New Year's Resolutions

A few weeks ago I posted about how 2014 ended as they related to my New Year's resolutions. What I realized in looking back is that I set some goals that really were not important to me, so I didnt take any action to achieve them. This year I will be making my resolutions differently.

This year I am making three New Year's resolutions that are important to me, and that I will make progress on by setting smaller goals that I want to accomplish each month. 

1. Make conscious money decisions.
I have been trying for a full year to create, then stick to a budget plan. And at the beginning of each month I start anew, but then forget and give up. Not a good cycle to go through to say the least. Before my loan repayment kicked in I would spend most of my money on crafty items, on special food items, and (random) at the Dollar Tree.

When I am strapped for cash I make good decisions, and don't dig myself into a hole, but when I have an extra hundred or two I buy whatever I want without really questioning myself. So this year I hope to make a dent on my student loans and that will only happen if I work on my budgeting skills and learn to control my spending impulses.  There are a lot of great resources out there to help with budgets and living frugally, so I won't reinvent the wheel and tell you what you already know. If and when I make progress I'll shout my experience from the rooftops!

This goal is not only about repaying my student loan quickly. Its about learning to control my budget and my impulses, and to build good habits so that as I hit my late 20's and early 30's I will be able to employ good financial habits to help myself in the future.

2. Be BOLD
I am very much a home-body, and quite the introvert. My friend described my perfectly the other week - she said, "If is very hard to get her to come out once she gets home." And let me tell you that is totally true. Some days I am bothered by people so I don't want to go out, sometimes the traffic really irritates me, sometimes I am exhausted from interacting with people at work that I just want to lay and home and be alone.

So, now that you know a bit about my habits, let me tell you what I mean by "being bold" this new year. I think being bold is telling people how I feel when I have an intense emotion. Like if I have a crush I should say something to indicate that - I don't think I will ever come out and say "hey I have a crush on you," but I can be creative. I also want to travel to visit my friends who live in different areas. I have been feeling a big restless, having lived in the same place my whole life, so I think to easy myself into traveling I will go to see friends, where they can show me the town.

As the year goes on I hope to figure out more ways to practice this BOLD muscle that I am trying to build.

3. Make more time for hobbies
Within the last year, and when I don't have any goals for myself, I can be lazy. I am capable of watching my favorite TV shows and new movies for the majority of the day and loving it. So my goal this year includes turning off the TV and getting to some of these cool crafts I have been pinning for the last few years... I also have projects which I have started, then I get to the hard part and leave it for another day. Yeah well that 'another day' became weeks, then I put the project away and forgot about it.

I also an focused on filling some of my 'down' time with activities that make me feel fulfilled. Having the sense of fulfillment in what I do helps me get up in the morning, it gets me going. Doing the same thing everyday get boring, and if it gets too tedious I forget about the good things in life. (Although raising guinea pigs has been keeping me very happy) So this year I need to go back to completing tasks that I feel good about, like making a friends birthday gift or sending a surprise to someone across the country.

                      



I am happy that it is a new year. I know its a cliche by I do feel like this is a new beginning and with my plans I think I will be growing and becoming a better version of myself this year.

Lets celebrate the success's of last year, and toast to the future!

Its that Time of Year AGAIN :/

January 1st starts our thoughts of creating New Year's Resolutions. And oh the New Year's resolutions we make. I know that many people set resolutions to lose weight, eat better, and pay down debt. Once we have made them, then we think we must be perfect at them. Sometimes we go a whole week/month being on our best behavior, only to them get bored or lazy doing something we don't love. The standard resolutions we make to eat well, and exercise often fail because we don't know how to make them happen.

Last year was the first time I actually made resolutions and wrote them down. I was actually inspired by pinterest because they have those great lists of ideas of what to try in the new year. I hung my list up, and kept everything in mind for a good two months, before telling myself that I was too busy to continue, and lost some of my passion for the things I had once wanted to do.

 As you can see this list from last year didn't really fit my needs, seeing as how I only filled in half of the blanks. This year I am making my own list, and on my list I will be putting three resolutions on it.

You read that right only three.  I have been reading and learning about being successful with setting SMART goals, and how to implement small steps to make them happen.  So this year I will have a few over-arching goals that I will keep up with throughout the year, but they are not necessarily going to be the only things I am going to focus on. 

Recap of 2014
- I found a new job, doing something that I like, and don't want to give up. Of course the job is not perfect, but its working for now.
- Be bold. That is one idea that will still be on my life goals. But 2014 was a year of me being bold. Putting myself out there to people, picking things for my own happiness, and not waiting around.
- I wanted to learn to play the piano in 2014.  I still would like to know piano, but its something I am not really ready to put time into.  Or I have other goals that are taking precedent, so I won't be doing that any time soon.
- As you can see I also wanted to go to Disneyland. But again that wasn't a huge priority. I put my money elsewhere, and wasn't saving it for Disney.
- My hiking goal. Wow! did I overestimate myself. And of course I have convinced myself that I could not have reached that goal even if I wanted to... because its really hot in AZ during the summer, and I didn't always want to go alone, then it took up so much of my time... on and on, do you see a pattern here?

So as you can see I made some goals based on what this worksheet said, and they weren't really my priorities.  So this year I am taking it month by month doing things that will make me happier, and take me closer to where I want to be professionally and financially. Small steps will hopefully help me to reach my ultimate goals.

Wait for my next post to see my 2015 goals. And...

Enjoy celebrating the New Year!