My goals for 2017
Get 7- 8 Hours of Sleep Each Night
Yesterday I slept in until 7:30 am. It was awesome.
Make Saving a Priority, Not an Idea
I paid our mortgage payment for August yesterday and for like 3 hours I walked around with a huge smile on my face. It’s been my favorite bill to pay this year and I know that probably sounds totally weird to you but it’s like I am in a race, and I’m getting closer to the finish line. And I freakin’ LOVE it. This time around we were able to knock an additional 4 {a few dollars away from 5} principal payments off the mortgage.
Aside from the glasses I had to pay out of pocket for {that I will get reimbursed for} we didn’t have any unexpected expenses. No medical/dental bills, no trips, no entertainment, no eating out {aside from a pizza from Costco} and really no expenses other than utilities, food and a tank of gas {the HH drives a company vehicle and his gas and insurance is paid for}.
We made $704 at the yard sale earlier this month and I’ve been staying home more. I’ve also sold $455 so far on Etsy this a month when I wasn’t expecting to make anything {July is a slow month for hooked rugs}. I’ve also been asking myself do I really need this quite a bit. And almost always the answer is no. So I just don’t buy whatever it was I was longing for. To me, paying off that mortgage, and getting the heck out of here means more to me than a new pair of pants or a London Fog Latte from Starbucks these days. The little things, they will suck the life out of you {and your budget} if you don’t watch out.
People are always asking… How do you do it? How are you able to make all these extra principal payments every month? And the answer is simple. We live below our means and we track everything we spend {through our Personal Capital account}. Every cent. Because honestly, there is a big difference between kinda knowing what you spend and REALLY knowing where every penny went. We rarely use cash and instead try and put everything we possibly can on a credit card. We have an Alaska Airlines credit card and and SPG credit card {but you can research credit cards here and find the one that best fits your needs}. We ALWAYS pay off our credit cards in full each month so we can rack up points for free airline tickets and the occasional big city, fancy hotel stay.
Using credit cards is pretty much the only thing I don’t agree with from the whole Dave Ramsey philosophy. However, like I mentioned earlier, we pay our balance off each month. If you can’t do that {because you spent money you shouldn’t have been spending in the first place} then you should not be using credit cards.
I don’t know. It seems like people want to make the whole budgeting thing more complicated than it really needs to be, but it’s always seemed like a pretty cut and dry thing to me. Bottom line… Spend less than you make. It’s that simple.
Live a little
How is it the end of July and I don’t have a tan yet? I guess it means it’s time to pull up blankie to a more appropriate skirt length while I’m out working in the garden. I’m not sure Lucy approves though.
Visit 52 REAL Bakeries
The Girl and I have another local bakery in mind, I think I’ll call my mom and see if she wants to come along.
Have 1 “no spend” week each month
Did this the first week in July.
Start a Line of Rug Hooking Patterns
I have 8 rug hooking patterns listed in my Etsy shop, 5 more completed rugs that I need to get patterns printed up for so I can get them listed, and 3 more drawn out but not completed. So I’m close to checking this goal off my list but it’s hard to find the time when it’s so nice out and there’s work to be done in the garden. To everything there is a season, and I think fall and winter… is rug hooking season. 😉
Turn My Wool Stash into $2,500. Mission Accomplised
This past week I sold $75.95 worth of goodness in my Etsy shop which brings my total to $4907.71 for the year. Yesterday I spent some time uploading a few fall items to my Etsy shop and Ebay store. I think it’s a bit early for pumpkins and such but since I already had stuff ready to go I didn’t really see the point in waiting to list. We’ll see.
Purge 250 Items Including Selling Larger Items We No Longer Feel We Need
I found 4 more items to donate this past week which brings my total to 227 items purged for the year. Only 23 more to go! Yee-Haw.
Learn to Crochet Mission Accomplished
Dote on My Husband Even More Than I Do Now.
Sunday breakfast. Does it get any better than that? Today I think we’ll make a sheet pan nachos for dinner. Because hey, it’s cheaper than going out. 😉
Lose the Muffin Top. {again} Mission Accomplished
No spillage yet. Hooray!
Wear out {most of} the clothing I already own.
Working on it.
Try 52 New Recipes
Food. I go through phases. There are some years I collect recipes, and some years it seems like I’m making a new recipe every other day. I beginning to think this is a collection year. 😉 Or maybe I’m just content with the simple foods I make for my tribe on a regular basis. I don’t know.
Read 52 Books
This past week I listened to Stories I Only Tell My Friends, the Rob Lowe Autobiography. It was soooo good! From beginning to end I absolutely loved it. I also love the total randomness of how he met a number of the people he did. Next up on my list, Mother Daughter Me.
Give Back to 12 Different Organizations in My Community
We donated $100 to the Chew Dog Rescue this month. I see their volunteers around town at the local pet supply stores trying to find good homes for abandoned pooches and have been tempted to even adopt one myself. They do such good work and I wanted to support their efforts.
January – Donated to Quilts from the Heart in Memory of my brother.
February – Donated to Empty Bowls Fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club.
March – Donated to my daughter’s mentor who was in a horrible car accident.
April – Donated again to my daughter’s mentor who was in a horrible car accident.
