Happy New Year!

WOW! Is it really 2010? There is something about that round number sitting there at the end of the year that makes it so much different than the past few years. We are starting a whole new DECADE! Now, that may not sound like much to us since we lived through the year 2000, but still makes me feel like this year is just more special. What is a New Year good for? New starts...fresh ones.

There is just something about THIS New Year that has me excited to make some changes. There are so many areas of my life as both an individual and a Mom, Wife, Daughter, Sister, friend, photographer, etc. that need attention. I have been living in a state of chaos and I just can't do it anymore. I don't just want to make resolutions or goals, I want action plans.

For now, the first few things I would like to change, continue, and develop.

• Meal Planning- HUGE! This is, in our experience, a key factor in making or breaking the family spending budget. It has everything to do with planning. If I don't plan the meals for the week I don't get aything out for dinner, which leads to last minute decisions, which leads to laziness and the decision to eat out, which leads to excessive spending (not to mention excessive calories) and therefore throws us all out of wack. How to implement this? Monday Menu Planning. Easy, straight forward, enough said.


• Cash Budgeting and Expense Tracking- This is an interesting one. I have been expense tracking since 2002. (Yes, I can tell you how much I have spent in any given month for the past EIGHT years!) So the plan there is just to continue. I do want to make the most of my expense tracking, meaning I need to use the information to make smart choices in regards to our budget. The cash budgeting is semi new to us. I have been doing a cash budgeting system for all household consumables since August. It has been working out MUCH better than I could have ever expected it to. So, again I just need to continue. The interesting part comes in where I need to expand my cash budgeting to include eating out and clothing. These areas are both difficult for us as a family. We sometimes feel like we are entitled to eat out... a sense of entitlement can be very dangerous. The plan to implament the cash system is to JUST DO IT! Every week when I get cash for the other areas, I need to fund the proper envelopes. Then, when the money's gone, it's gone. That's it!


• Household Cleaning- I am horrible at housework. So, I need to make the house a priority. To do this, the plan is to follow FLYLADY's plan. It has worked for me in the past and I know I can make it work again. Just like taking up your cross and walking with Jesus daily, I need to be a person of diligence with my home. I might expand on this later, but if I can do even a little each day and stick with it, then there won't be such a mountain to conquer.


• Personal and Family Health- We need to eat more consciously. Simple as that. The only way to help my family do this is to start with myself and my own habits. So, I bit the bullet and joined Weight Watchers today. The WW plan has worked for me in the past, and I am finally ready (read: HAD IT with myself) to follow the plan and make some real changes in my life. Along with this will go having better food choices available in the house, purchasing healthful foods, and making activity part of my everyday life.

There you have it. Happy New Year!