First off this is not an April Fools post, I really am setting goals for April.
I used to set monthly goals for myself and lately I haven’t been doing it and I am noticing I’m not accomplishing as much as I’d like each month. I am going to set monthly goals from here on out and do a recap of my goals at the end of the month.
On top of setting goals I am going to give myself an incentive to actually accomplish my goals. You may remember Neil & my incentive program back in 2011, well it’s going to be similar to this. Right now we have a budget for groceries, entertainment, gas and household items and at the end of the month whatever we have leftover we put 50% in savings and we each get 25% for our allowance (allowance = lunches out, coffee out, fun/non-essential purchases). Well my incentive to accomplish my goals will be that I get to keep my 25% and if I don’t accomplish my goals then I have to put it into Edith’s college fund (we already put money aside each month for this as well).
April Goals:
1. Read one new book. I have a book that I have been reading since December (embarrassing, I know). Well I am planning to (finally) finish this book and my goal is to read one other book as well. I think I am going to make this a monthly goal so please leave your suggestions in the comments.
2. Run/Walk/Bike 100 Miles. My goal for this month is complete 100 miles total by doing any or a combo of the following: run, walk, or bike. I am also challenging you to do the same (sign up here); oh and there is an incentive for you as well.
3. Write 5 freelance articles. I love freelance writing but I haven’t done nearly enough since Edith was born so I am hoping this will help me get back into the swing of things.
4. Use one of my cookbooks each week. I have a huge cookbook collection but I honestly rarely use them. I actually probably have a number that I’ve never even used, so this month that is all going to change. My goal is to use a different cookbook each week to prepare at least two recipes for the week.
5. Finish unpacking. We still have too many unpacked boxes so my goal is to get them all unpacked with one exception: anything we won’t need between now and November 1st can stay in a box. Why November 1st? That is when we finally get to move out of this site-unseen apartment and into a new rental that we (hopefully) love in a better neighborhood.
6. Return calls and e-mails to friends. I have been awful at staying in touch with people and returning phone calls. There is really no good reason but I blame the time difference, the fact I’m exhausted by the end of the day and having too much on my plate. However, those excuses suck and I need to make more time for important things like my friends.
7. Write 8 new recipes this month. I have been doing a lot of throw together meals lately and not enough recipes (as you might have noticed) so I want to write 8 total this month. That meals 4 for my freelance gig and 4 for the blog. Again I’d like this to be a monthly goal so if you’re looking for recipes using a specific ingredient or a healthier version of one of your old favorites leave me ideas in the comments.
These are my seven official incentive goals but I also have a another other non-incentive goal:
- Spend more time at home. On the weekends we have been spending a lot of time getting to know the area which means we are spending very little time at home. This also means that we are not getting our home improvement, household tasks or other at home things done on the weekends when we have more time.
What are your April goals?