May – $100 Tip to a waitress on Mother’s day.
June – Started collecting men’s shirts to donate this winter.
July – Chew Dog Rescue
And then, there’s those top secret goals we’re not talking about yet.
Secret Goal #1Sell East Coast House Mission AccomplishedSecret Goal #2Chickens! Mission Accomplished- Secret Goal #3
- Secret Goal #4
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2017? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2017 Goals HERE.
Heidi says
Would love to know more about how you budget. Where did you learn to budget? Can you recommend any good books or websites to learn how to budget?
I currently don’t have a budget and really need to put one in place and just don’t know where to start.
Mavis Butterfield says
If you have debt, I highly recommend Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Make Over Book. Your library should have a free copy you can borrow. This post I wrote a while back also has some great tips: http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/budgeting-for-beginners-how-to-get-started/ I’m honestly not sure where I learned to budget. I guess my parents were just really good examples. My dad retired in his early 50’s and always stressed paying the bills off {in full} each month and saving.
Mama Cook says
I think this is one of my favorite posts every week, so inspirational! And of course I’ll check back later to read comments, which inspire as well! Could you tell us where you found the mortgage tracker? The actual vs. contractual?
Mavis Butterfield says
Do you make your payments online? Look for the mortgage amortization table and a calculator should pop up. If not, here’s a good calculator: http://www.calculator.net/mortgage-payoff-calculator.html
Esther says
These are my favorite post! Go, Mavis, go!
We too are trying to paid off the house early. We just put a huge, well huge to us, chunk down on the house which shaved 16 months off our mortgage. It feels way better than a new pair of jeans any day! Sure we could have taken a sweet vacation or something but we’ll do that after the house is pay off.
We have six kids and I believe teaching them contentment and having parents who are stressed to the max about money is a great gift.
Mavis Butterfield says
WOW Esther… 16 months is AWESOME! Way to go. 🙂
Kari says
I second Mavis’s suggestion of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. It will turn your financial life around!
We, too, make extra payments on the house each month. Some months it is more than others, but each one makes a big difference! We’ve been in our house for five years, plan to pay it off in seven more ( or sooner!) and retire shortly after when my hubby is 55. Goals!!!
Mavis Butterfield says
Rock on Kari! I bet you do it in less than 7. Seeing that balance shrink every month is a HUGE motivator.
Angela says
I completely agree that having a real goal in mind is really the key to curbing those impulse purchase. I was so focused when I was paying off my student loans, but once they were paid off, I floated for a while. When you have a “better” use for your money it’s much easier to tell yourself no on the unnecessary purchases.
Mavis Butterfield says
I agree. It’s so much easier when you have goals.
Nancy says
Great job Mavis and family. I have been really focused here on my budget as well. My home is paid for and I only have my car left which will hopefully be paid off in the next two months. Then on to some needed maintenance/remodeling issues as diy projects. This has encourage my youngest four kids (all adults) to seriously look at how they are using their money.
Mavis Butterfield says
Awesome Nancy!
Mary Elizabeth Tait says
You are very inspiring to me…especially your goal setting!
My dad managed money very well….he always said “pay yourself first” and that was 10%, and 10% to tithe….he paid cash for his cars, saved for vacations, paid off his house, and invested. He and my mom were completely comfortable in retirement. He did a great job.
Nicola says
Last child just left home, so tomorrow, our house sale completes and, by downsizing, we will now be mortgage and debt free again and determined to stay that way. Wohoo!
Nancy says
Great job Nicola!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes!!!! 🙂
Athena says
I love these posts! We’ve been in our home for almost 3 years (just shy by about 3 weeks) and we have been able to pay it down by quite a lot. We make almost an extra 2 principal payments every month and it has worked so well! We also had a good bit after we moved and sold our last house that we could put toward our mortgage. In the last year we’ve been able to pay off my student loans and still build our savings back up to a nice level. We are going to be saving to adopt a baby soon (it’s the only way for us to have kids and we’ve decided to go for it!) and between your blog and another I read I’m inspired all the time to save save save!
Mavis Butterfield says
You are rockin’ it Athena, keep up the good work.
Teresa says
You’re never going to have anything spending money. Save! I agree with Mavis. The only debt we are to have is to love one another.
Jennifer says
I just ordered from your Etsy shop so your July sales will be a little higher 🙂
I’m both frugal and a minimalist, but have been swooning over your primitive pumpkins since last year. Since my side hustle (Poshmark) has been extra good to me this summer, I thought I’d splurge and live a little.
Thanks so much for a great blog.
Mavis Butterfield says
Ahhh, thanks Jennifer! 🙂
Beth says
Hi Mavis, I had a smile on my face as well all day Monday just being able to pay my mortgage payment a month ahead of time with some extra felt so good! I loved looking at the payment and seeing how much more went to the principal versus going toward interest. I am a single mom on a low income so unfortunately can’t pay off as much but have managed to spread out one extra payment for the year over the 12 months. FYI – Being able to make payments early helps reduce $ going to interest and more to the principal which helps a great deal as well, it’s all good!
Mavis Butterfield says
Good job Beth! 1 extra payment off a year would knock 7 years off a traditional 30 year mortgage. It all counts towards that principal. Way to go. 🙂