2015 Planning: Income Goals

I received a great raise at the end of 2014 which came into effect for my January 1^st paycheck. However, I had to adjust my federal withholding for 2015 which led to an increase in taxes taken out. Also, the company has added disability insurance in the benefits package which I elected to enroll in so that reduces my take home pay as well. I end up with a net loss of $13 a paycheck or $26 a month which makes me so grateful for the raise because I was expecting a $200 a month loss.

Looking back on last year I feel like I spent a LOT of time trying to hustle extra money through my side etsy businesses, yard sales, consignment sales, craigslist sales, etc. Sure, all the extra work brought in a little extra money but I know that it led to some increased spending too. Being super busy all the time led to a lot more prepackaged food/ eating out, buying needed items at a higher price either because I didn’t have time to research a better price or because I didn’t have time to go to multiple stores, and just general “too tired to fight my inner battle and say no to things I want but don’t need” purchases.

In retrospect, my time might have been more valuable had I spent it on diligently reducing how much we spend across the budget instead of bringing in more. I’m not saying I won’t do anything in 2015 to bring in a little extra, especially when it comes to getting rid of unused kids stuff. I am saying that I need to place a higher priority on reducing expenditures particularly in the food categories.

Income Goals:

Spend more time stretching existing dollars and less time making extra dollars. I’ll write more when I look at budgeting goals.

Compress selling into two months, ie one month in spring and one month in fall do all craigslisting, ebaying, yard selling, consigning, etc instead of dragging it out all year which got really tiring.

Be a better employee. I feel extremely fortunate to have landed in such a great company. There are several areas that I’d like to focus on for my own professional growth but it will also translate into being more valuable to the company and perhaps more bonus/ raises in the future.