2016 financial resolutions.

[jasperandchar]

thanks @saundyl for posting 2016 thread

My 2016 goals are

1. save up for powder room renovations so no debt, we have the tiles, the vanity

2. put all of dh's pays to save up for vehicle maintenance to pay for the (body work/paint job, the springs, tune up) approx. $5500

3. Start to price match again, I've slacked off the last year and use snap save/checkout 51 (no cell phones here)

4. Get in the habit of taking meat of out of the freezer the night before so no boxed food (processed foods) which are expensive anyways

5. Save up my pc points, sdm points, swag bucks etc and only redeem for Christmas gifts, this saved us $1200 for gifts/expenses in December which was such a blessing.

I'm sure there will be more to come as some of the resolutions are met primarily #1 (powder room) and #2 (vehicle repairs/maintenance)

Dh got the rocker panels done on his truck (body work) we saved up until we had enough and happy to report it was done with past week .

We still have quite a few things to get the truck up to snuff, saving up before we get them done BUT all in all much cheaper than purchasing a new vehicle.

Price matched at WM this past week as FB did not have the 1/2 pork loins, saved $30 so well worth the efforts.

I'm doing really well taking the meats out the night before for suppers, it's just routine but it does take some mindfulness .

So far enough SDM points for 1 full redemption come Christmas time and $114 in pc points so things are well on their way for Christmas 2016

_____________________

Seems like everyone is doing very well with their financial resolutions - great job

[wimbly11]

Love the idea of saving your points until Christmas. I have more than enough for one max redemption at SDM. Perhaps I should hang on to those and Christmas shop.

[jasperandchar]

Love the idea of saving your points until Christmas. I have more than enough for one max redemption at SDM. Perhaps I should hang on to those and Christmas shop.

It makes a huge difference as Christmas can be so expensive.

There is something for everyone at sdm or tons of foods, personal hygiene items to put together those gift baskets for the hard to buy for or elderly. And tons of stuff for stocking stuffers.

Also with the pc points you can get gift cards and then use those gift cards to make purchases for those on your list, I really encourage everyone that is able to hang on to their points to give it a try atleast once.

Last year at sdm I did 2 full size redemptions and 1 middle redemption ended up using my points on the mega where you get more $ for your points which was worth waiting for.

Also we used $500 of pc points for gcs as gifts and to purchase gifts with the gcs SO I did not have much out of pocket for Christmas which was nice. It allowed us to put that cash we would have spent (sdm & pc points) towards other things.

[jasperandchar]

thanks @saundyl for posting 2016 thread

My 2016 goals are

1. save up for powder room renovations so no debt, we have the tiles, the vanity

2. put all of dh's pays to save up for vehicle maintenance to pay for the (body work/paint job, the springs, tune up)

3. Start to price match again, I've slacked off the last year and use snap save/checkout 51 (no cell phones here)

4. Get in the habit of taking meat of out of the freezer the night before so no boxed food (processed foods) which are expensive anyways

5. Save up my pc points, sdm points, swag bucks etc and only redeem for Christmas gifts, this saved us $1200 for gifts/expenses in December which was such a blessing.

I'm sure there will be more to come as some of the resolutions are met primarily #1 (powder room) and #2 (vehicle repairs/maintenance)

UPDATE

We currently have $239 in pc points for Christmas and I'm working on building up enough points for another top redemption - all points saved for Christmas.

We have funds set aside to finish dh's truck maintenance.

Going forward in March dh's pays will be set aside for home renovations/maintenance, we have schedule a contractor for early April to renovate our bedroom and ds2's old room. We will be gutting the 2 rooms, spray foam, building large double closet, framing new wall (for future bathroom renovations), double entrance so ds2's old room will become a sitting room / home office.

I've been doing really good with taking meat out for the freezer the night before which is a huge savings (no boxed foods) and leftovers for lunches for dh & I.

How is everyone doing with their goals?

[Crochetlady]

I was planning on having my CC paid off by the end of the year but it looks like I`m ahead of schedule. 3 or 4 months should do it.

[jasperandchar]

I was planning on having my CC paid off by the end of the year but it looks like I`m ahead of schedule. 3 or 4 months should do it.

that's wonderful !!!

[saundyl]

I was planning on having my CC paid off by the end of the year but it looks like I`m ahead of schedule. 3 or 4 months should do it.

Awesome!

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[saundyl]

Amending a touch.
Adding in

Work on Christmas savings account once bf is back to work.

Work a new stove into the budget through either "bonuses" from work or income tax.



We are doing a ton better already using sales. Im finding though much of what there are coupons for are more expensive brands we dont use...things we dont use orthings that arent available in the stores here. Which may have contributed to my lesser use of coupons last year.

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Amending again. We may not need a new oven as bf did research and ordered a part.yay being willing to repair things.

We have 60 dollars in our 52 week savings challenge for Christmas.

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[Frugalbigmama]

Cleaned up the budget on Friday since it was payday. Everything paid up to date. Moved money to savings and TFSA.
Filled up with gas on the weekend (79.9L) and have $90 in GC's still and $22 left in gas budget. Think I will top up when at 1/2 and save the gift cards for down the road. I am not using up all the money in my gas budget so going forward I think I will pick something to put the surplus towards (either apply it on my gas or hydro bill to have a nice credit or build a credit on my not used much credit card for a Costco shopping spree or something!)

