Category Archives: Goals

Budget Thursday – Fourth of July

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Happy Fourth of July! I spent a good part of my morning working on our budget for July.

I ended the month of June spending all of our grocery budgets for both June and July except for $50. I  seriously doubt that we will spend only $50 this month so I have chosen to include $150 for our projected grocery budget this month. I think that by the end of the year we will be back to an average of $600 a month for food but I also realize that it may take several months to get back on track so to speak. The really good news is that we are starting to get items in from the garden and with the stock pile of ground beef, I purchased both the month of July and August should be low spending months for us in terms of grocery items.

I was able to place $50 in the Emergency Fund but no extra money on any of the debt. We are hopefully and expecting that Matt has another website complete this month which will help reduce debt and increase the EF. This is in question at this moment as well  due to the starter going out on my car yesterday. I currently  have about 3/4 of the expected repair cost in our auto fund so I may need to use some of the EF to finish out the amount. I am also hopefully to pull this amount out of the gas budget and not touch the EF. But either way this unexpected expense will be covered without a major dent in our normal budget.

The worse budget news of the month is that I am looking at $200 shortage for the overall budget of the month. This amount are designated into gifts and clothing. My plan is to cover this amount first from the extra work I picked up last month at the nursing home and next with Matt’s monthly income from the websites he supports. I will keep track of these amounts during the month and report where the money comes from.

Budgeting on Thursday 6/06/2013

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Today is my regular payday so I was able to spend a good amount of time, going over the budget and making some minor adjustment to keep us on the right track.  Beside the regular bills, I was able to reduce our debt load by $500!!!!!!!!! I am so excited about this because each little pebble I throw makes a big impact in the picture.  This was extra money from my working. My goal and hope is that I can do the same on the 20th. But I do realize that the next two weeks are heavy with extra fees for cheerleading and some extra items for graduation.

I only have $100 left in my grocery budget for the month. I did place a huge order for Chicken Tenders this month. These will not be picked up until July so that hurt us in addition at Costco we stocked up on “pool food.” The plan is that we take food with us especially each weekend so that we don’t end up spending money on pizza or fast food just because I didn’t plan ahead.

One of the most exciting things that happened today in regards to budgeting is that Amanda actually texted and called me to let me know about an awesome deal on milk and then offered to pick some up for me as it was out of my way!  I am so excited to see that she is realizing the value of money and can spot a good deal!

Finally, we have really been enjoying 50 cent ice cream from Burger King!  I think I understood that this special would last all summer. I hope so, because BK is on the way home from the pool and for the cost of one container of ice cream at the pool we can all enjoy a cup.

Overall I am super excited about where our money is going this month!

Random Thought Tuesday 6/4/2013

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  1. I knew that the last 2 weeks of school would be busy but I didn’t realize we have swim team practice every night and cheerleading on Tuesdays!
  2. Coupon trip to Walmart last week saved 42%- I consider this excellent for Walmart! In addition we had a super nice cashier who didn’t question one of my coupons!
  3. Haley received her acceptance letter to Davidson County Community College today!
  4. Lily last day of school will be Friday as her teacher told the class last week that Monday was an optional day. So they really did not have to come then.
  5. Haley has to take 3 of 4 exams and is going to be driving my car the rest of the week.
  6. Haley’s car is getting a new windshield on Thursday and she should be driving it by the weekend
  7. Our 2005 red minivan is up for sale.. I hope it sells quickly!
  8. Kendall is so stubborn but after focusing her in the pool tonight-she really enjoyed swim team let’s hope tonight was the end of the stubborn streak
  9. One of our closet organizers fell off the wall today but Matt was able to repair for free!
  10. I am so tired that I am headed to bed soon….

May in Review- A Day Late

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Financial goals: May has been a month to re-evaluate, change and move forward on this goal. My plan is to start at least bi-weekly updates on our budget to keep us focused forward and to share real world numbers.

  • Pay off Lawn mower by March 2014, so no interest is charged. Only made the minimal payment this month but  this is a new focus so hopefully, I can catch up and pay this off my December.
  • Pay off all outstanding debt except the mortgage by June– Changing this to December.
  • Emergency fund to $2000–  I was able to get the fund up to $500. I am content to let it sit at this mark and slow increase as the debt goes away.
  • Maintain a budget using a form of the envelope system – Still working well!
  • Groceries: Spend $600 or less a month Goal met. I am not counting our trip to Costco on Friday night or the Zaycon food order in May but both will be counted in June. We are actually $20 under for the month!
  • Gas- I am adding this category. The goal each month is to spend $450 or less for gas.  We spent $400 this month. Starting in June, any left over amount will be moved to the Auto fund. This is basically a repair/maintenance fund in place because the vehicles we own are older and repairs are expected.

