February 2012 Goals: Recap
Posted on February 29, 2012 in monthly goals
I did fairly well this month with my expenses – only notably going over on the Travel portion of my budget because I prepaid for a lot of travel due to extremely good sales. Going forward, March should see a good amount of income coming in, and less expenses since most of our future travel plans are now already paid for. We still need to pay for our train tickets to Geneva and Vienna, but after that, I believe all of our travel is paid for up until mid-June.
Over Budget:
- Food – I’m surprised this isn’t a lot higher, to be honest with you. Since we spent half the month living in a hostel, we were buying most of our groceries at a fairly expensive store.
- Clothing – I didn’t bring enough undergarments, so I bought 7 pairs on sale. I also bought a scarf off Etsy, since I forgot mine at home.
- Travel – This includes 2 day trips (Esslingen, Tübingen), a weekend trip to Munich, and 3 flights (Faro/Lisbon, Amsterdam, Athens).
- Personal Care – shampoo/conditioner, soap, etc.
Net Worth Change: + $102 (0.14%)
Well, to be honest I’m surprised to come out with a positive net worth. After having to pay so much money towards living in the hostel, deposit (and commission!) on our apartment, first month’s rent, 3 weekend trips, booking 3 flights for future travel, AND paying for my mortgage back home, that’s a lot of spending!
February 2012 Goals:
- Practice and learn German every day. PASS. While I haven’t practiced German every day, I have learned something new most days. While I have graduated to mixing some simple German words in with my English, I have yet to speak a full sentence in German. :)
- Work a maximum of 50 hours/week. CHECK! I still check and reply to e-mails early in the mornings and late in the evening, but my work day starts at 9am, and I’m usually off my computer by 5pm. I would estimate I work about 9 hours M-F, and a few hours on the weekends.
- Pitch myself for 3 projects. CHECK! Well, I technically pitched myself for 3 projects. I got one of them, but after multiple e-mail follow-ups, I didn’t hear back from the other 2. Oh well. I’ll keep pitching ideas to people, and see what happens.
- Get my taxes organized for this year, and going into next year. PASS. I’ve done what I could to get organized. My paperwork is on its way to me, and I’m starting to get my receipts in order.
Ongoing 2012 Goals:
- Post a new photo every day on my Tumblr account, My Life In Pixels. CHECK!
- Only post my own photos on GMBMFB. CHECK!
- Write one guest post for another blog or website. FAIL. I started a new web project, and just haven’t had time.
16 Responses to “February 2012 Goals: Recap”
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Unbelievable Effort!! Don’t hold back and miss out on opportunities though :)
Savvy Scot´s latest post —> Secret to Quality Budget Graphics
Amazing, Krystal!
Quick q that has nothing to do with your travels – what is your Rogers cell plan like? Are you on contract? $58 is not bad and once I (finally) get a smartphone, I am aiming for my monthly bill to be in the $50-$60 range as well.
LittleFrugalista´s latest post —> Dear debt-ary
My Rogers plan is:
- 200 anytime minutes
- unlimited evenings/weekends
- visual voicemail
- caller ID
- 500 mb data (which I’ve never gone over, and I use my phone a lot)
- unlimited text/picture messages
The plan is actually $47/month + tax & fees. It’s usually a bit lower than $58/month. Oh yeah, and I’m in a 3-year contract, which is why I’m still paying for my Rogers phone while I’m away here in Germany. Luckily, my German cell phone/data plan is dirt cheap. :)
@Krystal Yee: Noted. Thanks! Looks like your plan of $47+taxes is the lowest that Rogers will go so that’s the ballpark figure I’m going to push for.
LittleFrugalista´s latest post —> Dear debt-ary
I think you’re doing good!
I think that’s pretty cool that you’ve limited yourself to 50 hours of work now and are succeeding! It seems like a lot of freelancers get overwhelmed and might end up working 7 days a week. But it’s encouraging that you’ve found a good balance.
Jeffrey Trull´s latest post —> Multiple Bank Accounts: Is More Better or Worse?
Hahah I’m living vicariously through your travels! Good job, can’t wait to read more about Germany.
Well Heeled Blog´s latest post —> Looking Ahead… At Student Loans
If you are considering a non-hostel venue when you go to Vienna, I can recommend Pension Neuer Markt. Steps away from St. Stephens Cathedral, walking distance to everywhere in Vienna proper. The rooms are big enough and all the ones we saw had a bathroom in them. Breakfast is included, and in addition to the very best kaiser rolls, cheese, and meat, you can get a hot breakfast.
Great effort! I love reading about your experiences in Germany.
BrokeElizabeth´s latest post —> February 2012 Recap
I’m surprised you came out ahead this month, too (what a tough month to grow your net worth). That would seem to signal that the next few months should be great as you settle in.
Average Joe´s latest post —> Unplug Grandma’s Life Support…Quick! Inherited IRA rules changing?
Super important to speak the language while you are there if you aspire to learn any of it. I was young when I lived in France and was embarrassed to speak the language even though I was quite good at it. I missed out on a huge opportunity and I regret it now. Thankfully, there were times when I had no choice but to speak the language like with the people I worked with who were a bit older and didn’t speak any English. It can be very easy with the younger people in Europe to just speak English though as for the most part they all speak it quite well.
Marianne´s latest post —> Slashing Expenses: How We Saved $60 On Gas!
The important part is that number after networth is green and not red :) Awesome!!!!
Renee´s latest post —> How to Save Money While On Vacation:
Oh lord don’t remind me about taxes. I’ve got to get my 2011 filed ASAP to complete my pension buyback so I don’t get dinged with a Past Service Pension Adjustment.
Joe´s latest post —> Why I Don’t Have a Financial Advisor
[...] along the way. I normally read about 10 different blogs a day, as I read the latest post at Give Me Back My Five Bucks I realized I haven’t kept track of any of our expenditures this past month. Although we [...]
I’m curious, you seem to have spent over 90 bucks on food just in the last week (according to your budget you posted) so how did you manage to come up with a number of 160 bucks plus for food? How do you categorise these things?
It’s hard to explain exactly how I categorize my items. But “Food” is groceries, snacks, and anytime I dine alone. Anytime I go out to eat with Nic, or with friends, it goes into the “Entertainment” category instead.