Hello everyone! Time for another life, goals, and food budget update.
March was another great month.
We are still enjoying our new home in Colorado. The weather has been perfect here, with nearly every single day being in the mid-70s. It’s also been sunny every day and I think it’s only rained once or twice. It’s been wonderful!
Our house is still for sale in Missouri.
It hasn’t sold yet, but we did decide to drop the price a little. The house is for sale for less than what we originally bought it for, which stinks but we’re hoping it sells quickly. We have had several showings in the past month so I’m hoping something eventually happens!
Our food budget.
We did better with our March food budget. Much better than how we did in February!
I will be honest, I didn’t keep close track of how much money we spent on food last month. I do believe we spent somewhere around $500 on everything food-related though.
We still went out to eat far too many times, but we’ve been eating relatively cheaply whenever we do go out to eat.
For example: This awesome pizza place down the street from our house sells HUGE pizza slices for just $2.50, so it’s been hard to say no to that when the pizza slice is bigger than my face. And it tastes delicious. Not healthy, but very good after a tiring day hiking or climbing. If you are ever in the Fruita, Colorado area, I highly recommend Hot Tomato!
Even with how much we have been eating out, we have been doing well with our food budget. With our mission to eat healthier, we have been able to save a decent amount of money. We are not buying as much processed food, junk food, and so on, and that has really helped lower our food budget.
March Goals Update
- Work out! PASS. Moving to Colorado has been the best thing ever for us. We are more active than we have ever been. We have been rock climbing every other day (both indoors and outdoors), we have been hiking on our “off” days, and I have been doing a 3 mile dog walk every single day.
- Work ahead on Making Sense of Cents posts. PASS. I’m not too far ahead with blog posts, but I am around two weeks ahead. I am extremely happy with this!
- Finish our taxes. PASS. Taxes are finally done! I submitted our tax return last week. I ended up owing a tiny bit more than what I submitted for my estimated taxes but it wasn’t too bad.
- Find health insurance. PASS.We found health insurance! Health insurance is slightly more expensive in Colorado than Missouri, but their catastrophic plans are actually a little better. We now have a much lower deductible than what we had before (it’s still high though!).
- Make required home inspection changes to our house. PASS. We hired someone to complete this since we are so far away.
April Goals
- Work out! This will be on my goals list for awhile as it’s a great motivator to see it here each month.
- Work ahead on Making Sense of Cents posts. I would like to be at least one month ahead. It just makes life so much easier to have everything planned out and not feeling like I’m drawing a blank whenever I do decide to sit down and write. I have tons of ideas ready, I just need to sit down and start drafting them before I forget.
- Make travel plans. I have quite a few things to make plans for this year. I have to go back to St. Louis a few times, Charlotte for FinCon, and a few other places. The airport where we live is very small and the prices are very high, so some planning needs to be done.
What great things are going on in your life? How did you do in March? What is your main goal for April?
Below are pictures (all from my phone, sorry) from our new area that I took recently.
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diane @smartmoneysimplelife says
Excellent work on your goals Michelle. I wish mine were as successful! 🙂
I aim to take some time over Easter to do some forward planning so I can put some big bold ticks against my April goals at the end of the month. I’ve been so busy lately that everything is happening on the fly which means March was not quite a disaster but it came close!
That scenery is amazing.
Michelle S. says
Thanks Diane! I hope April is a good month for you.
Petrish @ Debt Free Martini says
The pics are so beautiful. Must be exciting living to a new place…enjoy!
Michelle S. says
Thanks!
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life says
Beautiful photos! What a change from St. Louis. If I could get myself ahead on my blog work, I’d be celebrating like crazy, haha
Michelle S. says
Haha you should try! It’s hard I know but it is well worth it.
Erin @ Erin's Inside Job says
Looks awesome! I have started writing my posts the day before and planning them out on an editorial calendar which has helped things so much. Before I would just sit down and hope I had an idea pop into my head. When I take more time to write them and plan, they turn out way better!
Michelle S. says
Good job Erin!
Allison @ Frugal on the Prairie says
I hear nothing but absolutely incredible things about Colorado and it’s healthy lifestyle influence. The Hubs and I would love to move there one day!
Michelle S. says
It’s very nice! I’m loving it.
Kayla @ Femme Frugality says
Those are beautiful photos Michelle! I’m glad you are enjoying your new area. 🙂 I have to work on my travel plans for FinCon too. I have more than enough saved up for my round-trip flight, I just need to book a ticket. I don’t know why I’m so nervous about it!
Michelle S. says
You definitely need to come!
Peggy says
Just found you about a month ago working on budgeting. Opened your mail this morning and thought “Wow! That looks like Grand Junction area!” We lived 60 miles east of there for 30 years. Love Fruita. We spent lots of summers fishing there when our kids were growing up. Enjoy!
Good work on your budget. I am really struggling with mine but we will get there.