Blogging:  Goal: 15 per month I have 13 post for May. My plan was to post this last night but it just did not happen so something to work on.  Still have not met this goal for the year but will continue to keep working toward it.

Devotions: Goal is 5 a week   Goal Met! I am really enjoying my morning time.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month.. This continues to be a daily struggle for me.

Budget Update and New Series

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I have decided in order to keep myself more accountable that I am going to update our budget numbers at least bi-weekly when I get pain. I hope that this will keep me focused on the goal as well as share some of my own excitement as we approach the goal of becoming debt free! So to start….

  • Our Emergency Fund is currently sitting at $500!!
  • We purchased today, a new to us 1999 Minivan with less than half the miles of our current one. After considering this options carefully and doing research we have discovered that we should be able to sell our current 2005 Minivan for the same price as we purchase this one.  One of the major upgrade besides the mileage is that this van is a 6 cylinder as opposed to our current 4 cylinder one.
  • Auto insurance will decrease by $75 one we are able to sell our current Minivan
  • Debt (excluding mortgage) is sitting at 10k, however 1/4 of that should be erased when we sell our 2005 Minivan.
  • For the month of June, we will have a zero balance budget, meaning that our expenses and income are even. Any “extra” or found money will be used to bring the debt load down even more.
  • All of Zach’s medical expenses have been paid! In addition, I have finally managed to pay off all outstanding medical debt!

I am really excited to see this journey speed up as we head downhill and finally our goal is in sight and manageable!

 

Random Thoughts Thursday- 5/16/2013

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  • Both little girls had eye appointments last week and we received some good news, Kendall’s eye are stable, corrected to 20/20 with glass so she will not need to be seen again for six months!  Lily’s weak eye has improved as well and she will no longer be patching!  She continues to need to be seen every 3 months but she is so excited to stop patching after 3 year!
  • All of Zach’s dental bill have been processed by the insurance company and after requesting refunds, which I will turn around and pay on the remain bill, we only owe an additional $93. This is a huge relief and praise as the original bill I received last week was $696
  • Budgeting this month has gone really astray. I am struggling to get a grip on the coming in but more importantly on the amounts we are spending. I know that a significant amount is school/end of the year related but man I wish it would slow down.
  • Haley is fast approaching Graduation from high school. She presented her final English project today and has a presentation next week that is very stressful for her. But she is counting the days till she walks across the stage. She also is searching for a job for the summer.
  • Matt has been working on the car, Haley purchased from Amanda, hopefully it will be completed and ready to drive by the end of May.
  • I have a student who is shadowing  me this week and starting next week will be “taking over my caseload” to complete her education. I did not realize until this week how difficult and stressful my job can be! But I still love it!
  • The only success I had with starting  my garden from seeds this year was the cucumbers. I hope to replant the other items this week.

April In Review

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Financial goals: April was a month of catch up that didn’t have us catching up as I had hoped. One of the reason was I actually was shorted a full day on a check. Hopefully things will start to improve in May

  • Pay off Lawn mower by March 2014, so no interest is charged. Payment made of $175
  • Pay off all outstanding debt except the mortgage by June–  No progress this month
  • Emergency fund to $2000–  This fund has actually decreased again this month. My focus for May will be to return it to the $500 mark.  I would like to have it up to $500 ASAP and $2000 by the end of the year.
  • Maintain a budget using a form of the envelope system – Still working well!
  • Groceries: Spend $600 or less a month Goal met, and we are on track for meeting our projection for the year as well. , We spent a $564.00 this month. We have decided not to participate in the food co-op this year but instead use of the money for fresh fruits and veggies.

Blogging:  Goal: 15 per month This is my 14th post of the month . Still have not met this goal for the year but will continue to keep working toward it. I am actually pleased this month because I feel I have achieved a good balance with pictures and information.

Devotions: Goal is 5 a week   Goal Met! I am really enjoying my morning time.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month. Exercising has not been as consistent as I want it to be and I have realized that I really need to focus on my water intake as well. This continues to be a daily struggle for me.

