June Goals

1. Budget - Work on my grocery spending.  I need to take a long, hard look at what I'm buying at the grocery store because I'm overspending by at least $50 a month.  I started with $25 a week in my budget, and now I'm up to $50 and am still somehow over spending.  Sometimes I overspend when I stock up (this week I stocked up on SmartOnes and butter, last week it was Coke products), but that shouldn't account for me spending so much.  I'm going to compile all my receipts and see where the money is going and how I can cut back. 
2. Food - Use a cookbook once a week.  In March I set a goal to use my cookbooks more, but in keeping with my new theme of setting SMART goals, I'm being more specific.  I have TONS of cookbooks, and many recipes earmarked, but I never try them and I would really like to.
3. Blogging - Learn about advertising.  I would really like to have my blog generate some sort of income, but I don't know how.  I want to take some time this month, talk to some different bloggers, and figure out what I can be doing to help my blog grow and make a little money.  Any suggestions?
4. Social - Entertain at home.  I find that I tend to go out to dinner, or to the movies, or to a bar when I want to see friends.  This month I would really like to have people over.  I'm not sure if that means I'm having a dinner party, or if I'm just inviting people over for pizza and beer, but I would like to rely more on hanging out at home than going out and spending a lot of money.
5. Personal - Stick to my housekeeping list.  In January, I bought a Motivated Moms Chore Planner.  I know I'm not a mom, but the daily chore check list was a huge draw for me as I had just bought the house and had no clue as to how I was going to keep it up.  I really like the planner and when I use it, I feel way more organized and my house is very clean and tidy.  I haven't been using it lately, so this month I want to get back in the habit of checking the list and completing the tasks.

What are your June goals?

May Goal Review

1. Budget - Put money into savings.  Done!  I transferred money into two of my savings accounts.  If I can just keep this up, I'll be well on my way to meeting some of my savings goals!
2. Food - Cook more.  If I'm counting correctly, I cooked 12 dinners this month.  Not bad considering I was out of town for almost an entire week.  I did feel like I was cooking more than I had in a while, and I only got stressed about cooking once.  I also baked muffins for breakfasts twice this month, but I only baked bread once.  I need to get bake into the swing of making all of my own breads.
3. Blogging - Blog. Period.  Counting this blog post, I have blogged 26 times this month, up from 20 in April.  I did some scheduling in advance and took the time when I could find it to at least get something down.  There were very few days when I felt stressed about not having anything posted.  I'd really like to keep this up because it's a great feeling!
4. Social - Maintain a balance.  This was hard this month because I was traveling for almost a week in the middle, but I think I did pretty good at the beginning of the month.  One of my closest friends is finally home from school (she just graduate law school - congrats Laura!!), so I see lots of outings in my future.  I need to try to keep up a balance between being at home and being out, for both my budget and my sanity's sake.
5. Personal - Organize my office.  For the second month in a row, I have failed on this goal.  Oops.  I realized my reason though, when I was writing my guest post for the blog swap.  I didn't set at SMART goal so we can blame my laziness on that, right? 

Did you set goals this month?  How did you do?

May Goals

1. Budget - Put money into savings.  I haven't been as diligent as I would like when it comes to saving money.  Instead of focusing so much on how much I'm spending, I want to turn my attention to the things I want to save for and actually putting money into my various savings accounts.
2. Food - Cook more.  I feel like I've falling down on cooking lately.  I love to cook and try new recipes so this month that's what I'm going to do!  I've already built some new things into my menu and I plan on cooking smaller portions to help curb any food waste that may occur.
3. Blogging - Blog. Period.  I've made some changes and I have even more changes coming later this month, but my focus needs to remain on providing good content.  As always, let me know if there is something you would like to see me blog about and I'll keep attempting to write natural, personal, and random posts about whatever I can think of.
4. Social - Maintain a balance.  This goes along with cooking more, I think.  I love going out to dinner with friends, but a) it's expensive and b) it stresses me out to be out most every night.  But, I don't need to hide away either.  A good, solid, balance is needed.
5. Personal - Organize my office.  This is the same as last month, because I didn't do it.  And it needs to be done.  I went looking for something yesterday and couldn't find it.  I must fix that before I lose something really important in my mess. 

