June Goals!

I am so excited June is here, err almost half over! I am ready for sunshine and for the kids to be home from school, for baseball to be over, and for strawberries and blueberries to be the fresh snack of choice!

We listed our house for sale, I feel like a crazy person doing this while pregnant with 3 kids home all day but the time just feels right!

Our Goals for this month are pretty basic.
SURVIVE

Haha, just kidding, but kind of. We have a lot going on and our goals are all based around those.
Our house being for sale, a trip the end of the month, school being out. Those are my 3 hurdles for the month.

1. Keep the house 30 minute ready, ideally I would like it to be 15 minute ready but the kids have to be able to play too!
Meal times are going to be tricky, there will be a whole lot of repeat quick prep meals.

2. Stay on budget for our vacation.
We saved for the trip, taking a lot of planning to stay within our budget.

3. Keep the kids doing their school work, summertime often means all fun and no work. Our kids are by no means behind for their age, but I would rather encourage them to learn about something over the summer. We don't have anything set, whatever they decide they want to learn about. As long as it's not spiders and it's age appropriate I probably won't have a problem!

Here is the plan to meet our goals:
1.
 ~Stick to weekly cleaning, be a little better about nighttime tidying.
~Do laundry less, put it away RIGHT AWAY.. my weakness :/
~Do more dishes, I usually wait until the dishwasher is full, but now I am washing a little more often.
~Try to nicely (hound) encourage the kids to keep their room tidy
~Use this list I shared a few days ago

2. too much for this post. I will have a road trip post coming up soon! I promise it will be BIG, my crazy brain has been working on this for months!


3. Lots of talks about what they might want to learn about, trips to the library to support their curiosity. And depending on what they choose, some day trips and fun stuff.

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May 2014 Goals

I totally forgot to do these!! I would love to blame pregnant brain but I think it's just that April was a blur!

 We kept the same ones from the month before.

~ We didn't pay $1000 towards debt but we did pay some. We had some baby stuff to purchase, will for sure be back on track to just debt soon!

~ Kept the same savings plan

~Meal Planning. THIS I did super on!

~ Scheduling. A little better, I am sure it will be a lot better once there is less on the schedule haha

~Been spending more time at home, not as much as I want, but getting there!

This month I am going to be a little less ambitious, I know we have a lot going on and some big expenses.

~Making our "To-Pack" and "To-Do" list for our trip

I need to do some research, we haven't done a road trip like this with kids! I need to have this done before the 25th. I need time to get what we need too.

~Get the majority of the baby stuff in the room

20 weeks to go feels like a long time but I know with a little trip and all the summer fun stuff it will fly by!

~Stay home MORE

I know I have plenty to do here, I just need to stay away from all the fun resale groups on facebook that drag me into town too often!

~Stick to my CHORE CHALLENGE and Weekly Organizing

I know these are so helpful for our little (can I still call it little?!) family and they really don't take that much time. The Chore Challenge of 15 minutes each day really feels like nothing, but it turns out to be 5 hours a month of EXTRA cleaning I normally wouldn't get to. Even more if I was willing to do it on the weekends.

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April Goals!

A few days late, this seems to be how things have going around here!

Last month goals are here

FAILED

At nearly all of them!

The house is MUCH better, but not 100%.

Didn't do such a great job with budgeting, I still have a couple projects I am working on to help out financially.

We did read more, not enough though.

I feel like I have been home a little more but running around more than I should be. No dates have been planned.

I do have a good reason for some of this though. I have no motivation and have been sleeping a whole lot more, some unexpected costs in the budget and a whole lot of Dr. appointments.

We are expecting baby #4 in September!!

The other good news is, I get to keep the same goals and try again!

I have lowered my expectations a bit. Knowing that we have other things we are needing to purchase, the budget and debt aren't going to be as good as I had hoped. I tire pretty often and have a small complication so I am giving myself a break on getting as much organizing and cleaning done. As long as we all have clean clothes and dishes it's a win.

