This new year promises to be an interesting one for us as we dream up more goals and ideas for our work and home lives. For instance, we’re planning to take our first big international vacation as a family by this summer, to visit relatives in Asia. We may stop by a few countries while we’re at it. After seeing some of our relatives over the holidays, we discussed the possibility of visiting the home country over the summer. A lot of my extended family live on the other side of the world (as I talked about in this immigration story here). So we’ll see how that works out! Nothing better than to start thinking about travel first thing in the new year — as this article we published on personal financial planning has suggested: planning big trips way in advance can save you money!

Other things that came out of the holidays? Well, I got to exploring another business idea that has a more brick and mortar focus. It’s something I won’t be describing much for now, but let’s just say it’s completely out of the realm of my experience and background. Since I don’t know much about what’s involved yet, I haven’t yet entered the phase where I’m supposed to be discouraged about trying it out. You know how it is with new business ideas: you start out becoming interested. You get intrigued… then hooked. Afterwards, you get excited and only after a while does reality set in. I am not in the “let’s face reality” part just yet as I’m still studying my options.

Now why am I doing this given how busy I already am with online business ventures? I’m just going to have to call it a form of exploration — to see what else can be done out there and to see what’s worth doing. If there’s anything I’ve learned about becoming an entrepreneur, it’s to keep my mind open to potential opportunities. Let’s see if something comes out of it. The danger of course, is that if you spread yourself thin, it can be more trouble than it’s worth. Just read about this case study of a family whose franchise went bust while they continued to nurture strong careers. Perhaps they took on too much on their plate and bit off more than they could chew. Certainly, it’s something to ponder.

So how about you? Any plans for this year? Did anything over the holidays capture your eye or ear? Heh, love how that rhymed! ;)

Announcements

While some of us were busy thinking of next steps, others were executing some interesting events: check out Money Crashers’ massive giveaway! They’re having a huge 2010 New Year Giveaway Bash that involves $5,900+ (and growing) in cash and prizes. Make sure you join! I’ll be writing up a separate post about the details in a bit.

Also, here are a few great mentions of our site around the web!

Personal Finance Articles

I also got a chance to visit some friends around the blogosphere, who have these posts to share:

Start The New Year Right! Win Prizes, Plan For 2010

Go to Source

Related Blogs

  • Related Blogs on Start The New Year Right! Win Prizes, Plan For 2010
  • Ultra Lounges