Mid-March Goal check

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. Things have been crazy with my work, M's work, the kids, my running schedule (doing a 15K race this weekend!), & life in general.

Here's a quick look at my March goals, since the month is about half way over!

1. Lose four pounds in March, bringing me to 143 pounds. - I've lost 1.5 pounds so far. Finally seeing the number on the scale move a bit.
2. Complete 1100 minutes of cardio. I've been crushing this goal, so I'm bumping up the number. - On track. I've completed 575 minutes of cardio, & have a bunch of longer workouts in my training plan to even things out.
3. Complete all training runs for my half marathon, and complete my 15K race on 3/19! - On track.
4. Spend $0 on clothes, makeup, shoes, etc for myself/kids. *Caveat - I may need a new pair of running shoes* - Fail. Bought a new pair of running shoes (a must have - my toenails were falling off from the others) & also bought a few spring tops. Both kids needed baseball gear as well.
5. Complete 11 strength workouts. Bumping this up by one workout, as I still feel like I need to devote more time to my strength training. - Pretty much on track, as I have a strength workout planned for tonight, & I've done 5 so far this month.  
6. Find an "extra" $650 in the budget to purchase two tuition credits for each child. - Likely not going to hit this in March. M's work is completely up in the air, he may be switching jobs, and we'll likely not fund the college accounts until this is all resolved.
7. Track all spending, stick to budget, and prepare month end spending report. - So far, we're doing okay. Lots of summer travel expenses are coming through (hotels, car rental, flights), but it's part of the larger year long budget. Need to keep things tight in March to stick to the rest of the budget.
8. Complete taxes, & fund what we owe. - Taxes are done - now we need to file & shell out the $11K. Good times.
9. Have one date night with M. - Done!
10. Get together with two friends. - Meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow, & have tentative plans with another friend later this month.
11. Create a master list of accounts/passwords to store in our safety deposit box. - Not done.
12. Investigate & create new budget based on a few options we're considering. (Selling our vacation house, buying a rental property, etc). This is very much a first stage of a long process. - This is very much up in the air, & will be dependent on M's work situation, my work situation, the housing market, etc. Lots more that I should cover in a full post.

And with that, how are all of you doing with your March goals? Hope the month is going well!!

March Goals

Here are my goals for March! (If you're interested in how these map to my 2012 goals, you can read more about them here.)
I feel like I'm okay with the artificial sugar in my coffee/tea (I've successfully eliminated it for two months), so I'm cutting that goal, & adding another. I try to limit myself to 12 goals per month.

1. Lose four pounds in March, bringing me to 143 pounds.
2. Complete 1100 minutes of cardio. I've been crushing this goal, so I'm bumping up the number.
3. Complete all training runs for my half marathon, and complete my 15K race on 3/19!
4. Spend $0 on clothes, makeup, shoes, etc for myself/kids. *Caveat - I may need a new pair of running shoes*
5. Complete 11 strength workouts. Bumping this up by one workout, as I still feel like I need to devote more time to my strength training.
6. Find an "extra" $650 in the budget to purchase two tuition credits for each child.
7. Track all spending, stick to budget, and prepare month end spending report.
8. Complete taxes, & fund what we owe.
9. Have one date night with M.
10. Get together with two friends.
11. Create a master list of accounts/passwords to store in our safety deposit box.
12. Investigate & create new budget based on a few options we're considering. (Selling our vacation house, buying a rental property, etc). This is very much a first stage of a long process.

February Goal Wrap Up

The month is almost over - can you believe it?! Here's how I did on my goals for the month of February. Overall, I'm very pleased. :-) It's a short month, but I feel like I accomplished quite a bit.

These were my goals for February! (If you're interested in how these map to my 2012 goals, you can read more about them here.)

