New Year's Eve - 2019 Resolutions!

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

Wishing you all the best fortune and general luck in 2019!



There was a thread a while back on goals for 2019, but I couldn't find it. Start afresh? or someone sleuth that up?

So, I am finally thinking about mine in detail. Been cogitating on various aspects of it and finally writing it up. Here is what I am thinking:

Money

    • Max 401k
    • Max Roth
    • Establish 5-10k EF
    • Have home ready to be put on the market
        o Not planning on selling, but that is my first goal in home improvements, in 2020 I will take on more what I want type         upgrades – but could sell instead, who knows?
        o I’m thinking to do a few things OOP to get a good appraisal, do some staging, and then refi with max cash out to
       tackle larger ticket items.
    • Maintain minimum payments on SLs plus about 200/month to highest interest rate.
        o Will see where the student loans fit in with the refi, but thinking may need all for maintenance/upgrading –
        there is a lot of it to do.
    • Will post more specifically on my money stuff when I see my new take home pay in 2019
    • Get better on paperwork/monthly bills
        o Filing/updating paperwork
        o Streamlining/cost cutting
        o Focus on what we really want/enjoy
    * Monthly charity/societal contriubtion 


Family/Social
    • Want a real vacay this year – would be a first in 5 or more years.
    • Monthly event, movie/game night? 
    • Weekly lunches with friends

Career

    • Keep focused on kicking it at day job
        o So nice to not have to think about job searching! Begging uselessly for a raise!!!
    • Get to work on publishing research
        o Only take on teaching if I am up to date on household/paperwork issues and research

Health Fitness

    • Get back to a mostly raw diet and daily yoga
        o I’ve been very naughty since thanksgiving
    • Take up jogging in April
    * Early to bed/early to rise, 8 hours of rest

Household

    • Get a better flow to weekly chores
    • Want to have each room reorganized and nicely staged
        o Purging room by room
        o Painting
        o Staging
        o Will tackle this on a one room per month basis
    • Gardening - yard/veggie/flowerbeds


Any major areas I've left out?

How about you?


ETA: refinements to list indicated with *

[plugginaway22]

That list is amazing!  I will review your list and see what I can use on my list.

[weltschmerz]

I don't make resolutions.
That way, I'm never disappointed in myself or feel like a failure.
I'm just going to continue to live the best life I can.

[TheOtherMe]

I also don't make resolutions.  

[lynnerself]

Only one this year. Get more sleep. I tend to stay up til 1 or 2 just surfing the net. I need to cut this out.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Dec 31, 2018 17:00:24 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

Only one this year. Get more sleep. I tend to stay up til 1 or 2 just surfing the net. I need to cut this out.

Adding regular bedtime and wake up time to my health goals....

I've been bad about that ..... hence the demise of my daily yoga.

[cronewitch]

I want to lose at least 5lb and plan to join a gym, gym is free from health insurance. Get my will made and eye exam. Get blood sugar down from 7.9 a1c to 6.5. 

[debthaven]

I don't make resolutions either, but I do make plans.

- go back on a strict diet to lose the last 4 lbs (probably 5 lbs now)
- pay off the kitchen loan (hoping to make double payments)

then hopefully:

- redo our bedroom (paint + carpet)

- replace the kitchen loan with a car loan

ETA: I also need new glasses, I'm LONG overdue. Ophthalmologist scheduled for Feb.

[imanangel]

I don't really make resolutions, but I do have some plans.

1. Stop saving my expensive wine for special occasions. I survived a shitty 2018, every day is a special occasion. Cheers!
2. Pay down at least 35% of my debt. 
3. Stop dwelling on things that went wrong and things that I hate. Nothing is going to change unless I put in the effort and make the change. 

[msventoux]

Not really doing resolutions other than the general “try to be healthier and happier” ones. If I do resolutions they tend to begin in May or around my birthday. Starting in January, busy season hits hard and doesn’t let up until after April, so traditional resolutions are doomed to fail when you’re just trying to stay alive the first few months of the year.

