Kiss Me At Midnight! (Goals For January)

"Kiss me at midnight, dance into the morning light, party into the new year..." I love that 'N Sync sings a song about New Year! It is fun and catchy. And yes, I still listen to my 'N Sync CDs!

Anyways...Happy New Year!

If you read yesterday's post, you know that I have the same bazillion New Year's resolutions each year that I pretty much never accomplish. But this year is going to be different because I am making SMART goals and only biting off a small chunk of my list each month.

JANUARY

Old Goal: study scriptures every day
Why I did not do well with this goal:

• I have a rotating schedule working both days and nights, so I cannot have a set time every day to do this (or anything else)
• I keep forgetting to do this
• When I tried to make this a bedtime habit I would fall asleep reading

New Goal: Study scriptures every day for at least 10 minutes or 1 Chapter when I wake up.

How I am going to accomplish this:

• Utilize a calendar to mark off days that I have read (especially important since sometimes I wake up in the morning and sometimes I wake up at night, depending on work)
• Keep my scriptures on my night stand so I see them when I wake up
• Use the timer on my phone to keep track of how long I read

Old Goal: Save money

Why I did not do well with this goal:

• I did not use a budget very often
• I tried to use a computer budget (excel spreadsheet)
• I did not keep track of every transaction in my bank account
• I spent money I didn't have or didn't need to i.e.buying things because they were on sale even though I did not need them
• I was in charge of the bills/budget and did not involve my hubby enough.
• I used my credit cards for groceries and gas (to get points) but did not keep track of spending and went over budget, then had to use what savings I had to pay off the credit cards

New Goal: Create a budget and use it with every paycheck to make sure every $ has a place (including at least $5 for savings).

How I am going to accomplish this:

• Create a financial binder with a paper budget that is easy to access every day
• Involve my hubby with paying bills and budgeting with each paycheck.
• Stop spending money on unnecessary things!
• Have a specific plan for saving money
• Utilize an envelope system for gas and groceries so I do not spend over budget.

Good news for you! I am focusing my January blog entries (for the most part) on the useful tips I have listed above for accomplishing my financial goal. I have searched through Pinterest and the internet for budgeting and money saving tips and found that most of them give the same old advice-I am going to give you some new advice! Check back often to see how you, too, can get a financial jump start to your year.

Craftnanigans & Snazzysauce