After the whirlwind excitement of last month’s announcement (when we finally paid off all credit card debt after 27 months of hard work!), we are settling into a new normal.
The first order of business has been finding deals on long overdue updates like new kitchen towels (the ones I’ve been using look like rags!). We’re finding our footing and trying our best to take things slow. It wouldn’t do to put ourselves right back into debt!
I’m pleased that we were able to work on some of our goals last month! It’s such a treat to put our money to work for ourselves rather than sending it all in to a big company.
If you’re interested in reading about how to get out of debt, you’ll find our best tips in that link there.
Now let’s do a check in and see what life after credit cards looks like!
Our 2018 Life and Money Goals
Home
Not much traction in our home yet. Like I said, we’ve been plunking away at replacing worn out items. These are small things such as laundry baskets and tubs for dog food.
I’m hoping to start painting in May (assuming I’m brave enough to choose a color!).
Painting
- Our son’s room
- The staircase
- Living room
- Dining room
- Computer area
- Kitchen
- Our bedroom
Kitchen Redo
Living Room Makeover
Closet
Our 1950s home doesn’t have much closet space at all, so we plan to add a utility closet to the corner of our dining room. I’m anxious for this to happen! Some vertical storage will be wonderful!
Barn Goals
As usual, nice weather makes me want to work outside instead of inside! So we’re seeing some progress here.
Baby Goats
We had 4 adorable babies born in February! In April we managed to sell the boy to an eager 4-Her. I’d like to sell one of the girls in May. We’ll keep the other two to grow our herd.
Fruit Trees
We have 6 fruit trees now, but they’ve never done much. This year I fertilized them with some rabbit poo. And the pear tree actually blossomed for the first time ever! Probably a huge coincidence, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to harvest some pears this year.
We’d like to line our barn driveway with more trees, but we’ll see if we get that far this year.
Chickens
We’ve got chicks! Thanks to our local feed mill, it’s like choosing donuts. We have a little of many different breeds.
Family Goals
Spending time together as a family is a top priority for us this year! Our family is crazy about baseball, so it’s tough for us to do anything besides run from one game to the next from April to early July. But our love of the sport is another way we draw close!
Monthly Family Outing
We were able to use a gift card we got for Christmas to take the kids to a trampoline park in February.
In March, we took a fun family trip to celebrate the end of our #yearofno! It was the getaway we all needed.
April found us on baseball fields and working outside together. It’s not an outing, but it was good. 🙂
Date Night
We had a simple but nice date night in February. We didn’t manage to get in a date for March, but the family trip getaway was so good for us!
Hard to believe it, but we managed to get in a movie date in April! (We saw Super Troopers 2 in case you’re curious. If you liked the first one, you’ll like the second one!)
Vacation
We can’t wait to see Washington D.C. this summer! I’m lamenting the fact that we have made no traction on finding an affordable place to stay. Hopefully we haven’t missed any amazing deals! Must get on this for May!
Personal Goals
Reading
I’d like to read 52 books this year. According to Goodreads, I’m 6 books behind schedule. But who cares?! I’ve already read 10 books in 2018, and that’s far more than I have read in several years.
In April, I read:
Between, Georgia I enjoyed this fiction book about a woman caught between two families who have been feuding for decades. It was an emotional ride!
The Dip is a super quick read for anyone who doesn’t know when to quit and when to stick it out. These lessons apply to your job, your hobbies, and any place you want to succeed!
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a heartbreaking story of a young boy who is trying to come to grips over his father’s death on September 11th.
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Money Goals
If you love the idea of accountability and chatting with people who also love the frugal life, be sure to join the Living That #YearofNo Life Facebook group!
Finish Credit Card Debt
DONE!!!!!!! There has never been a more satisfying strike through than that one. 🙂
Get Water
Our BHAG (big, hairy, audacious goal) for 2018 is to get better access to water from our home.
You can read about our water situation here. In April we had nothing but setbacks on this tough fight with our local water company. But we aren’t sunk yet!
Double Retirement Contributions
Paperwork filed in April!
Waterfall Funds
Hoping to start the progress here in May! Here’s what I’m calling a waterfall fund:
- We’ll be keeping our mini emergency fund, but it will become our savings account. We’ll pump it up to $1,500 and use it for unexpected expenses. (Things like car repairs or suddenly dead appliances.)
- Next, we plan to rebuild our sinking fund. This will be for irregular bills that we do expect, like insurance, car tags, and home maintenance.
- Once these are filled, we will begin a true emergency fund. We’ll sock away money into a separate savings or money market account until we’ve stored up 3-6 months worth of expenses.
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!
If you’re chugging down a long track toward a big goal, keep going! So often it seems like you’ll never cross the finish line. But slow and steady wins.
I know you’ll want to check out this post of 50 frugal living tips! Be sure to let me know if I missed your favorite frugal tip.
How have you done with your goals?
Congratulations, again, on the big pay-off!! You worked really hard, and deserve to celebrate!
Washington DC is awesome – you’ll have a blast there. I remember going there as a kid. The museums are quite amazing.
So happy for you!
Woo hoo! It’s amazing that you are out of credit card debt. I know that feels great.
I’m excited to learn more about these chicks! I’d love to homestead one day but life in a deed restricted community isn’t conducive to it, lol.
On our recent trip to Washington D.C., my sister rented a townhouse in Maryland for us all to stay in. It was through VRBO and it was so nice to be able to have separate rooms, a kitchen, etc. It was a ways out, so was more affordable. It was close to the Metro (blue and silver line) so we just hopped on there each day and rode into the city. We bought a 7-day pass for non-peak hours, and loaded $10 onto our cards in addition, in case we travelled at a peak time. They charge a few extra cents if you do. The lower-priced pass was totally adequate and we saved lots doing it that way. When that pass ran out after 7 days, we simply paid as we went by adding more money onto our Metro cards. In fact, there were a few cards left by others at the townhouse, and we used them for part of our fares. The Metro is extremely easy to use, and being on the blue and silver line made it extremely easy to get where we were going–all the sites like the monuments, Smithsonians, etc. The African American museum runs out of (free) tickets very quickly, so I’d request those if you want to go there ASAP.
If you contact your congressman’s office, they can get you tours to things like the Capitol, Supreme Court, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Library of Congress, and the hardest–The White House. My aunt set all that up, but I know she was on top of the time limit. (I think it’s 3 months ahead, but you should check with your congressman). The tours were very informative and helpful and the tour of the Capitol was just for the 6 of us, compared to the 50 that were in the group tourist tours. And, we got to travel through tunnels under the streets with the aide–very cool:)
They also left a note at the VRBO saying to use refrigerator items or cupboard items. So, we did, which was great because we had ketchup, mustard, etc. We ordered groceries from Safeway, because we did not have a car to go get them with.
We took Uber occasionally for short trips, and the fares were under $10 each time, for 6 of us, so we needed a bigger car.
I am almost finished putting up our journey on my blog. We crammed so much into our time there that it is taking many posts to get it all down. I would also be glad to answer any questions you have, to the best of my knowledge. It was my first time there, so there is much I still don’t know about the place:). It was a great trip. https://beckyathome.wordpress.com/2018/05/07/weekly-update-and-saving-money-may-6-2018/