Tuesday, March 30, 2010

March Recap

Remember my New Years Goals? Yeah.... me too. I skipped my recap for February, but I'm back on the bandwagon for March. Let's see how I'm doing, shall we?

Weight Loss
Still in my size 4 jeans (from the GAP!!!) so that's good! I lost a couple pounds in February and have been maintaining in March... and realistically, that's good enough for me. I can probably cross this one off my list.

Debt Reduction
OMG we are knocking this one out of the park. I've redone the budget in a way that gets Ryan's CCCS paid off in September and mine done in November. Part of it was lowing some of our monthly bills (cable and car insurance) and part of it was sacrifice (maybe we don't need so much "fun money' every month). When we started CCCS there was literally NO LIGHT at the end of the tunnel. Now? I need sunglasses (for the light at the end of the tunnel - get it?). It's amazing. Even after a TON of set backs this year (um, $500 car repairs in January, huge IRS bill, and 2 new tires in February) I'm feeling great about our situation and cannot wait to send in our big payment in April (and May, etc). Paying off our debt is going to be one of the greatest accomplishments of our lives. I am literally counting down the days.

Misc. 2010 Goals
Menu Planning & Once a Week Grocery Shopping - It got kind of sketchy in February, but we've been doing a much better job on this in March. Our grocery bill has gone down about $50 each trip, which has been saving us nearly $200 a month. This is really working for us.

Getting Rid of Crap in the House - This was a big WIN in March (even though the latest carload of Goodwill stuff is still sitting in my car....)

Take Lots of Pictures with the Rebel - Yes. Happening.

Beef Up Our Savings Account - This is one where we haven't made much progress (other than the same old monthly contribution), but will be shortly. Ryan's expecting a payout on vacation days and a check from a lifeguarding class he took... we know the money is "in the mail" but don't have it in hand yet. As soon as it gets here, though, it's going directly to savings and the new number in our account will make me smile lots.

Date Night - Outback Steakhouse. It's our "someone got a new job" tradition, and since Ryan got a new job, we celebrated with obscene amounts of bloomin' onion, salad, and steak. It was delicious (both for dinner and reheated for lunch the next day). It was also nice to go out and eat at a table... we're guilty of sitting in the living room at the coffee table every night. Whoops.
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Wow, when it's all there in black and white, it really looks like we're doing a good job keeping up with the goals we (I) set back in January. We're only a quarter of the way through the year and looking at my recaps, I'm feeling good about what we've accomplished... even though it's nothing major like buying a house or something. But it's the small things that get us through day to day life, right?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you'e on track...keep up the good work!!

Your Southern Aunt

Jami Balmet said...

Oh that's great!!! Sounds like you guys are right on track!!! Way to go!!!!

Anonymous said...

Great job Katie....I love reading your blogs, always makes me smile.

Me again from NJ