I hope everyone’s having a great week so far. Seems to be going by relatively fast. Before we know it, I’ll be on vacation! Whooo hooo! Technically, my February goals update is a day early, but I doubt anything will happen today which will absolutely terribly wreck it.
Overall February was a good month, but we spent A LOT of money on food. We definitely need to watch our food spending. March probably won’t be any better since we’re going on vacation, but we have all of that budgeted.
You can find my February goals list here, and my 2012 goals update here.
February Goals Update
- Save an extra $10 a day for my DSLR fund. PASS. But I haven’t been keeping too well of track of this amount.
- Reassess our budget and cut out $25. PASS. We didn’t cut out too much, but with the mild weather and the fact that I was able to elminate the $6 satellite insurance, I’m sure we greatly surpassed the $25 goal.
- Start and finish homework before it’s due. PASS. I’ve been doing pretty well with this.
- Post about my side income. PASS. See here. I received a lot of feedback on this from all of you. Lots of emails, if you have any more questions, just let me know!
- Workout at least 2 times a week. FAIL. I think I’ve only worked out ONCE this whole new year so far.
- Sell my stuff on eBay. FAIL. I think I’m just going to bring the rest of my stuff to a local consignment shop. I’m honestly just too lazy to list everything on eBay.
- Make an extra $500 this month. FAIL, but I’m still happy. I didn’t make a ton this month. I made around $400. I would’ve surpassed this $500, but I accidentally forgot to do 2 sponsored posts which would’ve made me an extra $120. I thought the expiration was longer, but it wasn’t. My survey income would’ve been bigger, but I was feeling lazy as well. See below for my income breakout.
- Watch our spending this month. EHHH. We’ve been watching our spending very closely, but with the costs of the new (old) Jeep, our spending definitely increased.
- FINISH MY CLOSET. FAIL. Haven’t worked on it at all. I think we built one bookshelf for my shoes, and that’s it.
March Goals
- Finally pay off my car. I’ve had this cash just sitting in my checking account. Not sure why. I’ve just been lazy, but laziness is costing me money. I need to do this immediately.
- Save an extra $10 a day. I want to keep saving for this. I’m not sure if I’ll be buying a camera anytime soon though.
- Reassess our budget and cut out $25. This is on my goals pretty much every month. There’s always something that we can cut. I’m going to try and bundle some of our bills to see if we can get a discount.
- Start and finish homework before it’s due. Midterms are this month and before you know it, it’ll be finals in the first week of May. Need to start studying!
- Workout at least 3 times a week. I upped this, yes I know that’s probably not good. My working out has been a mega fail obviously.
- Sell my stuff to a consignment shop. My closet is still super packed and I can get rid of a lot. I’m too lazy to sell it online.
- Take a picture of my insane closet for you all. Once you see the picture, you will want to come over and help me clean it.
- Make an extra $500 this month. I didn’t pass my goal in February, but I’m hoping to this month. My Alexa score is gradually going down and sometimes I wish I wouldn’t have bought my own domain recently (so that my score wouldn’t have reset), but it’s going down pretty fast. This should help me get more advertising offers.
- Move shoes to my new closet. Obviously I need to start making smaller goals.
- Don’t spend any more money on clothes than what I sell. So if I sell $200, then I would like to buy less than that. Very attainable.
- Get my front windshield fixed. I’ve been putting this off for over a year. But, now my inspection so that I can renew my plates is in April, so I need to get this done.
- Have loads of fun while on vacation!
Extra Monthly Income
- Ad link on my blog -$103
- Sponsored posts -$60
- Surveys -$18
- Mystery Shopping -$200
So I actually made around $381 extra last month!
How’d you do in February? Any extra income?
Lisa says
The Mystery Shopping is doing great for you! have you written a post about that? Is there a site you would recommend to sign up with?And I agree, Ebay is a lot of work 🙂
Michelle P says
Bestmark all the way!
Ella says
Great goals! Your extra income is impressive!!
Pamela says
Awesome! Can you explain to me how the Ad Link on blogs work?!
Michelle P says
Just emailed you!
smk053078 says
That is awesome that you made $103 on ad links!! I need to focus more on that for my blog. Do you have any tips? Because Shanna Said So
Michelle P says
My main tip would just to have an "advertise" tab on your blog! Works for me.
lora kathleen says
I love your list of goals… sometimes I feel like I need to make mine more targeted. Good luck this month!Also have fun on vacation! I'm going later this month as well so really looking forward to that 🙂
Michelle P says
Hope you have fun on your vaca.
