I almost forgot, but here’s the quarterly review of our 2011 goals.
MONEY:
1) Continue to save, save, save with focus on the mortgage, moving abroad, travel and our house. On track but we’ve moved the goals around a little. By continuing to live quite frugally we’ve been able to save 70% of our moving abroad fund (£6k) and 56% of 2012 travel fund (£4k). These figures are a little behind because we’ve been throwing money at the mortgage instead. So far this year the mortgage has reduced by an extra £2.3k.
2) Continue to work towards a 50% net income saving rate {currently 37%}. On track. With my part time job and the money from my side income we are now able to hit a 50% savings rate….which is still totally amazing to me!
3) Continue to use a cash budget system. Check.
4) Continue to meal plan every week. Check. I meal plan every week as it helps to keep our grocery spending down.
5) Stick to our budget 100% with no unnecessary, unconscious spending. I fell off the wagon in September by buying new bedlinen! Hopefully I can make it to the end of the year without it happening again.
HOUSE:
1) Totally complete all repairs and decorating. Still in progress.
2) Learn about renting out your house…legals, tax etc. Yes as much as possible for now.
PERSONAL:
1) Lose 30lbs. Fail! But I am back in the zone! I’m hoping to achieve a 15lb weigh loss by the end of the year.
2) Eliminate my iron deficiency. Yes and then no. Without going into the ins and outs of this, it’s a constant battle to keep my iron levels up.
3) Teach myself to sew {better}. Fail! Again.
4) Reduce waste bin to 25% full every fortnight {currently 50%} Check! It’s amazing how easy this is to do when you really set your mind to reducing the packaging you buy and then recycle as much as possible.
5) Keep everything simple and organised. Yes..ish as I’m still in the process of de-cluttering our financial accounts.
6) Go to the Design Museum and the Tate in London. Not yet. Went to the Design Museum in Lisbon. Does that count?! 
7) Have a spa day with eldest daughter {graduation celebration}. Goal changed as she’s now having a sofa. Sofa bed bought….that’s my little London bolthole sorted then!!!!!
Let me know, how are your 2011 goals progressing? Are you on track?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Laura, you are so very inspiring by the way in which you lead your life! You’re doing SOO well! I’m excited to see you hit your goals!!
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movetoportugal Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 5:55 am
Carla – thank you. Your support means a lot to me
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wow. that is AWESOME. way to go. Our budget has totally disappeared at the moment. Well it was only ever my budget to be honest. Hub won’t do one. So I gave up. Life has been jolly and its kind of nice not worrying about what we spend. However saving and goals like that have gone as a consequence. Its not very long term. However I am totally ON the decluttering!! Decluttering is ON FIRE in my life right now. And I have all my art stuff in the box room, which was Bub’s room and is going to be my Studio. SO it feesl ultra good to be moving forward on that goal. Also the income thing is really starting to come together. And we are paying off £200 more each month on our mortgage than we were. THough we really ought to be paying off £1000 each month – we are coasting along on the really low interest rates at the moment.
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movetoportugal Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
Hi Mo. You sound so inspired right now and how exciting – getting a studio!
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Congrats on the 50% goal!!! That’s fantastic. I wonder what I’m saving. I don’t even know how to calculate my net income. Do I include the $500+ a month we pay into medical and life insurance as expenses even though it’s taken out of our paycheck automatically? In my head I always think of my net income as the amount that gets put into my checking account on payday, but that includes expenses like retirement savings, life insurance, medical insurance, disability insurance. That takes out a big chunk of our cash right off the top.
I’ve been doing pretty well at organizing and purging my clothes and desk lately. I have to tackle my electronic files next. I do have a stack of things that I can’t manage to sell but perhaps the christmas season will attract more people to the online for sale ads.
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movetoportugal Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Hi Sandy
I always calculate on net income…which for us is money paid into the bank after taxes and pension (which comes straight out of wages) – We’re lucky that we don’t have healthcare pyts to worry about.
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