Goals start NOW

I have been thinking through my goals for the upcoming year, and once I finally had them at a point that I felt I could actually achieve, I could not WAIT until January to get started on them. 

This. Was. Dumb. 

Why on earth would I wait a full month before starting to plan out how to achieve my goals? 

2016 promises to be an amazing year, and so long as I stay the course, I should be able to achieve each of these. 

1. I can do this within 6 months IF I can manage to stick to my budget. This obviously does not include the house. That will come later. 

2. Transition from soda to water. This is a big one for me. One that I have often tried and failed at. I drink a disproportionate amount of water in comparison to my Dr. Pepper. It's also MUCH more budget friendly to drink water. 

3. This would happen after (and if) goal number 1. Again, totally attainable so long as I stick to my budget. 

4. We are planning a trip to Brazil to see family next Christmas. We would need to purchase tickets next summer, and have agreed to set money aside to pay for those in cash. 

5. This one may be a bit trickier, but we have NOTHING in savings. I know, Dave would be so disappointed in us, but it's the truth of where we are and what we'd like to fix. 

6. My husband desperately needs a new car. I don't actually mean new, but rather 'another' car. We are coming up on 9 years with this already loved car, and it's getting expensive to fix it. 

7. This one is just a duh. Why don't I have one of these?? Or my husband who works in finance from crying out loud. 

8. I love books. I love them. I feel like I never have time for them though. I can manage at least one a month...I hope. I am really excited about this goal. 

9. I'm really not sure how I will know when I have hit this goal. I just know that it needs to happen. Like, we cannot park in our garage because (apparently) it's more important that our possessions stay warm :/. I live in a constant state of chaos and miss out on precious time with my family because I am always tidying/cleaning. 

10. Oh the side hustle. I have often wanted to start something on the side, but fear of failure always stops me. I don't know that I'll find one thing, but I may try multiple avenues of bringing in some extra money. 

11. Every single month I sit down to look at where our money has gone, and without fail, it goes toward eating out. It's 10 here, 20 there, and before I know it, I'm out nearly 500 dollars for the month. I need a bank of quick, family, and budget friendly recipes to pull from.  I can do this one throughout the year. 

I geek out a little about fresh starts, new journals, fresh planners, and goals :) here's to accomplishing what I set out to do!