1. Pay Down the Mortgage
We were able to knock 4 payments off our contract in February {1 regular payment and 3 “principal” payments}. I was able to use my “rug hooking money” to go towards the extra payments. Wahoo!
2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year.
I really wanted to buy a pair of these shoes. But of course, I didn’t.
3. Track Spending and Figure Out New Ways to Cut Spending Even More.
- Paid bills online
- Shoped my pantry instead of the store
- Painted my bathroom instead of hiring a painter
- Walked instead of driving my car
- Tried to convince my husband we should get a digital antenna so we can get rid of our basic cable bill. He’s not convinced yet, but I’m working on it.
4. Try 52 New Recipes.
I didn’t try anything new. Bad Mavis
5. Keep My Grocery Budget Under $100 a Month.
I’m a little over budget so far this month $102.89. Hopefully I can spend a little less in March to even out my yearly average.
6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband
This past week we joined my parents for pizza and salad at their place. Sometimes staying in is just as fun as going out. 😉
So far this year we’ve gone on 8 dates and spent $74.52 out of pocket for our “dates.”
7. Turn My Wool Stash into $5,000. {I’m halfway there!}
I had another great week turning my rug hooking hobby into cash. I sold 6 hooked rugs, 2 sets of flowers and 1 set of hearts. 6 items on Ebay and 3 on Etsy for a total of $572.71 {before fees and supplies were factored in}.
So far in February I’ve sold $1077.27
In January I sold $1563.92 {Wowza!}
8. Get Rid of 1,000 Things.
9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
On my nightstand this week:
10. Track Hours Spent Working on My Vegetable Garden and do a Cost Analysis at the End of the Year.
Today I’ll be planting a few perennial flower seed packets and maybe another round of lettuce. I didn’t do too much in actual vegetable gardening this past week but Lucy and I did bury some compostable bags in one of my planter boxes.
So far this year I have harvested 6 pound 2 ounces of fresh veggies from our backyard.
Time spent working on Vegetable Garden in 2016: 3 hours, 15 Minutes
11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.
Finished at last!!! Holy cow. The master bathroom is totally painted {trim, walls, doors, and ceiling and let me tell you Bob, I am so glad it’s done. Now all that’s left to do is figure out something for the window. I’m leaning towards a white wood blind. What do you think?
12. Make all Birthday and Christmas Gifts This Year or Acquire Them for Free.
I feel bad because my mom gave me a $10 off a $10 JCPenney coupon she got in the mail but I wasn’t over in that part of town to redeem it so the coupon ended up in the recycle bin. 🙁
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2016? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.
kim says
We love our antennae. Put it up 17 years ago.
Marla says
I bought that digital antenna from Amazon. I lived in town and the reception was still terrible. It would constantly freeze and lose signal. When I moved 20 miles outside the city I bought a $40 RCA compact antenna from Amazon. It had to be mounted outside but it plugged right into the direct tv hook ups that the previous owner had installed and is perfect. Yay for no cable bills!
Christy says
I had cable for 1 year when the cable company forgot to turn it off when the previous owner of my house moved out. Before and after that I’ve never had cable. I am in a good area of over the air TV- Mid-Atlantic. The only over the air channel we cannot get is PBS 🙁 Otherwise we get all the major networks along with some new ones that show reruns of old shows. We don’t watch a lot of TV and supplement with Netflix DVDs, there isn’t much we miss not having cable.
Amy says
We have a omnidirectional antenna mounted on the roof. It looks like a giant frisby, but works great. Tried a digital, but not impressed and returned it. The only time my husband misses cable is during football season… then he’ll go watch it at a friend’s house when it’s on cable.
Marsha says
I got my wooden blinds at the habitat for humanity restore for $1/each. Might check the there if you decide on using blinds.
Michelle says
Ours were about $5 each but you still can’t beat that price!
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Marsha!
Sue says
I “met” Sharon Astyk (one of your weekly book authors) in an online discussion group several years ago and really, really liked her and how she writes. Her books are in my to-read pile. I can’t wait to hear your report on this book!
Deborah from FL says
Hi! I’ve so many thoughts, I just have to numerate them. 😉
1. I/m VERY impressed with your progress on the mortgage pay-down. That’s awesome! (Especially the part where you’re helping out by hooking. Lol)
2. Love love love the sunflower! And the ones on your Etsy page. The rabbit is great too! Heck, they’re all great. Wish I could fit one into my budget. Maybe next year. 😉
3. Making Home just went onto my list. It sounds quite useful. And I’ll be looking into this author more. (Thanks Sue!)
4. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a compostable symbol like that. You know I’ll be looking closer now! And I never thought about just laying compostable bags down in the garden like that. Brilliant!
5. In my humble opinion, I would like the look of white wood (or faux wood) blinds in the bathroom. I think it’s because it seems in keeping with the natural elements in the room, like the “stone” tiles and the overall neutral nature tones. Just my two cents. 🙂
6. You never cease to amaze me. How do you keep doing that?! Ha! Thanks Mavis!!
Helen in Meridian says
We are ditching the cable in two weeks or whenever my Have and Have Nots on the Oprah channel end. Oprah’s channel seems to be one we can’t find anywhere off cable. Our Cable One went up last month, and the dh has been wanting to try his antennae (he has 2 possibilities to use) throwback to Cootie, to try.
Beth says
Helen- I live in west Boise-we got rid of Cable One last fall and got a digital antennae- such a good decision for our household. We do have Slingtv, Hulu, and Netflix and Amazon Prime- I’m not sure that we will keep all of these long term but for now, it works. We already had all of those except Slingtv when we still had cable. We added Slingtv when they had a promo where you got a free Roku when you prepaid 3 months. I have been working on my husband to ditch cable for years and now he talks about it like it was his choce and I smile… anyway I don’t miss cable at all!
Nancy K says
I love your idea of shopping from your pantry, and echo it! One of my goals this year is to not waste any food, and I’ve found that doing lists of what is in my pantry/freezer downstairs and posting them on my cabinet and refrigerator helps keep me from buying what I already have, especially things like spices, noodles, rice, and dry goods. It also helps me plan menus for the coming week. My husband, who is the shopper, has remarked that our grocery list is smaller and tighter, and therefore he isn’t spending as much for food each week. Hoo-rah.
Andrea says
I haven’t had cable in years. After my divorce, finances were in chaos. Cable was one of the first thing to go. For a couple of years, we watched already purchased or borrowed DVDs. I finally decided to get Netflix to make the teenager happy. I never watched much TV so cutting cable was no big deal. I’m more of a book reader.