My 12 Goals for 2016 : Week 27 of 52

1. Pay Down the Mortgage

Although we were able to knock 4 payments off our contract in June, July isn’t looking so great. I am still waiting for the final bill for the HH’s surgery {it should be arriving any day now} and then I’ll know if there is anything extra for the July payment.

2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year. 

This was kind of an interesting week. I was tempted to buy many things; new shoes, a kayak, sandwhich baggies {I haven’t bought any this year!} my favorite bubble bath, a hanging basket at the nursery that was 50% off as well as a new garden planter. But every time I hauled “stuff” downstairs to add to the yard sale pile, I kept having the same conversation with myself. Basically, I was wishing I could turn back the clock and have all the money I paid for all that stuff in my pocket.

I’m getting old. I can see now that buying most things on a whim is silly. It doesn’t mean I’m cheap. It just means I’d rather have our house paid off than a $2 box of sandwhich bags. And that’s what I’m starting to ask myself these days when I want to buy something. “Do I really need this? No. Do I want this thing more than I want to have my house paid off asap? No.”

End of discussion {with myself}.

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

So. The downside of being away from home? The boys crank up the AC and run the sprinklers like there is no tomorrow. The utility bills came in last week and their extravagant late spring/early summer lifestyle came to light. 😉 Naughty boys. Naughty, naughty boys.

4. Try 52 New Recipes.

Sadly I’m lacking in this department right now but The Girl and I do have a bunch of recipes we want to try this summer so stay tuned.

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

In June I spent$167.81. Totally over budget but it seems like we always are for this time of year because we buy more fruit than we usually do so I’m not too worried. I do wish Fred Meyer would hurry up and get their bulk boxes of blueberries in stock. We’re totally out.

6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband 

The HH worked M-Sat last week because a ton of people were on vacation so we didn’t get a chance to go out but I’m pretty confident we’ll squeeze a date in today or tomorrow.

So far this year we’ve gone on 18 dates and spent $311.60 out of pocket for our “dates.”

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

I won’t be adding any new inventory to my Etsy or Ebay “shops” until late August {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. 

Whoa Nelly. 😉 I’m going to have to do a separate post about this one. But yes, I’m getting very close.

9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

So many of you had such good things to say about the Shoemaker’s Wife that I went ahead and requested it from the library {I just need to go down and pick it up}.

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

This week I harvested sugar snap peas and shelling peas along with a few onions and some oregano. My plantings here on the west coast were a little later than I would have liked because I forgot to tell the HH to spread Sluggo on the garden beds while I was away. As a result the zucchini, cucumbers, winter squash and some of the beans had to be re-planted. It will all work out in the end though so I’m not one bit worried. 😉 You can get all my latest gardening happenings over on Dig for Your Dinner.

So far this year I have harvested 13 pounds 3 ounces of fresh veggies from our backyard. I spent $19.40 at the greenhouse and about $16 on mulch.

Time spent working on Vegetable Garden in 2016: 13 hours 20 minutes.

11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.

We’ve been working on clearing everything out of the storage closet and garage for the upcoming neighborhood sale. The Girl and I will go through the house one more time this week to see if we missed anything. After that, it’s back to painting trim work.

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

Nothing new to report this week in the gift department.

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

~Mavis

Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.