February Goals

Even though January seemed as though it would last forever, it did finally end!  I am beyond excited about a new month.  January was definitely a tough one… not just at home with my goals, but I had many struggles at work as well.  My stress level was beyond belief for the majority of the month, and I was unable to focus on my goals and achieving them.

Last month I did make some goals that I knew I would meet, just so I didn’t feel as though I was failing with them all.  It helped to know that I would have something positive to post on here, so I think I will do that this month as well.

Financial

 Save $855 in Capitalone 360 accounts
Save an additional $130 for consignment sale (it will be spent before the end of the month)
Put $100 into emergency savings
Track spending
Create or edit a Google Docs spreadsheet for our budget/tracking expenses

Marriage

One date night (we have a gift card to help with dinner expenses, but if we want to do anything else, we will have to figure out where the money will come from)

Health

Run 50 miles this month
Drink 5 cups of water a day and track it
Continue with no pop
Finish 30 Days of Yoga series on Youtube (I am on Day 8)
Do strength training exercises 3 times a week
Cut back on sugar intake
Sign up for a 5k with my best friend
No coffee drinks from the coffee shop on the way to work

Recreation

Read 1 book this month
Blog at least 3 times a week
Get together with friends

Home

Take boxes to Salvation Army
Get rid of all the cardboard boxes that are taking over our lives
Clean the basement
Scrub out the fridge

That is all I can think of.  I think most of these goals are actually attainable.  I think there are a few that will be difficult to stick with, but overall I think February will be a successful month.  I am going to stay positive and hopeful that I can stay on track this month!

What are your goals for February?

image courtesy of fotographic1980 at freedigitialphotos.net

January Resolution Check-In

Ready for an ugly post?  Yeah, me neither.  Well, my resolutions have been neglected and ignored, so this will not be pretty.  I guess there is no reason to put it off any longer (considering February is almost here), so here we go!

Finances
$435 into miscellaneous savings accounts- I honestly don’t know why I picked this number.  I automatically put $450 into one account for a car down payment, so we easily went over this number.  Aside from the car down payment, we put $480 into other savings accounts.  Total we put in $930 into our CapitalOne 360 Savings accounts.  Although these are earmarked for something, if we did have an emergency and didn’t have enough in our regular emergency fund, I wouldn’t hesitate to use the money in these accounts.
$300 into emergency fund- We put $100 into our emergency fund.  As you know, our emergency fund was drained around Christmas.  It was not a real emergency, but when our TV broke, Hubs felt it was a true emergency.  Anyways, it is going to be slow going to build it back up.  Again, if we have a true emergency, I know we have almost $2,000 in our Capitalone 360 accounts that we do have access to.
10 No spend days- I have no idea.
Track spending- Nope.  Failed miserably!
Use cash only- Nope.  Failed again!
Snowball and pay off 2 student loans- This is a goal to get done at some point this year.  We did snowball and made the payments necessary to get them paid off this year, so I think this is going well.

Marriage
One Date night this month- Nope.  I guess we will try again in February.

Health
Run at least 35 miles each month- Blew this one out of the water!  I am currently at 45.19 miles for the month, and I do plan on running tomorrow as well.  Woo-hoo!
Start muscle strengthening workouts- I did a few at the beginning of the month, but I really need to figure out a schedule.  I do better with a schedule.
Yoga at least 3 times a week- Again, I started off doing a really good job at the beginning of the month, but it tapered off the past week or so.
Each more veggies (at least 1 at lunch and 1 at dinner)- I think I have been doing ok with this.  I am definitely bringing more veggies to work for lunch, but I don’t think I have done one every lunch.  I am also working on eating more veggies at dinner, but this is pretty much torture for me.
No more pop!- Done and done!  I think I only really wanted a pop once this month, but I resisted and haven’t had one all month!
Drink at least 5 cups of water a day- I know I didn’t succeed at this, but again, I am more aware of my water drinking.  I need to just make this one a priority.

