I like to set one or two goals or habits each New Year’s and this year my word is streamline. I’m very happy with where life is going, happy with where my training is going, pretty content overall actually. But i would like to streamline things to make them run more smoothly and more efficiently.
Here are some examples of what I will be working on:
Dogs
My dogs are terrors and don’t listen very well. Because I am always taking them running or hiking off leash I’m really worried for their safety. I am going to focus on some serious training this year so they are better behaved and safer when we are out and about.
Money
I need to set up automatic payments for our bills so we stop forgetting a month of paying late. I also want to automate a little amount to come out and go into savings. Along these lines I need to sit down and create a budget and get that all in order.
Cooking
I need to make a calendar of planned meals before I go grocery shopping so I have all the ingredients. Getting home starving and rummaging for something to throw together is not fun. I need to do the same thing with my lunches for school.
Clutter
My house! I love my teeny tiny house but it keeps cluttering up. I need to install some shelves and hooks, get some under the bed storage bins and declutter! My worst offense? I can’t bear to part with my books! So I figure I can store the ones I don’t read all the time in a waterproof container in the shed and then when I want to read it I can go out and grab it. I also need to do that with all of our DVD’s that are taking massive amounts of room.
Love
Ryan and I need to make time to hang out that doesn’t include Netflix. I would like to set aside a date night where we just get out and do something together and make it a priority.
That’s really all that needs to be streamlined I think but that’s the goal, to make life as smooth running and efficient as possible.
Any lifehacks for these areas that you would like to share?
What are your New Years Resolutions?
Any dog training tips are VERY VERY welcome!
Those are some pretty good goals. My budget tips are to identify what your overall income and expenses are and what’s leftover. From that determine how much you want to go into savings and how much you want for spending. Automatic transfers into savings account help so you feel like you’re not ‘missing’ any money. Then I use cash for my spending money so once it’s gone, I can’t spend anymore!
Thanks for the advice! I’ve always been mad at money and now that we’re on one income I really need to grow up a bit. Ha ha!
I’m also working on my budget this year – I just sat down and figured out how much money we spend on fixed expenses, variable expenses and savings and where I might have some room to make changes. For us, having automatic transfers into our saving account is key to saving.
Good luck with your goals!
I just re-did my budget too! I am putting away for retirement/long-term savings but I wanted more of a little nest-egg for when I want to go on a trip etc… Plus, I want to be paying off my debt faster too (divorce sucks.)
I love your goals!