Setting Goals

I've never really been one to set goals and keep them. And I've never really had a reason to before either. In all honesty, I've always had a rather blasé, go with the flow attitude about most things, from work to relationships to what I'll eat for dinner. Well, I've come to the realization that I've got to get my act together. You can call it a quarter life crisis of sorts. I've always had quasi-goals and passions but what have I done to achieve them? Nothing really. For instance, I've been saying for the past year that I want to run a marathon in the next couple of years. And what have I done to achieve that? Nothing, zero, zilch. In fact, I've actually done more to stop myself from reaching that goal, such as sitting on the coach watching Real Housewives with a cup of Haagen Dazs. The problem is that my goals aren't attainable. Yes, I want to run a marathon but how am I going to set myself up to get there? That's the problem with most of us. We like create things that sound nice in our heads like New Year's Resolutions, subconciously knowing we'll never reach it. Come on, who can really plan a whole year ahead of time? So instead, I'm focusing on baby steps - starting small with goals at are attainable and measurable. Crawl before I walk, so to say. I'm going to document my monthly goals here and provide some updates on how they're going. Something about writing it down makes it feel more real. 

July Goals

• Cook dinner 3 times a week. I've realized that my boyfriend and I spend around $180 a week just on take out. If I can cut this back 3 times a week, I can save $90 a week or $360 a month.
• Exercise 3 times week. So no, I'm ready to run a marathon. But I can at least get my butt into shape. I've been a fan of Blogilates on youtube- anything to make a workout more fun!
• Sign up for driving lessons. I'm a city girl so no, I can't drive. I'm getting to an age where I feel like I need to learn.
• Cut back shopping spending to $200. I've never really budgeted how much I've spend on frivolous shopping but I feel like setting my budget to $200 is a good start. This includes clothing, personal care items, and anything else that it not food/household related.
• Blog 3 times a week. If you look at my archives, you know I'm not a consistent blogger. Yes, I started in 2008 but then there was 2012 were I didn't blog at on. Well, July 2013, I'm getting back on track!

 There you have it, my five goals for the month. Baby steps, guys...baby steps.