New Year, New Goals.

As I mentioned in my last post, I made a list of goals I have for 2017.  I'm not big on "resolutions" but I am totally for having goals!  These are my main goals this year:

· Buy less stuff, spend more time.
· Pay down debts, and simplify.
· Excel with Plexus by getting healthier, and helping others
· Be more involved (my marriage, church, our kids)
· Live in kindness
· Read more (currently reading through the Bible, and for leisure, Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America from Parks & Rec)

As a couple, my husband and I sat down and reworked our budget.  We made it a priority that we would spend less this year.  One reason is that we will no longer be renting our home (hoping to sell!), and will no longer have that income.  We made cuts to all over our flexible lines (meaning those items that aren't a set amount, i.e. our mortgage or car payment).  It will be tough at first, but it will be totally worth it.  Additionally, we also raised our amounts that we set back into savings and our bills account from $50 to $75.  We have some work to do on our house and want to be prepared in case of emergency.  This seemed like a practical thing to do and with the other cuts we made, it was easy to add to these lines instead.

We also came up with two fun ideas for paying off debts we owe (as much fun as you can have with paying debt, that is).  One is that on the 1st of each month, after our mortgage and various insurances have been paid, if our primary checking account has more than $500 in it, we will take the remainder and put it immediately into our pay downs.  For example, if we have $653.97 in our checking account, we will take $153.97 and put it towards our credit card until that is completely paid off.  This will help keep us accountable by having us make sure we have enough money at the start of the month, not only for our family, but for our debts.  Even if it's only a few dollars that we get to pay down, it will add up!

Our other idea for debt pay off is a lot more adorable.  I don't know if I've ever shared this on here, but I'm a lover of craftiness, and Pinterest is my favorite app.  I found an craft a few years ago that I thought was cool, but never had any use for until now.  Basically, you take a shadowbox frame, put a picture inside of what you are saving your money for, drill a slot on top, and make a sort of piggy bank out of it.  I had these great 2017 stickers from Pipsticks.com (a sticker subscription club that I signed up for with my 3 year-old so we could have a project to do together), so I thought this would be perfect to make a spare change box for the year!  AND we have already saved $150 in spare change!!  Check it out!


I'm really looking forward to what 2017 holds for our family.  I'm excited to spend more time with my husband and kids, to take more time for myself, focus on things that really matter, and being closer to a debt-free life!!
--chloe.