January Accomplishments

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
January Accomplishments
18
Fri, 01-29-2010 - 10:50am

It is said that people with written and measured goals get more done than those without.




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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2010
Sun, 01-31-2010 - 11:24am

this is a great post. in january:

1. we put a budget together that both challenges us to live within our means and still pay down debt, but has enough lee-way to be happy and content with our activities.

2. while examining our finances we carefully considered what we were paying for and whether or not it was a good thing to still pay for, and we shopped around on things that we do pay for to see if we could get a better deal, by doing this we lowered our monthly fixed costs by $235/ month. (wahoo!)

3. dh and i have had many conversations about budget/ income/ and planning that have brought us both to the same page with our debt and finances. part of why this has taken so long to get a handle on is because we didn't talk about it. now that we have been, we both see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.

5. we have taken into account things that we know will come up throughout the year and know where the money for those items will come from.

4. i am actually excited (for the first time in forever) to tackle our money, live from our budget, and reap the rewards of this hard work. i know it will be a challenge and we will not always stay on plan through it all, but with these new communication lines and both of us being responsible for it i think we have a great chance of really making good strides this year!

the amount of relief i feel right now is amazing. i don't know that i would have taken all this on without finding this board and lurking for a while. now i am going to use it to continue to ask questions and keep myself accountable.

february goals:

1. pay off the first credit card on my list.

2. make a good dent in the next one.

3. stay on track with the grocery budget. all the other areas for that matter, but the groceries is the one that i am most challenged by.

keep up the good work, everyone! february is going to be a great month!


iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2010
Sun, 01-31-2010 - 2:14pm

I really am not feeling too accomplished at anything this month. :( We have gone over budget over and over...Although, to be fair, we didn't start the month with a budget so it's more like February is our first real go at it... But I hope January is not a good indication of our abilities to stick to the budget.

The main things I'm happy about are:
- Actually getting a balanced budget
- Setting up amortization schedules for all our debts for a "reality check" of how long it's going to take us to to pay this off
- Joining the board so I don't feel like I'm alone in my battle
- Getting more p/t kids in my dayhome for extra money
- Doing pretty well for groceries for the month (with the exception of what DH spent on my birthday...sigh)

Goals For February:
- Stay on budget
- Order meat & try to further reduce my food budget if that's possible
- Be sensible & make a plan for the extra money we have coming in on the 15th of Feb & then DH's bonus he will get in March
- Figure out something we can do at home for Valentines Day keeping in mind we have 5 kids lol
- Hopefully find some more p/t dayhome kids as as one family I have are moving back to Ontario so I need to replace that income.
- Work out. I'm sure that has nothing to do with my financial situation but I have a brand new Wii Fit that's been sitting in my living room since last June...I should really try it out & maybe that will help with my mental state!

Melissa
~ Mom to 5 ~
~ Melissa ~ ‎"We need to find the courage to say NO to the things and people that are not serving us, if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity." - Barbara de Angelis
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2009
Sun, 01-31-2010 - 8:46pm

Wow!! You guys are inspiring. I still need to set up a budget its in my head. Here is what I accomplised:


iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
Mon, 02-01-2010 - 10:20am

Look at my FPU posts.




iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2009
Mon, 02-01-2010 - 1:27pm

Thats good to know. I am going to check into it. How does it work if you don' t have a signifcent other to be accoutnable to?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2006
Mon, 02-01-2010 - 9:17pm

January was good except for one $425 blip caused by someone that backed into our car and drove off leaving us to get a new bumper and front grill.

We managed to get about $3,000 in debt paid down.

My goals for Feb are:

1. Get our taxes done - we have done a preliminary estimate and will get about $6,000-$7,000 back.

We will pay off one of the four credit cards we have and are hoping to also be able to refinance and then put the rest in savings (we need to get our e-fund more beefed up for my sanity and security).

2. Meet with the insurance rep about getting DH set up on long-term disability insurance

3. Get confirmation from the insurance rep about the quality of his life insurance

4. Put at least $100 into savings.

Good luck to all!

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-14-2008
Mon, 02-01-2010 - 9:59pm

*I comprised a budget for the month of January and mostly adhered to it.
* I wrote down every singe penny I spent in the month of January.
*Although I have been extremely tempted, I did not book a trip to the Carribean. I am longing to go away, but we are not going to so that we can get some home improvements completed.
*Still working on saving money for our living room furniture. We should definitely be there by the end of February. We have been working so hard to scrape this money together. It will feel amazing to finally have the furniture that we would like and know that we do not owe a dime.
*I received my rrsp statement in the mail for last year. I did not make any money in interest despite the fact that I have a large sum invested. I made an appointment with a fincial person, as I am unaware of what changes I need to make. I admit that aside from contributing consistently to my RRSPs, I have neglected them. It's time for me to pay more attention to my future (which seems for far away, I am only 35).
*My basement is almost clean. I took a load to be donated to the Salvation Army today, and I will take another load on Friday. Clothing will be donated next Monday (they will come to the house to pick it up). A few bags of garbage and recycling to go out at the end of the week. Having the clutter cleaned up makes me feel in control, which helps my stress levels and seems to make me feel more in control of finances.
*This month I completed weekly meal plans. Man, how did I get by without doing those in the past. My stress levels are way down, and I love knowing what is for dinner. I have been cooking all meals for Monday to Thursday on the week-end or on Monday. I love just having to warm up dinner. This has reduced eating out as well.

Goals for February
*To have a plan for my RRSP
*purchase new living room furniture, even if we are unable to get everything that we would like to get. I need to feel like we are making some progress in this area.
*Our basement to be organized. I want to talk to DH about putting my scrapbook stuff in a storage area that we have. In my purging, it seems that I have created some extra space. Right now my stuff is all in a box. It would be great to have it where I can see it.
*Keep on budget (not a great start) and continue to write down all expenditures.






iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2009
Mon, 02-01-2010 - 10:28pm

Hi Silly...


Please take your RRSP very seriously....I made 16.5% interest last year on a conservative balanced portfolio....


Duke

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