2012 Goals
It's almost cliche now to say that one doesn't make resolutions. Just about every blogger I read has said that and just about everyone I know has said it. Heck, I've said it in past years. But always in the back of my mind was something that I wanted to change about myself in each new year. Usually to do with weight loss and finances. But then, those too seem to be cliched responses to the New Year's resolution question.
I thought about the whole resolution thing for a while leading up to and a while after New Year's but it just seemed so silly to me. I, like nearly everyone else in the world, never keep my resolutions. But for 2012 I thought maybe a short list of goals might be a better way to keep my "Progress" progressing. I've already put most of these in motion and have a PLAN to git-r-done. So here they are, for better or worse.
Warning: I get verywordy verbose after the underlined portions of the list. So if this post puts you to sleep, it's your fault for reading it.
Jana's 2010 Goals
Financial Goals.
Just FYI--If you don't want to know the actual numbers of the financial mess I'm in, you may not want to read beyond the underlined portions of each goal.
* Pay down 1/3 of my Mastercard balance. For this I started out by transferring the ($6400) balance over to another card I already have. It was offering a 1.99% transfer APR for a year and an 11.99% APR after the intro rate expires. Since my Mastercard APR is currently 13.99% I figured even without the super low intro rate I'd still be doing myself a favor.
To continue working toward this goal, I will pay no less than $200 a month toward this balance. According to the last Mastercard statement (the one with the 13.99% APR), payments of $225 a month would ensure a 3-year payoff of the balance. I'm hoping, however, that with the low intro rate, $200 a month will knock out a little more than a third. But even if it only evens out to a third, I'll be happy. Because it means there's an end in sight to the unsightly mess I made for myself over the course of about eight years. (I've been steadily paying on and not charging on this card since 2009.)
* Pay off the balance of my Visa. This one really makes me sick because my Visa had been paid off for nearly two years when back in the summer I went on a spending spree and jacked it back up to nearly $1000 and have charged more on it since. Current balance? $1500. Yes. Over the course of about six months, I ran up $1500 on my credit card because, well, I got careless. And on-line shopping is WAY too easy. Not sure what I'm going to do to combat my impulse buying. Prayer, most likely. :)
One way Danica said she is going to simplify her spending is by asking herself before each unnecessary purchase "Do I really need this?" And really, that's a simple question but I don't ask it nearly enough. I've started it already, though. "Do I really need this latte or can it wait until another time?" Another thing I'm going to start asking myself is, "Do I have the cash for this?" If the answer is "no" then I don't buy it. No more running myself into the red each month when I can live perfectly comfortably on what I make without pulling out my credit card. Credit cards are EVIL. Often necessary, but EVIL nonetheless.
Beyond teaching myself to avoid using my credit card, I plan to pay no less than $125 a month toward this balance. I know that won't cover the interest, but it'll at least cover most of the balance and whatever's left at the end of the year, hopefully I'll have put back enough in savings to pay it off.
* Build Up My Savings Account. At one time I had a nice little nest egg of savings. But I spent a lot of it and then when I got it built back up a bit, I had a root canal and my septic tank's air pump needed replacing. So, bye-bye cushy savings. I still have a decent amount in there for the moment--MUCH more than most years--but less than I now feel comfortable having. Being a homeowner has opened my eyes to the realities of saving because homes require repairs and upkeep. Which ain't cheap. Plus, as I age I fear there's going to be more dental and health expenses and I don't want to be caught unprepared as I have in the past. So, the plan is: Put away an initial $50 a month. Whatever, if anything, is left in my checking account at the end of each month gets transferred directly to savings.
I know $50 isn't a whole lot but I'm starting small and working my way up. As I get my credit cards paid down/off my savings contribution will increase.
Financial Wrap-up: I have been and am blessed beyond what I deserve and more than I ever imagined. God has been good to me and it's time I start being responsible with what He's given me. Past time, actually. I've been responsible in my tithing but not in my spending. I've been wasteful and that needs to stop.
Health and Wellness Goals
* Build my endurance to be able to walk Leslie Sansone's 3-mile belly busting brusque walk. Back mid-2011 I was able to do the first mile that included the warm-up and the last mile that included the cool-down. I was NEVER able to do the middle mile where Leslie amped up the pace so I always skipped it. I did try it once and nearly died.
Now I'm so pitifully out of shape again that Denise Austin's easy walk mile is about as challenging as I can handle. And I admit, I did take last week off because my knee was in a bad way. It's feeling better now so I can start back this afternoon assuming this headache from you-know-where goes away before I go home.
