1.) Save $1,000 in HSA
We exceeded this number by double and paid a lot of medical bills out of pocket.

2.) Pay off $7,500 in Debt
We paid off over $10,000 in debt this year! Sadly we added more debt as well, but we are still below what we started with at the beginning of the year.

3.) Add $1,000 in Car Fund
We did not complete this. Well sort of. We did save over $1,000 in the car fund. But we had to raid it several times for car and/or home fixes. So we are finishing the year with only $665 saved this year.

4.) Save $1,500 for Vacation
Completed and exceeded this goal. We ended up having to change plans and we went to Utah/Arizona/Colorado/Nevada to see all the famous canyons. Went a bit over budget but paid cash.

5.) Save $4,500 in Animal Fund
Did not complete again this year. Was about $1,600 short. Then I had a litter of puppies which I have been unable to sell and I am currently paying over $100 a WEEK to feed them. So animal money is currently killing me.

Overall not a bad year considering my pregnancy and the thousands in medical bills we accrued.

Well despite last month's hardships I am happy to announce that today I am able to strike/complete one of my 2019 goals.

Today was payday, and I received a small design check, so I was able to send $350 to the credit card, and $109.65 to the medical bill. Which brings my debt payoff amount to approximately $7,775 this year.

Reducing those two debts to $3,665 & $2,000.

Happy to see the CC hit below the next thousand mark. Once my side income check comes in I should be able to add quite a bit more to debt. Although I am considering using some to fill my buffer back up as well.

Besides that husband has been told he likely has to work the next 19 days straight... Bad for him, but the overtime will help us get some of the baby items we need, and maybe pay down more debt. We will have to wait and see.

Well we finally got signed up for health insurance. It's not accepted yet, but it should kick in on April 1st as long as all the paperwork goes through. Final amount was $360 a month minus his $160 raise. So $200 a month out of pocket, or $50 a check. (weekly)

This includes putting $1,000 into an HSA this year. His employer will also put in $1,250 I think. In the future I would like to up this number, but it will work for now until we pay off our debt.

Our driveway was finally bladed and it looks great. Now I just need to get the new rock delivered. Been busy working on the house.

On the financial front, not much progress. Paid a couple hundred on the CC, and have been paying myself back after all the expenses. Thankful that this is an extra paycheck month for us.

Well I went to the DMV with the new originals they said I needed, and now they are saying I need something else!? I started crying in the DMV and left.

Now my relative is driving the 3 hours to me this weekend with all the papers again. I am beyond frustrated. Ugh.

I got half of my payment for a website I am doing and added $500 to the animal fund. The other $400 I left in my checking account to pay for the next couple months of animal expenses. I need to sell a minimum of 11 goats this year to pay for all their expenses.

I am unsure if I will be able to pay my goal of $1,000 worth of debt in March. It's husband's birthday month and also I will have to pay to transfer the new car to my name (plates, taxes, etc) which will be over $300. I'm receiving a smaller web design check this month as well. So we'll see how it goes.

Things are still going pretty well. We got our tax refund back so I went ahead and sent it to the IRA for 2018. With that and the market gains we are up to $32,489 in our retirement accounts.

I'm about to sign a new web design contract and will get $1,000 this week or next to put towards the animal fund.

I paid another $230 on the credit card. New balance is $9,592.36.

I received one of my web design checks and sent the amount to the credit card. It is now down to five digits!! $9,822!

It's hard to believe that in a little over a month I have already hit over 1/3 of my debt paying goal for the year. I'm knocking it out of the park, I hope it keeps up!

We went through our closets and dressers and managed to pull out 2 trash bags full of clothes to sell, donate, or trash. Then we went shopping and I got 3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts for less than $75.

I had a coupon and a gift card for Lowes so we purchased two lamps for our bedroom nightstands. It is so nice to finally have lights close to the bed. Still need to find shades.

We did a couple small fun projects around the house this week. We built an awesome clock out of a large metal plate and hung a bird feeder outside our bathroom window. I also went through all my paperwork and organized/de-cluttered my desk. Trying to organize the house a bit at a time.

It's really time to start cracking on the house again so we can tie up some loose ends. It's hard to always have everything half finished and in disarray.

The balance transfer to the new 0% credit card is finalized so I paid my first payment of $526. Bringing the total debt remaining to $10,803.

I can not wait to see that number fall to 4 digits!

I have decided to put $1,000 into my Roth IRA for the 2018 year. Which actually completes one of my 2018 goals!

I went ahead and put $250 in today, and the other $750 will be from our tax refund. (the entire amount)

I think I have pretty much decided to keep the van. I've been driving it every day and I really like it. Hoping it lasts a while and is a reliable vehicle.

My credit card balance transfer is now finally showing as pending. I already have $500 to pay on the new card as soon as it goes through!

I have been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish financially in 2019. I think 2019 will bring a lot of life changes, and our main goal overall is to put ourselves in a more comfortable living position.

Now that we aren't scrapping by, we want to save and pay off debt. We want to get ahead and improve our future.

Starting in March we will have to start paying our own health insurance which is going to add about $200 a month to our budget. Ew.

My goals do not fit into our budget on paper, but I am hopeful that with husband's overtime money we will be able to accomplish at least some/most of them.

1.) Save $1,000 in HSA
Since we will have to start paying our own insurance and it's a high deductible we need to begin putting back money in the HSA.

2.) Pay off $7,500 in Debt
Our stretch goal, but a necessary evil if we want to pay off the credit cards before they start to accrue interest.

3.) Add $1,000 in Car Fund
An easier goal since we automatically save for this each paycheck. Our cars are currently hanging in there, but I know it's only a matter of time before we will need to purchase a new one.

4.)Save $1,500 for Vacation
We had to skip a vacation this year due to husband's job change, so we are definitely going to take one next year. Planning for Yellowstone again, which last time cost us right around $1,500.

Save $4,500 in Animal Fund
Another stretch goal, but very doable if I put back all the goat money I get. This amount would pay for all animal related expenses for an entire year.

All this totals $14,500. Or over $1,200 a month. It's going to be tough but I think it's best to push yourself and aim for the stars.


I paid all my bills today including my annual home insurance premium. It feels good! My web design check came and I was able to pay off all my personal credit cards, and I actually have about $30 left over that is just siting in my account waiting for me to earmark it. Probably towards Christmas presents or a new car battery. I'm still YNABing faithfully and it is so nice to see GREEN.