Monthly Goals - January 2024

[Raenia]

New year, back in the saddle of monthly goals! Let's see how I do this month.

1. Read 4 books (include DNFs)
  a. 2 from TBR
2. Go outside twice a week (8/31)
3. Do yoga once a week

Creativity
4. Cook once a week

House Stuff:
5. Put Away Christmas Stuff
6. Go Through Winter Wear
7. Repair Basement - I can't believe this is still on the list, but we had ANOTHER water intrusion last month, so some of the repair work needs to be redone
  a.  Main Room
    i. Bead Board
    ii. Baseboards
    iii. Door Trim
    iv. Wainscot Cap

Social:
8. Plan to see S+D

[tygertygertyger]

I'm glad you started a January thread! I was hoping someone (else) would!

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only.

2. Cook all the winter squash and pumpkins still waiting around before they go bad.

3. Finish knitting the Christmas stocking for my dog... it's been in progress since 2022, but it's so close to being done.
 
4. Read a poem a day from the anthology I just picked up.

5. Finish up work fixing wall in office.

6. Start planning a 2024 road trip.

[Serendip]

A-ha, I missed this thread!   Okay I am IN for January and will go ahead and borrow #1 from @tygertygertyger

Goals

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only.

2. Daily yoga or breathwork 5 min minimum, bonus points for daily meditation

3. Take care of all the health appointments (make one for bloodwork, go get an ultrasound (already booked), see dentist for cleaning and eye doctor for check-up)

4. Average 10,000 steps/day (this is mostly so my new dog gets a healthy dose of outdoor time..)

5. Try one new recipe per week

6. Save minimum $1000

[Newday]

• Sleep by 11 pm
• Exercise minimum 22 days - at least 15 mins.
• Organize garage
• Organize basement
• Declutter dressers
• Book a much needed appointment with Physician for everyone in the  family - borrowed this idea from Serendip. (Thanks!)

[Serendip]

Update 1

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only. : So far, so good

2. Daily yoga or breathwork 5 min minimum, bonus points for daily meditation Everyday minimum. Yesterday i just hung in standing forward fold, swung back & forth and breathed deeply. Felt astonishingly good for pretty much no effort

3. Take care of all the health appointments (make one for bloodwork, go get an ultrasound (already booked), see dentist for cleaning and eye doctor for check-up) : made some calls anyhow

4. Average 10,000 steps/day (this is mostly so my new dog gets a healthy dose of outdoor time..) : Average = 13,051...a very active hiking/walking week!

5. Try one new recipe per week : made a cannellini bean & herb spread/dip to eat on my toast. Tasty and super easy.

6. Save minimum $1000: $250

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Thanks for posting!

Here are my goals for January, along with some status/tracking, since we're a week in:

Financial:
-Achieve savings goals ($1k in 529 for DS16, $1k for DS17's college fund) - So far, saved $600
-Earn $200 in side hustle - $0 earned
-Use up four hard to use freezer/pantry items - My goal for the month is 2 bags of frozen fruit (smoothies) & two cans of green beans. All of which have been lingering forever. I've used up 1.5 bags of fruit.

Family:
-One fun activity with the teens - we all skied 2x, and had a few fun dinners out, while skiing.
-Sign DS16 up for the SATs - registration for the local test opens tomorrow
-College tour for DS17 - booked & ready to go for next Saturday
-Optimize points/perks/miles/etc for travel - we are using a free night award to cover one night of our hotel stay for the college tour

Fitness:
-Stretch 2x/week - 1x this week
-Lose 2 lbs - off to a terrible start on this, as I've likely gained weight over splurge eating. Tomorrow I go back to work & a regular schedule!
-Strength train 8 times - 1x this week
-Follow half marathon training plan - barely, but I did not enjoy running at the hotel during our ski trip! My legs were toast & the 6500 elevation was not my friend.
-Follow the No S diet - today is my first day really back on track

Personal:
-Get together with a friend - nothing yet
-Practice Farsi 10x - no, but I did find resources
-Declutter 50 items from the house - I gave away a pair of ski pants on Buy Nothing today
-Find pickle ball lessons & register - found the lesson, but am hesitating to register, as we'll miss quite a few due to personal conflicts & work travel. May choose the next session.

[aloevera1]

Joining in.

Let this mark a new era of public accountability for me.

