In 2015:

I'm really terrible at resolutions, like REALLY terrible. I never follow through. So instead of setting myself up for failure every year, I tend to just NOT set any. But then at the end of the year I always feel like I haven't accomplished very much. So, this year instead of setting myself up for failure with a list of things that I have to accomplish in 365, I've thought of some things that I'd like to do this year. If they don't get done, no harm no foul, if they get done, go. me.


1. Manage Spending: Roland and I are pretty lucky with well paying jobs (mostly him). But we don't manage it well, at all. When we were saving for our wedding we buckled down and budgeted like nobody's business, but after the wedding was all paid for and the honeymoon was over and we got back to the everyday-ness, it didn't seem as urgent to stick to the budget. 3 months later, our savings account stays the same, and our spending habits haven't changed (mostly me).

2. Pay off debt: The main reason why I want to manage our spending better, so we can pay off more of our debt. Most of it is credit card debt, but there's also a nice sized student loan and some hospital things that I'd at least like to see shrink. This one we'll probably set a specific goal to meet by the end of the year so we have something to work toward.

3. Take a vacation: Another reason I want to manage our spending. This year there's a lot happening, my brother graduates from PJ (parajumper... he jumps out of helicopters and planes and trucks.... pretty much anything that moves.... maybe he has a career as a stunt double in his future) school. Roland and I are planning to go down for that and hopefully visit with some friends that live there as well. Mine and Roland's 1 year anniversary is this year and we'd both like to do something special for that. I'm voting for a cruise! But I'd like to be able to save for that so we don't go on a vacation and then come back with no money, because that's always stressful and bills DON'T go on vacation.

4. Read more: In 2014 I started reading earlier in the year, but then it kind of died off. Towards the end of the year I picked up a couple more books, I'd forgotten how relaxing it is to just sit on the couch and get lost in someone else's world and in your own imagination. So I'm doing the Goodreads 2015 challenge and I set myself up to read 50 books this year. I've already read 2 this week, so I think I'm on a roll.

5. Move: I hate our town house. Sure when we moved in it was great, more room, people could come over and hang out in the living room without also being in the bedrooms and kitchen. We loved it. But two years later and 600 trips up the TWO flights of stairs later, we're tired of it. And Toby's tired of it. Granted this one we don't have as much control over. It's more something I hope happens in 2015.

6. Declutter: If we're going to move I don't want to move all the crap we never use with us. AND all the unopened wedding presents....

7. Last but not least, Do something Creative: I'm currently taking a stab at making my own printouts for a family binder with a budget section, an emergency section, meal planning/grocery section... We'll see how this goes.

Those are just some main things I'm hoping to accomplish this year.

Happy 2015! (7 days later)