2012 Goals

Last year, my 2011 goals got derailed by babies.  I debated whether it was even worthwhile to post goals this year, because, well, babies.  Keeping babies in mind, I decided to make my goal this year to do consistently the things that I know work, rather than undertaking new projects.

1)Religious/Spiritual

I feel like I am progressing the best in this area.  I still need a more active prayer life, but I attend church regularly (a 2010 goal) and have an off and on relationship with daily devotionals and prayer journals.  So basically I plan to do what I did last year, with small improvements.

(a) Continue to Tithe - a no-brainer, but it can be hard on months when money is tight.  I missed this goal in 2011 because I kept October's money back in case I needed it for cash flow (babies were born in October) and then it got spent in dribs and drabs until it was all gone.  I need to catch up on last year (hopefully with the tax refund) and then keep going in this one.

(b) Read another edition of the Bible from cover to cover - I didn't actually make this happen last year, because paper books are too hard to keep track of.  I did read The Message NT several times, though, because it was on my Kindle.  Now that I know what works, I plan to buy another bible edition for my annual reading - anyone have a favorite that they can recommend?

(c) Find a daily devotional or prayer journal that I can stick with - Again, this probably needs to be electronic to work, although the Kindle ones look hard to annotate properly.  Perhaps an app - any suggestions here?

2)Health

At the end of this year, I want to randori at 90% for 3 three minute rounds in a row and still have some energy left at the end of it.  To get there, I need to:

(a) Lose 50 lbs - I gained 65 pounds when I was pregnant, and it does not appear to be melting away quickly.  On the other hand, I am breastfeeding two babies, and I don't want to do anything to affect my milk supply.  So my plan is to begin tracking what I eat, but not restrict calories until the babies start solid food.  So I may not make the full 50 lbs this year, but I need to get started.

(b) Work out 15 mins 6x a week; make it to gym 3x a week - Babies also destroyed my ab muscles and my cardiovascular fitness, and I want it back.  My parents gave me a gym membership for a year for my birthday, and I want to use it in a frugal manner.  Also, I have a stroller to take the twins around the farm in when the weather is nice, or I can do crunches or whatever when the weather is nasty.  By the end of the year I want to be back to swimming 45 mins easily.

3) Financial

For the first time in our marriage, Mr. Goat and I have a positive net worth!  This is not to say we are debt -free; our money is mostly in retirement accounts and we still have a pile of debt.  Our highest APR is 1.65% fixed, though, so our debt has felt far less pressing than in past years.  Still , I've allowed myself to get distracted by fantasies of Namibia and such, when I should be focusing on debt before pleasure.

(a) Save in anticipation of loss of primary income - Once again, Mr. Goat's job is on the bubble.  Baby-related expenses have put us in a more precarious short-term savings spot than we were last year.  This month we are both going without toy budgets and non-essentials (I should see if I can join Carla's low-spend Challenge late).  More on this as I know more.

(b) Fully fund 2 Roth IRAs - Mr. Goat and I are 100% in Roths because our employer IRAs are always shitty and have no match (125 basis points for an index fund?  No, thanks.) and Roths are easy.  Mr. Goat is actually eligible for an employer match if his job lasts until July, and I'll revisit this then if the job is still around, but otherwise it is Roths again for us this year.

(c) Save $1200 for each baby in a 529 - Louisiana has one of the best 529 programs in the country - no fees, and a match ranging from 2-14% depending on income.  We'd be fools to pass this up.  This won't come near to the amount they will need for college, of course, but it's all we can afford at this time, and surely higher education can't go up 8% a year every year for the next eighteen.  I have them open and the auto-debit started, we just need to keep enough cash in the checking account to make this happen.

(d) Pay off debt to parents by the end of the year - About 1/5 of my total remaining debt is a loan from my parents.  Right now, I am hoarding cash, but if I can get through the year without needing to draw it down, I can pay them off.  They are not hurting for it or missing it, but I would like to get it off my ledger, because then all I would have left is student loan debt.

4) Household

My house is a wreck and our personal defense plans need a serious re-vamp because, well, babies.  To ameliorate that, I need to:

(a) Begin again on Flylady Routines - They work if you do them.  I can find 30 mins a day to keep my house clean.  I can.  Really.

(b) Set up firearm storage in anticipation of toddlers -  I need to get a safe so that everything is neatly organized and put out of reach.  Storing my shotgun unloaded in my closet isn't going to cut it anymore.  I also need to get my touch safe set up so that I have something accessible if I need it at 3 am.

(c) Practice with my carry firearms once a week- They don't do you much good if you don't know how to use them.  I have a berm now (yay!) so I have no excuse.

Not sure how I am going to track this yet - maybe a bunch of sidebars.  I wish I were better at making my blog pretty, but that will have to be a 2013 goal because, well ...

Also, Geaux Saints!