New blog site / Update on life

OK, so I've begun moving my blog to a new address! Blogspot is just a little nicer looking than myspace, and unlike myspace, I can access it from school, too. More on this later (maybe).

So, for those who are new, here's a little about me.

I am Active Duty in the US Navy, and primary bread-winner in a family of 3. I regularly engage in political discussions, which tend to result in new political posts or links to them. In addition, my new favorite thing is getting out of debt and securing my financial freedom. I've found quite a few interesting blogs (see above for links) with some fantastic advice, which I will refer to.
I do not consider myself a professional writer, and this blog is not meant to compete with anyone (well, not yet at least). The primary purposes of this blog are to report on my successes and maintain accountability. By writing about the steps I've taken to attain financial freedom and build up my nest egg, I am able to keep these subjects in the forefront of my mind. Also, some of the people close to me read this blog - people i have regular interaction with, so staying accountable helps keep me on track.
So far, I've been able to significantly reduce the interest rate on my major credit card, pay off my smaller card in full, and refinance my car for smaller payments, giving me more money to pay off that big credit card w/ a higher interest rate. Pending the success of negotiations with my wife, I plan on testing out a new budget designed to help us save more while keeping a decent lifestyle compared to our paycheck. At the least, it'll help me better track what I spend.

Now that I've said that, here are my goals:

• Attain complete financial freedom (car loans, credit cards, etc. - no debt whatsoever)
• Save enough money via TSP to be able to live a relatively good life off of the interest generated from my retirement.
• Retire from the military at 20+ years (a pension to bolster that retirement account)
• Build an emergency fund of at least 2 months' pay
• Build a fund for my kids' education (and maybe other stuff, too)
• Build a house no less than 1500sq' (and get it paid off before age 65); own no less than two, fuel-efficient vehicles; and finally get a dog!

I think, given proper planning and working hard to advance in rank, that the majority of these goals are pretty feasible. Wish me luck!