For 2025

After some time off for the holidays, I feel so refreshed and energized to tackle a new year. Here is what I will be working on 2025:

• I want to stay on top of our finances.
  Money is always slipping away from me with extraneous expenses and on top of that, we have an ambitious budget. I want to understand better what we are spending on. This in change will help me become a more prepared planner for future expenses and modify behaviors that cause overspending.
  • How? I will be reviewing our expenses on a weekly basis and keeping a close eye at a few categories:
    • Groceries
    • Restaurants
    • Gas
    • Miscellaneous
      I plan to post about these numbers so stay tuned.
• I want to read 12 books.
  As a teenager, I was an avid reader and I want to go back to that. I waste a lot of time in front of screens and I want to learn about new things, relax at home differently, and be an example to my children. I also have many books that need to be read.
  • How? My goal is to read ten pages each day. I believe that was a goal from a few years ago, but my break killed the habit and now I am going back to it. Ten pages should allow me to read more than 12 books but I am giving myself a slow pace to make it enjoyable and not a chore.
• I need to figure out meal plans.
  I don’t like to cook and I really don’t like how it essentially needs to happen daily or close to it. There is nothing like a homecooked meal for the body, soul, and pocket, and I love that part, just not the planning. When I have planned my meals I don’t feel as stressed about the routine.
  • How? I am going to meal plan weekly and save those plans for future use. There is no need to make the same decision each week. After a while I expect to have a decent menu going and feel comfortable enough to know what type of new recipe I can plug in.
    I will also be posting these templates, so stay tuned.
• I am going to fast from granulated sugar the first week of each month.
  I have an addictive relationship to sugar and I need to cut it off. I want to take care of my body and also teach my kids how to have a healthy relationship with sugar. I struggle with dosing my intake so completely removing it is the way.
  • How? I have to be transparent to say that this is a fast, not a detox. I cannot do this without prayer. I want to take this time and connect more with God with prayer and Bible reading, and realign how I go through my day from sugar highs to Godly guidance. I have done these a few times before and I have become more in tune of when and where and why I overindulge. I am hoping that the consistent fast will enhance my relationship with God and give me more self-control outside of it.

These are the top items that I want to tackle. There are more things I want to work towards, like investing more in my children and being more consistent with blogging and vlogging, however, the free space in my contained life is precise and I don’t want to overwhelm myself with too many musts. I will work on those items on a breezier pace and revisit in the summer.

What about you? Do you have one thing or things that you want to be better at?