Lightening Online

Can you believe that our planned departure date for the big trip is only 2 months away today????

I’m not sure whether to be excited or a little freaked out by that. :)  I think I’m a bit of both.

Anyway, I thought it was time for an update on how I’m going with my BHAG (which is to save $5000 by the time we leave).

Total as of 31st March 2009: $3294.47

To be added:

March Interest $64.19

Advertising Payment (3 Kids And A Caravan)  $100

Money Owed from Friend (was paid out of last years budget so I’m going to add it to my total)  $110.00

Neways Cheque $6.67

Flybuys Rewards Card $100

Competition Winnings $300

Grocery Surplus for April $84.75

Interest (April)  $66.84

Total to be Added $832.45

Bringing my current BHAG total to:

Can you believe that???

$4,126.92

I am over the moon with that figure!!!!  I’ve already surpassed my wildest expectations.  And with 2 months left to go, I might even actually reach this goal.

$873.08 over the next 8 weeks.  About $110 a week.  Hmmm….

As March draws to a close, it’s time to evaluate my grocery spending for the month.

At the beginning of the month, I decided to take $600 in cash and put it aside for all grocery purchases throughout the month.  My grocery costs include cleaning items and personal care items (other than my make up) but doesn’t include take away (we have a separate budget for take away and eating out).

I have $184.05 in the bag.

This means for the month of March we spent $415.95.

With 4 shopping weeks in March (I usually shop on a Wednesday), that equates to an average of around $104 per week.

That amount included some bulk meat purchases and a pantry stock-up as well as some extra items for the baking I did for the funeral, so I’m REALLY happy with the outcome.

That $184.05 is getting added to my BHAG total.

April has 5 shopping weeks (and I’ll still have the same $600 starting amount) as well as Easter (so some extra goodies I imagine as we’re going away) so it’ll be more of a challenge.  I’m hoping to come in at around the $500 mark.

We’ll see how that goes.

Here’s my latest BHAG figures. Still a long way to go to reach my final goal by June 30th 2009:

I have to admit that over the past few months, our spending has been a little out of control. Some of this is due to unforeseen medical circumstances but a lot of it is due to a lack of discipline when it comes to shopping.

I mean, let’s face it, shopping can be LOTS of fun. It’s even more fun when you’re not working to any sort of budget or tracking where the money is going.

Until the credit card bill comes.

The good news is that I’ve been aware that our income cannot sustain my level of spending in recent times.

The bad news is that I still had to find a way to undo the damage already done.

The good news is, we have money in savings.

The bad news is that money is supposed to be earmarked for the big trip.

(did you ever have to write one of those stories in Primary School “What good luck…, what bad luck…?”)

The good news is I’m managing to scrape enough money together so far that I haven’t had to dip into savings.

The bad news is, I’m still paying for spending in late January and throughout February (so essentially, we’re behind because I technically don’t have the funds to cover what I’ve spent on the credit cards since then).

The good news is, I should have the money to pay for those bills by the time the next credit card bill is due (another month’s time).

And so on it goes.

In an ideal world I probably should do away with using the credit card altogether. But it’s just SO convenient.

To change the subject a little:

It’s been over a month since I’ve updated my BHAG. So far, I haven’t had to delve into this money to cover my spending faux pars so we’ll continue on our merry little way and hope that I can sort out this over-spending while keeping my little “nest egg” intact.

Last Update Total (2/2/09) $2834.31

Amounts to be added:

Interest: $163.41

Simple Savings Affiliate payment: $11.00

Clean out of old handbag (cash from last year’s budget): $101.70

New Total: $3110.42

With 15 weeks to go (oh my!), I need to find around $125 a week on average to reach my goal.

I thought it was about time I updated my progress toward my BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal).

Last update total: $745.53

To Be Added:

Simple Savings Affiliate Payments $33.00

Interest $55.78

January Drawings (not needed) $2000

Updated Total for End of January: $2834.31

Amount left to reach BHAG: $2165.69 (which translates to a little over $400 per month for the next 5 months)

Can I do it?

Not sure. We’ll see.

Can you believe that we’re already at the end of the first month of my BHAG? If time keeps flying this fast, the big trip will be here before we know it. It’s kind of hard to believe after more than a decade of planning and dreaming.

Anyway, onto my progress report for my BHAG (my goal to save $5000 in the final 8 months before our trip).

Additions since my last update:

Simple Savings affiliate payment $22

Grocery Surplus for November $203.85

Website Sponsorship $150

Which brings the total thus far to $745.53

If my calculations are correct, I needed $625 at this point to be on track. So, we’re going well so far.

Image via WikipediaThis is one of those Big Hairy Audacious Goals (hereafter referred to as BHAG) like Suzie Cheel has talked about in the past.

After our discussions about our Big Trip budget, I’ve decided it would be mighty handy if I could come up with a bonus $5000 to contribute to the costs of the trip.

Kind of an “overflow” amount that can be used for things we don’t feel fit into our regular budget. Or if the projected budget doesn’t quite “make it” in spots.

Why $5000?

It seemed like a nice round figure and the rest of our budget is broken into $5000 amounts so it just seemed to make sense. It does feel like a reasonably “high” goal (ie. One I don’t expect to meet easily).

Setting things high inspires me to “reach for the stars” and put that little bit of extra effort into reaching for it.

That’s the theory anyway. That’s also why I’m classing it as a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal”.

How Do I Plan On Achieving This?

That’s a very good question. Here are some of my vague thoughts so far:

1. Sponsorship. In particular, selling advertising on 3 Kids And A Caravan. It’s still a small site in terms of traffic and search engine rankings so I need to work on this before I can expect any kind of sponsorship deals. I have another idea along sponsorship lines but not sure if it will pan out.
2. Writing articles for magazines. So far I have found one travel magazine that accepts (and pays for) reader submissions. Although I may not have too many articles I could write BEFORE we go away.
3. Putting $1 coins and $5 notes aside now ready for the trip ($1 coins for laundry and $5 notes for the kids weekly spending money). I’ll count this and add to the tally when it’s almost time to leave.
4. Using cash for our grocery shopping and spending as little as possible while I work on using up what we have on hand. Any surplus amounts can go toward this total.
5. Being frugal in general with our money between now and 31st January - anything left over can go toward the end tally. Last year we managed to live through January without any drawings (ie on surplus money in account from the rest of the year). If I can do this again, we’ll have $2000 (January Drawings) to put into the tally. Our spending has gone up considerably this year so I’m not sure if we’ll have much of a surplus but we’ll see. Even half would be a reasonably contribution to the overall tally.
6. Sell something. Ebay? Or make something to sell? No idea what.
7. Make better use of survey sites like emailcash and cash in on other reward points (eg flybuys, visa rewards). Small amounts but in my past experience, small amounts can add up if you have enough of them.

If you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears. I know many of you are mega creative when it comes to stuff like this so let me know if you think of something I can do/sell/create etc to help toward my final goal.

Time Frame

We’re hoping to leave in early July so I’m setting myself the deadline of June 30th 2009. That gives me 8 months to work on this goal.

Tracking My Progress

I will be blogging my progress but would also like to include some kind of widget in my sidebar so people can see my progress at a glance at any time. Unfortunately, all I’ve managed to find so far is a ticker bar, which works okay in my posts but won’t fit in my sidebar. If you know of any widgets that would work well in a sidebar, please let me know.

In the meantime, here is my lovely “treasure chest” ticker with my gold coin set firmly on zero. Hopefully not for too long.