It’s no big secret that I love setting goals. Lot’s and lot’s of goals and then checking them off one by one as the year progresses. Not only do completing goals give me a sense of accomplishment, goals give me a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
I’m weird. I can’t sleep in. I can’t hold still, and I can’t stand not having something to look forward too {it’s torture I tell you!}. So I set goals. It’s my thing. Sometimes the goals I set are crazy and totally unrealistic but in the end, I ALWAYS find a way to accomplish what I started.
So here we go. Are you ready?
My 12 New Goals for 2016
1. Pay Down the Mortgage on our main home to 20 years this year.
The inspiration for this goal came a few months ago when I was pestering the HH about moving {for the millionth time}. I jokingly asked him “What about if we paid off the mortgage. Then could we move to the east coast?”
“Ya sure, whatever.”
Well then. GAME. ON. HUSBAND. GAME.ON.
I know this is INSANE and that it will take some seriously crazy cost cutting measures in all areas of our budget to accomplish. And if I’m totally being honest here, I am not even sure we can do it financially. But I want to try.
As much as I would like to put our house up for sale this October {the 2 year mark} and hightail it out of here, I’m not sure we are ready to do that yet. {I’ll be talking more about my crazy daisy plan to achieve this goal in an upcoming post}.
2. Buy Only Essential Items in 2016
I have 5 exceptions
1. Travel. It’s my one weakness.
2. I received LLBean gift cards for Christmas and I plan to use them when I go to Maine to buy a pair of Bean Boots {and something else if there is anything left on the gift cards}.
3. I am still on the lookout for a used round dining room table and chairs and an additional chair for the living room. I’m hoping to find these at a thrift store or yard sale this year.
4. I would like to buy 2 additional Leland cypress trees for the back hedge and 2 espalier trees {1 apple, 1 pear} for along the fence.
5. Date Days with the HH {explained below}
Other than those 5 things I am seriously going to try and not buy anything that is not an essential item this year.
What is an essential item you ask?
Food, toilet paper, TEETH, house paint, medications {if needed}, gas, car maintenance, business related items, high speed internet, {I’m a blogger after all}. Those types of things.
No clothing, no shoes {other than the LLBean stuff mentioned above}, no do dads, no gifts, nada. Zip. Zilch. Use it up, wear it out, or do without. That’s my motto for this year.
I am not talking about going off the grid here {because HELLO, I live in suburbia} instead the idea is to navigate how to spend less in a more moderate, doable way. I think we can all live a little more frugally without feeling deprived.
I have food, a closet full {okay, not full, but more than plenty} of clothes, a good car to drive, and a roof over my head. I’m pretty sure if I buckle down I can go an entire year buying only the essentials.
3. Track Spending and Figure Out New Ways to Cut Spending Even More.
Seriously. Am I making myself clear? This year is about SAVING MOOLAH.
4. Try 52 New Recipes.
Thanks to Madam Chow for the idea! Hopefully they won’t be 52 versions of beans and rice.
5. Keep My Grocery Budget Under $100 a Month.
I haven’t been able to keep our grocery budget under $100 a month since 2012 when I was into extreme couponing and we were eating crappity crap. I’d like to think I’ve still got it in me.
6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband.
My Budget for this is $520 out of pocket for the year {$10 per date average}.
Last fall the HH and I started “going out” on little dates every once in awhile and let me tell you Bob, it was nice to get out of the house. Yada yada yada… I told him we will be going on 52 dates this year. End of discussion. This is what normal people do. “Ummm okay” was his response. So Ya. Go Fight Win.
Note: I do have a few gift cards that I have been saving for our “date days” to help keep costs low. $70 Panera {Christmas Gift}, $20 Starbucks {Christmas gift}, $10 McDonald’s {I found it on the ground during the Marathon walk. Barf!}.
7. Turn My Wool Stash into $5,000.
In an effort to earn some extra spending money when our kids were little, I made stitchery pillows, dolls and hooked rugs and sold them online and in a few local shops. It was a great creative outlet for me at the time because I could work at my own pace and when I wasn’t volunteering or doing mom stuff.
