My 12 Goals for 2016 : Week 19 of 52

1. Pay Down the Mortgage

We were able to knock 5 payments off our contract in May {1 regular payment and 4 extra “principal” payments}. We didn’t buy anything other than the basics {no clothing, shoes, car stuff, toys,etc.}. There were no dental bills to pay {freakin’ amazing}, our utilities were less thanks to all the nice weather we’ve been having and we came in under budget for our road trip.

2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year. 

Because I’m always on the hunt for wool to incorporate into my hooked rugs, I stopped by the local thrift store to look around. I found a Men’s old wool shirt and a step stool, both of which I’ll use in an upcoming rug hooking project {and then turn around and sell for a profit}. Technically they don’t count… but still. I thought I’d mention them.

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

Gasoline– When we started out on our road trip, gas prices were around $2.50 a gallon. As we headed east, prices dropped to around $2.05 a gallon. Talk about a HUGE difference {about $7 a tank for my car}.

Food – We took advantage of the free breakfasts provided at our hotels and only stopped at a restaurant {Pizza Lab} for lunch once thanks to a cooler I packed before hand. Had Lucy not been with us, we probably would have stopped/spent more than what we did.

4. Try 52 New Recipes.

Road Trip Chicken Caesar Salad : 1 bag Chicken Caesar salad mix, 1 avocado, 1 cooked chicken breast, shredded. Open bag, toss everything together and serve. 🙂

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

I did a no spend grocery month for April and I am so glad it’s over now. I can’t wait to share my plans for May with you tomorrow.

6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband 

Before we headed out of town last week I made the HH go to the dermatologist. He cut his ear about a year ago and it never really healed. He kept insisting it was fine {probably because his ear was still attached to his head} and said he didn’t need to have it looked at.

Yada yada yada, he finally caved in and we went to have his ear looked at. The doctor took a biopsy and we should have the results back any day now. She said there is a 50/50 chance it’s either skin cancer or an allergic reaction to all the neosporin he’s been putting on it. Good times. We’ll see.

So far this year we’ve gone on 14 dates and spent $191.60 out of pocket for our “dates.” We are a little over budget right now {I have $520 budgeted for “dates” this year} but I’m confident things will balance out in the end.

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

I won’t be adding any new inventory to my Etsy or Ebay “shops” for a few months {it’s a slow time of year for selling hooked rugs} but my hands are definitely busy hooking away on new projects that I’ll offer up for sale in the fall.

In April I sold $29.99
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. 

Another week of decluttering success! I’m almost done. You can see everything I’ve gotten rid of so far this year HERE. Next week I’m going to see if there is anything here on the east coast I can get rid of.

9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Do you listen to podcasts? Before our big road trip, I think I had listened to half of one. That’s it. But when you’ve got a bunch of time to kill and your radio doesn’t work {Lucy ate the speaker wires a long time ago} audio books and podcasts suddenly become your new best friend.

Even though I had read Empty Mansions months ago, I thought the HH would find the story of Huguette Clark interesting so I downloaded it for free thanks to my free Amazon Prime Audible subscription.  The audio book was over 13 hours long and he LOVED it.

We also listened to a boatload of Dave Ramsey, Fresh Air, Mike Rowe, and a few other random podcasts as well.

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

Yesterday I stopped by the local greenhouse and picked up some vegetable starts for the garden. You can read all about it over on Dig for Your Dinner today.

So far this year I have harvested 6 pound 8 ounces of fresh veggies from our backyard. I spent $19.40 at the greenhouse.

Time spent working on Vegetable Garden in 2016: 8 hours 45 minutes.

11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.

Yesterday I stained the deck and plan on adding a second coat later today.

Also on the agenda:

• Finish painting the entire downstairs
• Paint the kitchen table and chairs
• Paint sideboard
• Paint the front door
• Paint garage trim
• Caulk the downstairs trim
• Prune all the trees and hedges {this is going to take a while}

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

I can’t imagine I’ll be making any gifts over the next few weeks.

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

~Mavis

Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.