The Chicken or the Egg?

According to the survey I had seen that I mentioned in my post from yesterday, the main reason so many American's had so little saved was they were carrying a heavy debt load. Student loans, more house then what they could really afford, or the biggest culprit, credit card debt. My student loads were paid off years ago, and my house payments are very manageable (And the house will be paid in full in just under 4-years). However, I am 100% guilty of too much credit card debt. So as I set my financial goals for 2017 what comes first; the chicken (Debt), or the egg (Savings)?

"Experts" will tell you to feed that chicken first. It is sound advice, after all the faster you pay off the debt, the less interest you will pay, and you will be saving money in the long run, and probably make for a larger nest egg.

But no eggs in my basket (Or too few) will make it march harder for me to sleep well at night. While I do have more saved than average, I do not have the 6-months worth of living expenses suggested by the experts.

So I have decided to make saving in 2017 my #1 priority, with paying down debt important as well. I have come up with a savings plan. I made up a spreadsheet in which I listed my savings goals, my ultimate goal for each account, and my goal for 2017. Each of these columns are followed by 3 more columns;  my beginning balance for each account as of January 1, 2017, the ending balance as of December 31, 2017, and finally was the goal met. Finally, for each type of savings account I put how I thought I might accomplish my goals. Mine and my spouses 401K are easy enough, payroll deductions at work, and for me, matching funds from my employer. Several other accounts; the major expense and living expense will be funded with weekly deposits from our paychecks (I took my annual goal, divided by 52, and came up with what I have to put in each account weekly to make my goal). The Travel Fund will be financed by monetary gifts from my father for birthdays and Christmas, as well as any bonus money. And I have decided to start up one more savings account-a home improvement fund. Goodness knows my 1883 cottage could use some updating, and if I want something out of the pages of HGTV I will need some major bucks. This will be a hard account to fund. I am salary, so no opportunity for overtime, and I just can't see fitting in a permanent part-time job into my life right now. So I am going to look into maybe part-time seasonal work, or maybe even something like Uber (It may not be legal in my state though).

I feel that my goals are ambitious, daunting even, but not unattainable. I may tweak my plan a bit in the next weeks, but I will be ready to go, New Years Day  2017.