What are your goals for this month?

April Goal Review

1. Budget – Stick to my spending limits! I'm over in three categories this month, gas, groceries, and eating out.  At the point, spending a lot on gas can't be helped.  Gas is expensive and I have to drive.  I don't live in an area that is pedestrian-friendly nor can I walk or take public transportation to work.  I'm trying to batch errands and avoid driving as much as possible, but it's difficult.  As far as groceries and dining out, yes grocery prices are rising, but let's just call this one an overall fail.

2. Food - Stop collecting recipes.  I only printed recipes that I knew I needed (a cookie recipe and something I REALLY wanted to make for dinner) and the rest I either ignored or added to my Pinterest board.

3. Blogging - Set aside time each day to blog.  As I disappeared for a week this month, this just didn't happen.

4. Social - Stay connected.  I was much better about reaching out to people and hanging with lots of different people.  I feel much better about social things this month.

5. Personal - Organize my office.  Um, this didn't happen.  Maybe next month. 

How did you do with your goals this month?

April Goals

1.      Budget – Stick to my spending limits!  I have limits for a reason and that is to keep my budget in check so I can save for fun things like travel and necessary things like a new computer.  I need to keep this in mind the next time I’m tempted to order pizza instead of cooking what I already have or buying something just because it’s on sale.

2.      Food – Stop collecting recipes.  It’s no surprise that I love everything about food – shopping for it, preparing it, eating it, serving it, you name it, I love it.  And a product of that is my mammoth recipe collection.  Sometimes I get a recipe on purpose, like when I’m looking for a recipe that uses a specific ingredient, but most of the time, I collect recipes that I think I’ll make one day.  The problem is, I have two binders and 4 folders stuffed full of recipes I’ll probably never get around to trying.  So this month, I’m going to stop printing out recipes to try.  I need to come up with meals based on the recipes I already have and turn to my collection first, not the Internet, when I want to make something new.

3.      Blogging – Set aside some time each day to blog.  This was a goal last month, and it needs to be one this month as well.  I have tons of ideas for posts and if I just sit down and get them written, my life would be so much easier.

4.      Social – Stay connected.  I’m an “out of sight, out of mind” type of person.  If I don’t see something often, it’s probably going to slip my mind.  I find this especially true of friends I don’t see or talk to on a regular basis.  I have some very good friends here in town that I rarely see.  I want to do better getting together (or at least talking) with them this month.  There is no reason to neglect good friends.

5.      Personal – Organize my office.  My office is a disaster.  It's completely unpacked and I've organized my bookcase (of course!), but I never organized all my paperwork.  I have a huge basket of paperwork that needs to be sorted and organized.  My desk has also become a clutter spot and needs to be cleared off and put to good use.

What are your April goals?

March Goal Review

1.      Budget – Stick to my spending limits and adjust accordingly.  I did better here.  I under spent in my coffee shops, fast food, and entertainment budgets, but I overspent in my grocery, restaurant, and gas budgets.  What really happened was I forgot to take into account that I went on vacation in March.  I had upped my gas budget to compensate for the higher gas prices, but I didn’t account for the fact that I would be driving to and from the beach.  I didn’t raise my budgets for groceries and restaurants, because, well, I forgot.  I guess I’m human.

2.      Food – Bust out the cookbooks.  We’ll call this a partial fail.  I did cook two recipes (look for one on Tuesday!) from my cookbooks and I kept this goal in mind throughout the month, but I failed to really follow through. 

3.      Blogging – Dedicate some time each day for blogging.  I did really well with this goal early on in the month.  I wrote some quality blog posts and didn’t allow myself to get behind.  But by the end of the month, I was back to where I started, blogging behind schedule, or worse, not blogging at all.  I must do better on this.

4.      Social – Establish a balance.  I did much better on this.  I’ve had several quiet days at home and I don’t feel like I’ve neglected anyone, including myself.  I’ve been able to get stuff done around the house and still enjoy being with friends.  I think going on vacation with friends really helped. 

