One Hundred Dollars a Month

1. Pay Down the Mortgage

We were able to knock 5 payments off our contract in March {1 regular payment and 4 extra “principal” payments}. I was able to use my “rug hooking money” to go towards the extra payments this month as well as move some money I had leftover for miscellaneous/household/car/clothing/medical expenses that were not used in January and February towards paying down our mortgage. Budget for the worst, hope for the best, and save the rest, that’s my motto this year.

2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year. 

The Girl and I are headed to Maine soon so I’ll be able to get a little retail therapy when I get to use my L.L. Bean gift cards at the outlet store {I’m hoping to find a deal on Bean Boots}. This was one of my original exceptions to my buy nothing new for a year plan for this year and I am excited!

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

The usual… paid bills online, shopped from my pantry, fixed the hem on one of my shirts, stayed home {used less gas} and took advantage of freebies like the public library.

4. Try 52 New Recipes.

Next on my list… My friend JJ’s apple crumb pie!

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

So far this year I’ve spent $212.21 on groceries. Pretty rad if you ask me.

6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband 

Last Sunday the HH and I took the ferry over to Vashon Island for an upcoming project of mine and ended up stopping at The Hardware Store for lunch. If you are ever in that neck of the woods… thier burgers are fantastic!

So far this year we’ve gone on 9 dates and spent $99.52 out of pocket for our “dates.”

7. Turn My Wool Stash into $5,000.

I had another good week turning my rug hooking hobby into cash. I sold 2 hooked rugs, 1 set of flowers and 1 “make do.” 3 items on Ebay and 1 on Etsy for a total of $284.84 {before fees and supplies were factored in}. I also made a few new things for my shops as well including a super funky bee pillow. {I’ll be listing those items later this week}.

I am really surprised at how much I am loving this challenge. My original goal was to clean out my wool stash by hooking rugs and selling them online. But I’m having so much fun and at the pace it’s going… I know I am going to run out of wool much sooner than planned {and reach my original goal of $5,000 to boot!}. So I think I am going to allow myself to purchase some more wool {hopefully on my upcoming trip east} so I can keep hooking and earning money to help pay down the mortgage this year. What do you think? Totally acceptable, right?

So Far in March I’ve sold $284.84

In February I’ve sold $1077.27
In January I sold $1563.92

8. Get Rid of 1,000 Things. 

The purging continues! This week it was a bunch of random stuff.

9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

This week my stack of books from the library included Winter Living by Selina Lake. Total eye candy for those of us who love thumbing through home photo books.

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

Miss Puggle Love and I spent a good half hour working the garden beds this week planting radish seeds and looking for worms. Can you believe we are just a few weeks away from getting a bunch of different veggies in the ground? I am excited!

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, 45 Minutes

11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.

I painted two baseboards in the kitchen this week.

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

I didn’t make anything new this week but I am thinking about turning so old wool sweaters Girly Girl gave me into pillows for the couch {a gift to myself counts, right?}. 😉 Have you done this before? It looks pretty easy to do and I have some old pillows I can use as stuffing. We’ll see.

How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2016? How are they coming along?

~Mavis

Read About My 2016 Goals HERE.