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Little goals, little steps

January 3rd, 2008 at 04:41 pm

I'd love to have $100,000 saved but the thought of doing that is just too big for me to even consider. I do much better if I break large goals into small ones I can manage. So, I don't even look at the large amount of money I'd love to have saved and focus on more manageable, reachable goals. Saving that amount of money is going to take me a long time and can't even get started until I tend to some other things on my plate. So, I'm in the process of emptying that plate!

One of my goals for this year is to have $2500 saved by the end of July. Right now we have about $1100. The thought of saving $1400 in six months is overwhelming to me so I have to break the goal into mini goals and minute steps. It might be pie in the sky to think I can come up with $1400 in six months but I don't think so. I'm going to give up just a few things in an attempt to meet my savings goal. Here's how I plan to do it.

I have 15 pay periods between now and the end of July. If I save $25 from each of those pay periods, I'll have $375 at the end of July. That helps but is a far cry from $1400. I don't think I can afford to save $50 from each check but if I push the limit a little and save $35 from each check, that gives me $525 at the end of July. Much better but I still need another $875.

I have to get creative with this and come up with ways to save a little more here and a lot more there. And it wouldn't hurt to throw in some things that will improve my health, too, so for every meatless meal DH or I eat, I'll add $1 to my savings. I generally eat at least 5 meatless meals per week but I can increase that to 10, I think, without it being a burden. There are 29 weeks between tomorrow and the end of July so If I do that, I'm $290 closer to that deficit of $1400 and now I need $585 more. As long as I'm thinking health and wealth, I'll add $1 for each time I don't stop for a soft drink or snack while out and about. If I can keep to that, I'll have a minimum of $5 more a week which puts me $145 closer. I still need $440 to meet the $2500 goal.

It's getting more complicated now as I have a husband who loves meat (hey, so do I!) and will only tolerate so many meat-free meals and thinks little about stopping at a convenience store for a drink and snack. However, this challenge is MINE, although the money is OURS. I'll reward the savings account with these small amounts of money even if he isn't really on board. As long as I don't indulge, I'm doing well.

While composing this, my stomach started growling so I prepared eggs with a slice of cheese, topped them with salsa, and added some avocado slices. And DH had scrambled eggs with toast earlier so cha ching, there's $2 so far today! I work late tonight and am taking vegetable soup so that's $1 more.

So, I still need to cut back somewhere to close that $440 gap. Any ideas on that?

I used to sell on ebay, half.com, and Amazon but those have petered out for me and I don't think I want to try them again. I might but I don't see it happening right now. I'm considering babysitting to earn extra money for the challenge but that's just a thought at present. Our cell phones are down to bare bones now and we don't have cable television or subscriptions or dues to cut. We eat very few items that we find coupons for so adding coupon savings won't help much though it will add a little. I do plan to learn more about CVS savings and if I get that rolling, the savings will be added.

If you have ideas on other ways I can shave a little here and a little there, please share!

4 Responses to “Little goals, little steps”

  1. sagegirl Says:
    1199380031

    If you have a resale shop near you, you might see if you have anything they might be interested in. We have a really great kids resale in the area and I sold a few baby items there that my son had outgrown. Consider a garage sale (A lot of work though for so little change IMO, but if you have furniture or big items to get rid of it might be worth it).

    You have come up with some very creative ideas--kudos to you.

  2. denisentexas Says:
    1199380228

    We do have resale shops but have nothing to sell in them. And a garage sale is out, too. We just recently lost our house in foreclosure and a lot of our belongings. We managed to save the really important stuff but that's about it! Thanks for the suggestions, though. Smile

  3. luxliving Says:
    1199384838

    Even on meals w/meat you can do inexpensive meats or stretch to make a little go a long way!! I'm thinking canned tuna, or a few ham chunks in some beans, a few link sausages cut up in some mac n' cheese, 1/2 a chub of sausage in some sausage gravy, etc., to at least let your husband think he's getting some meat! Big Grin

  4. luxliving Says:
    1199387241

    I'm the queen of adding dry oatmeal to extend out my hamburger meat. Stir fry can also be inexpensive and how about chunking up one leftover chicken breast and adding it to some of that cool alfredo sauce, or having a meatless meal w/a side-salad that has some pepperoni slices in it or 1/2 of one of those little jars of bacon bits in it.

    Think meat E.X.T.E.N.S.I.O.N.

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