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~Unlike everyone else in blogland, I did not do a 2013 recap post. Just ran out of time for that because I was so busy Target clearance shopping and decorating my Erin Condren planner. But we had a great (and super busy) 2013! Highlights included our Disney Cruise (so fun), L starting kindergarten (probably the biggest thing of 2013), our family trip to Las Vegas (can we do that again? Please?), watching WB grow from a baby to a toddler (have you seen that kid lately? He’s a complete character) and of course all these fabulous subscription boxes I am lucky enough to review. Seriously. Dream come true. I love it.
~B did it! Â He successfully completed his 30 races in 2013. Â He turned 30 in 2013, so in honor of that, he set a goal of running 30 races. Â His last one was yesterday, so he totally let it get down to the wire, but I swear, he would have done that race yesterday no.matter.what. Â So proud of him! Â In 2014, when he turns 31, he’s thinking of only doing races with 3’s and 1’s in them. Â So 5K’s (3.1 miles) and half-marathons (13.1) miles. Â And MAYBE with another full marathon in there. Â He’ll see about that one ;).
~I mentioned it early in the week, but I don’t have any true, set in stone resolutions. Â But I do have things I want to work on, including:
~Craft More. Stop just pinning all this amazing stuff and start doing it!
~Eat better. Â I’m not saying eat clean 100% of the time, but just make better choices in general.
~Get organized. Â No more running around at the last minute getting things done. Â A little pre-planning could save me a lot of hassles.
~Coupon More: Â I used some coupons yesterday and was all look at me, I saved $2.47. Â That needs to happen more!
~Get to the gym. Â I have a membership. Â I just need to use it.
~Get more sleep. Â I can’t say I will be going to bed at 11pm every night, but staying up till 3am every night can’t happen anymore either.
Just some things to be more aware of and make time for in 2014. Â Perhaps a little less Facebook and more all of this ;).
~I saw this 52 Week Money Saving Challenge and think I am going to do this. Â It seems so easy and I think that it would be amazing to have Christmas gifts money all setwhen December rolls around.
~I’ll be back later with some “normal” blog posts, but for now I need to go check on targets after Christmas clearance and run to Starbucks and get my free coffee!!
This will be the second year that we will be doing the money challenge. It makes for an nice little nest egg for christmastime 🙂 We are also doing a modified version for the kids. Each week it will be converted to since…so for example…week 32….instead of 32 dollars it will be 32 cents. They’ll only have saved about 13 bucks at the end of the year but they are 4 and 2…that will seem like millions to them 🙂
Ohh, I love that idea for kids! I might have L do a $1/week or something along those lines!
I used to do it for more things when we had less money (like paying car insurance, etc) but I still do this for big purchases – I set up my bank accounts to automatically transfer a set amount every week. Almost time for E’s big boy bed!
How old is he again? What are you going to get him??
I’ve seen that money saving challenge too and have been considering doing it; seems easy enough.
It does seem easy!
I don’t do resolutions but those are all good ones. I saw a lady at Archivers that had a Smash book she was filling with all her race bibs and time sheets etc. It was cute and easy and she used lots of washi. If you want something to do with them all. 🙂
I don’t know that B would appreciate washi’ed up race bibs like we would!
I have a question about your EC planner … I want a planner I can keep my monthly bills/finance log in. I looked online and while there isn’t a specified bill section, do you think there’s a way to make it work? Am I making any sense? Lol I want to keep track if when the bill is due, along with his much I spend monthly in bills. I have a home finance log book, I just wanted to find a way to use my planner and stay more organized. Also, didn’t you buy some pens that you said wouldn’t bleed? Do you like them?
Sorry for all the questions lol!
I don’t mind the questions. There is not a specific “bill” section. However, there are blank pages in the back where you can add whatever you want in. I know in the Erin Condren Facebook group, there are a bunch of printables to put in there that are along these lines!
Yes, I bought “Infinity” pens by Write Dudes. There are a few that don’t bleed that people seem to like (Papermate Flairs come to mind) as well!
I can’t leave replies in the thread. (and as an aside, i just got a bunch of smash book stuff!) He just turned 3 2 weeks ago and we are getting him a bed like his sister’s. i have pictures of hers up here http://mommysplurge.com/2013/03/fun-kids-bunkbeds-and-tent-bed/
we still don’t know when we’re moving yet, or i’d have purchased it already. he tends to roll out of bed. still. we weren’t planning on getting him a lofted one, but he REALLY wants a tall one. i have to make the sewing plans too for my aunt to sew the curtains for his. because i ain’t doing it.
I don’t know what is up with the replies? It makes no sense, but yeah, it’s totally not working anymore. So odd.
Happy New Year! I want to start to actually try some of the things I’ve pinned instead of just creating more Pinterest boards, so that’s one of my goals for 2014. And I say I’m going to get organized every year, but have yet to do so. *sigh*
Here’s to a great 2014!
I wish us both the best!!!!
I am going to do the money saving challenge for 2014!
Think of the fun travel souvenirs you can buy!!!
I love the idea of the 52 week money challenge! I’m going to do it backwards though (week 1 save $52, week 2 save $51, etc.) so it gets easier and I stick with it. I always start the year in savings mode, but by November and December I find it harder to save because I want to take advantage of all the holiday deals. I figure doing this backwards will work better for me. Oh and yay for the daily Starbucks! Happy New Year!
Love that idea!!!
You should make one of those t-shirt blankets out of his race tees. 🙂
I think that’s the plan. But I hear that sewing t-shirts is quite difficult ???
Yay for B! What an incredible accomplishment! I should really work on a 30 before 30 list but I have 5 years so I’m going to slack. 😉
You’ve got time!
I love the money saving idea too….although I’m going to do it in reverse order, since for me it is easier to save the bigger amounts in the beginning of the year, rather than the end of the year. I can’t take credit for doing it in reverse though…I saw this one on a friends post on FB. 🙂
That’s a great idea! Someone else mentioned that as well. I saw another printable that just the amounts listed and boxes to check so you could save whatever amount you wanted that week.
Yeah, I pretty much agree with all your resolutions–especially the sleep! That money saving idea is brilliant! It sounds like you’ve had an awesome year. I for one am also SO glad you have this blog and do what you do. Always one of my favorite places to visit during my free time! 🙂
Aww, thank you!!! I try to have fun with it and keep it light!
I found this tutorial on line…I don’t sew, so I’m not sure how difficult this is. But I also see them occasionally on daily deal sites too.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Quilt-from-Tee-Shirts
They always look so easy in the tutorials!
I like your goals – and the fact that they are things you just want to be more aware of, instead of holding yourself to everything so harshly. I decided to do the same thing this year, and am really looking forward to seeing everything unfold!
Totally!!! If I sat eat clean every day and work out 5x/week, I will fail!
I started that savings plan, but it seemed difficult to remember to transfer the right amount of money each week, so I just divided the total by 52 and am having $26.50 auto-tranferred to a savings account each week.
That’s a great idea too!
Resolutions:start and complete one smash book(I have 7 different blank ones, with plans for them all)!! Emergency savings fund – build to three months pay…
I started that 52 week money challenge for the second year in a row. I have a family of 6 so I am doing two jars. Week 3 this week and we are still doing it! (one week at a time)
That’s a great idea!