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Bite-sized Goals: January 2012

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)

Last week, I had the privilege of posting my review of Crystal Paine’s The Money Saving Mom’s Budget. Her book released yesterday, and I have begun the suggested project for January: set big goals and break them down into bite-sized pieces.

Though Crystal focuses on financial goals, the steps in her process work for all types of goals. In using time wisely, I have chosen three goals in four different areas of my life.

I am purposing to carry out these bite-sized goals in January:

Tracy’s Physical Goals

1. Drink 1 glass of water per day.

2. Eat breakfast each morning.

3. Exercise for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week.

Tracy’s Family Goals

1. Plan at least one family outing/activity each week.

2. Spend 10 minutes with each child each day.

3. Allow children to help with a household task each week.

Tracy’s Financial Goals

1. Follow Crystal’s year-long plan to reach my goals.

2. Purchase dressers for my daughters’ room.

3. Purchase upgraded computers for hubby and me.

Tracy’s Business Goals

1. Write posts one week in advance.

2. Follow Blogelina’s daily/monthly tasks (coming in January).

3. Read two chapters of a blog-related book each month.

Each month I will check my progress, adjust the goals as needed, and report back to you. I do not expect perfection in following each of these goals. In fact, I know I will fail. When that happens, I will admit my shortcoming, pick myself up, and move forward. Without a plan or goal on which to keep my focus, I would travel aimlessly through life.

In purposing to aim for these goals and having you as my accountability partner, I am ready for the journey.  If you choose to follow along, please add your goals to the comments. We can encourage each other through the highs and lows. Happy planning!

Goals for February 2012: Removing Clutter – Part 1 of 2

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)

After posting my book review of Crystal Paine’s The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, I shared my bite-sized goals. These goals were both long-term and short-term.

This month, I will update you on my progress, adjust the goals, and concentrate on Crystal’s second month goal of removing clutter. Let me urge you to make goals. Be intentional with your time and make each moment count.

Have you purchased Crystal’s book, yet? If not, you can listen to the first chapter via Oasis Audio through February 12, 2012, or via YouTube. If you like what you hear, then buy your copy through Amazon.com for $10.99.

Transitioning from January to February, I will keep some goals, adjust others, and continue making progress with new steps. Today, I will share my physical and family goals. Then next week, I will share my financial and business goals. If you feel comfortable doing so, post your goal(s) in the comments for accountability and encouragement.

Physical

Drink 1 glass of water per day. Accomplished! New Goal: Drink 2 glasses of water per day. To meet this goal, I choose to drink my water before any other beverage. It is working for me.

Eat breakfast each morning. Good, but I need some more work. Most days I eat breakfast, but the weekends are still sporadic. I will continue with this goal in February.

Exercise for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. This goal is harder than I anticipated. If you follow me on Facebook, then you know that I am struggling. Zumba is working, but I can only complete 2 sessions a week due to the soreness. I will keep this goal for February as I build up to 3 times a week.

Family

Plan at least one family outing/activity each week. Accomplished! Our family enjoyed a day at the park, visited a science museum, constructed a Valentine’s Day project from Home Depot, and hosted a Super Bowl party. Making memories with my family encompasses why I focus on using time wisely. This goal will remain a top priority throughout the year.

Spend 10 minutes with each child each day. Good, but more work needed. Some days are busier than others. I need to make this special time a top priority and not just fitting it in between projects.

Allow children to help with a household task each week. Training my children is time well spent. They get personal attention while learning a skill. My girls enjoy laundry, general cleanup, and setting the table. With a little help, my 6-year-old son prepared a simple breakfast. I will continue this goal for February.

By focusing on a few goals, I am making progress. In some cases, the progress is slow which works for me. I want to set my goals high enough to challenge myself, but not so high that I cannot touch success. Finding the happy medium is a process. Starting with a few small goals puts me on a path to reach higher goals in the future.

Start where you are. Not too long ago, my goal involved getting out of my pajamas by the time hubby walked through the door. Some days that did not happen. Why? Because life happened. Embrace the setbacks with the accomplishments. Enjoy the process while moving forward, and happy planning!

(This post includes affiliate links where Using Time Wisely receives monetary compensation. Click here for my disclosure policy.)

Question: How are your goals shaping up? Please add your answer to the comments.

Goals for February 2012: Removing Clutter – Part 2 of 2

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)

With the ups and downs of executing the goals set, I am learning that my bite-sized goals from January were not so bite-sized.

Instead of breaking down the goal into weekly or monthly bites, I just made a glorified to-do list. Starting where I was comfortable was a start. Now, I need to fine tune and adjust.

Last week, I shared my February physical and family goals. This week, I will continue with my financial and business goals.

