Category Archives: Goals

How I Spent my Christmas vacation…

Posted on by
Reply

I remember doing these in school, the only bad part is that I don’t remember doing anything grand to write about then, pretty much the same as now but at least I am writing it down. I am really focusing on accountability this year, basically if I post it for the world to read, I need to be honest and give it my best shot. In addition to that, please ask me about specific things that way I have some real life accountability as well.
So back to how I have spent the past several days working on my goals for 2012 of course.
                   Dieting-Yesterday, I was conscience of what I ate, weighed in using the Wii, consumed 8 glasses of water and exercised for 30 minutes on the Wii. The down side to this is that I have a long way to reach my goal of 150 by next December but the good news is that I am starting at all!
                  Saving Money/budget- One of the ways we are going to save money on groceries is finally eliminating the need for diapers/pull-ups.  Since last Thursday, we have been attempting to potty train Zach. He was doing really well in pull ups but did not complain when he was wet or didn’t even seem to care. So after buying underwear, he has been in underwear for about a day and half. The results are not as stellar as I would have hope but we do have results: Zach gets very upset when  he is wet, he even thanked me for cleaning up his mess.  We are going to continue to work with him this week, I would be very pleased if he is able to stay in underwear at home and move to underwear in public by the end of the month or as long as we have diapers!  Next I have been cleaning out the freezers and refrigerators.  I actually went shopping in the freezer in the building this morning. I was able to bring up enough meat for an entire week as well as lots of veggies. I did not have any “extra” money this month to work on purchasing the final window or beginning to pay down debt so the plan is to squeeze some of that out of our grocery and dinning out budgets. I have also spent some time searching for ways to use of the remaining items from Angel Food that we really didn’t like. Last night I used some pre-breaded chicken wings to make Buffalo wings for Matt’s dinner, he is planning to use the rest of the smoked sausage for sandwiches. Finally, I am planning to do some cooking this coming Saturday of “conveince meals’ because after looking at our schedule for the month of January it is going to be really easy to get off track.
                Blogging- 2 days, 2 post a really good start.

I was able to get together a donation for Goodwill on Saturday as well as done alot of general cleaning and cleaning out done.  Best of all I have been able to spend time with the kids just being a Mom. Not rushing to get to something or tired from working.

December and Year in Review

Posted on by
Reply

Blogging: .November has 15 post including this one. For the year 132 post, 30 less than last year and an average of 11 per month. My plan is to continue blogging next year so this goal will stay the same. 
Goal: 15 per month

Devotions: Thanks to my sister in law for a sample but awesome Devotional book. I have met this goal for the first time this year! I am going to continue with this goal. With the plan to be success each week and not have to think about it so much!
Goal is 3 a week.

Couponing/Grocery Budgeting: See previous post.

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

Financially:  See previous post.

Weight– This one is going to require serious work and commitment to. I have a goal in my head to be at 150 by next December. So I have written it make it more real maybe!
Goal to exercise 3x a week.

Budget-Year in Review and Goals

Posted on by
Reply

I have had a goal all year of keeping our grocery budget $800 or less, in addition in the last several months I have add to that of getting our “baby” Emergency Fund” at $500. At the beginning of the year last year, I had in mind that we would be out of debt except for our mortgage by this point. I will say up front that I did not met these goals completely but I feel like I have made substantial progress. I want to take an good look at the goals from last year as well as establish new one in the area of finance for next year. Look for the final year in review post on Saturday.

Grocery budget-Goal was $800 or less a month. Our average spending per month was $821! Matt and I both have decided that was a success. I am not going to increase this budget at all for 2012. When I look at the numbers that is $26 a week per person, or around $1.10 per person per meal. Of course I will be so happy to come in under this number but I also want to be realistic.

Emergency Fund- We actually met this goal approximately 2 weeks ago, followed by us having to spend $450 of it on a new dryer when ours stopped working. I have found that the best way for us to accomplish this goal is to move $10 a check to the account and then if we “find” more money push it in the account as well. Our goal for 2012 will be to re-establish this fund and increase it to $1000 by June and maintain it at this amount for the rest of the year.

Outstanding debt- This is the area in which we have made the least amount of progress. In one sense, we have been really great, we have not acquired any new debt this year. This includes unpaid medical bills. My goal was to be complete out of debt so this is a failure. My goal will be the same for 2012. The importance of this goal is more pressing as our income will be reduced in June of 2012.

Where did our money go in 2011:
Disney Trip
Vacation at the Beach for a week
New windows for the entire house.
2 New Televisions for our bedroom
Car and Van maintenance.
Taxes paid for 2010 and 2011

Sticking to the Plan while Life happens!-Menu Planning

Posted on by
Reply

One of our biggest money reducing/saving efforts this month is eating out of the freezer/pantry to reduce at least by half our food budget. So far this month we have spent $294. Honestly, this is the point where I usually have the biggest problem. We are running low on bread and milk, so someone is going to have to go in a grocery store to purchase these in the next several days. The trend is that because I have to buy 2 things, I go ahead and make a list of our wants. The goal is to change this habit. We are starting to run low on snack foods as well as quick/easy items for lunches. But again, I don’t want to purchase because that will definitely sink the budget.

