End of the Month Goals Update

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow will be March first.  This year is flying by a little too quickly.  Where does the time go?

A month ago when I asked what you all would like to see on this blog, a couple of you mentioned that you’d like to see more updates on my progress.  So here’s the February update.

The Goals and my Progress:

1.  Pay off credit card debt by September.  I’m still paying $200 a month on my 0% APR Citicard.  This debt won’t be gone fast enough for me, but I’m definitely on track to pay it off by September.

2.  Make a budget and stick to it.  This is still a work in progress.  We spent less than we earned this month, so that was good.  I way overspent on eating out, though.  And I under-spent in other categories, so it evened out.  I tweaked the budget a bit, and I’m all set up for next month.

My blogging income also increased quite a bit this month.  It’s a month I don’t expect to repeat anytime soon, but it was a huge boost toward paying the taxes that will come due in April.  I think we’re actually going to be able to make the payments on time!  So that’s a huge praise from me!

3.  Limit eating out to 4 times a month.  Do we have to talk about this?  Ok, I blew it.  Completely.  I think it’s time for some tough love, and I’m going to quit eating out cold turkey again.  One month.  No fast food.  Ouch.  It will be good for me though, right?

4.  Save 5% of our income.  So far that’s a no go.  We have been saving all of our supplemental income (my husband’s second job & my blog income), but it will all go to the IRS and the State of Oregon next month.

5.  Get health insurance.  We still don’t have it, but we’ll be eligible to get insurance next month through my husband’s job.

6.  Update our will.  We haven’t done anything about this yet.  We have to pay those taxes firs.

So my financial goals are coming along.  Sometimes not as quickly as I’d like, but we’re moving forward.  And slow progress is still progress.

This month I’m going to really focus on meal planning and smart grocery shopping.  I’m also going to try to eat out of my pantry as long as I can.  My pantry supplies are accumulating, and I think I can really cut expenses by using some of them up.

So that’s my goal for March.  Continue to work on the food bill.  No eating out.  A meal plan for every meal.  Eating out of my pantry.  Let’s see how little I can spend on food, yet still cook healthy meals.  :)

I’d also like to update you on my blogging goals.  It’s been a huge month for Being Frugal! 

The Blogging Goals and the Updates:

1.  Hit 2000 subscribers.  When I posted this in January, I didn’t know whether this was a goal or a dream.  But it’s looking like a realistic goal at this point.  Today I’m just shy of 1300 subscribers!  I am blown away by that number, considering that I hit 700 subscribers in early January.  I truly do have the best readers ever!

If you want to help me hit my goal, consider subscribing to my email or RSS feed.  It’s free!  Can’t get more frugal than that, right?  :)

2.  Guest post at least once a month.  This is another goal I’m blowing out of the water!  I’ve posted at Gather Little by Little (twice), Five Cent Nickel, and even at Get Rich Slowly and the MSN Smart Spending blog (this one is up today, so head on over!).  I have guest posts scheduled in March and April as well.

3.  Learn the ins and outs of SEO.  I haven’t really done anything with this goal yet.

4.  Continue to post authentically, from the heart.  I’m pretty sure I’m succeeding here.  What do you think?

So there’s my big end-of-the-month update.  Things are going well, for the most part.  How are you all doing on your progress toward your goals?  Remember, if you don’t feel like you’re moving toward your goals, it’s OK to adjust and move on.

Photo by mikebaird.

Tagged as: Debt, Finances, Goals, Money, update