Recreation (Things I like to do)
Blog 5 times a week- I think you all know that I have not done well at this at all!
Read at least 1 book a month- Done!  I finished The Late Lamented Molly Marx and already have my next book sitting on my nightstand ready to go for February.

Home
Start a cleaning routine- Nope.  I am just happy I got one of our bathrooms cleaned and Miss C’s room vacuumed.
Paint last set of cabinets- Nope.  I don’t know when I had planned to have time to accomplish this one.
Vacuum at least once a week- Nope.  The vacuum has been sitting in our bedroom, but hasn’t been plugged in or turned on.
Complete one large home cleaning task a month- I did reorganize the pantry earlier this month, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to do it again.  I stocked up on some items because of some good sales, so we need to get everything back in order.

So there ya have it.  I don’t think I completely failed, but there are definitely a few goals that will carry over to February.  I hope to get my goals for next month up on the blog either tomorrow or Sunday.  I don’t know about you, but January has been a long month!  I am very ready for a new month and a clean slate!

How have your resolutions been going?

Redo

I need a redo!  I need to start all over!  I need a new new year!

I made my goals, and I really have not done much to keep up with them.  I have been a terrible resolutionist.  I have been so worn out and exhausted this first week back to school, that I have been doing the bare minimum to survive.

Here is where I stand with my goals so far:

Finances
$435 into miscellaneous savings accounts*- Nope.  I get paid this upcoming week, so this will get done in the next couple of days.

$300 into emergency fund*- Nope.  I have put no additional money into our emergency fund.
10 No spend days- I haven’t tracked them, but there haven’t been many at all.
Track spending- Nope.  Haven’t tracked it.
Use cash only- Nope.  I used my Target card just yesterday (which I justify because I get 5% off.  And I was buying diapers… which are needs.)

Snowball and get 2 students loans wiped out- Can’t do until I get paid!

Marriage
One Date night this month- Haven’t thought about it and haven’t discussed it with Hubs.

Health
Run at least 35 miles- I am doing ok with this one.  I am currently at 13.22 miles for the month.
Start muscle strengthening workouts- I have been doing ok with this one.  I have been doing some arm workouts with free weights about every other day, and I have been doing planks daily, but I need to come up with some schedule to get everything in and balanced.
Yoga at least 3 times a week- I have done yoga about 3 times the whole month so far.
Each more veggies (at least 1 at lunch and 1 at dinner)- Doing ok.  I am more aware of eating veggies at lunch, but it is hard to incorporate.
No more pop!- Woo-hoo!  One that I have stuck to!
Drink at least 5 cups of water a day- I do well on days that I don’t start my day with coffee and days that I am at school.  I have done this about half the time.

Recreation (Things I like to do)
Blog 5 times a week- Obviously by my lack of posts in the past week, this is not happening.
Read at least 1 book a month- I have made progress, but I am really going to have to stick to reading each night if I want to finish it.

Home
Start a cleaning routine- Haven’t even thought about this.
Paint last set of cabinets*- We just got our microwave mounted today, so I can start painting them sometime this week!  I am very anxious to get started!
Vacuum at least once a week- I vacuumed all the saw dust from mounting the microwave today.  Does that count?
Complete one large home cleaning task a month- Woo-hoo!  Another one down!  I cleaned and organized our pantry last weekend!

So, as you can see it is time for me to really change my mindset and get going with these goals.  If I really want to make the changes, I need to commit to making them priorities!

How are your goals going?  I am sure you are doing better than I am!

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image (c) freedigitalphotos.net

Resolutions, Last Part

I have broken down 3 sections of my resolutions.  You can see those posts here and here.  Now for my last set of resolutions: recreation and home.