Financial

Follow Crystal’s year-long plan to reach my goals. On Track. I completed writing out my bite-sized goals for January. In February, I need to finish removing clutter from my home. I began this project, and have completed my downstairs. I need to finish my upstairs during the month of February.

Purchase dressers for my daughters’ room. This goal is ongoing. We will be saving for these dressers, but we made no headway this month.

Purchase upgraded computers for hubby and me. This goal is also ongoing. We saved a little in January to add to this fund.

Business

Write posts one week in advance. Fell short on this goal. This past week, I made a little progress with 2 scheduled posts. I will keep this goal for February.

Follow Blogelina’s daily/monthly tasks. Failed. I am not sure where to find these tasks. Scheduled to take her on-line course, I chose to delay the start date until February. When I take the class, I will learn the process and plan to complete these tasks in February.

Read two chapters of blog book each month. Accomplished! Finished 2 chapters, but now I have lots of items to tweak, define, and adjust in my business plan. This goal will remain for February.

As you can tell I am learning as I go. Realizing that this process is new for me, I am willing to jump in and try it. As I learn, I will fine-tune my goals. In the meantime, I am enjoying the process, focusing on what is important, and remaining accountable to you. Thanks for following along on this journey. Happy goal completing!

Question: What are you learning about setting goals? Please add your answer to the comments.

Goals for March 2012: The Food Budget

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)

As I review my February goals, I cringe since I fell flat on my face on most of these goals. It was a tough month.

After being away from home, grieving, and returning to a mountain of responsibilities, I am getting back on track. With a clean slate, I am ready to start again and make progress on my goals.

My goals stem from Crystal Paine’s book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, where Crystal breaks down the steps to reach your financial goals. I have included my financial and other goals as I seek to change and improve.

Though I do not meet every goal, I love that I am not where I was at the beginning of February. Progress, no matter how small, is still moving closer to my goals.

Physical

Drink 2 glasses of water per day.  I did not meet this goal every day, so I will be keeping this same goal for March.

Eat breakfast each morning. Good, but I still need more work. When I got a cold, I did not eat much, but I am making progress.

Exercise for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. Exercise? What’s that? I need to find a consistent time in my schedule to fit this goal. 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  building projects at Lowe’s and Home Depot, participating in a Kidgit’s event, playing putt-putt golf, jumping in inflatable bounce houses, eating free pancakes at IHOP, and spending lots of family time on our 12-hour trip to and from my mom’s home. Keeping our family relationships close remains a top priority.

Spend 10 minutes with each child each day. Better this month. My preschool daughter has learned to write her name. (Woo Hoo!) How exciting to watch her enthusiasm increase with her accomplishments!

Allow children to help with a household task each week. My kids enjoy this goal. They continue to ask how they can help. By working in extra time for training, we cook, clean, sort, stack, decorate, and pickup throughout our day. My children love contributing to our family while I enjoy using time wisely with them.

Financial

Follow Crystal’s year-long plan to reach my goals. On Track. The main rooms of my home are clutter-free. I still have 2 closets and 2 storage areas to organize, but the bulk of February’s task is complete.

For March (Month 3), Crystal has chosen tracking food purchases. I use this spreadsheet which helps me budget all my household purchases. With the formulas commuted, I only need to add the numbers from my receipts which saves me energy and time.

Our food budget remains at $80 per week for our family of 5. (If you are just starting, Crystal recommends $40 per person per week. As you track your spending, you can adjust as needed.)

Purchase dressers for my daughters’ room. This goal is ongoing. We saved $20 for these dressers in February. 🙂

Purchase upgraded computers for hubby and me. This goal is also ongoing. We saved $30 towards this goal in February. 🙂

Business

Write posts one week in advance. Fell short AGAIN on this goal. Not only am I not ahead, but I also fell behind.  (Bummer!) To help with a framework, I printed this calendar and have planned my posts for March. This plan helps focus my time at the computer which, hopefully, will help me get ahead. I will keep this goal for March.

Follow Blogelina’s daily/monthly tasks. Failed. Found these tasks on her Facebook page. However, I do not check often enough to keep up with the tasks. I completed 3 of the 4 sessions of the on-line course and will complete the 4th session in March.

I am changing this goal to “Making one improvement to Using Time Wisely this month.” For February, I participated in Blogelina’s 100 comments event. Though I did not get 100 comments, I did get 76 unique comments which thrilled me. Thank you for participating and encouraging me along this blogging journey.

Read two chapters of blog book each month. Accomplished! Finished 2 more chapters, but I have not applied what I have read . . . yet.

My goals are working for me. With some easy goals and others challenging, the balance works. 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? 

Goals for April 2012: The Bare-Bones Budget

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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?