February Recap and March Goals

At the beginning of February I set two specific goals for the month:

- Increase EF fund by $200 - FAIL
- Increase savings by $100 - FAIL

Any extra money that we had was spent so most likely unnecessary spending.  Lesson learned, pay ourselves first.  I have to make it a habit to move the money into our EF fund and savings accounts as soon as the money comes in.  Because truth is, if the money isn't there, we don't spend it.  There are times when we have $20 to last us 4 days til the next pay day and we can do it.

So moving onto March...

Here's what the month looks like so far:

Fixed Expenses:
Mortgage & Property Tax - $1844
Automobile (Payment, insurance and gas) - $876
House Alarm & Insurance - $81
Life Insurance - $300
Bank fees - $14

Variable Expenses:
Utilities (Cable, phone, internet) - $200
Cell phones - $100
Food - $500
Debt repayment - $1100
Other (Nursery school, gifts, entertainment) - $300

TOTAL:  $5215

Monthly Income:
$5600

This would leave us with $335 to put away into our EF and savings accounts.  It seems so simple and straightforward when I have it typed out, but for some reason I still struggle to stay on top of things.

Financial goals for March are (same as February):

- Increase EF fund by $200
- Increase savings by $100



Non-financial goals for March are:
- finish reading The China Study book
- pick up craft supplies to make myself a bracelet (idea I got from Pinterest!)
- finish filling up care package for DH's parents and have the package picked up by the delivery service


We will be filing our taxes in March and I really don't know what to expect.  I'm hoping we get a small refund, and if not, I hope we're not paying back a huge amount of money either.  March and April will be expensive months for us as there are a few big birthdays coming up.

Good news is that in terms of my cafeteria and mall food court purchases, these are pretty much non-existent.  I've stuck to my plan to have breakfast at home each morning and to pack a lunch and snacks every day.  Every now and then I'm very tempted to pick up something extra for lunch or as a snack but then I just dig into my lunch bag and eat something that I brought with me. 

Exercising is still going very well, the last week wasn't the greatest, but I'm still motivated to keep going.  Month 2 progress pictures should be posted in the next week or so.  So on the exercise and healthy eating side of things, I would say I'm doing very well and will keep going.

 Work is kicking my butt, but I don't mind the OT.  Just need to be very careful and ensure that the OT paycheque goes towards debt.