2009 was a great year. Truly a great year. A lot of wonderful things happened last year, and life was good.
That being said, it’s time to look into 2010 and start planning how I want to live my life in the new year.
Yes, that’s right…I’m going for the typical New Year’s Day blog and am going to share with you my goals for 2010. I figure, if I share them with all of you, I have all of you to help keep me accountable. Hard to slack when you’ve just told the world what you plan on doing.
I’ve divded the goals into categories. I also am adding pages to the blog to track the progress of some of these goals.
Money and Home Goals
I will not be purchasing any new books in 2010, for myself. I received four books and a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble for Christmas and I have a shelf of unread books in our office.
This is my “unread book shelf.”
I also have a very well-used library card. I have a Dad and friends who are also voracious readers and would be happy to let me borrow their books when they finish. There is no reason for me to buy a book for myself in 2010. Aside from the fact that I love books. I would love to swim in a sea of books. (The paper cuts would be pretty horrific, though.) So, I am pledging to not buy myself a book in 2010. I am also adding an embedded page on the “What I’m Reading” page of this blog. The list will be a list of all of the books I read in 2010. They may not all be good books, but it’s what I’ll be reading throughout the year.
I am very well-organized and purge our “stuff” pretty regularly. However, there are five of us in this house and I still feel a little overrun by “stuff” every now and then. 2010 is going to be the year of the super purge. I will pretend that we are moving at the end of the year, and am going to look at everything with the critical eye of “Am I willing to pack this up, move it, unpack it, and find a new place for it in a new home?” I think this will help me move through some things that I haven’t been quite able to get rid of yet. As I said, there isn’t much, as I’m not a particularly sentimental girl, but I’m sure there is some stuff that is hanging around that could go.
Along those lines, I’m adding a page to the blog to keep a tally of everything I’ve given away/sold during 2010. Sometimes I’ll be specific…for example,last week I freecycled a toaster and a tea kettle. If it was this week, I’d have written “toaster” and “tea kettle” on my list. However, if I do a purge of the playroom and we donate a bag full of toys, I’ll just write “bag of toys” instead of listing each, individual toy, which could be much more impressive to look at on the list, but really…who wants to know every single toy we gave away?
At the Frugal Village, someone started a $25 a week per person grocery challenge for 2010. I’m participating in this, as well. Basically, the premise is that you wouldn’t spend more than $25 per person on groceries each week. For a family of 5, such as we are, this would be $125 a week. That feels excessive to me, so I’m going to shoot for $20 per person, per week to start the year. I used to feed a family of 4 for $250 a month. We’re now a family of 5, but that doesn’t mean we need to double the amount. So, I’m aiming for $20 per person, per week, which, in a month of four weeks is $400.
As an FYI, I don’t just count food in my grocery total. I include everything I buy at the grocery store, including paper products, health and beauty aids, diapers/Pull-Ups, etc.
Right now, we have a pretty full pantry and fridge/freezer. I did our first shop of January and we’re in good shape. I’m committed to using everything we have before buying anything new. As of this morning, here’s the pantry and fridge/freezer:
Once Baby Monkey gets his little patootie potty trained, I’m hoping to lower it to $15, and maybe by year end, $10 per person. I am a pretty darn good shopper when I want to be. Heck, I’ve had articles published about saving money at the grocery store! This should be a no-brainer for me. So, this is a small financial goal that I’ll be working toward in 2010, as well. I’ve added a Grocery Goal page to the blog for like-minded people who would like to follow our progress on this goal.
Going Green Goal
At the Hip Mountain Mama blog, she started a challenge that begins January 1 and runs through Earth Day. The challenge is for your family to pick one thing to change each month toward the goal of going green. Then, we write about it on our blogs and on the first of the next month, we say how we did and what our change for the next month is.
I love this idea, and am adding a page to the blog to track our family’s progress along with this goal. We’re starting by not using paper towels. You can read about it on the Going Green page.
Personal/Creative Goals
I’d love to create more. Whether it is writing (my first love) or sewing or knitting or any other type of creative outlet I can find. I think, along these lines, I will set a goal of creating new thing a month. Now, with regards to writing, if I find myself working on a long story, I don’t have to write the whole thing in a month, because, let’s be honest, I’ve got a full-time job, a part-time job, and three kids. However, perhaps a chapter a month, or something along those lines. I would include any freelance articles that I write in this goal. (I’ve been looking for some freelance work…I’ll keep you in the loop.)
I also need to start sending out queries, en masse, for my novel. It has waited long enough. I’ve done all the e-mail queries…the time is now to start sending the snail mail queries. (I’m surprised that more companies take snail mail queries than those who take e-mail queries.) I’m not going to set a numbered goal for this one…I’m just committed to getting on the ball with it.
I’d also like to “market” this blog a bit better. I’ve decided that I am not going to migrate to my own site until I get a regular readership of 100 people. I love all of you who read me regularly, but I’m not making the move until I know I’ve got the numbers to sustain the move. There are a variety of ways to market a blog, and I’m researching and beginning to actively move toward all of them. You, of course, could help by recommending the blog to any friends you have that you think are like-minded and may enjoy the ridiculousity that is my life on a daily basis.
Finally, I am also committed to doing more for others in 2010.
This goal isn’t one that I will necessarily broadcast, however, because it feels kinda weird to come on here and say, “Hey everyone…look at what I’m doing for others!” It sorta takes away the whole kindness for the sake of kindness feeling of the goal. So, you may not read about this goal on the blog, but be assured that I am doing this.
One thing I am definitely interested in doing this year is the Diabetes Walk in the fall. As a diabetic, yes, this does something for me, but believe me, there are a lot of people much worse of with this disease than I, and my hope is to raise money to help those people. That is a “doing something for others” part of the goal that I will discuss, because hey…I’ll need to raise money. 🙂
I’d love for you, my faithful readers, to quietly amp up your doing for others, as well. Kinda of like a “kindness pay it forward.” What a wonderful way to start the year!
So, what about you? Any goals that you’d like to share with us?
If so, I’d love to read about them in the comments section!
Happy New Year!
