My 12 Goals for 2016 : Week 15 of 52

1. Pay Down the Mortgage

We were able to knock 8 payments off our contract in April {1 regular payment and 7 extra “principal” payments} thanks to the HH earning a extra last month. We didn’t have any surprises in our budget {yay!} and I was also able to use my “rug hooking money” to go towards the extra payments in April as well.

2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year. 

Jeans. I need jeans. But honestly, if I have other pants to wear so I really don’t feel like buying them is a necessity. Plus, summer is right around the corner and I can live in my shorts for a few months… right? Some weeks the cravings for new stuff is stronger than others. This week… the meter is pretty high.

Currently on my “I wish I could buy this” list:

• A pair of Toms Espadrille Flats
• Coconut shampoo {totally luxury item in my book}
• Sea turtle caramels

3. Track Spending and Figure Out New Ways to Cut Spending Even More.

• Working on raking all the moss out of my lawn so the HH doesn’t waste spend money on chemicals that don’t work in the first place.
• Decided to do a “spend free” grocery month for April
• Paid bills online

4. Try 52 New Recipes.

Unless you count my 27th version of Crockpot split pea and ham soup… I didn’t make anything new this past week.

5. Keep My Grocery Budget Under $100 a Month.

Since I’m a little over budget for the year I’ve decided to do a no spend grocery month for April. Hopefully it will get me back on track.

6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband 

The HH and I went Poulsbo yesterday for lunch and bakery treats. Yum Yum. So far this year we’ve gone on 11 dates and spent $141.60 out of pocket for our “dates.”

7. Turn My Wool Stash into $5,000.

I didn’t add any new inventory to my Etsy or Ebay “shops” this past week because I’ve been busy working on some fall/winter pieces. I did however clean out my wool closet and moved my stash to the sideboard in the hallway. 🙂 The sideboard used to be filled with unused party platters {I moved those to the yard sale pile}.

Moving all my hand dyed wool downstairs meant I will be able free up a shelving unit and I’ll be able to add it to the yard sale pile once I find a home for the other bits and bobs.

Spring and summer is usually pretty slow in terms of selling finished rug hooking pieces so I’m just concentrating on hooking new pieces right now.

In March I sold $799.53
In February I sold $1077.27
In January I sold $1563.92

8. Get Rid of 1,000 Things. 

This past week I went through the Halloween decorations and pretty much got rid of everything but the Halloween bags the kids used when they were little {I’m hanging on to those for now}. This week I plan to go through the garage and after that… there is just Monkey Boy and The Girl’s room to go through. Yee-Haw!

9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

I didn’t read any new books this past week {but did catch up on a few movies} but I did add The Rainbow Comes and Goes to my library requests and I’m still waiting to read A Man Called Ove and I am currently #39 of 56 in line on the library request list.

10. Track Hours Spent Working on My Vegetable Garden and do a Cost Analysis at the End of the Year. 

Lucy and I puttered around the garden this week raking up moss and pulling a few weeds here and there. You can read about my latest gardening adventures HERE.

So far this year I have harvested 6 pound 2 ounces of fresh veggies from our backyard.

Time spent working on Vegetable Garden in 2016: 6 hours 30 minutes.

11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.

This past week I patched a few nail holes and dings in the stairway and then painted the whole thing. I also painted one side of the upstairs hallway and plan to finish the other side this week.

12. Make all Birthday and Christmas Gifts This Year or Acquire Them for Free.

I hacked away at an old Halloween candle with the HH’s Sog Hatchet so I can make a few {okay, 100} more fire starters for my brother for Christmas.

I should have about 300-400 of them by the time I’m done filling the basket.

How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2016? How are they coming along?

~Mavis

Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.