What are your frugal goals for next year?

[ScrapMama]

Dh and I have been really talking about buckling things down and work on building up our savings and paying off our Suburban. That led me to think about what are my frugal goals for the upcoming year, here are some of mine.

~Do all of my cooking from scratch.
~Only eat out once a month.
~Start my Christmas shopping by June.
~Buy my wrapping paper at the end of Christmas sales.
~Make all my cards.
~Up our Christmas account to $50 a paycheck, instead of just $25.
~Save at least $300 a month.
~Start straightening dd's hair myself instead of going to the salon every 3 months.
~Do my own pedicures.
~Make gifts instead of always buying something.
~Use less electricity.
~Get rid of one of our cell phones.
~Don't overbuy clothing for the girls.
~Cut back on the amount of television the children watch.
~Buy more of our clothes at consignment stores and on Ebay.
~Sell items I don't need or use on Ebay.

[thrifty gal]

Dh and I have been talking about this very thing. We want to buy a home within the next 4 years, and if we don't start being more frugal ASAP, and saving more, we are going to come up a lot short.

Here are my goals:
*cooking from scratch more
*cutting down on our eating out
*stop wasting so much money on those items at convience stores (pops, snacks, etc)
*pay more attention to our electricity and water use
*cut down on the extra phone services that we don't need, and tv packages
*stick to my menu, and lists

[PrairieRose]

We are continuing to pay down on our business buildings. We plan to throw all the extra money we can get our hands on toward that debt and wipe it out in 2 yrs. vs. our current 2 1/2 - 3 yr. plan. This note is actually drawn up to last about 11 more years so it will be such a huge blessing to be done with it as soon as possible. I haven't given enough thought to my exact frugal goals yet but I'll post them when I have time to ponder and talk it over with dh. Great thread though, Scrapmama and I have I told you how I love those beautiful pics in your siggy?

[Shell]

Well I am planning on:

~Not using my credit cards
~Going to the library or used book store when I need a book
~Keep saving in my emergency fund
~Stop buying clothes. Try to make do with what I already have
~Try keeping the heat down

[Jayne]

Great thread Scrapmama!!!......
~ we will be putting as much as we can towards paying off our debts
~ cooking more/ eating out less
~ getting in shape physically which will save me alot of money on doctor visits and medications
~ cutting our dish T.V. back to a less expensive package
~ putting money away in savings/emergency fund

[i.m.cheap]

I have been thinking alot about these goals lately:

~ pay off our car loan by the end of 2005 (six months early)
~ buying all of our clothes at thrift shops/ yard sales with the exception of underwear, socks, and shoes (I will hit the stores clearance racks for these.)
~ NO NEW BOOKS! With the exception of workbooks purchased for our homeschool, we will get books from the library, used book stores, or yard sales.
~Reducing my grocery bill even further, from $300 a month to $200
~ Socking away as much as possible into savings, goal is $200 a month

[QuilterMom]

I've been thinking about this all morning since I first saw this thread. I have several things already, but want to get them all down on paper (to make it *official*) and I will come back and post my list.

[RuthNY]

_Have my freedom account fully funded.
_Having my Emergency Fund started.
_Not using the vending, buy healthy snacks at the grocery store and take them to work.
_NOT using my cc for anything but living expenses that will be paid off monthly. Not using it to buy something I don't need.
_Try to use the cash/envelope system.

[Early Bird]

* Work on finding a place for everything in the house.
* Keep menu planning.
* Don't stock up so much on things I'll never use (craft supplies, kids' clothes, ...)

* Think about where I'll store an item before I buy it.
* Keep my freezer better organized.
* Eat heallthier -- more fruits, veg, salads, etc.

[sunshine]

Hmmmm. . . . haven't had our year end meeting yet, but for now-- our 2005 goals are:

~save enough money to cover all the special occasions we have coming at us. . . . ds #2's graduation (cap, gown, announcements, party, food, gifts), dd in a wedding in PA (travel, dress, gifts, hotel stay, food), ds#2 boot camp graduation in CA (travel, car rental, hotel stay, food)

~pay off my car

~continue to snowball cc debt

[mylittle4]

Great thread. I have to give this some more thought and put it on paper. Then I'll be back to post.

