Tuesday, January 1, 2019

December Goals - how did we do?

It wasn't a great month for fitness, thanks to the car accident early in the month, and then getting a cold that has lasted almost two weeks. However, the rest of the categories look really good. I'm pleased with my progress this month!

Financial:

  • Stay on track with our food budget, including both eating out & groceries. - We had an unexpected day without the kids, so we made the most of it & went to a brewery. That pushed us over a bit on the dining out. For groceries, December is always hard for us, as we're traveling, entertaining & buying food for both houses. We try not to waste, but there's always more spending. We were over on groceries by $150 this month. Luckily, we were under in other months, so we still managed to hit our grocery budget goal for 2018. 
  • Come up with one way to reduce what we need/spend on an ongoing basis - We didn't really have any major wins in this category in December. 
  • Earn another $100 in side hustle money. - Yes, I listed a bunch of stuff on eBay as it got closer to the holidays & made $121. I also helped Sam sell his bike, but that money went to pay for his new skateboard. We split the rest (1/2 into his college account, 1/2 for spending money for himself.) 
  • Continue our 2019 budget prep, including our plans to try & lower our mortgages, and potentially paying off our vacation house. - we paid off our vacation house, & finalized our 2019 budget. We're still in the process of iterations to our primary residence mortgage pay down plan, but that will need to wait until we figure out what we're doing with my job. 
Family:

  • Have one family evening together: cooking dinner, board games, etc - We had a ton of opportunities for this over the holidays. Lots of board games, cooking together, puzzles, etc. 
  • Have a date night with my husband - two, actually! We ended up with a bonus date night early in the month when a friend took the kids to soccer, and then again right after Christmas when my parents offered to keep the boys for an extra two nights. 
  • Continue financial help as opportunities arise - I'll consider the blog of some help, but want to continue to spend time on this. Maybe I'll build & share a budget template for others to consider using, if helpful. I'll also continue to share challenges I'm working on, in case anyone else wants to join in. 
  • Take the kids to see Christmas lights - Yes! 
  • Help the kids sell their nice BMX bikes (they haven't been in a long time, and want scooters instead) - we sold one. We got two offers on Christmas Eve oddly, but weren't around to sell the second bike. We'll try again when we're back. 

Fitness/health:
  • Get in 31 workouts in December - I only got in 17 workouts in December. I was sore from a car accident, and then got sick right before the holidays. 
  • Complete another full round of 21 Day Fix - Ditto above. I did 11/21. 
  • Eat 5.5 servings a day of fruit & veggies - Yikes. I've averaged 3/day in December. 
  • Don't gain weight - I wish I could say this were true, but I gained two pounds. :-( 

Work:
  • Work from home 2 days - Yes, done. 
  • Work on my my "homework" from my coach - Yes, and we're done with our sessions. I need to do a recap for myself before I forget a few things we discussed. 

Personal/creative:

  • Plan sabbatical! Start sketching out dates on the calendar - I haven't done much with this, although I did lock in all of my Q1 work travel. I need to get the sabbatical plans in motion. A good goal for January. 
  • Make my holiday bread - Yes!
  • Read 4 books - Yes, I think I read 8 books. 
  • Blog 6 times - I blogged 23 times in December!!
  • Declutter at least 20 items from our house on the coast - Yes! I threw a few things out of the pantry that needed to be tossed, got rid of three games, some clothes that don't fit/have holes, and will donate about 5 more items when we get home. 
  • Complete a freezer challenge, and get rid of 16 items from the freezer - Yes, and in fact was able to get rid of 32 items. I loved this challenge, and will do it again. 

What about you? How did you do with your December goals? Any big wins? 

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