Fitness round-up:
Week one: I ran only twice this week, and one was much more of a walk because I was sick. But I still did get on the treadmill two times. We were talking with friends who are trying to get us to sign up for a 5K, and that sounds like a reachable goal. These friends say that they run about 10 minute miles, which I have not done since high school. So I think that’s my nebulous new goal: be able to run 3.1ish miles at a time, and trying to see if I can inch that time down to 10 minute miles. I don’t think I’ll do a strict training program, as those get boring and I fall off the wagon when I don’t have time to do an exercise as dictated. But maybe I should lest I give up altogether.
Food round up:
Two nights of leftovers this week, which is great. I also brought lunch every day from what we had in the fridge left over from dinners this week and last, so that was frugal as well. We had two nights without meat, one of which was Big Salad night (lettuce, blueberries, peppers, tomatoes, homemade dressing, sprinkle of goat cheese). I love big salad night, but it doesn’t make for a good lunch the next day. My body refuses to acknowledge that a salad is enough food for the hours it has to last me, regardless of what I put in it. The other was Pasta a la Food Guy, which is a pasta he creates out of whatever we have—this week peppers, tomatoes, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and probably a few other things. It was delicious.
We also had Loaded Baked Potato night (and lunch the next day), with topping choices of butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, baked beans, scallions, and bacon bits. (Bacon made it non-veg but oh so tasty. Not a healthy meal, although we could make it so with fewer high fat additions.) Guinness Beef Stew (a la Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook) is awesome, with a few Food Guy tweaks (the bottom layer of crust isn’t necessary, we decided), Chicken Piccata was a fun late lunch made with friends, and Leftover Night. All good! Not as many greens during the week as we should, though, other than salad night, so I’ll keep that in mind when making the next menu.
Frugal:
Thanks to a Trader Joe’s gift cert from my parents for Christmas, I think we’ll save some money this week on food and be able to put a little extra into the Dream Fund. I had the thought of splitting any extra money we save or make between the Dream Fund and a yet-unmade Vacation Fund, so we have a short-term goal as well as the much longer term goal. But I also hate feeling like a house recedes farther and farther into the distance.
My 401K: This will automatically be bumped to 11% this year unless I unbump it, which I may do. I don’t get a match until I’ve worked at the company for a year, and unless they change it, that’s a match up to 6%. But with the other things to which I’d like to allocate my money, that extra percent makes too much of a difference. I think that auto-bump is really for people who are either getting a raise (and raises in publishing are pretty much frozen right now) or who aren’t paying close attention. I like the idea of helping people to save who might not otherwise, but since I am paying attention I don’t think I’ll feel guilty for not taking advantage.
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Goals for 2009, Part 3
Health
Exercise regularly: A yearly goal that I never quite hit. In high school I was on three teams and was very active, and in college I took an athletic course each term (or was sure to arrange a gym buddy) so that I had something fun going on that would get me moving (and out of the library). But in the real world, it’s been a lot harder. The things I’d like to do cost money or need a partner, and it’s hard to find motivation. This year I think I should pick a goal to work towards. A Five K in a certain amount of time, or committing to a karate class, or going to yoga once a week. I haven’t decided which…or any…because I’d like my goal to be something I can actually make myself hit.
Eat healthily and yummily: Food Guy is the godsend here, as he loves to cook and gets home at a reasonable enough hour that it’s feasible for him to do so. This would be a fun place to document some of the food we eat and recipes that we use, and to get ideas on how to do things cheaper. Also, Food Guy is a big meat fan, and I’m trying to move towards a more veggie filled diet. We’ve made some strides here this year but still have a ways to go to get more balanced meals.
Grow some of my own food: Food Guy is a big gardener when he can, but this year we’re in an apartment that doesn’t have a plot of land we can use. We did a bit in containers a few years ago, but he ends up doing most of the work. I’d like to pick some things to grow myself with minimal help from him.
Also, to maintain well-being. I have a few health issues that implementing the above will keep under control, hereditary high cholesterol being one of the biggest. I should also get this checked sometime soon so that I can see if my efforts make a difference.
