Oct/Nov Goals

jessica490 · November 2014

Hi Guys! I think we forgot to do this this month!

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

3. What were your greatest achievements?

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

November

1. What are your goals for this month?

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

jessica490 · November 2014

jessica490 said:

Hi Guys! I think we forgot to do this this month!

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?
Overall we did really well and we saved a lot of money. I made a payment error by paying a bill twice by accident so we lost $105 in overdraft fees that I couldn't get refunded so that pissed me off.
2. What did you do differently this month that helped?
Same ole, just cutting back and being cautious about spending.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Saving up $5,000 to put down on our mortgage principle, we will be making that payments next week! We have the money to pay off 3 of 4 of our cruise excursions for May that we booked. One more to book and pay for.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
The double payment error I made.

November

1. What are your goals for this month?
Basically keep saving! I also need to look into get a cheaper house/cable/internet plan
2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?
Same stuff
3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?
The cable/phone/internet bill. I'm going to call around. I also realize we made an error with our home insurance that I need to take care of.

vlagrl29 · November 2014

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

We did really well. Stayed in or below budget on every category. Though we did spend a little bit more on clothes for DD this month

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

To stay in check with eating out, I meal planned more. A couple times the in laws wanted to eat out with us so we would do that but not eat out on our normal night and I would cook instead.

3. What were your greatest achievements?

Probably actually staying in budget and putting more money in our basement fund

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

Unfortunately we had to pay off a few medical/auto bills and take that money out of savings so now we need to replenish it.

November

1. What are your goals for this month?

Same as last month plus do a majority of xmas shopping so I'm not stressed in December. I would also love to book a few weddings in the 2015 season so I can put that cash in savings. DH will be buying his lot this month and wants to break ground on his studio by mid December.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

Send out some emails promoting my business. This is slow time, but I'm hoping to get some leads anyways.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

Savings obviously - bare minimum, I would at least like to put $200 in it.

Erikan73 · November 2014

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? We actually did very good for once

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? Started using Goodbudget App and it's made things so much easier for me

3. What were your greatest achievements? This is going to be bad, but that we actually stayed within our budget for once & not stressing out about it at the end of the month

4. What were your biggest downfalls? Still working on paying off past debts & medical bills

November

1. What are your goals for this month? To make sure we stay within budget again this month

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? Not going to really change much since last month worked well for us. Key is going to be keep tracking daily expenses in a system that works for me.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? To pay down medical bills and pay off dishwasher. Doing that by working overtime to pay those off. Dishwasher is 6 months same as cash, but I want to have it paid off early if possible to avoid any fees/interest. Should have it paid off in 4 months total.

noffgurl · November 2014

jessica490 said:

Hi Guys! I think we forgot to do this this month!

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? We did ok, not spectacular.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? Definitely tracked EVERYthing.

3. What were your greatest achievements? Having the money to do all the car repairs and still having a little left over.

4. What were your biggest downfalls? Definitely not having a bigger E-Fund, which I'm really regretting now because mom is injured at home not making money so we will have the mortgage as well as probably other bills for December.

November

1. What are your goals for this month? To grow the E-Fund and start figuring out plan for 2015.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? H and I will have to find a time together to sit down and figure this out.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? Going to try the envelope method to help with tracking spending.

Xstatic3333 · November 2014

1. We did ok this month, but went over in many areas.

2. I was pretty strict with us and tried to say no to a lot of social events.

3. I think H is getting budget fatigue. He really wants to go out, buy video games, etc. and though he'll stick to the budget we write I often end up feeling like the bad guy and giving in to things like using up fun budget before payday.

November

1. Keep building our e-fund by $100 a paycheck and spend less on going out with friends.

2. The saving will be automatic, but the spending less fun money is SO tough for us. I'm not sure how to fix it except willpower. I've thought of trying the envelope method and it wasn't well recieved, but maybe it's time to revisit that.

3. See above-we NEED to spend less on fun/entertainment.

Wulfgar · November 2014

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Decent, my uverse finally increased so I have to call AT&T and see if we can't make a deal or else I will have to reduce to their family plan that gets rid of a lot of our favorite channels but is priced better.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? I changed my withholding to give me some extra money each pay to use. We also budgeted eating out a little more.

