End of Year Goals Check-In

Towards my birthday, I wrote a post about End-of-Year/29th Birthday Goals, and shortly after, wrote about how hubby and I were going to do the Buff Dudes' Challenge.....

Well, I'll just come right out and say it: I didn't achieve any of those fitness goals. I was on track and making good progress before it got colder, but as the temperature dropped dramatically and it started raining more days than not, I struggled to keep my motivation and routine going (still struggling). I failed to account for that aspect when MAKING the goals, so maybe that aspect alone may be that my goal was less realistic than it could have been.

Or, maybe I just needed to work harder and meet  my goals instead of being a lazy butt.

Either way, I am not going to cry over it because you can't change the past, only the future. For now, between the cold and the holidays (including our anniversary on the 28th), as long as eating is decent and I am getting a walk here and there to maintain, I am ok with what it is. In January and heading into Spring, hubby and I will work as hard as we can to meet the goals.

On the bright side, I am lower in weight than I have been in a while-and definitely lower than I was this time last year, mainly due to the fitbit I have in helping me keep on track. On my birthday, I was 196-199 pounds, but I currently sit at 181, so that is a huge win for me, and I will take it.

As for the financial side of things, here's where we stand on that:

You may remember from this post that both my husband and I were going to be laid off from the same job. As I mentioned in that post, I had already got a new job so had taken my PTO and applied it to my car  payment. Husband's last day was 11/4, and once he (finally) got his first unemployment check, we took a large part of his severance and finished paying off the car. So the car is now owned free and clear! We are very excited about that, but unfortunately, the plan to SAVE that same money got wiped out by the fact that we will need to pay for ACA insurance (instead of having it come out pre-tax from our checks), and that will be about $167/month, and we got notice that our  rent is increasing $50/month starting 1/1/2015. So we were kind of bummed about that since instead of saving it, the amount, and a little more (car payment was $180 including principle payments) will be eaten up by other things. On the bright side: By getting rid of our non-working car (which we've meant to do for months), we save about $20 off the car insurance premium over what we were paying for two cars, so it all balances out and pretty much breaks even, so at least there's that. And, of course it's only temporary that we break even right now, since as soon as hubby gets a job, we SHOULD be able to save a bit more than we are now.

As for where we stand on the rest of the finances, I would say we're doing pretty well, actually. Here are some of the highlights:

-I finally have the day-to-day things fully automated and correct. Since we now have two checking accounts, one is used for "spending" money and one is used for bills money. Since I had calculated what it takes to cover all bills and have it direct deposited in the bills account, and automated, all bills get paid on time (which they were before, but sometimes would get crossed because different due dates so sometimes spending money would screw it up) and having an account for a set amount of spending money has been very helpful for us because if it's not in the account, we don't spend it. (The ultimate, can't-see-it-can't-spend-it set up.) And because of this, it has really cut back on our accidental spending and then having to rearrange/transfer money from savings to cover bills. Win, win!

-While I do still need to set up IRAs for both myself and (help) hubby, and transfer my 401k from previous employer to a new carrier, our savings themselves are slowly growing. When I first started this blog, I believe between all accounts for savings, it was ~$1800, but is now around $2200-2300 (though I do have a few small things to pay off like a medical bill from October when I had laryngitis), so there's good news that we're maintaining the same level, if not growing it very slowly while husband is still unemployed.

That's where I am at currently. I hope that by the end of 2015, I will have all previously laid out goals met, and then some. (I won't rehash them since they are in the linked info and you can see them, so don't want you to have to re-read them, again.)

How about you? Where are you at in your goals and plans? Have you had some set-backs that you're working to overcome? How is that going for you? Feel free to share in the comments below!

28th Birthday and Goals for the Upcoming Year

Today is my 28th birthday (happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me :)), and as such, I thought it would be a perfect time to come up with some goals, see where I am on current goals. So here are my current numbers and where I am hoping to be:

CURRENT:	GOAL, BY END OF THIS YEAR (DEC 31):
BENCH: 65 POUNDS	110 POUNDS (Doubling my recent 55 pounds)
SQUAT: ~95 POUNDS	200 POUNDS
DEADLIFT: 70-75 POUNDS	150 POUNDS
CLEAN/PRESS: 30 POUNDS	75 POUNDS
CURL: 25 POUNDS	60 POUNDS
TRICEP: 20 POUNDS (Behind Head)	50-60 POUNDS
LAT PULLDOWN: 75 POUNDS	160-170 POUNDS (Or be able to do pull-ups without weight assist)
PUSUPS: 0 PROPER (I am working off the wall currently)	50-75
Running: 3 Laps around park (without stopping), which equals ~.60 miles	10 laps without stopping, which equals ~2.1 miles

So these are my goals for the end of the year. I also started thinking last week about goals for by my 29^th birthday, but all I could come up with was “Run 10 miles (or more)”.  It “bothered” me for a bit that I couldn’t think of anything else, but as I thought on it more and more, I think, maybe that’s a good thing.  I could list high  numbers for goals for weightlifting, but as I am trying to get, and maintain, lean muscle (as opposed to “bulking up”), there would not be much point to that. Plus, it’s hard to predict where one will be in a year, so by not defining anything other than a running goal (that should be achievable), it gives me leeway to define goals as I see where I’m at. It also helps to not set me up for failure or disappointment—since there are few things more disheartening than to set a goal and fail to make it.

Those are my goals for fitness, but what about finances?  Well, those numbers haven’t changed much since my starting post where I said where I was, mostly because I haven’t done anything with it  (fixing my automation, setting up an IRA, etc.)  so that will definitely be a task to take care of right away. (I can’t become a millionaire if I am not working on it!) As for actual goals, since it is hard to define, I don’t have many.  I would, however, like to see our savings at $10,000 minimum (between all accounts), or at least on a path to be there by the end of NEXT year, and to see our 401(k)/IRA and other investment accounts growing.  I can’t control how those accounts grow (other than what I put into them), so I am not even going to try to quantify it with a number, but as long as they are growing, we’re headed in the right direction.

I think these are reasonable and attainable goals, and as long as I keep chipping away at them, I should be “sitting pretty” by this time next year. I may even be a completely different person! (I’m counting on it/hoping for it.) I am taking a loss this week, though, since it IS birthday week and I will be doing/eating things I wouldn’t normally. But that is part of life, and I will get right back it as soon as possible, then… take over the WORLD! Mwahaha.  Or not.  But I will get back on track and keep getting better and better.  I am looking forward to seeing the Erin a year from now!