Sticking to those NY Goals! Going Strong or Nah?
According to some research, most folks abandon their New Year’s Resolutions by mid-January. I’ve made it a point to refrain from calling the goals I made at the beginning of January, “Resolutions.” In that post, I mentioned that I had not been successful with resolutions in the past. But this year, I was determined to set achievable, manageable goals that could be incorporated into my day to day habits. For me, it is more about intention rather than achievements, if that makes sense. This is a quick check in on how some of those goals are coming along.
Sticking to my budget goals: So far, on target, but January was a slow, quiet month and a bit easier to stick to a budget. With Valentine’s Day approaching, gift giving while staying on a strict budget can be tricky. My spouse and don’t exchange gifts, but have been known to splurge on dinner and entertainment for Valentine’s Day. This year, we’ll keep it low key with take-out and movie on Netflix. Even better, we plan to use a gift card to cover dinner. Costco has great deals on gift cards from various local restaurants or chains often at a 10-20% discount. For example, we purchased a pizzeria gift card worth $50, for $40. Don’t sleep on Costco when it comes to gift cards.
I do plan on giving small V-Day gifts for my college-age kids. I’ll be sending care packages that will include some of their favorites sweet treats- dark chocolate almonds, pink and red jelly beans mostly purchased from HomeGoods and Trader Joes. All in all, the gifts with postage will still be under $30, keeping me within my monthly spending budget.
New Dinner Ideas: Another goal this year was to add something new to my weeknight dinner rotation. Stuffed baked potatoes are certainly not ground breaking, but what’s new to me was adding a hearty chicken and veggie as the potato stuffer. I almost always have boneless chicken thighs or breast in my freezer, so this dinner idea is such a game changer for me. Add whatever spices and veggies I have on hand, along with whatever toppings (cheese, bacon, scallions, sour cream, etc.) to a sweet or russet potato. Simply add a salad and boom, dinner is served. The idea for this simple meal came from one of my favorite YouTubers for healthy, simple recipe inspiration, Tish Wonders www.youtube.com/@TishWonders. What’s great about this dish is that you can use whatever you have on hand. For the stuffing, you can use boneless chicken thighs or even ground beef or turkey and include whatever veggies you have. I used green and red peppers and seasoned with garlic and onion powder, cumin and a shawarma spice blend that I picked up from Cost Plus World Market (another favorite destination for affordable food items). What I love about this recipe is that it motivated me to use what I had already. I highly recommend this for a quick dinner idea that won’t break the bank!
Staying connected with friends: The recurring meet up and check ins with friends have been my lifeline lately. As much as I like winter, gloomy overcast days can bring my mood down, so staying connected with friends has been helpful. One of my friend groups meets monthly for lunch and gives us a chance to catch up and uplift each other! It’s still early and I’m sure we’ll get busy and it’s likely one or two of us will miss an occurrence now and then, but having this as an ongoing event, gives me something to look forward to and makes me feel a part of something special.
Books and Fashion: During the month of January, I read 3 books, a personal best for me. Shout out to my local library for stocking the some great new releases. But even better, my social media consumption declined about 20% during January. For me, that’s a huge. What I will say, is that my social media diet was primary made up of Pinterest views for outfit (and dinner) inspo. This is a low-buy year for me as part of my living below my means goal. A key strategy for that goal is to love and use what I already own. I’ve been wearing my oversized sweaters and trousers or denim along with my kitten heeled ankle books on repeat. The chucky sweater in the photo is generally something I wear with sweats or casually, but I’ve really enjoyed wearing items in my wardrobe in new ways AND I’ve also enjoyed wearing them in old ways. The point is, I don’t even think twice about re-wearing my closet item. Afterall, what’s the point of owning something unless you plan on wearing multiple times? If you don’t enjoy wearing that item multiple times, then why do you own it? I’ve begun to embrace repeating outfits and and am truly getting satisfaction from rewears!
How are you doing with your New Year’s goals or resolutions? Have you made adjustments? Do they no longer serve you? Feel free to share in the comments.
