Well here we are, the last day of 2014!! A time to look back on the year before and to look ahead at what's in store for next year!
Every year, I make resolutions. Usually the same ones: lose weight, be better with money, stop cussing.
Undoubtedly, by February or March they are all broken. The reason for that is there is no measurable progress! So last year (or the beginning of this year) I decided to change the way I did my resolutions. With getting married, there were some real things that I wanted to accomplish in 2014:
1) Read the bible in a year.
This is a goal I have wanted for myself for sometime. I have always been a Christian and have always read the bible. But I could count on just one hand how many full books of the bible I had actually read. So this year I downloaded an app that laid out plans for you, and each day at work, while I was preparing for that day - I would listen to that day's bible verses. I would get behind some days when life would get busy, but as of today, the last day of the year, I am DONE! I am so proud of myself for accomplishing this goal, because this has allowed me to grow in my faith. God has shown me things through his Word that I had never heard or seen before. It has truly been an awesome experience. I don't feel like you should read the bible once and be done with it, so in 2015, I will: Chose another plan and read the bible in a year again.
2) Get out of debt by the time I get married
I wasn't in huge debt, I just had a few credit cards and my car payment. But late in 2013, I had gotten into Dave Ramsey and the "Debt Free Lifestyle". At first, I thought, there is no way. I'd like to pay the debt off, but I have so many other priorities coming up, it will never happen. But then, as I listened to his radio show, I thought - I can really do this!! So I started following Dave's Baby Steps to get this done. I used a large portion of my tax return check from 2013 to get me started, but by May 2014 - I was officially debt free!
Now, throw into this mix a house. James and I wanted a house to move into once we were married. An apartment just didn't feel like "home". James had some money saved up and I was able to use an old 401K account for a down-payment (you can withdraw money out for a first time home without any penalty). So in June, 2014 we bought our first home. We chose a house that was nice, but not outside our means. Because of being debt free except the house, we are able to pay $150 more on our mortgage every month. This will equal two payments a year, and we will have the house paid off in 15 years.
The wedding and Christmas kind of stalled our progress on Baby Step #3: Save 3-6 months income for emergency funds. But starting in 2015, we are going to hit that goal hard!! So the resolution for 2015 is: Complete Baby Step #3. I will be blogging about our progress with this for sure!
3) Visit my Grandparents at least once a month
I feel like I shouldn't get credit for this goal. Between two family graduations and a wedding, I had A LOT of family time in 2014, so it was easy to see them once a month! In 2015, I will have the same goal: Visit my grandparents once a month. I feel like it will be harder this year with our first year of marriage and not having so many events to cause me to visit them.
Of course in 2015, I would like to lose weight. I have been TOTALLY unmotivated since the wedding. I have eaten like a college freshman, and the only exercise I have been doing is shopping for Christmas! So in 2015, I am going to get back into eating heather and exercising. James got me a new Fit Bit for Christmas, so I will be back on tracking my steps, activities, and what I eat. This really isn't a New Years resolution, but putting it here will keep me accountable.
Did you make resolutions in 2014? How did you do? What about 2015? I'd love to hear from other's on this!! <3
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