Over the past year and a half I have been slowly getting back into rug hooking and thought I would set a money goal for this year. I didn’t want to just tell myself “Okay Mavis, make some rugs, and put the profit towards paying off the mortgage.” Instead I wanted a hard number and $5,000 seemed doable. Maybe I’ll be able to make more, I don’t know, we’ll see. Anywho, I made a few pieces over winter break and have them uploaded to my Etsy shop and have a few listings on Ebay as well. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to check this goal off my list before the end of the year.
8. Get Rid of 1,000 Things.
I feel like I really did a great job last year going through our things and either donating them or selling the unwanted stuff at our garage sale. I’d like to do it again this year but with an emphasis on getting rid of all the stuff I would not be using to stage the house or would want to pack up and bring east.
9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
I did this last year and LOVED it. I’ve already got my first book of 2016 picked out, Eat Local for Less. Honestly, I don’t think I have much more to learn about getting the biggest bang out my grocery dollar. However, eating more locally produced foods for less? That is something I am interested in.
10. Track Hours Spent Working on My Vegetable Garden and do a Cost Analysis at the End of the Year.
Peeps have been asking me to do this for years!
11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.
This mostly involves painting, and I think we all know where I’m going with this one. Get the house ready to sell. Even if it’s not this year. I’m going to be so stinkin’ ready that if the HH walks in the door one day and says “Okay, you were right, let’s move, let’s head east” I could call Patrick O’Malley the Irish realtor and have the house listed within’ the hour. Eye on the prize people. Eye on the prize.
12. Make all Birthday and Christmas Gifts This Year or Acquire Them for Free.
I think this is actually going to be harder than it sounds, but I am up for the challenge. Remember, I don’t plan on buying anything new this year {see my few exceptions above} so these gifts will need to be created using what I already have on hand or somehow come by them for free.
So there you have it. My goals for 2016.
What do you think? Totally doable? Or am I crazy?
~Mavis
Susan says
What a coincidence! I’ve almost made the same list. Good luck!
Mavis says
Good luck to you, too!
joye says
Better order those bean boots they are pretty backordered, love our goals, best of luck
Mavis says
I suspect it’s because they are so awesome and clearly everyone agrees!!
Patty P says
Wow! You are serious about moving east! Come on over! We have lots of snow and cold 🙂 I’m interested in all of your goals (it’s one of my favorite features of your blog), especially the getting rid of 1000 items!!!! Holy cow! Will you even have walls left when you are done?! You sure are an inspiration! I’ve started my goal list too, but only have three things so far…
Mavis says
The goal is pretty much everything but the walls. Ha!
Alison Cooper says
Love your goals each year – guess I should try and learn from you and follow some myself! I already live on the East Coast but just landed a sweet job working from home 4 days a week so now we want to move to the Jersey Shore about 5 years earlier than we had originally planned…so its time to save – save -save!! Thanks for already putting alot of great ideas together!! Really enjoy your website and posts – looking forward to Dig for Your Dinner!
Mavis says
You’ve got this. 5 years early will be so worth the little sacrifices. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway!
AndreA says
I made a list of ten items. I am a single mom with full-time job so things get forgotten. I found your blog a while back and thought the goal thing was great. Most things are broken into weekly bits as to not overwhelm. So that’s what I’ve decided to do this year. I’m looking forward to tackling these goals.
Mavis Butterfield says
Weekly bits are good! You can do it. Stay positive.
Heather says
So excited at seeing the results of your gardening analysis. The whole list will definitely keep me checking in with your blog to get frugal ideas all year long. Paying down a mortgage early, reading, etc – you’re my kind of nerd. 😉
Mavis Butterfield says
Nerds RULE!
Mel says
the east coast rocks…come to NC….4 seasons and reasonable prices…you wont be sorry!
Sarah says
I have had my Bean boots since 1984! I love them! Well worth the investment,
P.S. I love your blog. Your goals are always so inspiring!
Sarah
Mavis says
Bean boot lovers unite!
Lynda says
I am so excited to find your list of goals for 2016! Got up extra early this morning just to see if you posted it yet. 🙂 Them there are some mighty fine goals. No, you’re not crazy. Radical maybe, but with your record, you’ll achieve every last one. Now I’m contemplating revising my own list. Yours is so much more interesting!