Hoping I have some more energy (and motivation) back soon!

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March Goals!!

I am SO excited to share some of our March Goals! But first, how we did in February.

1. $1000 towards debt....

We paid $2000 extra towards debt this month! Likely the last month we will have that much progress.

2. Saving more

While I haven't set up Fridays yet, I did move that $ over.

3.Meal Plan

Did SO much better this month, didn't actually keep track of how many days per week but for sure over the (very low) goal!

4.Scheduling

Didn't really have much to schedule (amazingly)

5. Water

Having the re-useable cups all over has made it a cinch!

6. Organizing

For our life the way it is right now, this is working great!

7. Bathrooms

I am terrified of the kids bathroom, 2/3 for the month.

8. Fast Food

Meal planning has really made this a non issue!

9. More time at home

Felt SO good to be home more! 

10. Groceries

Haven't been grocery shopping yet. Hoping I can find some good alternatives!

Our March goals are going to be a little different. I am no longer working outside the home, (weeeee) so we won't be putting as much towards debt but we WILL be getting more stuff done around here! At least until I find something else that works better for our family.

1. Get this place BACK in order!

We have all gotten off task not being home as much, I felt back asking the kids to do the chores they normally would have when they weren't home nearly as much. We will be back to that!

We are using THESE

2. STICK to the new (and changing) Budget

This first month is going to be hard but sticking to our grocery budget of $250 will help!

We still want to pay extra to debt, it will be a slow process but every little bit helps!

Going to go for Once a week Target trips in March too. Jan was hard, February was busy but easier, March should be a breeze!

3. Find a way that isn't take away from our family to make some money.

I am always hesitant to try new stuff. Learning to act towards goals and not out of fear is hard sometimes!

I have a couple things I am working on. I just need to stick my neck out there and not be a worrywart!

4. Read to our kids more

We have always been readers but I feel like this last almost year I missed SO much!

5. Stay Home!

I am used to going into town a number of times a week, that is going to have to change! We just will not be able to afford to do that. Intentional, planned trips into town only. 

6. Plan More Dates!

For both Ryan and I, and family dates. I need to find some close to home, inexpensive stuff to do!

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February goals!

We are a few days in, I am a little late. Seems to be my trend the last few weeks! Some of our goals will be the same as January, some new ones!

1. One of my goals in January was to put an extra $1000 towards debt. That goal is continuing into February! 

2. Build our savings a little more. I know lots of people are doing the $1-$52 per week. I'm not sure that would work for us, putting $200 away right around the holidays. But I love the idea!

3. Meal plan & stick to it! Going to aim low, high for me right now, and say 3 days a week!

4.  Schedule in my planner! Been horrible about just writing dates down and not times and no idea what half these dates are, leaving me scrambling!

5.Water! I think this will still be a challenge for me, even though I did pretty good in January!

6. Stick to 52 weeks of Organizing Plan. Loved this in January, think February will be great too!

7. Deep Clean Bathrooms

8. Still avoiding fast food!

9. Spend more time at home!

10. Find 3 more better alternatives for groceries.

The Plan

1. Stick to my budget, no extra spending, not relying on overtime, 1 trip to target per week.

2. The savings plan that is so popular is about $125/month. I am ok with $25 a week and getting close enough. Setting it up automatically for Fridays!

3. I have no problem making a meal plan, sticking to it with crazy hours has been the tricky part. Prep on weekends!

4. I need to just bring it with me everywhere again, that will help!

5. Keep on with the cold water in the fridge

6.So far it's been going well.With some of my other goals it should be even easier

7. A little each week is the plan

8. Pack ahead, plan ahead

9. NO MORE OVERTIME! And I have a new schedule at work, both of those should really help!

10. Leave a little extra time at the grocery store to read labels.

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January's 10! How we did!

I need these posts to help me with accountablity. You can see our January goals HERE.

And here is how January went down!

