2014 Goals

'Tis the day of the new year and the season of accompanying resolutions.  

2013 was better for me and my family than 2012.  2012 was the year of emotional/mental/family stresses and problems galore.  2013 was hard, very hard, on our finances with the job loss of my husband.  This past fall, my sweet grandmother passed away, which left a big hole in my heart.  However, 2013 was, over all, less stressful. 

I look now to 2014 with a very optimistic hope for the many fabulous adventures awaiting us.  First on the list to do is a move to a new house (but just across the street) which will help out finances.  It also be a great opportunity for our jewelry business that we own.

Below is my list of resolutions from 2013.  The ones I didn't finish/accomplish will be my 2014 goals, for I still want to accomplish them.  The ones I did finish/accomplish I leave intact for today, but crossed off ---because I LOVE crossing things off a list.  

Personal:

~ In bed by 9:30 - up by 6am (during the week)  ---Still need to work on this....though much, much better than before.

~ Treadmill 4x/week--- Still need to work on this one.  It was hit and miss during the year-- just a struggle for me.

~ Work on photo albums 2x/month ---  Still need to work on this one too.  My sweet husband has offered to help and we are going to do it for an hour or two on Sunday afternoons.

~ Find more ways to perform service for others --- we had fun with this one last year.  Highlights included paying for random people's food at restaurants, Secret Santa and meals/groceries brought to friends who need a little lift. I want to continue this one.

~ More gratitude in my heart --- Much better than before. . . . but this year I am going to focus on writing thank you notes in a more timely manner.

~ Cut back to part time work --- Still a goal.  Not sure how this one will work since my husband lost his job last summer.  So, I should add: Help husband find full time employment and then cut back to part time work.

Family/Marriage/Mother:

~ Family Time each Sunday afternoon  -- we have done this most weeks.  So this year I want to add that we will have a formal lesson 2x/month.

~ Miss M plays outside the house 2x/week --- YEP! And, oh has it made a world of difference for Miss M being outside more often. 

~ Date night w/sweetie 2x/month----still need to work on this too. We have a hard time finding babysitters, so I will change it to find a group of people I can call on as babysitters then have date night 2x/month.

~ 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.)  Done, done and done.  Well, ok, except for just a few things.  It was great to enjoy the season and not worry about crowds and finding the right gift under pressure.

Homemaking:

~ Continue to work on being organized by following 52 weeks to an organized home ---Starting this up again.  With the upcoming move, everything now is in boxes.  I will need to organize our new home.

~ Redo kitchen YEP! We did it and it is gorgeous.  We are sad to leave our kitchen, but so excited for our new home.

~ Paint the downstairs  -- didn't get to this.  But this year, we want to paint the rooms in our new house.  And maybe new countertops and a new kitchen floor.... and .... and ..... there is always a project to be done in a house.

~ Try two new habits to be more 'green.'  --- Habit 1 -- use reusable bags for groceries -- it has been hit and miss.  I will work on improving. Habit 2 -- use a bleach alternative.  I have found a great recipe that I like. It just uses hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice. Click here for the recipe.

~ Host another community garden -- didn't get to this.  And this year, our new home doesn't have a big enough space to host a community garden, so we will just have a small family garden.

~ get ride of (donate/sell/throw out) 50 boxes of stuff   YEP!! I did this. + + Plus some + +  With our upcoming move, we have donated/sold and threw out a lot more than planned.  YEA FOR ME!!
~ I want to add another goal and that is to purchase more items locally--food, gifts and services among them. 

Financial:

~ Pay off medical bill  -- we are close, oh so ever close. This will be this year's goal, though I expect it to be paid off in a few month.  HALLELUJAH!! And then we, other than our mortgage, we will be debt free.

~ Increase monthly savings amounts for retirement & emergency funds  YEP! Even with the job loss of my husband, we were able to do this.  Most of our savings/retirement is taken out of our account automatically, so we can easily continue doing this.

~ Pay cash for our vacation to Colombia---- didn't get to this one either -- as in we didn't go to Colombia. Maybe this summer???

Here's to a fabulous 2014!!! 

What are your goals for the year?

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.  

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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 

Money

Today my sweetie and I celebrate a momentous occasion that we have been working on for quite a while.  Other than our mortgage, we are debt free with 2 months' worth of income in savings.  And we are on track with our mortgage to pay it off many, many years early. It is a great feeling.

I wrote this a couple of months ago and saved it as a draft for an upcoming blog post.  We were just a few weeks away from meeting our financial goal and I was anticipating the joy of paying off our last bill.  Last summer we just had our mortgage and a car payment. The fall and early winter brought a huge increase in some bills and a temporary deduction in our incomes.  It was a small bump, but we were quick to get back on track in paying off the last of our bills and had a plan of paying the car off quite a bit early-- by March in fact.  We also had some money saved to redecorate the kitchen-- it is stuck in the 60's, complete with orange, white, yellow, red and black carpet. Uggh!

But instead of celebrating being out of debt (besides our mortgage) and paying cash to redo the kitchen, life has thrown us a curve ball. We now have a huge medical bill, as in tens of thousands, to pay. yikes! My husband's son is coming to live with us, which we had to put his $1200 plane ticket on a credit card. ouch!

So, we begin a new chapter of paying down a humongous bill. We will welcome my husband's son with open arms. And, well, I have lived with my 60's kitchen for 7 years, what's another year or two??

My new motto comes from a line in a church hymn reads, "Gird up thy loins, Fresh courage take."

And, that, my friends, is