[NastyWoman]

Dec 31, 2018 15:56:00 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I don't make resolutions.
That way, I'm never disappointed in myself or feel like a failure.
I'm just going to continue to live the best life I can.

Better yet:there are still a few hours to establish 2018 resolutions and end the year in a very upbeat manner   (my personal approach and I am very good at reaching goals I set this way)

[Lizard Queen]

Now, that's a resolution I can go for.
I resolve to: take a shower and brush my teeth, finish lesson 8 of my online class, and watch something tonight with my hubby.

[busymom]

I'm not big on resolutions either.  I prefer to call it goals.   



I've put off my health needs for too long, while taking care of other family members, so I need to put more effort on taking care of myself.  I have begun exercising regularly again, and hope to end 2019 lighter than I begin the year.  



We've recently moved into a smaller house, so decluttering more of our personal items is on the list, too.  We'll just call this process, "less is more".  

[jelloshots4all]

Decluttering would be a NY resolution.

But goals:

Going back to NYC- Yup leaving this week
A return trip to Jamaica- almost have this finalized
Savings goals are still the same and maximizing everything I can.

Getting my kids through school next semester.

Happy 2019 all!!! May you be happy and blessed!!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Resolve to:
Stop tooting in front of anyone except DH.
Stop buying decorative stuff for my house. I don’t need anything else. I don’t have room for anything else. I don’t need to spend money on anything else.
Not lose my mind when my baby moves on to college.
Send birthday e-cards to everybody

Plan to:
Finish my Google Educator certificate
Complete my Continuing Admin License
Start—officially—my DEd program
Pay off ~$22,000 of student loans
Double EF
Find a damn landscaping company to accept us into their rotation.
Get DD#2 to college
Making conscious, healthy choices about food. 

[debthaven]

Wow Knee Deep in Water Chloe, you're going for a DEd?!

[tractor]

Get my shit together financially and have a solid foundation to launch from. (To conquer the world).

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

To have 2019 not suck as much as 2018.

[swamp]

Continue to be the same charming asshole I’ve always been.  And exercise daily. 

[sesfw]

I resolve to see 2020 in good health

So that means I need to watch my diet in 2019

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 1, 2019 6:22:31 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Wow Knee Deep in Water Chloe , you're going for a DEd?!

Yes, I'm actually (in my head) behind on the process. When I turned 30, I wanted to finish it by the time I turned 40. However, that silly parenting stuff kept taking priority. I turn 40 this year, so making sure I start this year is (artificially) important to me. 

[Tennesseer]

Seeing I always break resolutions, these are some of my 2019 ones:

I will not try to lose weight.
I will not try to get more exercise.
I will not clean the house more often.

[Lizard Queen]

Jan 1, 2019 10:13:34 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

To have 2019 not suck as much as 2018.

It would be hard for mine to. I don't have any more parents or sisters to lose.

[resolution]

I want to start making my own ice tea instead of buying it pre-made at the grocery store. I can probably save $10 a month that way.

[giramomma]

Jan 1, 2019 13:15:45 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Jan 1, 2019 6:22:31 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Wow Knee Deep in Water Chloe , you're going for a DEd?!

Yes, I'm actually (in my head) behind on the process. When I turned 30, I wanted to finish it by the time I turned 40. However, that silly parenting stuff kept taking priority. I turn 40 this year, so making sure I start this year is (artificially) important to me. 

I don't think it's artificially important.

Much of my decisions on how to move forward with this part of my life revolved around my life at 40.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Dec 31, 2018 20:49:29 GMT -5 busymom said:

I'm not big on resolutions either.  I prefer to call it goals.   

I'm just not really getting the distinction here?

I resolve to x,y,z vs I plan to x,y,z, vs my goal is to x,y,z

Is there some important distinction I'm not picking up on? it all seems the same to me.