1. Lose four pounds in February, bringing me to 144 pounds. - I lost one pound, so progress was made. Ultimately, I'm having a hard time controlling my calories, because I'm working out like a crazy person. I know keeping the calories in check is important, but I'm also pleased because my clothes are fitting better & I'm in much better shape than I was a few months ago. Some days I'm STARVING after a long run, other days not so much. My calories are pretty wildly varied, & I haven't figured out how to account for that..
2. Complete 900 minutes of cardio. It's a shorter month, so this will definitely be a challenge. - I blew this one away, & even beat my huge January number. I'm planning to work out tomorrow, so this isn't a final number, but I completed 1173 cardio minutes in February. Boom!
3. Complete all training runs for my half marathon, and start training for my 15K in March. - Done. I fell behind for a few days when I got sick, but I rallied & I'm back on track.
4. Spend $0 on clothes, makeup, shoes, etc for myself/kids. - I did "okay" on this one, but didn't achieve my goal. I spent $137 on clothing for myself, but $100 of that was from my birthday money, so my net spend was $37. I'm actually going to return one of the sweaters (love it, but the color doesn't look good with jeans, & I wear jeans every day pretty much to work), so I'm giving myself a pass. We had to replace two kids winter jackets this month, for a total of $76. The good news was there was no unecessary kids clothing spending, and the jackets were essential & will last until the end of next winter.
5. Complete 10 strength workouts. - I'll be wrapping up the last workout tonight, so I'm giving this a complete!
6. No artificial sugar in coffee/tea or other beverages. - Done!
7. Find an "extra" $650 in the budget to purchase two tuition credits for each child. - I funded half of this, so one tuition credit for each child. That's all the budget could afford this month, with a bunch of unexpected car expenses.
8. Track all spending, stick to budget, and prepare month end spending report. - I tracked all of the spending, & I'm almost done with our month end spending report. Overall, there were some expenses outside of our budget (car expenses, travel which is part of our yearly budget, but wasn't expected in February, etc). Very little random extraneous purchases, and I'm pleased with where we ended up. February is always a struggle for us - my birthday, my son's birthday, Valentine's Day, the kids have a week off of school, etc.
9. Reallocate savings goals to pay for taxes. Waiting for a few final documents, but it's looking like we'll owe around $10K. *shivers* - Done. I'm taking Friday off to really commit the time to get our taxes wrapped up, and we have a plan for what we expect to owe.
10. Have one date night with M. - Done!
11. Get together with two friends. - Done!
12. Create a master list of accounts/passwords to store in our safety deposit box. - This was the only goal that I didn't even attempt, so fail. I'll roll this goal over to next month.

How about you? How did your February goals come out?

Menu Plan and Goal Check

I'm a little late to the party this week (can't believe it's Thursday & I still haven't posted a menu!), but things have been crazy. I missed a bunch of work last week due to the weather, so I'm playing catch up this week. Plus planning my son's birthday party, and all of the normal rigamaroll. :-)

 

We've been eating lots of yummy things this week, and here's what's on the menu for the next week or so:

 

• Thursday - Tilapia Piccata with Orzo
• Friday - Homemade bolognese sauce/spaghetti
• Saturday - Leftover Roasted Butternut Squash & Bacon Pasta (from the freezer)
• Sunday - traditional apres ski meal - pizza.
• Monday - White Cheddar Chicken Pasta (sauce from the freezer)
• Tuesday - Beef tacos + black beans
• Wednesday - Mahi Mahi + mango salsa, possibly over rice
• Thursday - Garlic chicken with orzo
• Friday - Leftovers
• Saturday - Mystery pasta dish from freezer (yes, I need to start marking these). I think it's this one. (Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Meat Sauce).
• Sunday - Pizza. May try these Barbecue Pizza Bites to mix things up a bit.

And, with just 5 days left in the month, I wanted to do a quick January goal check. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good!

