Quarterly Update on my 2010 Goals/Hopes

Since we are a fourth of the way through 2010 I thought I'd update my list of Goals for 2010 from this post Here.


1. Put more money into savings than was put away in 2009.
--$23,865.36 was banked in 2009.  I will be shooting for $30.000 in 2010, barring any unforeseen personal economic crisises.   
We are working on this one and are ahead of the target for reaching the $30K mark this year!

2. Pare down the stuff I need to eBay by sending more of it to the Thrift Store or sell it on Craigslist.
--Get off my rump and get stuff SOLD!  And what I can't readily sell, send it off to a Thrift Store.  I have had enough of boxes of crap hanging around my living room.  It's time to actually USE that room in the manner it was intended.
I basically hadn't started this one until 2 days ago.  I still haven't put anything on eBay.  Frankly with the changes they have made there along with the fee increase and the postage increase I just have NO MOTIVATION for eBay anymore.  It is looking more and more like I'll just send most everything to the Thrift Stores and take a tax write-off.  Since we have so little in the way of personal deductions now since we have no mortgage interest to deduct, we need to add to our deductions so we can itemize.  That seems to make more sense as opposed to paying more and more in fees to eBay/Paypal with no guarantee that we make a profit on anything and not just lose money there.
On the tax year for 2009 we would NOT have been able to itemize deductions if it were not for our charitable contributions(both monetary and goods donated).
It is killing me to think about all the money tied up in these items I have for eBay and having to let them go for a tax write-off.  But it's also killing me to have all this stuff laying around here and having it look like a pack of hoarders live here.lol
This Goal is still something I need to work on and emotionally is proving to be my most difficult one....

3. Get rid of my last storage unit!
--This goes hand in hand with #2 above.  If all the crap goes, I won't need to pay for a storage unit any longer.  I went from 2 to 1 units last year.  It is time to let this one go as well.
Just tired of paying to store what doesn't fit in the house.  I need to get it cleaned out and the only way is to give myself a deadline and stick to it!  I am working myself up to give myself a deadline.

4. Plan and implement my garden better so I have a chance for it to be more productive this summer.
--Last year's garden was lame.  I need to be more proactive and get things planned and going earlier this year for it to be successful.  Every bit of work you put into a garden will pay dividends in increased health from eating better and  money saved on food spending.
I am so apathetic about this Goal at the moment since my spirit is willing but my body is not.  I have seeds but need to get a plan together(where things are going to be planted)and get some supplies.  The problem is getting out there and doing the physical labor.  When #1 son gets home from college next month I'll be putting him to work on the garden. 

5. Do the taxes and complete paperwork for #1 son's schooling.
--This will be the first Hope accomplished as is needs to be completed by mid February.  It could also be a big PITA as we have added tax implications for 2009 due to an estate/inheritance issue.
DONE!  7 sets of taxes and the FAFSA, plus #1 son's school audited our FAFSA this year so that was additional paperwork to complete....but it's all doooooooone!

6. Decide on and install a hew heating system for the house before the rate cap expires and heat is needed this fall.

--This one is VITAL and it must be completed by September!  
I started researching this Goal last week.  I'll be contacting contractors and getting estimates later this month.

7. Rethink how and how much I coupon/rebate and reorganize my freezer/pantry/stockpile.
--With my 1st year of extreme couponing and stockpiling over, now is the time to step back and see what I did well, what I need to improve upon and what needs to go. 
DONE!
I've reworked the stockpile organization and eliminated bunches of stuff.  The freezer is getting cleaned out slowly.  It's on it's last legs and needs to be replaced so I'm not restocking anything for now.
I've slowed down the couponing and have stopped buying some types of items(mostly junk foods/snacks).

8. Continue to meal plan and retool our diet, including cooking from scratch/semi-homemade.
--This will involve making better choices with food, will depend partly on how successful  #4 is, and will  require all of us to change some old habits.  It's probably going to be the most difficult Hope to accomplish.
Done and ongoing.
Except for last week when I was injured I've kept to the meal plans and cooking from scratch for the most part.  Still working on eliminating some foods from our diet and doing healthier versions of other dishes.

9. Decide on and complete 1 major house remodel project.
--Once we decide what it will be, it's just a matter of pulling the trigger on the job, as the money is there waiting to be spent thanks to our savings challenge of 2009.
We spent a big chunk of the money we saved in 2009 on a new-to-us car for DH.  I think this remodel project will wait until after we have the new heating system installed and paid for.  That is the most important use for the spare cash.  After that's done we can see what we have to throw at the major remodel project and decide on what/how to tackle that.

10. Complete all the unfinished craft and sewing projects!!
--This Hope is my own personal one that doesn't involve any other family members directly.  I need to just put my head down and plow through all these started projects OR make a decision to release them to someone else who wants to complete them.  This should take a good part of the year to accomplish.
I have not even begun to tackle this Goal!  I had hoped to get to this AFTER I got through dealing with all the eBay stuff stacked up here.  I need to deal with it so I can even think about starting this project.  I don't do well with too many large unfinished things going on around me.
So no, this one hasn't even been contemplated.
Ugh.

In closing, I haven't completed much for the year yet outside of financial stuff and paperwork, but there is still a lot of year to go.


