So my intent for the day was to give you guys a review on my December goals, but as I'll be trekking out to my parents house to work on cleaning out the old room today and tomorrow, I figured theres a good chance I'll make more progress so I should wait on the goal review to see if I do. Instead, I bring you January goals!
1. Finish Cleaning out the old room. I have time scheduled in each day this long weekend to work on this, so I'm hoping it will get done ASAP, but it may still get drawn out throughout the month. It's been 4 months now since I moved out though, so I think its time I completely move out! Except of course for a box or two of storage stuff. :)
2. Try 3 new recipes. One of my year goals was to try 25 recipes so I thought I should start out the year strong! Plus I'm excited to try stuff in the Jamie's Food Revolution which I got for Christmas.
3. Read 12 Books. 1/12 of my yearly goal, lets see if I can do it!
4. Exercise 465 minutes. That's 15 minutes a day on average, and I beat my 10 minutes a day goal last month so I think I can do it!
5. Finish my 21 days in a row streak of exercise. I'm starting off with 11 days in a row (given that I work out tomorrow) and just need to keep it up til the 10th!
6. Finalize my budget for 2011. I have a monthly budget, not a yearly one, but it stays mostly the same month to month. I want to get this figured out once I have final numbers on what I'll be getting each paycheck.
I'm optimistic about these goals and hopefully goals 2,4, and 5 will help me to win some prize money in the biggest loser in March when it finishes!
30 December 2010
28 December 2010
2011 goals
This blog was started to focus on getting myself out of debt so that is what I should be focusing on in my 2011 goals, but that is not the case. I decided to make 2011 my year for focusing on my health. This post by J.D. at Get Rich Slowly reinforced my decision. My primary focus for the year is to lose weight, be more fit, and be all around healthier. For so many years school has been my top priority and other things have fallen by the wayside. This year my focus is on my health. And if that means I have to pay only the minimum on my debt, or spend so money to keep me focused and inspired, then so be it.
Now I'm not talking about going out and blowing a couple thousand on an elliptical machine, I'm talking about buying a new DVD or game when my exercise routine gets a little stale. Reasonable spending still since my finances are important, but I want to put my weight and health before putting extra money towards my debt. With that in mind, I'm making financial goals, but I will not beat myself up if I fall short of them because this other area of my life takes priority.
With that said, down to the goals!
Money:
Make a workable budget and stick to it (or at least keep tracking it)- again this is still waiting on the raise!
Pay $12,000 towards my debt- this works out to be paying about $250 more than the minimums every month, but I expect my tax return to go towards debt as well.
Make an extra $1,000- I've never had a goal like this before but I'm hoping to get my Etsy shop up and running again so I think this is doable. The intent is for this to not include my tax return.
Health:
Lose 35 pounds- this is a very doable goal for a year! The biggest loser contest I signed up for starts in a week and a half and I also got a biggest loser calendar for the year so I can't forget that this is a goal for me!
Exercise everyday- I'm not talking about an hour of workout time everyday (although I wouldn't mind working up to this) I want to do something EVERY day, even if its just a handful of situps. I started on this goal a little bit ago and so far I'm at 8 days in a row!
Misc:
Read 120 books. I know I didn't meet my 100 goal in 2010, but I think I can meet the 120 goal in 2011.
Try 25 new recipes I really want to broaden my cooking horizons, and it will help me get healthy.
Learn to knit more than just a scarves. 'nough said.
Now I'm not talking about going out and blowing a couple thousand on an elliptical machine, I'm talking about buying a new DVD or game when my exercise routine gets a little stale. Reasonable spending still since my finances are important, but I want to put my weight and health before putting extra money towards my debt. With that in mind, I'm making financial goals, but I will not beat myself up if I fall short of them because this other area of my life takes priority.
With that said, down to the goals!
Money:
Make a workable budget and stick to it (or at least keep tracking it)- again this is still waiting on the raise!