Recreation (Things I like to do)
*Blog 5 times a week:  This is my gift to you. 🙂  Whenever I am on long breaks, I tend to do really well with blogging, but during the school year, I am not that great at it.  In the past I have tried to do a schedule (Menu Plan Monday, Thankful Thursday, Friday Financials, Saturday Cents, Sunday Night Chit-Chat.)  I enjoy doing that, as it gives me something specific to write about.  I will probably try to keep up with those blog posts again, but will make sure to throw in some random things about my day-to-day life as well.

*Read at least 1 book a month:  I would like to get better at putting my phone down when I get in bed and picking up a book instead.  I am almost halfway through a book that I started last October.  It is getting better than how it started, and I would like to finish this one this month.  I know that is cheating a bit, as I started it before this month.  But when I say “started”, I really mean I read about 3 chapters.  I did not get very far into it.  I truly enjoy reading and want to get back in the habit.

Home
*Start a cleaning routine:  I think this is a goal every month and year, and I just haven’t stuck to it.  I always have such good intentions when I make the plan, but when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is clean anything.  I really need to pick up the productivity in my life.

*Paint last set of cabinets:  We purchased our microwave, and it should be here next week.  When we get it in, then my dad will come over and mount it.  He will also have to move some cabinets and drill a hole for the cord.  I am definitely looking forward to getting these cabinets finished!  I can’t decide on what my next painting project will be: the fireplace or one of the bathrooms?

*Vacuum at least once a week:  The dogs are ridiculous with their shedding, and the size of the dust bunnies is just embarrassing.  I really need to keep up with this.

*Complete one large home cleaning task a month:  I have started a list, but haven’t gotten around to getting it posted or figured out completely.  These large cleaning tasks include things like cleaning the fridge, washing walls, cleaning the washer, shampooing carpets, etc.  Things that need to be done, but that I don’t ever think about doing.

So, that’s it!  Hopefully 2015 will be the year that I reach and exceed my goals.  I say that every year, and I mean it every year.  It is just up to me to make the commitment and really set my mind to it!

Resolutions

Yesterday I showed you all of my resolutions, and I broke down the financial resolutions.  Today I am going to go through my marriage and health resolutions.

Marriage
1 date night a month

This is pretty self-explanatory, but honestly Hubs and I are terrible about making this a priority.  I have been pinning quite a few ideas on Pinterest for date ideas that are cheap/free and can be done at home.  Now that we have a munchkin, even though there are a number of family members who are willing to watch her, I don’t like having to rely on them all the time.

Hubs’ schedule is going to change next week, which is going to make this a bit difficult.  He will start working on Saturdays, which takes away one of the days that we are able to go out together.  Luckily he won’t be working late (just 7-5), so we will be able to do something in the evening.

I don’t have anything arranged, but we do have a gift card for a restaurant.  I think that may be our first date night.  We may go out on a Sunday afternoon, or maybe even wait until Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  I am off work that day, and that is a day that Hubs doesn’t have to work.  I guess I need to make sure that I have child care available.

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Health

*Run at last 35 miles:  I started running in October haven’t looked back.  I enjoy it so much more than I thought I would.  In November, I was a beast.  I ran 30.20 miles (and I feel good about that, as a beginner).  In December the weather was a bit colder and the month a bit busier.  I only ran 27.07 miles.  Our treadmill should be arriving tomorrow, so I should be good to go and think this will be a pretty easy goal to reach.  It will increase each month, as my endurance increases.  My one stipulation with the treadmill is that if the wind chill is above 32, then I am going to force myself to get outside and run.

*Start muscle strengthening workouts:  Now that I feel comfortable with my running, I need to round out my workouts.  I am doing a “Plank Party” challenge with a facebook group, so that will be a good core workout.  I need to do other workouts so that my muscles are getting stronger as well.  I have some hand weights, so I will have to just deal with those at this point.

*Yoga at least 3 times a week:  There is going to be a free yoga workout after school on Tuesdays starting in January.  Hubs new schedule will have him off on Tuesdays, so I am able to go!  In February, I will have to start paying, but this a great place to start!  I have a yoga DVD I can also do, and there are a ton of youtube yoga channels as well.  I would love to go to classes, but it is just not in our budget at this point.