How are you doing on your Yearly Goals?
Let us know what you've finished or started so far this year.


Sluggy

Making Do In The Kitchen.....Mac and Cheese Variation

We love us some Macaroni and Cheese in my house.
I had Mac & Cheese with diced leftover Easter Ham on the menu yesterday.
I was going to use my usual recipe and just add the ham.
And my 'usual recipe' for said dish is the same one my mother used and taught to me many years ago.  I believe she originally got 'our family traditional recipe' off the box of Mueller's Elbow Macaroni.lol

Anyway, upbeknownst to me, we ended up out of fresh milk on Tuesday when I went to make the Mac and Cheese.
The Horrors!!
Add in that it was so hot here and I really didn't feel like standing over the stove for an extended time making a roux so that I could make the cheese sauce.
So I went digging in the stockpile and came up with an improvisation.....

While I didn't have any milk, I did have many cans of Evaporated Milk in the stockpile.
I also had jars of Alfredo Sauce so instead of making a roux, popped open a jar of Alfredo Sauce, dumped it into the pot and heated it slowly on medium.
When it was warm, I whisked in slowly the can of evaporated milk.
Then I slowly added an 8 ounce block of extra sharp cheddar cheese that had been grated, one handful at a time, incorporating by whisking, each handful before I added another.
The secret is to keep stirring so your cheese melds and doesn't separate from your milk.

Then it was just a matter of assembling the noodles, ham and sauce into the baking dish, sprinkling more grated cheddar on top and mashing up some multi-grain townhouse type crackers on top of the cheddar layer.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Using the ingredients I did may have saved me a little time & effort in the kitchen.
It definitely helped me use up some stockpile items and not have to run to the store for fresh milk.
And I have to say that the flavor of this dish of mac & cheese was EXCELLENT!
The combination of the parmesan in the alfredo sauce and the extra sharp cheddar was so good.
The paremsan gave it some tang while the cheddar gave it some bite and having 2 cheeses gave it a depth that truly enhanced the flavors!

In plain talk....it tasted better with 2 cheeses than one. ;-)

I think next time I'll try adding some Monterey Jack or Mozzarella.

Sluggy

The 1st Quarter of the Year is Over

Can you believe the year is a fourth of the way over?
I can't!
I am already so far behind on my 2010 Goals it's not funny.
Ugh!

Here is what I spent part of my day doing on Tuesday....

I went through all my older Sunday Coupon Inserts and clipped the few non-expired coupons left in them and sent this pile of paper to the trash.
I've been clipping coupons as I go so far this year and just labeling the inserts and keeping them around until I thought I needed a coupon.  And I've been good these last few months weeding out the expireds that I clipped from my envelopes on a regular basis.
But I still had these inserts stacked up from Jan. and such with mostly expireds in them so they had to go!


If you haven't purged your expireds yet now is a good time to get on it. ;-)

Sluggy

This is What We Elect to Govern Us....

Ok Folks, I am not going to make any comments here beyond the fact that this man was ELECTED to Congress by the folks in one of the electoral districts located in Georgia.
This man is a Congressman.

Now put down any beverages and go watch this clip....
WHAT THIS CLIP

Sluggy

$30K Savings Challenge MARCH 2010 Totals.....GangBuster Month!

I have posted my MARCH End of Month 30K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have to report that we finished up March in the Black.

The amount we ended the month of March with was.......$3,673.47

Income
Besides Hubby salary we had a hefty amount in Rebates and some rolled Coins under the Income Heading. Add in a quarterly stock dividend check, a dental insurance reimbursement for #2 son's dental surgery in Feb. and a partial car insurance reimbursement when we took the old car we got rid of off the policy and the income side looks quite healthy!


Outgo
As for the expenses in March.....

The electric bill went down around $100 from last month.  Even though the heating bills should keep going down now until late Fall, I really need to get cracking on finding the new heating system for the house.

 The credit card bill was half of what it was last month, mostly because of less eating out. The previous month had a lot more birthday eating out.  We did have a small bill for #1 son's schooling, a driver's license renewal and an unexpected small furniture purchase(a new file cabinet) this month along with usual gasoline purchases that are put on the card and paid off each month.

We had a few out-of-the-ordinary expenses in March...some additional car insurance due to the car we bought so for a short time we had FOUR cars on the insurance**YIKES!**, a few doctor's visits, quarterly garbage and sewage bills, state tax bill & school related expenses for #2 son.  
All totaled, the out-of-the-ordinary expenses came to about $850.

The Food Budget costs for March are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food/Toiletries spending in March was under the budgeted $250(due to the rebate money that came in last month)and our Savings percentage was a whopping 94.89%!

Looking Ahead to April....
The cc bill is on track to being under $500 this month again, which is always good. ;-)
I am also expecting our federal tax refund to hit the account in April.
On the not-so-good side of things, we have a local tax bill that is due by the end of this month.
The good thing is that the tax refund is larger than the local tax bill so that's good news!

YTD Standings....
We have a Year To Date Total of $8,523.72 in Savings.  To save $30K for the year, we need to put away $2,500 per month average.  We are ahead of our target as the 1st quarter savings total goal is $7,500!

So how was your March financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?  Let us know!


Sluggy