Pay $12,000 towards my debt- this works out to be paying about $250 more than the minimums every month, but I expect my tax return to go towards debt as well.
Make an extra $1,000- I've never had a goal like this before but I'm hoping to get my Etsy shop up and running again so I think this is doable. The intent is for this to not include my tax return.
Health:
Lose 35 pounds- this is a very doable goal for a year! The biggest loser contest I signed up for starts in a week and a half and I also got a biggest loser calendar for the year so I can't forget that this is a goal for me!
Exercise everyday- I'm not talking about an hour of workout time everyday (although I wouldn't mind working up to this) I want to do something EVERY day, even if its just a handful of situps. I started on this goal a little bit ago and so far I'm at 8 days in a row!
Misc:
Read 120 books. I know I didn't meet my 100 goal in 2010, but I think I can meet the 120 goal in 2011.
Try 25 new recipes I really want to broaden my cooking horizons, and it will help me get healthy.
Learn to knit more than just a scarves. 'nough said.
27 December 2010
A look at 2010 goals
My Debt:
Pay off undergrad loan by April 2011- I'm really surprised I was so ambitious when I was moving out and had just bought a new car. I have not made progress in this area really since I shared the goal in August. It's also lumped into half of my grad school loans now so its hard to distinguish which is which.
Pay off Credit Card by October 2010- whoops. Forgot about that one. Still more progress to make than I would like on this.
My Health:
Lose 35 pounds by December 2010- nope. not a single damn pound.
Misc:
Read 100 books- nope. I'll probably be ending the year around 80, but still good if you ask me.
Next time: My goals for 2011.
Pay off undergrad loan by April 2011- I'm really surprised I was so ambitious when I was moving out and had just bought a new car. I have not made progress in this area really since I shared the goal in August. It's also lumped into half of my grad school loans now so its hard to distinguish which is which.
Pay off Credit Card by October 2010- whoops. Forgot about that one. Still more progress to make than I would like on this.
My Health:
Lose 35 pounds by December 2010- nope. not a single damn pound.
Misc:
Read 100 books- nope. I'll probably be ending the year around 80, but still good if you ask me.
Next time: My goals for 2011.
24 December 2010
Friday Goal Check-Up
1. Get the guitar and extras, Itunes gift card, and the doll up on Ebay. No progress yet.
2. Take 4 boxes to goodwill. Ditto
3. Meet my 100 books goal! Still sitting at halfway through 3 books. Still at 78 books. :(
4. 310 minutes of Exercise. Definitely making progress!. 200 minutes so far, I'm only 40 minutes behind. If I do half an hour tomorrow and Sunday I'll be caught up!
5. Revamp my Budget. I've come to the realization that this won't get done this month. I need to know what my raise is going to be and I won't know that until admin gets back from holiday vacation time! This means I won't know what my raise is until January 3rd at the absolute earliest (and my transcript still does not show I'm graduated so that might delay it further). Sigh, this will definitely be done by next month. I may try to come up with an intermittent budget that runs from mid December to Mid January instead. In fact, that will be my goal today!
2. Take 4 boxes to goodwill. Ditto
3. Meet my 100 books goal! Still sitting at halfway through 3 books. Still at 78 books. :(
4. 310 minutes of Exercise. Definitely making progress!. 200 minutes so far, I'm only 40 minutes behind. If I do half an hour tomorrow and Sunday I'll be caught up!
5. Revamp my Budget. I've come to the realization that this won't get done this month. I need to know what my raise is going to be and I won't know that until admin gets back from holiday vacation time! This means I won't know what my raise is until January 3rd at the absolute earliest (and my transcript still does not show I'm graduated so that might delay it further). Sigh, this will definitely be done by next month. I may try to come up with an intermittent budget that runs from mid December to Mid January instead. In fact, that will be my goal today!
