In the third and final part of my Christmas lists- let’s focus on Christmas future as I’m looking forward to 2016
“So – what are your resolutions for 2016?” A question that many people start asking themselves somewhere between December 26th & December 31st. What should I resolve to do in 2016? Do?! I do stuff all the time! As if I have time in my day to resolve to do one more thing! As busy as I am, I wonder, where did this resolution thing come from?
According to a posting on the History Channel’s website, “The practice of making resolutions for the new year is thought to have first caught on among the ancient Babylonians, who made promises in order to earn the favor of the gods and start the year off on the right foot. (They would reportedly vow to pay off debts and return borrowed farm equipment.)”
I wanted to make realistic resolutions that I can keep but also ones that have an impact on not just me but others. Here are my top five resolutions for 2016.
5. Read More. I have about ten books on my ipad that I am dying to read, but I just don’t make the time in my day to do so. I would like to resolve in 2016 to read one new book a month. The accountability I’m going to have for this is that I’m going to post the book I’m reading each month on my blog, in the efforts to potentially start a virtual book club with my readers. More new info on this to come, but for now – let the reading begin! January’s book, “Yes Please” by Amy Poehler.
4. Purging our home. For a long time I was pretty good at donating two times a year, when seasonally switching clothes, to charitable organizations or selling my old handbags on Ebay. Somewhere along the way, between getting married and having my son, I stopped donating old items and stopped selling on Ebay (which is ironic because you usually need MORE money once you have a child). This year I vow to start purging our household of items we no longer want or need and making sure to sell the good ones on Ebay and to donate items we no longer use (like the old CFD shirts in the basement for the past two years, dear).
3. Bring my lunch – I have fallen (again) in to the trap of the downtown restaurant scene! I have failed to bring my lunch to work more times that I would actually like to admit, probably spending more money on food than necessary. This year, I’d like to scale back the number of times I go out to lunch to two twice a month (on pay day). This way I can still schedule meetings and lunch dates with friends during the week, without having to constantly go out to lunch because I’m too lazy to make a sandwich and chop up some veggies at home the night before.
2. Working on the Need vs. Want. While cartoons show an angel and a devil on the main character’s shoulders while contemplating a task, I have the constant “Need” and “Want” characters on my shoulders. I really need new work shoes, but I’d really like the tall boots that I’ll only wear a few times. I would like to continue to work on balancing out my needs and wants to help create good habits in our home for our son.
1. Pay off all my “minor” debts each month. As we are trying to be more fiscally responsible in our home, we have been working on paying off all our credit card debt each month back down to a zero balance. While this is not a new philosophy for some, it is for our household. Minus a trip to Ireland and a new deck on our home, we have been able to pay off our credit cards each month so far and I would like to continue this good habit into 2016.
What are your promises for 2016? And are they realistic and attainable goals which can benefit you now and throughout 2016?
The Two-Minute Mom 