“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11″

This was actually the verse we picked out for our wedding!   I think this is a fitting verse for the year as I have learned and am still learning that His plans and timing is always  much better than anything I can think of.

I am going to try and be diligent in keeping up with these but also want to share that everything is not always easy or happens the way we think it should.

Financial-
This is a very difficult area for me to even begin to plan and set goals end. Currently Matt is unemployed but actively seeking a job.  We had discussed the possibility of this “season” lasting even a year. In my brain, I can say that and yet I am also hoping that it does not last that long.  I am going to work on short term- goals that we can focus on during his unemployment and long term- goals that we will focus on once he returns to full time employment.
Short-term– The main idea/plan for this is to stay out of debit. We already have several things planned and I want to be as resourceful as possible and use these to keep us on the right track.
1. Cash Envelope system
2. Groceries- $50 a week or $200 a month through May (April excluded). Returning to $650 a month in June
3. Gas – $500 a month (this may need to be increased depending on where Matt ends up working).
4. No spend days- I am trying something new. Instead of only writing down the days that we end up with no spending. I am going to write each day what we ended   up paying for each day. If the items is from a budget category like groceries or gas then that will be written.
5. Monitor and maintain Energy usage- This is something that I have just started in the last month.  I have realized that our Heating/ Air system is the biggest expense. We also need to be diligent about turning off items we don’t need.  The camper also uses alot of energy just being plugged up so we need to watch this as well.
Long Term- I would like to establish a long term savings account with $10,000 I would like to add another $100 to my ROTH as well.

Garden-
We have been able to finish the greenhouse as well as fill all the beds with new soil.  I want to be able to raise enough veggies this summer to feed not only us on a weekly basis but also refill the freezers. I did purchase a food saver that I plan to put to good use next summer.  I have already purchased most of the seeds I am planning to use I will be purchasing both tomato and pepper plants to plant. 

House-
We are on track to receive one more check from Matt’s dad estate. The current plan is to have both the kitchen and our shower room floors replaced.  We will be building ourselves a new “plastic” deck and are considering adding a covering for the camping trailer.

Travel-
We love to travel and enjoy doing so as a family! Current plans included:
1.Shopping trip (4 days) in January- this is a second practice run with the new camper.
2. Disney Trip in April
3. Haley’s wedding
4. Beach Trip in July
Depending on how these go we might consider adding in a trip to Washington DC or Williamsburg in the fall.

Lots of things to look forward to!