Health goals
- Exercise 2 times per week
- Do both of my required lab tests
- Find a new massage therapist and do at least one massage

Diet goals
- No eating after 8pm. Aim for no eating after 7pm
- Start eating nuts and beans in some shape or form and in general eat veggies with every meal.
- Have a healthy breakfast every day before 10am (this is a struggle since I usually delay breakfast until noon...)
- Avoid snacking as much as possible

Misc
- Journal (started a new journal today, now I should dedicate time to update it)
- Creative pursuit 2x per week. Either writing or drawing based on the mood
- Phone call with friends and/or family at least once a week

[Raenia]

Welcome everyone! Glad to be sharing the thread with you.

Week 1 update:

1. Read 4 books (include DNFs) - 1/4, 2 in progress
  a. 2 from TBR -1 in progress, next requested from library
2. Go outside twice a week (8/31) - 2/8, just barely
3. Do yoga once a week - Not yet

Creativity
4. Cook once a week - Salmon filet with sunchokes in lemon tarragon butter

House Stuff:
5. Put Away Christmas Stuff - Started, took ornaments off the tree
6. Go Through Winter Wear - Success! Large pile of scarves and gloves for donation
7. Repair Basement - I can't believe this is still on the list, but we had ANOTHER water intrusion last month, so some of the repair work needs to be redone
  a.  Main Room
    i. Bead Board
    ii. Baseboards
    iii. Door Trim
    iv. Wainscot Cap
  b. Bathroom
    i. Cabinet Door
    ii. Door
    iii. Baseboards
    iv. Sink

Social:
8. Plan to see S+D - Reached out, but need to follow up again.

Mixed results this first week, but chugging along.

[tygertygertyger]

It's going well so far!


1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only.
I did buy the next music book for my lessons for $14. I'm okay with that.

2. Cook all the winter squash and pumpkins still waiting around before they go bad.
Ah. Yes, I have been meaning to get to this... this week!

3. Finish knitting the Christmas stocking for my dog... it's been in progress since 2022, but it's so close to being done.
Making progress. I think it's looking really good too, so I am pleased.
 
4. Read a poem a day from the anthology I just picked up.
Yep.

5. Finish up work fixing wall in office.
Gotta get more done here.

6. Start planning a 2024 road trip.
Started planning... we have four options we're going to research and narrow down.

[aloevera1]

Checking in on the progress. So far I think I am on track except exercise and creativity....

Joining in.

Let this mark a new era of public accountability for me.

Health goals
- Exercise 2 times per week - Nope. Massive fail so far 0/2
- Do both of my required lab tests - One is halfway done, the other one is happening tomorrow. 0.5/2
- Find a new massage therapist and do at least one massage - Did not even start 0/2

Diet goals
- No eating after 8pm. Aim for no eating after 7pm - Mixed bag but generally I am sticking to this. 6/7
- Start eating nuts and beans in some shape or form and in general eat veggies with every meal. - Not perfect but getting there. 4/7
- Have a healthy breakfast every day before 10am (this is a struggle since I usually delay breakfast until noon...) - Except Saturday, this happened every day. Even on Saturday I still ate my oatmeal, just past 10am. 6.5/7
- Avoid snacking as much as possible - Doing good on this one 6.5/7

Misc
- Journal (started a new journal today, now I should dedicate time to update it) - Updated a few times. I think online journalling helps me with "pride" factor. If I can brag about something I did, I am more interested in doing it. Yes, I am shallow. 3/7
- Creative pursuit 2x per week. Either writing or drawing based on the mood - Nope. 0/7
- Phone call with friends and/or family at least once a week - Did this. 1/1

[Raenia]

Slightly late on my week 2 update:

1. Read 4 books (include DNFs) - 2/4, 2 in progress
  a. 2 from TBR -1/2, 1 in progress
2. Go outside twice a week (8/31) - 5/8, 3 days in week 2. The current week is going to be harder, as we're having a cold snap/snow.
3. Do yoga once a week - Knocking this off. If I have a spare hour these days, I'd rather spend it taking a nap or shower. Will save the yoga for a later month.

Creativity
4. Cook once a week - Cabbage stir fry

House Stuff:
5. Put Away Christmas Stuff - Almost done, just a few more things to fit in bins
6. Go Through Winter Wear - Done
7. Repair Basement - I can't believe this is still on the list, but we had ANOTHER water intrusion last month, so some of the repair work needs to be redone
  a.  Main Room
    i. Bead Board
    ii. Baseboards
    iii. Door Trim
    iv. Wainscot Cap
  b. Bathroom
    i. Cabinet Door
    ii. Door
    iii. Baseboards
    iv. Sink

Social:
8. Plan to see S+D - We're on the calendar
9, Plan to see E+C - Reached out

Nothing done on the basement, and honestly we might not get to it. But I'm going to keep it on there so it doesn't fade off the radar for me.