* Limit my latte consumption. This one's gonna be the most difficult of all. I love White Chocolate mochas and they're just downstairs! But they're also 410 calories a pop. (370, at Starbucks) As in, nearly a third of my day's calorie allotment. (I generally aim for 1400 but usually end up at 1600-1800 which according to SparkPeople is a good goal range for my height, weight and weightloss goal.) Yes, they are delicious and yes, they make me happy. But they're also contributing factors to keeping me fat. ALSO, they cost nearly $4 for a 16 oz so that's a part of my financial problems.
I have whittled it down to 2 a week but I desperately need to whittle it down to once a month. Make it a treat or a reward for making it through the month. I actually succeeded at this back in July 2010. I lost 4lbs and saved a TON of money. I can't remember how much because that was over a year ago and back then I was regularly eating bagels AND guzzling lattes.
* Learn to eat smaller portions. During the week when I'm cooking for myself and eating alone, I do super awesome with this. When I'm eating out or eating with the folks I tend to get carried away. Mostly because the food choices are more delicious than the meals I cook for myself. But also, I tend to give myself a free pass to eat what I want on special occasions. I've got to stop that, for reelz.
Heath and Wellness Wrap-up: My goal is to form healthier habits. Notice there are no mentions of the number of pounds I hope to lose. Yes, I want desperately to lose weight. But if I focus on that, I'll get discouraged and quit. So my goal is to live a healthier lifestyle. I do have a number in my head that has lived inside me for the past ten to fifteen years. It hasn't changed much and it's always in the back of my mind--I'd love to lose 100lbs. But realistically, a one hundred pound loss isn't a healthy option in one year's time. And as I've read and heard so often--and know from personal experience--the scale is such a subjective thing anyway. So no, I'm not going to let myself focus on a number. I'm aiming for healthy habits. Walking more, eating (and drinking) smarter.
Spiritual Goals:
*Attend evening services no less than three Sundays a month. I've actually been working on this for several months now. I know I've talked about it before and how I felt pressured to go and how wrong that was and all that. So when the pressure from others finally ceased, I was able to really think about it and pray about it and open myself up to what I really wanted to gain from my spiritual walk with Jesus. My ultimate goal in life is to know Him better. And what better way than to commit myself to learning from a shepherd He's appointed to tend His sheep, so to speak?
I've had to push myself some Sunday evenings and talk myself into going because let's be honest here--I'm a hermit. Leaving my house is not at the top of the list of things I like to do. But loving Jesus requires sacrifice. And I always reason with myself that if He can be born just to die a violent death to save me from my sins, the very least I can do is drag my hermit-y but out of my house for an hour every Sunday night.
But I've never left church thinking, "I wish I'd just stayed home." Even though the visiting afterward is awkward and uncomfortable for me. Even though sometimes I'm so tired I can't hardly keep my eyes open. And even though I had to re-warm my pj's once I got home. I've never come home from a church service regretting that I'd gone.
Well, maybe on the Wednesday night Council Meeting nights when I have to attend the meetings that last until nearly nine o'clock sometimes and all we discussed was the floor tile that needs replacing. THEN I wish I'd skipped it and stayed home.
* Continue Nightly/daily individual Bible Study/Prayer time. Ya'll, I pray off and on all day but I've come to realize that I need that quiet alone time with God to really pour it all out--the thankfulness, the confession and regret for my sinful nature, the pleading to bless and heal those who need blessing and healing--to really draw me closer to Him. And while I've been a Christian since I was eleven, I had never gotten into the habit of daily Bible study. I know I talked about that a while back. But for the past five months or so I've gotten into the habit of reading a daily devotional called Daily Bread (a free devotion magazine that I get from church) each night before I go to bed. And it's wonderful. I feel a closer connection to God and I'm learning things in a way I hadn't been learning before. I'm no longer a stagnant Christian. Not perfect but better than I was!
But me being me, unless I fully commit myself, I may let it fall by the wayside. And I don't want that to happen. So this goal to continue on is a daily reminder of what I hope to accomplish and how I pray it helps me to continue growing.
I do think I need to switch the time of when I do it. I'm often so sleepy at bedtime that I don't fully comprehend what it is I'm studying and sometimes drift off to sleep mid-prayer. I've thought about trying it in the mornings but I'm never awake enough then, either. I need to figure it out, though.
Spiritual Wrap Up: I'm doing okay in my journey to live for, obey and get to know God better but I need to keep seeking Him and do even better.
So thems my 2012 Goals. I'll try to do a monthly check-in to update you with my progress but I can't make any promises. ;-)
I thought about the whole resolution thing for a while leading up to and a while after New Year's but it just seemed so silly to me. I, like nearly everyone else in the world, never keep my resolutions. But for 2012 I thought maybe a short list of goals might be a better way to keep my "Progress" progressing. I've already put most of these in motion and have a PLAN to git-r-done. So here they are, for better or worse.
