January check in - 10 days in

 January is whizzing by, and we have a busy month ahead. We leave on Friday for a college tour, and to see my nephew in Tucson. Looking forward to that, as this is likely our only chance this year to see him. I also have a business trip to New York coming up, so I need to take full advantage of every day where I'm home & have any flexibility. 

I'm going to try checking in more frequently on my monthly goals, to give myself more regular updates & motivation, and in case it's interesting to anyone else. I always enjoy Mavis's goal updates. I've even added two goals for the month, which is unusual for me. 

Financial:

• Achieve savings goals (401K, Nick's 529 - $1,000, Sam's college - monthly stock vest) - I feel like we're going backward on this one! I forgot that our paychecks through March are much smaller than the rest of the year, due to the way we have our 401K deductions set up. I've saved $300 towards Nick's college, $300 for Sam, and have put a lot towards the 401K. On the flip side, we've had a lot of expenses, and may need to pull from savings to cover some of that, which would offset any progress we've made. Anyway, mostly a bumpy cash flow problem, but I'm planning to tighten up spending a bit so we can see more improvements in our overall numbers. 
• Earn $200 in side hustle - no progress here, but I've added working on eBay listings to my Monday goal. 
• Use up 2 pantry items & 2 bags of smoothie fruit (freezer) - I used up 1.5 bags of smoothie fruit, and bonus: a container of applesauce to make muffins. 

Family:

• Review college spreadsheet with Sam, have him work through virtual tours, etc - we have a college tour this weekend, which will help inform this process. 
• Plan one fun activity with the boys - we skied twice, had three fun dinners while skiing, and have plans to do a few things while in Arizona
• Sign Nick up for local SAT test - done!
• Optimize points, perks, miles to keep travel costs down - we are using a free hotel night when staying in Arizona
• Plan soccer senior night - this is a last minute add on, as I forgot to include it, but it's actually quite a bit of work. So far, I've signed up another parent to take head shots of the players, arranged for the school photographer to come to the event, reached out to the coach of our opponents for a copy of their roster, and I'm almost done finding the emails for all senior parents. Still plenty to do. 

Fitness:

• Stretch 2x/week - I've stretched 2x so far. 
• Lose 2 lbs - I feel like I've stabilized my weight & am heading in the right direction, post holidays. But, not progress yet. 
• Follow training plan for half marathon - I'm barely scraping by with this one, but getting in runs as I can. 
• Strength train 8 times - so far, I've done 2 strength training workouts. 
• Follow the No S diet - I've had 3 days on track, so starting to get there. 

Personal:

• Get together with a friend - not yet. 
• Practice Farsi 10 tiems - I've practiced 2x. 
• Declutter 50 items from the house - I've gotten rid of 10 items, which feels like solid progress. 
• Find a pickle ball class/lesson - found the class I want to take, but we are in & out in January, so planning to wait until the next session. 
• Take the class - The Science of Happiness via Coursera - this is an add on to my goals, but I noticed this class was being offered (it's one of the most popular courses ever offered at Yale) & all virtual & free, so I signed up. I've been wanting to take this class forever. I'm one module in. 

What about you? How are you doing with your goals for January?