Category Archives: Goals

Year in Review 2012

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Blogging:  Goal: 15 per month

December this is the 12th post this month. After reviewing the year, I am still averaging around 12 post a month. I will continue this goal for 2013.

 

Devotions: Goal is 3 a week.

December; I  have manage to keep up with this goal again this month.!! So for the year this is achieved as well. The plan for next year is to increase to 5x a week. My mother gave me a devotional book for Christmas. It has a link that allows you to read on your phone as well as the printed version. This should make this goal very doable. The only issue I see is that it is a morning devotional book and we all know how much I like mornings but maybe this is just what I need to get in a routine.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month.

Total utter failure.. So I will try again in 2013.

 

As you can see after reading the last couple of post. I have made significant progress and achieved a couple of the goals but there is still room for improvement. I am going to continue the same areas for goals in the next year.   Do you want to share your goals?

Financial Update- 2012

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Goal: To be Debt free except for mortgage by the end of the year. This was established prior to our learning of the significant financial changes that are occurring so I am trusting God to provide direction in this area. Currently we are focused on meeting budget each month!

When establishing this goal last year there were two major problems. The first was that I honestly has no clue what amount that we had in debts. I was afraid to look at it. I did have to look in order to pay off the debt. The beginning number was close to 15,000.  The second problem was that I knew we would be losing the steady income. I was not sure exactly when but I knew it would happen. We did have some significant financial changes this year, the biggest of which is that Matt is no longer receiving a steady income. He has built several websites, with a couple more in the works so this has and is probably going to change more for the positive this year. So  this is not a goal we have been able to meet this year but we have made significant progress toward it. Currently we have around 7500 in outstanding debt other than our mortgage.  We have established a budget, started an emergency fund and are working steadily on playing off this remaining debt.

I am going to keep and update this goal for 2013. Our financial goal will contain 3 parts for 2013. First to pay off all outstanding debt except the mortgage by June, second to increase our Emergency fund to $2000 by December 2013 and most importantly to maintain a budget using a form of the envelope system where all events are planned for and we don’t end up “borrowing” to cover these expenses.  All envelopes will start at 0 at the beginning of the year because my first paycheck is Jan 3rd so this is an easy time to put this in motion.

Groceries- Year End Update

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Over the final few days of 2012, I am going to review each of the goals that I set this year  as well as update and establish new goals for 2013. I am excited to be able to see in black and white some of the huge steps and reaching of goals that we have been able to achieve.

Grocery Budget is set at $800 per month, this includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.

First I want to report on December, currently we are sitting right at the $800 mark for the month. This includes items for Lily’s birthday, a dinner for 20 people last Sunday, newspaper subscription for the year and a purchase of chicken tenders from Zaycon foods. The local store Food Lion, has this awesome coupon out for $5 off $5. The limit is set at one per day. So we have been using it every day since I discovered on Thursday. I am not sure how long they will continue to allow its use, I am sure the expiration date is a misprint of 12/29/13. So I am plan to stop by each time we pass a store, which is at least once day. I have printed enough coupons for Matt and I both to use on a daily basis. So far we are having fun buying some items that we normal would not splurge on as tight as the grocery budget it. Checking the stockpile, we could honest eat from our fridge and freezer for a month with purchasing only diary, bread and meat. However I know this will not be happening in January as I have already heard that both Food Lion will run a special promotion the first 2 weeks of January as well as my favorite store to shop Harris Teeter.    GOAL MET FOR DECEMBER!

For the year we have spent $8617 or approximately $715 a month on groceries. This is a significant drop from last year where we spent $9900 or $825  a month. Some of the changes this year include Zaycon Foods, more careful couponing on my part, Amanda living on her own and the fact that we are no longer buying diapers!!!!!  GOAL MET for 2012!!

So what is next?  My goal for 2013 is to spend $600 a month on groceries. I am going to be using the envelope system as well, which will increase the accuracy of all the totals.   I don’t think this will be an easy goal. As I have mentioned earlier my stockpile is really full at this point so I am only buying items at stock up prices except for meat, and with the coupons that Food Lion is currently releasing I am positive that at least for January this goal will be met!

Grocery Goal for 2013 $600 a month this includes cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.   This will also include supplies for our square foot garden and the purchase of any coupons.

Financial Update

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This year has been a real struggle for us especially in the area of finances. It has brought many changes both expect and unexpected, however I can honestly report two things. First and foremost, we have experience and have no doubt that God is in control. Second, I have learned more about my spending habits then I thought was possible.

One of the goals that I set at the first of the year was to be debt free except for our mortgage by the end of December. My logic behind this was that I knew Matt would no longer be receiving a steady income and I wanted to adjust our budget so that we could keep even for at least the remaining two years that Matt will be at home full-time.  I  don’t expect that we will be meeting this goal this year. However I am not disappointed at all. During the month of December, we have made HUGE steps in this area!  I had previously mentioned that Matt would be receiving his pension from Ecolab this month. That has occurred. We decided to use this to get us set up on the Dave Ramsey- debt free plan. How this looks for our family may be different that what you expect but I am excited to see things moving in the right direction.

