Saturday, December 31, 2011

In Review and Looking Forward

Looking back:

This year we went off and on dieting numerous times, trying both calorie counting and carb restriction/paleo/primal. Both actually worked pretty well until we decided to throw everything out the window and eat lots of sugar and junk food.

We also had a love/avoid relationship with entertainment. Video games and watching tv shows were either our obsession or we cancelled and avoided them completely. Right now we're in the "avoiding them" stage, and it needs to stay that way until further notice.

We made a spur of the moment trip to Disney for almost a week, and this is one financial decision I will never regret. We had a wonderful time, made lots of memories, and enjoyed the time together.

We're also still learning to budget out money and avoid too many spur of the moment decisions. We made a few, and haven't saved as much as we could have. Also, we're now paying of a vehicle.

I got a job this year starting in February. This job has been one of the most challenging and growing experiences of my life. Alex also got a second job working as a youth pastor at a local church. We are both enjoying the experience and trusting God to guide us.


Looking forward:

Overarching goal is to grow closer in our relationship with God and with each other. This influences everything else that we do. Or at least it should.

We want to eat as healthy as possibly as consistently as possible, and as cheaply as possibly. Therefore I am not going to completely cut out any food group, even as unhealthy as it may be. I'm going to meal plan at least one week in advance, post the meal plan, and stick to it. We're getting cash out ahead of time for all our groceries and spending.We're starting a partial cash only plan to help us stick to the plan. We're going to commit our time to reading books, studying God's word together, and finding other productive ways to spend time. I'm going to work until we believe God is telling us otherwise. We're not sure what that looks like yet.

Happy New Year!