5.      Personal – Read 4 books.  I actually read 7!  I read I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Gone Too Far, Lover Unbound, Lover Enshrined, Lover Avenged (I’m on a Black Dagger Brotherhood kick at the moment.  Don’t judge me; you know you love some angsty vampire romance too.), The Spymaster’s Lady, and listened to Over the Edge.  Currently I’m reading Lover Mine and next on the list are Not Quite a Husband and The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie; it’s time to get back to my Reading List.

How did you do on your March Goals?

March Goals

1.      Budget – Stick to my spending limits and adjust accordingly.  As I mentioned in my goal review for February, I did decently in sticking to my limits, but I was unprepared for the jump in gas prices so I went majorly over budget.  I need to continue to stick to my limits, but I also need to watch how much I’m spending and make adjustments as needed.  For example, I budgeted $200 for groceries for February, but I only spent about $130.  So I will lower my grocery budget to $150 a month (the extra money is to account for anything unexpected like a party or a really great meat sale). 

2.      Food – Bust out the cookbooks.  I have a fairly large collection of cookbooks and I love to read cookbooks for fun.  Sometimes I read them just to read them, but mostly I’m reading them looking for and marking new recipes to try.  I have all these cookbooks with tabbed recipes sticking out, but I never get around to cooking them.  I would like several of my new recipes to try for the month to come from my cookbooks.  I have a feeling this is a goal I’m going to have to work on for a while.

3.      Blogging – Dedicate some time each day for blogging.  Work got in the way of doing quality blogging last month, but added to that, when I get tired or stressed, I tend to let things slide.  And one thing I tend to let slide is blogging.  I have lots of ideas for posts and guest posts, but I just haven’t had the time or energy to work on them.  But like everything else, I need to carve out some time, limit my distractions, and spend a half hour or so (not a work!!) blogging.  If anyone has any advice how they maintain a good blogging schedule and rhythm, I would love to hear it.

4.      Social – Establish a balance.  I think I went overboard on social events last month.  A, I’m spending a little more money than I would like, and b, I rarely, especially towards the end of the month, was home.  I felt like I was neglecting Caty, and neglecting myself.  I need to work on finding a balance between being busy with friends and staying at home/spending time with my family.  I have lots going on during the weekends of March, so I would like (at least partially) to limit the amount that I go out or do stuff during the week.  It’s all about finding a balance.

5.      Personal – Read 4 books.  I have been neglecting my reading list lately I think.  I’ve only read one book off of it in the last few weeks, and I really need to get back to it.  Also, thanks to Cate, I have some excellent nonfiction selections to read, so I would also like to make headway on that list.  I don’t think reading 4 books is out of my range, especially as there is 5 weeks in March and I’m already listening to one in the car.  Audio books count right?  Well, I’m making them count.

What are your goals for March?

February Goal Recap

1.      Budget – Stick to my spending limits.  I did okay on this.  I’m over budget on gas and books, but I wasn’t expecting gas to skyrocket like it did otherwise I would have upped my budget amount.  I also went out of town which accounted for a little bit more gas than I usually would have spent. I’m over by $30, which is a lot when I only budgeted for $60.  I’ll have to watch my driving over the next couple of weeks and see if I can’t keep this under better control.  And books…well, I can’t say anything other than I do love me some Barnes and Noble. :) I’m under budget in all my other categories (including groceries – mostly because I doubled my budget), so I’m pretty proud of myself.  I really like that Mint.com sends me an email letting me know when I’m over budget.  Overall, I really like Mint.com as it is giving me a great idea of where my money is going.

2.      Food – Try at least one new recipe a week.  I thought I was really off base with this until I went back through and checked my menu plans.  I have, in fact, tried more than four new recipes this month including (but not limited to) these awesome rolls, the frittata I blogged about, and the poppy seed chicken casserole Mom and I made for our family dinner last night.  I also busted out one of my favorite cookbooks for a quick chicken recipe that turned out to be delicious.  

3.      Blogging – Move to my own domain name! This is a big, fat fail, which I’m sure you noticed.  Blogging sort of slide by the wayside this month since work was so busy.