Mavis says
Do it. Radical lists are all the rage in 2016. Ha!
Mrs. Chow says
I will be doing the recipe challenge again this year, and adding a few of your goals to my list. For sample, 1000 items will find new homes!
Mavis says
The recipe one might be one of the ones I’m most excited about!
Laura Z says
A few years ago I had this idea — we refinanced into a 15 yr mortgage and our monthly payment is only a few hundred dollars a month than it was before. When I looked at how much we were spending (and how much we saved) by refinancing, I was flabbergasted. You should look into refinancing while rates are still pretty low.
Mary G says
We did something similar–taking our 20 years down to 10 almost two years ago. I’ve been making extra payments each month based on how our expenses are, so it’s closer to 7 now. We got an excellent rate. Our payments did increase with the refinance, of course, but we’re making much better progress with the principal.
Denise says
Sounds like a great list to me! I have a second home, and without the daily/monthly/yearly goals I set for myself, I would not have it, and I would not be able to continue keeping it! I love to push myself to limits; I love to reach goals. I made out a list of fourteen intentions for 2016. Some are very close to your goals, only we can’t move to our second home, because my husband’s business is based where we live now. Good luck reaching all of your goals, and thank you for your continual inspiration.
Mavis says
“I love to push myself to limits” Me too!!!
Amy says
Well, you’ve inspired me to set a goal of paying off over $10,000 in debt this year and have already showed my husband my plan. so…. Get to working on those goals missy!
Mavis Butterfield says
You too Amy! We can do it.
Pat Webster says
. My husband is retiring at the end of January and we are not ready. Cancer and life’s other obstacles has changed everything for us but I still will make goals. I can easily get rid of 1000 things! One thing I can’t understand is why you would want to leave the PNW!
AlysonRR says
Me either – I would never go back to the East Coast, now that I’ve returned to the PNW where I grew up. To each, their own!
Kathy says
Love your goals and share several of them. As an east coast dweller, I’m curious…what exactly are you looking forward to in moving here? I moved to the west coast years ago. Returned after six years. I missed the seasons and the “blue collar” culture!
Mavis Butterfield says
Oh Kathy I am going to have to write up a post to answer this one. 🙂
connie munoz says
im so going to steal a couple of those goals, and yes I do think its doable for you:)
Julie says
OMG some of your goals seems very exciting! I can’t wait to read about it and try it next year!!
Lisa says
Here is something to look into with your mortgage payment and not all mortgage companies allow it so find out if yours does. I was able to take my mortgage payment and divide the monthly amount by 4 and then pay that weekly amount. This advanced the payment schedule on my mortgage in several ways: all mortgage payments are applied to the interest that has accrued first. By making a weekly payment my interest amount was smaller so that more of my payment would be applied to the principle with each payment and with more money applied to the principle there will be less interest to accrue; I still made weekly payments even when the month had 5 weeks in it, this not only helped lower the interest and principle amount but it also advanced my payment date. once this was done 4 times i advanced a month on my payment date without doing anything out of the ordinary. Lastly, I took tax refunds and other larger amounts and applied directly towards the principle. None of these methods were too difficult to do and allowed me to pay off my mortgage early.
Beth Anne says
Lisa – I tried what you described earlier this year and noticed the big difference as well! Advice I had gotten early on was to pay extra each month towards my mortgage on top of my payment. Financials were really tough the last year or two and I started paying my mortgage in chunks when I could to not spend it on something else and it also made it seem more achievable as I could barely pay the minimum payment, no money for extra payments anymore. I was going to try to refinance then realized it would just set me further away from paying off my house. What I realized paying in chunks when I could was like you said my interest payment actually went down and more money was going towards the principle. I can’t wait to get the annual mortgage report and compare to previous years.
Mavis says
Thanks for the tip!
Lisa L says
We do a bi-weekly payment. It basically makes one extra payment per year and that knocks off between 4 and 6 years of a typical 30-year-loan. That’s huge. So essentially you only need to make two extra payments a year and you will easily be paid off in 20 years.
Melissa says
Love your enthusiasm! Can’t wait to read more of your money-saving tips and adventures!
Mavis says
It’s easy to be enthusiastic the first month. Ha. The goal now is to carry that enthusiasm throughout the year!