1. Pay off $1000 Minimum of DEBT.. that horrible, nasty thing.

Done! We were able to pay off and extra $2050! (not including the regular payments we usually make)

Thanks to all that overtime and some budgeting. We could have paid off some more but we did some fun stuff that wasn't free in January. And two early February birthdays to boot!

2. We did get some apple slices (with Halloween freebie coupons), other than that I didn't have any, kids either! And I have only had very limited pop the whole month! Wasn't perfect, but a whole lot better! February will be even better than January.

 3. I did find some alternatives to the cruddy filled stuff we used to buy.

~Chips, while they weren't a very frequent thing. These are amazing! GF, NON GMO, nut free and delicious!

~ The Target brand fruit snacks. So good, no artificial stuff and relatively inexpensive,not much more expensive than other fruit snacks and way less expensive than Annie's brand. A good compromise for us.

~Again with the Target brand.. the juice boxes. We don't love to use them at all but once in a while we do use them and now I won't feel as bad about it!

~ We would occasionally get the kids granola bars for their lunch boxes, I have failed at making them so many times! I am not sure if these are just a local brand, I can read every ingredient in them, better than the other brand we were getting.

~ I convinced the kids to try the whole grain pasta again, we haven't had pasta much but every little improvement helps!

4. Meal Plans.. Horrible! I just did flat out horrible, not with eating out, although we did a couple times, I just didn't stick to the plan. I didn't have to add any additional grocery trips though so I think it worked out ok!

5. Being at work makes it super easy to drink plenty of water! Being at home was always the hard part for me. We got a Brita pitcher like this one to help! If the water is already cold I will be more likely to drink it.

6. Loving getting this place organized! Check out more HERE. Now that birthday parties are over I will feel less like a crazy person!

7. I have my list of stuff to add to Emergency packs and am slowly (very slowly) adding stuff to it! Only got a couple things this month.

8. Journal writing is still hard for me! I started keeping supplies in my nightstand and car, and purse that has helped. Not every week, but still a little better.

9. Home made dishwasher tabs have been working ok. I don't use them every load because I feel like they leave a build up a little bit on some of the dishes. So every few loads until they are gone. I am not sure if I will make them again. Not these ones anyway.

I used 1C. Borax

1C. Washing Soda

1C Vinegar

1/2C Epsom Salt

few drops of Essential Oil, I used Sweet Orange this time.

10. Got the kitchen nice 'n' clean & a little more organized.  You can find my deep cleaning kitchen list here.

Should have February Goals soon!

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Emergency Planning

It was one of my goals last year, but I didn't really have a good grasp on what we needed even for a minimal emergency pack.

This year I am starting with lists! I don't know what to save for or slowly build up if I don't have a list!

Pinterest is my go to for ideas! I started a Emergency Pack board. I'm sure not all of these pins will be helpful, some will be repeats and some won't pertain to us. I know I won't be able to finish them up in 1 month. I probably won't even be able to read them all in 1 month. Adding a little each month until we feel comfortable with what is in them.

Anyone have a list already?
What is the 1 thing you HAVE to have in your packs?


This is the list I have so far, I liked how some of them were organized by type of thing, like Emergency, Hygiene, Lighting and Food.

Emergency
Small First Aid Kit
Whistle
pocket knife
face masks
emergency blanket
water filter
Flashlight

Hygiene
Hand Sanitizer
Chapstick
toothbrush and toothpaste
Sunscreen
Shampoo


Lighting
Flashlight w/extra batteries
Glow sticks
Emergency Candles
Waterproof Matches


Other Stuff
Cash, in small bills
Pencil and Paper

Food
Water
3 days worth of food, non perishable

Clothes
Socks, multiple pairs
Underwear
Sweats
Long Sleeve Shirt
Waterproof Poncho
T shirts

This is just my starting list, I am sure this small list alone will take me far longer than I want it to anyway!
Share any lists you have! I love a good list or Pinterest Board!!

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