Exercise regularly: A yearly goal that I never quite hit. In high school I was on three teams and was very active, and in college I took an athletic course each term (or was sure to arrange a gym buddy) so that I had something fun going on that would get me moving (and out of the library). But in the real world, it’s been a lot harder. The things I’d like to do cost money or need a partner, and it’s hard to find motivation. This year I think I should pick a goal to work towards. A Five K in a certain amount of time, or committing to a karate class, or going to yoga once a week. I haven’t decided which…or any…because I’d like my goal to be something I can actually make myself hit.
Eat healthily and yummily: Food Guy is the godsend here, as he loves to cook and gets home at a reasonable enough hour that it’s feasible for him to do so. This would be a fun place to document some of the food we eat and recipes that we use, and to get ideas on how to do things cheaper. Also, Food Guy is a big meat fan, and I’m trying to move towards a more veggie filled diet. We’ve made some strides here this year but still have a ways to go to get more balanced meals.
Grow some of my own food: Food Guy is a big gardener when he can, but this year we’re in an apartment that doesn’t have a plot of land we can use. We did a bit in containers a few years ago, but he ends up doing most of the work. I’d like to pick some things to grow myself with minimal help from him.
Also, to maintain well-being. I have a few health issues that implementing the above will keep under control, hereditary high cholesterol being one of the biggest. I should also get this checked sometime soon so that I can see if my efforts make a difference.
Goals for 2009, Part 2
Budget
I am starting 2009 without any debt, but with a fairly small salary and lots of goals. How will I meet them all?
IRA: I’m planning on fully funding my Roth IRA in 2009, which means putting in five thousand dollars. $415 dollars a month will get me there, if I can put that much away.
Savings: I’ve been putting $100 into savings each month, and I have a fairly sturdy emergency fund. But after being unemployed for 6 months just over a year ago, I know how quickly job loss would decimate that, especially through paying for insurance.
401K: I currently put in 10% of my salary. This is a lot, especially since I am also trying to fund my IRA, but so far it's been doable since I never see the money. I won't get a match until I work at the company for a year.
Dream fund: I’m putting $50 a month into a dream fund, matched by Food Guy. We know we’d like to buy a house someday, and we’re always flipping through real estate books and getting depressed at how far away from that we are. If we can hit $2000 by the end of 2009, which we’re not quite on track to do right now, we would have about 1/10 of a downpayment saved. I’d like to do better if we can, and learn more about how to get from where we are to where we want to be.
Investments: In February 2008 I put my carefully saved $3000 into a Vanguard account with the Total Stock Market Index. And then the stock market tanked. I’ve continued to put in $50 a month and reinvest my dividends, and I’m down at $2463. This is painful, but I have a long timing threshold and should recover. I know I’m not likely to play with individual stocks given my lack of time and experience and also how much it would make me worry, so I’m planning on index funds. But should I be trying to save to open another account? International, small cap, bonds? I need to learn more about these so I can make better informed decisions.
Vacation: Food Guy would really love to go on a real vacation this year. Additionally, we have at least two weddings coming up this year, one of which will require travel to and stay in California, and one of which will require travel to and stay in Massachusetts. Last year we spent a weekend at an organic farm B&B in the Adirondacks for our yearly vacation, and we loved it. We really want to be able to do that again, but with two other vacations we know we’ll have to take, I’m not sure if it will happen.
Philanthropic: I donate $28 a month to Save the Children. I also gave money to three friends running marathons, who were all supporting cancer research. I feel like this is really important, but I’m not sure how much is reasonable to spend each month, especially when I’d like to be able to field requests from friends like those above which I can't plan for. I think I’d like to shop for my local food bank a few times this year, and make at least one donation to Modest Needs this year when I see a request that speaks to me personally. But I think I need a plan or else this will fall by the wayside.
I am starting 2009 without any debt, but with a fairly small salary and lots of goals. How will I meet them all?
IRA: I’m planning on fully funding my Roth IRA in 2009, which means putting in five thousand dollars. $415 dollars a month will get me there, if I can put that much away.
Savings: I’ve been putting $100 into savings each month, and I have a fairly sturdy emergency fund. But after being unemployed for 6 months just over a year ago, I know how quickly job loss would decimate that, especially through paying for insurance.
