- Read more - this is an easy one... I have a ton of books that I have bought with the intention of reading and just haven't gotten to them... sooooo this is very exciting for me. So far I have a couple on deck and look forward to turning off the tv in the evenings and read. I also include actually reading the Vanity Fair and New Yorkers that I get before I get the new one in the mail. I tend to let them pile up to about six months worth and then I can't really process everything that I have so just put them in the recycling bin. If I don't read the magazines right away I am actually going to cancel the subscriptions. I don't read Interview anymore... it's done. I don't read some of the other magazines that I have let the subscriptions slide. I love magazines but seriously if I don't read them why subscribe?
- Save more - so how am I planning on doing this? I mean in all honesty I am pretty frugal. I don't want to say I am cheap, because I am not that at all... but I am pretty frugal. So how to I put that frugality into something that actually will financially make a difference? Ok so here goes. And this was a really really hard decision for me to make. But with everything the way it is now in the world... I am no longer contributing to my IRA. Last year I lost over $3000. Which is basically what my contribution was. So sure I broke even. But that is not the point. So I have decided that I am not contributing in 2012 but will use that money to pay off even more of the principal on my mortgage. This potentially increases my home value 25%. That is much better of a return than my IRA at this time.
- My friend L has this thing she posted on line that in even numbered years she doesn't buy new clothes. Ok so this might be really really difficult for me, but I love and adore the idea so I am going to actually think about adopting this model for the year. It's really funny because I have lots of clothes in my closet and dressers that I should wear and don't. So now I will... L said that it's like shopping in your own closet. I have to add for me it will be like shoe shopping too!
- In addition to this... I used to fill my fridge with food that I don't eat. So that is a tremendous waste. I am actually going to plan out meals. Yep... plan out meals. And well rounded meals too. Not just pasta. Ok pasta with chicken. But something with some protein. I will bake more. I will try new recipes and share. I want to have dinner parties.
- I want to reach out to my friends more. I am not a real fan of the phone so much anymore. Funny how as an adult the phone isn't as important as it was when we were teenagers! So because I have bought over 100 postcards in the past year that are gorgeous to look at but won't they mean more in the hands of the people I like? I do believe so....
- Make these last days and months (hopefully) of Herschel's magical and comfortable. I know that I have limited time but its so very important that he has a great life and in this last chapter I have to face all the challenges that face us with the dignity that he has shown me for the past 15 years.
- Take pictures! Take more pictures! I am so in love with photography that I don't know why I don't take pictures everyday of every little thing. So I am going to be far less judicious and just shoot away. It's the only way I am going to learn more about my cameras and their functionality. F bought me a camera to replace the one that was stolen when we were in California and honestly it's lovely. But it wouldn't hurt me to learn to love the camera that I bought to replace it right? I don't like the way it handles but learning to love it is a goal. And also with my frugality... I can't buy anymore camera apps. I have about 40 on my phone now and really only use the hipstamatic and sometimes the Camera+... both GREAT apps but there are 38 more that I haven't used but maybe once.... so I will use them more.
- Keep a clean and less cluttered home. Which means no more magazine piles. No more paper piles. No more buying soaps and just putting them in the linen closet to use later... use what I have ... make room. (again pointing to the frugality....)
- Turn off the tv for at least an hour every night. I have a dvr so I really do not watch live tv anymore so I have to turn off the tv for at least an hour. I figure this will give me time to read, write, clean and be productive!
So all these are things I should already be doing. But I don't completely actually do full on.
Its really important to set some goals and make some plans for sure, and nothing is better than sharing with the world. So make a plan... put it in writing... put it out in the world because to share yourself with others is a gift in and of itself!
Ok off to finish the latest batch of bacon jam and clean a drawer and finish The Wednesday Letters .
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