My 12 Goals for 2016 : Week 49 of 52

1. Pay Down the Mortgage

We were able to make 7  additional principal payments towards the mortage for November and are hoping to do the same for December.

2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year. 

The Girl got her cousin a nice scarf from Nordstrom for just $.22 thanks to it being on sale and then using her $10 Nordstrom Rewards coupon she snagged in early November. The Girl is determined to keep her holiday spending under $25 this year {7 people} and I think she is going to come in under budget. 😉

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

Okay. So The Girl and I are totally obsessed with iBotta now. Once she figured out she could get $10 for free, she was on it. Which is actually a pretty genius idea because now we can double our shopping power for pantry basics and stuff I’d already be buying.

For those of you who don’t know, basically Ibotta is way to earn cash every time you shop. All you do is check the Ibotta app before you shop for product offers, bonuses, new store coupons. Then, simply upload a picture of the UPC code and your receipt and get paid {via paypal or gift cards} once your balance hits $20. Join Ibotta with this link {my referral code} and get $10! Trust me,  it’s easy.

Some of things things we picked up this past week:

• Bob’s Red Mill Flour on sale for $1.99 at Fred Meyer + there was a $1.00 iBotta rebate
• Bigelow Tea on sale for $2.50 a box at Albertsons + there was a $0.75 iBotta rebate
• Kakuna cheese balls $3.99 at Fred Meyer + $1.00 off peelie coupon on product + $1.00 iBotta rebate
• Chex Mix $1.99 at Fred Meyer + $1.00 Fred Meyer WYB2 ecoupon + $1.00 iBotta rebate WYB2
• Tazo Tea Bags $3.50 at Albertsons/Fred Meyer + $1.00 iBotta rebate
• Darrell Lea Licorice $2.50 at Target + $1.00 iBotta rebate
• Small banana $0.25 rebate
• Buy anything get a $0.50 rebate

Wahooo! Sign up for iBotta HERE.

4. Try 52 New Recipes.

I tried a new cheesecake recipe. The verdict? AhMazing. Recipe coming soon.

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

Eh. 😉

6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband 

We stopped by Net Shed 9 for date day this week and both had their crazy delicious ricotta sourdough pancakes {again}. The place was packed and I pretty much want to try everything on their menu. So far this year we’ve been on 31 dates and spent $536.22 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 $114.85 worth of my hooked rugs. So far this year I have sold $6867.46 worth of arts & crafts. Yee-Haw!

So far in December I’ve sold $114.85

In November I sold $489.71
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. 

So far this year I’ve gotten rid of 1172+ things.

9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

I picked up The Way Life Should Be from the library yesterday and can’t wait to get started. It’s about a woman who is unhappy with her life so she packs up and moves to Maine. Hmmm.

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

To everything there is a season. And right now I’m taking a break from playing in the dirt. But come January, I’ll be out there with my garden trowel.

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.

Time spent working on Vegetable Garden in 2016: 21 hours 40 minutes.

11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.

This week I changed 2 light bulbs… does that count? 😉

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

I’ve decided that for the next few weeks that I won’t post any pictures of the items I’ve acquired just in case my family is checking the blog. If you want though, I’d be happy to take pictures of what I gifted this year and post them after Christmas. Anyone want to see that?

Have a great Sunday everyone, stay awesome.

~Mavis

Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.