, it finally stuck. It's enabled us to save for several goals, build our bank account to its largest ever balance, and meet financial win #2.

2) Debt Payoff - We've managed to pay off the following debts: Wells Fargo loan, NFL Points CC, Ashley Furniture CC, BOA CC. I also transferred the Capital One CC to a 0% interest card. Right now,the only remaining CCs accruing interest are Navy Federal and Chase Freedom. We also use Target, Amazon Rewards, and Chase Marriott CCs on occasion and pay those off so no interest accrues. I'm hoping to take this momentum into 2019 with several more debts paid off.

3) The last win is that our BEF has remained untouched for almost a year (knock on all the wood!). We've had the $1000 BEF in the past and always raided it as soon as we found ourselves short. With YNAB, we've been able to budget for big expenses and cash flow minor issues, so we haven't had to touch it at all.

Financial Fails:
1) Leaks Galore - I keep an idiot tax category in YNAB to see how much money we've wasted on late fees and things that could have been avoided. Some of my worst offenders are not using up all FSA funds properly, not looking in to internet renewals and missing some incredible incentives, and not paying our property taxes on time even though the money was actually there for once (I knew it was due in October, but thought it was later in the month rather than the 5th, costing me an extra $75 in late fees).

2) Additional Debt - I did have to take out a 401k loan right at the end of the year. I had hoped to be done with debt, but this particular instance gave me the mental fortitude to finally be done with my mom (which is a win in and of itself).

3) Stress Spending - I still struggle with keeping incidentals under control when I'm stressed (which was a lot of last year). I resort to fast food when I feel too overwhelmed to worry about food. And I turn to spending to make myself feel better when I'm down. I hope to be stronger in 2019 and find healthier outlets for my stress.