First, I can honestly say that we have a budget that is very specific and doable. I have added many categories to my previous budget to include things like car insurance, clothing, hair and gifts. I know that this is going to take work over the next year to first of all stick to the budget but I can see things starting to change! That feels so awesome that I want to continue on this path even if it means not going out to eat or spending  less on gifts!  Along the same lines, I have begun using the envelope system to track both our grocery budget and gas budgets. I had resisted this in the past due to using cash to pay for gas is now a big ole headache. I was able to find a free app on my IPhone that has made this a breeze!  I can easily add money and just as easily subtract with each transaction. At a glance, I can tell how much is left in each of these categories!  It also make spending the money more difficult for me because I have to decide where I am going to subtract from and seeing it in front of me makes this more difficult. Next, we are making progress on the “Baby Step” that Dave Ramsey uses.  Our Emergency Fund is considered fully funded with $1000. I do plan to make regular additions to this fund for the next several year until it reaches $10,000 but baby steps allows us to accomplish things quickly so we will want to continue. Baby Step #2 is to create a “Debt Snowball”.  I have created a list of all outstanding debt that we have except for our mortgage, currently that number stands at just over $8000 consisting of 12 items.  We have been able to pay off 3 of the smaller medical bills and see a blank hole is also very motivating as well.

My goal that I am working toward currently is to pay off 2 more items on  our debt snowball list. Due to our very tight budget for next year, it is not truly a debt snowball where elimination of each debt adds additional money to pay of the next debt. This simply does not work currently for us because we have not been making consistent payments on the majority of these debts but the idea of paying the smaller debt first is working and again very motivating.

I have been very honest and use real numbers for this update, I hope it helps encourage and/or motivate you!

 

November in Review

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Blogging:  This makes the 13th post of the month. I did not blog even once on our trip so that is the reason that I am 2 post short of for the month. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and with Lily’s birthday also I should be able to meet my goal in December.

Goal: 15 per month

Devotions: Staying on track!  Now to decide on a plan for next year. GOAL MET!

Goal is 3 a week.

Groceries: Because of the traveling we did this month I reduced the budget to 500. I am still way under budget at $240 for the month! I am so excited!  Our average per month spending is $712. I am planning to reduce this to $600 starting in January! 5th month for GOAL MET!

Grocery Budget is set at $800 per month, this includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.

Financially:God answered prayer. We have learned that Matt will be receiving a pension payment December 1st. This will place us in a much more stable financial position as well as allow us to pay off several credit cards. I will share what we are able to accomplish with this after it happens.  I will post more after this is complete but for the month of November we stayed on track.!

Goal: To be Debt free except for mortgage by the end of the year. This was established prior to our learning of the significant financial changes that are occurring so I am trusting God to provide direction in this area. Currently we are focused on meeting budget each month!

Weight: I have continued to exercise at least 1x a week. UGGHHHH

Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month.

November was a good month overall and travelling and staying on budget definitely made it better.

 

October in Review

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Blogging:  12 post for the month of October. Just got really busy.  Starting on a good foot this month so I only have 14 more post to do! We are traveling so that could go one of two ways. I could be inspired to post or just get too busy,we shall see.

Goal: 15 per month

Devotions: On track again this month! Definitely now need to increase the goal next year! God is AWESOME!

Goal is 3 a week.

Groceries: Continuing to make huge gains in this year. 4 month in a row that I am under budget!!! The next huge step for me will be to go to cash only for groceries. This will mean that I have to spend the grocery money more evenly. I am thinking this will make things so much easier to track once I get it started!  With us travelling this month so therefore not eating at home for an entire week, I am going to reduce this spending to $500 for November.

Grocery Budget is set at $800 per month, this includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.

Financially:God answered prayer. We have learned that Matt will be receiving a pension payment December 1st. This will place us in a much more stable financial position as well as allow us to pay off several credit cards. I will share what we are able to accomplish with this after it happens. In addition. Matt is also working on a possible 2 additional website!

Goal: To be Debt free except for mortgage by the end of the year. This was established prior to our learning of the significant financial changes that are occurring so I am trusting God to provide direction in this area. Currently we are focused on meeting budget each month!

Weight: I have continued to exercise at least 1x a week. The crud got use several weeks so no really changes on the sch Hopefully by November this will put me back in the ones.

Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month.

In October, I did not met as many goals as I have in the past. The month seemed to drag on as things went off course but I am starting new today for November! As you can probably guess, things are looking up for us financially and with a visit to family in the near future, positive attitude is a good thing!

