February Wrap Up
March 1, 2010 2 Comments
Here we are, two months into the New Year and while many people have all but given up hope on their resolutions, I am persisting, even if the progress is slow. It is my belief that real change does not take place overnight and that lasting lifestyle alterations require a period of evolution in which old habits are broken and forced actions become routine.
New Years Resolutions
Diet: “I will no longer treat my mouth like a garbage can and junk food will find its way to the trash where it belongs. I will learn about healthy eating, teach myself how to prepare healthy meals and reduce the number of times I visit restaurants significantly.”
By the end of January I realized that my plan to improve my diet had been almost entirely ignored. I had no way to quantify any improvements I might have been making so I made a promise to track my spending throughout February in order to establish a baseline which I can use to measure success or failure.
Here are the results (also includes Erin’s spending):
Fast Food: $310.78
Groceries: $174.76
Restaurants: $95.40
Other: $9.25
Total: $590.19
Numbers do not lie and seeing the totals has made us realize that there must be changes, not only for financial reasons but for our health. Our plan for the month of March is to reduce our Fast Food spending by half, which will result in an increase in our Grocery spending.
Another aspect of my diet that needs to improve is the amount of soda I drink. I will employ the same approach as I did with tracking my food expenses and track the amount of money I spend on soda in the month of March. From there I will work towards reducing that amount until I reach a point where I am no longer drinking soda. This will be a major feat as I have attempted to stop drinking soda in the past and failed. I have stopped drinking caffeinated beverages since the end of December, so I am past that hurdle. Now, more than anything, it is about breaking an established habit.
Finance: ”I will establish a savings plan to compliment my debt repayment plan. In doing so, I will create a balance in my finances which will help accomplish both goals simultaneously.”
At the end of January I still had not found balance in my finances and made it my goal for February to establish a formal savings and debt repayment plan. Two weeks ago I created a formal budget and began following the guidelines I established. A consequence of creating this budget is that I am not able to focus my full attention on debt or savings. Instead, I am working towards both goals simultaneously, which slows progress on both.
My goal for March is to further refine the categorical details and continue following the savings and debt repayment plan that I established within the budget.
Fitness: “In order to refocus my attention on physical fitness, I have purchased a gym membership and have been exercising on a daily basis for the past couple of weeks.”
My fitness goal for February included establishing a regular schedule in which to exercise. I created an hour a day in my schedule for exercising but regret to say that I have not been following that schedule and that I have not been to the gym for the past couple of weeks. I could blame it on a plethora of things such as my school schedule, tests and homework…but it really just boils down to not taking initiative.
March will be different. I may not make it to the gym 6 days a week like I was at the beginning of the year but I want to exercise a minimum of 3 or 4 days a week for an hour each day.
Personal Resolutions
Travel: My goal is to travel 50,000 miles in 2010. In February I did not do any traveling however I was able to finalize plans to visit Hawaii this summer, roundtrip is approximately 9,400 miles. In March I am spending a week in Germany to visit a friend; ~9,300 miles roundtrip. In May I will accomplish my goal of traveling to Iceland; ~6,100 miles. With the traveling I did in January (~5,000 miles), I will be left with approximately 20,000 miles. That is a huge distance, and though I have a couple of plans in mind, none of them will come close to closing that gap. It is still early in the year and it is impossible to say what might transpire over the course of the year, so I will remain optimistic!
Education: Classes this semester are proving more difficult than the last. I am struggling with Chemistry and almost failed my first test. I can still pass the class with an A, though it will be a monumental challenge. I will work as hard as I can to keep my GPA above 3.5 for the semester.
Student Loans: February was the first month with my new budget and I made my first budgeted payment to my Student Loan account, $350.
February was an opportunity to take an honest look at the progress I am making on my resolutions and realize the failures in a quantifiable way. March is sure to bring about its own set of challenges but opportunity and success will follow.
About Steven
Persistence is not easy! Reviewing your progress throughout the year is a great way to keep on top of your goals. Nobody is perfect. We can only do the best we can toward achieving what we believe is right.
Absolutely!
The process of review allows me to reflect back on the past month to see my successes and failures, but more importantly, I am able to use it as a basis to make the next logical step towards reaching my goal.
I think too often people expect immediate success, that they wake up one morning and proclaim to the world that they will change x, y and z but when they struggle and stumble or make mistakes or fail completely, they simply give up, not realizing that failure is key to success. The only way anyone can ever fail is by accepting defeat.
That is what keeps me going. Knowing that despite my challenges, I will eventually reach the point where I feel that I have accomplished my goals and resolutions, even if I struggle along the way.