Goal Update for February
Since it's a new month, I thought I'd give a little update on how things are going with my goals for the new year.
1) Eat non-cereal breakfasts 4 days a week.
This is going really well so far. The kids and I have been eating toast, yogurt, oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, bagels, muffins, and pancakes for breakfast. Even Joshua, who is a big cereal fan, is pretty happy about the non-cereal options available. And I'm pretty happy that I don't have to work as hard at finding deals on cereal.
So, all's well in the breakfast department here, at least for now.
2) Start saving for a replacement van.
Happily, we did get started on that this month...we have a new ING account set up specifically for this purpose, and we've started contributing to it. We were able to put $200 into it this month, and hopefully we can continue to do that each month. I'd really prefer to put $300 in each month, but $200 is better than nothing.
3) Keep Quicken updated once a week.
I've been trying to do this every Saturday, and though I missed this past Saturday, I am way more caught up than I usually am! So, I didn't completely fail at this in January, but I hope to do better this next month.
4) Spend $80 a week on groceries whenever possible.
This, I failed at! I only had a few pennies left in my grocery envelope at the end of January. I'll give it another try in February, though.
5) Save enough for a replacement camera body by September.
I didn't exactly make any progress on this goal in January (actually, I went backwards), because of the Haiti fundraising we did here! But that's ok...helping people in Haiti is much more important than getting me a new camera body. And I do still have a number of months left before September anyways.
I never did tell you the end result of that fundraising post, did I?? I pledged $1 for every comment and link, and there were 300 total by January 21st. So, I sent $300 off to Living Water at the end of January. That wouldn't be so amazing on its own, but all of you that commented and linked were also busy giving to Haiti, so I imagine that the cumulative effect of all of our giving was nothing to sneeze at. Thank you all for giving!
What new camera body are you looking at? You shoot Canon, right? 🙂
Yep, I'm a Canon girl. Now that I have several Canon lenses, I am firmly in Canon-land. lol I'm not sure which camera body to get and I'm not sure if I want to go new or used. The two bodies I'm seriously considering are the 50D and the 7D. Of course, the 5D would be grand, but I think that's probably more money than I want to lay out.
wow Kristen. I am really impressed! It is so hard for me to understand how someone could spend so little on groceries... At the same time, I can see that it would be an easy area to save in if you are used to spending much more - like me. I do think I am spending less on groceries since I am planning all our meals at once now and doing only one main shopping a week. Anyway, congratulations on all fronts. I like how you are checking in with your goals - gosh, that is a huge part of success isn't it? Keeping important goals front and center. thank you for your large contribution to Haiti as well!
Sounds like a month of success. Good for you. It feels good when we actually do what we set out to do.
Kristen, have you ever checked into getting WIC? Zoe looks younger than 5, and your family is so big...You'd probably be eligible! I don't know if you've heard of it, but through WIC, I get milk, peanut butter, bread, fresh fruit, juice, cheese, eggs and...Cereal! Just last month I got a TON of free cereal with my WIC coupon, combined with a buy one get one free sale at Publix. Another good thing about the program, is a lot of the provided foods used to be just thrown away, because they were surplus dairy products.
Re #3: isn't it nice how a specific goal can help us improve, even if we don't meet the goal?
Re #4: how much did you spend stocking up on flour? By considering that part of your weekly groceries you've set yourself a very tough standard.
Re #5: that's awesome! A news story on the radio this morning indicated that Haiti will need $10B over 10 years to rebuild. If we want to do it right while we have this terrible opportunity - for example, adding water and sewer service to Port au Prince as we rebuild - it's $15B. Every little bit helps. Go you!
Congrats on the non-cereal breakfasts! My daughter is still on infant cereal, but when she gets older, I'm going to go the preemptive route and not even store any cereal at home. I also used to 'indulge' in the cereals like coco-puffs during my college days, but later learned how much sugar they contained. The convenience was just not worth it. Now I eat oatmeal (not the instant kind which is quite expensive!) and actually can't wait to start my day with it. You can add a lot of variety to your oatmeal just by by changing your toppings.
Great info!
It is so nice to see when goals are paying off. I'm so glad you post about this stuff. It has really inspired me. One of my goals this year is to "watch every penny". I don't do quicken, but have been keeping every receipt in a tin. Before they go in the tin, I highlight things that I could have done without. This reminds me that I could be spending even less. My grocery bills are under $100.00 a week, and I don't feel like we are lacking in any way. So that's a huge plus.
An even bigger payoff occurred when I realized that a local pizza chain added a $63.00 tip to my purchase. Yes, I had the receipt (3 weeks had passed). Not only did I get my $63.00 back, but another 20 in free pizza the next time we order. Woo Hoo. Actually, I don't even want to take advantage of that - I was so irked by the whole situation.
But, to stay on topic - Thanks, thanks, thanks, Kristen. The little things you do are making a big difference for me.
Wow. $300 to help Haiti?? That is AWESOME!
I love putting my oatmeal in the crockpot the night before with apple pieces or applesauce and a little cinnamon and brown sugar. Of course, it does make it harder to get back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night............
can you tell me about your oatmeal process? I'd love to wake up to breakfast. How many ppl are you feeding with it? I'm the only one here who will eat it... I wonder if it's worth it. Maybe I should get a smaller crock (2nd hand of course).
Thanks,
ING is awesome!! 🙂 We have several little savings accounts with them too!
Eating non cereal breakfasts is great. I don't think people realise how expensive cereal is per gram or they wouldn't buy it.
I have also been de-cereal-ing my life! My current favorite not-cereal is -- and I know this sounds weird but work with me here -- is whole wheat couscous. I cook a few cups and then eat it with berries and vanilla soy milk all week for breakfast. Filling, healthy, cheap, no weird additives!
I missed out on your Haiti fundraiser---we moved in the beginning of January and I got way behind on reading my blogs. How wonderful you were able to make such a big donation!! My son and I had discussed it (it was hard to keep the disturbing images in the paper away from him, but I wanted to him to know that people needed our help) and we donated to Unicef.