End of 2010 Goal Review

Way back on January 1st of this year I set a bunch of goals for myself. Now that the year is coming to an end (seriously, where did the time go!) its time to reflect on how I did and start to think of what I'd like to accomplish in 2011.

Personal
~Post at least 10 blog posts a month: I was able to do this every month! By making this a goal, I've found more enjoyment in writing, discovered a ton of great new blogs, and have a bunch of awesome new followers!
~Read at least 25 adult books: I came very close. I've read 23 books this year, and at the moment I'm about half way done reading "The Help" I'm still happy with myself that I was able to read the books I did.
~Quite smoking: I was able to accomplish this one in January. For me it wasn't to hard, but that's only because I got the stomach flu so bad I ended up in the hospital for 22hrs. Plus when I couldn't keep a thing down for almost a week, a cigarette was the last thing on my mind! Happy I'm now smoke free!
~Make appointments with my doctors to get my health back on track: I think I made the most important calls I needed too.
~Start using my massive collection of cook books: I'm going to say that I did accomplish this one. I only ended up using my books once or twice a month, which is not as much as I hoped, but I don't think that I touch a cookbook in 2009, so once or twice a month is an improvement!

Family
~Do more activities with my kids: Defiantly did this! We had a great summer and did all the October and December festive things. 
~Set better house rules and enforce them: We were more clear with our expectations, but our follow threw with consequences was poor. 
~Be healthier together: Didn't do as well as I hoped with my kids. Me, well, I ended up GAINING weight! Which is the first time I've put weight on since I was pregnant back in 2006 :( 
~Set daily chores for each family member: HA! I must have been joking with this one. Didn't even come close.
~Have a night out with my hubby at least every other month: Nope. I was aiming for 6 nights out this year kid free. Managed to get 4.
~Get my son's issues under control (he has a few special needs and needs a few services that I have to find and enroll him in): The issues I set out to take care of were taken care of. Just more things popped up threw out the year (but isn't that how it always is?) I still have calls to make in 2011. 

Financial
~Save at least $5,000: What? I stopped keeping track. We had a VERY hard year money wise. Hubby worked 4 different jobs to make ends meet. Our broke down twice and cost over $4,000 in repairs. On top of that our washer AND dryer broke within two weeks of each other and had to be replaced. Anything I managed to put away was spent on these unexpected expenses. 
~Track all my spending and savings: This got to be way to time consuming and a few months after I set this goal decided it wasn't worth my time anymore.
~Save at least $1,500 with coupons: A few months after I set this goal I thought I'd have to spend a ton of money to save this much with coupons so I changed the goal to SAVE $1,000 WITH COUPONS. Well I ended up saving a total of $1,456.75. And I didn't spend a ton of money! 
~Save $5,000 on sales: Total: $2845.60. I still think I did pretty damn well!
~Have a yard sale: Did this back in July
~Learn how to sell on ebay: Just couldn't find the time.

Household
~Organize my craft room: Some months I would do really well getting things together, but then would neglect my poor craft room and the mess just piled up again :(
~Put the flooring down in the playroom: I actually just finished putting the floor down before I came here to post. But it still got done!
~Paint the coat closet: Nope.
~Do major purging to get rid of things we haven't used in years: I still have a bunch of stuff I want to get rid of, but I donated a trunk full of stuff to my towns charity yard sale, had a yard sale of my own, sold my sons old toddler bed on craigslist, and tossed about 3 trash bags full of clothes in those Planet Aid bins.     

I set about 21 goals for myself and accomplished 10 of them. Most of the ones I didn't fully accomplish I'm still happy with the outcome. Over all I think I did a good job in 2010. Hoping for another great year. Bring on 2011!!!!! 

Finally had my yard sale!

Woo-hoo! The weather was perfect this weekend for a yard sale, so I loaded up my station wagon and headed to my mother's house (she lives on a main street) The point in having a yard sale for me wasn't really about making money, it was about getting rid of my clutter. I sold just about everything for $1 or less and still managed to make $70. That just goes to show how much stuff I manage to sell. Another New Year's goal off my list!