[tygertygertyger]

Living through a series of below zero days here... which really helped with my knitting and not spending money. But it should have helped with my cooking too but didn't. Basically I find that I'm doing only the things I want to do. Bother.

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only.
Mostly on track. Bought a replacement for a nearly-dead electronic device on sale for like $8. Happy with that.

2. Cook all the winter squash and pumpkins still waiting around before they go bad.
Well. I moved two squash to the counter, where they take up space and make me feel bad. But not bad enough to cook them.... yet!

3. Finish knitting the Christmas stocking for my dog... it's been in progress since 2022, but it's so close to being done.
Finished the main knitting yesterday. Now it's only the dreadful weaving-in-ends left to do!
 
4. Read a poem a day from the anthology I just picked up.
Still on it. Focusing on doing this on workdays only, which is fine.

5. Finish up work fixing wall in office.
Yeah... I do think about this once in a while. No work has been done.

6. Start planning a 2024 road trip.
I made my partner and I assignments last week to look into a few options. We've done nothing since. But I do think that thinking about it meets the "Start planning" portion of this goal.

[Serendip]

2. Cook all the winter squash and pumpkins still waiting around before they go bad.
Well. I moved two squash to the counter, where they take up space and make me feel bad. But not bad enough to cook them.... yet!

One step closer @tygertygertyger --the drama builds!

[Serendip]

Update 2

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only. : Pretty good, purchased a few dog related things and signed up for a half-marathon which was a bit of a strange spend but at least it is local so I don't need to travel for it

2. Daily yoga or breathwork 5 min minimum, bonus points for daily meditation Fell off the wagon last week. It's interesting how much I benefit from this but don't prioritize it

3. Take care of all the health appointments (make one for bloodwork, go get an ultrasound (already booked), see dentist for cleaning and eye doctor for check-up) : weirdness ensued! Missed my bloodwork appointment and both my dentist and ultrasound were cancelled, will need to be persistent

4. Average 10,000 steps/day (this is mostly so my new dog gets a healthy dose of outdoor time..) : Average = 9945--SO close!

5. Try one new recipe per week : Bread pudding w/ coconut & apricots and one vegan pasta dish

6. Save minimum $1000: $650

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Ack, I got sick & it definitely slowed me down.

Financial:
-Achieve savings goals ($1k in 529 for DS16, $1k for DS17's college fund) - So far, saved $600
-Earn $200 in side hustle - $0 earned, but I did list two items on FB market place.
-Use up four hard to use freezer/pantry items - My goal for the month is 2 bags of frozen fruit (smoothies) & two cans of green beans. All of which have been lingering forever. I've used up 1.5 bags of fruit, & both cans of green beans, plus a container of apple sauce.

Family:
-One fun activity with the teens - we all skied 2x, and had a few fun dinners out, while skiing.
-Sign DS16 up for the SATs - Done!
-College tour for DS17 - Done!
-Optimize points/perks/miles/etc for travel - we used a free night award to cover one night of our hotel stay for the college tour, and saved an additional $30 in parking & fees thanks to my status.

Fitness:
-Stretch 2x/week - 2x last week, but zero times this week.
-Lose 2 lbs - off to a terrible start on this, as I've likely gained weight over splurge eating. Minimal progress, as I also ate junky carbs while I was sick.
-Strength train 8 times - 2x so far
-Follow half marathon training plan - I did "okay", until I got sick. Now I need to get back on track & rebuild a bit.
-Follow the No S diet - I've had a handful of days on track

Personal:
-Get together with a friend - nothing yet
-Practice Farsi 10x - I've practiced 2x
-Declutter 50 items from the house - I'm at 21/50 items given away
-Find pickle ball lessons & register - found the lesson, but am hesitating to register, as we'll miss quite a few due to personal conflicts & work travel. May choose the next session.

[Raenia]

Another belated update, I came down with a bad cold over the weekend that threw everything off.

1. Read 4 books (include DNFs) - 3/4, 2 in progress
  a. 2 from TBR -1/2, 1 in progress, going to try to push this one out in the next few days
2. Go outside twice a week (8/31) - 7/8, 2 days in week 3. Both for shoveling, but that counts, right?
3. Do yoga once a week - Knocking this off. If I have a spare hour these days, I'd rather spend it taking a nap or shower. Will save the yoga for a later month.

Creativity
4. Cook once a week - Turkey meatballs

House Stuff:
5. Put Away Christmas Stuff - No additional progress
6. Go Through Winter Wear - Done
7. Repair Basement - Scheduled a visit from my Dad to help with a plumbing project
  a.  Main Room
    i. Bead Board
    ii. Baseboards
    iii. Door Trim
    iv. Wainscot Cap
  b. Bathroom
    i. Cabinet Door
    ii. Door
    iii. Baseboards
    iv. Sink

Social:
8. Plan to see S+D - On the calendar
9, Plan to see E+C - On the calendar

[tygertygertyger]

Update... some good, a lot of meh.

