Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)
The first quarter of 2012 is behind us. Whew . . . that went fast! Though I am not where I want to be, I am not where I started. Though I have setbacks, these goals focus my attention on my priorities.
I have based my goals on Crystal Paine’s book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, where Crystal breaks down the steps to reach your financial goals.
By documenting my financial and other goals, I seek to change and improve. Though I do not meet every goal, I am plugging along. Progress, no matter how small, is still moving closer to my goals.
Physical
Drink 2 glasses of water per day. Much better, but I’m keeping this goal for one more month before adding another glass.
Eat breakfast each morning. Good, but I still need more work.
Exercise for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. Keeping this goal though I have not succeeded yet. 🙁
Family
Plan at least one family outing/activity each week. Accomplished! I love this goal! Our family enjoyed lunch during a field trip, hosted a dinner party, surprised Daddy at work with strawberry lemonades, planted our garden, and shopped together. Keeping our family relationships close remains a top priority.
Spend 10 minutes with each child each day. Need a little more work on this one. I get into project-mode, because I am task-oriented, and spend lots of time with them one day. Then I get busy and forget that one-on-one time. My girls naturally get more Mommy-time, but I get that special time with my son during homework. However, he needs more time than just work time.
Allow children to help with a household task each week. Our home has stayed relatively picked up this month. My helpers are hard at work, and I really appreciate their efforts to keep our home tidy. Allowing them to work beside me and teaching them is already paying off. Keeping this goal – for sure!
Financial
Follow Crystal’s year-long plan to reach my goals. On track. I have documented our household, grocery, and restaurant receipts for the year in this spreadsheet. Because I have added the household items, including diapers, to our food budget, I am averaging $85 per week for our family of 5.
I have not raised the budget amount from $80 to $85 yet. Simply put, we had extra expenses in January and February, and March was on budget. For April, I plan to check our bare-bones budget that we have in place and adjust our system to Crystal’s recommendation.
Purchase dressers for my daughters’ room. This goal is ongoing. No progress made on this goal for March.
Purchase upgraded computers for hubby and me. This goal is also ongoing. Instead of purchasing new, Paul found a laptop for parts that is the same make and model as mine. Per the tracking information, the laptop should arrive tomorrow. This cost was $30 (the exact amount we had saved). I’ll keep you posted on the results.
Business
Write posts one week in advance. Making progress! I am still writing hours before publishing the post, but I have a plan. Having decided and recorded on my blogging calendar, I know in advance the topics for my posts throughout April. Though I have not made progress in writing the posts early, my blogging time has increased in productivity because I don’t have to brainstorm for a topic each day. This one change has made a huge difference in using time wisely.
Make one improvement to the blog this month. For March, I hosted my first guest post. Yeah! Though I did not see a spike in activity, I enjoyed Jim Wang’s article. I also created images for guest post, register review, and my garden. Now to get my Facebook page updated. 🙂
Read two chapters of a book each month. Accomplished! I read more than two chapters because the e-book I read did not have chapters, just sections, and I listened to Crystal’s The Money Saving Mom’s Budget audio book. 🙂
My goals are working for me. With some easy and others challenging, the goals keep me focused. By plugging along slowly and steadily, I am making progress. If you are struggling with your goals, then adjust. Small steps are still steps in the right direction. Keep going!
Question: How are your goals coming along?