April 2019 End of the Month Wrap Up

My goals for April included at least fifteen no spend days, a new source of income, and no new debt. I ended up with twenty-two no spend days and no new debt! I have several ideas in the works for the new source of income, but I am still working on those. 
Some bloggers say no spend days don't work because they will simply spend the next day. In my case I like to string as many no spend days together as I can and hopefully have more no spend days than spend days. 
I think having twenty-two no spend days out of thirty is pretty good. Having no spend days helps me to save money by not spending it in the first place. 
My goals for May include no eating out, no new debt, and as many no spend days as I can get, which will hopefully be over twenty. 
Some of my spending in April included..
Gas $94.01 Groceries $132.69  Insurance $255.67 Yard Sales $5.00
Insurance is normally our biggest spending category. It's a necessity in my book as I would not want to be without it. 
I already have my budget written out for May and plan to continue as many no spend days as possible. 
In May and June we will have income from pet sitting again. I am still working on other sources of income for the summer as well. 
Have you made any goals for May yet? Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

My Frugal Weekend

On Saturday morning my daughter and I went to the drive in theater to their flea market and set up for the day. We had quite a bit of items to sell and ended up making $110 in the process. 

We left home early since the Flea Market opens at 6 a.m., which is too early for me to eat breakfast. The Flea Market was serving hot breakfast for a price, but we wanted to save money, so we took our breakfast and drinks with us and ate them when we were hungry. After our day was done we came home and made a late lunch of Mac & Cheese, Corn, and Cucumbers. 

There was no eating out for us this weekend and we did not spend any money on Saturday.

We are saving money for very specific things this summer and over the next two years. Eating out would prevent us from meeting our goals, so we have made a commitment to not eat out. 

On Sunday we ventured out and went to Kroger in Dalton and bought a watermelon for Monday and also found some bananas and red and yellow peppers on markdown.

Afterwards we came home to a dinner of Salmon Patties, Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes, and Green Beans with Onions.

How was your weekend?


Belinda ~ Living within my means in Southern Tennessee ~
Earn with Swagbucks

Goals for 2015

Image Credit

Tonight marks the beginning of a brand new year, and is often the time when people reflect back on the previous year and make a list of goals they would like to work on in the new year. As 2014 rolls over into 2015 I find it is time to decide what my goals are for this coming year. 

Goals for 2015

Continue to Live within my Means

Avoid Consumerism

Utilize the Tools I've been given 

Increase Savings 

Increase my Income

Increase Ebay sales

Continue to Declutter

Acquire No New Debt

Weight Loss

That is what I will be working on this year. 

What are your goals for the new year?

I hope you and your family are healthy and happy in the new year, and I wish all of God's blessings on you.  :)

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
Professor Penny Pincher 
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 through 2015 and beyond.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

Looking Back on 2011 & Looking Ahead to 2012

The graphic above came from the Mental Health Humor website, and  I wanted to share it because I think it expresses a real dilemma with New Year's resolutions. This list is intended to cover five years, but alas the list remains the same every year.  Ouch!

Today marks the beginning of a brand new year, and is often the time when people reflect back on the previous year and make a list of goals they would like to work on in the New Year. For me, 2011 was a decent year, although I had several problems with child support, we still managed to make it through the year financially without borrowing any money, which is a good thing. I was able to work more this school year than the previous two years, and that helped me when my other income dropped. 

Last year around this time I made a list of all the debts that I owed. I’m happy to report that I paid off three of those debts and almost have a fourth one paid in full. Other good things that I did in 2011 included starting an automated savings account in January of 2011, which helped me when both my income and the child support dropped during the summer of 2011. 

Last night I sat down and made a new list of the debts that I have and want to pay off as soon as possible. Making a list and keeping track of what I owe leads me one step closer to my ultimate goal of being debt free. Right now I have five debts totaling around $4,000 and a student loan that is in forbearance because of my low income. I currently do not make enough money to pay the five debts in full and still pay all of my other expenses. But I am working on that, which leads me to another goal. Another goal of mine is to increase my income this year, so that I can pay these five debts off and also begin to pay off my student loan debt.

I know some people like to keep their head buried in the sand when it comes to how much debt they have, but more often than not those types of people never make any real headway into paying off their debt. Writing things down and reviewing them every so often to see if you are making headway is a sure fire way to pay off your debt faster than burying your head in the sand over them. 

So, with all of that in mind, here are my goals for 2012:

 

Live Within my Means

Save Money

Eliminate two or more Debts

Increase My Income

 

How did 2011 turn out for you? Were you able to make a difference in your financial life? What kind of goals do you have for 2012? Whatever your goals are, I hope you are able to reach them and hope you have a very prosperous 2012.

 

Belinda 

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
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