That Time of Year again...

It's that time of year again, a time to reflect on the previous year, and make goals for the new year. I’ve personally decided to stay away from making New Year’s resolutions, because for me, I’ll think about them for a little while, but then they become forgotten. This year I’m opting for setting goals (using a different term ... lol) to see if I can better accomplish the things I want to do. I having been thinking this last week on the things I want to see happen for this new year, with the fresh start that a new year brings with it. Most of the goals I’m setting for myself I feel are attainable, with a little bit of work on my part. I’m not going to kid myself in setting goals that I know will go in one year and out the other ...lol (pun intended). So, let’s make the list....

Finance -
My biggest goal this year financially, is to pay off all mine and my husband’s debt. Luckily there isn’t a whole lot, I don’t have any credit cards (thank god). Most of the debt we have, aside from our car, is medical stuff. The car will be paid off this year regardless of the other stuff (and I’ll be doing a happy dance when that happens ...lol) If we can attain this goal, then that should put us in a good position for our goal next year to be able to buy a house. That will be our prize.
My other goal in regards to finances, is to continue what I’ve already started last year, to find ways to cut our monthly expenses. I already use coupons a much as possible to help with the grocery bill. I’m not an extreme coupon person by any means, and really don’t plan to be, but I do use enough to garner the name, crazy coupon lady, from my kids. ( In my defense, I think they’d call me that even if I only use them once in a great while.) We’re also planning on cutting cost on our cable bill this year, by making the switch to over the air programming, which is free. 90% of what we watch on tv is on our local channels, and for movies, we have Netflix. I don’t see the point in paying upwards of a hundred dollars for what we can pretty much get for free, or at least low cost for what we use.
My last goal for this year in finance, is to hopefully be able to bring in some income from some new endeavors I plan to try this year. I know the things I’m trying to do will take some time to really start paying off, but if I can stick with it, and not get discouraged, it may be just what I’ve been dreaming of. I’ve set my expectations pretty low, but hopefully with some hard work, and persistence, this goal will be reached before the end of the year.

Health-
Health wise for me, I need to try to take better care of myself. My biggest problem is for what ever reason, I just don’t want to eat anything until dinner time. I know this plays a big factor in not being able to accomplish everything I want to get done in a day. I just don’t have the energy. So I guess I’ll chalk this up to eating healthier, or at least in my case, eating more.
Exercise would be a great goal for this year, but I’m not going to kid myself in believing that I’ll actually do it. I would like to tone up my body some, and I may try to get back into doing some exercises like pilates, but typically that only lasts for a few weeks. I could surprise myself and do more, like go on walks (once it warms up). Well just leave this one as a maybe.

Home-
My goal this year for my home is to continue my quest to declutter and organize my entire house, besides cleaning it from top to bottom. I hate clutter, it drives me crazy. I like to have everything in it’s rightful place, making it easier to find when needed. After living in this house for 4 years we have acquired a lot of new stuff. The old items get placed in a storage room in our basement, which is getting quite full. Once the weather warms up some I plan to either have a big yard sale, or donate at least half the stuff in that room.

Projects-
There are so many fun projects I’ve wanted to do for the past few years. Candle making, soap making, painting, crafts, writing and anything in between. I plan to share as much as I can on this blog as well. So stay tuned for that...

I’m sure there will be more goals I’ll think of later, but if I can accomplish all of this in the coming year, I’ll consider it a successful year. Above all I want this to be a happy year and bring my family closer together. I pray this year will be less stressful then past years, and filled with good memories.

Do you have any goals for the coming year? Please feel free to share. :)