Category: Monthly Goals

Out With the Old and In With the New

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Tomorrow is the start of a new month.  The beginning of something new, the beginnings are usually my favorite because they are filled with such hope.  May is a big month for our household.  It’s J’s birthday month and we’re taking a weekend trip with friends to a winery nearby.  Plus, we have a few other big happenings in the works that I can’t spill the beans on just yet.

My monthly goals for May are simple:

1) stress less
2) laugh more
3) take more pictures

That’s it.  Three simple goals that will make this month one of the bests yet.  What do you have planned for May?  Any festivals, concerts or weekend getaways planned?  I love the warmer weather and want to spend as much time as possible outside.  I guess that should be one more goal – spend time outdoors.

The Importance of Goal Setting

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Why is goal setting so important?

How does one get from Point A to Point B?  What do you want to work towards in life, in career, in love and in your finances?  We set goals, develop a plan and then get to work.  Goals are an important part of your day, week, month… I could keep going with more, but I will spare you.

Ever since I was little I always liked to create to-do lists, schedule events in my calendar and even come up with a game plan for my day, which included when I would eat, shower, and take a break.  I love tasks and I thrive when I have a clear plan to achieve.

goal setting

Goals are an important part of life, any life and every life.  We need to know where we are headed and be happy when we get there.

What happens when we are working towards a goal and realize that we don’t want it anymore?  Or when we realize our priorities have shifted in life?  Simple.  We reevaluate our goals, develop new ones and keep moving forward.

I have to admit that I might be a bit obsessed with creating new goals, but even after every time I sit down to create a new life goal list there are some items that are always present.  For instance:

– becoming debt free
– helping stray animals
– creating a memory journal
– opportunity to bring my dogs to work on a daily basis
– owning a business
– celebrating our 50 year anniversary
– own my home
– travel the world

These goals, along with others are what I am working towards over the next few years.  Some goals may come and go without being reached, and that’s okay.  Because you do not reach a goal does not mean you are a failure.  It simply means that your life has changed and your priorities are not the same.

Perhaps you didn’t plan to have children and now here you are with 2 children that you tuck into bed every night.  That would change the goals you want to reach.  For another example, perhaps you were laid off and threw a wrench in your financial goals – that could shift where you are headed and what you are dreaming of.

Goal setting is a good thing.

Cheers!

October Wrap Up and November Goals

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Blogger GoalsOctober has come and gone; and now November has flown in.  I feel like October flew by so much faster than September, but perhaps in all technicality that’s not true.

Let’s see how I did in October, here’s a refresher for last month.

1) Get everything in order for our wedding in ONE month – PASS!  We were married last Saturday.

2) Book a few more side hustle jobs – FAIL! I did not get one single side hustle for the month, but I was a bit distracted.

3) Pay $200 towards our smallest debt – FAIL! I had some dental work come up and that drained our savings and an extra money we had for the month, you can read about that here.

4) Take the dogs for more walks – FAIL! We played a lot more, but didn’t get to the actual walk around the block part.

5) Finish the Dave Ramsey videos – PASS!

Now let’s look forward to the next month and set some new goals.  Goals are important to me, they keep me focused and on task.  I have tendency to be distracted by shiny objects and if I don’t have something to pull my attention back to where I need to be then all hell can break loose.  So, let’s get into it.

My November goals:

1) create a new budget
2) Set some monthly, quarterly and yearly goals for myself
3) Take the dogs for more walks
4) Develop a game plan for Christmas shopping
5) Pay off our smallest debt

I feel like I need to bring it all in for one last “go team” cheer.

Cheers!

September Wrap Up and October Goals

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

october goals

September is almost gone and October is right around the corner.

Here’s how I did for September:

1) side hustle – 95%

eh… not the best, but really this was my first month at trying to make any money on the side.  So, with that in mind I am not disappointed.  I sold an order on Etsy, which just made me do a happy dance.  I joined Elance and had one completed job that I got paid for.  With two success I would give this a 95%. I had hopes of making more, but I will take it.

2) purchase the big items for our favors – PASS

Our favor items have been purchased and now we move on to the next project.  It was such a relief the night J and I went to multiple stores to buy all the different pieces we were looking for.

3) pay $200 towards our smallest debt – FAIL

We…er…I miscalculated our emergency fund total and that $200 went in there.  Now we are on track for next month and we will kick butt on paying off some debt.

