Hard to believe it is time to say good bye to 2013. It went fast, and I enjoyed it, learning from my experiences along the way. I hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable time tonight. As for us, we are staying home, eating snacks and watching the ball drop in NY. We, in the Midwest, always celebrate on The Big Apple's time! We had briefly considered going out (my brother's band has a local gig), but at $75 per person, I didn't need to consider it too long.
I was giving more thought to January. I like to prepay things as much as possible, and this will be the last month of big money (3 paychecks). So I used the remaining $725 in the checking account to pay the utilities and bills for January. ($714 was the total for electric, gas, sewer, insurance on all cars and properties, Comcast, dish).
So this is how the breakdown for January looks:
Total in: $7,000
Less mortgage - $1,750.00
Less tuition - $1,500
Less prepay taxes - $1,500
Less living expenses (6 weeks) - $1,200
Less February utilities and bills - $725
Less Chase Secondary EF Start up - $325 (anticipating $200 bonus in the near future to accomplish monthly $500 goal)
Remainder $0
The only real place to start slashing is the $200 per week gas/groceries. We're both still driving and I'll be trying to cut down on that. There really isn't much needed as far as household items. So I anticipate LOW/NO SPEND days in the multitudes. Our calendar is pretty full of soccer and basketball games. We do having things on the calendar (my mom funded our dinner dance) and I am anticipating making money in dog care for my brother's dogs (he has a trial down state and has several hearings this month alone).
Anyhow, 2014 is going to be my year of Simplicity and Contentment. I'm going to strive hard to maintain those two concepts. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, and Revised January Goals
December 31st, 2013 at 04:29 pm
December 31st, 2013 at 04:47 pm 1388508458
December 31st, 2013 at 04:53 pm 1388508806
January 1st, 2014 at 06:17 am 1388557070