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You are here: Home » Blog » Homemaking » What are your financial goals for the New Year?

What are your financial goals for the New Year?

January 3, 2008     Keeper of the Home    6 Comments

In light of the New Year, I know that many of us have been establishing new goals, resolutions, priorities and schedules. My husband and I recently made a date night of it, and spent an evening setting some goals, which I hope to post about shortly! I thought it might be the perfect time to bring the subject of our finances back up, as many of you may be wanting to get serious about your own finances as a New Year’s goal!

When I did the Savvy Spending Challenge,
back in November, a lot of you mentioned that although you loved the
idea, doing it before Christmas just felt like it wouldn’t be feasible
for your family. Now that we are past Christmas, I thought I would
bring the topic back and encourage those of you who would benefit
from a month of no spending and a lot of saving!

Just yesterday I received a question by email:

We’re attempting the no sending month right now. I’ve been meaning to
e-mail you some questions, to get some input. Do you do coupon/bargain
shopping like Crystal does? And if so, when you’re doing a month with
no spending, do you forgo the great bargains altogether, no matter how
cheap, if it’s not something you have to have right then?
Jeana

Great questions! To answer the first one, no, I do not do coupon shopping like Crystal (although I certainly admire the way that she manages her grocery budget and finds all those deals!). My method of frugal grocery shopping is a bit different in that couponing does not work well where I live, and as I try to buy the very best quality foods (including many organic, natural and specialty foods due to some allergies), I have found that I need to use some other methods.

Perhaps I will plan to write a more detailed post on this topic soon (let me know if this would be of interest to you, and what would specifically you would like to hear about). For today, I will say that my basic method of frugal shopping includes careful meal planning, working hard to avoid waste and use up all that is in my fridge, balancing protein sources (both for health and cost) and using meat as an addition to a meal (but not usually as the basis of the meal), cooking almost entirely from scratch, and shopping at several different stores in order to get the best deals. My combination of stores that I use has been developed over the years as I have carefully done price comparisons and searched out the best deals (considering both nutrition and price). Using an excellent produce market (rather than a grocery store) has helped my budget considerably, and also provided us with an excellent variety of fresh, local and often unsprayed or organic foods at a fraction of the cost in a regular store.

As for the second question (do I forgo great bargains while on a no spending month?), the answer is usually. There will always be fantastic bargains that catch my eye, and my usual method is to buy up as much of a bargain as mu budget will allow. Unfortunately, while on a no spending month, my budget just doesn’t allow for much. I will confess to you that during our no and low spending months (Nov and Dec) recently, my freezer and pantry became quite barren, as I used up much of what I had previously worked to stock up.

Now that I am back to my regular grocery budget (well, we’ve actually lowered it just slightly this new year, to see if I can do it,  but it’s almost the same as usual), I am working very diligently to re-stock that which I had used up. It will take a little bit of time, but I see this whole process as worthwhile in many regards. First, the previous stock I had built up carried us through the lean months- what a blessing! Second, it is good to really use up what you have every once in a while to ensure that what you have is fresh, not freezer burnt, etc. and that you are not wasting valuable food. Third, now I am faced with the challenge of re-stocking and finding new bargains with no extra money. This stretches me and forces me to get creative as I purchase food, not only for our regular meals, but also to replenish my freezer and pantry, and take advantage of as many deals as I can.

Also, some of you might remember that back in November and December, I did
a lot of posts about saving money and budgeting, etc. I thought I would
link to those posts for those of you who have made it a goal to save
money, pay off debts, make a new budget or just get your finances more
under control in general!

The Savvy Spending Challenge

Fudge-it or Budget?

Setting up your cash system – Part 1

Setting up your cash system- Part 2

Cutting costs in the kitchen

Nipping discontentment in the bud

For some other great related posts, check out the categories of Frugality and Budgeting !

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jeana

    January 3, 2008 at 9:30 AM

    Thanks for answering so quickly, Stephanie! Lots to think about here.

    Reply
  2. Stacy

    January 3, 2008 at 11:54 AM

    I can’t wait to come back and read the posts you linked to (while the kids are napping). I am trying to spend as little as possible this month and also set up a new budget.

    I really looking forward to reading more about your frugal shopping system too.

    Have a great day,
    Stacy

    Reply
  3. Stacy

    January 3, 2008 at 2:55 PM

    Hello,
    Well, I came back and read them all!! Thanks so much for the time you put into sharing that with all of us.

    It really encouraged me to stick with this no spending thing!

    We had no debt for the longest time and after some unforseen circumstances we now have some.

    I can’t stand it and want to get it paid off yesterday.

    The peace that comes with knowing you have no debt it much better than buying a new shirt!

    Are you going to officially do another spending challenge?

    I plan to spend only what is necessary this month and also generate a little income if possible.

    I wrote how much we owe on a sticky note and stuck it in my checkbook registar. This is really helping me not to spend any extra.

    Sorry to write so much..

    Have a great day.
    And thanks again for the great tips,
    Stacy

    Reply
  4. Stephanie

    January 3, 2008 at 8:48 PM

    You’re welcome, Jeana!

    Stacy, don’t apologize for writing too much! I love getting to know my readers more! I’m so glad that this is an encouragement to you right now! And we definitely know both the feelings of being in and out of debt. You are taking all the right steps in the direction of being debt free- good for you!

    You know, I don’t think that I will do another spending challenge at this point (unless many people begin to request it). It’s not really where we are at, after going super frugal for Nov/Dec. However, I did want to encourage those who are at the place of wanting to do the challenge, and will continue to do some extra frugality posts as I am able to.

    Also, check out http://www.moneysavingmom.com. Crystal is having a financial challenge for 2008, and you may be interested!

    Reply
  5. michelle byl

    January 3, 2008 at 9:13 PM

    You should write a book Steph! So many helpful things on here!

    Reply
  6. Stephanie

    January 4, 2008 at 9:16 AM

    Aww, thanks Michelle!

    Reply

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