Simplicity: January

It's here, 2014!  My year to simplify and focus on my priorities.  So January is probably going to have some more growing pains that other months will as this is the first month of my attempt to weed through all the garbage and find what makes me happy.  I have 5 goals that I'm going to be working on this year (see previous posts if you have no idea what I'm talking about).  The goal is improvement, not perfection. 

Here are my mini-goals to go with each of my major goals for January:

1) Main Goal: Embrace Minimalism:

    My goal for January is to spend 15 minutes a day decluttering my apartment.  The way to properly declutter is this.  Take 3 bags or boxes and label them 1) Keep, 2) Give Away, & 3) Throw Away.  Then you pick one area like a drawer or a closet or a bookshelf.  Don't take apart anything that you can't put back together in 15 minutes.  Then you go through each item, dusting off anything that is going in the Keep or Give Away boxes, and put them in the appropriate boxes.  The rules are: if you don't LOVE it or USE it, get rid of it.  By USE it doesn't mean might use sometime in the future.  Aside from seasonal things, if you haven't used it or even looked at it in the last 6 months, then get rid of it.  It's not adding value to your life, it's adding clutter and clutter has actually been linked to anxiety and depression.  So declutter your space, declutter your mind, simplify your life.  Once the garbage bag/box is full, take it right out to the dumpster.  Don't keep it around any longer than you have to.  Once the Give Away bag/box is full, close it up and put it in the trunk of your car.  Bring it to a donation center the next time you are out.  If there is something that you would like to sell because you think it may have monetary value, take pictures and put it on Craigslist or EBay right away.  But if it doesn't sell in a month, give it away.  STUFF is not worth your happiness. 

2) Main Goal: Quality Time with Family:

    My goal for January is to re-commit myself to a weekly Family Game Night (or Family Home Evening).  Monday nights are our nights to turn off the TV, put away the phone, sit down at the table together for dinner, and then play a game.  It's amazing what this small thing, once a week, can do for the dynamic of a family.  It gives us the opportunity to laugh, talk, and share.  I would like to involve my children in making dinner on these nights.  My son has been asking to be able to do this anyway and it will give us a little extra time, making things together.  Also, I would like to get out on the weekends with my kids and play more.  With winter in full-swing it would be nice to spend more time on the weekends sledding and ice skating, even if it's just playing in the yard.  This will also help me to be more active, going towards another goal of mine.

3) Main Goal: Clean Eating:

    I have done about 4 Whole 30's over the last year or so.  While they've taught me a lot and helped me to gain some new, healthier habits, 30 days just isn't enough for me to break the BAD, unhealthy habits.  My hormones and chemicals are so out of whack that while 30 days gives me a jump-start, it's not enough to really reverse all the damage.  SO, I'm committing myself to 100 Days of Clean Eating, starting January 5th and ending April 14th.  My goal here is to not only reset my body, but also reset my mind and habits.  For anyone who is not familiar with what Whole 30 is, check out this website!  http://whole30.com/new/  It's a great way to start of your New Year on a good foot diet-wise. 

4) Main Goal: More-Active, Less-Electronic:

    My goal for January is two-fold. 
    1) Cancel cable.  We have Netflix, we have Hulu, we rent movies from the Library.  Is there really any reason to keep paying for Cable every month?  What does it bring to our family?  What good comes from being able to mindlessly watch hours of TV that half the time is just on for the heck of it?  So we're getting rid of it.  It will be an adjustment, but it will open up more time for other, more important things.  Speaking of...
   2) Be more active.  Santa brought me this really awesome Pilates DVD for Christmas- exactly what I wanted.  So I'm going to commit to doing this at least 3 times a week this month.  It's not super long, doesn't take any extra money.  However, the benefits reaped from stretching, deep-breathing, and strengthening your core is extremely valuable.  And it's not so strenuous that it will be hard for me to do while my body is detoxing and adapting to my healthier way of eating.  A great way to ease into exercise for the New Year.  Once the month is over I will feel better and be ready to move onto other things, like my CrossFit Boot Camp or Kickboxing Groupons. 

5) Main Goal: Save Money:

    I spent some time this last week and put together my budget for the year.  For anyone who is struggling putting together a budget, look into The Total Money Makeover- it's a great book and has a lot of helpful tips on how to use your money more wisely.  With goals over the next couple of years like paying off loans and saving for a home, I needed to re-evaluate our financial needs and wants.  After putting together a realistic budget, I also put in a place a Debt Snowball.  For anyone who is not familiar with this, basically you take all your debts.  Everything from the $15.00 balance with that book club you signed up for 8 years ago that's still hanging around to your car loan or mortgage.  EVERYTHING.  Then you list out what you still owe on each of them and also what your minimum monthly payments are.  If you have not started making monthly payments on some of them, decide on an amount based on your budget.  Then you take whatever extra money you have (money you were previously spending on, oh I don't know... cable?) and put that money towards paying off the smallest debt.  Once that is paid off you take the extra money from cancelling cable PLUS the monthly payment for the debt you just paid off and add those amounts to the next debt's monthly payment, and so on and so on... creating a "snowball" effect.  Eventually you might be able to double or even triple your payment on your mortgage or car loan.  I have heard of people paying off 30 year mortgages in 5 years or less this way, depending on their financial standing.  So that's what I'm going to do, starting this month. However, because I need security, instead of taking every extra penny I have and putting it towards the debt snowball (I know this is a no-no, but I don't care... it's my money), I will be putting aside 10% of every paycheck into my long-term savings.  This is to save up for a down-payment on our home, which is something we desperately want.

So, there you have it, my goals for January!  It may seem like a lot but actually most of the leg-work has already been done, so now it's just a matter of doing it.  Declutter, spend more time with family, eat clean, cancel cable and do some pilates, and stick to a budget.  It's really not much but it will make a great investment into my future and the future of my family.  Here's to new beginnings and another chance to get it right!