Michelle S. says
Awesome! We love it here so far 🙂
Christopher says
Today my wife and I just finished our taxes with a positive turn out so far. Our son is going to be six months old in six days. It is great to read about your goals and gives me insight on areas that need a bit of work…(the workout part, still in hibernation mood in Maryland -_-). We have been discussing plans to look into doing a small business in the future, maybe even start a blog in May. Three more courses left of my MBA, hopefully I finished by October. The pictures that you posted looks great, *sigh* We love the warm weather, but we could never tell what the forecast will bring in Baltimore. ^_^ Look forward to reading your posts and finishing the back posts from your blog since I started coming here around February.
Michelle S. says
Glad you are a reader Christopher 🙂 I hope April is a good month for your family!
Fervent Finance says
I’m very jealous of all the great hiking spots in Colorado. I have been out there a couple times for work recently and wish I had more time to explore. So much easier to get outside and be active when those mountains are right there!
Michelle S. says
Yes, I love it!
Michelle S. says
Do it!
Michelle S. says
You should visit!
Richard says
$2.50 for a slice of pizza bigger than your face?! Count me in. There’s this place a couple blocks from my apartment that has pizzas for two people around $9. They are incredible! I’m going to buy one right now, matter of fact.
I’ve recently found your blog and I’m foraging through the archives. Great stuff you have going on here!
Michelle S. says
Haha pizza is so hard to say no to! 🙂
Little House says
I had to go back and read where you moved; Fruita looks great! I have had Colorado on the brain lately and recently came back from a visit to Colorado Springs (though it wasn’t for pleasure, unfortunately, so I couldn’t really check it out.) I love the Southwest. It’s just so beautiful. How do you like living in a small town? That’s my only concern about moving from Los Angeles to somewhere much smaller.
Michelle S. says
Living in a small town isn’t too bad. There’s everything we need here, so we aren’t missing out on anything!
Kelly says
Hi Michelle, the pictures are fantastic! I’m so jealous! 🙂 I don’t live in the U.S. but I’ve always said, if I was to live anywhere in the U.S. it would be Colorado. So beautiful!
Michelle S. says
Thanks Kelly!
Jessica says
Good work on your food budget! From my own experience, eating healthier does help keep the costs down. Seeing your pictures really makes me want to: A) get out and take advantage of LA’s hiking spots; and B) visit my friend in CO! Glad to hear you two are enjoying it so much. Moving from the Midwest to a location that allows me to be more active outdoors was seriously one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Good luck with your April goals!
Michelle S. says
Yes, definitely take advantage of good hiking spots!
Jason B says
I’m glad you were able to complete all of your March goals. March was great for me. I had the most views ever on my blog. I also made the most I’ve ever made on eBay. I plan on trying to double that amount so that I can put more money in my emergency fund.
Michelle S. says
Great job!
Amy @ DebtGal says
Congrats on your great month!
March was not a great month for me. I’m blaming it on the winter doldrums, which really sucked the life out of me. Thankfully, the snow is receding, and it’s finally starting to look and feel a little like spring!
Michelle S. says
I hope April is better for you Amy 🙂
Katelyn @ Diaries of a Wandering Lobster says
So jealous on your awesome weather in Colorado! It’s officially Spring now in Maine, but it stills feel like Winter. Yuck! I had a great March! I sold some items, hustled a lot and made over $1,700! 🙂
Michelle S. says
Wow great job on making over $1,700!
Kasia says
Well done on achieving your March goals! The pics look gorgeous and make me want to travel to Colorado. I’ve heard lots of good things about it especially the popularity of the area with triathletes.
I have three main goals for April: finish one of my financial planning modules, prepare my novel for publication, and start regular training for a half marathon I want to run in July – my running has been very sporadic lately.
Michelle S. says
Good luck in April!
Melissa @ Sunburnt Saver says
Wow, this is where you guys live?! It’s beautiful!! How is your wifi access and internet there? I know, random question, but I’d like to move outside the city one day. My only worry as a wannabe full-time freelancer is getting solid Internet access at a reasonable price. So glad you guys made the leap – it sounds and looks awesome!
Michelle S. says
We have good internet and wifi here. Our town is small but we are only 5 miles away from Grand Junction which is a somewhat bigger town.
Christine Berry says
I could be tempted by FinCon. Sounds like life is super great in Colorado!!! It looks so stunning.
Rose says
I am glad that you are enjoying your new home and that the weather has been treating you well and good luck on selling your house. Also, congrats on doing so well on your goals. Seeing others reach their goals always motivates me to reach mine. Those pictures that you posted are amazing!!
As for me, I just started training at a new job today so that is prety fantastic. March was a rough month for me – I was sick for nearly 2 weeks so my life was practically put on hold for that long and I have been playing catch up ever since. I am hoping that April is a better month and my main goal is find at least 1 client to work with independently. I wish you the best for April and I will be back to see how you’re doing. Aloha