No Spend Month Goals

A few times a year - sometimes it's three times, sometimes four - I try to do a "no spend month".  I admit, sometimes I'm a recreational shopper.  In the past, I was at home with infant/toddler twins, and desperately needed to get out of the house! Shopping was a way to do that.  And while I was never a "shopaholic", I did overspend sometimes.  "No spend months" helped me get over that.

My monthly grocery budget is pretty large, but the first part of "no spend" is to stick to that budget!  For that reason, don't do a "no spend" around Thanksgiving or Christmas, or any month you know you will be feeding extra people a lot of food.  Every time I go to the store, I add up my receipts and write it in my weekly planner so I keep track.  One week, I may hit a discount store like Aldi for my necessities, just to make sure I stay under budget.

The next part is to use what you've got.  I am an avid reader and read every night before bed.  This means I go through a book on my Kindle every 3-4 days.  Ten books a month can add up!  So, for no spend, I go back and re-read old books - sometimes even *gasp* printed books!  I also dig into my pantry and freezer to use up food, and into my linen closet for all the hoarded shampoo I forgot about.

Lastly, give yourself a break.  You can't foresee every occurrence.  One of my kids broke my laptop adaptor and made off with the cord - resulting in an extra $100 purchase.  Life happens.

My goals is for 4 "No Spend Months" in 2018, so we will see if I can do that!

My Personal Mission Statement

I read a ton of blogs every day and listen to several podcasts, and I love to make connections.  The Minimalists have a great podcast on setting personal priorities and setting values for your life.  The Edit Your Life Show also did a great one about writing a mission statement for your life.  I combined the two and made my family mission statement a priority list.

The idea is that you identify things that align with your own values - are you an environmentalist, a vegan, a scientist, an educator? Center your statements around your core values.  Then, think about your deepest priorities, to yourself, your kids, your spouse, your world. How do you connect your values to those categories?

You don't have to have any grand statements. It's great if you want to save the world, but that is not going to happen in a day.  The mission statement or priority list is more of a guide to help you every day.  I pick up my trash at the park because I want to set a good example for my kids of being a good citizen. I take my vitamins to try to keep my body healthy.  I clean the cat box to maintain a pleasant home environment.  I would do all those things anyway, but because I align them with my priorities, the take on intention. There is more power in it because when I clean the cat box or all the other cleaning project, it becomes the goal of "a pleasant and healthy home environment," not just a clean cat box!

My priorities:

• Raise kids to be good global citizens
• Encourage and support husband and his goals
• Keep a pleasant and healthy home environment
• Keep my mind active and my self even

The added benefit of calling these priorities is that, over time, priorities change.  That's ok.  These work for me now, but when I go back to work, I will need to revisit and change them.  Life isn't static, so having priorities change is normal. One of my 2018 goals was to review these to make sure they still work and so far, they do.  It is a good idea to regularly review them, as a reminder too!

2018 Goals

2018 seems like a good year for transition.  2016 seemed like a crap year and 2017 was a flaming dumpster fire full of rubber tires and manure.  Surely 2018 will be better, right?

One of the only ways to make 2018 better is to act.  So, rather than make nebulous "resolutions" that go nowhere, I wrote myself some goals.

I'm not a "goal" type person - I don't usually write them out formally, nor think long and hard about what I want.  More likely, I just identify what I want and make it happen (or not...).  But in order to solidify this year into a year of action, I wrote them down.

• Running plan for Disney 5k: @least 3x week (1 distance, 1 Fartlek, 1 speed)
• Continue Agile Family, add more goals
• Drink more water
• Take your vitamins
• Connect with husband more (dates)
• Review personal mission/priorities
• Meal planning
• Add meditation & do more yoga
• Declutter by not adding; no more than 2 or a week/month supply
• Start a SAHM --> WM transition

I will write more details about the goals and how I use them to benefit myself and my family.  Because that is what it is really all about; making my family life the best it can be.