January's 10! How we did!

I need these posts to help me with accountablity. You can see our January goals HERE.

And here is how January went down!

1. Pay off $1000 Minimum of DEBT.. that horrible, nasty thing.

Done! We were able to pay off and extra $2050! (not including the regular payments we usually make)

Thanks to all that overtime and some budgeting. We could have paid off some more but we did some fun stuff that wasn't free in January. And two early February birthdays to boot!

2. We did get some apple slices (with Halloween freebie coupons), other than that I didn't have any, kids either! And I have only had very limited pop the whole month! Wasn't perfect, but a whole lot better! February will be even better than January.

 3. I did find some alternatives to the cruddy filled stuff we used to buy.

~Chips, while they weren't a very frequent thing. These are amazing! GF, NON GMO, nut free and delicious!

~ The Target brand fruit snacks. So good, no artificial stuff and relatively inexpensive,not much more expensive than other fruit snacks and way less expensive than Annie's brand. A good compromise for us.

~Again with the Target brand.. the juice boxes. We don't love to use them at all but once in a while we do use them and now I won't feel as bad about it!

~ We would occasionally get the kids granola bars for their lunch boxes, I have failed at making them so many times! I am not sure if these are just a local brand, I can read every ingredient in them, better than the other brand we were getting.

~ I convinced the kids to try the whole grain pasta again, we haven't had pasta much but every little improvement helps!

4. Meal Plans.. Horrible! I just did flat out horrible, not with eating out, although we did a couple times, I just didn't stick to the plan. I didn't have to add any additional grocery trips though so I think it worked out ok!

5. Being at work makes it super easy to drink plenty of water! Being at home was always the hard part for me. We got a Brita pitcher like this one to help! If the water is already cold I will be more likely to drink it.

6. Loving getting this place organized! Check out more HERE. Now that birthday parties are over I will feel less like a crazy person!

7. I have my list of stuff to add to Emergency packs and am slowly (very slowly) adding stuff to it! Only got a couple things this month.

8. Journal writing is still hard for me! I started keeping supplies in my nightstand and car, and purse that has helped. Not every week, but still a little better.

9. Home made dishwasher tabs have been working ok. I don't use them every load because I feel like they leave a build up a little bit on some of the dishes. So every few loads until they are gone. I am not sure if I will make them again. Not these ones anyway.

I used 1C. Borax

1C. Washing Soda

1C Vinegar

1/2C Epsom Salt

few drops of Essential Oil, I used Sweet Orange this time.

10. Got the kitchen nice 'n' clean & a little more organized.  You can find my deep cleaning kitchen list here.

Should have February Goals soon!