*Eat more veggies: Pretty self-explanatory.  I am terrible about this.  I need to do my Sunday veggie prep so they are ready for the week.  I do great when they are ready to go, and I don’t have to think about it in the morning.  In addition to this goal, I want to try and find some good veggie recipes.  All we eat around here are steam fresh veggies from the frozen food section.  They get boring after a while.

*No more pop!  I try this goal every month, but I really need to stick with it.  Pop has absolutely no nutritional value, and it is just increasing my sugar intake which is already too high.  I didn’t drink pop for a few years in high school, so I should be able to do this again.

*Drink at least 5 cups of water a day.  I hope to increase this as time goes on and get up to 8 cups a day.  One problem I run into is that my job is not very flexible with just going to the bathroom as needed.  I can’t just leave my classroom unattended to run to the bathroom every hour.  I do have a para in my room for most of the day, so I guess I need to take advantage of the time that he/she is in there.  Water is essential for good health, good skin, and other good things.  I really need to get on this one!

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I think all of these goals are attainable.  I didn’t put anything out there that was just out of this world.  I think I will do pretty well with these!

Do you have any health or fitness goals?

Happy New Year’s!

This is what our household looked like last night:

We are not big partiers, even though New Year’s is a favorite of mine.  I love the fresh start and the new beginning.

 Unfortunately today, I have not really taken advantage of it.  I am still in my pjs and guess I am just slow to get 2015 started.  Don’t think today has been a total waste.  I did cook a nice, homemade lunch for the family before Hubs headed off to work.  I also got my first nap of 2015 out of the way.  Most importantly, though, I updated the pages on this blog and think I have finalized my resolutions for the year.
Without further ado, here they are:

Finances
$435 into miscellaneous savings accounts*

$300 into emergency fund*
10 No spend days
Track spending
Use cash only

Snowball and get 2 students loans wiped out

Marriage
One Date night this month

Health
Run at least 35 miles
Start muscle strengthening workouts
Yoga at least 3 times a week
Each more veggies (at least 1 at lunch and 1 at dinner)
No more pop!
Drink at least 5 cups of water a day

Recreation (Things I like to do)
Blog 5 times a week
Read at least 1 book a month

Home
Start a cleaning routine
Paint last set of cabinets*
Vacuum at least once a week
Complete one large home cleaning task a month

*Each goal with an ‘*’ is most likely going to change each month or will become a new challenge once it gets completed.

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Now for a bit of a breakdown of our financial goals (I will focus on breaking down a different area for the next couple of days):

Finances:
For the first goal of $435 into miscellaneous savings accounts, here is how it looks:

$95 into a savings account for Labor Day travels.  We are thinking about traveling out to see some of Hubs’ family for Labor Day.  This would include a hotel stay for 1 or 2 nights, along with gas, and food on the road.  I do not know if it will happen.  If we decide not to travel, then the money will be moved to somewhere that it is needed.  Once September arrives, we will reevaluate if we are going to make this a yearly trip.  If so, then I will adjust the amount for a full year’s worth of savings instead of just 9 months worth of savings.

$50 into a savings account for Thanksgiving travel.  We are celebrating Thanksgiving with Hubs’ family this year, and in the past it is has been hosted by his sister in Chicago.  We are not sure of the arrangements for this coming year, as we have offered to host it if anyone is interested.  If we end up not traveling, and we get to host it, then this will go to buying food for the holiday.

$50 for Christmas.  We are not traveling for Christmas this year, as we will celebrate it here with my family.  This means that we will not need to set aside as much as we did this past year.  I do believe $600 by December should be plenty to be able to buy gifts for everyone on our list.

$10 a month for classroom expenses.  Classroom expenses seem to always show up at the beginning of the year, the end of the year, and randomly throughout the year.  I think $10 a month will be enough to cover costs throughout the school year (along with money we get from the PTO and our building budget… assuming we get to keep our building budget.)