4) fund our emergency fund all the way – PASS

It is such a good feeling to know that we are covered for any unexpected events.  We do not have to stress if the car breaks or freak out over an unexpected bill.  This makes me a lot calmer and probably nicer to be around.

5) knock out ¼ of the remaining Dave Ramsey Videos – PASS

We do not have that many videos left and we are ahead of schedule.  I think I am learning too much, if that’s even possible.  Sometimes I like to quote Dave Ramsey and J is not amused with me, especially when we are in public.  I like to think I am passing around useful information to those around us, but he does not see it that way.

October goals:

1) Get everything in order for our wedding in ONE month – CRAZY!
2) Book a few more side hustle jobs
3) Pay $200 towards our smallest debt
4) Take the dogs for more walks
5) Finish the Dave Ramsey videos

We are getting married in one month and two days.  Just seems crazy that my life is where it is.  I am so excited for our future together and the years that we have ahead of us.  I think we are in a good place and ready for this step.  It’s just crazy!

Cheers!

August Wrap Up and September Goals

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

August Wrap Up and September Goals

I cannot believe August is over and it’s time to create my September Goals.

I feel like it just started and we were in the process of packing up our lives to move across the state.  Pretty crazy how time flies when you’re having fun… unpacking boxes!  When I talked about my August goals I was pretty ambitious for someone who still had a lot of wedding planning to tackle, boxes to unpack, and friends to make.

1) get settled into our new home – 70/30

We are in the new home, we even have pictures on one of the walls.  However, there are still boxes in the guest bedroom that need to be unpacked – only 3 left and we have a lot of pictures to hang.  So, I would say we are about 70% there.

2) consistently write 3-4 posts a week – PASS

I believe I am averaging 4 posts a week.  I have even developed a posting schedule – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I take the weekends and Wednesdays off – I think that’s a good mix.  Well, except for today – I decided to post this Wednesday and I am allowed to do that.

3) create a routine between all of my creative outlets (blog and etsy), work, and homelife – 90/10

I have created a pretty good routine for everything.  I work until 5-6 every day, then we have dinner and spend time together.  About 8:00 is when I start blogging or reading articles of interest.  I have had to take a cutback on my Etsy shop, not because it was growing like wildfire or anything, but we are trying to pay down debt and we decided that it would probably be best not to spend any more money on something until our little credit cards are paid down… sad face.

4) make progress on wedding planning – order the invites and finalize our favor idea – PASS

I have the wedding invites sitting next to me and they are gorgeous!  I love them oh-so-much!  I have the favor idea finalized and even have it marked in the calendar when I need to start buying everything for it.  The favor is SO me with Justin sprinkled in on top!  It’s going to be perfect for us.

5) design organizing templates – I’m going to say PASS

I have a budget template and a desktop template coming your way in the next few days… be on the lookout for that!

I think I am in a pretty good place for August.  Now, onto September goals.

1) Work on my side hustle to make some extra money
2) Purchase the big ticket items for our favors at the wedding
3) Pay $200 towards our smallest debt to make a dent
4) Finish funding our emergency fund
5) Knock out ¼ of the remaining Dave Ramsey videos

A lot to do with money, guess you can figure out where my mindset is lately.

Cheers!

August Goals

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

August Goals

Here we are… after the first full week of a new month and I’m setting up August Goals.

I like goals and to-do lists.  I feel that it gives me a sense of direction and a foundation in a sometimes chaotic life.  I mean goals keep you motivated and keep your dreams a reality.  If you have a dream then you decide on action steps to take to achieve those dreams, right?  A dream because a goal and then goal becomes action steps that you put on a to-do list… I’m digressing as I think of different ways to say goal and to-do lists.  I’m going to get back to the point – August Goals.

1) get settled into our new home.  I mentioned how we were moving (this weekend!) to a new city and I don’t want to still be unpacking boxes months from now.

2) consistently write about 3-4 posts a week for this merelynne.com.

3) create a routine between work, blog, etsy, and home life.

4) make progress on the wedding by ordering invitations and finalizing the favor idea (so excited!)

5) design some organizing templates for the site for others to use.  I have some great organizational tools that I created and they help me so much from day-to-day and I think it’s time I share them with the world.

Last month I wrote about 27 things to do while 27.  So far, I’ve accomplished one thing off that list.  But I think that is pretty impressive since it’s been less than 1 month!  Once life settles down I will keep you in the loop on my list progress.

Cheers to August Goals!