Goals for 2014

Suziebabe

Ooopps - didn't think to do an update! Here's mine for the first 1/6th of the year ...

Mine are so scary, I hardly dare write them down ...

1. Give up alcohol for a year
Not too shabby - I've had 2 evenings when I've had a couple of glasses of wine - once when I got a major contract agreed at work, and once for OHs birthday. Which is in line with my ultimate plan to be an occasional drinker long-term. Seems to be working in terms of getting more time at weekends, and I do feel better.
2. Pay off £10k of debt
Not so good, only £908 this year, due to a catalogue of unexpected dental costs, car repairs, appliance repairs have depleted my piggybank pots and eaten into the debt repayments - still waiting on annual bonus news for us both to see how far that takes us...
3. Declutter the garage (eBay/car boot/tip) - to help clear the debts. Easier to get my act into gear at weekends if I haven't got a thick head from red wine.
Epic fail! It's been too cold for the garage, that's my excuse ...
4. Healthy eating 90% of the time - to lose weight and have more energy. Staying off alcohol helps me stay off the snacks in the evening.
Probably only made it to about 60% of the time! must try harder!
5. Do more knitting - saves on snacking, uses up some of the wool mountain stash, and might even make something useful for next winter
Success! Finished a baby blanket for imminent nephew, another for 2nd nephew, and almost finished baby cardigan.
6. Be more frugal with food - use up leftovers better
Not bad, almost through the freezers and the food recycling bin has only been 2/3rds full most weeks, and that's mostly peelings that'll start to go into the compost bin as soon as I get to sort out what's in their now!

So far so good!

sugartree

Hi Everyone,

Haven't checked in for a while. so nice to hear everyone's progress.

My Update:


1, Make an overpayment of £1.5k on the mortgage. Nothing yet.

2, Decorate & tile my bathroom, bedroom and DS's Bedroom......(and potty train and get him into a big boys bed!) Still prepping Son's room but very please with progress - have also managed to get given 3 fancy curtain poles, dark blue curtains and a todllers warbdrobe!!

3, replace guttering - Had a mate rate quote - possible doing in August.

4, Declutter (ongoing with 2 kids!) Sharing cost of a skip with my neighbours in spring - Still chucking out the odd thing I find.

On a personal level;

5, Get a better camera (saving up swagbucks, surveys etc for this) and get more involved with photography - Still doing survey's, swags etc
6, Finally have a family holiday even if it's just 4 days on a Sun Deal. Paid Deposit! Balance due this payday! Done a shedload of Overtime.

7, continue walking through and visiting the local country side. We've had a few trips, and it's so great to be back to nicer weather!

8, Volunteer, even if it's not regular...... Done one evening at Rainbows. Nothing new

Good Luck for March people! :T:T:T

FlacosFloozie

Well done to everyone who's making progress on their goals. This thread is really inpiring.... and good for giving me a periodic kick up the behind :rotfl: Anyway, time for an update...

1) Pay off all my debt Paid off £550 in Feb so on course
2) Save £8000 towards a house deposit Saved £275 so need to up this
3) Exercise twice a week 6 runs and 2 fitness classes so done in Feb
4) Tone up my tummy (don't need to lose weight as such but everything's a bit less firm than it used to be and I'd like to change this) really need to start doing something
5) Pass the next module on my course more reading done, need to start writing assignments now
6) Make more of an effort to socialise been better at phoning my mum and had long text chat with SIL today
7) Have a holiday time off booked later in year

So I'm getting there slowly... except for no 4... that one's going to haunt me

Newyorkdreams

Everyone is making such great progress on this thread! Well done. It's very encouraging and inspiring.

Well, here is my little weekly update (this is really keeping me on track!!!)

