Conclusion of Monthly Goals for 2010

Here is the summation of our goals for 2010:

Save 8 months of living expenses. We ended up saving 5 months worth of living expenses.  Last month we had to pay nearly $2,000 out of pocket to insure our family for the rest of my leave of absence.  I also had to set aside $200 for my son’s school registration, $500 for my daughter’s preschool registration, and $300 for my  husband’s optical appointment.  Considering all of those expenses, I am happy with the 5 months we saved.

Write a budget and stick to it. This continues to be a work in progress, though I am getting very good at writing down where every single penny is going.

Strategically use coupons to pay no more than $300 a month on groceries.   Making progress on this.  I saved $200 with a pantry challenge in November, and I am in the midst of a pantry challenge now.  Also, I have been finding ways to save at the grocery store without using coupons.Have two no spending months. That didn’t happen in 2010.  I will be aiming for one no spending week a month for 2011.

Spend less than $200 on Christmas gifts. We almost achieved this; we ended up spending about $225.  Children’s stockings that were enormous ended up being my downfall.  I made a mental note to have smaller stockings next year! 🙂 See my posts on having a debt free Christmas here.

Have a pantry challenge for one month. We had a pantry challenge November 10th through 30th and saved. Read about it here.

Earn $1000 from selling items from the Declutter Challenge on eBay. Thus far I have cleared out 746 items from our house, and from the ones I have sold on eBay, I have earned $411.55, not deducting eBay fees. I am done listing now for awhile as it is no longer really the kids’ clothes season. I will begin to list my kids’ clothes again in February.

Save all of our change every month and put in a new car fund. We added another $22.07 to the fund, so now we have a grand total of $112.45.

Research places I can potentially publish articles and try to get some published. I am still working on finding other places. I have made some money from one online writing company . I have been accepted to one online writing company, but I am trying to find other places that may pay better.

Come back later this afternoon for my new goals for 2011!