I only have four months left on my leave of absence before I must return to work full-time, so I have decided to create a list of goals for this remaining time. I’ll revisit these at the end of every month to monitor my progress.
Only use up 50% of our savings while on leave. (Starting next month when my husband is done teaching for the academic year, we will be living entirely on savings until my pay checks begin again in August.)
Get grocery bill down to at least $300/month, though I would really like to get it down to $240/month.
Create a list of 50-90 meals we enjoy and organize the recipes for them.
Grow my eBay business to 2700-2800 items. (Right now it is at 2500 items, which it has been at since late last summer.)
Declutter the house!! One room a month.
Sell $300 to $500 worth of household items on eBay that we know longer use.
Lose 25 to 30 pounds.
Get a dishwasher. (I made this list a few weeks ago. We just bought the dishwasher a few days ago. Read about it here. This should save us money because we will be less tempted to eat out and I won’t have to spend an hour a day washing dishes, which is what I was doing!)
Get a full night’s sleep. (Actually, this depends on my 5 month old daughter.)
If I can accomplish these goals before August, it should help our lives run more smoothly when I am back at work. I tend to blow money more easily when working because I don’t have time and I am stressed. If I can keep that impulse under control with careful planning now, hopefully I can fulfill my goal of being a stay at home mom in 2010.
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