Hi there, Mrs. 1500 once again on a fairly frigid Monday morning for most of you asking about your goals for this new year. But first, let’s look at last week’s question, are you ready for a challenge?
I told you about the first 6 months of challenges, some of which require planning ahead. Here is a quick recap:
January – No alcohol.
February – Work out for 24 hours in 28 days.
March – Eat vegetarian for a month.
April – Make a budget.
May – Plan your menus for an entire month.
June – Spend no money this month.
I over-imbibed* on December 31st, and this month’s challenge so far has been a breeze! But in addition to these monthly challenges, I am trying to get back down to a more healthy weight. I lost about 15 pounds on Nutrisystem last year (and I highly recommend it if you are having trouble and need some help with portion sizes) but the move pushed my eating habits back to what they were before, and I have found those pounds again. I am now within 2 pounds of my all-time non-pregnancy high weight, and only 30 pounds away from that pregnancy weight! Time to get serious about weighing less**.
I want to be able to do pull-ups. Right now I can do exactly zero, so there is only room for improvement. I watch those P-90X commercials and see those people doing their pull-ups looking so fit. Sigh.
I want to master Mole. This is a delicious Mexican recipe that is ridiculously complicated to make. My cousin makes a great Mole, and it takes her 5 hours. What?!? And she said it is near constant working, too. Not just cut up and simmer for 5 hours.
I want to finish uglyhouse! ARGGH! This should be number 1. We moved in and found a contractor who hit the ground running, and very quickly ran out of steam. So we got a new contractor, and he is awesome! They are going to cut open the roof above the kitchen next week, which makes me nervous, but I am so done with construction.
Mr. 1500 has some goals, like saving money and tightening up his stomach muscles. What are your goals and how will you go about achieving them?
*Mr. 1500 note: Mrs. 1500 is usually very well behaved, so this amuses me slightly.
**Mr. 1500 note: I feel bad for Mrs. 1500 here. My metabolism must be 4x hers. We can do almost the same exercises and eat proportional portion sizes. After a week, I’ll be down 2 pounds and she’ll be up 2 ounces.
These are great challenges that you all have laid out. I can’t wait to hear the updates!
Dave @ The New York Budget recently posted…Anatomy of a Chore: How to Motivate Yourself
So far, January has been really easy for me. I don’t drink a lot, and haven’t had a hangover in years. That all changed on January 1, so I have not been remotely tempted. In fact, I have felt quite ill at the mere mention of alcohol…
The missus and I have the same dynamic re: working out, or at least we used to. Then I went and gained 10 pounds out of nowhere. So maybe we’ll be on the same weight gain/loss schedule now, which would be good.
I love your monthly challenges, and I’m looking forward to June. I think I’m going to try to join you guys: stocking up on food/gas at the end of May, and see how little I can spend in June.
My five goals this year are to buy a rental property, launch Personal Training for Your Pocketbook and get 8 clients, work out for 313 days of the year, lose 15 pounds, and to learn 3 songs on the guitar or keyboard. So far, so good…though some of them have laid dormant for the first two weeks!
Done by Forty recently posted…The Lottery: You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play
I am curious how you came up with the number 313? We, too are interested in rental property, so much so that I am one class away from my real estate license!
Oh, that’s just one ‘cheat’ day per week…so 52 cheat days out of 365.
Done by Forty recently posted…The Lottery: You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play
Haha, I love it. You guys sound like my wife and me! My hopes/goals for 2014 more or less revolve around living a sustainable 2014 and having a happy/healthy baby boy (due in March). I’ve learned not very much matters beyond that :o)
-Bryan
Fast Weekly recently posted…My Opinion of Johnson & Johnson’s Current Stock Price, Plus a Kicker
Congratulations on the new baby! Yes, our goals/challenges have a theme, financial and physical health. As we get older, it gets more important to be healthy.
LOL, I love how you call it uglyhouse!
My goals for this year are to recover from my eating disorder enough to have a baby, pay off the $16,000 in super-cheap loans we’ve been ignoring and save up $20,000 for an emergency fund, enjoy playing guitar, and go to Spain. Sounds like a lot, but I think I can do it!
Zoe @ my unhoardED life recently posted…Less stuff, fewer loans
Those are great goals. Good luck with them.
I have some very similar challenges to you guys. Joining you on the no alcohol one this month, it’s going well… so far anyway!
A brief summary of my goals for 2014:
Grow blog traffic and try to write some decent articles.
Save at least 50% of income
Set up a proper financial independence plan
Learn more about investing and taxes
Learn more about environmental, social, economic and political issues
Get fitter!
theFIREstarter recently posted…How Much are you Wasting on Getting Wasted
These are great goals! To learn more about general investing, check out http://www.madfientist.com/
Jim Collins over at http://jlcollinsnh.com/ also has some great advice.
