1. Pay Down the Mortgage
We were able to make 7 additional principal payments towards the mortage for November thanks to no dental/medical/car/clothing/vet or other major bills. We also reduced our energy/water consumption and it reduced our utility bills as well. Giddy up!
2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year.
The Girl and I went to Goodwill to drop off 2 bags full of donations and decided to pop in to take a look around.
Big mistake! I found a blanket that looked brand new and decided I HAD TO HAVE IT for the guest bedroom so I sntached it up for $6.99. I went home and found the exact same on online on sale for $27.99 {reg. $39.99}. Sometimes you’ve just gotta splurge!
3. Track Spending and Figure Out New Ways to Cut Spending Even More.
We broke up with cable. Which yada yada yada…. will save us roughly $1,300 a year. YES!!!
I know some of you were probably thinking “Mavis, seriously, you still had cable?” And the simple answer is this:
My husband wants for so few things and watching a ball game on a sunday afternoon wasn’t so much a luxury as it was a habit. Over the past year I’ve noticed he’s been watching less and less tv and using his laptop more. So when the cable/internet/phone bill arrived a few days ago and the price for everything had JUMPED to $188 a month, I called him at work and asked him what he was really willing to pay for the service.
His bottom line was $100.
The lady at Comcast’s bottom line was $165.
So we broke up with cable and we are paying about $75 a month now for just high speed internet. Moral of the story: Stop paying for stuff you don’t really use. Word of advice: Wait until AFTER the World Series to cancel cable. 😉
4. Try 52 New Recipes.
I tried my friend Amberlina’s sweet potato recipe and HOLY CATS PEOPLE… it was delicious. I’ll share the recipe on tuesday.
5. Keep My Grocery Budget Under $100 a Month.
The month of November… it’s going to be a piece of cake.
6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband
The HH and I didn’t have a date day this past week but we started watching The Crown on Netflix. I was going to watch the whole miniseries myself but I when I asked if he wanted to watch it with me he said yes! So, if hanging out and watching Netflix over the course of a few rainy days counts as a date… we’re doing a smashing job!
So far this year we’ve gone on 28 dates and spent $436.22 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 $129.97 worth of my hooked rugs. So far this year I have sold $6262.90 worth of arts & crafts. I was planning on getting my last round of holiday {Christmas} rugs finished but a few things popped up so I wasn’t able to get stuff listed. I hope to finish up this week and have everything listed by next friday.
In October I sold $1203.92
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.
My mom had foot surgery so I popped by and did some grocery shopping for my parents {My dad, like the HH is not a shopper}. Yada yada yada, as I was visiting with her I asked if there was anything in the room she wanted to get rid of {decluttering, apparently I’m obsessed with it} and she said NO. 😉 It was hilarious.
So far this year I’ve gotten rid of 1142+ things.
9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
This past week I listened to The Dirty Life {for free} thanks to Hoopla {a free lending program through our local library}. I read the book last year but wanted something to listen to while on a long drive so I chose something familiar. Do you ever do that? Reread books?
10. Track Hours Spent Working on My Vegetable Garden and do a Cost Analysis at the End of the Year.
We’ve had SO MUCH RAIN this past week it’s just depressing so I’ve pretty much been keeping busy with indoor projects instead.
So far this year I have harvested 143 pounds 8 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 40 minutes.
11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.
This week I painted the trim in Monkey Boys’ bathroom. As you can see, Lucy the trouble puggle supervised. 😉
12. Make all Birthday and Christmas Gifts This Year or Acquire Them for Free.
My Costco rebate check arrived to the tune of $83.32. Instead of spending it on luxuries like beef jerky, mint truffles and bubble bath I’ve decided to save it and use it to buy supplies for my parents annual wine and cheese gift basket we usually put together for them. Most years we spend around $150 on the basket. I guess this means I’ll have to get creative this year and find some random {read: free} stuff to put in it.
Is there such a thing a beet wine? Maybe I could try and make some. 😉
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2016? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.
Evonne says
I didn’t dig far, but yes there IS beet wine 😉
If you make it you’ll have to post about it.
Sharon says
On your recommendation, I’ve tried Hoopla, and it works (for me) for streaming movies, but not for audio books, I like to listen to them in the car and so I download them to a jump drive or MP3 player. I don’t think you can do that with Hoopla, so I prefer to use Overdrive. Also, Overdrive has way more audio books. And you are limited only by the number of library cards you accumulate. 🙂 For me, it was a little difficult to figure out Overdrive (at the time, the librarians weren’t too sure how to use it either and just tried to steer me into using it for magazines, which is apparently much easier), but eventually I figured it out and now use it constantly.
Gwenn says
Hey Mavis – we cut the cord over a year a go and now have a Roku3 (around $100 at Costco) which we hook up to the tv to stream Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, a bunch of free channels and SlingTV. I pay about $30 for SlingTv which has the majority of cable TV channels I enjoy. It’s WAY cheaper than cable and with SlingTv I can also watch it on my tablet and phone (not sure about laptop, I haven’t tried it). For us it’s a cable-vs-no cable compromise. There is even free pay channel previews for HBO, Showtime, Starz and other premium channels. There is Orange and Blue levels and you can add on news, sports and lifetime channels for about $5 each a month.
