February Goals

I never got around to making goals for January, for whatever reason, but I'm here in February to start fresh! Can you believe it's February already?? In just 3 short weeks I will be in Hawaii! We've been saving for so long that I can't believe that it's almost here!

But I digress. Onto my goals!

1. Work out 3 times a week.
I'm going to count all the walking and swimming I'm hoping to do in Hawaii as work outs!


2. Finish my mom's scrapbook (post on this coming soon!)

3. Start painting the living room chairs

4. List 3 washcloths on my Etsy shop

5. Write 3 letters.

I think this is enough goals for this month, considering we'll be gone for a week. Work will also be busy too, since we're kicking off our big fundraising month, so I'll definitely have my hands full.


Are you setting goals this month?

Goals for 2012

I thought that I had a list of goals for 2011, but aside from the house list, I guess I didn't. That's OK, because there's a first time for everything! Here are my goals for 2012. I tried to keep them simple and not give myself too many, because goals can be overwhelming and I wanted to accomplish something! So, without further ado, my goals!

1. Make 13 payments to the mortgage and student loans.

2. Buy new furniture for the family room.

3. Get to my goal weight.

4. Get a promotion at work.

5. Blog (decent posts) regularly.

6. Get off my medication.

7. Participate in the 52 Letter Challenge again (and keep track of the number of letters I write!)

8. Go home for a visit.

9. Take more pictures.

10. Finish my wedding scrapbook! Also, get up-to-date on the day-to-day pictures.

11. Cross stitch 1 stocking.

12. Fully fund our emergency fund (goal: $10,000)

What are your goals for 2012?

November goals

I had a hard time coming up with goals this month and I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm overwhelmed that it's November. Maybe looming Thanksgiving has me thrown off. I'm not sure, but for whatever reason I just couldn't get my act together. So, here's what we get for this month:

1. Go to yoga every week.

2. Lose 4 pounds {this is a pound a week, hopefully I can do that, even with Thanksgiving!}

3. Finish Christmas shopping {yes, I'm serious}

4. Get all the Christmas decorations up {starting after Thanksgiving, of course}

5. Plan the garden for next summer and prepare the ground {tear up grass, etc.}

I wasn't thrilled with last month's goals, so I'm hoping to do better this month. What do you think?


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October goals

I love October. Not nearly as much as September, since it's my birthday month, but I do love October and fall. I know I'm not alone in this, because plenty of other bloggers have been commenting on the same thing! So, what are my goals for this month?

1. Cook at least 4 times a week. This could be tough, since I haven't been cooking hardly at all lately.

2. Register for whatever tests I need to take to get into school, and complete my application. I'm not sure if this is a lofty goal or not, and it won't be fully complete until I take the WEST-E and WEST-B in November, but we will see.

3. Finish sanding and staining my bedside table. This turned out to be a much bigger task than I thought it would be.

4. Donate at least 2 boxes of stuff to Goodwill. I do love a good purge.

5. Make at least $100 babysitting and/or on Ebay and Craigslist. I set this goal at $100 because I have 2 babysitting jobs next week and should get $60 total so setting it for $50 doesn't seem fair :)

I think that's plenty for this month! 

Are you setting goals? What are your goals?

September Goal Review

It's that time of the month again...goal review! I both look forward and dread this because I love seeing that I've accomplished things, but hate when I haven't! Here are my goals for this month, and how I did:

1. Paint the guest bed white.
I didn't do this because my garage is currently being taken up by another refinishing project! Details on that when I finish it. Someday.

2. Sand, re-stain and sell the Freecycle table on Craigslist
Sanded and re-stained, but not sold yet :(

3. Make $50 on ebay and Craigslist (I'm hoping to list the table at $50, so this should be an easy goal to reach)
Well, I made $20 on Ebay, and $60 babysitting, so I call this goal a success, even if my table is still sitting in the garage. Sigh.

4. Read three new books
This is a failure. I read 1 old book, 1 new book and I'm in the middle of an old book and a new book! So, I'm doing alright.

