Reviewing my March Goals

During March I only achieved one of my four monthly goals, but I really feel the three I did not achieve were not failures - not this month, anyway. Keep reading.

March Goals versus Actuals:

• I earned $3,294 from mystery shopping; my goal was $1,500.
  
• I spent $135 on fuel; my goal was to spend less than $50.
  
• I spent $204 on food; my goal was to spend less than $150.
  
• I reduced my credit card debt to $34,559 (technically to $31,059 - see note below); my goal was to reduce credit card debt to $31,000.

In March I only achieved one of my four goals. In the food budget, I spent $80 on gift cards that I have not used. I did this to earn bonus Hilton Honors points. Without those, I would have spent $124 and beat my goal.

I also went over on my fuel budget, but it was for income-generating activity (mystery shopping).

If I allow for an exception to my credit card debt, I was within $59 of my goal. I spent $3,500 with the U.S. Mint last month with their direct ship program so that I could earn enough flight credits to get to my next Southwest Rapid Reward. Since that is cash money and there were no fees associated with it, it is a temporary blip in the number that will fall off next month.