1. Pay Down the Mortgage
We were able to make 2 additional payments towards the principal for August.
2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year.
I started going through my closet this week and setting aside some of my clothing as a sort of way to conserve my clothing usage. I’m sure it sounds like a whacky idea to most peeps so I’ll talk more about it in a later post. 😉
3. Track Spending and Figure Out New Ways to Cut Spending Even More.
Pro Tip: Don’t leave the house. It cuts spending dramatically. 😉
4. Try 52 New Recipes.
Zucchini oatmeal waffles. They’re the bomb diggety. The Girl is in LOVE with them too. Seriously. You need to try them.
5. Keep My Grocery Budget Under $100 a Month.
So far this month I’ve spent $97 on groceries!
6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband
For our 22nd anniversary the HH and I used a BOGO coupon and went to Qdoba for giant burritos and they were totally worth the $8.92 out of pocket.
So far this year we’ve gone on 25 dates and spent $394.44 out of pocket for our dates.
7. Turn My Wool Stash into $5,000.
I’m back on Etsy and Ebay and in the past 10 days I have sold $329 worth of my hooked rugs. That brings my “craft money” total up to $3864.16. Only $1135.84 left to reach my goal. 🙂
So far in August I have sold $329
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.
This week I set aside 20 hangers, 2 glass jars, 8 pieces of clothing, 1 pair of Ugg Boots {from The Girl}, 1 plastic pitcher, and set of knee pads for next year’s garage sale. Decluttering is rad. And slow. But fun.
So far this year I’ve gotten rid of 1056+ things.
9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
I finished The Life List on audiobook and holy cannolis, it as AWESOME… right up until the end. I would love to see The Life List made into a movie. I also borrowed The American Frugal Housewife from the Library and am working my way through it. The book is incredibly easy to read and it’s amazing to me that so many of the tips and observations that rang true in 1829 can still be applied today.
10. Track Hours Spent Working on My Vegetable Garden and do a Cost Analysis at the End of the Year.
This week I picked butternut squash, tomatoes, beans, and oodles of zucchini. So far this year I have harvested 84 pounds 7 ounces of fresh veggies from our backyards. I spent $19.40 at the greenhouse and about $16 on mulch. You can read all about my gardening adventures at Dig for Your Dinner.
Time spent working on Vegetable Garden in 2016: 19 hours 45 minutes.
11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.
This week I tackled the ceiling in the family room and I’m happy to report I only have one more ceiling left to paint {the hallway} and then I’m done with that thankless task. Yee-Haw!
12. Make all Birthday and Christmas Gifts This Year or Acquire Them for Free.
I cashed in some Swagbucks for a $25 Amazon gift code and set it aside for The Girl for Christmas. 🙂
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2016? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.
RobinSoCal says
Your tip for not spending any money is right on. I work from home so some weeks I could definitely not leave the house, nor even get out of pj’s, ha.
bobbi dougherty says
Gosh, wish I lived closer I would take those big jars off your hands, lol. May try those waffles, but instead make pancakes, lol. Think it would work ok? Thanks!
Mama Cook says
Definitely make pancakes out of waffle batter!!! Last week my waffle iron broke mid-waffle…like in half! (1st waffle into a octupled recipe!). So…I used it to make pancakes! My kiddos LOVED them! Seriously-they went on and on!!!
mandy says
Looking forward to hearing more on #2.
I did a few more repairs on my main gardening bra today! They worked well. I went through a few other clothes as well and found I lost enough weight to wear an old pair of boardshorts to water the garden. My water wand leaks so I need swim clothes or I’m water logged! I’ve got a few other items set aside as well.
I’m taking a weekend to San Francisco with my mom, sister and niecey this weekend so I’m seeing what I can wear again and how it will work. I’m going to try not to take any of my repaired, patched (with Limp Bizkit patch) shorts to to concert we’re going to, but it just might happen. I love hanging on to my favorites and making them over a bit just so we can have more fun in them. and enjoy wearing them even longer.
Amy says
I am looking forward to hearing more about #2 as well 🙂 Setting aside clothing to conserve clothing usage is an awesome idea. When we receive clothes for the children (as gifts from Gramma or second hand in the traditional big black garbage bag) I set some aside in a tupperware even if is their current size. I was able to go “back to school” shopping in my basement and outfit the children in unstained, untorn clothes. I revist this spare clothing tupperware at least 4 times a year. However their growth has also slowed down as they are older (ages 4-8) and if I do forget to break out the new clothes I can always pass them on to my nieces and nephews. We are pretty rough on clothes and their favourite place to play is in the dirt pile, if I don’t hide some nice clothes they look like ragamuffins. I don’t have enough clothes to do this for myself (and I have a rather large dresser to hold my clothes in) but I seem to always wear the same 5 shirts anyways, ha ha!