5. Apply to 4 jobs.
I don't think I need to make this a goal anymore because I'm so adept at it! I applied to at least 10 this month. Whoa.

6. Lose 5 pounds.
Well...almost. I'm down 4.5 but I think that might be since the very end of August.

Did you set goals this month? How did you do?

September goals

Once September hits, it always feels like the rest of the year flies. I think it's because September is my birthday, which I absolutely love, and once that's over, it always feels like Thanksgiving's right around the corner. After Thanksgiving, it's only a few short weeks until Christmas, then we're looking at 2012! Gosh my life's flying by these days.

Anyway, here are my September goals. You'll see a couple repeats from last month, because I didn't get to everything I'd hoped I would.

1. Paint the guest bed white.

2. Sand, re-stain and sell the Freecycle table on Craigslist

3. Make $50 on ebay and Craigslist (I'm hoping to list the table at $50, so this should be an easy goal to reach)

4. Read three new books

5. Apply to 4 jobs.

6. Lose 5 pounds.

Are you setting goals this month? What are your goals, and what do you think of mine?

August goal review

I gotta be honest with you guys. I don't think I did anything on my list this month. Worse, I have no excuses as to why I didn't do any of it! I guess the month just got away from me!
Here are my goals, so you can see how terribly I've done:

1. "Balance" our checkbook weekly. (I need to explain. Geoff and I have started sitting down on Fridays, after payday, and looking at our upcoming expenses, subtracting those and leaving a $200 buffer in our checking account, to see how much money we have to spend for the week. So far, this has worked out really well)
Yeah, not so much. We've been able to keep our buffer for 3 out of the 4 weeks this month, but we were hit with an unexpected expense, so we're thrown off. We also haven't been sitting down and talking money, so we need to get on that too.

2. Sell $30 worth of stuff on Ebay (My new decluttering friend! This money all goes straight into furniture fund!)
Also no, mainly because I was too lazy to take pictures and post things. I did list a few things that I'm hoping for at least $25 from, and we did sell something on Craigslist for $45 this week, so I'm not completely off. This money, we've decided, is going to go towards credit card debt.

3. Apply to 4 jobs (as usual)
I did do this!

4. Vacuum, sweep and mop the kitchen and sweep and mop the bathroom weekly (It needs to be done. Yes I'm embarrassed. Stop judging)
Fail. I only did it before our company came.

5. Paint the guest room bed white (this is part of the house list for this year. See what I mean about the year sneaking up on me?)
Nope. Again, because of family coming, I think, this just didn't happen because someone was actually using the bed!

6. Eat out no more than twice a week. (A definite money suck for us, though we've been getting better!)
I am pretty sure that we did this! I know there was one week that we ate out 3 times, and we ate out a couple times when family was here, but I think we only ended up paying twice.

Did you set goals for August? How did you do?

PS Don't forget that I'm guest posting over at Stress Case today!!

July Goal Review

July's goals were a mixed bag of success. I'm not thrilled with the results, but I suppose that's what goals are for, the push you into doing them!
Here's July, in review:

1. Stick within our budgets on Mint.com (why is this so difficult??)
I want to say this is a failure, because for the most part it is, however we are getting better and only a few budgets were over this month.

2. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week (this was successful last month, lets keep it up!)
This is a 50% fail. We did it for 2 weeks of this month!



3. Participate in the July Food Stamp Challenge successfully.
Success! With about $4 left over!

4. Apply to at least 4 jobs. (Keep it up until I find a new one!)
Also a success. I even found a library job to apply to!

5. Socialize with friends outside of work (and bible study) at least 4 times. (This may be cheating since we have a company picnic scheduled and a cookout on the 4th!)
Um, outside the preplanned company picnic and cookout, nope. So, 50% completed?

Did you set goals in July? How did you do? I hope it was better than me!

July goals

Last month's goals were very successful, however I wonder if I made them too easy. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has trouble setting goals! It's not that I don't know what I want, it's more than I'm having a very difficult time wording it, I suppose. Anyway, here are my goals for July!

1. Stick within our budgets on Mint.com (why is this so difficult??)

2. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week (this was successful last month, lets keep it up!)