Brittany Dawn says
Can you email me about a sponsor post? I guess I don't really understand how it works!
Michelle P says
Emailing you now!
Well Heeled Blog says
Enjoy some of your extra income on vacation. You deserve it. 🙂
Valerie Griffin says
good luck with your March goals, sweet girl 🙂
Dollar D @ The Dolla says
That's some good side income, keep it up!I definitely need to write down my goal for this coming month. I have a rough idea but it really pays to write it down!
Makaila says
I L.O.V.E your monthly goals. Such a simple but GREAT technique. And go pay off your car you crazy girl! Like NOW! 😉
Mackenzie says
I totally get the whole being too lazy to sell on ebay thing…that's where I am right now 🙂
stephanie says
love the monthly goals! I need to do this and with March 1 being tomorrow it is the perfect time!
Out My window says
My goal for March is to survive! I must survive March. Is that a goal?
Amanda says
Awesome, awesome progress! My March goal is to cut out the sweets from my diet! I like to do a cleanse every few months and cut out as much sugar as possible, which is hard with this girl's sweet tooth!
Hannah says
Seriously Michelle you are so inspiring! I always say if I could even just have $100 extra dollars a month my life would be SO much easier. Can you email me about the ad links and sponsor posts? xx
bogofdebt says
I love your monthly updates. I really do need to start looking for ways to make some side money. T
Mrs. Baker says
I need to try the mystery shopping!
Holly says
Good luck with your goals! I've been thinking about the consignment store thing with some old clothes. I like how you won't allow yourself to spend any more then what you make from your consignment sales on new clothes. Excellent tip!
BrokeElizabeth says
I definitely want to see pictures of this closet… I'm having a hard time believing it's as bad as you say it is ;).
Mr. Taylor and his L says
oh goodness, i definitely cannot WAIT to finally have my car paid off!xo TJ
Lacy in the Sky with says
My husband and I actually need to rewrite our budget!! I am loving reading this it gives me tons of great ideas!! I am headed! In February I went back to work part time in a Salon. I have missed it and it has been fun to get back into the hair scene!!! Hairs" to saving money!!
Michelle P says
Thanks!
frugalportland says
I like your goals, and your accountability! Maybe I need a goals list for March.
The Single Saver says
You are doing great on your goals. I will hopefully be paying off my car next month, too. i have had to wait to avoid a stupid pre-payment fee. I'll never have a car loan again… too much of a pain in the neck and I don't like them thinking they can fine me for paying it off too early!
Samantha Elisabeth says
I saw your comment on the College Prepster, and I am in love with your blog! The layout is perfection, and I love reading your posts. I need to work on my financial goals/spending/saving, and I love reading how you're doing it. My March goals are going to be stretched! Sorority dues, study abroad fees, and more! Eekk
Young Professional F says
Wow that mystery shopping really pays off! Do you have an estimate of how much time you put into it? I agree with other comments – I want to see a post about that! Great job on your goals!
Cash Only Living says
Wow those are some big goals! I would definitely pay the car off just to be able to say you own the car free and clear. Good job on making and extra $400 this month–that's a lot of extra money!!
Shondell says
Way to go Michelle!
Katie says
I like the way you try to cut $25.00 out of your budget each month. Doing it like that is probably a lot smarter and easier to tackle than trying to cut it way down in one month.
Renee says
Yahoo for no car payment after March. And don't be so quick to call yourself lazy. You are in school and working. 🙂
Lena says
February was great for us! We achieved our goals and more. I really want to look into mystery shopping when my older Kid will start kindergarten next year. Looks like it works great for you!
Dorothy Explor' says
wow..! NOT BAD for february!!! 🙂 and good luck with march's goals. i look forward to following you!btw, i'm currently hosting a gift exchange on my blog if you're interested 🙂 the theme is "handmade."also, there's a giveaway going on too… ending march 7th !http://theymaysaythatimadreamer.blogspot.com/dorothy
Bryan says
That's awesome that you're making so much by secret shopping! Keep it up!
Newlyweds on a Budge says
you still did great!! not every month can be BIGGER than last month, right? I would still be very happy with that much money : )
Aloysa @ My Broken C says
What is this mystery shopping? It seems to be working great! Other than that you didn't do bad at all. I didn't go to the gym at all! And I need to because it is the only thing that keeps me organized and my head clear.