Now is where planning and a little next thought takes place. First I am going to share ways we have been trying to waste not, then I am sharing our plan for this hectic week. Yesterday, for lunch, I made tuna salad. We are short on loaf bread so I cut the hot dog buns from earlier in the week in half and made “subs” for the kids. Lily loved it so much she asked if she could have a sub in her lunch as well. Matt and I ate our tuna salad on hamburger buns. Today, I made a Shepard’s pie for dinner, adding left over carrots and fruit cocktail to make it a meal to feed 6. The reason I chose the Shepard’s pie is that we had a huge bowl of leftover mashed potatoes.

Next is the planning. This week is so hectic with Zach’s cardiac appointment on Wednesday and my oral surgery scheduled for Friday in addition to all the regular weekly activities. Another budget buster for us is grabbing food on the run when things get busy. So I went ahead and planned a couple of meals that are quick and easy. First is spaghetti, no preparation just heat and eat. We have some lettuce that needs to be eaten so it will probably be added in on Monday to make this a healthy meal. Wednesday, we have no idea how long we will be at Amos Cottage but previous experiences have said that we need to plan on a long long day. So I have all ready gotten some chicken drumsticks out of the freezer. On Wednesday morning, we can throw in the crock pot with some BBQ sauce, add the rest of the left over mashed potatoes, frozen green beans from the summer and crescent rolls if time and we have an awesome meal. Finally Friday, Matt was concerned about me not being able to eat and needing to buy something. I checked the freezer we have several varieties of soup and also several cans of soup. I also found a couple of boxes of Jello as well as applesauce so nothing else is needed. Tuesday and Thursday, Matt will have to grab something out to grill or a frozen meal but that is not a big deal! Best news of all will be less than $10 at the store for bread and milk.

June in Review

Posted on by
Reply
Yes, I realize it is July 4th. But Kendall’s birthday occurred on the first and I wanted her to have a day of post all alone!

Blogging: 7 post for the month. This seems to be closed to where I am staying for the year. I am okay with that but want to get more in the swing of things and at least post “Wordless Wednesdays” and Coupon Blessing on a regular basis. I should be ahead of the time this month with 4 post in 4 day, so thankful for the holiday. The goal is 15.

Devotions:This seems to be hit or miss. Our Pastor is currently preaching out of the book of Deuteronomy. He requested that we read the book along with him. I am trying to use that as at least one of my devotions. I am suppose to ready Chapter 5 today. I also need to get ready for next quiz year so that should encourage me as well. Goal: 3 per week.

Couponing/Grocery Budgeting: I did not stay “way under for the month of June” but instead ended up at $879 for the month. Harris Teeter has ran both a Super Doubles and a Triples event in the month so that at least explains the overage. I definitely do have a stockpile now. One thing that should make a nice impact on this year is the fact that Matt and I are making a menu plan for the week. This allows us to know and use the items we already have as well as helps Matt not have to rush around and “figure” out what to fix for dinner. The most exciting development in this area is that yesterday (Sunday) we were able to provide a couple at church with a “blessing” from our stockpile. I estimate the value to be about $100. I have also been able provide toiletries to my parents. It feels so awesome to give stuff away! Our Grocery Budget is set at $800 per month, this includes diapers, cleaning supplies, food and toiletries.


Financially: We were able to pay off one small credit card this month however due to expected income not arriving I did not place any money in savings or the auto fund. July will be a different month as well since we are going to the beach for 5 days. Goals in this area: Emergency fund of $1000, car fund equal to a payment of $300 each month and by January- debt free except for mortgage.

Weight– Have not even stepped on the scale. This will become a propriety in the next couple of months maybe?

Goals for 2011

Posted on by
Reply

I have been thinking about the things I want to improve on for this year. Several are a carry-over/redo from last year. I will create the list now along with explain or clarifying the goal in this post and each month I plan to post a recap on where I am at with that goal.

Blogging- I want to continue to try and meet the same expectation as last year 20 post a month. This will actually be more difficult in 2011 because I am no longer in charge of menu planning which eliminates Monday Menu post. I also hope to post more of the shopping experiences I have along with more just life information.

Devotions- 3 a week excluding Sundays.

Couponing/ Grocery Budget: The goal this year is to maintain the amount we spent at around 800 a month including diapers and cleaning supplies. I am really going to focus on couponing and developing a better stock pile. Last year we averaged $703 a month but I am sure this did not include all the food. In order to reach this goal several changes are in the works. First I will be purchasing at least 1 paper a week in addition to the one that I get for free from my parents. I may vary this up to 3 a week. Secondly, we are working on a “price point list.” My plan is to use Costco as the I can find it anytime price and base stocking up on the best deals I can find at the present. I have heard of several predictions that the cost of food will raise significantly this year so I hope this is a good plan. Third on this list is the square food garden. Last year was the first year we attempted, the plan is to triple the size for this year. Start with planting seeds by the end of January and use this for reducing our budget especially in the summer. We have also discussed purchasing half a cow or other ways to get meat in bulk. I will keep you informed as this start to occur.

Financially- 2010 brought major life changes to us. We have been struggling with reducing debit and developing a fair budget. We “think” this has finally been achieved, a realistic budget has been established. The goal for this year is to reduce debts, not acquire any new debts and ultimately to be out of debt except for our mortgage by the end of the year. We are also planning a trip to Disney at Easter, so this is a huge expenses but one we are planning for.

Weight-I now weigh the most I have ever in my entire life even when pregnant. My goal in this area is to lose 25lbs prior to our trip in April and then after returning returning to lose a total of 75lbs this year. We bought the Wii and Wii Fit to go with it so hopefully between that and some good old fashion calorie counting I can succeed.