10 Goals for the end of November
Before we get to that, I wanted to tell you that I'm extending the $1.99 sale on my ebook for one more day. That's because I made a blooper when I created the HALFOFF coupon code, so it wasn't working for a while yesterday. It's all fixed now, though, and I wanted to make sure that you all had a chance to take advantage of it.
My last goal post ended up being two weeks' worth of goals, which actually worked out fine, because even after two weeks, I still only got 8/10 done.
1. Finish editing photos from my shoot with the W family.
Done. These are due to be picked up tomorrow.
(I decided to use a silly outtake for the cover this time.)
VERY happy to have this done, because I was feeling dreadfully guilty about how long it had taken me.
2. Figure out a new budget with Mr. FG.
Heh. For someone who blogs about money, I've been surprisingly lax about getting this done. But December is a new month, so maybe we'll get around to it!
3. Post Cook's Illustrated cookbook giveaway.
Done! And you guys have until Wednesday morning to enter, so hurry on over and do that before it's too late.
4. Fill Operation Christmas Child box.
Done. And delivered!
5. Update Quicken (every week is my new goal!)
Oh yes! I got this done, and I'm embarrassed to say how easy it is if it's only been a week since the last time. Ahem.
6. Prime and paint the living room/dining room.
Done. Photos to come soon (you can see the new color in the photo above, actually. Isn't it marvy--fab?)
7. Finish scheduling/planning our December church music and musicians.
Done.
8. Read my Bible every night.
This is still not quite working for me...I have such a hard time remembering to do it unless it's right away in the morning. So, maybe I'll try reading before I go for a walk in the morning.
9. List two items on Ebay or Craig's list
I did! I actually listed 4 items. Go me!! They haven't sold yet since I listed them at the end of the week, but at least I made my goal of getting them listed.
10.Freecycle or donate items that can't be sold.
Yup! I listed a number of things, and the pile of junk by my downstairs slider is steadily shrinking. Shweet.
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So, here's my new list of goals (well, two of them are from last week, so they're not really new.)
1. Figure out a new budget with Mr. FG.
I'm gonna get this done if for no other reason than that I'm tired of seeing it on my list!
2. Read my Bible every day.
As I mentioned above, I'm shooting for mornings now.
3. Update Quicken.
This every week thing is working out quite nicely for me, so I'm going to keep putting this on my list.
4. Organize kitchen cabinets.
They're kind of a disaster...they're sort of full, and they're definitely disorganized. So disorganized that when I come home from the grocery store, I have to just kind of shove food into the cabinets willy-nilly, wherever it fits.
This is not making me happy.
5. Get half of a Christmas present made.
It's not safe to tell you what this is, because a shocking percentage of my gift recipients read my blog. 😉
6. Make a list of presents that need to be made/bought.
I have sort of a mental list, but the paper sort would be preferable.
7. Clean up my laundry room.
Like my office, this is a room that I have trouble maintaining. I let it get super cluttered, and then I clean it up, and before I know it, it's all cluttered again. I hate not being able to walk properly in there, though, so I want to get it cleaned up. Again.
8. Cancel my gym membership.
Mr. FG's new schedule has not been remotely conducive to me getting to the gym, but it has helped me to get outside and go for walks, since he's home when it's daylight (his old schedule brought him home not too long before it got dark in the winter.)
So, until Joshua is old enough to stay home with the girls, it seems to be sensible to cut the gym membership (once Joshua can stay home with the girls, I can go to the gym without being dependent on Mr. FG's work schedule). I'll just walk and do other exercises here at home for now.
9. On a related note, walk four days this week.
Must. Get. Booty. Out. Of. Bed.
Promptly.
10. Give Sonia a haircut.
Sonia's hair definitely looks best when it's on the shorter end of things, and it's way less tangly that way too. She knows this, and she's been asking me to cut her hair for a good week or two now. I just haven't gotten around to it. But I'm sure I will, now that I shared this with you!
