Anne Marie’s 2011 Resolutions

Everyone makes – and breaks – New Year resolutions and I am certainly no exception! But this year I am committed to making them become a reality. I realize that my problem in the past was that I didn’t have a clear plan to accomplish my goals. And I usually had too many to really focus on any one with any real intent.

So this year I have three goals. The first is to lose 10 pounds per quarter. Sounds drastic, but I really do have that much to lose, so why not be specific! I think 5 pounds a month is a reasonable and doable goal. I will do this by continuing to work out 4 days a week and add dieting to the mix. I once lost weight using the South Beach diet, and I really liked the food and for once I wasn’t hungry on a diet! So, since it was successful before (and I already have the book), I will use that diet. I KNOW I can do this.

The second is to pay down our debt. With lay offs and unexpected bills (car breaking down, etc.) we’ve accumulated some debt we’d like to pay off quickly. I’ve researched many methods on how to do this and decided to use the snowball method of debt reduction (pay minimums on all bills but one and once that is paid off, take that money and put it towards the next bill, etc. until all are paid off). It is a sound plan and one I think we can work with AND save money too. Added to that is the fact that we’ve cut back our expenses and I’ve already started to cook more, we eat in more often and say ‘no’ to non-essential purchases. Plus I have instilled the ‘if it’s not on sale, don’t buy it’ rule.

The third resolution is to take time off for family and fun. I like to work. I love my job and don’t think about taking any down time until I’m a bit burned out. Not good for anyone. So this year, at the start of the year, I’m going to decide when to take vacation and mark it off on the calendar. I am actually going to schedule fun things to do. That includes movie nights with my husband, cards and dominos with friends and family, movies and lunches with my mother, cousin and sisters, visits to relatives in nearby cities, and anything else I can think of that is fun and not too expensive (keeping goal #2 in mind!).

I know that old saying is true – ‘we plan, God laughs’ – but I think I can do these and I think I can meet these goals. You be the judge as I’ll keep you all informed as this year progresses!