Both blogs are US based, so they talk about things like the IRS that don’t pertain to you, but you can still learn a lot about investing in various vehicles through these two guys.
Your monthly goals are a great idea. Is the one for June really possible? I look forward to finding out. Our goal is to pay off my husband’s business debt. It’s still pretty hefty – down to $48,000 from $80,800 in one year – so no small deal. We’ll need some monthly challenges of our own. Thanks for some great ideas!
Prudence Debtfree recently posted…Debt Reduction Disappointment
I think that is fairly common that men and women have to exert different effort for weight loss. Men’s bodies place fat at the midsection first and that’s the first area it will go to in times of need. Women’s place it there first as well but go to other areas first in times of need (gotta keep the baby making parts protected). I know my girlfriend hates how much I can eat, exercise very little, and maintain my weight easily where she will gain weight in no time flat.
Micro recently posted…Consume it and toss it, or you could maintain it
Yeah, I hate how easy it is for Mr. 1500 to drop pounds. He stops eating junk and immediately drops 5 pounds. I stop eating junk and immediately drop 5 ounces, only to gain it all back and then some by walking past a bakery and smelling the deliciousness that resides within. Sigh.
I am having success this time around, by going on the Stop-Eating-So-Much-and-Start-Working-Out-More diet. It is pretty simple to follow. Stop eating junk food (I am ADDICTED to sugar) and instead, snack on raw veggies with no dip. Anytime I am hungry, I eat vegetables. Doing fairly well so far.
If nothing else, your home renovation project is keeping millions of readers in breathless suspense!
For myself, I’m hoping to build up enough income streams to go self-employed early in 2015, so that means working a part time job until we’re ready. It’s gonna be a busy year.
FI Pilgrim recently posted…My Checklist For Making The Self Employment Switch
I wouldn’t say millions of readers, but at least two. I can’t wait to see it either! And these new guys seem to be working out way better than the last one, so we should have a great final product.
Mine is to travel even more… Oh yeah, walk some more as well. Maybe l can just combine both and walk a lot on my travels. I understand you are going to Budapest this year..cool! We are headed there end of March. I will be sure to give you my impression. I like your January goal!
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Hi! Walking while traveling is a really great way to explore a new city. We try to find places to walk while we are in a new town. (Some American towns can be difficult to walk, we are a car culture. Sigh.)
We are headed to Hawaii this year, not Budapest, but that looks like an interesting place to visit as well.
Weight Loss is on my radar as well. I’ve lost roughly 10 lbs in the last month. I also want to use that expensive tandem bike I bought last year and never used. My wife went and got pregnant between when we ordered it and when it arrived 8 weeks later [….] sigh.
Elroy recently posted…Saving Money at Lowe’s and Home Depot
Better safe than sorry. Now you can get a tag-along trailer for that tandem…
My goals are to blog at least once per week, start investing again (in addition to my husband’s 401k), complete a minor remodeling of our kitchen, and get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans.
We want to hear about your remodeling project. We’ll be doing out kitchen too, but it’s last on the list.
Great goals, Mrs. 1500!! I”m on a weight loss goal too – oh, joy (she said, sarcastically). Are you making chicken mole’, or a veggie version? We used to have chicken mole growing up, it’s absolutely delicious!
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer recently posted…5 Things You Shouldn’t Do To Pay Off Debt
I think that we’re going to try the vegetarian version. Stay tuned…
Love the monthly goals! One thing I want to do this year is use my left hand more…I have heard it is great for creativity (I am a righty). The other thing is taking cold showers… from what I read, there are many excellent health and mental benefits… but I am just not brave enough for it yet! Hopefully in 2014 I can start that up!
Our Fine Adventure recently posted…Realizing We Have Control
I’ve heard about the left hand thing! I am going to try brushing my teeth with my left hand today.
I’ve been doing the cold shower thing my whole life. I’ve always enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and this sure accomplishes it.
I actually did the p90X and lost 55 lbs. I got so ripped and in shape for three years but now with a bad back I can’t keep up. I just want to focus on my health in 2014, which is my important thing
charles@gettingarichlife recently posted…I’ve Joined The Yakezie Challenge
P90x is something we’ve always wanted to try. I think we’ll do it this year. 55 pounds is huge!
We’ve had our home for sale since May 2013. I’m hoping that in 2014 we can sell and downsize both in size as well as mortgage. It’s time to get out from under the McMansion!!!
Mark recently posted…Financial Titans: J.L. Collins