You know what's interesting? I sometimes think these goal posts are just going to be entirely off the frugality topic, but a lot of my goals each week end up being frugality-related without me even trying.
For example, I'm going to cut Sonia's hair, discuss a budget with Mr. FG, cancel a gym membership, update my financial records, plan my Christmas shopping, and work on making a gift.
This frugal thing is in my bones. 😉
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Today's 365 post: Saving Seeds
Joshua's 365 post: Stockings!
"until Joshua is old enough to stay home with the girls"
Do you mean that, or do you mean 'until the (younger) girls are old enough to stay home with Joshua'? I would have thought Joshua (& Lisey) was of an age and maturity level where you'd be comfortable leaving him/them home, but feel Zoe & Sonia are too young for that.
It could be legal differences. Where I live there is no legal age for leaving one's OWN children alone (there are legal rules for babysitting non-siblings), but parents are responsible for their children until they turn 18. So parents may decide that a mature and sensible 10 year old could be left safely before a 14 year old with special needs and lower maturity. It also depends how long you're gone. Most people would not consider it appropriate to leave a child of 9 alone in the house all day whilst parents are at work, but many would think it was fine for 5 minutes whilst an adult walked to post something in the mailbox (for example.)
Yup, it's an issue of obeying the law. Joshua is quite responsible, so that's not the problem. Sigh. 9 more months until he's 13.
Not that I'm counting or anything. 😉
They have gyms that have free daycare ...? Does any of your gyms have it...??
Great job! This might inspire me to get busy on my own to-do list!!! It is a mile and a half long. My problem is for each thing I cross off I end up adding 3 more!
Maybe you could try "Reading my Bible _____ of days in the week. And work up. I have found that reading a small portion does not feel so intimidating (and I have read the Bible through in a year several times, but there are seasons in our lives.) Better to read the Bible and chew on a small piece than getting to a place where reading-the-Bible-because-I-have-to-good-now-it's-done. Sometimes I read the passage of the day from My Utmost for His Highest (or Streams in the Desert), then check the scripture reference. This year I'm using Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross.
Best wishes and prayers!
The W family is tickled to come pick up those lovely pictures later today. Love seeing my item number crossed off (and the out take cover on the disk).
Carmen, we aren't allowed to leave a child under 8 with a supervising sibling younger than 13. Too bad the laws don't know that my 11 yo is more mature than the neighbors 13 yo ... Oh, well. Sibling sitting is waiting for me in a few years.
Hi Kristen! Are you starting a new portraiture/photography business?
Also, I bet you are going to be better motivated about reading your Bible in the mornings. It's clear how important scripture is for you, and maybe reading at night and then going to sleep doesn't give you time for it to sink in like reading in the morning, so subconsciously that's why you're not doing it. Maybe you will be more successful now!
Oh, I've been doing portrait photography on the side for a few years now. I do it on a VERY part-time basis, though, because I am, as you see, dreadful at making the time to sort through and edit the photos!
Good goals this week! I've been floundering on them. Not on the doing, but on the making. I can come up with maybe 2 or 3 that are specific.
Also on frugality in bones, it is amazing how much of this just becomes normal, and incorporated into daily life.
Specificity* is definitely key...vague goals are so hard to act on.
*that's one of my favorite words. It's so much fun to say!
Great list and scary how many things end up being the same on all mom's to do's 🙂 My wee one needs a haircut, I need to wade through our finances, I've been reading my bible each day (I finally set the alarm on my phone and when it goes off I, like Pavlov's dog, run and read)...now for the rest of the list.
I like the word choices today:
marvy-fab
🙂
I use that one a lot, mostly when talking about Mr. FG. I tell him he's marvy-fab all the time. 😉
I have so many things that I need to finish!
Because it's too easy to make excuses as the day wears on, I get up every morning at 5 to run, then read the Bible. Every day.
I also have decided I need a specific plan for my reading and use the Blue Letter Bible daily reading program (http://www.blueletterbible.org/reader/daily/). Chronological this year, maybe blended for 2012. It's motivating to scratch things off a list.
