January Challenge - Week Two

We're two weeks into the first month of the year! It's whizzing by, as usual. ;-)

Here's how I did on the second week of my January Challenge. A special thanks to Carla, for hosting!

January goals:

1. Lose 2 lbs. - I've lost 1.4 lbs! I'm only .6 lbs away from my January goal! I am working hard on this one!
2. Track my calories every day in MyFitnessPal. - Yes!
3. Complete 1,000 minutes of cardio. - I'm currently at 420, so right on pace
4. Complete 10 strength workouts. - I'm crushing this goal! I'm at 9 workouts. Woohoo!
5. Complete 8 stretching workouts. - I got off to a slow start, but I'm now at 5 workouts!
6. Find a half marathon for the spring, and start the training plan. - I've done some research, but haven't finalized. I've also started running more to build up a base before I kickoff my training plan. 
7. Have one date night with M. - We have a dinner date planned for the end of the month.
8. Plan/do one social activity with friends. - Yes, I've met a friend for lunch, done a girls night, & attend a speaking event with a friend.
9. Save $1,000 towards our California house down payment fund. - Not yet. I  expect to be able to fund this with my bonus, coming in a couple of weeks. 
10. Save $500 in boys college fund. - Done, on the last day of December, we actually put another 1% towards the boys college tuition credits (so, total of $688/per kid, or $1376 total).
11. Pay $3,000 towards our mortgage(s) - We haven't made any mortgage payments yet. 
12. Talk to my parents about potentially watching the boys for a 2014 vacation. - Yes, & the flights for my parents are booked! I'm paying for my mom's flight. My dad really wanted to come along, so he's paying for his flight. Pretty cheap ($249/each), so I was happy to get this booked. M & I are planning to drive to wine country. Somewhere I've always wanted to go, and within driving distance!
13. Work is very, very crazy & the schedule is not something I can handle long term with my health situation. I'm currently working 60+ hours during the week, & I'm on call every day. Every holiday. Every weekend Everything. It's way too much. I need to start figuring out a plan. - So far, things are easing up a bit, although it's not perfect. I'm working on managing my stress. My manager is finally going to be back in the office after not seeing him for a month. I'm hoping he may be able to address some of my concerns.

How am I doing on my planned budget cuts (January fiscal challenge)?

• Trim our grocery spending down to $450 - I've spent 40% of our grocery budget for the month - $207. So far, so good. 
• Trim dining out down to $75 (should just cover one date with M) - I had a girls night, & spent $39.17. This leaves me with not much for my date night with M. Will have to plan this one carefully. 
• Spend $0 on clothes for the kids + me. -Sam needed new shoes, so we spent $21.74 at Target.
• Spend $0 on gifts, travel, personal, health, liquor, & house categories. - Here's how this breaks out:
• Gifts = $0
• Travel = $249 for my mom's ticket in April when she's coming to watch the boys, & my half of our Great Wolf Lodge trip. So far, $588/2. This is the boys' birthday trip in February. Total spent = $543. I hadn't planned to book either of these in January, but the prices were right. 
• Health = $14.13 on a quick test to ease my mind. ;-) 
• Liquor = $0
• House = $0
• Toiletries (forgot to add, but should have been a January goal) = $14.83. Picked up a super discounted, extra large container of conditioner + dishwasher tablets that were on sale.
• Entertainment (didn't add as a January challenge, but should have) = $129.80. This is a lot for us! I spent $20 for my oldest son on Sunday, and we're all going to the Monterey Aquarium on Saturday. I bought tickets through my work to get a discount

How are you doing on your January challenge? All told, I'm pleased with my progress, although there's still *plenty* of improvements to consider for week 3!