[frugal.lass]

My challenges for 2016 (which are really just more official versions of what I'm trying to do now) are:

1) the traditional No-Spend challenge. Since moving to the city it's become very easy for me to "just grab a tea" while I'm out and about. :S

2) a retirement savings challenge. I have to crunch some numbers to find out what I can easily afford and then will pick a goal higher than that to try and stretch my limits.

3) a Grocery spend challenge. I'm just going to admit that before my move/income drop, I got lazy about this. I wasn't a big shopper and had a significant income so I didn't really track where my money was going... I have to get back on this!!

4) Minimalism/Ethical shopping challenge. This is my biggie!! Thankfully, being a minimalist means I buy very little to begin with but now I'm trying to "level up" and become a more conscious consumer by avoiding consumer goods that are exploitative of lax environmental protection/labour laws in other countries. Shopping thrift is the easy way around that but buying new ethically produced goods can be $$$. I have to wear black tights with my uniform...let's just say I now treat my (US-made) tights like gold because they cost 3-4x more than the non-ethical equivalent. Shop local and buy "Made in Canada/USA"!!

What are you planning to tackle in 2016? Debt? Savings? Shopping style?

 

[CookieLee]

I've come to the realization that being debt-free isn't enough. We also need to manage our cash flow ... and I'm not. We've obligated ourselves to too many regular bills that aren't technically debt (music lessons, etc). 2016 is going to be all about reducing those and managing the cash flow commitments a bit better.

 

[Buckeye5]

pay off more debt
find more frugal ways of living
try to enjoy the simple things in life

 

[Spirit Deer]

Good thread.

The race is on here to get any and all major expenses paid off before retirement, so in the next 3-6 years, depending. This year we put on a new roof ($9,000) and had a new water heater installed since the old one died (no choice, but I'm glad it happened). We also had our driveway redone which will need to be done again much sooner than last time. We did that in August and are still waiting for the bill. No idea what that'll cost. We also had over two dozen trees cut down that were threatening our buildings and power line. We're working like crazy on DIYs, UFOs, and purging/sorting/decluttering, with great results for this year.

Next year we'll probably do the Twenty Wishes Challenge. For big projects that we need to hire done, we need our cabin sided and possibly re-roofed, some wiring from an unfinished remodel finished by a pro, and a new bathroom vanity installed. For DIY, we need to get our greenhouse built, more purging/organizing in the house and cabin, and for the big DIY, we'd like to get the ceiling and insulation installed in the garage and the storage out there completely revamped, rearranged, replaced, rebuilt, or whatever the heck it needs to have done to it so we can finally get all our stuff organized.

I have some other stuff on the TW challenge list but those are some of the big ones. It's doubtful we'll get them all done, but it's good to have something to shoot for.

 

[brenda67]

I'm alway's thinking of how I can improve our little Homestead for the following year...So 2016 goals.

I'm designing my new addition of garden beds..I want them to be permanent beds for potatoes, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes..adding another strawberry patch and walking onion bed (as requested by my son).

Upgrade our windows..(this will happen a window at a time as long as I'm still employed)

Upgrade our electrical box..(this is being saved for)

I want to put up a years worth of Dandelion Wine.

Make medicinal tinctures, salves from my plants.

Re-buy (long story) the mushroom spores to inoculate the logs so we have our supply of mushrooms.

Buy the winters wood for the winter..(we always got our wood for free, split and stacked it but my dh doesn't have the help since my boys work all the time)

Put so much into our savings.

 

[KimB]

1) Work towards becoming debt free
2) Save up money for daughters wedding, July of 2017
3) Build up Emergency Fund

Plan: Keeping myself healthy so I can continue to work fulltime as I do enjoy it 90% of the time, and limit unnecessary spending through more frugal living and watching more closely where our money is going.
Not sure on specific challenges yet, but looking forward to 2016!

 

[brenda67]

Good thread.

The race is on here to get any and all major expenses paid off before retirement, so in the next 3-6 years, depending. This year we put on a new roof ($9,000) and had a new water heater installed since the old one died (no choice, but I'm glad it happened). We also had our driveway redone which will need to be done again much sooner than last time. We did that in August and are still waiting for the bill. No idea what that'll cost. We also had over two dozen trees cut down that were threatening our buildings and power line. We're working like crazy on DIYs, UFOs, and purging/sorting/decluttering, with great results for this year.

