January 2015 Goals

I am still gathering my thoughts on what to post for my 2015 goals. I know I really want to get my debt paid off this year and do some traveling (I think we already have a pending trip this May - yay!). The personal loan is now under $5k mark - so maybe I can get this done *hopefully* by the end of the first quarter.

Financial Goals

• Pay $1,300 to debt this month

• TWO no spend days per week

• Have $700 into the Emergency Fund 

Personal Goals

• Finish a book 

• Exercise / Gym at least 3 times per week

Have you done your new years resolutions?

December 2014 Goals

Happy December!! Below are the goals I want to keep track until the end of this year.

Financial Goals

• Pay the following towards debt this month. I want to set aside the rest for Christmas shopping
• Personal Loan $396
• Credit Card $100
• Student Loan $120
• No credit card spending
• TWO no spend days per week
• Build Emergency Fund
• Add $200 this month 

Personal Goals

• Finish a book - I started listening to Serial so hopefully I can finish all the remaining episodes this month
• Exercise / Gym at least 3 times per week

November 2014 Goals

I think I am going to take a break from aggressively paying towards debt this month. My dog will be having his surgery and I am not quite sure how much I will be spending on that - which, like I said, will be going towards a credit card. This month I am to just pay the minimum towards the credit cards and student loans. My personal loan will still be getting a 'max'-ish since I want to get rid of that ASAP.

Financial Goals

• Budget $200 per week
• Pay $1200 towards debt 
• Pay off Car Insurance
• Pay car registration fees
• Get a 0% balance transfer for veterinarian fees

Personal Goals

• Run 5k on Thanksgiving
• Finish a book
• Bake/Cook something new

October 2014 Goals

It will be similar from September, but different. I need to keep reminding myself about the one week cash diet. I will start this next week from October 4-10. Payday is on the 3rd - so i'll check in once I withdraw $200 from my check.

Financial

• Track daily spending 
• Do not use credit cards
• TWO no spend days per week
• Keep the weekly spending around $200/week 
• Use cash for ONE week - budgeted $200
• Pay $1200 to debt for the month of October
• Put in $100 to the Christmas fund this month

Personal

• Work out at least 3 days every week  
• Read / Listen to a new book
• Learn to cook something new this month

What are your goals this October?

September 2014 Goals

HAPPY LABOR DAY! I hope you were off and was able to spend this sort of 'final' holiday of the summer with family and friends

Spiffy picture from a bbq I attended today

Gosh.... Where did the time go? I cant believe its the last quarter of 2014 already! I will need to buckle down with my goals. I am also adding a couple of non-Monetary goals for the month of September

• Track daily spending - I track it using an excel spreadsheet where I have categories by the purchase date, Card/Cash, Category that it falls into the budget, Name of the place and the Amount.
• Keep the weekly spending around $200/week - I bumped it up from $150 since I couldn't keep to that amount and I just get frustrated.
• Use cash for ONE week - I am going to try this for a week. Withdraw $200 on a Saturday morning and leave all my debit cards at home. I'll post about this for the month.
• Allocate $1200 to debt for the month of September - A big chunk of this will be paid to the Personal Loan. I just want to be under $20k by the end of this month
• Do not use credit cards - Leaving them ALL at home starting today.
• At least ONE day of no spending per week - This will be easy during the work week
• Work out at least 3 days every week - I printed out the gym classes available for September and marked the ones I will be interested in going.
• Read / Finish a book - I have a couple of purchased unread books on my Kindle. Just a matter of picking and choosing which one to start today! (So NO Spend there!) 

Any FUN goals you want to accomplish this September?

July 2014 Goals

Jay and I are going to a destination wedding in a week or so. But I have a confession to make - this is between me, you and the Blog-o-sphere... I wasn't looking forward to this vacation at all

1. I am scared that it will throw off my momentum on this debt repayment
2. The wedding was just completely unorganized for the guests
3. We did not book anything until last week - and I am sure there are still a couple more things we need to spend on
4. They STILL hasn't given me any itinerary on whats going on the wedding - I am a bridesmaid

But, I'll put those all aside... below are the goals I have for July - somewhat similar to June since I am still trying to change my habits. I am limiting myself to CASH!!! We paid 50% of the resort in cash and will be paying the rest when we get there

• Keep a weekly spending budget of $150 while in the states and $200 on vacation
• Track my daily spending - I am still free to use my debit card or cash
• Do not use credit cards - I will be bringing them "just in case"
• Target debt payment amount this month will be $500
• Have at least ONE day of no spending per week - even while on vacation 

How do you prep for a big vacation while paying off debt?