Carole says
We cut the cord a year ago. At $135 a month for about an hour a day it wasn’t worth it. Got a Roku stick, love it. We watch way more TV now mostly because we pick the show when we want to watch and its all FREE. My favorite word!! We also upgraded to a smart TV at Costco. Instant FREE TV!! Check it out.
Sharon says
Grocery Outlet supposedly has a wonderful selection of wines and they have a couple of wine promotions a year. I’m not a wine drinker, but a co-worker is, and she was delighted with her purchase. Worth looking into.
Melissa says
I believe they are having a 20% off all wines sale now.
Susan says
We’re thinking about dumping cable and getting a digital antenna to bring in local channels, PBS,etc. I think they cost about $20 – $40 at Amazon, and it would be a one time cost. If you decide to do this, I’d love to read a post about which channels you can get. We’re wondering how many sports would be available.
Renay says
I reread the same 4 books whenever I get on a plane. They are familiar, comforting, and take my mind off hurtling through the air in a recliner at 30,000 feet!!! haha
mdoe37 says
I just cut the cord on cable…$100 a month…well the husband moving out urged that along. Other than the Red Wings and the news, I never watched it. I installed an outdoor antenna $40 (in my garage trusses) and an amplifier $25. I’m getting quite a few channels…if I need more, I’ll invest in Sling. My internet is $45 and I have an Ooma connected for the phone which is an additional $4 a month. I am keeping both the home phone and my cell because I have older parents and need to be available (and they don’t always remember my cell number)
But at $4 a month, its nice to have that extra phone number for the all those times I don’t really want the nonsense on my cell phone.
And while I was sorting through a bunch of stuff today…..I watched all sorts of NFL. Free. 🙂
RebekahU says
Hey Mavis! I LOVE your weekly goal updates. They really encourage me to keep tabs on my own goals. I’m hoping that you will consider adding the beginning mortgage snapshop that you posted in January as the end of the year draws near. Just seeing the progress you made will be such an encouragement to so many of us!
Take care! Keep on keeping on!
Christine says
Hi Mavis,
We cut the cord in 2010, never missed it. We have the $40 digital ‘over the air’ antenna. We get quite a few channels, lucky enough to be in an area to get 2 different sets of PBS channels, programs vary slightly. Roughy 6-7 oldies channels. Watched world series for free. We’re not much for sports, but if you are I think that would be the only reason to try to find a pay service.
Also, the rain hasn’t been here since September 26th, wish you could share some 😉
Hope your Mom’s foot is better soon!!
Julia says
Because my guys are techno geeks we have the Comcast triple play and I can’t convince them to do away with cable. BUT we were able to lower our total Comcast bill significantly by adding their security system. Go figure… and since our neighborhood has seen an increase in break ins we thought it would be a good idea.
We got a $25 gift card to Target from our health insurance company for taking our son for his regular dental check up. Sweet!! Some free bagels from work made a nice breakfast for all three of us with leftover cream cheese. The weather will be sunny today so I’ll dry our laundry outside. A friend heard we were looking for an arm chair for our son’s room and gifted us one she wasn’t using anymore. I also scored some nice pumpkins and straw bales my neighbor put out for the trash. I made a nice display on my porch and one on the porch at work.
sk says
Nice to get pics of the parents, all two of them. Take care of that mom of yours.
Jen@FrugalSteppingStones says
I just started watching The Crown on Netflix too. I usually hit the library for some movies every week, but I am loving it so much, it will satisfy my movie needs for the next few weeks.
Mavis Butterfield says
We are on episode 8!!!!
Christy says
Hey Mavis, We use old fashioned Rabbit Ears on the TV to catch more than just the basic channels! Can watch all the sports on regular prime time/network channels for free!
Mavis Butterfield says
Will that work with a smart tv?
Marcia says
We cut the cable cord 4.5 years ago. I’d been suggesting it for years, but hubby was resistant. He finally agreed to it *right* when I was going out on maternity leave. Maybe not the best timing??
Anyway, we don’t miss it. Sadly, we have no other option than the cable company for internet, so our internet is still $75-85 a month.
Sarah says
Okay, this might sound odd, but your beet wine comment made me think of how my husband is OBSESSED with making everyone on our (over 21) lists a batch of mead (honey wine). Super easy, 1 pt raw, filtered honey to 4 pts filter water. Stir everyday (ish…we have forgotten a couple of times) with a wooden sppon. Super great for a cheap or free gift if you have raw honey on hand
Leslie says
YES beet wine is a thing! There is a very expensive non-alcoholic beet “wine” that is supposed to be a dead ringer. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make it. Also, there is beet kvass. I prefer fruit kvass, which I make year round but always serve when we host holiday dinners.