January Wrap

I decided that this year I would do Crazy Aunt Purl's Total Do-Able 12 Month Plan. I like to make lists and mark things off and I felt like her strategy was practical. With January ended and February beginning I thought I would do a little check in.

First up, my "Looming Life Must Haves":
New tires
Oil change
Medication
501(c)3 application

These are all things that require budgeting money. Honestly, budgeting is not my strong suit. I know about how much I have to spend in a month and then I try and stock away a little of what's left over. With my long term unemployment while I finished grad school the theme was "Spend as Little as Humanly Possible." Interesting results but not how I want to live my life. I'm hoping that by thinking ahead this year as to how I have to spend money each month I will end up spending in a more conscious way. Back to The Plan...the tires were actually free because they were a birthday gift from last year. The oil change ended up being more expensive than I originally planned because I also needed to get an alignment but my medication was totally paid for my my insurance so it evened out in the wash. And the 501(c)3 application is sent!

Next up, "Happy Wants":

I guess we can mark this as "done" because I didn't actually have any "Happy Wants" this month! "Happy Wants" to me mean things that make me happy (and sane) but cost money. Instead of spending more money this month I figured saving would be a better idea. Onward!

And finally, "Personal Desires":
Knit daily
Knit a hat
Work out for 1 hr/day
Write letters to 5 kids in Romania

These are my personal wish list items. Things that will make me feel better about myself (and, for my purposes, don't cost a dime). I was able to work out for at least an hour just about every day and I knit a good deal more than I have in the past several months (though not *every* night). I managed to knit a hat as well! The letters to the kids in Romania never got finished though. Which actually makes me feel like a tiny failure because for some reason I equate not writing with not loving my kids. Which is totally not true. I have to remind myself that these are goals and not meant to make me feel like a terrible person. It's a new month so I can always improve.

Firefighters of New York calendar and my 12 month plan.