I go with resolution for new years because it seems traditional phrasing, but it doesn't change the meaning/intent to me at all. Just kinda like "merry christmas" I never really use the word merry much in other contexts, but keep the traditional phrasing, just cuz, traditional...

[busymom]

Jan 1, 2019 15:16:43 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Dec 31, 2018 20:49:29 GMT -5 busymom said:

I'm not big on resolutions either.  I prefer to call it goals.   

I'm just not really getting the distinction here?

I resolve to x,y,z vs I plan to x,y,z, vs my goal is to x,y,z

Is there some important distinction I'm not picking up on? it all seems the same to me.

I go with resolution for new years because it seems traditional phrasing, but it doesn't change the meaning/intent to me at all. Just kinda like "merry christmas" I never really use the word merry much in other contexts, but keep the traditional phrasing, just cuz, traditional...

     I've always considered a resolution to be something I'm going to achieve "come h@ll or high water".  In other words, failure is not an option.


      A goal is more casual to me.  Something to strive for, but if I don't get there, it's not something to beat myself up over.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Dec 31, 2018 20:05:40 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Dec 31, 2018 15:56:00 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I don't make resolutions.
That way, I'm never disappointed in myself or feel like a failure.
I'm just going to continue to live the best life I can.

Better yet:there are still a few hours to establish 2018 resolutions and end the year in a very upbeat manner   (my personal approach and I am very good at reaching goals I set this way)

I have generally been a new years resolution person, however - there was a time when I started to feel disillusioned about the process, even disillusioned about myself. Seemed like I was powerless to make any real changes, no time, no money, no energy. And the years continued to tick by.

But in the end, I found it a useful process nonetheless. When I saw that I was saying the same thing on the list year after year, at first I was depressed about not making progress, but it did provide clarity on what my life goals were. Some things fell off the list remaining undone forever.....while others persisted. I do tend to save these goals in written form and although year to year there were frustrations, I am now starting to see the cumulative effects of 20 or more years of focus. I find that exciting!

Not that everything is spiffy, but I did get the kitchen upgraded - that was not a perfect success but it was a vast improvement, finally finished my phd and got a great new job because of it, and while I do feel a bit of tension on the goals I left by the wayside to achieve the ones I did, I feel reinvigorated to try to get to the next level in other life areas. Vacations! The house is not perfect, but a weekly reset with the housekeeper visit has kept us from falling into too much disarray. And I am committed to having each and every room in my house look like from an ikea of pottery barn catalog room. Maybe not by end of 2019, but defs by end of 2020! 21?  - and I am excited to see how close I can get this year. 

In some ways, I think I'm really feeling the power of written goals in my life right now - whether you call them resolutions, plans, goals, the secret, whatever. I think writing it all down, then picking and choosing priorities, chunking them into manageable weekly or monthly tasks is an ever-clarifying way of prioritizing your limited resources.  And if you get waylaid for weeks, or months, or even years - or a decade or two! - the goals that continue to crop up are the things you really do want to do. And if you cannot personally marshal the resources year after year - it might give you an idea on what to try to outsource or get help on, either via paid help or family/friend input/assistance.

[Deleted]

I don't see any harm in making New Year's resolutions.  It is a good time to take stock of where you are and where you want to be this time next year.

So looking at it in those terms, this is where I want to be on January 1, 2020.  The list is in no particular order.  Getting more exercise, for example, is more important than losing weight although the two go together.

• I want to eat more healthy . . . less fried and more veggies.  I've never been more than a casual sweet eater, and I eat less sweets now than I ever did.
• I want exercise to be a part of my life.
• I want my house to be uncluttered and clean.
• I want house projects completed.
• I want to finally read everything on my Kindle. 

Some of this will have to wait until I retire at the end of May, but I can make baby steps before then.

[imanangel]

Ok, after viewing my last few months spending habits, I have more goals:

Cook more at home. 
Budget in an allowance for Goose and I. Extra money not budgeted will go for debt pay off.