20 Things I Need to Do Before the End of the Year

Being a listy-type person, I keep myself organized with lists on a daily basis. Here's are some random things I need to do before the end of the year (some of which you may need to do as well):

1. Vote (I already voted by mail...this is a reminder for our readers)
2. Finish funding my Roth IRA (although this can be done into the next year for 2008)
3. Replace the batteries in my CO detector (tis the season for carbon monoxide poisoning)
4. Do all the year end/new year business stuff (box 2008 files, new 2009 files, all financials updated, etc)
5. Change all of my passwords
6. Do my annual home inventory
7. Break a bad habit (for me, this is a daily Starbucks Frap)
8. Get out of the country for a couple of weeks (the only way I get a vacation is to go where no one can find me and I am not online/available by phone/connected to CNN 24/7)
9. Do something odd (I've been kicking around an idea for a Dave Ramsey 'Plastectomy' video, I may even apply for Survivor or Amazing Race)
10. Surprise the spouse (sometime between our anniversary and Christmas I usually come up with a good surprise)
11. Flesh out a new business venture (I have also been kicking around a couple of new business ideas. My goal is to be able to support my lifestyle with passive income only so that is one of my main projects now)
12. Practice tracking in the snow when we get some; this may coincide with a ski trip
13. Start learning a new language (I'm debating between Arabic and Chinese)
14. Visit my son (he will be deploying to Iraq by the end of the year; even though he is well trained I wish I was going instead of him)
15. Find the perfect 2009 calendar (I don't do electronic calendars, I like to see a whole month at a time so I need the perfect paper calendar which I will use every day for a year--this is often more difficult to find than it seems)
16. Ratchet back Christmas exponentially (this holiday is usually an EVENT--food for half the community, presents for a very large and extended family--it's craziness. A more manageable event would be nice)
17. Find a beater pick up truck (a friend bought an old truck with a strong engine that looks like hell but functions fairly well for a grand total of $500. I want one too. I can think of a hundred and one uses for such a truck)
18. Revamp the storage system in my garage (I think a reworking of the shelving could yield more storage space for food, water, and supplies)
19. Stash more cash (always good to have lots on hand)
20. Review my investment portfolio when the market quits being so schizophrenic