Kelly VH says
I love all of your goals! You are helping me to get motivated! Thanks Mavis!
Mrs. Mac says
Gosh .. my goal of eating at the grown up table for all meals this year seems puny to these goals. Beans and rice, rice and beans .. there you have two recipes for curbing grocery spending.
Happy New Year!
Beth Anne says
Love your goals, love your blog, you inspire me. 🙂 Just recently found your blog and what appeals to me is the fun you are having reaching your goals (at least it comes off that way). I need more fun in my life and have been focusing on the the “drudge” to much as a single mom – working a full-time job and three part-times throughout the year. Not a lot of spare time/energy to focus on goals. I wrote out some goals the other day but I want to re-write them and look for the “fun!” and show some achievements for the year. I think number one is writing my first mystery novel!
Lindsey says
Great list but I have two comments. First, keeping track of every penny you spend on the garden, including work hours is pretty illuminating. The year my husband looked at one of my prize tomatoes and said, “Oh, another 10 dollar tomato” I decided I need proof that my gardening was contributing. I religiously weighed every single thing I harvested (not flowers, unless I used that for a gift I would otherwise have purchased for someone) and kept a running tally. At the end of the summer, I went to the grocery stores and priced out how much it would have cost me to, for example, buy 157 pounds of cukes. Then I subtracted all costs and labor. Turned out if we had purchased our edibles instead of growing them, we would have spent $1600!!! And with canning and freezing and dehydrating, we ate from our garden will into the spring.
The other thing I wanted to say is that we use a system my husband designed where we record every single penny we spent each day. It is usually the last thing I do before going to bed, so I forget nothing. Every entry has a number assigned by the program; the receipts for tax deductible items get the computer number written on them and are put in that month’s manila envelope. It makes doing taxes a breeze! But what I just told this long story for was to say this: we also keep track of what we saved with coupons (not much) or Swagbucks gift cards earned, birthday gift cards, and gas points earned at the grocery store that lower the amount we pay for gas. And found change…At the end of this last year, I was stunned to find that we’d saved nearly $100 a month on things I never used to do or keep track of…
Happy 2016!
Beth Anne says
Addition to post –
I am turning a’hem, the big 5 -0 this year and just came up with the idea to have 50 “new” experiences this year in my goals (now to come up with them!).
Has anyone else done anything you would recommend when you turned 40, 50, 60, etc.? 🙂
Sheila says
Hi Beth Anne,
I am 53 and I have a 60 before 60 list I am working on and I love it! It is fun and it helps me have things to look forward to. Some are givens like attend my sons college graduation; he will be a college freshman this year so something in the future to look forward to. Others are silly like make a snowman. We get very little snow where I live, some years none at all so when it snowed a couple inches I was on it! Others are go canoeing, take my son to an NBA game, celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary someplace special (we aren’t travelers like Mavis lol so this will force us to do so!), and the list goes on. I am about a third of the way through. I will be doing a 70 before 70 list when the time comes! Just a note of encouragement to any of you that suffer from depression as I do this has made a big difference for me and has brought me a lot of joy.
Sheila in Alabama
,
Heather says
Sheila – I love the idea. I was thinking of making a list of different things to do this year, but I like the 60 before 60 idea. Last year was rough so I need some good things to look forward to.
Beth Anne says
Thanks so much for the idea’s Sheila, would love to hear more of them 🙂 I LOVE to borrow other ideas and often they get my thought processes starting to come up with a few of my own. 😉 Need to get cracking on this, maybe during the Golden Globes I will come up with soem.
RebekahU says
You. Are. Awesome. I think I need to beef up my goals. I need to STRETCH this year! Thanks so much for continuing to spur us (me!) on, by reminding us to reach for the stars!
melissa says
You will rock these as always, I’m sure! I’ve been to Bean, don’t forget to check out the outlet across the street, deals, deals, deals!
Kathy Gardner says
Mavis, I love your goals that you set yearly and if anyone can attain them, it’s you! I’m very interested in the goal of trying a new recipe each week. I’m going to add that one to my list. I love to cook and I carry plates to some of my neighbors who don’t cook and live alone like me. It helps keep me from having to eat leftovers for day after day and it helps them because they get a home cooked meal instead of a sandwich.
