One Hundred Dollars a Month

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 #1 Sell East Coast House Mission Accomplished
• Secret Goal #2 Chickens! 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.