Dollar Frugal

Good morning!  I have stated in my blog that we follow “groundhog day goals,” which means that I revisit my goals each month on the month-date matching (2/2, 3/3, 7/7, etc).  Here’s how I’m doing on the goals I’ve laid out for myself this year so far: 

1.  Pay off 42,000 of my mortgage.  I don’t have any other debt (beyond monthly utilities and food costs), so this is my only debt payoff.  A+.  I’ve paid off $33,268.40 already for this calendar year.  Only $8731.60 left for the year to reach this goal - and 5 payments to do it in!

2.  Contribute $4,000 to DH’s IRA.  A-.  Done back in June.  This goal is removed starting August.

3.  Pay for DH to return to school.  A+.  Grant is good to go.  This goal is removed starting August.

4.  Cut sugar out of my diet.  B.  I’ve been super-cognizant of health in my foods this month.  Results?  Expensive groceries, but I feel much better about my choices.

5.  Schedule more of my weekends.  C.  This is happening more, but not the 5-5 that I wanted.  I will work up to those 12 hours.

6.  Input new layout for my blog by July 15.  A.  New layout is done, working out glitches.

7.  Be on track to payoff the house by March 2009 instead of May.  C.  I’m not still sure I’ll make March right now, but that’s why we set goals!

8.  Find a decent living room set and get it to my house by the end of the year - under $500.  D.  I need to be more aggressive starting this month with Craigslist.

I want to take this opportunity to say that this goal-setting method has really worked for me.  I automatically do many of these things that would just rest in the back of my mind if I didn’t have this blog nagging me to complete my goals.

I challenge you to state your goals here in my comments section.  Next month (August 8th), I will challenge everyone that comments here to see how they’re doing with their goals.

Another new thing:  a new goal every month.  Right now, I’ve already completed a few of these items, so I can scrap them for some new goals.  Here’s my new goal for July:

9.  It’s more expensive, but purchase groceries that are more healthy and interesting.  Our bodies are more important than our money.  This month, I would have gotten a B on this, since I purchased 2 weeks’ worth of groceries in this manner.

Post your progress for the month below!

Photo Credit: scottwills