Warning: I get very
Jana's 2010 Goals
Financial Goals.
Just FYI--If you don't want to know the actual numbers of the financial mess I'm in, you may not want to read beyond the underlined portions of each goal.
* Pay down 1/3 of my Mastercard balance. For this I started out by transferring the ($6400) balance over to another card I already have. It was offering a 1.99% transfer APR for a year and an 11.99% APR after the intro rate expires. Since my Mastercard APR is currently 13.99% I figured even without the super low intro rate I'd still be doing myself a favor.
To continue working toward this goal, I will pay no less than $200 a month toward this balance. According to the last Mastercard statement (the one with the 13.99% APR), payments of $225 a month would ensure a 3-year payoff of the balance. I'm hoping, however, that with the low intro rate, $200 a month will knock out a little more than a third. But even if it only evens out to a third, I'll be happy. Because it means there's an end in sight to the unsightly mess I made for myself over the course of about eight years. (I've been steadily paying on and not charging on this card since 2009.)
* Pay off the balance of my Visa. This one really makes me sick because my Visa had been paid off for nearly two years when back in the summer I went on a spending spree and jacked it back up to nearly $1000 and have charged more on it since. Current balance? $1500. Yes. Over the course of about six months, I ran up $1500 on my credit card because, well, I got careless. And on-line shopping is WAY too easy. Not sure what I'm going to do to combat my impulse buying. Prayer, most likely. :)
One way Danica said she is going to simplify her spending is by asking herself before each unnecessary purchase "Do I really need this?" And really, that's a simple question but I don't ask it nearly enough. I've started it already, though. "Do I really need this latte or can it wait until another time?" Another thing I'm going to start asking myself is, "Do I have the cash for this?" If the answer is "no" then I don't buy it. No more running myself into the red each month when I can live perfectly comfortably on what I make without pulling out my credit card. Credit cards are EVIL. Often necessary, but EVIL nonetheless.
Beyond teaching myself to avoid using my credit card, I plan to pay no less than $125 a month toward this balance. I know that won't cover the interest, but it'll at least cover most of the balance and whatever's left at the end of the year, hopefully I'll have put back enough in savings to pay it off.
* Build Up My Savings Account. At one time I had a nice little nest egg of savings. But I spent a lot of it and then when I got it built back up a bit, I had a root canal and my septic tank's air pump needed replacing. So, bye-bye cushy savings. I still have a decent amount in there for the moment--MUCH more than most years--but less than I now feel comfortable having. Being a homeowner has opened my eyes to the realities of saving because homes require repairs and upkeep. Which ain't cheap. Plus, as I age I fear there's going to be more dental and health expenses and I don't want to be caught unprepared as I have in the past. So, the plan is: Put away an initial $50 a month. Whatever, if anything, is left in my checking account at the end of each month gets transferred directly to savings.
I know $50 isn't a whole lot but I'm starting small and working my way up. As I get my credit cards paid down/off my savings contribution will increase.
Financial Wrap-up: I have been and am blessed beyond what I deserve and more than I ever imagined. God has been good to me and it's time I start being responsible with what He's given me. Past time, actually. I've been responsible in my tithing but not in my spending. I've been wasteful and that needs to stop.
Health and Wellness Goals
* Build my endurance to be able to walk Leslie Sansone's 3-mile belly busting brusque walk. Back mid-2011 I was able to do the first mile that included the warm-up and the last mile that included the cool-down. I was NEVER able to do the middle mile where Leslie amped up the pace so I always skipped it. I did try it once and nearly died.
Now I'm so pitifully out of shape again that Denise Austin's easy walk mile is about as challenging as I can handle. And I admit, I did take last week off because my knee was in a bad way. It's feeling better now so I can start back this afternoon assuming this headache from you-know-where goes away before I go home.
* Limit my latte consumption. This one's gonna be the most difficult of all. I love White Chocolate mochas and they're just downstairs! But they're also 410 calories a pop. (370, at Starbucks) As in, nearly a third of my day's calorie allotment. (I generally aim for 1400 but usually end up at 1600-1800 which according to SparkPeople is a good goal range for my height, weight and weightloss goal.) Yes, they are delicious and yes, they make me happy. But they're also contributing factors to keeping me fat. ALSO, they cost nearly $4 for a 16 oz so that's a part of my financial problems.
I have whittled it down to 2 a week but I desperately need to whittle it down to once a month. Make it a treat or a reward for making it through the month. I actually succeeded at this back in July 2010. I lost 4lbs and saved a TON of money. I can't remember how much because that was over a year ago and back then I was regularly eating bagels AND guzzling lattes.