3. What were your greatest achievements? Being able to cash flow our

4. What were your biggest downfalls? Not paying attention to by AT&T bill.

November

1. What are your goals for this month? Finish paying off my credit card and start Christmas shopping.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? Manage my additional income better. It also helps that my wife got $.25 an hour raise after she was told that she wasn't going to get a raise.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? I really need to start packing my lunch more. I have been getting in a bad habit of not making lunches on Sunday then I have no energy to make them during the week. It helps that gas is so low since the left over from filling my tank usually goes to this.

CuriousKiddosMama · November 2014

It's not letting me quote on my phone to do this easy.

Anyways- October- we were decent at keeping our goals. It still seemed like we were bleeding money all month, but when I actually sat down and looked at our savings spreadsheet at the end of the month we didn't do too bad. We ended up about even between savings and what we took out of other savings funds.
2. We finally got back into using our spreadsheet to keep track. Also helpful was the fact that we had found a good place to keep our envelopes so I was able to grab the one I wanted before running to the store.
3. Greatest achievement is probably starting my new business. It's direct sales so not as exciting as some of the entrepreneurs on this board but still pretty exciting for me. And if you include free product I earned I actually made a profit last month too! So that's pretty amazing.
4. Hmmm dh trying to finish the media room- he has been trying to keep it reasonable but what a money suck. So many little things we didn't think to plan for- like even though we had the speakers we need speaker mounts and additional cables, etc.
November!!
1. Goals for this month, start decorating, sell a ton of the product I just bought for craft fairs, and overall try to slow down and enjoy the family that will be coming in 2 weeks. Mm wise- make sure we are using the envelops for every purchase!
2. For the business I'm getting out for a lot of events, craft fairs and parties this month which will be a blast. I'm trying to book craft fairs at harvest festivals so ds can come with and run around and play with dh so even though I'm working it's still a lot of fun. Personal, probably just remember to use the envelops. We always go astray at Black Friday and hopefully we will keep on our budget this year.
3. I'm with wulfgar on this- I need to eat more lunches at home. I have been going out with friends a lot or picking up lunch on the way home from my mommies group and I need to quit doing that. It's always my fun money for the month, but it's kind of a crappy way to spend almost all of your fun money.

lifeonthehill · November 2014

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Great!

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? Worked extra.

3. What were your greatest achievements? Put away $700 towards my schooling more than we had planned this month

4. What were your biggest downfalls? Day to day spending on food while I am in school.

November

1. What are your goals for this month? Save another $1,300 for the spring semester. We should be able to get it done by Dec. 1st If not sooner.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? Nothing different but keep doing side jobs as often as possible.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? Food. I eat out wayyy to often now that I am in school two days a week.

als1982 · November 2014

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Admittedly terrible. We were blessed by a $5K bonus which we had intended to put towards my student loans. And then the World Series happened... So, instead we used it buy H tickets to 2 games (I got the same amount he spent on that to help pad my mad money account), have our yard full of 60+ year old trees trimmed, and then put the rest in savings (about $500). Other goals we did okay on, $1,000 to savings and extra left over from our paychecks toward my student loan.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? N/a

3. What were your greatest achievements? I did notice that I went over two weeks without buying breakfast or lunch during the workday, and instead packed food from home.

4. What were your biggest downfalls? The World Series. It was definitely once in a lifetime experience. H had a front row seat for game 7, and third row for game 1. Even though they lost, we would have made it happen for him again in a heartbeat.

November

1. What are your goals for this month? Student loan, regular savings and vacation savings.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? See below.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? We are actually starting a new system this month that will be challenging. We're switching to a budgeting system whereby my paycheck pays all the "bills" (mortgage, utilities, food, gas, phone, internet, student loan minimum payments, mad money and misc.) and then H's goes toward the "extras" (savings, vacation funds, ROTHs, extra student loan payments, etc.) It's a challenge to help us get ready for the possibility of me SAH after we have a baby in a few years.

lifeonthehill · November 2014

als1982 said:

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Admittedly terrible. We were blessed by a $5K bonus which we had intended to put towards my student loans. And then the World Series happened... So, instead we used it buy H tickets to 2 games (I got the same amount he spent on that to help pad my mad money account), have our yard full of 60+ year old trees trimmed, and then put the rest in savings (about $500). Other goals we did okay on, $1,000 to savings and extra left over from our paychecks toward my student loan.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? N/a

3. What were your greatest achievements? I did notice that I went over two weeks without buying breakfast or lunch during the workday, and instead packed food from home.

