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Goals and Extra Monthly Income Update

Last Updated: December 7, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 40 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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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
  1. Save an extra $10 a day for my DSLR fund.  PASS. But I haven’t been keeping too well of track of this amount.
  2. 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.
  3. Start and finish homework before it’s due.  PASS.  I’ve been doing pretty well with this.
  4. 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!
  5. Workout at least 2 times a week.  FAIL. I think I’ve only worked out ONCE this whole new year so far.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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!
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Move shoes to my new closet. Obviously I need to start making smaller goals.
  10. 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.
  11. 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. 
  12. 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?

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40 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Extra Income, Goals Tagged With: Extra Money, Goals, Life

About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Lisa says

    February 29, 2012 at 3:54 am

    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 🙂

    Reply
    • Michelle P says

      February 29, 2012 at 5:38 am

      Bestmark all the way!

      Reply
  2. Ella says

    February 29, 2012 at 4:14 am

    Great goals! Your extra income is impressive!!

    Reply
  3. Pamela says

    February 29, 2012 at 4:34 am

    Awesome! Can you explain to me how the Ad Link on blogs work?!

    Reply
    • Michelle P says

      February 29, 2012 at 5:39 am

      Just emailed you!

      Reply
  4. smk053078 says

    February 29, 2012 at 4:45 am

    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

    Reply
    • Michelle P says

      February 29, 2012 at 5:38 am

      My main tip would just to have an "advertise" tab on your blog! Works for me.

      Reply
  5. lora kathleen says

    February 29, 2012 at 4:56 am

    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 🙂

    Reply
    • Michelle P says

      February 29, 2012 at 5:39 am

      Hope you have fun on your vaca.

      Reply
  6. Brittany Dawn says

    February 29, 2012 at 5:09 am

    Can you email me about a sponsor post? I guess I don't really understand how it works!

    Reply
    • Michelle P says

      February 29, 2012 at 5:39 am

      Emailing you now!

      Reply
  7. Well Heeled Blog says

    February 29, 2012 at 5:13 am

    Enjoy some of your extra income on vacation. You deserve it. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Valerie Griffin says

    February 29, 2012 at 5:42 am

    good luck with your March goals, sweet girl 🙂

    Reply
  9. Dollar D @ The Dolla says

    February 29, 2012 at 5:44 am

    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!

    Reply
  10. Makaila says

    February 29, 2012 at 6:13 am

    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! 😉

    Reply
  11. Mackenzie says

    February 29, 2012 at 6:23 am

    I totally get the whole being too lazy to sell on ebay thing…that's where I am right now 🙂

    Reply
  12. stephanie says

    February 29, 2012 at 6:37 am

    love the monthly goals! I need to do this and with March 1 being tomorrow it is the perfect time!

    Reply
  13. Out My window says

    February 29, 2012 at 6:42 am

    My goal for March is to survive! I must survive March. Is that a goal?

    Reply
  14. Amanda says

    February 29, 2012 at 6:44 am

    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!

    Reply
  15. Hannah says

    February 29, 2012 at 7:08 am

    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

    Reply
  16. bogofdebt says

    February 29, 2012 at 7:24 am

    I love your monthly updates. I really do need to start looking for ways to make some side money. T

    Reply
  17. Mrs. Baker says

    February 29, 2012 at 7:36 am

    I need to try the mystery shopping!

    Reply
  18. Holly says

    February 29, 2012 at 7:39 am

    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!

    Reply
  19. BrokeElizabeth says

    February 29, 2012 at 7:40 am

    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 ;).

    Reply
  20. Mr. Taylor and his L says

    February 29, 2012 at 8:26 am

    oh goodness, i definitely cannot WAIT to finally have my car paid off!xo TJ

    Reply
  21. Lacy in the Sky with says

    February 29, 2012 at 8:56 am

    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!!

    Reply
    • Michelle P says

      February 29, 2012 at 5:38 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  22. frugalportland says

    February 29, 2012 at 9:43 am

    I like your goals, and your accountability! Maybe I need a goals list for March.

    Reply
  23. The Single Saver says

    February 29, 2012 at 9:53 am

    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!

    Reply
  24. Samantha Elisabeth says

    February 29, 2012 at 10:35 am

    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

    Reply
  25. Young Professional F says

    February 29, 2012 at 11:47 am

    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!

    Reply
  26. Cash Only Living says

    February 29, 2012 at 12:06 pm

    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!!

    Reply
  27. Shondell says

    February 29, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    Way to go Michelle!

    Reply
  28. Katie says

    February 29, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    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.

    Reply
  29. Renee says

    February 29, 2012 at 2:41 pm

    Yahoo for no car payment after March. And don't be so quick to call yourself lazy. You are in school and working. 🙂

    Reply
  30. Lena says

    February 29, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    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!

    Reply
  31. Dorothy Explor' says

    February 29, 2012 at 6:23 pm

    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

    Reply
  32. Bryan says

    March 1, 2012 at 8:20 am

    That's awesome that you're making so much by secret shopping! Keep it up!

    Reply
  33. Newlyweds on a Budge says

    March 1, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    you still did great!! not every month can be BIGGER than last month, right? I would still be very happy with that much money : )

    Reply
  34. Aloysa @ My Broken C says

    March 1, 2012 at 4:05 pm

    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.

    Reply

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Hello and welcome!
My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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