Time for a new month of goals. I shared my 2017 goals and realized I never really set or shared my January goals. I wrote down 4 goals for last month:
1. Print blog planner and assemble in binder.
2. Add 3 signs to my shop.
3. Morning Routine goal (wash face, brush teeth, clear bathroom sink, dishes away, make coffee, Bible study, plan day/work).
4. Go to the dentist.
I’m still not done printing the blog planner (it’s a lot of paper), but I have started it and filled some things in.
I ended up adding 4 new signs to my shop.
This Love Anchors the Soul sign
And this Beach themed printable that can be used in a nursery, bathroom, or beach house.
My morning routine is getting better, but it’s still pretty hard for me to get up an hour before my kiddos.
And, finally, I went to the dentist. Turns out I only need a small filling in one of my teeth where the filling came out. I was able to get my teeth cleaned as well. I will never miss an appointment again.
Overall, I was pleased with my goals. Like I mentioned in previous posts, we had a leak in our master room that required us to pull up our carpet, so that has turned a few things upside down this month (including the money), but all is good and that’s just life. This is one of the reasons I always believe people should UNDER budget…something always comes up and it’s nice not to dip into the emergency fund. The cost was more than under budgeting, but we were able to pay for it with Ryan’s basketball money. I probably should write a post on how we pay for unplanned big expenses without going into debt or dipping into our emergency fund.
Now on to February goals. This month, I thought I would set my regular goals, but also give myself some challenges in 1 week increments.
Week 1 – no fast food – I can get lazy when we’re out running errands, but for this week, I have to make sure I pack any food for the boys and myself if we go anywhere. Plus it’s such a money waster.
Week 2 – no Facebook scrolling – I’ll be off FB for this week. I will check my messages for work and blog, but will not scroll my personal account. I’m over the political posts anyway and have found myself wasting time scrolling.
Week 3 – wake up at 7:00 no matter what – No matter what, I will get up at 7:00. This will probably be the hardest challenge for me.
Week 4 – no grocery store visits – I’m tired of wasting food at the house and money at the grocery store, so for this last week in February, we will eat whatever we have at home.
In addition to these challenges, my goals for this month are:
1. Add 5 signs to the shop and market my shop more.
2. Implement Board Booster for my Pinterest.
3. Read through Rosemarie’s Pinterest Strategy Guide. She blogs at The Busy Budgeter and I purchased this from her a while back when it was on crazy sale, but haven’t finished it. She is so down to earth and non-techy like me so reading her tips are really helpful.
4. Get filling done for tooth.
5. Organize closet and dresser.
6. Make more dinners at home. I know this sounds simple, but I’ve been really bad last month about making dinners. It’s mainly just me and the boys so I don’t have a lot of motivation to cook much. I would LOVE some dinner ideas from you guys!
7. Consistent blogging. I’ve been lazy about putting posts up and have a ton of ideas flowing. Hopefully my blog planner can help with this and managing my time better.
My birthday is this month, so I have some fun activities planned! This also marks the last full month of Ryan reffing so that is something to celebrate. Remember to leave me some meal ideas if you have any.
I think the easiest dinner I make is cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot. We’ll usually have something simple with it the first night but then I’ll turn the leftover chicken into a casserole, tacos, and chicken & noodles or dumplings. It’s crazy cheap and makes the house smell amazing as it cooks all day.
Thanks Mary Beth. That’s a great idea.
Go to melskitchencafe.com! She is a mom of 5 and so her meals are usually quick and easy and don’t have too many ingredients… but at the same time it’s more than just opening up a bunch of cans. I love her meals! She has a more detailed set of recipes too, things like homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade bread, etc. Cannot say enough good things about her blog! Happy dentist! Glad you finally got to go and that the news wasn’t horrible!
Oh great. I will check out her site. Thanks for the recommendation.
On nights when tab is gone, I’ll make taco meat and eat it as a taco salad but let the kids eat tacos or nachos. I’ll do this with chicken too. Something they will like (and not complain about) and something I’ll feel like I made a decent choice (health wise) as well.
Thanks Erika! Go idea…put the meat portion of dinner in salads. Thanks again for letting me know about my site last night…I totally didn’t know 🙂
Same as Erika said BUT with chicken- love putting fresh or frozen chicken in the crockpot, pouring over a jar of salsa verde, and cooking until you can easily shred it. Then top however!
Other favorite easy meal: large chunks of chicken, chunks of red potatoes (don’t have to peel), and bag of baby carrots. Mix in olive oil and onion soup mix (or if I’m out, I use garlic powder, onion powder, s&p) and bake (375 or 425? Maybe 400 to be safe) until done, flipping/mixing/stirring halfway done. I love dipping the potatoes in ranch.
Perfect ideas. Thanks Laura!
Oops just saw… Instagram is spelled wrong on your page!
Uh oh, where on my page? Now I have to find it 🙂
I really like a lot of the recipes at budgetbytes.com.
If it makes you feel any better, my husband skipped going to the dentist for seven years. When he finally went, he had 10 cavities, and needed a root canal! (I was so mad at him, because even though we have decent dental insurance, we had to pay the $60 difference on each filling.)