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Thursday, November 5

Reviewing my October Goals

Tomorrow I will post my November goals. Before I do that I wanted to review how I did in October:

How did I do on my October Goals?
  • close on Rental Property #7 DONE!
  • $500 in mystery shopping income SURPASSED!
  • maximum food expenses of $100; maximum fuel expenses of $100 FAILED.
The rental property closed on the 27th...this is a huge distraction that I no longer have to focus on. Plus, starting in January this property will add to my monthly cash flow.

I grossly underestimated my mystery shopping income. In October I earned $1,564 from mystery shopping fees plus an additional $474 in reimbursements for everything from gasoline to food to gifts.

I did exceed my food and fuel expense goals. I spent $93 more for gas and $93 (not a typo) more for food than I had budgeted. Not to minimize this failure, but I can justify the fuel overage: as I did way more mystery shopping than I thought I would do, I drove a lot more. One of the companies I shop with only reimburses for a $1 gas purchase for the fuel shops, and I inevitably buy more (one would think buying just $1 in gas on a credit card might give myself away as a mystery shopper!). The other company that offers the fuel shops reimburses a much more reasonable $5.00. As for the food, I decided during the Florida trip to splurge a little. Sure, we could have bought inexpensive meals at the grocery store or frequented the dollar menu, but that's not the kind of miser I want to be. Every now and then, I think it's okay to eat at a decent restaurant. I'm still going to order water as my drink and stay away from the most expensive entrees, but I want to enjoy myself from time to time. Still... how many people do you know can say their food budget for a month was less than $200?

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