Organizing your cabinets might be frugal also, if the disorganization caused you to lose or forget about what you had, leading you to buy more than you need.
So true. I'm pretty sure I'm going to find some duplicates in there.
A'course, some of us don't consider duplicates to be more than we need but rather a way to take advantage of sales or not to run out. For example, [goes off to count] I have 8 jars of minced garlic and 12 cans of Ro*tel.
This is the time of year when I winnow out anything I don't use, and add it to the food donation. Unfortunately for my cabinet space I can think of a use for just about anything. My current stumper is raspberry hoisin sauce.
I think your goal lists are really neat 😉 🙂 Yes, you definitely have the frugal gene in your blood 😉 🙂
Our church also participated in Operation Christmas Child. That was so cool to see all the boxes filled with goodies and love 🙂 🙂
I really like that CD with the photo of the family on the front. Do you take professional photos and then put them on a CD for the family to enjoy? I think that's really cool 🙂 🙂 My friends say I should sell some of my photos...but I have no idea how to go about that. In any case, I think the CD cover is really fun and creative 🙂
Have a great week. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
Yep, I do that for the families I take photos for. I know some photographers would rather die than give out a CD of photos, but I do paid photography on such a part-time basis, I prefer to do a CD instead of selling prints. Less headache for me! I just charge a flat fee for the session and the CD.
Well done on the goals Kristen - you are flying through them 🙂
I delivered my Christmas Box also! Hurrah! Wanted to share a bit of a 'reuse, refresh and repurpose' kinda idea for shoeboxes... (after seeing the photo's of your T Shirt bag I was very impressed - I'm just not very good at sewing!). using scraps of old wrap you can pva glue them onto the box and glue over to seal. Then build up to make a mosaic design. I did this for myOperation Christmas Child Box . It made it extra durable, as the glue strengthened it. I'm hoping that whoever gets it will then be able to keep it a while and use for something! The plan is to replicate for Christmas, Birthdays etc... Great keepsake box for a new baby, as you could buy the day's newspaper (on which they are born) and do the same (am presuming the glue will seal the print).... It kept the kids occupied also!
What about an audiobook Bible you could listen to as you walk?
That was what I was going to suggest too! A friend of mine listens to audio books as she runs and says that it keeps her pace constant PLUS she get gets to listen to books that she wants to read...even the Bible.
You could make it a fun family thing too. Have Joshua or Lisey record bible verses ahead of time for you. Then they learn, and you get to hear their voices (maybe creepy...) as you walk/reflect. Same goes for Mr. FG doing it.
I'd thought about that, except I use my walking time to pray. Maybe I just need to walk longer! 😉
Perhaps you are so successsful at the frugal lifestyle because it's become a habit to constantly incorporate mindfulness aobut money into your plans and goals.
I love the cover of the photoshoot cd! Can I ask, how do you get kids who might be shy or bored to continue smiling/laughing throughout photoshoots?
Well, I'm really friendly, so that helps...I talk to them, joke around with them, move them to different locations (I mostly shoot outside), tell them to make a funny face and then shoot after that (they usually laugh after making a funny face). Telling them to pretend to laugh also works fairly well, because pretending usually makes them let out a real laugh.
Those are great tips. My friend does portrait photography and while she has a great eye for some lovely candid shots, she doesn't have children of her own and has real trouble getting a smile out of my three year old (so do I!).
I will pass along some of these methods. Thanks!
You could put your Bible on your pillow after you make your bed in the morning, and maybe that will help you to remember to read it when you go to bed. The audio Bible on your walk would be great, too.
Oh, I had to write another comment. I do an on-line Bible reading devotional from YouVersion.com. It's really nice. There are LOTS of reading plans to choose from, based on how quickly or slowly you want to read through the Bible. They have all translations of the English Bible as well as many foreign languages...so it's really neat 😉 🙂 It keeps track of your progress 🙂 🙂 That's just an option that I have found really useful for me. It's also available as a smartphone app 🙂 🙂 Have a great week. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