Small goal update

At the end of December, I wrote a post on needing to set some smaller goals to keep me busy & sane while we solved some of our larger looming housing/location questions. It turns out that we have taken a big step towards solving our housing/location question, but I still like having the smaller goals. Here's how I'm doing so far, with one month complete.

• A toiletry challenge! Use my $75 of Rite Aid plenti points, and make them last until June. I had a brief misstep when I bought eyeliner with cash vs plenti points. But, I made up for a few nights ago by using my Plenti points to buy Nick a pack of Magic cards. He gave me cash from his wallet to offset. So, I'm now clear on the toiletries spending (i.e. using no cash for 2017 so far). Whew! That was complex. ;-) I currently have around $80 in plenti points, so I've grown the stash! I've also been keeping an inventory of things we need, and we have plenty of everything. We should be in good shape for a while. 
• Tracking all of our clothing purchases. I've tracked everything we've bought so far. Our budget in 2017 is $1500 for all four of us. So far, we've spent $251.31. The vast majority of that has gone to the boys soccer uniforms. Spent so far:
• Slippers for me (on the shopping list for 2017) - $8.09. Happy about this purchase, as it's been a very cold & wet winter, and we have all wood/tile floors.
• Returned a jacket at Costco $-13.02
• Boys soccer uniforms - $306.72
• Gloves & a base layer for Sam during a soccer tournament - $20.02
• Returned a ski helmet & top for me $-70.50

• Every month, look for one permanent way to cut costs. It's totally fine (and, likely) that these will be small cuts that will add up over time. In January, I discovered that I could clean our mirrors with newspaper vs paper towels. We get a free local newspaper once/week, and it comes with plenty of papers to get us through our standard cleaning. I've also discovered that I like walking to go get our groceries from the produce stand, although it's not always practical. I often go between other errands. I may try in February to replace two car trips/month with walks. 
• Come up with two date night suggestions that don't involve an expensive meal out. - I didn't do this in January. We had no date nights. Lots of time together chatting about the house, but no time, energy or money for a date night. Instead, I've found a free date night for Valentine's Day. A local camp near us will be hosting the kids & offering a free movie/dinner for the kids. Super excited. We will have dinner at home, with wine or champagne to celebrate Valentine's Day. 
• Maximize my travel hacking. I'm not sure what 2017 will involve for work travel, but there are lots of opportunities to use points & credits for their best value & by keeping track of all of our rewards, it helps to ensure I'm using them well. - I haven't explored this. It's been crazy with the house, but this is something I plan to do. I have bought one plane ticket so far, for just under $175. I did explore lots of other options for purchasing that ticket (using a credit on another airline, etc, but the flight times just weren't practical.)
• Make $100 selling things on Facebook. - Yes! I've sold $131 worth of stuff so far. I'm setting a new goal of $300 for the year. We actually have gotten rid of SO MUCH stuff, but I feel like the move will generate a few more options for us. 

I love the small goals. They keep me focused on the day to day, while we work on the larger goals in background. How about you? Any small goals you're working on in 2017? How are they going?