$75 a month for a consignment sale.  I will actually save $125 this month and $75 next month for the consignment sale at the end of February.  Unfortunately because Miss C is getting older, clothes are not sold in cute little outfits.  We have to buy tops and bottoms separately which end up adding up.  We will continue to keep these costs to a minimum by buying at the consignment sales.  After the sale at the end of February, I will lower this amount to $50 a month.  Then we will have the fall consignment sale to save up for.  It will become a regular savings process in our world.

$75 a month for a lawn mower.  We will save this for about 4 months.  Hopefully we will get to buy a lawn mower in April.  Ours is on it’s last leg, and it is a beast to use.  It was free when we got it and has lasted for 2 summers, so we aren’t complaining at all!  Once we buy the lawn mower, I think I will put this money aside for a dishwasher, as that is going to be the next appliance we would like to update.

$60 a month for dog expenses.  Dogs need vaccinations and monthly medication (all dogs, not just our two highly special dogs).  I like to set aside some money, so when vaccinations come due or we need a refill of heartworm protection, it is not a surprise.

$50 for car tags.  I have been doing this forever.  Our tags are due in July.  The first year we were married, I was not ready.  It was an unexpected expense (unexpected due to me not being prepared).  It is more than we need at this point, but I want to keep this amount the same for when we get a new vehicle and the price increases.

$15 for Miss C’s birthday.  By October there will be $150 which should be no problem at all for a 3rd birthday!

*Another one that I did not add is $450 a month for a car down payment.  I did not add this, as I am treating it like a bill.  It automatically comes out of our checking account and is deposited into a savings account.  I don’t even want to see the money, so I am not tempted to spend it.

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Because of the tv debacle, I know we are going to use some of our emergency fund money.  In all honesty, $300 this month into this account is going to be a stretch.  In our budget, I have $280 budgeted to go in there, so the other money will have to be scraped from somewhere else.   My semi-long term goal is to get our emergency fund up to $1,000 by the end of March and then up to $2,000 by the end of the year.  I sure hope that can happen!

When I think about only putting away $300 into our emergency fund, I get a little depressed.  I feel like we should be able to put more than that away.  But if I take a step back and add up how much we are saving all together (just in separate accounts to keep it easy to see), we are actually saving $1,185 in January.  That is not a number to be depressed about!

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10 No spend days.  I think this will be pretty easy.  My hardest part with this is tracking it.  I need to get on the ball with tracking things.  At least I have my beautiful new planner to help out with that!  I want to see if we can get 10 true no-spend days.  In the past I have let days that I paid bills count as no-spend days, but I don’t want that this time around.  I really want true no-spend days.

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Track spending.  Again, this is a goal that has shown up often and one that I fail at every time.  I really would like to track not only spending this year, but savings.  I want to see what I managed to save with coupons, sales, etc.  I don’t have a specific goal for how much I want to save, but I would like some baseline data to get me started so I can make a goal.

As far as tracking spending, this is just something I am going to have to force myself to do until it becomes a habit.  I am not sure how I want to track it yet, but I really want to see where our money goes each month.

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Use cash only.  I did not do as well with this one this past year, and I can tell, as we do not have as much change in our change jar as we have in the past.  I have gotten very lazy with just paying with our debit card for groceries.  We will continue to pay for gas with our debit cards, as I refuse to either unload my child to run into the gas station to pay with cash or leave her in the car as I run in.  It’s just not ok in my book.  Groceries have gotten expensive lately, so it is going to be tough keeping our grocery budget in check so I can use cash only, but we will definitely try our hardest.

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We should be able to get our first student loan paid off in May this year and our second paid off in September!  I can’t believe we are so close to getting more debt wiped out!  Right now we are paying double on our lowest balance, and we plan to snowball that to our other loan.  Being able to see that we are making headway and are closing in on being debt-free really gives me the encouragement to work hard and get it done!

