It is that time of year again. The end of the year. Besides holiday fun it is also the time to think about my budget for the upcoming year and think about how we did this past year.
How well did we do in 2011?
Since I didn’t get a chance to post about it. My plan was simple.
My plan in 2011 was to live within our means. However, we had a lot of challenges this year.
1. First we were blessed with identical twin boys this year! Our family grew from 3 to 5 in just a couple months. This meant we had to make a tough decision on child care. I decided to stay home with the kids. We went from 2 incomes to 1 in a short amount of time. I try to work part-time at home when I can. That is a huge change of income.
For those Moms and Dads out there that have twins or multiples I give you so much credit! This year has been crazy, insane and shocking. There were times we had to eat out often, or get take out or just eat bad. It was survival mode. I’m so thankful that I had coupon knowledge behind me and I had a great stockpile. It helped us so much to survive those first couple months.
2. Second, our well pump died in the spring and we had to have it replaced. Luckily we were only out of water for 1 day. It was a holiday when it crocked and the company we called had no problem coming in and fixing it right away. That was almost $3,000. Thank goodness we have our emergency account.
3. Third, we had used savings to pay for car repairs. This was about $500 and most of it was basic maintenance.
4. We finished up the bathroom remodeling. I will note that we had saved up for the remodeling. This totals over $3000.
- Before
The good news!
With the change in income, and the use of our savings from earlier in the year to pay for our savings project, we saved very little for other goals like we had in our 2010 Savings Challenge.
1. Continued to pay off credit cards and stay out of debt!
2. We maxed out on 401k yearly contributions.
3. We saved for college. Note: It doesn’t have to be a lot to save. Our 529 plan minimum is $25 per month.
4. I have a wonderful spa bathroom that we all can enjoy!
Now we are going to sit down and start planning our goals for 2012. How did you do in 2011? What are your goals for 2012?