My misc. account is over $400 which is awesome (I have $50 in there per pay do cover little extras for the house etc (can of paint, furnace filters, gas for mower/snowblower etc) I have really been trying not to spend it so it can build up. I have already bought 6 cans of paint for all the painting I want to do. I am just going to let it build for now so I am ready for my next project. This year I am wanting to finish all the little things that I have most supplies ready and on hand for.

[jasperandchar]

thanks @saundyl for posting 2016 thread

My 2016 goals are

1. save up for powder room renovations so no debt, we have the tiles, the vanity

2. put all of dh's pays to save up for vehicle maintenance to pay for the (body work/paint job, the springs, tune up) - DONE

3. Start to price match again, I've slacked off the last year and use snap save/checkout 51 (no cell phones here)

4. Get in the habit of taking meat of out of the freezer the night before so no boxed food (processed foods) which are expensive anyways

5. Save up my pc points, sdm points, swag bucks etc and only redeem for Christmas gifts, this saved us $1200 for gifts/expenses in December which was such a blessing.

__________________

new goal as of February 2016

6. Put dh's pays aside for home renovations - master bedroom & ds2's old room are being renovated in Early April

7. Make purchases via swagbucks to earn swagbucks and save them for Christmas.

_________________

UPDATE as of February 16th

On Sunday I took advantage of Lowe's 10% discount for Family day, I purchased 4 light fixtures for our renos, no out of pocket as we had $ saved in our renovation account . The items had an airmiles bonus, I earned swagbucks because I remembered to make my purchase via swagbucks. And I am in touch with Lowes as my receipt says I save 156.04, however, a discount of $56.10 was applied. They apparently had a glitch with their system BUT I have in writing saying I saved $156.04 but only rec'd $56.10 in discount. I am waiting to hear back as I have asked that they honour their error (fingers crossed).



If you are not a swagbuck member I would appreciate you using my referral link (below) and we can both earn swagbucks
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/jasperandchar


Here is the link to all online stores which you will receive swagbucks for shopping
http://www.swagbucks.com/shop/allstores/?view=list

[jasperandchar]

Love the idea of saving your points until Christmas. I have more than enough for one max redemption at SDM. Perhaps I should hang on to those and Christmas shop.

excellent job

[beckie.c]

1. Catch up financially from DH's four months of unpaid sick time in 2015 (by March) - $0 credit card, top up missed savings & RRSP contributions
2. Knock off the remaining balance on my Student Loan ($5K)
3. Set aside the cash for the following planned 2016 home maintenance items: garage siding & eaves (spring), upstairs flooring (spring), new bedroom and kitchen window (fall)
4. Pay cash for our Trip to Europe in September
5. Take lunch and coffee from home, and utilize the free gym at work more often since I have an hour lunch break.

Mid - February Update....

#1. Catch up from DH's Sick Leave - Unexpected dishwasher cost and DH's work going through a slow period is pushing this back into the end of April.

#2. Knock off remaining student loan balance - Will focus on this once goal #1 is achieved.

#3. Priority has changed. Replaced Dishwasher (Jan/Feb) will likely be pushing windows into 2017, unless I find a great deal. Flooring and Garage Siding/Eves are still on the list for the summer. Not in a big hurry on these, so I'll wait for the right deal to come up.

#4. Approx 35% of the cash needed has been saved for our trip.

#5. Been doing well on taking my lunch, coffee and hitting the gym. A few missed days here and there, but overall this change has been great :D

[beckie.c]

Amending again. We may not need a new oven as bf did research and ordered a part.yay being willing to repair things.

We have 60 dollars in our 52 week savings challenge for Christmas.

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That is awesome! I love when my DH is able to fix things.

[jasperandchar]

Mid - February Update....

#1. Catch up from DH's Sick Leave - Unexpected dishwasher cost and DH's work going through a slow period is pushing this back into the end of April.

#2. Knock off remaining student loan balance - Will focus on this once goal #1 is achieved.

#3. Priority has changed. Replaced Dishwasher (Jan/Feb) will likely be pushing windows into 2017, unless I find a great deal. Flooring and Garage Siding/Eves are still on the list for the summer. Not in a big hurry on these, so I'll wait for the right deal to come up.

#4. Approx 35% of the cash needed has been saved for our trip.

#5. Been doing well on taking my lunch, coffee and hitting the gym. A few missed days here and there, but overall this change has been great :D

You're doing amazing, keep up the great work. P.s. where are you going on vacation?

As for goal #3 if you are doing yourselves if you can compare prices at Home Depot and Lowe's and get them to price match if possible and also bonus would be when they have don't pay for 12 or 18 months and budget each month to pay it off

[jasperandchar]

Amending again. We may not need a new oven as bf did research and ordered a part.yay being willing to repair things.

We have 60 dollars in our 52 week savings challenge for Christmas.

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Love the amending / updates, fingers crossed your bf can fix the oven, keep us updated on the results