Happy 2010!

Image by berk2804 via Flickr

Wow! I cannot believe it's the start of a new decade! I so enjoy the first day of the new year, to me it is so fresh and clean, ready to make of it what we will. I want to say a huge Thank You to all my wonderful readers and sponsors. Thanks so much for being a part of my ramblings! The past year has been full of many ups and downs for us. In 2010, we are hoping for more ups than downs. Things are changing for us this year and I pray these will be positive changes.

My goals for 2009 didn't exactly get met. I've struggled with family life, finances, motherhood, you name it. There have been highs and lows, unexpected events, and lots of surprises. This year, we are trying to be better about making plans and sticking to them.

First of all, my children are growing up so fast. My number one priority this year is to spend more quality time together. I hope this will be a whole family event, but I can't control others. All I know is that I am vowing to spend quality, one on one time with my kids each and everyday. I feel like they are growing up so quickly that my time with them is flying by. I want to cease the moment while I can. This may seem like a crazy goal for some, I think being a great mom comes easier to some than it does me. But, I didn't exactly learn parenting from my parents. So, my kids and the whole family will be my first priority. I hope we will all grow closer this year.

Dan and I've made some big decisions about finances this year. The biggest choice we've made is to give up the van. The van payment is the difference between us being able to make it financially and not. This is big for us, as the van was our first real "new" car. We were so excited about being able to pay off a car and have something nice for a change. Two years later, we've sunk thousands of dollars into repairs, plus been struggling to make a car payment we truly cannot afford. Lesson learned, putting yourself in an impossible debt situation is not exciting. So, who cares if everyone else has a nicer car than us? We plan to pay cash for the best late model used car we can find. It makes a lot more sense to us than continuing to make large payments we cannot afford. As a friend of mine said about it, Dave Ramsey would be proud!

On a financial note, we are not frivolous people. We have no credit cards, do not go on vacations, and rarely spend money on anything other than paying bills, buying gas, and groceries. Even so, on one income in a small Texas town, financial survival can be tough. So, we are recommitting ourselves to tracking every penny we spend. We want to know where our money is going, so we can easier track what is necessary and what is not. We are not going to try to set ourselves to a strict fixed amount like we attempted last year, but we are going to be more careful.

As for food, it has become very clear that most of our grocery shopping needs to be done out of town. I have local friends who argue that you spend more money driving out of town, but I've done the math and, for us anyway, completely disagree. The gas we spend driving 70 miles round trip to the neighboring town still doesn't add up to what we spend on groceries here. We have one grocery store here, so they are naturally very high. Driving out of town adds about $10 to the cost of a grocery store trip. What it comes down to is that I can buy a months worth of groceries in the neighboring town for what I'd spend on two weeks worth here. Even when you throw in that ten bucks in gas money, making that drive is definitely worth it!

We are also learing to make do with what we have and make things ourselves. I call it creative frugality, even though it isn't all that creative. No more buying laundry soap, all purpose cleaners, etc. If I can find a way to make my own, I will.

So, these are just a few of the things I hope to work on this year. Writing them down and sharing them with you tends to make me more accountable.

What are some of your goals for the new year? Please share them with us. I look forward to supporting you in your goals and wish you a fabulous New Year!