2010 Goals and Reflections

It is now 2010! This past year has flown by as all the years seem to do now. In the past year, the readership for this site has boomed. I have some exciting plans in the work for a new feature, which I think will benefit both Bloggers and Readers. Keep your eyes peeled for this new project in the coming weeks.

Last year, in my New Year, New Grocery Budget post, I set a couple of goals. One was to get our youngest child potty trained to reduce our spending on diapers. This goal was met by February mostly due to the Pot-Tee Prize System. This has saved us quite a bit each week by not having to buy diapers.

Another goal was to reduce our grocery spending to just $60 a week. I can’t officially verify if we met or not because I stopped keeping track of my receipts early in the year. Mostly due to time restraints because I was too busy sharing the awesome deals on here instead of tracking my receipts. So all of my 2009 tracking is unofficial.

I know I save at least 50% or more each grocery trip. I make a big grocery trip once a month and spend around $250. Then I make a couple of perishable trips which add up to around $100. We purchased all of the meat for our family from a local farmer and saved money while getting better quality meat products. Part of my goal this 2010, is to keep a better records system of my spending and saving on our grocery so I can share that information better with you.

Another goal of mine is to cook more meals from scratch, and share those recipes with you. Finding meals which can feed our entire family and meeting all their tastes and specification while being nutritionally and healthy is difficult. This is going to be something I’m going to work on for 2010.

I will be joining Money Saving Mom and FishMama for the Eat from the Pantry Challenge in January. The challenge is encouraging participants to eat from their pantry. I know I have numerous ingredients in my pantry I need to use so this will be a fun project. I will still be making trips to the grocery to get the best deals and use the products that are already in my pantry until my stock is reduced!

I would also like to do more Once a Month cooking. I’ve do a few of these in the past and it is very helpful for busy families as you have a freezer full of meals prepared. Which reduces the likelihood of getting expensive take out instead of eating at home. Plus, it is just convenient!

I’m going to make it a priority to have at least one cooking day a month. Also, cooking chicken and ground beef in big batches and freezing helps reduce time in the kitchen. I also like to double my recipes and freeze one while the family eats the other recipe. These are all things I can do to reduce time in the kitchen and help save more money.

Other budgeting goals include paying off a few more bills, using cash/debit card to pay for all purchases, and saving money for more home projects – we have a few we would like to accomplish!

As for blog goals, I would like to write more content for you to help you save money. Not just deals and bargains but timeless money saving tips to help you all year long. This will include some of the inexpensive recipes we’ve enjoyed, ways to budget and save money, and anything else I can think of. Maybe, I’ll include some extreme saving methods people have told me about just for fun!

I chuckled when I read Gina’s Blog Goals Gone Wrong because I can totally relate. While my blogging goals were met this year, I did experience the same behind phenom which Gina did. So I will be working on that this year as well using a FREE program called Spark People and our Wii Fit. Maybe, I will finally open up the EAS Active for Wii which we’ve had for a few months too!

What are your goals this year? It is to save more money? It is to reduce your grocery budget? If so, then you are in the right place! I do all of the hard work of finding the best deals, freebies, and other ways to keep money in your pocket. Start at the the 15 Days of Couponing to get started today!

Please let me know if there is anything specific you would like me to cover. Any suggestions or ideas for me for the New Year?