Focusing on the Positive

Today is Taco Tuesday.  Normally, I would head over to Moe's (I know, I know, Chipotle is way better, but Chipotle is a ten minute drive from the office).  Anyways, I brought my lunch, so there are no tacos for me.  Its a win or lose depending on how you look at it financially and if you love tacos.  I love tacos.

I've already set some pretty good habits (obviously not my food purchases) that I plan to continue:

• Pay my bills early
• I have never paid any bill late.  I don't even have automatic payments scheduled, I just have OCD about these things.
• Pay more than the minimum due
• I really only do this for my credit card.  Do you think there's any benefit to doing this with my student loans (aside from paying off the balance quicker)?
• Opened a second credit card
• I watched Clark Howard's show and he explained how important it is to have multiple credit cards.  If one provider goes bankrupt or closes your card, that it!  You have to start from square one again to get all those perks for being a good cardholder.
• I recently opened a second credit card through my bank, a credit union.  Its super low interest rate, no annual fee, and a good limit for me.  :)  I plan to switch all my purchases to this card to save money because the interest rate on my first card is a killer.  I will keep the old card, but not use it, as I heard that it is bad to get rid of cards when you have very little credit establish.  Is that true?

I decided the only way I will really stick to it and spend my money wisely is if I set goals for myself.

• $1000 in savings account
• I'm pretty close to this goal already, but I'd feel more financially stable once I reach this mark.
• Pay off my credit card each month
• Confession: I paid off my credit card (the old one) two months ago.  Then I racked up the charges all over again.
• However, I have not swiped my new card whatsoever.
• Enroll in my company's 401K
• I don't know the first thing about it, but I know my company offers a lot of plans for this.  I need to research this and start thinking about what's best for me.
• Research disability insurance
• My company offer short-term and long-term disability insurance.  I should consider the value in enrolling in the plan.

What do you know about 401k's and disability insurance?  Any advice?

Also, I mentioned in my last post that I am in the market for a new car.  Well, here's some great news!  I qualified for a loan with a 1.9% APR.  I must have been doing something right.  That's incredible!  Now, I just need to narrow down the options.