22 December 2010
The problem of the Air Purifier
Wesley has bad allergies. He is also allergic to our pooch, but he just deals with the allergies because he loves dogs so much. To combat these problems (and because the pooch also has some nasty allergies) we have an air purifier in the house that seems to really help and I chose a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to also help. A problem arose a week ago when Wesley had some friends over and one of them informed him that the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze that he's had for YEARS actually releases stuff into the air that is not so good for you. Wesley did some quick googling, discovered it produces ozone which can damage your lungs and now the Ionic Breeze has been unplugged and discarded in a corner.
Now we pretty much need an air purifer for Wesley and the pooch to be comfortable in the house and Wesley makes a lot less money than I do which leaves me to be the one to replace the air purifier. So I did what any good librarian would do and I researched it. I picked up September issue of consumer reports which reviewed air purifiers and decided to buy their top rated one. Unfortunately, top rated does not come cheap (although farther down the list were purifiers at more than 2x the price) and I just placed an order for the Whirlpool® Whispure 315-CADR Air Purifier from Amazon, which costs $285.
Sigh. Another big expense. At least I can take solace in the fact that I know I'm getting good value for my money!
Now we pretty much need an air purifer for Wesley and the pooch to be comfortable in the house and Wesley makes a lot less money than I do which leaves me to be the one to replace the air purifier. So I did what any good librarian would do and I researched it. I picked up September issue of consumer reports which reviewed air purifiers and decided to buy their top rated one. Unfortunately, top rated does not come cheap (although farther down the list were purifiers at more than 2x the price) and I just placed an order for the Whirlpool® Whispure 315-CADR Air Purifier from Amazon, which costs $285.
20 December 2010
Weekly Money Check-Up
This post is part of My Pretty Pennies Weekly Money Check Up.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on dinner at Texas De Brazil.
2. Today I feel anxious towards money. I'm still on edge because I don't know about my raise yet and I just found out I'm going to have to sink a few hundred dollars into an air purifier. More on that later.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was drive around and look at Christmas lights with Wesley.
4. I will consider this week a success if I catch up on my exercise minutes. I'm not doing so well as of now, but I have short days the next two days (where I go in late) so I should be able to get in some heavy duty dance sessions
5. My favorite holiday movie is Muppet Christmas Carol. I also love A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story, but the Muppets is the one I HAVE to see every year.
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If you'd like to participate, fill this out and link it back to My Pretty Pennies.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.
2. Today I feel _______towards money.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.
4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.
5. My favorite holiday movie is ____________.
17 December 2010
Friday Goal Check-Up
I'm finally done with grad school!!!! HOOORAY!!!! Expect to see a steady increase in talking about my student loans! :( I plan to address them with my big 2011 goal post due out in a few weeks. For now though, a peek at how I'm doing on December's goals
1. Get the guitar and extras, Itunes gift card, and the doll up on Ebay. No progress yet.
2. Take 4 boxes to goodwill. Ditto
3. Meet my 100 books goal! I've finished one more, I'm half way through another three others. I'm currently at 78 books.
4. 310 minutes of Exercise. Not looking good. 95 minutes so far (a plus that its a 65 minute increase from last week) and I'm 75 minutes behind.
5. Revamp my Budget. Still waiting on the raise to do this. Expect a confession about my spending when I get it. I'm still waiting on my final grades before I can get the raise which should hopefully show up before Christmas.
1. Get the guitar and extras, Itunes gift card, and the doll up on Ebay. No progress yet.
2. Take 4 boxes to goodwill. Ditto
3. Meet my 100 books goal! I've finished one more, I'm half way through another three others. I'm currently at 78 books.
4. 310 minutes of Exercise. Not looking good. 95 minutes so far (a plus that its a 65 minute increase from last week) and I'm 75 minutes behind.
5. Revamp my Budget. Still waiting on the raise to do this. Expect a confession about my spending when I get it. I'm still waiting on my final grades before I can get the raise which should hopefully show up before Christmas.
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