November 2011 Goals: Recap
November has been a pretty good month. I stayed under budget, which was the most important thing. But I also learned that gas is included in the strata fees of my townhouse complex (I called the gas company – yes I am clearly a great homeowner since it took me 7 months). I figured I’d get a quarterly gas bill or something for my fireplace, but it never came. And none of the strata documents mentioned that gas was included. So that means I only need to pay for my hydro bill, which will probably stay constant around $25/month throughout the winter, since I’m not going to turn on my baseboard heaters now that I know I don’t have to pay my gas bill. :)
OVER BUDGET
- Cell phone – Nic and I went to Seattle in October for 2 nights, and I kept the $10 data roaming plan from September’s trip to Chicago for FINCON.
- Food – a random trip to Costco to stock up on the essentials.
- Entertainment – I forgot that the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show was this month, so I went a bit over in this category because a girlfriend came to town to go to the show with me.
- Miscellaneous – I bought 2 group coupons, a $15 ferry reservation, as well as a $50 Starbucks gift card.
NET WORTH CHANGE: + $1,883 (3.07%)
There’s not much to say about my net worth. It continues to climb somewhat steadily, so I’m happy about that. My Emergency Fund is sitting around $7,800 right now, and I’m really excited to get to my $10,000 goal. I plan on putting as much of my savings into my EF as possible, and should have it fully funded in 2 months – by the end of January. :)
November 2011 Goals:
- Make an additional $3,000 above and beyond my FT job. CHECK! I made $3,594 in freelance income. Not as much as I’ve made in the past couple of months, but it’s a solid amount and I’m satisfied.
- Contribute $800 towards my Retirement Portfolio. FAIL. I only contributed $625 because I’m in the middle of setting up a new TFSA mutual fund account with TD Canada Trust.
- Contribute $500 towards my Travel Fund. FAIL. I put nearly $1,300 into my Emergency Fund instead, leaving my Travel Fund looking a little sad. But in the end, it’s all savings.
- Run 8 times. FAIL. I didn’t run once. Not one time. I’m officially giving up, and will regroup in January when I get back from vacation. Although, I think working out 3x/week at field hockey should be good enough for exercise.
- Finish my scrapbook. FAIL. Nope. I didn’t even try.
- Read 10 articles about investing. CHECK! I read a lot of articles about the TD e-series mutual funds, TFSA strategies, and spoke in depth with a financial advisor about investing.
- Give up chocolate. CHECK! I didn’t think I’d be able to do it, but I did. No chocolate for an entire month, and it wasn’t even that hard! :)
Ongoing 2011 Annual Goals:
- No buying lunch, snacks or coffee during the work week. FAIL. I bought my lunch once.
- No buying clothing, shoes or accessories until December 31, 2011. CHECK! In fact, I gave away 2 bags of clothing. :)
- Work out at least 3x/week. CHECK! I worked out 12 times this month.
14 Responses to “November 2011 Goals: Recap”
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I think you’re doing great, like usual.
Michelle´s latest post —> Good Bad UGLY 11/30/2011
I can’t believe you have gone almost a year without buying any clothing. The furthest I’ve gone is about 4 months. I just can’t seem to go a couple of weeks without picking up a little something for myself. Fortunately for my budget, nothing I get is ever that expensive.
Well Heeled Blog´s latest post —> $10,000 Wedding Cash from Mom & Dad
Okay well to be fair, I did have a 1-week break in my shopping ban this year when I went to NYC. :)
Congrats! November was a good month for you :)
I can’t believe you’ve gone almost a year without buying any clothing. The only month this year that I haven’t bought any clothing (including shoes) is September.
Or giving up chocolate! That’s a crazy idea. I suppose it saves money, but chocolate is very important to me!
Leigh´s latest post —> What to do with discretionary savings?
Well giving up chocolate wasn’t really to save money, it was just to prove to myself that I could do it. Kind of strange that way. ;) Especially because December I’m probably going to end up indulging at parties and meeting up with friends.
