1. Pay Down the Mortgage
We were able to make 7 additional principal payments towards the mortage for October.
2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year.
That goal was easy peasy this past week.
3. Track Spending and Figure Out New Ways to Cut Spending Even More.
If you are not already a Nordstrom rewards member… You can score $10 to use during the prime holiday shopping dates of November 26th – December 24th. The Girl signed up {it’s super easy} and plans to get something for her cousin with the credit. Nordstrom offers free shipping and their sale section almost always has something fun in the $10 piece range.
4. Try 52 New Recipes.
This past week I made a couscous salad with roasted butternut squash and it was fantastic. You can get the recipe HERE.
5. Keep My Grocery Budget Under $100 a Month.
My new goal is to make it to the end of the year spending an average of $150 a month.
6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband
No time for dates this past week. 🙁
So far this year we’ve gone on 27 dates and spent $416.22 out of pocket for our dates.
7. Turn My Wool Stash into $5,000.
I’m back on Etsy and Ebay and this past week I sold $354.70 worth of my hooked rugs. So far this year I have sold $5878.15 worth of arts & crafts.
So far in October I’ve sold $819.17
In September I sold $1259.27
In August I 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.
7 more items made their way to the yard sale pile. This time around it was books. I’ve been holding on the Lincoln book since I was 20 and finally decided it was time to let go of it. If you have someone on your list who is a big Abraham Lincoln fan… it’s the best book I’ve ever read/seen about his life and it would make a great gift.
So far this year I’ve gotten rid of 1100+ things.
9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
I picked up the book Pale and Interesting from the Library last week and let’s just say I want to live within the pages of the book!!! There are so many {simple} decorating ideas in there!
10. Track Hours Spent Working on My Vegetable Garden and do a Cost Analysis at the End of the Year.
So far this year I have harvested 109 pounds 6 ounces of fresh veggies from our backyards. I spent $19.40 at the greenhouse, $10.40 at Wilco 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: 21 hours 10 minutes.
11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.
I was planning on cleaning out the gutters before the storm but ended up spending friday night at the hospital with my brother so I didn’t have time to do it. But hey, it’s now Sunday and I can just delegate that totally not so fun task to the HH.
12. Make all Birthday and Christmas Gifts This Year or Acquire Them for Free.
My mother. Apparently she felt the need to leave a “room service tip” for taking over our room the past two weeks. That, or her pockets are full of waiting room graham crackers and she needed to empty them out to make room for more. I’m not sure. 😉
Anywho, I now have a $20 free money to spend towards Christmas gifts this year and probably enough graham crackers for the base of a cheesecake. Giddy up!
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2016? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.
Diana says
Mavis- I am in complete awe of your first goal- but I gotta ask..how in the world do you manage this. Let’s say the average mortgage is 2k a month- to make 7 additional payments that’s 14k…
I am so interested in learning how you are able to manage squeezing that much extra out of your household budget..
ChristyM says
Mavis, don’t hesitate to ask friends for help if things get bad for your brother, and it’s okay to let goals wait, and hire things out, if need be. I’ve been in your situation a few times. It’s okay to let some things go. Take good care of yourself and take time for walks or quiet time for yourself. I wish all the best for you and your family.
Lindsey says
The principal portion is not the same as the mortgage payment. For example if your payment is 2000 your principal portion may be 400. So 7 extra payments would be an additional 2800.
Sue says
And the amount that is principal vs interest changes each month (each payment is a bit more principal and a bit less interest than the previous one).
So I’m curious how Mavis and the HH are determining how much counts as a payment — are they changing the amount for each payment or??
Either way, I applaud it and am really impressed!
Tricia says
It is in the amortization schedule. There is a breakdown of principal and interest payments.
Sarah B says
Most folks can put any amount towards principal payment. $50 here $50 there adds up.
Nadia says
When I pay my mortgage’ my statement tells me how much will go to principal and how much to interest. I like whole numbers, so I always make an extra payment to principal to make it round. For example, my payment was going to leave my principal with an uneven number like $xxx,268.57. I paid an additional 68.57 to principal to leave me with a round number. My OCD does help me. I plan to make a full extra principal payment next month, and round it up to leave a rounded Balance. I hope that makes sense to someone. It does for me. Thanks Mavis for the motivation and inspiration.
Helen in Meridian says
My Macys ad that arrived yesterday is advertising Frango candy. HTH
Indio says
Mavis,
Like you I’ve been paying extra on my mortgage over the past 3 years. When I paid down enough, I recasted the mortgage. Nothing changed about my loan term or interest rate, but my monthly principal to interest dropped significantly and reset my monthly pay down. My bank didn’t charge to do this but I know some banks do. Now I’m able to put more of the additional payment toward paying down the principal faster. In fact, I can put an extra $500 Toward the principal with the recast. You might want to consider looking into this since you’ve made so many extra payments.
Mandy says
Hi Mavis! Speaking of the yum of squash I wanted to share something good with you. Remember your shock and awe over the canned pumpkin isn’t exactly pumpkin revelation? Guess what? I was telling my hubby about it, and of course he doubted that the canned pumpkin was anything other than pumpkin at his grocery store (he works in management at a grocery store). The next day he came home beaming!! He was delighted to say that their canned pumpkin is in fact 100% pumpkin!!! Where does he work you ask? Trader Joes . You’ve got to love TJs! They have not betrayed our trust!
Caroline says
Hold on, you stole the $20.00 tip from the hotel staff that your mother left for them? What?
Mavis Butterfield says
No. My mother stayed at our house. 🙂 Not a hotel.
Teri says
Thanks for the info about the $10 Nordstrom offer. I signed up but so far no rewards 🙁 Did your daughter get hers yet?