401K: I currently put in 10% of my salary. This is a lot, especially since I am also trying to fund my IRA, but so far it's been doable since I never see the money. I won't get a match until I work at the company for a year.
Dream fund: I’m putting $50 a month into a dream fund, matched by Food Guy. We know we’d like to buy a house someday, and we’re always flipping through real estate books and getting depressed at how far away from that we are. If we can hit $2000 by the end of 2009, which we’re not quite on track to do right now, we would have about 1/10 of a downpayment saved. I’d like to do better if we can, and learn more about how to get from where we are to where we want to be.
Investments: In February 2008 I put my carefully saved $3000 into a Vanguard account with the Total Stock Market Index. And then the stock market tanked. I’ve continued to put in $50 a month and reinvest my dividends, and I’m down at $2463. This is painful, but I have a long timing threshold and should recover. I know I’m not likely to play with individual stocks given my lack of time and experience and also how much it would make me worry, so I’m planning on index funds. But should I be trying to save to open another account? International, small cap, bonds? I need to learn more about these so I can make better informed decisions.
Vacation: Food Guy would really love to go on a real vacation this year. Additionally, we have at least two weddings coming up this year, one of which will require travel to and stay in California, and one of which will require travel to and stay in Massachusetts. Last year we spent a weekend at an organic farm B&B in the Adirondacks for our yearly vacation, and we loved it. We really want to be able to do that again, but with two other vacations we know we’ll have to take, I’m not sure if it will happen.
Philanthropic: I donate $28 a month to Save the Children. I also gave money to three friends running marathons, who were all supporting cancer research. I feel like this is really important, but I’m not sure how much is reasonable to spend each month, especially when I’d like to be able to field requests from friends like those above which I can't plan for. I think I’d like to shop for my local food bank a few times this year, and make at least one donation to Modest Needs this year when I see a request that speaks to me personally. But I think I need a plan or else this will fall by the wayside.
Goals for 2009, Part 1
Professional Goals
Keep my job: There’s a lot of turmoil in the publishing world right now, and so my highest priority here is doing everything I can to keep my job.
Start a blog that draws on some of my new expertise: Publishing isn’t the only thing I’m interested in, but it is one of the many things I am interested in. And I think there are lots of people who don’t have the opportunity to work in this world who’d like to know more about it from the inside.
Be promoted: I’m on the lowest rung of the totem pole as an editorial assistant after a year of working in publishing because I switched houses halfway through this past year. There were lots of reasons to do this and it was the right decision for me, but this year I want to be promoted, with the long-term goal of signing my own authors.
To keep my job and be promoted, I’m planning on throwing myself back into the swing of things in 2009. I’m going to work on having a positive, confident outlook, and on getting my work done as well and quickly as it can be done to prove that I can take on more responsibilities. Since I’ve tried to get officially reviewed and just been told I’m doing well, I will look for ways to measure my successes and keep track of what goes well.
Starting a blog will give me some of my own writing training, as I haven’t done so much writing since college and I know I need the practice. It will give me a place to talk about publishing, budgeting, eating, and reading, all things I really love.
Keep my job: There’s a lot of turmoil in the publishing world right now, and so my highest priority here is doing everything I can to keep my job.
Start a blog that draws on some of my new expertise: Publishing isn’t the only thing I’m interested in, but it is one of the many things I am interested in. And I think there are lots of people who don’t have the opportunity to work in this world who’d like to know more about it from the inside.
Be promoted: I’m on the lowest rung of the totem pole as an editorial assistant after a year of working in publishing because I switched houses halfway through this past year. There were lots of reasons to do this and it was the right decision for me, but this year I want to be promoted, with the long-term goal of signing my own authors.
To keep my job and be promoted, I’m planning on throwing myself back into the swing of things in 2009. I’m going to work on having a positive, confident outlook, and on getting my work done as well and quickly as it can be done to prove that I can take on more responsibilities. Since I’ve tried to get officially reviewed and just been told I’m doing well, I will look for ways to measure my successes and keep track of what goes well.
Starting a blog will give me some of my own writing training, as I haven’t done so much writing since college and I know I need the practice. It will give me a place to talk about publishing, budgeting, eating, and reading, all things I really love.
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