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only.
Doing very well. I bought tickets for an event (planned) and managed not to buy anything while we were there... esp food, since I was hungry. A friend asked me to go thrift shopping with her and we've agreed to wait til February. I mean, that's still cool, right? Ha!

2. Cook all the winter squash and pumpkins still waiting around before they go bad.
Ah. My Sisyphean task. The two squash still live on the counter. I counted them all today - I have 3 pumpkins and 9 winter squash. If I can cook even 2-3 this month, I will call it a win. (I dread scraping out the seeds and stringy bits...)

3. Finish knitting the Christmas stocking for my dog... it's been in progress since 2022, but it's so close to being done.
Still have some ends to weave in. It was a three color knit with carrying color strands behind, so it's a lot.
 
4. Read a poem a day from the anthology I just picked up.
Nailing this.

5. Finish up work fixing wall in office.
I did some work on this! I did one layer of joint compound over the 50ish patches to be fixed. That's progress.

6. Start planning a 2024 road trip.
No further progress...

[aloevera1]

Here is another update.

Joining in.

Let this mark a new era of public accountability for me.

Health goals
- Exercise 2 times per week - Nope. Massive fail so far 0/4
- Do both of my required lab tests - One is done. Another one is still half way done 1.5/2
- Find a new massage therapist and do at least one massage - Did not even start 0/2

Diet goals
- No eating after 8pm. Aim for no eating after 7pm - Was travelling so schedule went out of the window for a few days 10/14
- Start eating nuts and beans in some shape or form and in general eat veggies with every meal. - Falling off the wagon with the nuts... I just really don't like them. Veggies are a mixed success 8/14
- Have a healthy breakfast every day before 10am (this is a struggle since I usually delay breakfast until noon...) - Was only able to do it while home. Travelling was wild 10/14
- Avoid snacking as much as possible - Still doing ok on this, very marginal snacking is happening 13.5/14

Misc
- Journal (started a new journal today, now I should dedicate time to update it) - Pretty happy with my journalling progress. Even got some useful tips from helpful folks on this forum. Appreciate it!5/14
- Creative pursuit 2x per week. Either writing or drawing based on the mood - Still no 0/14
- Phone call with friends and/or family at least once a week - Did this. Even had two calls this weeks 3/2

Overall last week was harder for me due to travelling and being out of the routine. Still, I feel like I am making some progress. I am most happy with my phone call goals. I do feel like having it on the list motivates me to be more proactive about scheduling things.

[aloevera1]

The two squash still live on the counter.

I am rooting for you!!

[Serendip]

2. Cook all the winter squash and pumpkins still waiting around before they go bad.
Ah. My Sisyphean task. The two squash still live on the counter. I counted them all today - I have 3 pumpkins and 9 winter squash. If I can cook even 2-3 this month, I will call it a win. (I dread scraping out the seeds and stringy bits...)

I wish I could adopt some of these from you. I have squash/pumpkin envy!

[Serendip]

Update 3

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only. : bought a bday gift for my mom but otherwise did well & stuck with

2. Daily yoga or breathwork 5 min minimum, bonus points for daily meditation ooops. NO

3. Take care of all the health appointments (make one for bloodwork, go get an ultrasound (already booked), see dentist for cleaning and eye doctor for check-up) : Had bloodwork yesterday and rescheduled ultrasound...slowly but surely

4. Average 10,000 steps/day (this is mostly so my new dog gets a healthy dose of outdoor time..) : Average = 10,600 wuhoo

5. Try one new recipe per week : cannelini bean dip with basil

6. Save minimum $1000: YES

[tygertygertyger]

2. Cook all the winter squash and pumpkins still waiting around before they go bad.
Ah. My Sisyphean task. The two squash still live on the counter. I counted them all today - I have 3 pumpkins and 9 winter squash. If I can cook even 2-3 this month, I will call it a win. (I dread scraping out the seeds and stringy bits...)

I wish I could adopt some of these from you. I have squash/pumpkin envy!

I too wish this!! For both of us!

[aloevera1]

Final January update.

Joining in.

Let this mark a new era of public accountability for me.