End of Week 8

1. Pay Loans x 3 (£8342) - now £4233 - - paid £4109 (49.3%) so far in 2014. 1 loan gone, 2 loans to go. No further progress this month.
2.Pay & close x 5 CCs (£8327) - now £6791- paid £1536 (18.4%) so far in 2014. 3 cards closed. 2 cards to go. No further progress this week.
3. Read 6 books - First book complete (Philomena)! Second book started - 'The Human Mind' by Robert Winston 1 chapter read. No further progress this week. mmmm...need to change book as I haven't had any further progress at all this week meaning no reading for 2 weeks. Time to change the book me thinks. So...new book is 'I am Malala' (the girl that took on the taliban and won...yay!!!)
4. Complete photo albums x4 - Album 1 complete :T. No plans until at least April on the others.
5.Exercise at least twice a week for 45 mins - total time done this week = 1.5 hours 2 gym sessions + metafit class
6. Get to goal weight (10st 8lbs) - -2lbs this week total loss in 2014 = 7lbs! Extra smiley for half a stone loss!!! :dance:
7. Redecorate my bedroom - picked wallpaper for bedroom. Due to lack of funds, rescheduling until [STRIKE]June [/STRIKE] May to actually do the work
8. Say 'no' when I need to - nothing to report this week
9. Pray more - Getting better
10. stop wasting fruit and veg - Good progress this week
11. Gut out spare room - rescheduled to April :rotfl:
One more to add:

12. Start year story book - April

NYD x

in_need_of_direction

So, here goes for this week

1. Get sugar control (I'm diabetic)
longer term, will update in May
2. Work out what I need in a savings pot and go for it
still aiming for £6.3k plus £200 in cash. only update is that despite a heavy month, position maintained and £5 added to cash from this week's underspend
3. Make mortgage overpayments equivalent to 3x monthly payment
Overpayments sitting at £466.53 since 01 Jan which is 67.5% of way towards the quarterly target. think this may be a bit of a squeeze
4. Lose weight. Weighed in at 14.5 stone on 01 jan. Am aiming for 14 stone by 01 march
lost 1lb this week bringing me back to my weight at the start of the year
5. Declutter
dropped bag into charity shop, brought bottles and jars to bottle bank. got rid of some old packaging and today identified 2 more items for charity shop
6. Take garden in hand
very small tidy ups
7. Start 'flylady' daily routines
still trying to embed - babysteps
8. Get rid of ugly clothes bought because they fit and not cos they were nice.
1 item to charity shop, 1 set aside for next flw
9. Appreciate my home and make it nicer
continuing to wage that war - see 5
10.be more disciplined in my job
i think it's happening
11. Be more consistent in dealing with others
as 10
12. Be less wasteful
resisted the dreaded takeaway to eat what was in fridge and breadbin
13. Donate
does charity shop count?
14. Volunteer
helped out on another CV
15. Cook more
didn't happen unless heating a can of soup counts!

am feeling a bit disheartened - all these grand plans at the start of the year. i do think however that if i didn't have this thread, i'd have fallen off the bandwagon even further. so, THANK YOU, to all those voices of my conscience. am now off to see how others are doing

angelbob

My 2014 goals are: stated 1st Jan updated each week

1. Pay off £5000 of Debt paid £564.82 so far

2. [STRIKE]Find a new job[/STRIKE]

3. Take a trip to Wales booked for Oct, need to pay the balance

4. Sell, sell, sell on Ebay, Facebook, bootfairs sold £94 of treasures so far

5. More walking haven't done much lately grr

6. Loose 2 stone lost 6 pounds so far

7. Buy a new sofa with cash hmm not yet

8. Write [STRIKE]3000 &[/STRIKE] 8000 word essays have emailed my tutor, she's useless but am finally meeting up with her on Friday

9. Sort & tidy attic [STRIKE]and shed[/STRIKE] done shed now to list some bits to sell

10. Paint outside wall too wet (not an excuse anymore)

11. Strip and paint monk's pew collected the cushions, removed the wicker lid and started to sand it down




Not updated for a while, finally have a day off work today x

Newyorkdreams

On reviewing my progress this week, it seems that when work is tough, I let my other priorities slip to the wayside. I've had a nightmare week with too many deadlines and being out of the office and I have not achieved my personal goals of reading, exercise, eating fruit and veg and praying. I've probably overspent also, buying more things from the canteen and being lazy in the kitchen. I really need to keep an eye on this. I love the way that my weekly update has given me insight into this, otherwise I would never have realised. Another hurrah! for MSE!!!:j:T

