I’m quite happy with my expenses for December. This is the level I’d like my expenses to be at every month. They will be somewhat higher this month because I have to pay for my health insurance. My new health insurance is payable every six months rather than quarterly as my previous health insurance was. I’ve decided I’m going to list my pro-rated monthly expense for health insurance rather than list it as a lump sum expense every six months to give a more accurate view of my average monthly expenses. The food expense is for lunches out and snacks only, the rest of my food expense is included in either the entertainment or household expenses.

I’m also considering paying $600 to sign up for my school’s bar prep course. That will obviously cause a serious increase in my monthly expenses for this month. Bar registration fees and bar prep fees will raise my average monthly expenses for the first part of the year but the last part of the year I should have very low expenses. Hopefully those will offset each other and I’ll meet my goal of having less than $10,000 in expenses for the year.

Here are some of my favorite posts from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.

Almost Frugal talks about teaching kids a foreign language frugally.  I wish I had learned a foreign language as a kid.  I’ve tried to learn Spanish as an adult but have never gotten very proficient in the language.

Frugal Babe is lowering her health insurance premiums.  This is something I’ve done this year also.

Frugal Zeitgeist says it is great being type A.  I like to keep things neat and organized but I’m not too enthusiastic about actually cleaning.

Not Made of Money gives us 50 chicken breast recipes.  We just bought a ton of chicken breast on sale.  We’ll probably try some of these recipes.

The Frugal Duchess tells us some ways to cut home technology costs.  These are helpful tips.

That is all for this week.  Thanks for stopping by.

1. Pens- I get free pens as promotional items all the time.  I don’t understand why people pay big bucks for fancy pens.  The only thing you need a pen to do is write and in my experience a free pen writes just as well as an expensive one.
2. Matches- I don’t need these too often, which is good because it is harder to get free matches anymore.  They are still available at many bars and casinos though.
3. Drinking Water- This isn’t completely free since you do pay something for the water coming out of your tap.  A glass of water would only cost a fraction of a penny though.  If you carry a reusable drinking container you should rarely if ever find yourself having to purchase bottled water.
4. Music- It is free on the radio.  You can borrow cds from your local library if you feel the need to listen to a particular song.  If you need to own the music I see promotions for free MP3 downloads all the time.
5. DVD Rentals- If you have a Redbox near you than you don’t need to rent DVDs.  Redbox comes out with a free code every Monday and that code is good once for every credit/debit card you have.  That allows you to get multiple free rentals.  A quick Google search will turn up even more free rentals.
6. Stock Trades- Blogging Banks suggested getting free stock trades with Zecco.  I use them and haven’t had any problems so far.  I believe there are some other ways to get free stock trades as well.

Leave a suggestion for more free items in the comments and I’ll add it to the list.

I haven’t used Geezeo but it looks like it could be a helpful site.  If anyone has any feedback about the site they would like to share please do so.  Thanks.

The goals I already set were to have my expenses under $10,000 for next year and my income to be higher than my expenses. I may not have thought out those goals too well though. I can probably keep my expenses under $10,000 next year if I don’t include the cost of bar prep; with bar prep included that goal probably isn’t very realistic. I might not be able to have my income be higher than my expenses either because I plan on hiking for five months of the year. During which time I’ll be making very little money. I’m keeping these goals as non-smart goals for now and I’ll revisit them when it becomes clearer on whether they are realistic of not.

Now on to the S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Financial
Increase my passive income- This goal should easily be met. I will be investing in more dividend-paying stocks and developing other sources of passive income such as eHow.

Health
Lose 30 pounds- My goal last year was to lose 20 pounds. I went backwards on that and now I need to lose 30 pounds. If I go hiking the last 5 months of the year I will easily lose 30 pounds. Hiking would be a lot easier if I were in shape before I started though. My plans to get in shape include. Run/do cardio 3 times a week or more. Finish the Hundred Pushup Challenge. Drastically reduce or eliminate my soda consumption. Eat out no more than 2 times a week. These are all attainable steps but I haven’t done them in the past. I need to do them now.

Blogging
Increase my subscribers to 500 or more- Last year I started off with less than 100 subscribers and my subscribers hover around 300 now. Natural growth alone might get me to 500. I have some plans to help promote the blog though. I will submit my posts to Carnivals and Festivals more often. I will have giveaways at least once a month. I will write more posts. And lastly, I will look for more ways to promote this blog.

I will check up on these goals at the end of every month. That way I can see if I am making progress towards my goal and adjust accordingly.

Here are some of my favorite posts from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.

Almost Frugal talks about eating out frugally.

Frugal Babe is staying the course.

Frugal Zeitgeist shareseverything is cheap if you have the cash.

Not Made of Money gives us five tips for financial success in 2009.

The Frugal Duchess tells us how she teaches her kids about money.

I am guilty of this myself. I have done a poor job of meeting goals I have set for myself this year. Making excuses to yourself doesn’t work very well since you know they are BS. With that in mind I’ll be making some more goals for next year that I’ll post soon. And next year there will be no excuses.