Health goals
- Exercise 2 times per week - Nope. Complete and utter failure 0/6
- Do both of my required lab tests - Tests are done. 2/2
- Find a new massage therapist and do at least one massage - Nope.  0/2

Diet goals
- No eating after 8pm. Aim for no eating after 7pm - I was mostly OK with it except when various emergencies took me out of routine. I think this is a habit I NEED to keep up for my health.  17/21
- Start eating nuts and beans in some shape or form and in general eat veggies with every meal. - My veggie intake definitely increased. Overall, it's probably a mediocre success 13/21
- Have a healthy breakfast every day before 10am (this is a struggle since I usually delay breakfast until noon...) - Again, this is mostly success except when I have non-routine days 13/21
- Avoid snacking as much as possible - Fell off the wagon couple of times but my snacking overall went down DRASTICALLY. I cut sugar significantly too.  18/21

Misc
- Journal (started a new journal today, now I should dedicate time to update it) - This is a big win. Journalling and posting on the forum brings me joy. 20/21
- Creative pursuit 2x per week. Either writing or drawing based on the mood - No 0/21
- Phone call with friends and/or family at least once a week - Did this. Even had two calls this weeks 3/3

Overall, this was a successful month. There were couple of goals where I completely missed the mark (exercise, massage and creative pursuit). I think I am missing the system of how to incorporate those changes in my daily schedule. So, I need to work on that first. I did massively overhaul my eating habits which makes me happy.

Onto the next month I go.

[Serendip]

Update 4

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only. : SUCCESS

2. Daily yoga or breathwork 5 min minimum, bonus points for daily meditation BIG OL' FAIL

3. Take care of all the health appointments (make one for bloodwork, go get an ultrasound (already booked), see dentist for cleaning and eye doctor for check-up) : HALFWAY THERE, bloodwork results and ultrasound happening tomorrow

4. Average 10,000 steps/day (this is mostly so my new dog gets a healthy dose of outdoor time..) : Average = 10,300 --Did really well with this throughout the month

5. Try one new recipe per week : Mirin glazed salmon...fairly delicious even though we modified a LOT

6. Save minimum $1000: YES, saved more than this

[tygertygertyger]

Update 4

1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only. : SUCCESS

2. Daily yoga or breathwork 5 min minimum, bonus points for daily meditation BIG OL' FAIL

3. Take care of all the health appointments (make one for bloodwork, go get an ultrasound (already booked), see dentist for cleaning and eye doctor for check-up) : HALFWAY THERE, bloodwork results and ultrasound happening tomorrow

4. Average 10,000 steps/day (this is mostly so my new dog gets a healthy dose of outdoor time..) : Average = 10,300 --Did really well with this throughout the month

5. Try one new recipe per week : Mirin glazed salmon...fairly delicious even though we modified a LOT

6. Save minimum $1000: YES, saved more than this

Sounds like a big success!

[tygertygertyger]

I got work done on all my goals. Knowing that I was going to be posting updates was motivating... at least to a certain degree. I didn't fully complete many goals, but I am happy with this.


1. Low spend month! Groceries and necessities only.
Yes, and it was such a positive reset. At the start of the month, my mind kept nudging me "psst... we could buy X.... or Y!" This month was a nice reminder that I have plenty.

2. Cook all the winter squash and pumpkins still waiting around before they go bad.
I finally cooked one! I'll take it!

3. Finish knitting the Christmas stocking for my dog... it's been in progress since 2022, but it's so close to being done.
I've woven in lots of ends. There are more to go, but I feel good about it.
 
4. Read a poem a day from the anthology I just picked up.
Yep, this is good. Feels nice to get back into poetry.

5. Finish up work fixing wall in office.
I got the first coat of joint compound done, which is better than I'd done for most of last year. Calling it a win.

6. Start planning a 2024 road trip.
We started!

[Raenia]

Final update for the month! Managed everything but the basement work, but we did some important decision-making and scheduled a visit from Dad to help next month.

1. Read 4 books (include DNFs) - 5/4, 1 DNF
  a. 2 from TBR - 2/2
2. Go outside twice a week (8/31) - 8/8
3. Do yoga once a week - Knocking this off. If I have a spare hour these days, I'd rather spend it taking a nap or shower. Will save the yoga for a later month.

Creativity
4. Cook once a week - Pickled daikon, daifuku, cabbage stir fry

House Stuff:
5. Put Away Christmas Stuff - Done!
6. Go Through Winter Wear - Done
7. Repair Basement - Scheduled a visit from my Dad to help with a plumbing project
  a.  Main Room
    i. Bead Board
    ii. Baseboards
    iii. Door Trim
    iv. Wainscot Cap
  b. Bathroom
    i. Cabinet Door
    ii. Door
    iii. Baseboards
    iv. Sink

Social:
8. Plan to see S+D - Done!
9, Plan to see E+C - Done!