1. Lose 4 lbs in January, bringing my weight to 146. - I've been doing exceptionally well with eating and working out. I've been eating between 1400 & 1500 calories/day, and hitting the gym hard. My clothes are definitely fitting better, but I've only lost one pounds. I'm pressing on & staying focused. I know I already feel better.  
2. Complete 900 minutes of cardio. Wow! That feels like a lot. :-) - I've completed 845 minutes of cardio so far, so almost there!
3. Find a training plan for my 1/2 marathon, and map out all workouts. - Completed! I've registered for two races, found a suitable training plan, and added all workouts to my calendar. Yeah!
4. Spend $0 on clothes/shoes/makeup for myself & $0 for clothing/shoes for the kids. - Groan. I spent $14.78 on an eye brow pencil when my other one broke. I did return a pair of (unworn, tags still on, of course) pair of yoga pants that I bought in December & didn't end up needing. They were $21.89, so I at least offset my spending.
5. Complete 10 strength workouts. - I've completed 8 strength workouts, and have five days to get in the last two. I've struggled with this one way more than my cardio goal, but I know I can do it. 
6. No artificial sugar in coffee or tea. Evaluate diet to see if I'm consuming other artificial sweetener. - I've completely eliminated sweetner of any kind in my coffee & tea. It's been a shock to the system, but I'm slowly adjusting ot the taste of my coffee with just milk. I also stopped drinking the flavored water at work (I used to mix with Crystal Light and/or flavored Talking Rain).
7. Find an "extra" $650 in the budget for two tuition credits for each child. - I used $325 in Christmas money to fund one credit/child, and used the dividends from a stock to fund the other $325. Done.
8. Track all spending, stick to budget, and complete a monthly spending report. I'd like to also do a minimum of two weekly spending reports in January to check to see if we're on track, highlight any "red" areas, and adjust our spending accordingly. - On track. 
9. Pay an extra $500 on our vacation mortgage, and $500 extra on our primary mortgage. - Done! I received (and subsequently sold) some employeer stock, as well as received dividends from another stock I own. I paid $1000 to our second (primary residence) mortgage, as it currently is at the highest rate.
10. Have a date night with M. Need to look at the calendar & get this planned out. - We had a fabulous date night last Saturday, and talked to friends about potentially trading off date night sitting, which would be fabulous & frugal!
11. Get together with two friends. - A couple of planned events got moved due to the snow, but I'm meeting a few friends for lunch tomorrow.
12. Determine guardians for the kids, which is the part of our wills that have caused us the most consternation. It's a very difficult decision, there are no easy answers, but it's just irresponsible to avoid the decision. - Anyway, still nothing.

How are you doing with your January goals? Feeling on track, like you can tackle everything you'd hoped for?

The one with the plumber

We got a call yesterday from the city that we have a water leak outside of our home. I spent half of yesterday at home waiting for the plumber, and finally got an estimate. It will likely be around $2,000 to do the digging and fix the leak. Merry Christmas to me. I guess that's what the emergency fund is for, right?

In other financial news, we went six days without a Costco run, which is a new record for us. ;-) We really need to keep our spending under control for the rest of the month, so we can replenish our emergency fund.

And, given that December is half over, I thought I would provide a quick goal update. I think I'm doing well on 5/10 goals, so I need to focus on the remaining goals for the rest of the month.

1. Lose 5 lbs - get weight back to 144 pounds. - I'm around 150. So, down from the first week of December, but definitely not where I'd hoped to be.
2. Complete 500 minutes of cardio  - I'm at 350 minutes, so 70% of my goal. On track. I need to be ahead of my target for the first few weeks, because I know the last couple of weeks in the month will be challenging with holidays, traveling, & vacation.
3. Complete 8 strength workouts - I've completed 5 workouts, so at 62% of my goal. I hope to get slightly ahead, for the same reason as above. The last two weeks of the month are going to be crazy town.
4. Plan spring break trip - We are unable to find reasonably priced airfare to Hawaii for four. We're not willing to take flights that aren't direct (we're in Seattle, not Texas - we should be able to easily find direct flights!) within our price point. More to come on the plan for this.
5. Plan mid-winter break trip - I think I have a solid plan for this, but need to review with the other players (my sister & husband). :-) Haven't made any progress on this in the last week or so.
6. Bake Christmas cookies with the kids & take them to look at holiday lights. - We've done both, but the cookies were a disaster. Ended up getting a different gift for the teachers we were planning on giving the cookies to. Yeah for reducing the workload in December! :-) 
7. Track all spending - On track for this.
8. Monthly expenditures total less than $15,000, with the exception of using the bonus money to pay off the $35K 401K loan. - Slightly above the pace for this, but I did pay the $2000 on our refinance, which will hopefully be our highest non-mortgage spend of the month.
9. Keep grocery bill to $600 - Way over - currently at $430. In semi-positive news, we'll be out of town for 1/2 of next week & not going through groceries. I'm hopeful that we can still end the month close to our target.
10. Get together with two friends - Got together with friends on Sunday, and have plans to meet a second friend for coffee tomorrow. On track.

