Goals updated.

Personal
~ In bed by 9:30 - up by 6am (during the week)  -- Not so much this summer, buy hey, I can sleep in.  I know, I know, I know, that's not the point.  But. Well. It is what it is.  Besides, school is starting soon, so it's back to the habit.
~ Treadmill 4x/week -- I have been doing pretty good with this one. YAY!!
~ Work on photo albums 2x/month -- aggh!  Gotta get on this!
~ Find more ways to perform service for others -- this has been fun, and I am ever working on this.
~ More gratitude in my heart -- still working on this.
~ Cut back to part time work -- I thought I had this lined up, but the powers that be said no.  So now I am looking at other options.  In the mean time, my husband lost his job, so we need to find him a new job so I can look at going part time.

Family/Marriage/Mother
~ Family Time each Sunday afternoon -- We have been doing this about 2x/month. 
~ Miss M plays outside the house 2x/week  -- This has worked out better than I thought it would. And during the summer, she was outside nearly everyday.  Our summer mantra: the dirtier you are, the more fun you've had.
~ Date night w/sweetie 2x/month -- a little better.  It's happening every 4-6 weeks.  
~ Christmas gifts all ready for wrapping by Thanksgiving.  (Usually I do this, but this year I was behind and it was too stressful for me with last minute gift buying.)  -- I have started to get some gifts ready and am about half way done.  I hope to have it finished up by October.

Homemaking
~ Continue to work on being organized by following 52 weeks to an organized home  --aggh!!  Hard, hard, hard.
~ Redo kitchen  -- yep! Pictures will come when it is completely finished.
~ Paint the downstairs   -- we painted the kitchen and downstairs bath.  Not sure if we will get to the dining and living rooms.
~ Try two new habits to be more 'green.'  Habit 1 -- use reusable bags for groceries -- it has been hit and miss.  I need to prepare more so it will happen.  Habit 2 -- use a bleach alternative.  I have found a great recipe that I like. It just uses hydrogen perozide and lemon juice. Click here for the recipe.
~ Host another community garden -- This didn't happen this year.  There were too many other things going on.  We will try again next year. 
~ get ride of (donate/sell/throw out) 50 boxes of stuff -- We had a garage sale in June which helped to get rid of many items.  I have donated/sold/threw out about 25 boxes of items now. Half way done! YAY! 

Financial
~ Pay off medical bill -- little by little, bit by bit.  We are wanting to have it paid off by the end of the year.  This is coming along and we should have it paid off by October.
~ Increase monthly savings amounts for retirement & emergency funds -- Yes! Yes! and Yes!
~ Pay cash for our vacation to Colombia -- due to my husband's job loss, this has been tabled for later. Perhaps next year.

And, achieving goals, my friends, is 

February Financial Mini- Make Over

Every February, we have a family mini financial make-over.  By the way, some people call this a February Financial Fast.  And I do like that name!  I might even adopt it for us.

And, alas, here we are in March.  February came and went ever so quickly.  Below are the four main  things that we try to do to help us keep our finances in check.

1)  We examine our budget.

• What are our goals for the year? What do we need to save for travels, vacations and home improvements or other big expenses?  This year we needed to add a goal of paying off a medical bill debt. We ask ourselves: Do we need to add money to this area of our budget or spend less in another area?  What are family needs?  Individual wants?  We have several different incomes, so we look over what (and how much) will our sources of income be for the year?

2)  We shop less for food.

• We buy only essentials.  We try to limit our food to what we have in our food storage.  This does force us to meal plan better and to take inventory of what we have in our basement and freezer. This can be overwhelming, but with planning it out --- it very doable.

    
3)  We go over our services to see if we can find a better deal.

• Services include:  internet, phone, cable and insurances.  I am often amazed but how much companies charge and when you start to shop around and are willing to switch carriers.
• We currently don't have cable and our phone is just a basic land line.  With our internet and insurances, there are deals all over the place.  When we did have cable (which we get every four years so my sweetheart can watch his World Cup), deals would appear when I called. First I would ask for any specials they have available for us. If that didn't pan out, I would mention we were looking around for another provider.  And if that didn't bring any deals, we would cancel. But it would only be for a day or two----because almost instantly, they would call, email and send out a plethora of deals if we would return to them. Here is another article on how a family  was able to reduce their fees.

4)  We look over our bills.

