2012 Goals

Personal Goals

Lose weight.

I've rejoined Weight Watchers and will blog my weight loss journey here.  I'm not sure how much I want to lose yet, but know I'd like to get at least to 135.  From there, I'll decide how much more I want and/or need to lose.

Exercise.

*Log at least 4160 minutes of exercise in 2012.

*Log at least 350 miles of running in 2012.

Volunteer.

I want to continue volunteering at the boys schools, with their sports, Scouts, Church and the Master Gardener program.  I want to keep it all in balance though and not do too much, so my goal is to volunteer 100 hours this year. 

Build and strengthen relationships. 

*Last year Katy at The Non-Consumer Advocate had a goal to write 52 Letters in 52 Weeks.  I want to do that this year.  Whether is a long letter or a short note, I want to intentionally sit down, think of a special person, and write a note to them.

*Mr. Steady and I always say, "We should have them over some time..." and "Why don't we do anything with them? They're a lot of fun!"  My goal this year is to do something about that!  I want to get together with friends who we like and/or people who we want to get to know better every 6-8 weeks.  Whether it's dinner or simply Happy Hour on a Friday afternoon, I want to host something at our house.  I've even put $ in the budget to do this so that money can't be an excuse not to do it!

Hobbies.

While I don't want my house to become a wreck while focusing on hobbies and not on housework, I want to designate time enjoying what I like to do.  Things like...

Photography - I want to complete the 12 Weeks to Better Photos homework by Two Peas in a Bucket.

Reading - My goal is to read 20 books in 2012.
   Books Read:

     Hunger Games
     Catching Fire
     Mockingjay
     A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
     Before I Go To Sleep: A Novel
     The 17 Day Diet
     Fifty Shades of Grey

Craftiness - I want to complete my unfinished projects from 2011.  I'd also like to finish my 2010 and 2011 scrapbooks and bring my boys school albums up to date.

Gardening - I was accepted into our county's Master Gardener Program which will begin next week.  I'll have class each Monday from 8-4 for 3 months.  I'll have to pass a mid-term and final exam.  Then, I'll have an Intern Project to complete and finally, will need to volunteer 50 hours.  My goal is to graduate from the program and apply all my new knowledge to making our own yard gorgeous!

                                                                    and finally...

Rosetta Stone

These two words have been lingering on my mind since I bought the software this past summer!  In fact, I've blogged about it at least 12 times in the last year.  My goal is to complete the lessons before traveling to Italy in April!


Financial Goals

1.  Stick to a budget.  This will require a lot of discipline.  I'll need to say "No" sometimes to certain things, but I also will need remember that I can say "Yes" to things that are in the budget.  Oftentimes when my boys ask for something my knee jerk reaction is to say, "No...we don't have the money to do that."  But a lot of times we do have the money budgeted and we can do what they're asking as long as we're smart with our choices.  Know what I mean?

2.  Continue to log expenses.  I have a very fancy way of doing this.  I track all of my expenses on paper and at the end of the money I add them up with a calculator.  Then...I transfer them on the an Excel spreadsheet!  I've tried many other ways that promise to be more efficient, but this is the only thing that works for me.

My elaborate accounting system.

3.  Use cash only for food purchases.  My plan is to get cash out at the beginning of each month and use only it for trips to the grocery store and for eating out.

and the main goal of the year...

4.  Save 26% of our gross income.  Both Mr. Steady and I are at a place in our lives right now where we are very motivated to save money.  To do this, we will have to be diligent with #1, #2, and #3.  Blogging certainly helps to keep me focused and reading everyone's blogs helps keep me motivated also.  Things like Carla's January Spend-Less Challenge really help me stay on track with my spending!