4.      Social – Make plans with friends and stick to them.  I smashed this goal to smithereens.  I don’t think I’ve been as social this month as I’ve been in a very long time.  I made plans, I stuck to them, I made new friends, I had social plans more than once a week, I had a date, the list keeps on going.  Next month also looks to be very busy as I have invitations to a wedding, an engagement party, friends coming in from out of town, and a trip to the beach planned. 

5.      Personal – Get back to doing my quiet times.  Another failure, mostly because I keep falling asleep.  I think maybe I need to change up the time.  I’ve tried mornings (I’m so not a morning person) and before bed isn’t working either, so maybe sometime right after work?

How did you do on your February goals?

February Goals

I’m doing my monthly and yearly goals a little differently this year.  You can read all about that here.

1.      Budget – Stick to my spending limits.  I set some spending limits last month, but now I’ve got to stick to them.  I may need to redo some of the limits, but I hope to do my best to stick to the limits I’ve set for myself.  I have a feeling that my grocery budget may be the hardest one to stick with, but I’m going to try!

2.      Food – Try at least one new recipe a week.  I’ve done this before, to decent success, so I thought I would give it another shot.  My to-try recipe stack is getting really extreme and trying new recipes is a great way to fix that problem.  I have two new recipes in this week’s menu plan, so that’s a good start so far!

3.      Blogging – Move to my own domain name!  I’m so excited about this goal! I’ve been working with a blog designer and she suggested I go ahead and buy and move to my own domain, so the plan for this month is to buy and move the blog to a new domain.  Get ready for some big changes!

4.      Social – Make plans with friends and stick to them.  I’m keeping this goal from last month because I don’t feel like I kept to it as much as I could have.  I hope to make social plans at least twice a week, but I’m not going to put a requirement on it.  The goal is to avoid turning into a hermit and get my butt off the couch.

5.      Personal – Get back to doing my quiet times.  I’ve fallen off the wagon on this and it’s time to get back on.  It always makes my day better when I start off with a reading and prayer, but I don’t have anything against doing it a night or when I find the time.  As long as I get back into the habit. 

Have you set your monthly goals?  Want to share?

January Goal Recap

1.      Budget – Set spending limits.  I did this!  I started using Mint.com (full review is in the works) and I was able to set limits in lots of categories.  So far I’m not having much luck sticking to my limits, especially in eating out and grocery shopping, but that’s another issue for another time.

2.      Food – Relearn how to shop and cook for one.  I think this is an ongoing process.  Cooking for one is going well (with exception of a few miscalculations on how much I can actually eat), but shopping could use some work.  It’s not that I’m buying more than I can eat, it’s just I’m either underestimating how much I should be spending at the store or cooking too expensive meals.  I have made the switch to cooking three meals a week and eating on the leftovers, so I just need to keep this up.

3.      Blogging – Get on the wait list for BlogHer ads.  I did this! And I emailed some fellow bloggers to get some advice and details about moving to a self-hosted blog.

4.      Social – Make plans with friends and stick to them.  I think I’m about 90% on this goal.  I’ve definitely stepped up making plans and sticking to them, but there have been a few times I’ve not done what I said I was going to do or not called friends back.  But I’ve hung out with several different groups of people and even went out with some work friends this past weekend.  I’ve also started communicated with some fellow bloggers and am very pleased to report that I’m forming some great friendships.

5.      Personal – Stop procrastinating! Well, I did really well at the first of the month, especially when it came to housework, but as the month progressed, things started to fall by the way side.  I’ve been doing much better at work, though.  Things are actually getting done and I feel much better about that part at least.  Like many things, this is something I need to continue to focus on. 

Do you set goals every month?  How did you do?

January Goals

Instead of setting year-long goals for 2011, I’ve chosen 5 categories of my life that need improving.  Each month I set one goal from each category. 