“No buying lunch, snacks or coffee during the work week. FAIL. I bought my lunch once.”
Where do you list meals out, snacks, coffee, beer, etc in your spreadsheet? In your post yesterday you said the $50 starbucks card was in miscellaneous. Do you put all the other stuff in there too?
I’d also like to know more about your grocery budget and how you keep it below $200. I know you’ve made a few posts about this in the past, but I’d like know how you do it month after month and only go over when you stock up on essentials.
I have been trying very hard for several months now to keep my budget to $200 or less and find it almost impossible. I am single and I shop at discount grocers most of time, and even then I rarely buy something if it’s not on sale. I buy very few prepared foods and cook most things from scratch, even bread when I have time. I also cook big batches and freeze leftovers. However, I still find my grocery bill exceeds $200 most months, and I don’t know how you can budget for $150 unless you also eat out a few meals a week. I was at $208.30 for November 4 days ago and have been trying hard not to buy anything else until December, which means my meals this week have been pretty meagre.
Meals out/snacks/coffee get put into Entertainment mostly. The $50 Starbucks card is in miscellaneous because it’s not really “entertainment.” In fact, I need to figure out a way to separate my personal expenses with my business expenses. Or maybe not even list business expenses at all.
I do eat out a couple of times a month, but I eat really simple food. I also don’t eat a lot of meat, and usually don’t prepare any unless my boyfriend is around. Because I’m so busy, my dinners are usually something quick like pasta and vegetables, or a bagel with vegetables… I don’t take more than 20 minutes to prepare anything, and I think that helps me keep my costs low. Breakfast is usually a piece of fruit and some green tea. As a girl, I also probably don’t eat as much as you. Other than that, I’m not sure what more I can say.
@Krystal Yee: “Meals out/snacks/coffee get put into Entertainment mostly.”
I hate to question your math, but you listed your Entertainment expenses for November as $114.05, which included a $100 Cirque du Soleil ticket. If it also includes meals out/snacks/coffee, where are the nearly $200 worth of meals, coffee, beer, etc, that you listed in your weekly recaps for November? Maybe some of the meals are business related, but even if they are only 50 per cent is deductible. And if you think tea at Starbucks is a business expense because you choose to work there instead of at home, I think you better get a good accountant.
The $100 Cirque tickets were purchased last year.
Some of the meals are listed in Food, and some are listed in Entertainment. Entertainment expenses are when I am with friends, and Food is if I am by myself and count it as part of my groceries.
And yes, I know that only a portion of my business-related expenses are deductible. I’ve been filing for freelance income and deducting expenses every year since I graduated in 2006.
It’s so cute that you think playing field hockey three times a week is “good enough” for exercise. I’m gonna slap you.
D´s latest post —> Going against the grain?
I’m with you Krystal – I think a sport that involves lots of running 3 times a week is probably good enough for exercise too! You’re doing better than me :)
It might not be the most well rounded exercise ever – but you’ll probably still be reasonably healthy from all that cardio.
SavingMentor´s latest post —> Great Reads On My Radar Today
@Krystal Yee: “The $100 Cirque tickets were purchased last year.”
So why did you note “Cirque du Soleil show” in your spreadsheet as an expense for this month?
… because I went out for dinner with a friend and paid for parking downtown b/c of the Cirque show… which is the reason why I went over budget in that category.
@Krystal Yee: Okay, that makes sense now. If I can make a suggestion from a reader’s perspective, it might be nice if you clarified your expenses more in the month end summaries. I made my first post here because I was curious how you keep your groceries bills so low, but then I started looking through your weekly spending and noticed you spent almost $200 on meals out and snacks in November, but I couldn’t see where this was accounted for in your spreadsheet. Obviously if you’re eating out that much it’s going to result in a lower grocery bill then someone who eats every meal at home.
I hope it didn’t sound like I was giving you a hard time, and I do appreciate your posts, it’s just that I was having a hard time understanding your spending this month.