May Goals

1. Adhere to the shopping challenge. I'm not supposed to shop for a month for ANYTHING except necessities. I've done one of these before by myself, but now that I have a partner to hold me to it...it should be better.
2. Focus...Mr. Chase. I'm going to do it...I'm going to do it....
3. Watch eating out...I eat too much sugar, too much fattening foods. I'm going to try to buy healthier and eat healthier, which would mean less spending.

I feel like the key to adhering to these goals is monitoring them more. For the past few months, I've posted and then not reflected or cared about the goals for another month...so this month I'm going to try to update more often...and post about it...

I do have to purchase my bridesmaid dress for SPBFF's wedding, so that's a given that I'll have to pay for that this month. Mother's Day and one birthday to pay for as well...

April Goals - Results

Okay...I admit, I've been neglecting my pf blog. I suck. I've also been neglecting my pf in general. Ughhh, I must do better. On to the results...

1. Don't overspend. This one is getting old...but as a serious shopaholic, I have to keep it at #1 so it's always fresh on my mind. PASS - I didn't overspend. No transferring money from savings to checking, but then again I didn't try to save anything either. I'm supposed to be putting all my extra money to Mr. Chase, see #3.
2. Find a side hustle. Something to bring in additional revenue. Right now, it's looking like tutoring. The faster I can finish paying off Mr. Chase, the faster I can open a Roth IRA and start focusing on paying off my car. I've got lots to accomplish in my financial future! PASS - Tutoring is officially my side hustle...now I just have to commit to some clients. I've passed up on 3 potential clients. With school ending pretty soon, this may be on hold until September. I do have a fabulous blog that I'm a part of called {budget}fab* but that's not technically a side hustle yet.
3. Focus on pushing all extra money towards Mr. Chase. He's almost out of here...seriously, he is. By the summer, I think he'll be gone. FAIL - I miserably failed at this one. I'm not sure where my extra money went. In fact, it may still be in my account...I have NO clue and that's pathetic. Let me see...the best way for me to do this is to automatically transfer the money I would be saving to Mr. Chase every payday, but I didn't do that. :-/ I SUCK. I'm going to transfer the extra money right now....
4. Try to find financially smart ways to cook/eat healthy. I've noticed a few extra pounds which isn't a huge deal since my weight tends to fluctuate but still...I need to start building better habits. FAIL - I've still got those extra pounds and I still don't work out or eat as healthy as I should. I'm starting to think sugar is the culprit for my extra pounds. This month...I'll do better.

April Goals

April Showers bring May Flowers...and I hope it rains money for me in April, so I can water down Mr. Chase and grown some Financial Flowers. :)

Major things I need to pay: birthday gift (x2), bridesmaid dress...that's all I can foresee for the month of April right now. I'll allot $300 for those items, since my bridesmaid dress is right around $200.

April Goals:

1. Don't overspend. This one is getting old...but as a serious shopaholic, I have to keep it at #1 so it's always fresh on my mind.


2. Find a side hustle. Something to bring in additional revenue. Right now, it's looking like tutoring. The faster I can finish paying off Mr. Chase, the faster I can open a Roth IRA and start focusing on paying off my car. I've got lots to accomplish in my financial future!


3. Focus on pushing all extra money towards Mr. Chase. He's almost out of here...seriously, he is. By the summer, I think he'll be gone.


4. Try to find financially smart ways to cook/eat healthy. I've noticed a few extra pounds which isn't a huge deal since my weight tends to fluctuate but still...I need to start building better habits.

So that's it. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

March Goals - Results

So my birthday month has come and gone (pause for sadness) but I did have an excellent birthday. Here's my goals for March and How I Did.

1. Don't overspend. PASS. I accomplished this! YAY!!! I didn't purchase anything I didn't have the means to.
2. Put all extra money toward credit card. PASS. I handed my federal tax return over to Mr. Chase. That was all my extra money. I also put two rebate checks I received towards Mr. Chase. I didn't put my state return towards Mr. Chase yet. I will say that I used some of the money to purchase two dresses for my birthday. Dresses that yes, were expensive, but they're amazing and I have two weddings and some trips out of town. So I plan to rewear those babies like there's no tomorrow. To me, that justified spending what I "had." I know I should've been a good girl and put the entire state return, but it was my birthday and I wanted a dress!
3. DO YOUR BEST. FAIL. I didn't do my BEST. I bought two dresses that I didn't need for Pete's sake. (which by the way I just googled to find out who Pete is)

The Difference: Free Download

Jean Chatzky will be on Oprah today to discuss her new book The Difference. The book will then be available for download on Oprah's website from 11am Friday to 10:59am Saturday! Click here to download and receive your free copy!