How are you doing with your December goals?

December goal check - week one

Can you believe the first week of December is already gone? Holy smokes! This month is flying by. These are my goals for the month, as well as a little update on my progress.

1. Lose 5 lbs - get weight back to 144 pounds. - Well, for whatever reason, my weight topped out at 152 over the weekend. I'm now slowly pulling it back from that, & I'm at 151.4. Obviously, a ton of work to do here.
2. Complete 500 minutes of cardio  - I'm at 191 minutes, so 38% of my goal. On track. I need to be ahead of my target for the first few weeks, because I know the last couple of weeks in the month will be challenging with holidays, traveling, & vacation.
3. Complete 8 strength workouts - I've completed 3 workouts, so at 37% of my goal. I hope to get slightly ahead, for the same reason as above. The last two weeks of the month are going to be crazy town.
4. Plan spring break trip - We are unable to find reasonably priced airfare to Hawaii for four. We're not willing to take flights that aren't direct (we're in Seattle, not Texas - we should be able to easily find direct flights!) within our price point. More to come on the plan for this.
5. Plan mid-winter break trip - I think I have a solid plan for this, but need to review with the other players (my sister & husband). :-)
6. Bake Christmas cookies with the kids & take them to look at holiday lights. - We've done both, but the cookies were a disaster. Can't decide if we're going to try again, or skip it.
7. Track all spending - On track for this.
8. Monthly expenditures total less than $15,000, with the exception of using the bonus money to pay off the $35K 401K loan. - Slightly above the pace for this, but I did pay the $2000 on our refinance, which will hopefully be our highest non-mortgage spend of the month.
9. Keep grocery bill to $600 - Roughly on track for this. At $160 for the month.
10. Get together with two friends - Hmmm, I need to reschedule a lunch with a friend, & I'm supposed to be getting together with another friend this weekend. On track, overall.  

How are you doing with your December goals?

November Goal Wrap Up

This month absolutely flew by! Here's what I accomplished (or, didn't) for the month. Overall, out of 17 goals, I successfully completed 8 of them, mostly/somewhat completed 5 of them, and totally blew it on the remaining 4.

Here are my goals for November:

1. Complete 500 minutes of cardio. Yes! I completed this & am currently at 505 minutes. I will still try to sneak in a workout today or tomorrow.
2. Lose 5 lbs. Starting at 146. Major fail. Post Thanksgiving, my weight is up to 148.4, which means instead of losing weight, I gained 2.4 lbs. :-( 
3. Sell 2 items (or more!) on Craig's List. Eh, we opted to keep our TV, so we didn't sell anything.
4. Decorate house for Christmas. Mostly done. The inside is decorated, and tree is up, but it rained all day on Sunday - so we still need to do the lights.
5. Finish Christmas shopping. 95% done, and plan to finish everything today (last day of the month)! :-)
6. Clean pantry. Done.
7. Clean both fridges. No, didn't get either cleaned (by that I mean I didn't scrub the shelves.)
8. Complete 8 strength training workouts. I completed 5/8 workouts, so didn't make it.
9. Complete guardianship/will/trust for kids. Failure. :-(
10. Research life insurance. Failure.
11. Create a list of all shared accounts (between myself & M) to store in safety deposit box. Well, we opened up a safe deposit box, but the list of accounts is incomplete. Semi-done.
12. Plan ski week with my sister, nephews, and our kids. Mostly done - need to finalize the details.
13. Decide on winter activities for boys. Done. Both will play soccer, swim & in January we'll move on to skiing. Cut out chess & music ideas, as we don't want the kids to be super busy.
14. Track all spending. Done.
15. Reduce monthly expenses by $200. We cut $800 off the amount we spent last month. Yeah!
16. Get together with two friends. Done! Meeting the second friend for a birthday dinner tonight.
17. Decide on/register for benefits at work. There are a bunch of changes to our health care plans, so I need to figure out which is best for us. - Done! I registered both of us, so this is all taken care of.

How is your December looking? What's on your list of goals for the month?