My 2010 Goal review

It's the half way mark threw the year and I thought it would be a good idea to check in and see how I'm doing:

Personal
~Post at least 10 blog posts a month I have been able to do this every month
~Read at least 25 adult books Read 11 so far, 14 more to go
~Quite smoking It's been almost six months since I had a cigarette!
~Make appointments with my doctors to get my health back on track I've seen most of my Dr.'s just need to make a few more run of the mill appts.
~Start using my massive collection of cook books I've made a few recipes. Would like to use them more than I am.
Family
~Do more activities with my kids We've definitely be doing more things together!
~Set better house rules and enforce them Haven't "set" any rules. I would like to figure some sort of chart/reward system. We have rules, but have never clearly defined them nor do my children follow threw with verbal rules. Like "use indoor voice" or "toys are not allowed in the living room"
~Be healthier together I think we still eat to much junk. Not really take out, but how many times can you eat mac & cheese w/o any veggies and be eating healthy?
~Set daily chores for each family member Being doing better, needs tweeking
~Have a night out with my hubby at least every other month Have been doing this one!
~Get my son's issues under control (he has a few special needs and needs a few services that I have to find and enroll him in) Still need to make a few calls. About half way there with this one.
Financial
~Save at least $5,000 This one is tricky. With what I've saved and our 2009 tax return, I've been able to put a little over $5,000 in our savings. But, hubby's job is only a temp job and our car needs some work. I'm pretty sure we'll have to use some of that money by the end of the year.
~Track all my spending and savings This one took a lot of time. I feel like I'm aware of the areas that I need to cut back on, so I've decided that this goal is no longer necessary.
~Save at least $1,500 with coupons I decided that to save $1500 meant I might need to spend more money, so I've lowered this goal to $1,000. With this goal adjusted, I've saved $538.33, only $461.67 to go
~Have a yard sale X not yet
~Learn how to sell on ebay X not yet
Household
~Organize my craft room X there were times I worked on it, but then it just got messed up again.
~Put the flooring down in the playroom X
~Paint the coat closet X
~Do major purging to get rid of things we haven't used in years. I have been adding to the yard sale pile, I loaded up a trunk full of stuff to donate to my moms group yard sale, I've filled a few target sized bags with unwanted clothes and dropped them in one of those charity bins.There is still more I want to purge, but I think I'm doing good so far.

So far I'm happy with how my goals are coming along.

Bookin' It

I have read 5 books so far this year. Only 20 more to go! I find it funny though that none of the books I've read have been part of my "must reads"

I started the year with A Prayer for Owen Meany By John Irving. This was a book club pick and not a pick I would have made. I thought this book was very long, very detailed, and overall an okay read.

My second book was Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. This was another book club pick. This book had moments that I really enjoyed, really hated, and I thought were really slow. Still I thought it was a decent read.

Book three was The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. The day I finished this book I saw the movie. The book was a thousand times better. I really enjoyed this book.

The fourth book so far this year was A Parents Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism by Sally Ozonoff

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, Geraldine Dawson, and James McPartland. It is suspected that my son has Aspergers, but we have not been able to get a clear diagnosis yet. This is the first book I've read about Autism and I thought it was a great starting point. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is new to the world of autism.

The last book I read so far this year was Look Again by Lisa Scottoline. This was yet another book club pick. Personal I thought it was too chick lit for my taste. I'm not a big fan of high drama books.

So that's where I'm at so far for 2010. How about you?

for more info about the Bookin It challenge visit Life as Moml

Save $5,000?

I set this goal for my family in 2010, but now I'm questioning exactly what it means. Save $5,000 cash to be put in the family savings account? Or does it mean save $5,000 on sales and clearance items? I'm not sure, so I'm challenging myself and my family to do both! I hope with all the things my family needs we'll be able to buy on sale and save us $5,000 by the end of the year. I also hope our savings account will have $5,000 more by the end of the year.

Week in reveiw 1/8-1/14, a little late

Everyone in my home is just getting over the flu/stomach bug, so that's why I haven't had a post in a few day. We're all doing better now, that goodness. Keeping up with my 2010 goals, here is my weekly spending for January 8th threw the 14th.
Needed Expenses(Bills): $224.52
Car expenses: $71
Food: $0
Child Expenses: OOP $40.49, savings of $74.96. This was mostly on toys I bought on clearance.
Target (household needs): OOP $11.74, savings of $35.27
Cigarettes, Coffee, Take out: OOP $80.34, paid with a gift card $7.76, total $88.10
MISC: OOP $4.98, savings of $5.01

Total OOP spent: $433.07
Total sale savings: $115.24
Total Gift Card savings: $7.76
Total Coupon savings: $0

I have used all my gift cards now, so I'll REALLY need to cut back on the Starbucks runs. I'm happier with this weeks total than last weeks, but I still would like to get the cigarettes, coffee, and take out down. My goal is to get that to around $35 by March. The problem is my husband, he's the big coffee/take out spender in this house. We'll have to talk about that one!