4. What were your biggest downfalls? The World Series. It was definitely once in a lifetime experience. H had a front row seat for game 7, and third row for game 1. Even though they lost, we would have made it happen for him again in a heartbeat.

November

1. What are your goals for this month? Student loan, regular savings and vacation savings.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? See below.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? We are actually starting a new system this month that will be challenging. We're switching to a budgeting system whereby my paycheck pays all the "bills" (mortgage, utilities, food, gas, phone, internet, student loan minimum payments, mad money and misc.) and then H's goes toward the "extras" (savings, vacation funds, ROTHs, extra student loan payments, etc.) It's a challenge to help us get ready for the possibility of me SAH after we have a baby in a few years.

We do something similar. My paycheck is everything we have on the budget and H's money goes to all our savings goals.

cbee817 · November 2014

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Pretty good- saved $1,000, fully funded 2014 Roth IRA accounts, and the bedroom is complete other than a new comforter and a box spring cover on backorder.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? DH's paychecks are back to normal (he's on a teacher pay schedule) so things aren't as tight.

3. What were your greatest achievements? Spoiling ourselves a bit with a bedroom makeover- it was very much needed and it looks great.

4. What were your biggest downfalls? Nothing that I can think of for this month.

November

1. What are your goals for this month? Save $1,500 and maybe up 401K contributions from 10% to 11%.We're meeting with our financial adviser on Saturday so we'll see if there is anything better we can do for the upcoming year.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? Not much different- keep to our usual budget.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? N/A

formerlyGDaisy09 · November 2014

I missed this one!

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

Our financial picture changed mid-month, we weren't super on target to begin with, but we ended up about $300 over budget, best I can figure. this can be mostly attibuted to the last minute white water rafting trip we went on at the beginning of october, when I add up the costs from that they were about $350.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

n/a

3. What were your greatest achievements?

despite everything, we did manage to get $600 into savings

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

our budget became a moving target this month, not sure there was anything we could do.

November

1. What are your goals for this month?

stick to our new tighter budget

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

H is on the wagon, now that he's home more he's also looking at things in the basement that can be sold.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

we tightened up our grocery budget, somehow thanksgiving always helps, my parents front most the costs of that meal and always send home lots of left-overs so November tends to be a lean grocery month for us anyways.

dragonstarjk · November 2014

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

We did good this month.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

Nothing really different

3. What were your greatest achievements?

Moved $1,000 efund from a savings account to a 5-yr. CD. I know this is unconventional but for me, I feel like the potential penalty for early withdrawal will keep me from touching this unless it's for a true emergency. I plan on opening CDs every time I have another $1,000 stocked up. I work at our bank, so there's a little bit of incentive interest-wise, as well.

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

Eating out--always our biggest weakness

November

1. What are your goals for this month?

Write a holiday budget and start vacation planning for next year

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

It's mostly planning at this point--checking out whether I can use credit card points for some of my Christmas shopping, searching for travel deals for next year, etc.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

We should have our annual reviews coming up by the end of the year. Even though raises don't take effect until March, I am looking forward to finding out what it will be (I anticipate a promotion) and then I will be re-working my budget to figure out the best way to use the raise.

BlinkMe182 · November 2014

November

1. What are your goals for this month? End the month with $1,000 in savings.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? SAVE! actually put money in savings! we've been failing!

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? eating out. grocery shopping. our food budget is out of control!

brij2006 · November 2014

October

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

Not bad. We were able to cash flow all of the remodeling stuff and car repairs without touching savings.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

We spent low on almost every part of the budget, and was able to use that toward the remodeling that cost a bit more than planned.

3. What were your greatest achievements?

Getting a decent amount in commissions from work.

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

Going over on the eating out budget because we had a bunch of nights away from home. We just pulled it from the unused entertainment budget, but it was still not necessary.

November

1. What are your goals for this month?

Cash flow new tires for both of our cars (already done) and cash flow more remodeling expenses. Also be able to cash flow them with H only having a 40 hour check at the end of the month.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

We have strapped down a bit on groceries, eating out, and entertainment. It isn't going to be easy with a holiday and needing to make food since we're hosting, but I'm determined to make it work.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

The Baby budget. We factor in $100 each month to buy things for baby. I want to utilize this to the best of my ability and start stocking up on things we need before it arrives. I also am starting to begin a little stock pile of toiletry items for when I'm on maternity leave and am trying to keep that within our already tight grocery budget.

Oct/Nov Goals

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