3. Participate in the July Food Stamp Challenge successfully.

4. Apply to at least 4 jobs. (Keep it up until I find a new one!)

5. Socialize with friends outside of work (and bible study) at least 4 times. (This may be cheating since we have a company picnic scheduled and a cookout on the 4th!)

Are you setting goals this month? Tell me about it, because I can always use new challenges!

June goal review

How are we already looking at July?? Is the year going as quickly for you as it is for me? Last month I set goals that I thought I could achieve, and I'm happy to say that I think I did pretty well this month!

1. Write a letter every week. (I seem to have fallen off the 52 Letter Challenge wagon lately.)I did this! I think I might have missed a week, but I'm not stressing about that.

2. Apply to at least 4 jobs.
I applied to many more than just 4 jobs, so I'd say this was a success!

3. Keep up with Weight Watchers and consistently lose something (anything!) every week.
I would have to check, but I believe I lost every week. There was one week that I stayed the same, but I can't remember if it was in June or May. Anyway, success!

4. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week.
Three out of the 4 weeks this month I did go to the gym at least 3 times! I'm so proud of myself for this.

5. Blog more often (at least 3 times a week)
I had to look back at this too, but as far as I can tell I was successful in this as well!

6. Find a way to advertise my Etsy shop (preferably cheaply!)
Now this, I wasn't very good at. In fact, I pretty much failed it. I did, however, make two sales this month! I feel richer already.


Did you set goals? How did you do this month?

June goals

Since last month's goals were less than successful, I'm going to try to be more realistic with my goals this month in the hopes that I will complete them.

1. Write a letter every week. (I seem to have fallen off the 52 Letter Challenge wagon lately.)

2. Apply to at least 4 jobs.

3. Keep up with Weight Watchers and consistently lose something (anything!) every week.

4. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week.

5. Blog more often (at least 3 times a week)

6. Find a way to advertise my Etsy shop (preferably cheaply!)

Are you setting goals for June? What are they? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below!

May goal review

I can hardly believe that we're already halfway through the year 2011. The older I get the faster life seems to move on me.

Anyway, I didn't do so well with May's goals. In fact, I pretty much failed all of them.

1. Lose 5 pounds. It's time to buckle down with Weight Watchers.
{I blame my lack of success in this goal on our trip to Chicago. However, I have been steadily losing all month, so I'm at least on the right track}

2. Try one new recipe a week. This has been successful in the past!
{Well, it wasn't a success this month! Though I think I might have tried two new recipes but I can't remember if those were this month or last!}

3. Play nice with Mint.com. Yes, again.
{I did pretty well on this one. We rearranged some of our goals to accommodate our spending habits and I think that will help a bit. Still, I will be happy when tomorrow rolls around and we start over!

4. Sell at least one thing on my Etsy shop. I realize this is really not something I can control, but I want to try to advertise more, and work on building my inventory up. Which should be another goal...
{Yay, success! My grandmother bought a pair of earrings for my aunt's birthday. Someday maybe I will get someone who isn't family to buy my items.

5. Add 3 more things to my Etsy shop.
{Another success! I added exactly 3 things last night, and two others earlier this month!}


Stay tuned for June's goals!
Did you set goals this month? If so, how did you do?

May Goals

I didn't do all that well with last month's goals, but I'm anticipating better results this month.

1. Lose 5 pounds. It's time to buckle down with Weight Watchers.

2. Try one new recipe a week. This has been successful in the past!

3. Play nice with Mint.com. Yes, again.

4. Sell at least one thing on my Etsy shop. I realize this is really not something I can control, but I want to try to advertise more, and work on building my inventory up. Which should be another goal...

5. Add 3 more things to my Etsy shop.


What are your goals for the month?

April Goal Update

Lets just ignore the fact that it's already May 4 and I'm just now updating my April goals. Hey, at least I'm updating!

1. Mint.com. This may be a recurring goal until I finally figure out how to stop spending money when we're out of our budget! I did fairly well on this one. We did rearrange our savings plans and have goals set up which I'm very excited about. It could use more work though.

2. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week. Uh huh, failure. I blame this on car problems this month. We brought my car to the shop once for new tires and Geoff's three times!! This was especially frustrating because we were down to one car and constantly (it seemed) running to the shop after work.

3. Try one new meal a week from our cookbooks (I don't feel like we use them enough!) Well, I tried 2 new recipes this month but I didn't take them from our cookbooks! We did use one cookbook but it was a recipe we knew. Oh well.

4. Post regular menu plans and link up to Menu Plan Monday. I can't remember if I did this every week and I'm too lazy to look back, but I did plan the menu at least 3 times this month. I've been very happy about how this has worked out.

5. Apply to at least one job a week. Yeah, another failure. Partially because I just don't have any jobs to apply for!

April goals

Last month's goals went fairly well, so I'm confident about this month's too. I'm keeping some of the same goals but I'm also adding different ones.

1. Mint.com. This may be a recurring goal until I finally figure out how to stop spending money when we're out of our budget!

2. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week.

3. Try one new meal a week from our cookbooks (I don't feel like we use them enough!)

4. Post regular menu plans and link up to Menu Plan Monday.

5. Apply to at least one job a week.

Here's hoping for another good month!

March goal update!

One of my goals for March was not only to stick with my goals, but also update about them, because it will  keep me accountable!

Anyway, here are my March goals and how I did on them:

1. Update these goals at the end of the month and create goals for April.

Hey, look at that! I did it! April goals coming in a few days.

2. Play nice with Mint.com. I'm trying, I really am, but the problem is we tend not to stop going to restaurants when our restaurant budget is up! Oops. This should be fixed.
Well, we didn't exactly do well on this, but it didn't help that we got our tax return too. Mint monitors our income vs. our spending, and our income was way above our spending (yay!) so it threw me off.

3. Plan the menu for the week and post about it. If I plan to post about it I have to do it, right??

Well, 2 out of 4 weeks is a good start, right?

4. Make at least 2 blog posts a week on something meaningful. (No more fluff, right?)

I did post more often and regularly, which is basically what I wanted to get at, so I feel like this was a success.

5. Go to Weight Watchers every week, regardless of how the week went.

We went three out of 4 weeks so that's an improvement!

Overall, I think it's been a good month.

Baby bucket list...updated

Back in October I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish before we decide to have a baby. I posted this previously, but I thought an update was in order. We have made progress toward a few of these goals and I am happy to see them being met, not just because it means a baby is in our future, also because they are general goals we want to do anyway.

So here is my updated list. I crossed out the completed goals and italicized the goals that are in progress.

Travel:

Vacation in Hawaii Done February 2012!

Go on another cruise

Go to Disney World or Land

Visit Vancouver together

Money:

Get a job for Megg

Buy a house (this has been on my baby bucket list since before we bought the house!)

Build up our rainy day fund so it has 3 month's salary in it...and keep a set amount of money in there

Get out of credit card debt (This is always a work in progress)

Start saving for a replacement car (both of ours are 8 years old...they won't last forever)

Personal enrichment and health:

Send Geoff back to school He started fall 2011!

Get into shape and lose at least 50 lbs.

Have a vegetable garden Had one summer 2011, and will again summer 2012

Fun stuff:

Finish my wedding scrapbook (I'm at least halfway through!)

I think we are making good progress! I did remove the get a dog goal. Upon further consideration I think this isn't something we want to do right away. We already have two wonderful kitties who are not a lot of work, and a dog is both work and money. I'm not sure I'm ready to put our resources into one at the moment!

What do you think about our progress?

March goals

Remember back when I actually did goals every month? Yeah, I barely remember either. Not only did I clearly fail in October, but I didn't even post an update on November's goals! I have no idea if they were fulfilled either, because I didn't post an update! So, clearly goal number one should be actually sticking to my goal posts.
So here are my March goals:

1. Update these goals at the end of the month and create goals for April.

2. Play nice with Mint.com. I'm trying, I really am, but the problem is we tend not to stop going to restaurants when our restaurant budget is up! Oops. This should be fixed.