• Gas, electricity, natural gas (to heat our home), and water bills.  How can we lower these bills?  Are there services we are being charged for that we are not using? Is there ways we can reduce driving our cars?  Can we combine trips?  Walk or bike more?  Need ideas to get started, this article is a great starting place with 20 inexpensive ideas.  

~~~

This isn't about how cheap we can become for us.  It is a chance to step back and see: What are we doing right? Where are we? What are our financial goals for the year?  How and where can we improve? 


I love what Sarah wrote on her blog, Besos and Bubbly:  She and her husband are doing a financial fast for lent.  She writes, The financial fast is a "... chance to cut back on the indulgences and the decadence of the holidays, an opportunity to re-assess and re-group in a new year, a time to usher in the re-birth of spring with the mindfulness of a personal cleanse that I think is a healthy practice for all."

And that, my friends, is 

update on resolutions

It's been almost two months into 2013.  Here is an update on my resolutions:

Personal
~ In bed by 9:30 - up by 6am (during the week)  -- I have been sick a lot, so going to bed early has happened a lot.  Getting up early, not so much.
~ Treadmill 4x/week -- hasn't happened (see above) but now I am feeling much better, so I will start it up again.
~ Work on photo albums 2x/month -- nope.  Gotta get on this!
 Find more ways to perform service for others -- this has been fun:. I have taken in a few meals to friends, paid annomiously for a random's couple's meal at a restaurant, helped out with a project for daughter's teacher.
~ More gratitude in my heart -- still working on this.
~ Cut back to part time work -- I thought I had this lined up, but the powers that be said no.  So now I am looking at other options.

Family/Marriage/Mother
~ Family Time each Sunday afternoon -- We have been doing this about 2x/month. 
~ Miss M plays outside the house 2x/week  -- This has worked out better than I thought it would.
~ Date night w/sweetie 2x/month -- nope. Gotta get on this!
~ Christmas gifts all ready for wrapping by Thanksgiving.  (Usually I do this, but this year I was behind and it was too stressful for me with last minute gift buying.)  -- I have started to get some gifts ready.  I think it will happen this year.

Homemaking
~ Continue to work on being organized by following 52 weeks to an organized home  -- nope. Gotta get on this! Now that I am feeling better, I will have the strength to get back to it.
~ Redo kitchen  -- not yet-- maybe this summer
~ Paint the downstairs   -- not yet-- maybe this summer
~ Try two new habits to be more 'green.'  Habit 1 -- use reusable bags for groceries -- it has been hit and miss.  I need to prepare more so it will happen.  --Habit 2 -- haven't thought of it yet.
~ Host another community garden -- we are getting friends signed up.  This is a fun tradition of ours!
~ get ride of (donate/sell/throw out) 50 boxes of stuff --I have packed up about 5 boxes of stuff for a summer garage sale.

Financial
~ Pay off medical bill -- little by little, bit by bit.  We are wanting to have it paid off by the end of the year.
~ Increase monthly savings amounts for retirement & emergency funds --we have increased our saving account deposits, but haven't increased our retirement accounts yet.
~ Pay cash for our vacation to Colombia --saving for this!

Lunch Ideas

I am all the time trying to get lunch ideas for my family ---  lunches that we eat at home, on the road as well as at school and work.  I have looked at many ideas and here is the list I came up with: 

apple slices and peanut butter or almond butter or Nutella
 

bagel with butter

baked potato

buttered noodles

carrots, pepper strips, celery & hummus
celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins
chicken nuggets

cold leftover meatloaf with ketchup
cottage cheese and fruit

cream cheese and jelly
 

Egg salad on bread or crackers

English muffin pizzas

fruit cup

fruits and veggies

fruit salad
 

grilled cheese

grilled veggies
guacamole and chips or crackers

ham slices and cheese not on a sandwich
hard boiled eggs

hot dogs and baked beans

hummus and pita and/or veggies
 

kabobs --cheese cubes, fruit cubes, chicken cubes, and veggie cubes

leftovers--which at our house we call "Venegas Buffet"

lettuce leaves to wrap a sandwich instead of break

muffins

nutella and banana

oil-based pasta salad with veggies and meat or tuna
 

pasta salads
PB and banana and/or honey, instead ofjelly
pasta with a bit of butter and grated Parmesan cheese

salad in a container with dressing packed separately
sandwiches with cheese, vegetables, roasted veggies, hummus

sliced oranges
smoothies
soup in thermos*

taco salad

trail mix

tuna salad or chicken salad stuffed into a hollowed out tomato or pepper
 

whole-wheat crackers and cheese, meat, or hummus or pretzel or pita chips
 

yogurt

*Thermos tip: In the morning, heat up soup or the leftovers.  Pout boiling water into your thermos, then pour it out and put the heated up food in there.  Put the thermos lid on.  The food usually will stay warm until lunch time.

Do you have any lunch ideas to share?

Having lots of choices and a list on hand, is my friends, 

Green habits

This year, I chose for one of my resolutions it to develop two new green habits. I have decided one habit it to use more reusable bags to cut down on the plastic bags that are brought into our house.  I don't know about you, but plastic bags seem to over take us. Plastic grocery bags are made from natural gas and petrolium.  I hate the idea of having, yet, another petroleum based product in our house. Someday I would love to be rid of my petroleum dependance.  I have a bunch of canvas bags, but for various reasons, they are not always used.

My new plan is thus:

1. Keep a few canvas bags in the car near the driver's seat so I will see them.

2. Make a note on my grocery list to bring bags.

And, that my friends, is