My main goal for this year is to travel. I got the okay from my oncologist to travel now and my first trip is going to be by train from Alabama to Los Angeles to see my sister, with a stop over in Austin to visit with a niece and her family for a couple of days. This summer I am going to Minnesota to visit a dear friend and sometime this year I am going to New York to visit another friend. I’ve never been to any of these places before. I am selling on eBay in order to save the money for the trips. I leave the money in PayPal so that it doesn’t get commingled with my “regular” money. I have a PayPal debit card that makes it possible for me to use the money when I need it to buy tickets or I could have it transferred. I’ve saved the money for the trip to Los Angeles and I’m working on the second trip funds now.
You go, Mavis! You are an inspiration to me.
Debbie N says
After reading your goals last year, I made a simular system. This year,I wrote down all my goals in a notebook and I will be doing weekly checks on myself. It’s not quite as good as a blog but I know writing stuff down makes me more accountable.
I also have trying new recipes on my list. I have a little less since I put at least one new recipe a pay period.(Every two weeks). This is my fun goal andI am really looking forward to doing it.
Good luck with your goals and Happy New Year!
Mavis Butterfield says
I think everybody needs a “fun” goal. Sounds like you have a great plan in place Debbie N.
Melissa says
I think your goals are AWESOME!!! I have been reading a lot about the importance of goal setting and its key to success so it was something I was planning on venturing into! You my dear, take things to a whole new level! I am super excited to watch your progress throughout the year as paying down our mortgage has been on my “to do” list as well! I am also trying to keep spending to an minimum this year. I have convinced myself that a SMALL garden will be both manageable and beneficial to our busy household. Here is to a productive 2016! GO MAVIS!!!
jane johnson says
My advice for the mortgage: Of course you want to add any additional you can spare to the principle payment each month but another trick is to talk to your mortgage holder about making bi-weekly payments instead of a single monthly payment. For example — if your regular monthly mortgage payment is $1000, you instead pay each month 2 payments of $500 each. It really makes a difference in the length of your mortgage and it doesn’t change your cash out or create any budget stresses.
Lisa Millar says
Wow – I think I am a little tired after absorbing all of that!! 🙂
I am going to love following the stories on all these goals!
I am feeling a little slack. I am such a ‘go with the flow’ person I haven’t made new years resolutions or goals for an eon!
I Started a book yesterday to track food/grocery expenditure but also add back in any money the property makes for us, like selling eggs, vegetables, sauces etc… Was just curious to see how we do.
Now that I have read this I think I am going to have to ramp up some expectations of myself and actually officially list some goals. 🙂
Thanks for the inspiration (and gentle nudge in the backside!) 😀
lynne says
What an inspiration you are! Love reading your goals and weekly follow ups :-)! we are also hoping to sell our house this spring in order to downsize. my HH turned 50 last year, and thoughts of retirement are already coming on the horizon. Our Goal? To sell our house, and with the equity we have in it, purchase a smaller, retirement-friendly (think one level, minimal maintenance) home that can be paid off right off the bat, or within 2-3 years. Then, hopefully the man can retire a few years early! Keep on Rockin’, Mavis, you inspire so many! LynneInMN.
Connie says
Great goals. I am older than you, but back when my children were young, I had just quit work to stay home with them. Then decided to pay down mortgage. Made the regular payment and then another payment that was principal only. Took a few years, but we did it ! Then we could save and pay for our kids college so they could graduate with no debt. We don’t have huge income and it was a sacrifice, but totally worth it.
Most people can live on a lot less than they think. Discipline and habit.
Megan says
When are you coming to Maine?! I officially invite you for tea, if you have time… 😉
I love your goal lists! I followed last year, and I so enjoyed your progress reports I did something similar this year on my blog! I put on some things I just plain need to get done, and some things I’ve been saying I’ll do!
Mavis Butterfield says
In early Spring. And I LOVE tea. How did you know. 😉
Megan says
I was just “suspicious”….. 😉 I have a cabinet full!
Hubby and I have been planning an LL Bean trip for Feb/March, after all the Christmas returns have come in…! 😀
Lana says
This is a great list!
