stub
HomePersonal Finance$1000 Challenge and August Goals

$1000 Challenge and August Goals

Anyone interested in a little $1000 challenge?  Because after my bumpy spending habits last month I need a challenge to get me serious about saving again and I don’t want to do it alone.  I’ll say more about the challenge in a minute but first I’ll confess why I need this challenge.  I put nothing into our savings last month!! This hasn’t happened in 2 years.

Why no savings?  Both my husband and I have birthdays in July and my sister visited us for 3 weeks so we didn’t pay any attention to our budget and spent money on essentially anything we wanted.  I’m kinda okay with this because we have been doing phenomenally well in terms of saving and instead of dipping into the fun money this month we just skipped adding money to that savings account.  The problem is, it was too much fun not paying attention to our finances or any of our goals!  I don’t want to slip up and continue to disregard our budget.  Now that July is over, I need to start August off strong and really focus on my goals.

August goals:

  • Stay within budget
  • Pay an extra $500 to mortgage
  • Finish master bedroom remodel
  • Attend Combat Fitness 4 days/week
  • Read King Lear
  • Purchase life insurance
  • Lower internet bill
  • Complete $1000 Challenge

The $1000 Challenge:  The challenge is as simple as this, find an extra $1000 this month.  Yep that’s right, start flipping up couch cushions to find those lost hundreds from months ago(I wish!)  But seriously, make every effort to earn or not spend an extra $1000 this month.  Work a few extra hours for some extra cash.  Pick up a freelance job here or there.  Mow a lawn or 2.  Refrain from eating out.  Negotiate some bills down.  You get the idea. $1000 too much?  Then make it $500 or even $100 as long as its an amount that will motivate you and push you to think of creative ways to reach that amount.

I don’t imagine this being an easy task but I think it may be entirely doable for me.  I’ll be focusing on earning an extra $1000.  I have a few strategies. My pet sitting business recently surpassed what it made last year so any money I earn from it will be extra income and can be part of this challenge.  I don’t know if I’ve ever made $1000 in one month pet sitting since I’ve turned it into a part time job but I’ll be trying this month.  I also have some things that I’d like to sell locally or on eBay.  Oh and I can’t forget about my freelancing gigs.   I’m excited to finish the summer with such a challenging goal!  Hope you join me.

Readers: Will you be joining me on this challenge?  What other suggestions do you have for earning extra income this month?

RELATED ARTICLES

19 COMMENTS

  1. Great idea – I’ve been needing something like this for a while as my spending has been out of control lately too – I think I’ll give this a shot!

    • Glad to hear you’re on board! I can imagine spending being out of control with a new house purchase and a wedding in such a short time span. Good luck! Oh and congrats on the marriage

  2. Totally on board with this challenge. Hopefully, we can have a garage sale soon (or the challenge might also work in September…)

    • Yay! Well if it has to stretch into September I see nothing wrong with that! Earning $1000 extra in 2 months is a huge accomplishment as well. Good luck

  3. I’ll take that challenge. We have some major dental bills in August & September, so my goal is to pay in cash. That means I have to earn it, because normally it gets charged to the card. I don’t even want to see it on the bill.

    I also want to keep the credit card bill under $1000. That may seem like a lot each month, but we use the card for everything and pay it off in full each month. Using the card has made me lazy about keeping track of how much I spend on groceries. So, I’ll also create a grocery budget.

    • Your username made me smile 🙂 Glad to hear you are on board as well. Tracking grocery spending is a must in my household. Its so easy to overspend and not realize it till its time to pay the credit card. We charge everything to a card and pay it off every month as well

  4. I’m in! But just to clarify, you’re looking for an extra $1000, how does not eating out help? Or are you hoping to add $1000 to savings any which way you can?

    • Awesome! Good luck! The not eating out would be if you were trying to to spend $1000. Since most people generally spend the same amount a month eating out just cutting out 1 or 2 meals could make a dent in reaching the not spend $1000. I’m going the earn $1000 route so not eating out won’t help me.

  5. I won’t be joining you on the challenge but I’m hoping I’ll get there anyway. Best of luck to you in your challenge. How far along is the master bedroom remodel or have you not started it yet?

    • Thanks! I hope you get there too. The first coat of paint is done. Hopefully the painting will be done by this time next week.

  6. I don’t know about finding an extra $1000 for savings this month. I kind of already have that goal of paying extra on the camper loan. Maybe I’ll make it a goal to work overtime to get an extra $1k. So for your question of if I’m on board, count me half in.

  7. I don’t know if I’ll scare up $1000, but I might be able to get an extra $250 with side jobs and Goodwill flipping of things. My wife and I already cut it so close every month with pouring every extra penny we have or find (literally!) towards paying off our mortgage. There’s little fat left to cut. But I coudl find some extra side jobs, that might work!

    • We too have little room to trim off more from our budget to put towards the mortgage payoff. That’s why I’ve gone the try earning $1000 extra route this month. So far so good, its only the 9th and I’m at $346 earned! Good luck with the $250 challenge.

    • Trying can’t hurt! If just trying gets you to earn a little bit extra its completely worth it isn’t it? Good luck

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related Articles

Recent Comments