Tuesday, January 31, 2012

January Goals Post: The Wrap-up


So, it's the last day of January and people are writing about how their goals have gone. I do indeed have goals, even though I haven't yet written about them because I've been trying to get them into some sort of orderly format. Something like "broken down into areas of focus for me, with subsets" kind of a deal. I've also been working on adding a goals tab to this blog, with such breakdowns. But it's slow going when, in such workings-on, I manage to erase more than half of a list.

Anyway.

My (unstated) focus for January has been "finances and organization." In practice, what that has meant is that I have put in extra effort to organize all the accumulated paperwork, particularly that which relates to bills, finances, etc. -- and get rid of some of it.

Organization

Accomplished: Organized all file folders from kitchen basket into actual, logically sorted files. Sorted out lots of stuff for shredding. I shredded some of it, but I think I am actually going to pay to have an office supply store do a bunch of the piles: we have a home shredder, but considering that it jams up every few minutes on stuff like this, and I have a lot to shred, I think that's a better use of my time.

Bonus: Getting all the paperwork sorted meant that I submitted the paperwork to get the last out of our FLEX accounts from 2011, and was able to get paperwork for a couple of things (childcare and kindergarten tuition) that could be deductions on our taxes.

Also, the kitchen island is looking soooo much better.

Accomplished: De-Christmas-ing and storing all of the Christmas decor together.

Accomplished: Sorting through my books in family room, and doing a purge. (I admitted to myself that if I ever read some of those books again, it's probably not going to be in French.)

Bonus: Was able to sell some books online for what should be a total of about $13.

Accomplished/Bonus: Sorted and organized the kid's craft supplies kept in a three-drawer rolling bin and a large tote in the living room coat closet. I wasn't necessarily planning this, but when the five-year-old says, "Mommy, I think we should clean out the closet today," I'm going to jump on it.

Finances
I spent a lot of time on the phone, tracking down paperwork -- and a check the mortgage company managed to lose (not for a payment), but otherwise, didn't accomplish my specific financial goals for the month. They need to move into February;

1) creating a monthly budget
2) changing direct deposit allocations into checking/savings (need to do because our bank is changing its accounts and we will get hit with fees if we keep our current configuration)

Parenting

Overall goals for the year include
- Work on building N's cooking skills, let her choose recipes
- Read-aloud books using lists as suggested in The Read-Aloud Handbook , Honey for a Child's Heart , Ambleside Online

Accomplished: We've read at least Aunt Minnie McGranahan , The Truth About Poop , The Mitten (for school book club), as well as others

Accomplished: Made Squash Muffins, Strawberry Muffins and Molasses Crinkles cookies together

Personal

Goals include
- Read through Bible chronologically
- Read "off the shelves" (read at least one book a month that I already own and that is on my shelves, thereby accomplishing potential decluttering and achieving a "should do")

Accomplished: Read through Genesis, Job and parts of Chronicles using this chronological one-year Bible reading plan: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan.asp?version=51&startmmdd=0101

Accomplished: almost finished The True History of Tea, a previous year's birthday present (January is National Hot Tea Month, as well as National Get Organized Month. It's also usually a good month to snuggle under a quilt, which explains some more of those titles on my 2012 Book List  page)
 
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2 comments:

  1. It looks like you did GREAT on your goals!! Congrats!!

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  2. Wow - you did a great job in January!! My husband is trying to read the Bible through in six months, so I'm cheering him on!

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