1.      Budget – Set spending limits.  This is a huge need for me.  With the new house and everything that had to be (or will be) bought for it, my wallet is seeing some serious strain.  Because I have been at home with my parents for a year, most of money has gone into savings, my wardrobe, or in my stomach.  I need to set some spending limits on things like new clothes, eating out, books, and miscellaneous purchases so I can stay out of debt.  In addition to this (setting two goals here so proceed with caution!), I need to find a budget system that works.  Several of you have given some great recommendations (thanks by the way!) so I will researching those and then (finally!) creating my own budget.

2.      Food – Relearn how to cook and shop for one.  I said I wasn’t going to give up menu planning, and I’m not.  I just haven’t done it for one person in so long that it’s going to take a while to figure out how much to buy and cook. 

3.      Blogging – Get on the wait list for having BlogHer ads.  BlogHer requires you to have blogged at least once a week for 3 months and January is the first month that I have done that.  (Remember that month-long blogging hiatus I took in September/October? That’s why I had to wait).  Also, I need to email my fellow bloggers who are self-hosted and get some details and advice.

4.      Social – Make plans with friends and stick to them.  This is going to be hard this month with the move and settling in to the new house, but I plan on scheduling at least a few social outings. 

5.      Personal – Stop procrastinating!  Procrastinating is my worst habit.  It’s why I have a stack of things on my desk to do.  It’s why these goal posts are getting posted so late.  It’s why I’m panicking because I’m not done packing and I’m moving on Saturday (!!).  I’m working on a few ways to help me stop procrastinating.  I’m creating a to-do list every evening before I leave work of everything that needs to be done the next day and I’m working on the list before I do anything else.  I also bought the Motivated Moms Planner that The Happy Housewife recommended.  I’m not a mom of course, but I hate housework so it tends to build up and then I procrastinate on actually doing the work.  I’m hoping the planner (which looks awesome by the way) will help me stay on top of keeping my house clean and presentable. 

What are your January goals?

2011 Goals

Photo Credit

I know I’m a little late on posting these (the new house is kind of taking over my life right now), but better late than never, right?

I’ve decided to break my goals down into categories and sub-categories (mostly ‘cause I’m a little OCD – we’ve had this talk before).  I’ve made the categories broad on purpose.  Every month I will be setting one goal from each category.  That way I’ll be able to achieve a wide-range of things and have an easy way to keep track of it all.  I’ve created general goals for each category and added some potential goals, but look for them to get more specific and defined as 2011 progresses.

I will be posting monthly goals at the first of the month and reviewing them at the end.  Of course, being me, this may or may not happen on the day I say it will.  But I’m going to try!

Budget

I’ve got to get better with money.  I don’t budget at all, but instead fly by the seat of pants and hope that I’m doing okay with money.  I’m good about funneling money into my savings (I use in ING and if you are interested in a referral and $25 email me!), but not so good about monitoring where my money goes or how much I should (or shouldn’t) be spending in certain areas.  Goals for this category include picking a budgeting tool, crafting a budget, creating some personal savings goals, and generally developing a better relationship with money.

Food

Last month, I set a goal to try two new recipes a month.  This was great (when I did it) because it helps me work through my ridiculous supply of recipes and to try new foods and techniques.  In addition to working to try new recipes, I plan on setting an additional food goal like trying a difficult recipe or experimenting with a new ingredient I’ve never used before.  This will probably be my favorite goal category. J

Blogging

I’ve mentioned that I’m interested in moving to a self-hosted blogging platform, so every month I’ll be working towards that.  Any recommendations/advice/suggestions/names of people who can help/etc would be very welcome.  Email me at lizy1285 (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Social

I started this last month, but I’ve got to get more social.  I have a tendency to hole up in my house and hide away with my books.  It’s not a bad thing to do every once and a while, but I let my homebodiness (which is a word I totally just made up) damage relationships with friends.  I plan on working on decreasing my sketchiness, stop screening my phone calls, and making plans that I actually keep.  I also really (like really really) need to start dating.  Or at least meeting more guys who might be (or who even know other) potential dating options. 

Personal

This is the broadest, most ambiguous category.  It can include anything and everything from books to my faith to fixing a bad habit.  I have some ideas about what I want to do here, so expect it to be different and slightly random every month. 

So those are my goals.  What are your goals for 2011?  Or are you not a goal setter?