I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions, however I am a big proponent of setting realistic goals in order to keep myself on track.  And having a blog means that I can publish my goals for all to see, which should help hold me accountable to myself and to our readers.

I was fairly successful in achieving my short term goals for 2010, so hopefully that momentum carries forward into 2011.  Here are my short term goals for this year:

Financial

1. Buy a New House – I’ve written before about our goal of upgrading our house.  We currently live in a two bedroom, one bathroom starter home in Lethbridge, AB.  We’ve been here for almost 8 years and now that our family is growing we will need a bigger place to live.  We’ve found a floorplan that we love from a local home builder, and they build in a great new community close to where I work.  The construction will take approximately 5 months to complete, so we’ll look to get started in the Spring and be in our new house in the late Fall.  We want to ensure we have at least 20% of the purchase price for a downpayment, and most of that will come from the equity in our existing house.
2. Sell our Existing House – Because of the timing involved with building a house, we will need to put our existing home up for sale immediately upon starting construction.  We hope the timing works out with the possession dates, but if not we will have to find some alternative living arrangements until everything gets sorted out with both houses.  After almost 8 years we’ve managed to accumulate a lot of stuff, and there are a few odds and ends that need to be repaired or touched up before we are ready to show the house.
3. Save $12,000 – As a continuation of last year’s savings goal, I would like to save $1,000 each month.  This money will be used as a contingency fund for any additional charges that will inevitably come up in the home building process.  I do not want to use the money in our TFSA for anything related to this house upgrade, so saving this cash each month is really important.

Career

1. Get a Raise or Promotion – The age of austerity has entered the public sector over the past year, and raises were few and far between.  I’ve been in my current position for 18 months now, and part of my 3 year plan for starting a new job is to learn your job in the first year, master your job in the second year, and learn your boss’ job in the third year.  I’m half way through the “master your job” phase, and have so far exceeded my targets this year.  There is plenty of room for growth within the organization, so if I can’t get the raise that I’m looking for in July, hopefully an opportunity will present itself in another department.  In the meantime I’ll keep working hard in my own area while continuing to network with key individuals in other departments to stay on their radar.

Personal

1. Do More Family Activities – This past year was challenging as we transitioned to single-income living and focused on getting our budget under control.  We didn’t have a lot of time or money to go out and do a lot of things as a family.  Now that our daughter is a little bit older we would like to get her involved in some different activities this year that we can do together, like skiing, skating, or swimming.  Even though we have a major purchase coming up this year, I don’t want money to stop us from creating some great family memories at this stage in our lives.  Besides, there are still lots of frugal ways to spend time together as a family.

Obviously our focus this year is on building our new house.  We are building this house with the future in mind and hope to stay there for a long time, and we just want to do it right.

Most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions before the month of January comes to an end, but in this coming year I’m committing to breaking the bad habit of being wasteful.  When I think about it, I am wasteful in practically every area in my life so this will be a real challenge for me.

I Resolve To Drastically Reduce My Food Bill

I will only cook as much as the two of us can eat.  I no longer have teenage boys at home so I don’t need to make gargantuan meals any more.

Related: How To Save Money On Groceries

If I do prepare a large meal, I will eat the leftovers in a timely manner instead of letting them become science projects in the fridge.  I will use up the food in the freezer before buying more, especially meat which always becomes freezer burned if left too long no matter what type of packaging I use.

I will get back to my monthly meal plan and make a thoughtful, detailed list of food I need before going grocery shopping.  No more impulse buying.

I Resolve To Be More Conscientious With My Utility Usage

There’s no big mystery here, we’ve all heard it before – turn out the lights, don’t leave water running unnecessarily, turn down the thermostat a few degrees and put on a sweater, and buy more energy efficient appliances if you can.  It’s so simple but so easy to forget.

Related: Why Today’s Appliances Don’t Last

I Resolve To Rid My Home Of Clutter

We have way too much clutter.  I tend to keep the old item I’m replacing with new for some reason.  Why?  If it’s still of some use or I can get it repaired, I don’t need something new.

If something is no longer of any use to me, for whatever reason, I need to get rid of it – donate it, sell it or throw it out.  I will have a use for everything I buy.  No more purchases that still have their price tags attached because I haven’t used them.

I will be on a mission to remove everything except for what I use and/or love, and I’ll be very selective about what I buy and what I accept from other people who are trying to unload their clutter on to me.

I Resolve To Get Organized

I especially need to clear out my desk area, my closets, my kitchen and my sewing room.  In the past I have purchased items that I knew I had, but could not for the life of me find when I needed them.  Duplicates and triplicates of things I don’t use very often wastes money, not to mention the time wasted trying to find something.

I Resolve To Work On My Bad Habit Of Wasting Time

Unfortunately, I am a huge procrastinator.  While I have not let it get me into trouble – I pay my bills on time and meet other deadlines, I tend to put off small chores until they become a burden and then I’m even less inclined to tackle them.

My paid dividends languish in my account until I get around to re-investing them, and I neglect to update my spreadsheets on a timely basis and then it seems too time consuming.  I commit to the principles of “do it now” and “chunk it down.”

Related: How To Set Up A DRIP

I know this will be a lot of work for me, but I resolve to take it one day at a time and, if I forget once in a while, I won’t beat myself up.  I’ll just begin again until I get it.