Early in May, I decided to begin writing monthly goals, as an added incentive to continue acting in a frugal way, while developing this blog into something useful and interesting for others. Here’s how I did last month:
Financial:
- Increase emergency fund in preparation for possible strike. My EF was up to over $1600, with the addition of my rebate check. Unfortunately, I had to use $300 to have a clogged drain cleared in my house. The good news is, I still ended up with more in my EF than I started with--my balance is $1347.03!
- Send more than the minimum to American Express. I was able to send $488 to AE, primarily because I received three checks from my night job this month, increasing my income considerably.
- Keep grocery bill to less than $85 for the month. I kept it to $77.29!
- Use no more than $300 to purchase used bike, to ride to transit center in good weather, thus saving on gas. I spent a total of $177.96 on my bike and new tires. While I have yet to ride to the transit center (I’ve discovered a bus that will take me to downtown within three blocks of my house), I have used the bike for short trips, such as returning books to the library.
- Finally (!!!) close Verizon wireless account, thereby saving $23.50 each month. After some initial mixups, I finally closed my Verizon account, and my recent bill indicates that they owe me almost $12! Freedom!
Blog-related:
- Continue to research and write posts that interest and inspire myself and others. This month, I started reading about Urban Homesteading, which created some interest from readers of this blog. I hope to continue learning about this frugal, environmentally friendly movement.
- Submit articles to at least five carnivals this month. Hmmm, I think I submitted four articles, three of which were published. Not bad!
- Increase monthly readership---I'd like to double this in May, which means I'll need over 2,000 visits this month. My readership actually surpassed 2,000 last month, and hit over 3,200! Many, many thanks to the readers who visit and comment on my blog. Receiving validation from all of you that my financial objectives are shared by so many has been amazing!
4 comments:
What great targets you have reached. I feel that goal setting is key to making sure that you achieve things and although sharing them with the world is scary...it certainly helps you with achieving them.
I'm glad you were able to meet some goals. I have a hard time setting them. But you did an awesome job. And when it comes to researching for the blog and keeping people interested, you have done a great job at that too!! Keep up the great work!
Your grocery bill still just AMAZES me. What you spend in a month is what I spend in a week! I try to eat loads of fresh fruit and produce, which is expensive. I just can't imagine how you get by on only 75.00 per MONTH at the grocery store. Either you must be really skinny or....?????!!!
Hi Liz! I must admit, though I've gained about 10 pounds since moving to Portland two years ago, I'm somewhere between petite and average, as far as size. I used to be able to eat anything I wanted, but now I find that I have to keep an eye on what sorts of food I'm eating or the pounds increase! I think I tend to eat like a college student on some days, which may help explain the low grocery costs. With two jobs and a graduate program to complete, eating spaghetti or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner is sometimes all I can manage! (-:
Post a Comment