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Wish me luck this year!  I have some lofty goals (as always)!

What are your financial goals for 2015?

Year in Review

2014 has gone by in the blink of an eye.  So many things have happened this past year.

This is actually one of my favorite posts that I write all year.  I like scouring my past blog posts to put together a little summary of our year.  Let’s take a look back at what happened:

January: I started the year being out of town to take newborn photos of my super sweet niece!  As always, I also started the year with a no/low-spend challenge.  Bandit had surgery at the beginning of the month, but everything turned out fine!  And we got a new faucet!

February: I made some goals for the month.  I enjoyed a few snow days!  We also got a new garbage disposal (the faucet wasn’t the whole problem).  I took my first step to getting $5,000 of my student loan forgiven.  And I bought lots of clothes for Miss C at a consignment sale!

March: I made a list of goals for March.  Sadly, I had another miscarriage.  But I did get a lot of painting (of cabinets) done!

April:  Another month, another list of goals!  Bandit scratched himself open and blew our budget. And I got my appendix taken out!

May: Apparently May was not much a blogging month for me.  I told you about some grocery savings.  I updated you on my long (but not terribly interesting) absence.   And I ran some errands and got stopped on the road by a traveling house.

June: I turned 30!  I also started using some rebate apps when I grocery shop!  I was productive for at least one day during the summer.  And I went to the grocery store again.

July: Apparently I did nothing, as there was not one single blog post from the month of July.  Oops!

August: I bought myself some new clothes!  I was very happy to go back to work, after a very tiring summer with a toddler.  And I moved from 1st grade to 2nd grade!

September: I got back to making a list of goals.  I started scheduling my days, which I still do, and which keep me sane!  For one day, I felt like a rock star!

October: October was a super busy month!  Managed to make a list of goals.  We paid off our car!! I photographed a wedding! I got a new laptop. Miss C turned 2!

November: Of course I started off with some goals.  Bandit continued to be a naughty dog.  I got $5,000 of my student loan forgiven!!  Hubs got some expensive new tires for his car!  And I started some new habits that I am very proud of!

December: I attempted to make a Christmas budget.  I gave thanks to some random things.  I was busy.  I complained about how much assessing goes on in public schools.  And we are ending the year with some large purchases.

April Goals

I will come back and post a complete recap of my March goals.  I fell pretty short on many of them, but still need to check back in with them.

For now, I am going to focus on a new month and new goals.

Here is a quick rundown of them all.

Finances:
(1.) Track spending
(2.) Save $150 for a trip to visit family (Our new niece is set to arrive in the next couple weeks!  We plan to travel a few hours to see her when she makes her appearance!)
(3.) $75 into savings
(4.) No buying coffee for the month (I moved this one from my health goals, as it is more about not spending the money on the coffee.  For example, I had a wonderful friend buy me a coffee this evening, so I consider that fine.)

Marriage:
(1.) Watch 4 movies with Hubs (I am not a movie fan, but Hubs is.  We have a lot of movies on our DVR now, so we need to sit down and watch them together)

Health:
(1.) 4 cups of water a day.
(2.) Eat 1 fruit and 1 veggie at lunch.
(3.) Walk 5 days this month.
(4.) Pick up yoga routine.

Career:
(1.) Mail out re-licensure paperwork. (My license expires in June, and if I don’t get it renewed, I don’t get paid.  Need to get this done ASAP!)
(2.) Book 2 more photography sessions.  They don’t have to be completed this month, I would just like to book them.

Recreation:
(1.) Finish 2 books.  I am working on two books right now, so I would like to finish them this month.

Home:
(1.) Organize junk basket.  This was a goal last month that did not get accomplished.
(2.) Clean up after dinner every night.  I think I might just try to clean up the kitchen in the evenings, and then worry about the living room as it is needed.

