Another milestone, another checklist of progress!  As 2017 winds to a close and we start looking ahead to 2018, we figured it would be a perfect time to review our 2017 goals and make some notes about our progress so far.  2017’s mantra was “No Wasted Motion” and I feel like we’ve done that mantra pretty well throughout the year.  We’ve still got a list of goals to achieve in 2018, but, we’ve crossed a bunch off our list in 2017.

• Continue concerted effort to stop buying unnecessary stuff.  We done really well with this in 2017 by continuing to ask one question before making any purchase: “Will buying this get us closer to our goal?”  This seems to be the key to helping us stay focused and it worked really well for us this year.
• Continue to purge items that we don’t need / want that won’t impact daily living.  When we rented the Co-Op stand in August 2017, we were unsure whether it would be a viable option to get rid of our stuff.  Turns out, it was one of the best decisions we’ve made so far!  We’ve been able to cover the rent for the stand ($70 per month) and make a little profit each month since August so we’re counting the stand as a success.  I’ve also continued to fill and send boxes to Give Back Box throughout the year with things like linens, clothing and kitchen items, too.
• Continue to digitize all new, incoming “paper.”  This has been huge in 2017.  We’ve gotten into a habit of putting all the paper stuff into a basket and then taking a few minutes every few weeks to scan it all into the computer and then put it in the tub to be burnt.  We’ve been successful in avoiding any additional paper being stored in the house and having everything readily available on our computers and phones has come in handy on more than one occasion.
• Major focus on paying down debt.  Despite the progress we’ve made in other areas during 2017, this has been our main focus throughout the year.  So much so that it needed it’s own post to fully describe how much progress we’ve made in 2017.  Stay tuned for that post, coming really soon!
• January 2017 – Plan to pay off of Lowe’s credit card.  We originally planned to pay off our Lowe’s credit card in July 2017.  Then, we adjusted the date to April 2017.  Then to March 2017.  But, we actually paid the Lowe’s card off, in full, on Friday the 13th, 1/13/2017!  6 months ahead of our original goal.  Major success here in 2017!
• July 2017 Colorado Trip – Keep credit card charges to a minimum and pay cash for as much as possible.  This was kind of a stressor going into 2017 – knowing that our focus was on paying down our debt but also knowing that we didn’t want to worry about how much we spent on our family vacation.  We ended up doing really well, coming home with some money left over and feeling pretty successful.  If you haven’t read about how we traveled across the country for 12 days and managed to only spend $2108.81, check it out here.
• March 2017 – Plan to pay off motorcycle loan. We planned to pay off the motorcycle loan in December 2017 and ended up shortening our goal to June, then to May due to our swift progress.  But, we actually paid the motorcycle off, in full, on Friday 3/10/2017!  9 months ahead of our original schedule.  Another HUGE success here!
• July 2017 – Plan to pay off PSECU loan.  The original time frame for paying off the PSECU loan was October 2017.  Since we made such great progress with paying the other debts early in the year, we were able to back this one up to September but actually paid off the loan, in full, on Friday, 7/14/2017.  Hurray for success in 2017!
• September 2017 – Plan to pay off Alexis’ Nissan Juke.  Originally scheduled to be paid in full in January 2018, we moved the anticipated pay off of the Juke to November, then October but ended up paying off the Juke, in full, on Sunday, 9/24/2017.  Success feels GOOD!
• Early 2017 – Finish renovations on master bedroom, den and remainder of 2nd story of our current home.  We did pretty well with this in 2017, as the master bedroom was mostly completed in January 2017 and the den was 100% completed in July 2017.  We still have some small things to finish up – mostly baseboard and window trim – but, overall, we made a lot of progress on the 2nd floor of the house during 2017.  The best part?  As we moved stuff out to make way for renovations, I purged the majority of the stuff, saving us the effort of having to move things back in.  Hurray for minimizing!

• Winter 2017 – Complete renovations on guest room and hallway on 1st floor of our current home.  We’ve been clearing the guest room out for months and actually got started on tearing things apart on 12/27/2017.  Since the only things getting changed are paint, flooring, trim and door hardware, this one should be a relatively easy goal to accomplish in early 2018.  Stay tuned for updates on our progress!