Wednesday, February 2, 2011

January Wrap-Up & February Goals

January is always a hard month for me. Everything seems in turmoil emotionally, financially, and in our home. I expect to feel a little off with holiday letdown and I know there will be tension as we scramble to cover holiday expenses. We have several "big" bills in December and January that always seem harder to manage (car tabs, car insurance premium, annual January trip to visit in-laws, AAA) just because of the time of year. The kids are adjusting back into 'normal' routines after weeks of sugar-highs, excitement, and trips out of town.

This January was a rough one, but I survived. I have been feeling more myself the last week or so, and am so happy to be mostly past the January yucks!

There were many blessings and things to be thankful for in January including:
- free baby formula from three friends and my young aunt who has a baby.
- a financial gift from a friend that went straight to the student loan
- a great trip to visit family in Southern California
- airline tickets for the same cost as driving to California so we were spared the difficult 22 hour drive each way with our 4 small children
- several friends and family who remembered our anniversary (I so admire and appreciate people who remember wedding anniversaries! I wish I was better at it.)
- my childless brother and sister-in-law volunteered to watch all our kids all day long so DH and I could celebrate our anniversary at Disneyland.

Goals for January included a more detailed budget, closing the business books, groceries at $140, blog at least 3 times a week, and have more consistent Bible study. I did pretty well, but not great with these. I did make a more detailed budget, but then tossed it out as DH and I are trying something new - more on that next week. I did close the business books and had much more consistent Bible study. I did not stay under $140 for groceries, but spent $187, and I did not post 3 times per week on this blog. I did post more than November and December, but that's not saying much.

Goals for February include:
- Pantry Challenge 2011! Full month of meals planned out & $20/week on perishable groceries only. Use mostly food from pantry and freezer.
- Blog more consistently - 3 times per week
- Keep up consistent Bible study
- File business taxes
- File personal taxes
- Use cloth diapers more (like when we're away from home for the morning)

I still haven't sent Christmas cards so it looks like they'll be Valentine letters, but I still hope to get them out.

Katie


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