2016 Goal Update (Month One)

February is upon us folks!

Do you know what this means?

It means we survived another month; spiritually, financially and physically! Woo Hoo! I am celebrating!!! Everyday in God’s world is another day to rejoice.

I promised to share a one month goal update and here it is; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Yep, I am putting it all out there in cold hard facts.

2016 Goal Update (Month One)

Financial

1. Saving $5,000-$10,000 for the year (not including our $1,000 emergency fund.)

Let’s cut right to the chase and say we spent more than we saved this month. LOTS more.

This one is a mix of the “the good, the bad & the ugly”. We did manage to save money in a ton of ways which I share here but we also managed to spend a bundle because I chose to pay medical bills, pay off our van, deposit some savings and then our furnace broke. Don’t you just love those little surprises? You can read those details here and here.

Have we given up on this goal? No, but we will be rebuilding our $1,000 emergency fund before we begin saving for our goal. To read more about our determinationto do this click here.

2. Create and keep to our Check By Check Budget.

I am proud to say we have done this.

Have we added items as the bills were received or additional expenses added? Yes.

Did we have to do some rearranging in some categories to stay on budget? Yes, but we did it!

3. Reduce our purchases of non-necessary items We nailed this!

My daughter says my favorite word is “No”.

4.) Create a menu plan that is both reasonable and healthy to avoid waste. Yes, we got this! I must admit there have been a few days we chose to just “pick” from the cabinets BUT we managed to eat items we had and toss out very little due to expiration.

5.) Pay off our van. Accomplished two weeks early!!!

6.) Pay hospital bills as we receive them. You can read the details on those here. We paid three of them as they came in (hence the savings not growing) but then the furnace broke and we have been working on replenishing our emergency fund. In addition, we received two of the larger bills that I will need to make payments on the until the emergency fund is replenished.

7.) Pay cash for two installed wood floors. This will not be happening until we receive our tax return (I refuse to dip into savings) but we have been deep purging the closets and rooms in preparation for the event.

Household Goals

1.) Rock and repair the end of driveway This will also wait until April when the weather better and we have included it in our budget.

2.) Repair our sidewalk Same as above.

3.) Add a hand rail to our front porch Same as above.

4.) Get a handle on controlling the “chaos” as I have been referring to it in our home. This is clutter, unfinished projects, items to give to others, list on ebay, etc…

Hang & fill the picture frames I have had for two years
Start and finish moving my daughter into her “own space” downstairs-DONE
Paint the office
Finish “redoing” the girl’s bathroom

We have managed to remove quite a bit of clutter and finish my daughter’s room but we still have a long way to go.

Organizing/Decluttering Goals

Lead the way in “Just Make Do January & July” – This has been incredible. We have emptied our cabinets, organized and discovered cooking as a family and just enjoyed the less is more concept.

Share my daily decluttering/organizing progress in the “Controlling the Chaos” series.- Okay, so I may have dropped the ball on this one and just posted by the week for a few days.

Create an “incoming papers system” that works for us and looks nice. DONE

After the mail is opened and papers come in they stop here.

Label and keep an accurate list of freezer, fridge and cabinet items.DONE

Organize and keep the kitchen organized. DONE-I love having organized space and clean counters.

: Freezer

: Our Small Pantry

Create and keep medical binders for the 3 of us. DONE–I still need to pretty them up but they are put together.

Purge OLD files.-Not so much.

Get a handle on social media, emails, digital files and digital photos, purging and organizing as I go.-Working on this in February as part of the “Controlling the Chaos” Challenge

Organize ALL our printed photos and giveaway any and all duplicates.–Nope-Fail

Organize our house from top to bottom (and keep it that way-not just move it from one room to another, lol). This has improved greatly.

Health Goals

Give up Pepsi. DONE. Happy to report I have not had a Pepsi since December 31st, 2015.

Complete our medical binders-DONE

Prepare and drink a fruit smoothie daily (with the girls)-NOPE

Serve 3 square/pre-planned meals a day. –Not quite always square.

Eat together at the table every meal, every day.- Need to work on this more.

Keep health journals and look for triggers for everyone.- Still needs work.

Everyone in bed at a specific time and up at a specific time.-Ha! Ha! Ha!Ha!

Remove preservatives and eat more fresh items that I have prepared. Our Just Make Do adventure has helped remove most of the preservative laden items in our home. The battle now is convincing my family that we do not need to buy more. The battle began this morning as we began making February’s monthly shopping list and menu plan.

Do more freezer cooking for quick meals on rough days.-I could not do this as we were eating from the cabinets (except the plain crock pot chicken) but it is on the agenda in February.

Personal/Family

Create/update and use our weekly checklist –DONE and LOVE IT!
Create/update and use our daily checklist and schedule (my kids ~~HATE~~ strongly dislike this one)-Done on the days we aren’t at appointments
Create/Update and use our monthly checklist DONE Such a stress reliever.
Litter train Miss Kitty–Ha! Ha! Ha! HA!…….
Reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible-DONE
Spend an hour a day playing a game or doing a project with my girls –We were doing great until one went to stay with Grandma for a few weeks.

BLOG GOALS

Post daily in our “Controlling the Chaos” and “Saving in 2016” series-As mentioned early-not so much.
Post daily in our “Just Make Do January and July” series -See above
Post one new crafty, organizing project weekly-FAIL
Post one home decor feature weekly-FAIL
Post one “Sharing Sunday” weekly-DONE
Offer a link up for other bloggers to share their posts with ALL of you right here at Treasured Tidbits-DONE and can be found here with new items each week
Develop a Facebook following of 500 or more followers by the end of 2016-We made it to 100 and 250 at the end of January
Develop a subscriber’s list of readers of 100 by the end of 2016-Still working on it
Spend more time on my chronic illness blog at The Zippy Zebra. We will hit this hard in March
Set aside one afternoon a week to paint items for my “online” craft business-I have made the decision this may wait awhile until my health improves.

How are you doing with your goals for 2016?

Did you set any?

It isn’t too late to start today! Maybe make daily, weekly or monthly goals, whatever it takes to improve your everyday life.

Treasured Tidbits by Tina