I have been thinking about the things I want to improve on for this year. Several are a carry-over/redo from last year. I will create the list now along with explain or clarifying the goal in this post and each month I plan to post a recap on where I am at with that goal.

Blogging- I want to continue to try and meet the same expectation as last year 20 post a month. This will actually be more difficult in 2011 because I am no longer in charge of menu planning which eliminates Monday Menu post. I also hope to post more of the shopping experiences I have along with more just life information.

Devotions- 3 a week excluding Sundays.

Couponing/ Grocery Budget: The goal this year is to maintain the amount we spent at around 800 a month including diapers and cleaning supplies. I am really going to focus on couponing and developing a better stock pile. Last year we averaged $703 a month but I am sure this did not include all the food. In order to reach this goal several changes are in the works. First I will be purchasing at least 1 paper a week in addition to the one that I get for free from my parents. I may vary this up to 3 a week. Secondly, we are working on a “price point list.” My plan is to use Costco as the I can find it anytime price and base stocking up on the best deals I can find at the present. I have heard of several predictions that the cost of food will raise significantly this year so I hope this is a good plan. Third on this list is the square food garden. Last year was the first year we attempted, the plan is to triple the size for this year. Start with planting seeds by the end of January and use this for reducing our budget especially in the summer. We have also discussed purchasing half a cow or other ways to get meat in bulk. I will keep you informed as this start to occur.

Financially- 2010 brought major life changes to us. We have been struggling with reducing debit and developing a fair budget. We “think” this has finally been achieved, a realistic budget has been established. The goal for this year is to reduce debts, not acquire any new debts and ultimately to be out of debt except for our mortgage by the end of the year. We are also planning a trip to Disney at Easter, so this is a huge expenses but one we are planning for.

Weight-I now weigh the most I have ever in my entire life even when pregnant. My goal in this area is to lose 25lbs prior to our trip in April and then after returning returning to lose a total of 75lbs this year. We bought the Wii and Wii Fit to go with it so hopefully between that and some good old fashion calorie counting I can succeed.