New Year with New Goals

Happy New Year!  A little late, but none the less!  Last year was a very very busy year.  I finished up my Bachelors degree, and we had our second baby.  December seemed to fly by and January seems to be doing the same.  This year I've got a few goals that I'm going to try and tackle and hoping this blog can keep me somewhat accountable...if I keep up with it!

Goals

1.  Work out 3-4 times a week
2.  Declutter and organize the house - and keep it that way!
3.  Track all grocery/drugstore spending so I can see the totals at the end of the year
4.  Save as much as possible for vacations/Christmas/new stuff for the house/etc
5.  Donate whatever we don't use from the stockpile and our odds and ends
6.  Meal plan

Goal 1 -  So far 3 weeks into the new year I'm still doing good on this goal!  After I had the baby I actually weighed less then I did before I got pregnant, so I wanted to keep my weight the same.  We used to belong to Lifetime gym and we loved it, but when we were looking for a house we decided to cut all unnecessary expenses and that was one of them.  We decided to join again and love it so much.  They have a great childcare room for our kids and it allows us to workout together to keep us both motiviated.  I also do pilates classes at the gym on Saturday's....so far so good!

Goal 2 -  Ehhhh, we're getting there.  After Christmas and all that, our house looked like an absolute disaster zone.  It was filthy, there were toys everywhere, unopened presents, clothes, dishes, boxes, everything everywhere!  We are finally getting it back to clean, but we want to purge the stuff we aren't using and make better use of the space we have.  I'm planning on working on one room a week to get it purged and organized.  I know it sounds like a lot of time for one room, but for me it's what will work since I work and like to spend time with the family when I get home from work.  Needless to say, cleaning and organizing takes a back burner to everything else.

Goal 3 -  2 years ago I had a great spreadsheet that I tracked all my grocery/drugstore purchases but my flash drive got formatted before the end of the year and I lost everything!  So this year I'm going to try it again, but there have been such fabulous deals at Rite Aid that my receipts are ALL over the house, purse and car.  So I'm hoping to get those all organized and put together this week and then enter in all the receipts the same day.  We'll see how it goes. 

Goal 4- At the end of the month whatever money is left over from the month will go right into our savings.  Currently we put away $100 a month for vacation and $80 a month for Christmas gifts.  Last year we slacked BIG time on putting the $80 away a month for Christmas, and I'm bound and determined to not make that mistake again.  So I'm trying to pay all bills as soon as I get paid and make sure we put money away for gifts and only then can we spend on "other stuff". 

Goal 5 - We usually donate between 2-4 times a year to Purple Heart or a women and childrens shelter.  We made a big donation to Purple Heart in November and I have a big Rubbermaid tote of stuff to take to the shelter.  Hopefully we can do that this week or next, but right now the box is just sitting in our kitchen driving us both nutty. 

Goal 6 - I've seen everyone meal planning a lot lately and when I've been able to do it it does wonders.  Meal planning takes the guess work out of wondering what's for dinner when I get home and trying to throw something together.  It helps us from just ordering out because we're too lazy or there isn't any meat thawed out.  I've been doing it on and off, I don't know that I could do a whole week's worth of menus, but even if I do a couple of days it helps me out.  Its all about doing what works for you.  Tonight we are having smoked sausage and macaroni mixed with broccoli.  I know I'd like to make a stuffed cabbage casserole this week so I just need to stop and get the cabbage - might do that for tomorrow night.  I think I'll just make a weeks work of meal ideas I'd like to do and just make sure we have those items on hand for the most part and see where it takes me. 

I'll be keeping you updated on these goals at the end of each month.  I got back into couponing big time since I've been back at work (there are all the stores  I need right by work so I hit them on lunchtime) so I'll be posting my deals and pictures of the goodies I've gotten again!  I get most of my deals from Frugalsuz - she's on the blog roll to the right - she does a fantastic job of outlining the deals and what coupons go with them.  Well the baby is sleeping so I need to catch up on some laundry.  This week I'm tackling the laundry room!