* Learn to eat smaller portions. During the week when I'm cooking for myself and eating alone, I do super awesome with this. When I'm eating out or eating with the folks I tend to get carried away. Mostly because the food choices are more delicious than the meals I cook for myself. But also, I tend to give myself a free pass to eat what I want on special occasions. I've got to stop that, for reelz.
Heath and Wellness Wrap-up: My goal is to form healthier habits. Notice there are no mentions of the number of pounds I hope to lose. Yes, I want desperately to lose weight. But if I focus on that, I'll get discouraged and quit. So my goal is to live a healthier lifestyle. I do have a number in my head that has lived inside me for the past ten to fifteen years. It hasn't changed much and it's always in the back of my mind--I'd love to lose 100lbs. But realistically, a one hundred pound loss isn't a healthy option in one year's time. And as I've read and heard so often--and know from personal experience--the scale is such a subjective thing anyway. So no, I'm not going to let myself focus on a number. I'm aiming for healthy habits. Walking more, eating (and drinking) smarter.
Spiritual Goals:
*Attend evening services no less than three Sundays a month. I've actually been working on this for several months now. I know I've talked about it before and how I felt pressured to go and how wrong that was and all that. So when the pressure from others finally ceased, I was able to really think about it and pray about it and open myself up to what I really wanted to gain from my spiritual walk with Jesus. My ultimate goal in life is to know Him better. And what better way than to commit myself to learning from a shepherd He's appointed to tend His sheep, so to speak?
I've had to push myself some Sunday evenings and talk myself into going because let's be honest here--I'm a hermit. Leaving my house is not at the top of the list of things I like to do. But loving Jesus requires sacrifice. And I always reason with myself that if He can be born just to die a violent death to save me from my sins, the very least I can do is drag my hermit-y but out of my house for an hour every Sunday night.
But I've never left church thinking, "I wish I'd just stayed home." Even though the visiting afterward is awkward and uncomfortable for me. Even though sometimes I'm so tired I can't hardly keep my eyes open. And even though I had to re-warm my pj's once I got home. I've never come home from a church service regretting that I'd gone.
Well, maybe on the Wednesday night Council Meeting nights when I have to attend the meetings that last until nearly nine o'clock sometimes and all we discussed was the floor tile that needs replacing. THEN I wish I'd skipped it and stayed home.
* Continue Nightly/daily individual Bible Study/Prayer time. Ya'll, I pray off and on all day but I've come to realize that I need that quiet alone time with God to really pour it all out--the thankfulness, the confession and regret for my sinful nature, the pleading to bless and heal those who need blessing and healing--to really draw me closer to Him. And while I've been a Christian since I was eleven, I had never gotten into the habit of daily Bible study. I know I talked about that a while back. But for the past five months or so I've gotten into the habit of reading a daily devotional called Daily Bread (a free devotion magazine that I get from church) each night before I go to bed. And it's wonderful. I feel a closer connection to God and I'm learning things in a way I hadn't been learning before. I'm no longer a stagnant Christian. Not perfect but better than I was!
But me being me, unless I fully commit myself, I may let it fall by the wayside. And I don't want that to happen. So this goal to continue on is a daily reminder of what I hope to accomplish and how I pray it helps me to continue growing.
I do think I need to switch the time of when I do it. I'm often so sleepy at bedtime that I don't fully comprehend what it is I'm studying and sometimes drift off to sleep mid-prayer. I've thought about trying it in the mornings but I'm never awake enough then, either. I need to figure it out, though.
Spiritual Wrap Up: I'm doing okay in my journey to live for, obey and get to know God better but I need to keep seeking Him and do even better.
So thems my 2012 Goals. I'll try to do a monthly check-in to update you with my progress but I can't make any promises. ;-)
Comments
I need to follow your example with your spiritual goals. I used to do the Daily Bread, but got out of the habit of it. I used to read the bible more, bits every few days. I actually enjoyed it, not sure why I stopped. Maybe I need to rethink some of my no-resolutions as well.
I've been trying to think up inexpensive and non-food related rewards. You movie marathon and new book idea sound really good. Thanks!
If you're like me, you stopped your bible study because you got busy. Or you feel like you don't have time and have too much else going on. Especially since you have a family to take care of. We just hafta do the best we can to carve out that time each day. Make a point figure out when's the quietest part of your day. Or get the fireman and kids involved and make it a family thing. ;-)
It's hard to change those things, find ways to treat yourself well without food. The girl and I do foot soaks sometimes and movie related things and baths.
I really need to take your advice about the bible study. I have been going over ideas in my head, cause if i don't make a plan for it, it'll never happen. And it's important to me.
Oh, and make sure you don't cancel that card that had the huge interest rate on it. It's better to have it and not use it, as part of how your credit score is calculated is based on balance across all available credit.