March, where are you? Where did you go, you little bastard of a month? I mean, I’m not sorry that you’re gone but April crawled up on me way too quickly. Which means that it’s time to review how I did on my Choose Your Own Adventure goals for March (theme: relationships) and what I’m planning to work on in April (theme: finances).
March goals and progress
I established 5 relationship goals for the month. Let’s review them and my progress:
- Call my grandmother twice. How I did: I give myself 3 stars. I spoke to her once and plan to speak to her again this weekend.
- Talk to my parents every week. How I did: Five full stars, baby. I talked to them either by phone or text every single week.
- Text my little sister twice. How I did: Zero stars. Not sure why I couldn’t get this one done. It’s not that difficult. I’m ridiculously lazy sometimes.
- Make plans with friends I haven’t seen in awhile. How I did: I don’t know how to rate this. I did see Steph and another friend who I have lunch with once a month, and I talked to a couple of people I hadn’t chatted with in many moons, but as far as seeing people? Not so much. HOWEVER. I did go to a neighbor’s birthday party AND had lunch on two separate occasions with cheer families after a competition. That has to count for something, right?
- Get better about responding to emails from other bloggers. How I did: Meh. Maybe 3 stars. Probably more like 2. I tried really, really hard, though. Harder than I usually do. I think what it comes down to is this–if I read the email on my iPad or laptop, I’m better about responding than if I read them on my phone. But, the reality is, like with my sister, I’m just lazy.
So, to sum up, my March goals went fine. I could have done better but I can always try harder this month.
April goals
I wasn’t going to participate in April but then I remembered that the theme was finances and realized it’s probably a good choice if I do participate because not only do we have spring break next week, we have our final cheer competition of the season (hooray!) and our trip to Disney (double hooray!) so paying attention to our money is something I definitely need to do.
To achieve that, I’ll be doing the following:
- Tracking our budget and expenses using Dave Ramsey’s new budgeting program/app, EveryDollar.
- Paying in cash for all expenses at Disney not already paid for (think souvenirs and other random crap. Hotel, tickets, airfare, shuttle, and meals are already taken care of).
- Spend a maximum of $25 at cheer competition, not including food or hotel. Gotta love those out of state competitions because they usually turn into this:
That’s all I’m working on this month. I don’t want to set myself up to fail by making my goals completely unrealistic but I don’t want to skate by, either. I think these should cover that.
How about you guys? How are you tracking or managing your finances?
I think you did great with your March goals. Sometimes I have to push myself to call people because I HATE talking on the phone. Texting is my friend! I guess one of my April goals would be to spend less on Target. I really don’t need all the crap I buy there.
Karen recently posted…That’s What She Said // Oprah Winfrey Quote
I much prefer texting to talking on the phone. Obviously there are exceptions, like with my grandmother, but with friends, it’s texting all the way!
I live a minimum of 30 minutes away from the nearest Target and I hate our local Walmart so it’s much easier to save money at those stores since I don’t go into them 🙂
Good job! I have been packing coolers with sandwiches and drinks, snacks, fruit,etc for over 20 years. It saves a ton and you know what you are getting! Even if it is just Rich and I – I take stuff.
I am on a new budget and monitoring every thing I spend. I have no income and Rich will be 62, I will be 59, no guaranteed pension, & if only we knew how long we were going to live LOL ! We love being able to give our kids nice gifts and we have 3 weddings already under our belts, but just the upkeep of house, cars,etc., we need to watch our money. We never have taken vacations to resorts, etc. in the last 20 plus years. I know most of you girls are years younger than I, and are going through different things. So you are getting an older woman’s perspective on life. I may have a late life career someday and work til I go to the other side.
Goddess speed to all of us! Love, SMD’s Momma
I’d love to take our own stuff but most of the venues, especially the schools, don’t allow it. We sneak in what we can, like in the movies, but for overnight comps, we have to use restaurants sometimes.
