2020 February Goal Review - Part 2

Welcome back to installment 2 of February’s 20 for 2020 update. In my last post I reviewed the first 10 goals of our 20 for 2020. Here’s how we are doing on the last 10…

1.  Open, and use, a Health Savings Account for The Husband’s braces.

Pass: This is done! The Husband’s company loads all the money at once, even though it is only taken from his paycheck each pay period. The braces are paid for in full (we got a 5% discount for paying all at once) and The Husband loaded a little extra money to pay for doctors appointments throughout the year!

2.      Increase my 403b contributions by $100 sometime during the year.

No progress here: No progress here. Hopefully sometime in the next 11 months.

3.      Increase The Husband’s 401k contributions by 3% by the end of the year.

No progress here: Hoping to accomplish this through a raise… The Husband’s review is usually around March so we will know then if this will be easily feasible or not. He generally receives a 3+% raise that we designate to retirement.

4.      Have one billing period where I don’t charge ANYTHING (except autopays) on my credit card.

Fail: Charged way more than I even wanted to last month and already have several charges on the statement for February.

5.      Have a successful “No-Spend” September.

No progress here: It’s not September…

6.      I want to drink the loose leaf tea I already have and not buy anymore until I am only down to 3 flavors.

Pass-ish: I did buy tea, but I used a gift certificate, so not my own money. I bought 2 flavors I love and was out of and one more that sounded good. I’m calling it a pass because I did not spend my own money. I’m also calling it a pass because I have finished 2 flavors of loose tea since I wrote this goal!

7     7.  Add all our “subscriptions” to our monthly budget.

On-track: No specific progress on this front yet. Working on this for our March budget… hopefully.

8.      Don’t spend any money, out of pocket, on supplies for my classroom. (This does not include lessons I might choose to purchase.)

On-track-ish: This one is really difficult. I have bought treats for my kids. Does that count? I also bought toner for the printer on my desk; but that is my personal printer that the district does not upkeep. I did order (through my site secretary) toner for my district supplied printer, so that is a win.

9.      Keep current (monthly) with what I owe The Kids.

Fail: I still owe them for old hours and haven’t paid them. This is just sheer laziness! I need to do the math and gather the money. Must do better here! Should be caught up by March!!!

       10. Check in on my financial goals monthly.

Pass: So far so good. It’s so easy to be vigilant at the beginning of the year. The real test will be if we are checking in on our goals next October!

Overall, I’d give myself a B-. I am “passing” on 9 of 20 goals, on track with 4 more, “failing” with only 3 of our goals, and “on hold” or “not yet started” another 4. I’m feeling pretty good about our start. We still have a long way to go but are making pretty good progress.

I can’t stress enough the fact that if we are successful with these goals, we will definitely be creating a firmer financial foundation!