Time to revisit the goals I made for in Dec for 2008 and see how things are going..
Financial
* finance hubby's microbrewery from savings/earnings only - no debt - hopefully we have enough saved for this now. Even more hopefully it will get underway and start earning some money next year! Things are at a standstill atm waiting on other people to do stuff. We used the money we had saved towards the caravan instead. Plans are still up in the air.
* get down to $10,000 non-mortgage debt ($6,000+ to pay off) Hmmm, can we forget I made this one??! Buying the caravan increased our non-mortgage debt again. Personal loan for van has $2,700-odd remaining, then back to paying off the family loan. Hope to have the personal loan paid off by the end of the year.
* look at non-stress alternative income sources that can work around homeschooling - does such a beast really exist??! lol I can't say that I've found one yet!
* save at least $1,000 in appliance repair fund (washing machine is on it's last legs) by June 45% there - won't get there by June but have started an extra "rainy day" savings account that could be used in an emergency. New goal to reach $1000 in appliance fund by Dec. Oh and we won a new TV in a competition, so don't need to worry about buying one of those for quite some time!
* reduce present/gift spending - more homemade? LETS? We had a shocking year this year with the present budget - several weddings, births, 40th b'days - all out of the ordinary. Hopefully next year will be better but need to be vigilant. So far so good, but the birthday rush starts from next month.
* Go back to tracking expenses! Hiding head - I keep failing on this :(
* Actual envelopes aren't working too well for medical / misc household - try virtual envelopes. Seems to be working ok but it's hard to tell without tracking. See point above..
Work
* only take on one large project per month (max) - that will leave time for other one-offs / fixes. I'm booked up until May already!! Still finding it hard to say no to little things that then turn into time-consuming big things, but sticking to this on the whole. Currently booked up until September.
* Try to work no more than a couple of nights / week On the whole, yes, doing well. Through the week I try to work no more than 3 nights, 1 night doing non-paid work stuff (quotes etc) and have one night off the computer.
* start monthly newsletter back up Haven't even thought about it.
* Keep weekends free Generally yes. I also try to keep one day / week completely computer free.
School
* Enjoy it!! Yep!
* try to get into some sort of routine Nah, we threw routine out of the window and are happier for it!
* don't overcommit with activities We have a good mix atm.
Me
* me time each week I'm doing far better than I was 6 months ago. I'm knowing my limits more and taking time for myself. Computer free days help as does one night / week off the computer.
Steps to achieve above goals:
* Utilise LETS more Am using it a bit more but still not as much as I could
* Concentrate on grocery budget - more from scratch, bulk buying Ups and downs but not too bad
* Stop buying lunch every time we go out Much better but still not perfect - it helps to not go out!
* Get garden productive I'm hoping the fact that we're not getting a lot out of the garden atm is because it's winter! Am really working on this one.
* Track expenses Hmm, seems to be a theme here - I MUST do this!
* Take time to do things rather than just spending money Getting better at thinking before I buy.
4 comments:
Sounds like some good progress there Kez. I'm going terribly at tracking our spending of late. :(
Good on you, some things are working well for you, you'll find away to do all those things soon ;)
Any progress towards your goals is good :-) Keep up the good work.
Good for you for looking back on them! The goals that I made for 2008 were before the self-sufficient bug got a hold of me and it's amazing how my priorities have changed!
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