There ya have it!  I have been doing decent so far, so I am pretty happy with things at this moment.  I plan to continue my Tuesday Resolution Recap posts.  So, you can check back then to see how I am doing!

Do you have any goals for this month?

Resolution Recap

Get ready for the worst resolution recap ever!  The past two weeks have been a complete wash!  The week of the 9th was just emotionally and physically draining due to the miscarriage.  And last week was spring break, which while I was super productive, I did not focus on my resolutions that much.

Here is how it is going so far:

Finances
$75 into Christmas: Not yet.  This is usually one I am really good at.  Unfortunately I completely ignored our finances (besides paying bills on time) for the past two weeks.  I do have this scheduled to be paid on Thursday, though, so it will get done before the end of the week.
$300 into savings: Nope.  I think we ended up putting in just over $150 into savings.  Not quite my goal, but at least our savings did increase instead of decrease.  I don’t have any plans to put anymore in for the rest of the month, so this one is a fail!
10 No Spend Days: I haven’t tracked this, but with the past two weeks, I can assure you that this one will not be completed.
Track Spending: Nope.  The only spending I tracked was when I used our card or checkbook.  I did not track cash spending, which I know did not get spent where it should have.
Cash Only: Big fat NO!  I spent more than I should have, and we ate out much more than normal.  Each time I went to Target I used my Target card, and whenever we ate out, we used our debit card.  It was ugly this month!

Marriage
One Date Night: Our original date night was messed up, as it was scheduled for the night we ended up going to the doctor’s.  After the doctor’s appointment neither Hubs nor I wanted to go out.  We did end up going out for a nice lunch and Target run together, so that counts.

Family
Meet Hubs for lunch twice this month: Nope.  We did not meet him for lunch at all.  I do enjoy going to lunch with Hubs while he is working, but it just hasn’t worked out.  Miss C is currently transitioning from two naps to one, and her one nap tends to take place right after lunch.  I don’t want her to fall asleep in the car on the way home from lunch with Hubs because then she won’t nap anymore when we get home.

Health
Drink 4 cups of water a day: I started this month doing awesome at this goal!  But then things went downhill.  I am back with it and have been doing better this week with drinking lots of water.  My body definitely needs it!
Walk 5 Days: I walked one day early in March, and then I am counting our many hours at the zoo as a day of walking.  That is 2.  If the weather is nicer later this week/weekend, I will try to get out of the house and walk a few more times.
Start yoga routine: I did start one, and then I stopped.  I did yoga about 4 days in a row, then had the miscarriage.  I do not believe the yoga had anything to do with the miscarriage, and it was just a sad coincidence.  I would like to get started back on the routine, as it helped me relax and made my muscles feel good.

Career
Clean out files: Nope.  I have actually been busy with many other things this month, even with my student teacher having taken over the whole day.  I haven’t had a chance to clean out files.  I don’t know if this will happen this school year… maybe though.
Update photography website: This is the third month in a row that this has been a goal, and I am happy to say it is finally finished!  Here is a link for you to check it out.

Recreation
Blog 5x a week: Well, as you know, I have not done well with this.  I started the month off doing great, but the past two weeks have not been that stellar.  Hopefully I am back in a routine and will continue my blogging schedule.

Home
Organize Junk Basket: Nope.  In fact I think it now has more junk in it than it did at the beginning of the month.  I have been working on another HUGE house project, so a lot of the smaller ones have gotten brushed to the side.  I hope to blog about my house project tomorrow, so you can see it!
Sort through Miss C’s toys: I got this done in the first week of the month.  I moved a box of stuff down to the basement.  We are definitely keeping all the infant toys, but she doesn’t need all of them out in the living room right now.
Vacuum upstairs once a week: I have vacuumed once this month, and it was not voluntary.  One day earlier this month, I came home to a shattered bowl all over the kitchen floor (and apparently some smaller shards of glass in the living room).  One of the dogs jumped up to the counter and knocked off a bowl to try and eat the old macaroni in it.  Needless to say, the dogs were in BIG trouble, and I had to vacuum all the glass up (and Miss C still managed to cut her finger on a small piece she found).  The dogs have since been kenneled every time we leave.  They hate it, but I am so tired of picking up messes they make while we are gone.

