Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Goal setting....goal failing

Did you know that it is almost 2013?  (Assuming that we all survive past December 21.....)

I will be honest....I am not happy about it.  Not quite ready to let 2012 go.  It isn't that we have had such a spectacular year that I don't want the fun to end.  2012 was fine.  Some minor Murphy visits.  Some family stress.  But as a whole, it was a year that just bobbed along.

But.....now it is time to face the dreaded GOALS.

I will go into more detail another time, but I know which goals I made....and which I didn't.  For the most part, I also know WHY I didn't make some goals.  Some of that is procrastination (but I have 3 weeks to get my tushie in gear!!)....some was poor planning.  Some....dunno.

I am debating about making goals for next year.  If I end up feeling bad come December, is it worth it?  Are they really a motivator for me?  I am not sure.

I am the Queen of "on paper."  "On Paper" everything works out.  This much money gets spent/saved.  This month I am going to do XYZ.  This project is going to go like this.  The problem with this mentality is when it DOESN'T go as planned, I have a quick panic, and go into frenzy mode.

I could never abandon planning...but maybe setting how the end result should be isn't the answer either.

Just pondering.

With that said....I suppose we have one shorter term goal.....getting new furniture.  I told G-man that a) not until we have paid off 19k (which is so loaded, because as some debts, like the car, go down....there are others that go up....like the medical).  None the less...19k is about a quarter of the debt.  And b) I really don't want to finance it, so we will have to nickel and dime save for it (and this is loaded, because I already figured out that if we finance it for 4 years at 0%, it would be about $40 a month....and no, I am not worried about paying it off because I would just set up an ING debit for it and it would go on autopilot).

I would love to say that goal will be a 2013 goal..... but come a year from now....if it didn't happen....I would be bummed.  So it is a projected purchase, with a date to come.

Are you going into the new year with GOALS?  Do you review your past goals and learn from them, or do they just bum you out?

4 comments:

  1. I really have to get my butt in gear on goals -- I've kind of let things coast these past few months. That's never good.

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  2. For me personally, goals are super important to my own motivation. I need yearly goals & monthly goals, or else I become a sloth. My goals are pretty varied - health/fitness related (which are 99% within my own control), others are financially related, which can be harder to control. That said, without goals, the husband & I don't do well with our spending.

    How often do you track your goals? Are they SMART?
    S - specific, significant, stretching

    M - measurable, meaningful, motivational

    A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented

    R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented

    T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable

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  3. I think goals are a very good tool. Like Hawaii mentioned, have you tried the SMART method? Perhaps you could make some big goals (like decrease debt by X amount), but you also could do smaller, quarterly goals that arent in your immediate vision (like saving Y on groceries for 3 months). I think perhaps you should try setting challenges instead of goals, and have backup goals in case those fail. Goals are all about motivation, so if they arent motivating, then they arent working. So far, though my goals may seem a bit hard on my already small budget, I see them as an easy way out. I push myself too hard when it comes to planning and achieving goals, so if I'm meeting my goals, I feel as if I had set them too easy. If I fail them, I set them just right. Can you see the problem?

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  4. I am reviewing my goals tomorrow, but I made 11 out of 12, so I am pretty happy with that. Maybe you're overreaching yourself...like I of course would want to be completely debt free, but I know that's not going to happen--I'm going back to my school. my husband is in school and we have to pay his loans too...like we just have too much going on. but i can definiteyl try and cut the debt in half. make sure your goals are attainable. and $40 a month sounds pretty good to me.

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