Day of Cooking 4/13/2013

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One of the things that I have not done in over a year is spend a day preparing food that then is easy to heat up and serve as meals. I have done this several times a year in the past. With our focus this month on reducing all expenses, I decided to spend my day in the kitchen. I purchased a total of 12# of ground beef from Costco on Thursday and Matt had picked up an order of Chicken from Zaycon Foods on Tuesday so I knew we probably had everything I need to cook most of these items. I spent a total of 8 hours in the kitchen today including clean up time and I took several breaks. I was able to assemble 15 different meals. I have a list of these meals along with all the different other meats we have on the fridge. We will mostly like have one or two a week and then wait a week before having the same item again. I find it much easier to prepare a larger quantity at once. I first heard of freezer cooking several years ago, most of the recipes I use are from 30 day Gourmet, I have not purchased any of their books but printed out a ton of recipes from their site.   Here is a list of what we have, most have recipes with them.

1 pack of cooked ground beef this will be great for chili or another dish
2 meals of Chicken Fried Rice this is Haley favorite meal of all time.
2 Cheeseburger Pies
4 Packs of Salisbury Patties
4 packs of Taco Rice – one of these is actually to take with us to the Beach in August. It was a favorite last year.
2 meatloaf This is a recipe from my mother, I will place at the end if you are interested. I have taken one of Matt’s sisters idea (cheese) and add to make it even better!
1 Baked Ziti For our lunch tomorrow

We had one of the meatloaf for dinner tonight along with Pineapple casserole and Paula Deen Mac and Cheese

I plan to finish the night by making a Baked Oatmeal that I will set for the oven to bake first thing in the morning!

I started by making a huge batch of Rice since I planned to make several items that called for it. I also browned up 6 lbs of ground beef at once and spread between several dishes. I like to clean up as I go. So I was able to use my Kitchen Aid mixer for several things after a quick clean. I will say that it made especially the Salisbury patties much easier. Currently I am just under $200 left in the grocery budget for the month. I have a list of 35 main meal items on the fridge so maybe I can keep our budget way down and transfer the money to other needs!

Do you have any good recipes to share along these lines if so leave a comment!

Meatloaf
1 ½ Lb ground Beef
¾ cup Bread crumbs
1 T prepared Mustard
2 T Ketchup
1 cup Milk
1 sm onion 1 cup Cheddar Cheese
Blend onion and milk in blender. Mix together all above. Place half in loaf pan. Cover with layer of Cheddar Cheese. Place remaining meat mixture on top be sure to round the ends so that the cheese is sealed. Top with the following, after mixing together
¾ cup brown sugar
2 cups Ketchup
1 ¼ tsp prepared mustard
¼ tsp nutmeg

April Saving Challenge

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This is a challenge that I really need to participate in but at the same time, I know that this is one of our low months so therefore it will be even more difficult.  After debating back and forth,    I have decided that I am going to accept the challenge but only with one saving goal in mind.

  • I currently have $325 in my emergency fund, by the end of April, I want to increase it to $500.

Does anyone want to join me over at http://www.halfdozendaily.typepad.com/

 

March in Review

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Financial goals: March has been a drain on us financially.   We have had to complete minor repair work on both the vehicles, additional medical expenses for Zach and yesterday our lawn mower decided to smoke us out. We  did purchase a new lawnmower on a special finance deal which means that if we pay off the purchase within 12 months, we will not be charged interested. I am adding this as a goal to keep us accountable.

  • Pay off Lawn mower by March 2014, so no interest is charged.
  • Pay off all outstanding debt except the mortgage by June–  No progress this month
  • Emergency fund to $2000–  With all the additional expenses we had this month, I was able to only add $50 to this. I would like to have it up to $500 ASAP and $2000 by the end of the year.
  • Maintain a budget using a form of the envelope system – DONE! I love the app and the “freedom/expense” accounts that are making tracking so much easier for me to keep track of the money. I also realize just how much we are spending on gas, clothing and gifts. I decided to increase the clothing and gifts to $100 a month to see if that will even us out.
  • Groceries: Spend $600 or less a month Goal met, We spent a $582.00 this month including an order for 40 pounds of chicken breast. We have not broken even for the year yet, sitting at negative $8. We are continuing to clean out the freezers and I have actually started to notice a difference in the stuff upstairs. I am going to plan to continue to buy only as needed stuff in April to get us back on track. I am thinking that our summer produce co-op will be due this month as well as by May, we will need another trip to the meat market. I hope to include both of these items in our $600 a month budget.

Blogging:  Goal: 15 per month This is my 13th post of the month . Still have not met this goal for the year but will continue to keep working toward it.

Devotions: Goal is 5 a week   Goal Met! I am really enjoying my morning time.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month. Exercising has not been as consistent as it was during February but I have managed to loss 2 more pounds this month. I have officially lost 10 pounds this years so I am making progress!   I have not met the pound goal but I am consistently losing weight and that is the most important thing!