february goal check-in.

happy first monday of march! ive been a big fan of mondays and the fresh start to a new week, and the first monday of every month is DEFINITELY my favorite, since its a new week AND a new month. SO many possibilities for new goals and plans! though this year, i did things differently and instead of focusing my time and energy on small, bite sized weekly and monthly goals, i made big, subtle, long term goals for 2015. and unfortunately, i quickly got discouraged. i didnt feel like i was making "enough" progress, and because i already had goals i was working on, i didnt want to distract myself by making new little goals every week/month. 

but just the other day i figured out a way to combine these two problems into a solution, that, for the rest of the year, should be a big help to keep me motivated and focused on my big goals for the year, as well as to help encourage any of my readers that might also find themselves in a season of slowly working through long term goals: 

at the beginning of every new month (tentatively scheduled for the first monday of the month), im going to check in on the progress we made on our goals for the year, however big or small, and take a minute to share any plans we have for the next baby steps. it may not always be big and exciting stuff, but it will at least be a way to keep an eye on what we have done and the progress we are making, as well as not letting those goals sit around getting ignored because they arent getting "done" fast enough. 

so where do we stand with our big goals? (you can read more about what they are here, here, and here)

blog goals: 

solidify brand and content: this one is actually done! ive been planning and brainstorming and picking over old stuff and i am happy to say: i know exactly where poverty luxe is going from here on out. 

consistently blog through the whole year: eh, i took an unplanned break in january/march, but for good reason as i was working on goal number one. the good news is that ive got plenty of motivation and inspiration to get things moving, the bad news is that i still need to work out finding the right rhythm with my current school schedule. 

plan and write posts in advance: though getting back into writing has been slow going, i am very proud to say that the vast majority of the posts ive posted lately have been planned, written, and scheduled in advance (though, not this one, of course). 

collaborate and connect with other bloggers more: unfortunately, i havent got much done with this one, BUT (another helpful thing about these monthly check ins) now that its on my mind again, im thinking of some new ways to do this. 

shop goals: 

apply for one of the spring patchwork shows: this one i actually changed my mind on, applications havent even opened for the spring patchwork shows and they might be out of my budget. so instead were going to try out the silverlake flea market this month. 

do 2-3 "big" craft fairs: well, this upcoming silverlake market would be #1...

launch kids line and ladies tops: this one is on hold indefinitely while i re-focus the shops branding and transition away from etsy, but hopefully things can get going again by years end. 

family goals: 

go on one "real date" every month: this one didnt go so well. its wintertime, james hasn't been working a ton, and we havent really had much extra date money. we didnt do anything at all in january, though last month we did go see my most favorite band ever (with my sister, so im not sure that counts as a date?). 

schedule family time into every week: lately we have been doing much better about getting out of the house together as a family, im not sure weve done something every week, but im happy to say that there has been much more disneyland days, ice cream dates, and taco tuesdays lately. 

be more consistent with homeschooling: this one has been really hard because while alice is very smart and totally needs more intellectual stimulation, shes also three and totally not ready for the more "traditional" school-type activities. so instead, weve been reading together a TON, and going on more field trips (last month we went to the zoo AND a new museum). next up ill be looking for ALL the free museum day schedules so we can get more trips in (and more family time too!). 

home goals: 

purge and declutter the entire apartment: ive made some serious progress on my closet, but otherwise weve been slacking. on the bright side, we made a big list of bite size pieces to tackle as we can get to them so that way we can get things moving without getting ourselves overwhelmed and just making a bigger mess. 

buy a new bed/mattress: weve researched options and it seems like the most practical option for both bed and mattress are at ikea, but obviously we need to go take a look/feel in person before we commit (so maybe thats our next family outing?). also, i want to get the bedroom completely purged before we bring anything new in, so...

replace the hi-fi with a more practical credenza: im actually having a hilarious problem with this one: theres one from west elm that i LOVE but obviously were not buying it because its $900. ive been looking for a similar (but less expensive, obviously) one and found a great alternative at target. for $300 MORE than the one at west elm. so far ikea doesnt have anything thats really doing it for me so i think a trip to some of the local antique stores is in order. 

financial goals: 

set a reasonable budget and stick to it: wintertime was a really bad time to do this since our income is especially erratic right now, but as things settle down well continue to discuss it. 

improve my credit score and get a better credit card: obviously this is a slow one and i have to wait to open a new card until an appropriate amount of time has passed since getting my first card, but on the bright side, i have found which travel rewards card would be the best fit for us!

get our emergency fund 1/2 way full: again, because wintertime, weve had to take a good chunk of money out, and the credit card has way more on it than im comfortable with, BUT with our tax refund and my pell grant i think we may be at least back to where we were at the end of last year, AND we've planned a no-spend month for march (more on that later) which, coupled with the big raise james just got, should help us jump start getting the credit card taken care of. 

personal goals: 

stay in school and keep getting straight As: this semester, while being much more expensive than last semester (which stressed me out to the point of almost quitting a few weeks in), has actually been much easier than last semester and things are going really nicely, though i am looking forward to spring break in a couple weeks...

maintain a part-time income with jamberry: despite doing basically nothing from november-january, im slowly getting back into booking parties and getting things going again. in other news, does anyone want to host a party? 

try some new recipes: this is the one goal where i really feel like im doing well. ive already tried a few new recipes that im really excited about, and am getting much more comfortable with branching out of our normal dinner rotation. you can expect to hear a LOT more about this soon!

so yeah, even though i dont have big things crossed off left and right, progress is being made, albeit slowly, all across the board. which feels pretty good since we still have ten more months to go this year!

did you make big goals for 2015? how are they going?