I normally don't make new year resolutions. I find it to be meaningless, since 99% of the time, I don't keep them. I don't really like the phrase "new year resolution". Right off the bat, I think to myself, not gonna keep it. I just defeated the purpose of the resolution before I started. Not a really good start.
I decided this year that calling it a "what I want to accomplish this year" sounds so much better. It just relieves a lot of stress of having to keep it. "What I want to accomplish" is more of a check list of things that I want to achieve for the new year. If I can cross a majority of those items off my list, I feel I have succeeded.
So, for the past couple of days, I have been thinking about the things that I want to accomplish this year. Some of the things seem to be a continuous battle that I have. It is one of those, I do really well in the beginning of the year, but towards the middle of the year, priorities change and it just becomes least important. Until the beginning of the next year, of course.
So my "What I want to accomplish this year" list is as follows (with some explanations, just because) :
1. Pay off the car~~We bought a new to us car last year and only had it financed for 2 years. We have paid for a year now and our goal was always to make payments for a year and then pay it off. This will actually give us a few hundred dollars a month, which will be very helpful.
2. Pay off our debt~~Not that I need to explain this to anyone, because it is personal, but we owe some money and would really like to get that resolved this year. This would be a huge weight off my shoulders.
3. Put money into savings~~OK, this is one of those continuous battles that I seem to have lately. A few years back this was a very easy thing for us to do. I guess when you are bringing home more money it is so much easier to save. Now we have found ourselves in a living paycheck to paycheck world and it makes it difficult to save. I do have some good ways to do this and will share in a later blog.
4. Cook a new meal every week~~This is what I would love to do, but honestly, it will probably be more like every 2 weeks, but 2 new recipes a month is still pretty good right? I think so. There are a lot of people in this house and everyone eats at different times, so it is hard to find something that I can cook and will stay good for the next 6 hours. I do have some tricks up my sleeve to make this work, so I feel confident.
5. Try Once a Month Cooking~~I know I have blogged about this before, but I would really like to try it. Doing OAMC would really help with cooking a new meal every week (or two). No real reason why I don't, just laziness, I guess, but would like to accomplish this.
6. Spend more "quality time" with my family~~Now, I put quality time in quotations because, I do spend a lot of time with my family. I want it to be more memorable. My son is getting older and I'm sure pretty soon will begin to want to spend more time with friends than with his parents. I want to do more things together, instead of just being together. Movie nights, game nights, bowling, even reading with my son. Those things I would love to do more.
7. Blog more~~I like blogging. I find it enjoyable to be able to express myself in word. I also like being able to communicate and share my ideas, tips and whatever else I have going on in this head of mine. My goal is to blog at least three times a week. We'll see how well I do.
8. Try to use more "homemade" cleaning products~~This is one thing that I have started doing already and I have noticed that it has saved money and I feel like I am doing my part in helping the environment. The latter sounds a little corny, but it makes me feel good, so I don't care.
9. Recycle more~~I have noticed that since we have moved to California, we haven't been recycling as much as we did. This actually saddens me. I know, corny, but we recycled everything in Oregon and now nothing. It is just sad, so I am changing that this year.
10. Don't sweat the small stuff~~I tend to forget this motto. I think it is important to make sure that it is remembered. I tend to get upset very easily and fly off the handle. Then go back and realize that I could have handled the situation better, and it wasn't that big of a deal anyway. I need to remember that, I have the love and support of my family and friends and there is nothing more important than that.
11. Really cherish the people in my life~~This shouldn't be on a list. This should be something that I do everyday, but I think that sometimes I need to be reminded. I need to step back and be thankful for all the people in my life and every once in awhile show them how important they are to me. I have remarkable family and friends and I think they should be aware of that.
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