January 2015 Goal Update

How did we do with our January goals?  Let's see:

1) To not eat out or at least to not pay out of pocket, with the exception of tips. If we want to treat the family to a meal out, we will make sure we have a gift card to cover all of us.
Did fabulous with this goal.  Hubby and I did go out and have lunch for my birthday and were able to pay for the entire lunch using gift cards :)

2) Pay off our last 2 credit cards
Still chipping away at this.  The last card is a pretty hefty one :(  Still on Dave Ramsey's FPU Step 2 :)

3) Not to use any of our credit cards for 2015. To pay cash for everything.
Great way to start 2015 :)

4) To maintain our grocery budget. Our current grocery budget is $400 month for our family of 6. Our goal is to use up to that amount to feed our family healthy nourishing meals.  If we are lucky enough to come under our monthly budget, we will save that amount.
Did awesome in January and still had around $3 left :)  We inventoried what we had in our pantry, refrigerator and freezer and worked our menu plan around those items and were able to buy a lot of fruit with our leftover grocery money.


5) To create a monthly meal plan for our family, to use leftovers more efficiently and to make use of everything in our pantry and freezer.
Did awesome with this one

6) Lose weight- My goal is to lose 10 lbs this year.
So far so good.  Many thanks to hubby for doing the Couch to 5K with me.  He has been a great accountability partner and has motivated me on days I didn't want to.  So far I have lost 3 pounds :)  I promised myself a trip to Starbucks once I lost 5 pounds (I have a Starbucks gift card:))  2 pounds to go for Starbucks :)

7) Complete the Couch to 5K with hubby
Hubby and I just finished week 4.  I am so proud of myself for sticking with it.  Before C25K, I couldn't make it very far and now I can jog 5 minutes nonstop :)  I may grumble but I keep putting one foot in front of the other.

8) Morning devotions, prayer time and more bible reading
Doing great with our church's website, which will read the bible verse to you :) 

9) Monthly date night with hubby- whether we go out or stay at home, pop popcorn and rent a movie
We didn't get to a date night but had a wonderful date lunch for my birthday :)


10) To spend quality family time together. With everyones schedule and us running all over creation, I would love to spend more quality time together- no tv- us playing games, talking, enjoying each others company.  I think we are going to claim Saturday's as family fun day:)
In  January, most of us went to Lakes Regional Park and then hubby and I went out for lunch and to the gun range :)

11) Not to use our dryer to save on electricity and lower our electricity bill
Doing fabulous, by not using the dryer, I now have the electric bill down to what I was paying for our teeny house back in Virginia.  Not using the air or heat is a huge plus also.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Florida winters :)

12) To do 1 project a month and blog about it
We are so excited.  We did do January's project of making homemade ketchup and will share the details tomorrow :)

13) My older boys want to run a 5K~ a color run to be more specific.  So, I am jumping on board with them, after I finish my Couch to 5K program :)
Still working on the Couch to 5K program and waiting to hear if they are going to do a color run here in Cape Coral.

14) To make and use more non toxic cleaners
I am still researching and working on this one :)

How did you do with your January goals?