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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

December Goal Recap

Photo Credit

I’m a little late on this and I still haven’t written my 2011 or my January goals.  I’m working on it, okay? 

Maybe one of my goals should be to stop procrastinating? :)

Here is a recap of my December goals:

1.      Try at least two new recipes a week.  I did this two out of the four weeks in December.  I did try several new cookie recipes, so that has to count for something, right?

2.      Clean out my closet.  I did this! Yay me!! My closet is now decluttered, organized, and ready to be packed!

3.      Control my spending. This is a big, fat fail.  I spent way too much money on breakfasts and lunches out of convenience when I had plenty at home to cook and bring.  At least I set the goal.  Admitting you have a problem is the first step.

4.      Make an effort to be more social. This is a yes and no.  Yes, I did see some people and hung out with friends, but I really didn’t make too many plans and I ended up staying at home like a couch potato on New Year’s Eve when I should have been out with friends.  But I did make an effort to reach out to some fellow bloggers and I think I’m developing some online friendships.  So that’s a start.

5.      Remember the true reason for the season.  This is kind of hard to say “yes, I did it” or “no, I didn’t”, but I like to believe I kept Jesus on my mind much more this year than I have in the past.  I know I did a lot more praying this past month that I’ve ever done before.  And a lot of that praying including many thank yous for all of my blessings.

How did you do this month?  Did you achieve your goals?

August Goal Review

1. Only put $300 of my paycheck in my checking account each payday. I did pretty well with this. I'm a little over 1/3 of the way to my goal in my emergency fund, over halfway to the amount I want in my regular savings, and every little bit that I can add to my down payment is awesome. I've been moving money around whenever I think about it, but I need to be better about being on top of it.
   
2. Seriously look for an apartment. I did not do this, because I've decided that I would rather buy a house! It's a huge decision, but I've been unable to find an apartment that has everything I want for a price I can afford. I'm going to paying a lot more in rent to get what I want and I would much rather being a mortgage than rent. I'm really excited about going house hunting!
   
3. Try one new recipe each week. I've done really well with this! I set this goal because I was getting complacent with my menu planning and then is really helping me keep our dinners fresh and interesting.
   
4. Get up 15 minutes early every day for my quiet time. I've failed miserably at this goal. I tried very hard at the beginning of the month, but it's very clear that I'm not a morning person. I've been doing my devotions at night, but not journaling like I had planned. I'm going to keep trying, because it takes 28 days to make a good habit and this would be a really good habit for me.
   
5. Clean out my closet. Oops. I actually forgot I set this goal until right now. I guess we know what I'll be doing over Labor Day...
   

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