Money Saving Mom®

How are you doing on your goals for 2012? September was a hard month for us on a lot of fronts, so I didn’t make as much progress on my goals I would have liked to, but at least there was some progress. I’m trying to remind myself that progress in the right direction is always a good thing — even if I’m going at it a lot slower than I’d hoped!

Here’s my update for the progress I’ve made so far this year on my 2012 goals:

Personal
Read through the Bible in a year. {I’ve been keeping up with this faithfully.}
Read through the 24 books on my 2012 booklist. {Finished through September. I have also read quite a few other books!}
Listen to 12 audiobooks. {I’m still finishing up listening to August’s audiobook — hoping to finish that this week & start on the next audiobook.}
Run in at least one 5K race. {This goal has really been hanging over my head the past few months & I’m really, really hopeful to have it crossed off the list this month!}
Complete the Couch to 10K program.
Tackle 12 Do-It-Yourself Projects. {Still behind on this one, but I did make some progress in September!}
Focus on one habit per month. {Totally bombed this one this month. :(}
Learn to use my new DSLR camera (huge surprise Christmas present from Jesse!!) & improve my photography skills. {I’m excited to be seeing some improvement and progress with this! And I’m also excited that I’m beginning to feel more and more comfortable using my camera!}
Take at least one photo a day and put together a page every week for my Project Life album. {I’m behind on this one, too. But maybe I’ll catch up this month, maybe?}
Memorize Colossians using the plan and free download here. {I didn’t do very well on this one this past month; must make this more of a priority!}

Marriage
Go on the Love Like You Mean It Cruise. {Done–read my recap here.}
Go on two Marriage Retreats {Went to Cincinnati together in April & we’re headed to Pennsylvania in a few weeks!}.
Have monthly date nights. {We had one date in September.}
Read four books together. {We’ve done two books so far this year and we’re working on a third.}
Read at least 3 books on marriage. 

Children/Homeschooling
Continue regular dates/outings with each of the children individually. {I didn’t do so well with this in September, but that was mostly due to the fact that my usual babysitters were out of town & Jesse had to work long hours.}
Continue Grace and Truth memory book. {The children memorized a few verses in September.}
Ice-skating lessons for all three children.
Swimming lessons for all three children.
Finish second grade, begin third grade with Kathrynne.
Finish kindergarten, begin first grade with Kaitlynn.
Start preschool with Silas.
Go on at least one field trip every month. {Jesse took the kids to the fair while I was out of town one weekend.}
Go on at least one family vacation.
Finish at least 15 read-aloud books. {We’ve finished 23 read-alouds so far this year!}

Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family
Write at least two handwritten notes every month to encourage someone. {I wrote & mailed six handwritten notes this month.}
Continue being involved in our local church, homeschool group, young couple’s group, and blogging accountability group. {Ongoing}
Continue with weekly get-togethers with both sides of our extended family. {Ongoing}

Business/Blogging
Continue to take Sundays off from blogging/business work. {Ongoing}
Continue keeping strict Office Hours for the business/blogging time each day. {Still plugging away on this!}
Switch to a paperless planning system. {This is the one goal I think I’ve officially decided to drop this year as it just wasn’t working for me. Back to the paper.}
Follow my weekly blogging plan. {I mostly stuck with my blogging plan in September!}
Plan blog posts out at least a month in advance. {I’ve been doing much better about this — yay!}
Write and schedule blog posts at least a week in advance. {I’m not getting the posts fully written, but I’ve been at least briefly outlining things a good week in advance.}

Financial
Continue to tithe 10% of our income. {Ongoing}
Give generously to needs in our community and around the world, as God prompts us. {Ongoing}
Pay cash for a new-to-us vehicle to replace our family’s van. {We bought a new-to-us vehicle in July — yay!}
Finish saving for and purchase a rental property with cash. {We looked at rentals this past month and have one picked at that we’re planning to put an offer on this week, provided the inspection goes well. We’re doing an inspection before the offer since you have to buy the house as is. I’ll keep you posted!}

How Are You Doing on Your Goals for 2012?

If you’ve posted goals for 2012, I’d love for you to post an update on how things are going and share your link in the comments. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to just leave your update as a comment. Let’s encourage one another to live lives of intention and purpose!

Last week’s goals:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read at least 8 chapters of A Way Through the Sea aloud to the kids.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

3. Finish reading 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess (re-reading for a project I’m working on), Whose Voice the Waters Heard, The Husband Project, Mended, Shades of Morning,  Now, Discover Your Strengths.

4. Listen to two chapters of Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.

5. Exercise at least five times.

Homemaking Goals

6. Finish 25 more rows of the scarf I’m working on knitting.

7. Make at least two new recipes.

8. Go through our house for our garage sale next week.

Business Goals

9. Finish the Lunchbox Freezer Cooking series.

10. Finish book proposal for my next book & submit to my agent (Woot! So excited about the topic and contents planned for my next book!)

This week’s goals:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read 3 chapters of The Stolen Necklace aloud to Kathrynne. Read 3 chapters of Still More Stories From Grandma’s Attic aloud to Kaitlynn. Read 10 picture books to Silas. Read at least 3 chapters of A Way Through the Sea aloud to the kids.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

3. Have a playdate with friends.

Personal Goals

4. Finish reading Whose Voice the Waters Heard, Greater, Fully Alive, The Promise of a Mother’s Prayers, Return, and Now, Discover Your Strengths.

5. Finish listening to Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.

6. Exercise at least five times.

Homemaking Goals

7. Finish 25 more rows of the scarf I’m working on knitting.

8. Make at least two new recipes.

9. Have a garage sale.

Business Goals

10. Write three posts for other sites.

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!

You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.