Goals for December

Wow, did November ever fly by?! It's time for me to set my December goals, & being realistic with myself about what I can accomplish in a month filled with holidays, vacations, & family fun.

Psssssssssh, whatever! I'm always too ambitious about my goals. :-)

1. Lose 5 lbs - get weight back to 144 pounds.
2. Complete 500 minutes of cardio
3. Complete 8 strength workouts
4. Plan spring break trip
5. Plan mid-winter break trip
6. Bake Christmas cookies with the kids & take them to look at holiday lights.
7. Track all spending
8. Monthly expenditures total less than $15,000, with the exception of using the bonus money to pay off the $35K 401K loan.
9. Keep grocery bill to $600
10. Get together with two friends

What about you? What's on your list of must do's for December?

November Goal Update

November is about 1/4 over, so I thought it would be good (read, I need to kick myself into gear!) & see how I'm faring so far.

Here are my November goals:

1. Complete 500 minutes of cardio. I've completed 150 minutes, so I'm on track with this.
2. Lose 5 lbs. Starting at 146. <insert sad face> I've gained weight. Need to focus on this.
3. Sell 2 items (or more!) on Craig's List. So far, no traction on this. We do have our old TV listed.
4. Decorate house for Christmas. We'll do this the last week of November
5. Finish Christmas shopping. I'm about 2/3 of the way done. Yeah!
6. Clean pantry. I've made small steps, but haven't done a full clean. 
7. Clean both fridges. Nope. Need to get this on my To Do lists. 
8. Complete 8 strength training workouts. I've done 1/8, which is not good.
9. Complete guardianship/will/trust for kids. Nope 
10. Research life insurance. Nope.
11. Create a list of all shared accounts (between myself & M) to store in safety deposit box. Nope
12. Plan ski week with my sister, nephews, and our kids. Nope
13. Decide on winter activities for boys. Yes! This is done. :-)
14. Track all spending. So far, so good.
15. Reduce monthly expenses by $200. I've been doing a much better job predicting our monthly expenses & juggling things proactively, so hopefully we'll have a net savings this month. 
16. Get together with two friends. I've gotten together with one friend, so 1/2 way there. :-)
17. Decide on/register for benefits at work. There are a bunch of changes to our health care plans, so I need to figure out which is best for us.  Not yet.

Yikes. Not doing that great - I'm mostly concerned with my weight. Given that we're heading into the holidays and over indulgences all around, I need to get to the gym regularly & keep my eating on track.

How are you doing with your November goals? Any big wins so far? :-)

October Goal Summary

I'm glad October is over & done with - let's review my goals & how I did! For reference, here are my 2011 Goals.

I realized that I posted my yearly goals, as well as a weekly set of goals, but never my complete list of October goals. So, here goes! Goals that I utterly failed at our in red, made progress but didn't achieve is yellow, and completed is green.

1. Lose 5 pounds in November. I lost 1.2 pounds.
2. Work out 15 times. I worked out 14 times. Bummer. Just short of my goal.
3. Track all spending for the month. YES! I did this. I'll have a full blog post on this shortly.
4. Clean both freezers & create an inventory. YES! I did this. The inventory has been super helpful with meal planning.
5. Organize boys closets & store/get rid of summer items. YES! I did this. :-)
6. Plan time off around the school & holiday calendars. YES! I did this.
7. Start Christmas shopping. Yes, I'm about 1/3 of the way done.
8. Bring the boys to visit the Grandmas. Yes! We went last weekend & had a great time. The grandmothers (92 & 86, respectively) loved it!
9. Decorate the house for Halloween. Yes! This was done. Now on to Christmas decorations.
10. Sell 4 items on Craig's List. We sold two items, one we figured out couldn't be sold (a car seat - past its expiration date), and is still listed.
11. Plan our anniversary. I did this, & we had a great overnight trip.
12. Clean "junk" drawer in our kitchen. Done!
13. Clean "catch all" kitchen cupboard. Done!

Hmmm, my analysis is that 10/13 isn't bad! And, I'm not terribly worried about the Craig's List goal. But, the weight loss & fitness needs to become a priority again in November. I need to get a few pounds lost & under my belt before we enter holiday season.

How did you do on your October goals?