Goals For 2019

Last year my recording and accountability was abysmal; therefore, I hope to take an example from Bless at My Two Cents to record my successes AND failures at the end of each month. I did it for a short while last year but soon gave up. Looking over last year's goals for 2018, I did not do well at all. So this year I am not changing any of them, but will instead try harder. I did however, find that making a list on Mondays and following up on the week-end did help me for a while to focus more  on the task at hand.

Environment:
House- I wanted to do a little home maintenance last year, but was side-tracked when I considered selling the house as is, and therefore not sink any money into it. Well, now that I am considering staying in the house as long as I am able, I want to make the place comfortable for me. I will be fixing small jobs and doing some painting for MY benefit. I can see myself staying here for a few years. I do not have a lot of money to put into repairs anyway, so I will do what I can. I will feel a sense of accomplishment with what I can achieve. I will post monthly goals, but also list the things I'd like to accomplish week  by week in order to work on those goals.

Garden- I wanted to work my vegetable garden last year; but again, when I thought I might sell the house, I saw no purpose in growing vegetables if I wasn't going to benefit from all the work. So I worked on my flower beds to improve the curb appeal. I also got rid of a large flower bed and turned it back to lawn so I didn't have so much to look after. I transplanted those flowers into the other beds that are well established and also gave away other plants to family members, so as not to destroy them.  I made an arrangement with my friend to give him my husband's van for labour. He was heaven-sent to me. He tore down and replaced my front door entrance, new stairs, replaced my gate, took down the dead tree branches out back and directed me to rent a bin to get rid of a lot of stuff from the property. I only had a certain amount of money and he decided where it should be spent to get me the most value. This year I will definitely grow a vegetable garden.

Finances:
Spending: I continue to mark down food and non-food expenditures. Starting this month, I took out $300 for household expenses in cash. When it runs out, I will have to go into savings for more. I will not want to do that, thereby making me more aware of how much is at hand. It is too easy to use my debit card to "borrow" from a different category. It will be cash only for household variable expenses. I will continue to pay my bills on-line.

Saving- I am paying my Savings and my Emergency fund at the beginning of each month as though they are bills I pay on-line.  My found money is going into a piggy bank at home. This includes winnings from scratch tickets gifted to me and rebates for products I've bought. If I sell more card sets this year, it will also go here as "found" money. I DID make more of my gifts this past year...one of the few resolutions that I did succeed at.

Family and Friends:

This was another goal that was successful last year. I sent out a lot of cards and face-timed with family a lot. I made several long distance trips to visit with family members. I would like to continue with this success and build upon it.

Health:

I was also successful in staying true to my new way of eating a low carb diet. I do not cheat on this diet. It is very easy for me to follow, though more expensive.  I will try to expand my recipes this year so it does not become boring or more like a chore.  I will also look out for my personal care this year, by incorporating a home "spa" day into my week. I need to remember to wear sun screen, a hat  and moisturize my skin and hair.  A little makeup wouldn't hurt. I have a ton of beauty products. Why aren't I using them?

Crafts and Leisure:

I expanded my crafting this past year to include macrame and embroidery. It paid off by providing me with lots of gifts that I gave for birthdays and Christmas. I also sold some of my cards. Though it became  difficult to use a whole day to craft (especially during the summer), I will resolve to put in at least 6 hours of crafting a week.

It is another ambitious list of goals, but even with the accounting that was sorely lacking, I did manage to achieve some of what I wanted. Hopefully, it will be better this year.