Revisiting November Goals

I wasn't able to save as much money in November as I would have liked. I had to shell out $265 for new glasses (which I deducted from my emergency fund contributions), and I began Christmas shopping, so contributions to the fun fund have also been cut back. On the plus side, I calculated that I'm paying off my Federal Loan at a rate of 3% per month right now; if I keep this up, I can have this loan paid off completely in little more than two years, possibly less since my interest rate will be cut by a point next December due to my consistent payment.

Other goals:
*Open a ShareBuilder account. I signed up for a ShareBuilder account and got the $50 bonus from ING this week. I will be contributing $30/month to purchasing individual stocks that pay dividends and make sense to buy and hold. I'm certainly not going to be doing any selling any time soon. I think this will be fun, since the money I'm investing is pretty minimal.

*Enroll in company stock purchase plan. I enrolled last week. Beginning in January, I'll be contributing $20/month to company stock.

*Start buying Christmas gifts early. So far, I have finished shopping for my brother, both parents, and most of C's gift. I started on my godmother's gift, and I think the rest should be relatively painless.

*Top Chef night! Ongoing. This week I made a butternut squash and sweet potato soup that turned out AMAZING, but took almost three hours to make (that includes the time I spent dealing with the finger I almost chopped off and mopping up the soup that spilled when my blender decided to fall apart midway through the pureeing process). If you want to try it, you can get the recipe here.

*Keep up the workout routine. I did it! I've worked really hard to stay in shape this year, and it's paid off. At a doctor's visit last month, I learned that I lost seven pounds in the past year...! I wasn't trying to lose weight (and I really can't afford to lose anymore), just to get in better shape, and I really think I have. As long as I can keep this up all winter, I will be ready for beaching it up in Fort Myers in March. :)