We paid off our mortgage almost two years ago. Every month when I paid bills and did the months’ budget I asked myself what we could do without and from where I could skim money. It helps to be able to see the actual mortgage balance each month and during that time our bank actually started sending out monthly bills with the balance. Bit by bit it went down and we paid it off. It was about three years of serious commitment to doing it but so worth it.
Hubby and I do dates every week. Several years he was unemployed for 9 months and we found that dates don’t really require money. We found some nice parks and took picnic lunches and suppers once a week. We went to the park and played board games at a table beside the lake. We rediscovered places like the free botanical gardens. The most cost effective time to eat out for us is breakfast. Chick fil A gives us free coffee with an entree and our regular breakfast comes to $4.95. We rarely do anything expensive but the costs can balance out to sometimes be a nice steak dinner. McD’s breakfast McMuffin sandwiches are pretty good now that they are using fresh eggs and real butter on the muffin and the yogurt parfaits are real food, too so maybe the gift card won’t be so bad if you avoid the burgers and FF. Enjoy those dates!
We plan to continue the decluttering and cleaning out. We have taken a big van load to the thrift store every month for the last 16 months and there is much more to go after raising 5 kids in this house.
This year we are redoing our kitchen and the upstairs flooring. We start on the kitchen next week. Our goal is to downsize as soon as possible.
Tracey says
Wow! I have learned so much from your blog and have gotten gel rest ideas. I have. I doubt that you will meet everyone of your goals! Good luck! (I’ve also gotten lots to think about from the comments on this post. Cool!)
Marcia says
I think you are crazy, but if it weren’t a crazy list of goals, then it wouldn’t be you! I think that’s why I like your blog so much. You have this all-in crazy/ obsessive thing going on that reminds me of myself. I have had to FORCE myself to stop being that way sometimes, because with a full time job, two little-ish boys, and being in my mid-40s, I could drive myself nuts (and was).
So, as far as those goals:
– I love the Christmas goals and thought of doing that myself many times. But for some reason, I don’t ever sit down and sew/ crochet until 2 weeks before Christmas. So that makes it super hard. (This year I did make my nieces a hat and a scarf, but the scarf was 2 weeks late!)
– I did the clothing thing in 2015. I bought only: underwear, a few bathing suits (I swim a lot and wear them out), new walking shoes, a pair of shorts. My hubby got me new PJs.
– I think the mortgage is a great idea.
– I love the date thing too. My husband and I are really bad at this. We work 1 block from each other, and sometimes, we use our entertainment book for lunches (buy one sandwich, get one free, etc). So we could probably do our lunches for close to $10. But this year he’s volunteering at the school once a week (Friday), and it makes it harder.
Anyway, this is a SUPER list and you are kind of inspiring me to make mine longer. So far I have: still no new clothing (except things that wear out), set a wine budget of $100 outside the 2 clubs that I am in (those 2 clubs will provide me with 25 bottles this year, that should be plenty when I mostly take it to parties/ pot lucks), and keep my grocery bill under $6000 for the year. And maybe I just really need to work on that hand made Christmas thing.
Also, I need to pick a new work related skill. Apparently getting hired over 40 is hard as a woman. I’m definitely seeing that. While I could quit forever as long as hubby is working, I like to work.
Lisa L says
If one of those 1000 things is your ruffled pie plate, I’ll buy it from you! They don’t make it anymore and I never got one. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! 🙂
Alisha says
I’m interested to see how you pull all this off. I’m super interested to see how you are going to come up with free gifts for friends and family, especially for Christmas. However, then I realized you can’t really post your free Christmas presents until after next Christmas. 🙁 We went WAY over budget this Christmas.
Robin says
I was going to suggest you make kahlua or baileys for gifts, until I remembered you were not wanting to buy anything new. I don’t want to turn you into a moonshine maker, since it’s illegal! However you probably have enough potatoes and corn to do it up right! My husband made those for Christmas gifts for his coworkers, go figure they are all in the health care field, and they were a big hit and a lot easier on our budget this year.
Lisa L says
I’m so excited for you and your goals. I can’t wait to follow you along through the year. (and hopefully learn a few things on how you save money) I know you can do it all! Best of luck. I love you Mavis! You inspire me.
