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Productive Sunday - Preliminary 2012 Goals

December 19th, 2011 at 12:57 am

I got quite a bit done today which I'd been putting off for a long time due to tiredness and laziness. I swept my whole place, took out two loads of garbage, put things away, did all my laundry, and did most of my dishes. Kari wasn't quite sure what to make of my cleaning frenzy. Smile

SrN called today and told me that they'd talked about me yesterday at the Christmas dinner (rear ending). She told me that since I don't have much in the way of classes tomorrow (due to dress rehearsals for Christmas program) that if I could make an appointment for my car at the mechanic, to do so.

I thought that was pretty sweet. Smile

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Preliminary 2012 goals:

Physical Health:

* 2 x a week lift weights (10+ minutes)
* 2 x a week do 15 min+ elliptical
* Restart NoS program
* Eliminate soda
* Bought frozen foods used only on S days
* Meals on non-S days must be cooked by self - not bought frozen foods (i.e. use rice cooker, food steamer, etc.)

Spiritual Health:

* Daily 20 minutes focused prayer time
* Daily Bible w/Brian Hardin podcast
* Stay for potluck after church - try to connect with someone, anyone
* No more than 3 missed Sabbaths (unless out of town)
* Plan a focused Bible study/prayer time for Friday nights -- make Friday nights special - candles, special meal ... not just vegged out on net
* Contribute tithe/offerings consistently 2x a month (after payday)

Emotional Health:

* Call and/or write to a non-family member/non-coworker 1x a week
* Play piano 60 minutes per month
* Work on cross stitch project 60 minutes per month
* Read 1 book *not* for students per week
* Read minimum 1 book for students per week

Financial Health:

* Grocery budget
----Create a priority list. When shopping, buy from top down and keep running total. Stop when budget is reached.
-----Grocery shop no more than 2 x a month. (Exception - buying bananas at local small grocer in between big town grocery shops.)
--- Grocery budget --- $120/month -- including Kari's food/litter. So ... $50 per trip to allow for incidentals.

* ROTH - Send $1500 (Currently $100/mo)

* Emergency Fund - Save $5,000

* Car Repairs/Replace - Save to $5,000

* Vacation/Travel --- Save $1000 (Spring Break trip, plus summer travel)

* Moving Fund --- Save $1000

* Library spending -- limit to $30/month non-gift card funded spending

* Increase extra funds:

---- Check into being part of summer school program

---- Do Swagbucks daily points *daily*, at least once a week check for extra videos/offers
----- Do Beezag *daily*
----- Check Mypoints email at least once a week

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Edited -- My savings goals are roughly 60% of my gross yearly income ... But considering that my only expenses are food, gas and internet/phone ... I really *should* be able to do this. It's just keeping the food/gas, miscellaneous expenses in check.

6 Responses to “Productive Sunday - Preliminary 2012 Goals”

  1. Dido Says:
    1324260715

    Wow, lots of goals! Good luck. If you don't mind my asking, are food, gas, internet and phone really your ONLY "must have" expenses? No toiletries or household supplies, or are you considering those grouped with food? No items to possibly replace or repair that you are responsible for (e.g., your car, etc)? No insurance costs that are not deducted from your paycheck, e.g., renter's insurance? If your "must haves" truly are only 50% of your income, good for you! But consider leaving 20-30% for wants...books, entertainment, clothes. You don't want to make yourself feel deprived, because that will make the plan harder to adhere to.

  2. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1324261300

    Good point Dido - I do have a few other expenses, such as car insurance, monthly prescriptions, etc. I do also budget $20/mo for "fun" money (although I sometimes go way over this ... if coworkers invite me out to movies/dinner ...)

    Food - $120/mo
    Phone/Internet - 112/mo
    Prescrip - $22/mo
    Gas - $90/mo
    Library spending - $30/mo
    Other (entertainment, etc.) - $100/mo

    That is roughly one 2 week paycheck, so my other 2 week paycheck can go towards savings goals ... if I keep my spending in check. I pay car insurance out of savings twice a year.

    This month I had a 3 paycheck month - so the 3rd paycheck is giving me enough to create my one-month buffer plus add a bit to EF savings. (I do YNAB budget method.)

  3. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1324261483

    Oh and yes, I do include toiletries, etc., in food expense (i.e. Walmart.)

  4. Dido Says:
    1324261650

    Also, as a pet owner...no anticipated vet bills?

    How in the world do you manage to eat on only $120 a month? The Self-Sufficiency Standard (a measure of living wage....google and see if the data are available for your state....I looked at Colorado since their data are up to date and I know you are somewhere in the West) suggests that a single adult budget $220-$250 for monthly food costs, depending on where you live. Plus then you'd add in your cat food & litter costs.

    I have trouble reining in my food costs (I'm also single and typically spend in one week the amount you budget for an entire month.) I'm really curious to know how you survive on so little food expense!

  5. Dido Says:
    1324261785

    I am a great fan of YNAB, used it for several years. Then fell off that wagon at some point when life became overwhelming and it was too much work to catch up. I like Jesse's idea of the one month buffer particularly.

  6. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1324262914

    Well ... at one time I was able to manage on that amount .. since moving here I haven't - it's been about twice that, sometimes more. However, I've been eating a lot of processed foods and junkfood. Hence being sick a lot and spending a lot. By eliminating my spending on junk/unnecessaries, I'll save at least $70/month (or more!) Yeah, I'm that bad. Frown
    I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, so when I'm eating in a more healthful manner (ah-hem, cough, cough) I eat a lot of beans, eggs, cheese, oatmeal, quinoa, lentils, etc. I also do veggies (usually frozen, but now that I've got a food steamer ... I'm really going to try to use it.) Here I do have at lunch during the school week provided for me (where the main part of my meal usually ends up being a salad, and sometimes when they have food on the menu I can actually eat I'll have other stuff too.) I could actually get breakfast free too on school days - but I prefer my oatmeal and banana to guessing at what/how they've prepared in the cafeteria.

    Good point about vet bills - Kari's spaying cost an arm and a leg (3rd shots + spay =$195!!) I am putting $30/mo for that (forgot to include it.)

    I'm coming from a place where I had come extremely close to exhausting ALL my savings and was considering cashing in some of my ROTH. Thankfully I was hired on here. Right now I take home roughly $1450/mo. That figure will lower in July (if I'm hired back) due to the yearly salary being divided into 26 payments rather than 22 (as it was this school year.)(I have free health insurance with fairly low co-pays.)

    I am hoping for a tax refund this year - if I get one, it will go straight to savings goals (maybe 10% for fun.)

    I have a 97 Honda Civic with 141K miles on it ...

    I really need to be hyper-focused on getting some cash cushion.

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