February Goal Review and March Goals

Yes, it is a new month and yesterday was payday.  Sounds like a good time to see how I did with my February goals and maybe set some new ones for March.

First of all, what were my goals for February?
1. Pay for Dear Child's birthday party.
2. Pay at least $229.75 to MasterCard
3. Stay current with all the other bills.
4. Get the treatment plan for DC's dental surgery and figure out how to pay for that.
5. Make arrangements for Dog's Passover vacation and pay at least $100 towards that.

Those sounded pretty reasonable.  How did I do?

1. Dear Child's party was held at the community centre with an hour in the gym and then food upstairs.  Given that my Eldest Daughter's baby was overdue at that point and we were doing renovations both upstairs and down at home, it was the only logical choice.  She didn't have a party the previous year and had been promised a nice one this year.  I charged the party on my MasterCard and paid for part of it in February.  I finished paying for it today.
2. I made a number of payments to MasterCard in February, as well as at the beginning of March.  I paid both the $229.75 and $90 (my regular payment) on 17 Feb, then paid $62.50 towards the cost of the party on  the 22nd or 23rd.  I paid another $90 yesterday and $400 today.
3. I am current on all the usual bills like internet, water, credit card, cell, set-asides into my credit union account, ING emergency fund, etc.  It feels good.
4. Dear Child had her surgery and I charged the first of 3 monthly payments for it to my MasterCard at the beginning of the week when the surgery took place.  The total bill was a little under $1,800 and each payment is between $500 and $600.  $200 of the $400 I paid today was towards the dental charge.  I'll have more to put towards it when my hubby gets paid again.  I want to pay each dental charge off before I charge the next one.
5. I wrote to reserve Dog's place today and will send a cheque for $100 once I hear back.

All in all, I did very well!  Now, what do I want to choose as goals for March (bearing in mind that Passover falls at the end of March this year and is both hectic and expensive).  Let's keep it very simple.

1. Stay current on my bills this month.
2. Pay at least half of the cost of Dog's vacation ahead of time.
3. Pay down the cost of the first dental charge before the end of March.

I could add more, but I know just how much of a challenge those will be.

In addition, I'm on track with my TFSA.  I've been putting in $50 each payday and it's currently sitting at $250.18.  I've also got an automatic transfer of $10/week to my ING Emergency Fund.  There's $251.56 in there as of today, close to half the $520 I listed as a goal for the year.  Yes, I realize it's not enough but the money in the TFSA can also be taken out for any reason at any time, so it can also function as a sort of emergency fund too.  I'll be happier when I have at least $1,000 put away between the two funds but right now I'm just trying to find some kind of balance and form regular habits.