There ya have it.  It’s not pretty, but it’s out there.  April is coming up soon, and I plan on setting some new goals!

How are your March goals going? Are you kicking butt and taking names? Or are you just trying to get through the month like I am?

Resolution Recap

I know we aren’t a full week into March yet, but I like keeping my schedule, which includes Resolution Recap on Tuesdays.  I will let you know how my first few days have gone so far!

Financial
* $75 into our Christmas savings account- This will not happen until mid-month, so it’s at a standstill until then.
* $300 into emergency fund (this will all come from photo shoots this month)- This will not happen until the middle and end of the month, so again, at a standstill.
* 10 no spend days- We have had 2 no spend days!  Sunday and Monday!  Monday Hubs did use the debit card to purchase lunch, but he is planning on paying me back with some of his MAD money.  The total for his lunch came up less than a dollar more than he had, so he ended up having to use the debit card.  No biggie!
* Track spending- I haven’t been writing this down how I would like, but I have balanced our checkbook each night, so it is tracked that way.
* Use cash only (I already broke this goal, but I will explain it tomorrow during Sunday Cents)- Done pretty well.  I did have to use the debit card to cover the extra on the car maintenance, and Hubs used the card for lunch, but both of those are somewhat exceptions.

Marriage
* 1 Date night (It is already planned, it just has to happen)- This will happen Friday!

Family
* Meet Hubs for lunch twice this month (I should be able to do this during spring break)- Not yet.  We will get a couple lunches planned once we have more cash in our eating out envelope. (It is pretty much empty right now).

Health
* Drink 4 cups of water a day (at least)- I have been doing ok.  I don’t think I accomplished this on Saturday or Sunday (weekends seem to be the hardest to get all my water drank), but I did great yesterday!
*Walk 5 days this month (hopefully the weather will cooperate this month)- This will not happen until the weather is warmer than frigid.
* Start a yoga routine (I enjoy yoga, and I think I can find enough on Youtube that I won’t need to buy a DVD)- Not really a routine yet, but this goal hasn’t been forgotten yet.

Career
*Teaching- Clean out files- Well, I haven’t been at school since March began, so I haven’t been able to work on this.
*Teaching- Get everything ready and sent for relicensure- I had quite a bit done before March, but there are still a few things I need to do: the main one being requesting a transcript from the college I was getting my Masters from.
* Photography- Update website (I know, this has been my goal since January)- Not yet, but I have thought about it. 🙂

Recreation
*Blog 5 times a week- I haven’t had a full week yet to count, but I have blogged every day in March so far!  I am off to a good start!  I have been trying to blog the night before and scheduling my posts for the next day.  That seems to work best for me.

Home
*Organize junk basket in kitchen- Not yet.  This is planned for spring break!
*Sort through Miss C’s toys (bag up infant toys and put in the basement)- Done and done!  I actually got all the toys in the living room sorted through yesterday while she was napping.  And I was able to sort through all of her toys in her bedroom while Hubs was giving her a bath last night.  I ended up with a diaper box full of infant toys that she doesn’t really play with.  I also moved a couple big toys down to the basement also.  
*Vacuum upstairs once a week- I got most of the upstairs vacuumed yesterday.  I got the kitchen, dining room, living room, hallways, and Miss C’s room vacuumed.  I need to get our bedroom and the two bathrooms done.  I may wait on the bathrooms and make them my big goal for next weekend… a full scrubbing!

There it is!  I feel like March is doing better than February already!  I am happy with how things are going, and I feel a lot more aware of my goals.  I think it’s going to be a good month!

How are your goals going for March?  Have you already forgotten about them or are you rocking them?