That’s not nice to prohibit taking in your own stuff. At least allow a drink. You are already out of pocket for enough stuff.
You would have to sit out in your car and eat and drink.
Enjoy the weekend.
Love, Steph’s momma
Seeing Steph after so long is a total win for that column. Staying on top of blog comments can be really hard. I haven’t heard of that app but I do follow Dave Ramsey’s program and it works. Paying cash is so much better and peace of mind.
Kerry recently posted…Pastrami with Gruyere and Honey Dijon
It’s a new app that they just launched last week. I’m excited to give it a try.
I think you did wonderful on your March goals!
Cheer competition – my friend and her daughter are probably going to the same one! How funny is that, I should tag along – — Try to stalk you, but in a friendly way of course!
I read on Steph’s blog that she is going to save all her change this month, instead of using it – and I think I am going to do that too! I mean, I accumulate SO much change! I can’t wait to see how much I get!
Also – I really need to make a double payment on my car loan. I am trying to pay that off by July.
Kateri Von Steal recently posted…Hangry – and It’s My Friday!
If it’s the Cheer and Dance Extreme Finale right outside of Washington DC then definitely tag along and stalk me!!!
We save all of our change. We’ve done it for years. My aunt does it, too, and one time, she cashed all of hers in after saving for like a year and got over $1100!!
I think you did great on your March goals. You saw plenty of people and I’m happy I made the list!
Blog comments have been hard for me recently. They pile up quickly, don’t they? Sticky little suckers.
All cash for whatever is not paid for is usually my vacation goal. Godspeed!!!
SMD @ Life According to Steph recently posted…Choose Your Own Adventure – March Results & April Goals
I think you did well on your relationship goals too. Sometimes the “easiest” ones to do are the hardest, as it is with any goal or task. Good plan to track finances with an app. I like to download our credit card statement every few weeks just to see how we’re doing since we use the cc for most everything.
lisacng @ expandng.com recently posted…March goals – relationships
I think you did pretty good on your goals. I would say you passed making plans with friends you haven’t seen in awhile! I set my goals for this challenge and failed to get a post done today. Meh, oops. I have myself to hold accountable and that is all that really matters. I am opting out of April’s challenge because there is some stuff that we need! Perhaps that is why I am silent today. Shhh 🙂
Nadine recently posted…Confessions
We share the same philosophy on goal-setting. I don’t want them to be too easy, or things I would do anyway (like, take yoga class every week when I’ve already bought the package and LOVE attending class) but I also can’t make them SO lofty that I’m setting myself up to fail (like run 200 miles or something). They should be challenging but accessible. Nice job in March and good luck with April!
I love this idea on goal setting! What a great way to focus on individual things over the month. Good luck with them 🙂
I try to use cash only for all fun things, that way I am not tempted to over fun!
the main reason i don’t accomplish a lot of the goals i set is because i’m lazy as well lol. i figured i keep setting goals up and failing, it was time to set some easy goals i’m bound to achieve haha. yay disney!! so excited.
kristen recently posted…March Results / April Goals
You did great with your goals. Good luck with your new ones. The Disney one is smart! I spent quite a bit on souvenirs.
Amber recently posted…Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Children On Shoulders When I’m Trying To Watch
Great going at your goals girlie!! And your goals for April sound awesome as well. I need to start tracking every dollar. I might hit myself for spending money on crap so often!
Kay R. recently posted…Sunday sweats ~ Vol. 1
I kinda love that you nailed calling your grandmother, but not texting your sister. Calling is so much harder than texting!! Give yourself a full five stars for doing it even once 😛
Good luck with your Disney spending goals!! And have a blast.
C.Lem (creativeclementine) recently posted…Choose Your Own Adventure: March Recap & April goals
I have to try really really hard to not read blog emails on my phone. Because you’re right, I will not respond then and after I just forget.
Good luck this month! Good news, it’s almost half over.
Stephanie recently posted…My Love for the 101 in 1001 List