Financial Goals Update: April Edition

guest post by my Mom

April was a great month, but not because of our financial goals. As I mentioned in my last update, we knew we weren't going to make huge headway on our mortgage like we had in the first part of the year. This month definitely proved us correct there. BUT, it was for a great reason. We had the opportunity to make donations to several good causes this month. These funds may have otherwise been used to pay down our principle, but instead went to very worthy causes. A good month, indeed.

So, here's our update for April:

:: Tell Wells Fargo where they can shove our mortgage. As of the end of March, we have paid off 19.35%!!

:: Add to emergency savings. Done! We met this savings goal in February.

:: Pay for only 50% of gifts out of pocket - This one is still a success, though I didn't have to buy any gifts this month. I have quite a few (as a result of a recent baby boom by friends!) to purchase in coming weeks, so I'll be sure to report back in May!

How did you do this month?

Show Me the Money: First Quarter Summary

guest post by my mom

If you didn't catch my first installment of Show Me the Money, you can check it out here.

I've mentioned I'm on a quest to encourage other people (and by "other people" I mean the 3 of you who read this blog) to think outside the box and find ways to expand their budget through alternate sources of income. Saving money doesn't always come in the form of coupons or freebies. Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and get creative.

Ok, so between gift cards and cash (i.e. eBay, Amazon, and Craigslist) here's how we did during February and March:

Gift Cards - $15.00

Cash - $215.00

For a total of $1321 generated in the last 3 months, for pretty minimal work. While January was a particularly good month, March was really slow since I was out of commission due to shoulder surgery. This type of thing ebbs and flows depending on how much time you have, but for our family, it's well worth the minuscule amount of effort I have to put into earning this money.

So far, April has already earned us more than February and March combined, so I am looking forward to giving you an update on more of the details of what types of things we've been unloading to generate the extra income in the next installment of Show Me the Money!

Financial Goals Update - February/March

guest post by my Mom

Since things have been a little crazy around here following shoulder surgery, I haven't been able to give a proper financial goals update. Thankfully, despite the craziness, we've been able to make some really fantastic headway on our goals. We are being realistic and know that the next several months will likely not provide the same results, so we are just enjoying the progress we've made and grateful that God has totally provided above and beyond!

Here's our update for February & March:

:: Tell Wells Fargo where they can shove our mortgage. As of the end of March, we have paid off 19.35%!!

:: Add to emergency savings. Done! We met this savings goal in February.

:: Pay for only 50% of gifts out of pocket - This category was a winner. I had to buy 3 gifts this month. I used points to purchase gift cards for 2 of the gifts. The third gift was purchased using "cash back" that I got from using my debit card.*

*Many banks are starting to offer rewards on their debit cards as well as credit cards. Our bank does this and so we are able to avoid the credit card trap while still using the same type of points reward program.

Financial Goals Update - January

guest post by my Mom

Without further ado, here's how we did in January:

:: Tell Wells Fargo where they can shove our mortgage. 3.63% gone!

:: Add to emergency savings. Definitely an A+ here this month. We're nearly done with our initial goal!

:: Pay for only 50% of gifts out of pocket - This went well. I bought a few gifts and was able to pay for some using money earned from surveys and MyPoints. I bought 5 gifts this month and only paid for 1 out of pocket!

This month was mostly characterized by using our stockpile to come in under budget. Our new home is smaller than our last and so we don't have as much storage space. As a result, we need to be more selective about what we stock up on. So, we're spending the next few months paring down our large stockpile of toiletries and pantry items (these are items that we moved with us from our last home).

Hellloooooo February!

Financial Goals for 2011

Let me assure you, these are not MY goals. These are my peoples' goals. My top goals are:

1. Eat more snacks.

2. Train my baby sister to get me more snacks.

3. Get a new blue toy.

But my people want to use my blog to tell you about their financial goals for 2011.

This year, my people really only have one big goal: Tell Wells Fargo where they can shove our mortgage. They have some other minor goals, but really, 99% of their efforts this year are going towards this single goal.

So, instead of giving detailed monthly financial updates, I've decided to take a different route. I will update you on what percentage of our goal we've completed and what things we did each month to come in under budget. Coming in under our budget is our best way to intensify our efforts, so hopefully we'll make some great progress (and can show Wells Fargo who's boss :) ) while not scrimping on the fun and milkbones.

Their other two minor goals are:

:: Add to emergency savings - They have a specific dollar amount they would like to add

:: Pay for only 50% of gifts out of pocket - This one requires some clarification. They aren't looking to scrimp on gifts, just that they want to be able to use alternate methods of income to pay for the gifts, rather than using the money in their gift savings account. Any money left over at the end of the year in the gift fund will be donated to charity. This is a great encouragement to come in under budget since it means the "extra" money will benefit someone in need!

Tune in each month to see the progress!

May House Update

This month was great and I can say that even though my people only made 0.2% progress on paying off the house. Yup, they went from 2.6% last month to 2.8% this month. Not a big deal, right? WRONG! Their progress would have been almost 9% (yeah, I told you this was a good month) but they had the opportunity to help out with a few charities and donated money to these causes. This is what it's all about folks! What's the point in hoarding all your milkbones if you don't have anyone to eat them with? Well, then that means more milkbones for me...hmm...I'm not seeing a downside here...

Bad example.

Moral of the story: You'll get a warm fuzzy if you give to others, whether it's time, talent, or money. Just give.

House update

Well, the numbers are in from April. Like I said, the month wasn't so hot since Fod got sick (but is better now thankfully). However, even with our miniscule amount put towards the principle, our progress is up to 2.6%! That is up 1.6% from last month! Better than expected. Hopefully there won't be any snafoos this month and we'll have better progress.

Revising the Financial Goals Update

I plan on revising the format of the Financial Goals Updates. I realized after reviewing the goals, that the updates are going to be painfully boring. So, instead, I will be focusing on one area of the budget each month and trying to find new ways to save. Then, at the end of the month, I will share how I did and any new "tricks" I implemented.

The focus for May will be groceries. I know I had a No Spend month last month and really tried to buy minimal groceries. This month I will definitely need to go to the grocery store, so I will post my deals and work on coming in as far under budget as possible.

April Financial Goals Update

*sigh*

On the one hand, this month was great. On the other hand, not so much. The No Spend Challenge went fairly well (even though I forgot to do all the posts for it. I got a case of Crystal-itis). So, for the month we ended up well under budget for groceries and gas, which is great. Plus, we saved money in all of our budget areas from the No Spend Challenge. We were under by a total of 74 boxes of Milkbones (who cares about "human math", the important thing is to know how many boxes of Milkbones can be bought with the amount saved). So, looking at that, we did great. The downside is, we're not able to put any of the money we saved towards a principle payment on the house because my brother Fod got sick. He was at the vet twice in under a week and had to be admitted for a little while to get some medicine. Plus, he came home with 3 prescriptions. Soooo, all that money that was saved, got spent on Fod. Obviously it's worth spending the money on Fod because he was sick and needed help and the medicine made him feel lots better (in fact, he was back to chasing me around the house today, so he MUST be feeling better).

The good thing in all of this is that despite having an unexpected event, we were able to pay for it without putting anything on a credit card and incurring debt. We have saved and budgeted and have some wiggle room for the unexpected, and thus had only a dog crisis, and not a dog crisis AND a money crisis. So, overall, the month was a wash, but no movement is definitely better than movement in the wrong direction!