Revisiting March Objectives/April Objectives

Here were my objectives to accomplish for March. Since there are only 11 days left in the month, I figured I had better revisit them and see how I am doing:For the month of March, I have a few things, personal and financial I want to accomplish.
*Get down to 185 by March 31st. Considering I am at 191.8 right now, 185 would be a miracle. I don't think this is going to happen, short of chopping off an arm. I am trying to remain optimistic and remember that any weight loss, no matter how small, is a loss.
*Pay off Chase 3.We are on track to do this, barring an emergency or really unexpected expenses.
*Pay $450 to car loan. Not gonna happen. $350 is how much I have budgeted next week, which is still $75 more than the minimum.
*Clean out our closet and dresser. Either donate items or sell on eBay if they are in good shape.Still need to do.
*Go through all paper work and filing cabinets. Chuck what we do not need or file it.This is now ALL done. Everything is in one portable filing cabinet. Call me morbid, but one of my biggest fears is that if I should die unexpectedly, my hubbie would have no clue where life insurance, will stuff, etc. would be. After I finished, I held up the filing cabinet and said,"Sweetie, if I die, everything you need is in here." He looked at me like I was a crazy woman, but I really do feel better now.
*Steam clean our furniture.Will do this weekend with assistance from DH.
*Stick to my cleaning schedule I made for myself. I have certain duties that I do, and DH has his things that he does. DH has small things that need to be done daily, like dishes, taking out the trash, etc., while I have larger things I do weekly, like mopping and bathroom cleaning. I have done better with this, but I still need to work on staying caught up on the laundry and mopping regularly.

March hasn't been an awful month, but it hasn't been as good as I would have liked either. I have only lost 1.8 pounds, which sucks, but I guess that is 1.8 pounds that I do not have on me anymore. Our closet and dresser are still overflowing. It is just hard sometimes to work up the motivation to handle those large projects.

Here is what I want to accomplish in April:
*Get down to 182 by April 30th. I have got to step up my exercise to accomplish this.
*Pay $400 to car loan.
*Get Chase 2 down to $1200.
*Pay $100 towards a dental bill.
*Add $290 to emergency fund.
*Have all garden/yard word done. Thanks to Sarah, I know how to accomplish this in a much more frugal manner :)
*Have out paid off number at $12,500. This will put us right at 20% paid off.

It all looks good on paper. Now I just have to do it!

Spending Update-11 days to go

Dates/Eatout: $140
Groceries/food: $371
Misc.:$93-this was an anniversary gift at $30, a haircut at $16, a car wash at $6, a dress at $17, and a birthday gift at $24.
Gas: $100
Total:$704

I am $7 over our $700 goal. I still need to get a present for DH's mother for her birthday on Monday, and I know we will need some food for next week. I really don't want to go over $800, so it will be tight! Next month, I think I will shoot for the following goals, with consideration to all birthdays, the fact that both cars will be due for oil changes, and some Easter expenses.

April Expense Goals

Dates/Eatout:$120
Groceries/Food:$400
Misc.:$150-this will include two birthdays and two oil changes for sure
Gas:$130
Total:$800

Next month will be an $800 month for sure. Maybe May can be our $700 month!

Payday, where are you???

I am so impatient for the next payday to get here. I know it will bring much more progress than last payday, so I am just anxious for it to get here. I am trying to keep busy with spring cleaning and working on our garden. The smallest room in our house that will eventually be our first child's room got a thorough cleaning this weekend. I threw out 3 bags of junk, and I have another bag full of things to donate or sell. I dusted it, scrubbed it, and it is looking pretty good! DH cleaned out our storage building and filled up a whole dumpster with junk. He also cleaned out the fridge and the pantry, and organized out food in a manner that actually makes sense. We're getting there! By next week, I want to get all the weeds pulled out of the garden, put down new weed guard fabric, and spread new mulch in at least half of our garden. I want the other half done by the end of the month, budget permitting.
My weight loss is pretty much at a pound per week, which is not horrible, but not the two pounds a week I was hoping and working for. I just need to keep trucking. Any loss is better than none!

Spending-Half Way Through the Month

Dates/Eatout: $130
Groceries/food: $300
Misc.:$93-this was an anniversary gift at $30, a haircut at $16, a car wash at $6, a dress at $17, and a birthday gift at $24.
Gas: $50
Total:$573

Yikes. We are really high this month. The grocery category includes some yard stuff we bought as well to start getting our yard in shape for the summer. If we are careful, I think we can end the month at $800, which is definitely over my $700 goal, but better than just blowing the whole month. I know we have two birthdays this month left, and two next month. After that, no more birthdays till fall! We still need to get mulch, weed control fabric, and some plants as well. I think we'll just spread these purchases out between now and May. Even if I do go over my spending goals, it is nice to see where the money is actually going.

First, a spending update:
Dates/Eatout: $101
Groceries/food: $156
Misc.:$93-this was an anniversary gift at $30, a haircut at $16, a car wash at $6, a dress at $17, and a birthday gift at $24.
Gas: $50
Total:$400

We are officially over our eating out/date budget. I really don't know why we have eaten out so much the past week. It isn't good for our wallet, nor is it good for my waist line! I told DH that we should challenge ourselves to go the next 11 days with no eating out, starting Friday. We will go over in the miscellaneous category too, since we still have to get a present for DH's mom's birthday and his niece's birthday. I am praying we can make up for this by spending less in the grocery/food category.

Debt update:

		Start	12-Mar
Sallie Mae		12762	12304
Wells Fargo		11700	11097
Campus Loan		8250	7655
Chase 2		2300	1900
Chase 3		1710	604
Credit Union Card		700	742
BOA		9300	8962
BOA 2		1833	2249
Car Loan		7875	6159
Chase		2353	0
Car Loan 2		2090	0
Target		149	0
DH School		376	0
Capital One		376	0
		61774	51672

Not a huge update this time. We are now at $10,102 paid off since August 1st, 2009. Yay for getting over the 10K mark. My update at the end of the month should be much better and will hopefully get us close to the $11K mark.
I still need to get one of my transcripts sent to the college I am wanting to enroll in. I am planning on starting this summer. I think I can finally get my bachelor's in about a year and a half. I know I will get some grants, but unfortunately, I will be adding a bit to my student loans as well. Sigh. I could just kick myself sometimes. I could have paid for a nice, public college with the scholarships I first had, but instead went to the stupid private college out of nothing but pressure. My parents said the affordable public college wasn't 'good enough.' Blah. I have $31065 in student loans now, and I will finish with about $40K. This COULD have been zero. I also want to get my masters so I can sit for the CPA exam, but one thing at a time. I feel so torn, because I know I want to stay at home with our future children for a couple years. At the same time, I want to be educated. I don't want to be a college drop out, which is what I am right now. I graduated from high school as the freaking valedictorian, and I am 23 now with half a college education.

Spending Tracking

Dates/Eatout: $66
Groceries/food: $156
Misc.:$93-this was an anniversary gift at $30, a haircut at $16, a car wash at $6, a dress at $17, and a birthday gift at $24.
Gas: $50
Total:$365

I slipped up and bought a dress I found on sale, and went out to eat with friends twice. We have a ton of food now, so hopefully this will help keep our eating out figure the same for a couple weeks. I guess the next time I calculate spending goals, I should remember to include all birthdays/anniversaries that fall in that month. We still have one more birthday too. Oops.

Spending Thus Far

Eating out/Dates: $23
Food/Groceries: $54
Misc.: $54-this was an anniversary gift at $30, and a birthday gift at $24.

Hmm. $131 in four days. Not a good way to start the month.