[MelinaG]

Our basic goal is to save as much as possible. We currently do not have any debt. Our retirement and DD college is taken care of our goal is to save for a home and private school elementary/high school for DD and for me to get my Masters degree. Also, to travel as much as possible!


Melina

[QuilterMom]

I'm still working on this, but here's what I have written down so far...........

• Continue tracking all income and expenditures to the penny.

• Continue putting all silver coins spare change into our EF plus put additional money in the EF each month (no set amount).

• Continue setting aside all pennies for an account for ds plus put in additional money as we are able.

• Pay extra on our van pymt.

• Make a wish list of things I need (personal, household, homeschooling, etc.) and watch for these items on sale or at yard sales/thrift stores, etc.

• Continue to heavily utilize the library for books, magazines, cd's and dvd's.

• Continue to purchase homeschool materials to supplement our curricula at yard sales/thrift stores/library sales.

• Switch to a different homeschool curricula next year that costs less, but still meets our needs.

• Set aside money from each paycheck (like a freedom account) for homeschooling needs (curricula, tickets to the performing arts center, field trips, etc.), vacation, vet expenses, auto ins., life ins., other ins., Christmas & birthdays, auto tags.

• Expand our garden (more fruit trees, veggies, and herbs) in an effort to keep our grocery expenses down.

• Expand our composting efforts.

• Recycle everything that can be used for another purpose.

• Don't waste anything!

• Expand my scratch cooking (especially breads, buns, cakes).

• Continue to expand my 'homemade' cookbook with recipes from cookbooks at the library and online.

• Stockpile even more heavily. 2004 taught me that I can no longer depend on sales to occur on a certain schedule as in the past. I will continue to keep track of sales to see if there becomes any sort of pattern again.

• Cut down the Christmas card list to save on postage.

• Get rid of part of our digital cable package.

• Install solar water heating panels (dh can do this since it's what he does for a living and can get the materials free or cheap) to help cut down on the electric bill.

• Make my own laundry and dishwasher detergent.

• Hang dry all laundry possible. Light a fire under dh to get our outdoor clothesline ready for use!

• Don't buy something just because it's cheap/a good price.

• Dh and I will (should, but the goal is will) discuss all major purchases (at home and not in front of the salesperson!).

• Continue to do all the remodeling that we can ourselves to save money. Shop for the best deals on materials we need. Trade off with friends for work we need done (that we can't do) for work they need done (that we can do but they can't).

• Make dog treats from scratch.

• Make all cards (bday, Christmas, etc.).

• Try my darndest to not spend more than $250/month on groceries (this includes only food and drink items for the humans in our household, no household or personal care supplies, no pet food, etc.). The successfulness of our gardening will play a huge factor in this since organics prices are outrageous.

• Explore other options/places for purchasing organics.

• Take advantage of sales tax free shopping (right before back to school) if the state offers it again in 2005. Great time to buy gifts and essentials like socks and underware.

• Try to get dh into yard saling with me and take better advantage of going yard saling and to thrift stores on weekends he's not working.

• Cut down on my trips to town!

[DaisyLady]

We haven't officially come up with 2005 goals yet. But I am pretty sure they will be:

Not use credit cards
Pay off credit cards
Put in new vegetable and fruit garden
spray apple trees with environmentally sound sprays (so we don't have to buy apples this year)
Rebuild front step of house

The major thing for us is to stay on track with our spending so that we can stay within our budget.

[guest2]

What a great thread! You've got me thinking and that could be dangerous to my hubby's "honey-do list" ...

~expand our garden space even more and grow more of our onw produce
~freeze, can or dehydrate more of our produce
~tear out old carpet in the house and replace it with newer carpeting gotten free from a remodel hubby worked on
~remodel our bathroom (we already have the tub surround and my mom is buying us a big soaking tub)
~pay down the credit cards
~put away at least $50 a month in a seperate emergency savings account out of my paychecks
~hit more garage sales for needs and wants
~try to destress our lives as much as possible so that I can continue to heal
~continue my research on living a healthier lifestyle and healing with herbs and supplements instead of relying on antibiotics (which in my case lead to further infections and long term problems)
~use what we have in the pantry and freezers and not let things go to waste
~get my sewing machine tuned up and working right again so I can do mending and simple sewing projects
~have more frugal "picnic dates" with my husband
~learn to say NO more often to things that may be good but are not "best" for my family