2020 - A Clean Slate Once Again

The garlic is sprouting!

I just love a new year.  The slate wiped clean and you get to look forward to brand new adventures.  I don't do resolutions, find they are a waste of time, instead I have some general goals:

1.  Grow more food.  Yesterday I noticed my Russian garlic had sprouted.  I am not sure how many more will come up as found at least one garlic clove had been dug up by something.  In addition to peas, strawberries, cucumbers, rosemary, garlic and tomatoes, I would like to add at least one or two more food varieties.  I may need to build more gardening boxes - time will tell. Any suggestions of things that grow well in boxes or containers?  I am not ready to rip out more lawn other than to widen our patio in the summer.  Any idea of plants that grow well in the shade?  The side of the house that has our storage shed has an area I could use.


2.  More date nights and adventures.  We don't get out enough.  This doesn't have to cost money, just needs to be more experiences and fun together.  Hubby got a movie gift card from Mom so there are a few in theatre movies in our future.  I've got $100 tucked away for a date night to our favorite Greek restaurant since we never went out for our wedding anniversary in September due to Buddy's dislocated hip.  Any money we don't use will be put towards other date nights.

3.  Get healthier.  After walking 10,000 steps every day in 2017 and then getting tendonitis twice in 2018 I've fallen off the health bandwagon.  Maybe some weights which we already own.  I'd like to have more tone in my arms before our trip to Mexico as Zihuatanejo is so warm (think 33-35 degrees every day) only tank tops and sleeveless shirts can be worn.  I also would like to do more hiking with hubby and the dog.

4. Rein in the budget.  I've reworked our 2020 budget based on current income.  2018 was our best year ever in our company and we had enjoyed nice salaries with lots of extra money for savings and fun.  2019 was one of the worst years and lots of our small saving pots got depleted, in fact, we spent about $5000 more than we made by way of that savings.  That needs to change.  This means a reduced travel budget.  It doesn't mean we won't travel, we love to so it may mean just doing it less often.  Our next major international trip after Mexico will likely be in 2021 and I am going to start researching it now.  Either Thailand or Bali Indonesia.  I've only ever been to Hong Kong and Macau in Asia and hubby hasn't stepped foot in Asia.  Also, after paying for plane tickets both are reasonably priced and have great food which are two huge things we look for when we travel.  Other areas of the budget have been chopped as well.  Clothing is being cut as even though I only tend to buy used clothing except for undergarments it still adds up and my closet is bulging.  We spent a lot of money on the house, only some of which came out of savings, the rest out of our paychecks.  Other than finish painting the house (we probably have enough paint already) and installing a new brick patio extension in the back yard, no other major projects are planned.  Hubby could go from project to project.  Me?  Not so much.

5.  Try to keep on track with our grocery budget.  Our 2020 grocery budget is $525 a month for food and nonfood items, excluding over the counter meds.  At the start of 2019 the budget including OTCs was $575.  I switched those to our medical fund category in mid-2019 and believe it was the right thing to do.  We no longer pay medical insurance premiums now so the $75 I was paying a month will be used for these OTCs.  We each have a few medical issues/diseases that won't kill us so we do require a good amount of OTC's to keep these in check.I will still try and keep those costs down as low as possible but this switch will allow me to stock up on expensive OTCs when they go on sale instead of trying to stick to my monthly budget.  I was $802.76 over for the year on the grocery budget which works out to about $67 a month over.  Prices keep going up so this may mean eating less meat and more veggies which at this point in our life is a no-brainer.  People may wonder why I even have a grocery budget - one simple fact.  If you don't have one you will likely spend hundreds more per month than you intend.  Having a budget reins freewheeling spending in.

6.  Do better at making money on the side.  This year I worked an election as well as ramped up my reselling mid-year.  I hope to do even better in 2020, reselling more on a monthly basis.  This requires me to hunt for stock but since I love garage sales and thrift stores I don't see this as a hardship.  We discussed me getting a part-time job again last night, and the reality is most places would want me to put more hours in than I can give right now so this is on hold, especially until we see how many contracts re-sign in 2020.  We have 3 new clients that launched in December so 2020 is looking up.

7.  Meet more people, make new friends and stay connected to old ones.  I actually spoke to 2 friends and then had visits with them this year with people that I hadn't seen in several years.  That felt good.  Volunteering also allowed me to meet a whole new crowd of people and feel more connected to my community.  I need more of that, especially working from home.

I've got a wee headache today.  We ended up drinking wine last night with our neighbor until 1230 am.  We all intended to be snoring in the new year but when you have good food and company that sometimes goes out the window.  She had a 5am flight to catch, I can't imagine that after staying up until 1 am, which we rarely do :)  Today Christmas comes down and with Hubby's help it should take less than 2 hours, inside and out including putting away the exterior lights.  I cleaned the entire house yesterday after finishing painting the hallway so all that needs to be cleaned will be a little vacuuming and dusting after the tree is down.

Happy 2020 everyone!