Reading goals

I'm not the only one who has made a goal to read more in 2010. Life as MOM also has great reading goals for this new year. I think one of the best ways to track any goal is to write it down and make a list. I love lists! One of my favorite sites is Goodreads. You can make lists of books you want to read, books you're currently reading(even add what page you're on and read others comments about the book.), and books you've read. When you're done with a book, you can even give it a star rating (1-5), record the date the book was finished and add comments about the book. Goodreads is how I've kept track of my reading for the past year or so. Some of the books that are "must reads" for me this year are:

1. I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids by Trisha Ashorth & Amy Nobile
2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
3. The Sookie Stackhouse series books 4-9
4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

I have much more on my list, but these are the ones that really stand out.

Week in reveiw

As part of my financial goal, I'm tracking where all my money goes. I broke everything down as to what my expenses are, for more on that you can read it here. Now that the week is over, its time to see how I did.
Needed Expenses(Bills): $1457.80 (rent was due on the 1st, that's why this is so high)
Car expenses: $63
Food: OOP $125.15, sales savings $48.59, coupon savings $2
Child Expenses: $18.60, savings $18.67
Target (household needs): $39.53 (OOP $21.14, gift card was used for $18.94) sale savings $5.72, coupon savings $9.50
Cigarettes, Coffee, Take out: $146.19. This one I need to explain a bit. This was the overall total, but $18.70 of this was paid for with a gift card I got for Christmas. My total OOP was $127.49. $25 was also spent on Nicorette, which I don't feel bad about, plus I got $10RR back. I did save $15 with coupons.
MISC: $10.49, had to pick up a Sunday paper and got a few activities for the kiddos at the craft store.

Total OOP spent: $1823.67
Total sale savings: $72.98
Total Gift Card savings: $37.64
Total Coupon savings: $26.50

I defiantly need to cut down on the cigs, coffee, and take out, that's for sure. I would also like to spend at least $45 less on food. Those will be my goals going into this next week.

Deals on Nicoderm CQ

One of my goals this year is to quit smoking for good! I have been looking for ways to help me quit, and that has lead me to a couple of deals for Nicoderm CQ. I would like to talk to my doctor about quiting, but, like most doctors, there isn't an appointment available for quite some time. For now I will try what I can on my own to see if any of it works.
Here are two deals that I have found:
1. Visit THIS SITE for a free sample of Nicoderm CQ plus $7 worth of coupons.

2. This week Walgreens has Nicoderm CQ, Nicorette, and Commit for $39.99 with a $10 register reward. Pair that with a $15 off coupon found in this weeks coupon inserts and its like only paying $14.99.

My Expenses

I've been doing good so far writing down where all our money goes, but I figured when I add everything up at the end of each week, I need to have categories to know where my money needs to go and where I can cut back. So far this is what I've come up with:
Needed Expenses: these are all our bills. Rent, electric, cable(phone & internet-package plan) health & car insurance, and credit cards. Most of these bills aren't possible to cut back. Rent is rent. Everything in our townhouse is on the electric-hot water heaters, all appliances, and heat. Our landlord is the type of guy that doesn't replace anything unless it's broken. So just because the refrigerator in 20 yrs. old and is a major drain on electricity, it still keeps the cold food cold and the frozen food frozen. As far as our cable bill, the cable and phone part is as basic (and cheap) as it can get, and the internet is standard. I also live in an area with only one cable & internet company.
Car expenses: We are a two car family and this category is for gas, oil changes, and other needed repairs.
Food: self explanatory.
Child Expenses: Daughter's dance and son's karate lessons. Also clothing, toys, and any other extras they need.
Target (household needs): I do almost all my shopping at Target for household items, like toilet paper, light bulbs, ect.
Cigarettes, Coffee, Take out: I'm hoping by giving these things it's own category we'll realize how much money we are throwing down the drain.
MISC: This is for anything else I buy that doesn't fit into any of the categories above.

My 2010 Goals

I've spent the last few days thinking about what I want to work on in the new year, this is what I've come up with:

Personal

~Post at least 10 blog posts a month

~Read at least 25 adult books

~Quite smoking

~Make appointments with my doctors to get my health back on track

~Start using my massive collection of cook books

Family

~Do more activities with my kids

~Set better house rules and enforce them

~Be healthier together

~Set daily chores for each family member

~Have a night out with my hubby at least every other month

~Get my son's issues under control (he has a few special needs and needs a few services that I have to find and enroll him in)

Financial

~Save at least $5,000

~Track all my spending and savings

~Save at least $1,500 with coupons

~Have a yard sale

~Learn how to sell on ebay

Household

~Organize my craft room

~Put the flooring down in the playroom

~Paint the coat closet

~Do major purging to get rid of things we haven't used in years.

**This post is linked to The Happy Housewife