New Year, New Goals

Hi guys!

Happy New Year! I hope that 2017 brings new fun, new promise and new opportunities for everyone reading this. I often feel that we make our own luck in many ways, either through hard work to create good things or a good attitude to make mediocre situation awesome. Every year, I try to set some goals to help guide me through the year towards doing positive things. I’m not a “resolution” type of person because I find they just don’t work for me, but when I set goals and try my best towards meeting them, I find the outcome is always positive even if I don’t meet my goal fully.

My 2017 Goals

1. Focus on the positives: 2016 was a tougher year for me, as it was for many people, with my roommate moving out unexpectedly due to her own hardship, the loss of my job in November and the loss of a family member in early December. Despite this, a ton of really awesome things happened and I would like to spend 2017 focusing more on the positives than the negatives. I would like to actively write down a few awesome things each day so I can go back and look at them when I need encouragement, as well as do a weekly post (I’ve seen people do them where they’re Friday Favorites and the like) about good things I’ve found, seen or done. People have been so supportive of my personal posts here these past few months- I have always tried to approach this blog with a mindset of providing a service in every post. If a post didn’t check the mark of teaching something new, sharing a great strategy, or sharing an opportunity to save money or spend smarter, I just wouldn’t post it. What I’ve learned is that not every post needs to be like that. It’s important to share with intention, but it’s also important to just share the truth, too.
2. Continue writing: I am one of those people where if I’m sad or stressed, completing things seems hard. My motivation just goes into the toilet. But, I also am the type of person that feels instantly better when something is accomplished, even if that something is as simple as cleaning a bathroom or finishing a blog post. My goal for 2017 is to push through these moments and keep writing (which is most often the thing I just avoid like the plague when I’m feeling down). This blog is where I spend my time, the thing I don’t feel guilty about investing time on. I think about time as money- it has a value (anyone who studied accounting or finance and understands opportunity cost will know where this mindset came from, dangit).  You won’t find me working out 2 hours a day because that 2 hours could be $30, which five days a week could be $7800 over a year. But I give myself this time, so I don’t want to squander it. I try to aim for 3 posts a week, I’m hoping that this year I make good on that goal!
3. Get back on track financially: I feel like this seems like a pretty standard item, but given that I’m currently working a 50% job (which is an awesome job I’m grateful for), I am not in a great financial position. I don’t know many people that could take a 50% salary cut and still pay their bills and guess what- I can’t either. A major goal for me for 2017 is to replace the remaining 50% of required income to cover my expenses (ASAP) and earn back what I’ve lost in this period of time to replace my emergency fund. I would also like to work towards overall earning more- the catalyst for starting this blog was being broke, and even if I replace my income I still will be. There are things in life that I choose to not do because it’s not financially prudent- for instance, I don’t really date (don’t go on dates if you can’t afford the drink you’re ordering, or if you need the time you’d otherwise give to someone you’re dating to earn income). I don’t go out and socialize very often, as this also often costs money, even though it can be isolating (I’d love to drive to my mom’s whenever I feel like it, but I can’t haha, although I’m lucky to have friends that don’t mind popping over and a family that will pick me up to visit). There are ways to live an awesome life without loads of money and that’s what this blog is mostly about! But recently, I’ve really been thinking about how to not have the stress of calculating outings (or red meat) into my budget on the fly when they come up, or flatly turning down social opportunities because don’t know what the financial cost will be.

Please tell me what your goals or resolutions are for this year! I have loads of other goals (like trying to bike commute in the summer) that I have for this year, but these are the big ones I’m really focusing on. What are you working on? I’d love to know.

*photo by Kirsten @ https://kirstenkolada.wordpress.com/