Grocery Saving Part 2

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This has been one big shopping week at our house this week. We ended up with 3 trips to Harris Teeter during their Super Doubles event. We ended up spending $141, saving 57% or 190 in addition to $10 in gift cards remaining. The stock up items this week were mainly breakfast items which we use every day! So I was excited even after the trip that left us with the $10 in gift cards due to the POOR service we received.  I made a CVS free trip for 2 toothbrushes and 3 bottles of nail polish remover. Finally was the Food Lion trip, where I spent 20 and saved 23 or 53%.  In addition, the purchase of 80# of chicken breast is an added grocery expense this month. If you add up all that I have spent $675 on groceries already this month. So the first reason for doing a grocery challenge is that I need to keep the rest of the month spending as low as possible to stay in budget.  The next reason for the challenge is space related., in order to be able to freeze 80# of chicken breast in October, I need to clean out some space in the chest freezer. Finally, Food Lion has sent me 3 more $5 off $25 to use over the next several weeks. So I am again going to try this challenge

What is my challenge? Spend as close to $20 a week at Food Lion over the next 3 weeks while purchasing items we need or to add to the stockpile based on sales. I am also going to give myself $10 a week to spend at CVS to keep rolling ECB. So that is a total of $30 a week for the next 4 weeks to feed our family of 6.

I already have my shopping planned for tomorrow at Food Lion, hopefully with the iPhone I can get some pictures of what I am able to purchase!

Anyone joining me?

Groceries Savings Part 1

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If you follow much at all, you probably realize 2 things about groceries: 1. We tend to eat a lot! 2. I struggle each month to maintain a budget and groceries is probably the one area that I move and play with the most as well as the one area I overspend in as well.

One of the best/cheapest methods I have found is by buying in bulk. In March of this year, I learned about Zaycon Foods. I was able to purchase 80# of boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.99 a pound in March and $1.69 a pound this week. This is fresh chicken that has not been cut and needs some work before going into the freezer. The other downside to this purchase is that pick up is in a half hour slot and the closest “stops” to use are between 35 minutes and an hour. The good news is that in April (our last pick up) Matt took all three little kids with him,picked up the chicken came home and re-bagged all 80 in about 2 hours. We have been eating on that same 80# of chicken for 6 months now, at least once a week, sometimes sharing with friends or eating twice a week. When we pick up in October, the plan is to change only one thing. The size of the packages that we freeze, we have found that we can use 1 whole chicken breast for a meal for the 6 of us. We previously packaged 2 whole breast and end up with lots of left-overs.  I am not being compensated for writing about Zaycon foods but if you are interested and decided to order any of their products please either go directly through this link: http://www.zayconfoods.com/refer/zf71881  or simply fill in “Coffee Freak Designs” in the “Referred by” field. This will not cost you or penalize you at all however for each purchase you make, I will receive  a $1 credit for future use :)!

In the next post, I plan to tell you about my shopping deals this week as well as attempting the grocery challenge again and why?

August in Review

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Great way to start a new month..2 days late but hey at least  I did not totally skip it.

Blogging: Finally over to the new site completely. So if you are still being redirected the address is www. teenstotsandeverythinginbetween.com   I have now met my blogging goal 2 months in a row!!! Go me! Go me!  Goal: 15 per month

Devotions: I have met this goal again !!!! I am excited already thinking I need to up the goal next year to 5 a week! Goal is 3 a week.
Groceries: Our actually grocery spending for the month was $733, but this is a lot off simply because there were 5 Fridays and 3 paychecks during this month. So  I can say without a doubt we are beginning to reduce our grocery spending! I did recheck our average for the year and it is down to $797 a month. Now to stay focused for the last 4 month! But for the first time ever we have been below budget 2 months in a row. Grocery Budget is set at $800 per month, this includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.

Financially:Still waiting for the changes to take effect at work. No real news in this area.   Goal: To be Debt free except for mortgage by the end of the year. This was established prior to our learning of the significant financial changes that are occurring so I am trusting God to provide direction in this area. Currently we are focused on meeting budget each month!
Weight: I finally got on a scale this month and it ain’t pretty! So this will become a renewed focus for me in the coming months. I was able to exercise  3 x a week for 2 of the 5 weeks. That is an improvement. I have also found an app to help me count calories. I plan to go back on plan by Tuesday. Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month.

Overall a really positive month with staying focused. I do know that September will be the greatest challenge in both finances and weight for me so can you pray for me? Thanks

Renovation Update 8/18/2012

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  1. Haley’s new room Officially Haley’s room is finished.
  2. Lily and Kendall move into bigger room Room is completely finished with all clothing drawers labelled. 
  3. Zach gets his own room and closet. Zach has been sleeping in his new room for a week now! He does have to share the closet with Kendall but he loves being able to pick out his clothes and put them away. We are planning to purchase one additional dresser for this room to allow all his clothes to be sorted easily. So until we make it to IKEA in Sept., this room is not complete.
  4. Matt’s office- Matt has started working in his office!! The desk is actually a closet door. I will get a much better picture with all the details once it is painted and complete. A third picture will finish out his wall.

 Spending Totals for Renovations

Budget information:$1000

Total Spent $1014

Update: I received a $10 rebate check back from the paint that was purchased this week. A friend was able to find a matching twin set of sheet/comforter for Kendall’s bed and purchased these. I will be making the doll beds as well as Kendall’s bed match the other girls!  Matt also purchased some trim for his desk at Lowes.  So currently our total spent is at $1049.