End of Week 9

1. Pay Loans x 3 (£8342) - now £4233 - - paid £4109 (49.3%) so far in 2014. 1 loan gone, 2 loans to go. No further progress this month.
2.Pay & close x 5 CCs (£8327) - now £6791- paid £1536 (18.4%) so far in 2014. 3 cards closed. 2 cards to go. No further progress this week.
3. Read 6 books - First book complete (Philomena)! Second book is 'I am Malala' (the girl that took on the taliban and won...yay!!!) Nothing read yet this week - nightmare week at work so didn't feel like reading.
4. Complete photo albums x4 - Album 1 complete :T. No plans until at least April on the others.
5.Exercise at least twice a week for 45 mins - total time done this week = 30 mins. metafit class just not good enough!
6. Get to goal weight (10st 8lbs) - -0.5lbs thi s week total loss in 2014 = 7.5lbs!
7. Redecorate my bedroom - picked wallpaper for bedroom. Due to lack of funds, rescheduling until June May to actually do the work
8. Say 'no' when I need to - nothing to report this week although did coach someone else on being more assertive so that felt kinda good
9. Pray more - TOTAL CRAP THIS WEEK
10. stop wasting fruit and veg - Little progress this week with veg but have eaten all fruit in my fruit bowl apart from a couple of lonely apples so will get them eaten tomorrow.:o
11. Gut out spare room - rescheduled to April :rotfl:
One more to add:

12. Start year story book - April

NYD x

in_need_of_direction

Not at all where I need to be but trying to take at least 1 babystep a week. where weight's concerned though, it tends to be a step backwards:(


1. Get sugar control (I'm diabetic)
longer term, will update in May
2. Work out what I need in a savings pot and go for it
still aiming for £6.3k plus £200 in cash. Added £5 to the cash pot
3. Make mortgage overpayments equivalent to 3x monthly payment
Overpayments sitting at £466.53 since 01 Jan which is 67.5% of way towards the quarterly target. Just checked current account and due to no activity last week, not even a TT to make a difference. Mortgage goes out on Friday so there will be a TT afterwards
4. Lose weight. Weighed in at 14.5 stone on 01 jan. Am aiming for 14 stone by 01 march
put on 1lb this week making me heavier than at start of year
5. Declutter
Got rid of old sewing box to woodpile. brought much smaller storage box into use as i rarely do anything other than buttons and hems. Tidied out car, binned 1 too worn to be repaired pair of black shows and hessian shopper with handles just about to go.
6. Take garden in hand
very small tidy ups
7. Start 'flylady' daily routines
still trying to embed - babysteps
8. Get rid of ugly clothes bought because they fit and not cos they were nice.
a lot of thoughts but no action. identified 1 too small item to go into the wish box freeing up a small gap in the wardrobe
9. Appreciate my home and make it nicer
continuing to wage that war - see 5 & 6. also, visited ikea and got new blind for the landing, new mirror for bathroom and other bits and pieces.
10.be more disciplined in my job
i think it's happening
11. Be more consistent in dealing with others
as 10
12. Be less wasteful
odd bit of bread going to the birds but that's it
13. Donate
£3 to hospice charity plus £30 pledged for son's 10k
14. Volunteer

15. Cook more

Here's hoping that im just in the middle of the month slump. have had some personal carp raise its ugly head again. Thanks to all for continuing to post. your commitment and progress keeps me coming back

EverTheOptimist

Goals for 2014 - update

Pay off credit card - recent addition to my purse, but on 0% for 18 months. - DD continues to come out monthly, and if I have extra then pay small amounts.
Contribute to my weekly savings account as per challenge - have paid weeks 10-13 in advance
Negotiate part time hours at work - had the meeting and have since been informed that they have agreed my part time hours :D COMPLETE
Take little man for a walk in buggy at least 3 times per week - have been out tide this week
Be better organised with meal planning to stop wasting food. - meal plan devised on a Sunday/ Monday and so far sticking to it too.
Be better organised with housework - allocate one room per day on a rolling system - generally going ok, although hubby been home this week so I have fallen behind
Declutter wardrobes and drawers in bedroom - 1 wardrobe done, it now houses my going out and work clothes.
Lose weight - at least 1 stone (currently 10st 10lbs) - dare not weigh myself
Eat at least 3/5 fruit and veg per day - a bit hit and miss.
Reduce my misc spends - doing fairly well at this :j
Read 4 books - 0/4 - started book 1 - wuthering heights, not picked the book up since mid feb
No buying toiletries - nothing unnecessary purchasd, still using up from stash
Organise photos and albums - have started album of baby pics, have transferred a load to my hard drive too
Be a nicer person - will try and say something nice to someone I know every day. Must try harder at this

Hope everyone's well.

in_need_of_direction

One thing I don't understand is that people have reading books as an aim. If this is a struggle, why not read less worthy books? Also, i think for me to get anywhere, I may need to restrict my book reading.