Ellen in Clackamas says
oh Mavis, you set some awesome goals for yourself and do so inspire the rest of us! A couple of years ago you had a goal to de-clutter/clean a room a month..that was in your old house with an end game of selling your house. I started doing it but got sick and after surgery, chemo and radiation just did not have the strength or energy to start again. This year though I am feeling better and am going to put this on my list again..and it ties into 2 other goals…to de-clutter my closet and to send stuff out of the house to get ready to down-size. I hope to retire in a couple of years and want to get a head start on it!
sclindah says
We built our house and then I had a goal of paying it off in 10 years and we ended up doing it in seven! What a great feeling it is to be going into retirement without a mortgage. Mortgage does have the mort or death in it!!!
As far as gardening, it’s going to be hard to have a cost analysis unless you figure out how to include exercise instead of a gym membership, gas to buy food, food packaging and also freshness from your garden. Another mention would be my mental health which is also nourished from the garden. So many benefits besides hours working! It’s hard to put an hour to hour cost on the price of gardening!
Molly says
Mavis, you’re an inspiration!!
Love your list!
Have you looked into the cost difference between a 15 year loan and a 30 year one? We re-did our loan a couple of years ago and it was only about $200 more a month with the lower interest rate you get with a 15 year loan. And I’m sure you’ll be paying that much more a month anyway…worth looking into! I love your no clothing goal and your Christmas goal!
Susan says
We did a homemade Christmas and it was AWESOME! We decided after Christmas 2014 to do this, so had a whole year to think about what we were doing. Everyone was on board.
It was a stress free experience and we will do it again this year.
We got delicious walnuts from our son, who has a massive walnut tree in his yard. He had a hard time competing with the squirrels and birds – but ended up with a nice amount. They are delicious! He also gave us smoked salmon (he goes on fishing trips for his job a few times a year- and has his own smoker) and smoked cheese
Also received: homemade soaps, bath salts, gluten-free cookies for DH, patchquilt pillowcases (beautiful!) and homemade ginger beer.
2 of our Granddaughters painted on canvas- a chicken painting and a holiday penguin painting.
I gave our son Mulberry Jam made with mulberries from his tree, peanut brittle, homemade beef jerky and some other canned delicious-ness
I also made homemade soaps and candles (buying teacups at Goodwill for no more than $1 each)
Our youngest daughter made our 17 year old GD an apron. She makes beautiful aprons. She was so excited to get one! The look on her face was priceless.
Everything made with love. Just go with what you do best. Everyone has something they do well! It is really fun to see what everyone comes up with.
Mavis says
This sounds amazing! So many thoughtful gifts. I love it!
Lisa Millar says
I love this story and idea! Will talk to the family about adopting it!
Jen says
I bought Bean boots this year, and they are worth every penny. I’ve wanted them for years now, but had to wait until I was done with babies, in case my feet decided to grown another half size or more. We went to the pumpkin patch on a rainy day this year and I tramped around in the field for a couple hours. They were caked with mud but my feet were warm and dry as a bone.
Vanessa says
Good Luck! I always look forward to seeing what you plan to do with your year!
Dawn says
Good luck! Mint is a great way, and an easy way, to keep track of a budget.
Heather says
I love your goals and obviously (like others) I need to stretch more at mine. I have a mini goal of donating 200 items this month (I have already taken 28 items to the thrift store so maybe this is doable). I figured it was a good start to decluttering my house this year.
For Christmas I wanted to make some homemade items for a few friends so I made a brown sugar scrub. It smells amazing. My biggest expense was the mini jelly jars since I thought of doing it at the last moment. This year I will have to look for mini jelly jars at the thrift stores or garage sales so the cost is even less.
I think it is time for me to create weekly goals (and some of them being fun like sewing) so I have something good to look forward to.
Mavis says
200 items is a GREAT start! And I like the weekly goals idea a lot!
Bridget says
Have you checked out your local Buy Nothing group? Ours in Shoreline is amazing! You can gift items (some of your 1000) and also ask for items you need. Like birthday gifts. 🙂
Sunny Howard says
Sounds like you have a great opportunity to BARTER!! Freggies for gifts. What a way to go!