Next year we'll probably do the Twenty Wishes Challenge. For big projects that we need to hire done, we need our cabin sided and possibly re-roofed, some wiring from an unfinished remodel finished by a pro, and a new bathroom vanity installed. For DIY, we need to get our greenhouse built, more purging/organizing in the house and cabin, and for the big DIY, we'd like to get the ceiling and insulation installed in the garage and the storage out there completely revamped, rearranged, replaced, rebuilt, or whatever the heck it needs to have done to it so we can finally get all our stuff organized.

I have some other stuff on the TW challenge list but those are some of the big ones. It's doubtful we'll get them all done, but it's good to have something to shoot for.

I was thinking about this today what needs to be done to our home so when we are at retirement age/ or for whatever reason so we aren't looking at and wondering how we are going to afford to replace x,y & z.

I need to really kick this in high gear and now that I'm making some income (hope it last for awhile) my goal is to do many upgrades to our home it will all make a difference in the years to come.

 

[Raiquee]

I'm participating in the following challenge threads:

12/16/16 - debt reduction/savings goals
Grocery budget challenge $400 a month for family of 5
Meal planning challenge
Canning food challenge

As well as making a new 2016 Raiquee's gardening thread to host all of my homestead and gardening goals.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Brenda, for us it's partly spacing out the money, but mostly because we just want this place in order at retirement so we can relax and travel instead of working our tails off around the place. Besides, we're not getting any younger. That's why we're more willing now to pay people to do what we technically could do ourselves, like siding the cabin and putting in the bathroom vanity. We've just been overwhelmed by too many projects for too many years.

 

[Back2Basicsforme]

I need to start getting back into everything! I have gotten myself into quite a bit of debt. From mortgage to car, to credit cards, and out of control on grocery spending. So I will be trying for the grocery spending challenge, no spend day challenges and probably many more.

 

[frugal.lass]

It's doubtful we'll get them all done, but it's good to have something to shoot for.

I love your attitude!!! I know so many people who create their To Do List, get overwhelmed and give up before they've even started.

 

[Livin Large]

No spend and no eating out - as usual.

Stockpiling - the best I can without an area to garden other than a few pots.

Money/debt....Not sure what to do on this one. With all the crazy crap going on in the world and in our country I'm not sure what to do. Do I stockpile $ or do I pay off debt ....does it even matter??

Hobby - need to get back into quilting again and I need to learn how to sew other than quilting. The only plus is that I have followed my rule "No buying fabric without sewing" so my stash has not grown during the last 7 months other than the fabric my sister gave me.

Keep track of how much food is wasted during the year. I did this a few years ago while I was living in Idaho and kept it under $200 for the year. But back then a lot of the food came from my garden (Free) and I won't have that advantage this year. :-(

 

[Spirit Deer]

Frugal.lass, we've btdt getting overwhelmed! But we're finally getting some traction and starting to see results, which has been very encouraging. The past year and a half we've gotten so much done. We reached a tipping point where the results of past projects have motivated us to keep on with more projects and it's all finally starting to look like we're actually making progress. We have a long list of accomplishments for this year and having that momentum has made a huge difference. We're also getting much better at breaking projects down into a series of small tasks, making them seem more manageable than looking at it as one huge monumental overwhelmingly impossible project. We're loving how our projects have all gone this year and the results.

 

[knotme]

Lots I would like to accomplish this next year. Declutter things in the house, building a garage, canning, sewing, quilting, crochet. Piano lessons too, plus try to pay off a vehicle and a CC. The CC is at 0% for 3 years and I am ahead on it so hope to have it gone this year. I am also ahead on the vehicle too. Fully fund DH's Roth IRA. We do have automatic payment taken out every month but need to add extra to max it for the year. Also add to my IRA too. It is a traditional one and I haven't maxed it yet. Plus try to get our Mortgage down too and get it paid off early. ( so far it is scheduled for a 3 and a half year early payoff). I also have been tracking my walking through a fitbit and have managed to keep up about 4 miles a day since October. I plan to keep up with that too and hopefully increase it to 5 miles a day. I do take Sundays off. Boy that is a lot I would like to accomplish. Hope I can get a lot of it done!

 

[Rosebudget1]

My daughter is getting divorced and moving in with us. She has three children. She is hoping to keep the kids in school till the end of the year. If not depending on her soon to be EX (how he acts) she could be here at anytime.
I need to watch every penny.
We need to put two new bedrooms in the garage.
I will be looking for the grocery challenge.