3. Plan the menu for the week and post about it. If I plan to post about it I have to do it, right??

4. Make at least 2 blog posts a week on something meaningful.(No more fluff, right?)

5. Go to Weight Watchers every week, regardless of how the week went.

Here's hoping I keep track this time around...

Thoughts for 2011

New Year's Eve really isn't my thing. It never really has been, to be honest. Growing up we almost always volunteered in the afternoon at First Night Boston, watched the parade and early fireworks, and headed back home. As I got older, we started to do more things in the evening. I attended parties, my parent's hosted, I even stayed in Boston until midnight one year. Recently, however, December 31st hasn't really done much to get me all excited like it does for most people. (I do have to note that last year, 2 days before my wedding, I was getting very excited...but not necessarily because of the date.)

I was thinking about New Year's Eve the other day, and how silly it really is. I mean, we don't wait until midnight to see it become Thursday, or count down the minutes until it is September. So what is so special about the new year? To me, it's no different than being 25 one day and 26 the next. Whether it's 2010 or 2011 doesn't matter; these days it's just another year.

I think the excitement of a new year resides in the excitement of new beginnings and a fresh start. Anything is possible on January 1st. We set new goals, make promises, are determined to change. More often than not, however, this doesn't last long. I guess that's partially why I don't put much stock in the new year.

This year, however, I'm excited. I'm ready for 2011. Last year was so so eventful that I'm actually looking forward to what I hope will be a quiet year. No sickness, no huge life changes, just life. Of course I can't predict that...but here's hoping.
I do have a few goals for this year, however. I want to work on paying off debt (credit card debt, I know student loans and our mortgage will be around for a while!) and not incur more. I want to build up our savings and start saving for a vacation, just us. Maybe around our second anniversary. I want to live frugally, spend less money on things we don't need and save it for things we do. I want to get a set of recliners for out family room (hey, I have to have some fun, right??) This year's goals are money-centered, but I feel like with both of us working we can actually meet these goals, or at least work towards them. Even better, my sudden non-consumerism feelings will definitely work in my favor of meeting these goals!
I do have a few money-related weaknesses that I also want to work on. I want to eat out less. As I type this, I am sitting in Panara, using their internet and finishing off lunch. I know this is going to be a work in progress, but I am hoping that it is something I will have the self-control to do. Of course, related to that, is the fact that I want to lose weight. Those two go hand in hand.
But most of all, I want to have a healthy, happy year with my husband and our two kitties. If I get nothing else I want to accomplish, I wish that 2011 brings that.

Happy New Year, all. May all your wishes come true.

Goal update for October

I'm getting frustrated with my goal posts. I think I will try to revamp the goals I have, as these don't seem to be working out for me.

Here are the results of October's goals:
1. Get a job, any job.
Still nothing. Had a few more interviews but nothing so far.

2. Plan dinner meal menu every week.
I think the first step to eating at home again is planning the menu. Next month I'll worry about the budget.
I did this for about 2 1/2 out of the 4 weeks this month. This is something I need to keep up with better. One of the weeks I didn't take care of this was the week we had guests so we ate out a lot.

3. Send out Idaho reception thank you cards.
Um, nope. However, I made progress. They are now sitting on my coffee table, in plain sight.

4. Walk the neighborhood at least 3 times a week.
This one was tough, mostly because we had guests for 2 weeks in October and it's started the fall rain that is common around here. Many evenings it's rainy so we haven't gotten out to walk like I'd planned.

5. Donate boxes in the garage so we can park a car in there.
Ah ha! I did this goal! My car is currently parked in the garage! Score!




November goals:
1. Get a job, any job. (If I make this a goal often enough then it will happen eventually, right??)


2. In that vein, apply for at least three jobs a day (more if I can find them!)


3. Write 5 Idaho reception thank you cards a day.


4. Clean off the counters and cabinets in the garage and set up Geoff's ham radio and modeling things and my scrapbook stuff in there.


5. Complete the majority of my Christmas shopping/making of gifts. 


Wish my luck...I don't seem to be very successful at this whole goal thing.