Happy New Year! It’s our human nature to bookmark the chapters of our lives in terms of years. We begin today on a fresh new page for a wonderful new chapter. I prefer to set goals for myself to achieve new things, rather than to set “resolutions” to change things I don’t like. It sets a positive outlook for something new, rather than a negative outlook to change something old. Today I am sharing some common New Year’s goals. I have found that to achieve success with my goals, it is essential to set myself up for success with the necessary tools to do so.
This article contains affiliate links and ads. You can find the exact products and services I recommend by clicking the links and photos below.
Goal: Travel More
A common New Year’s goal is to travel more and to explore new places. Often people have a misconception that this is something that can only be done if they have a lot of extra cash. But traveling for little to no money is something everyone can do. Last year my husband and I took five trips, and we did it for almost no cost using credit card travel rewards. Our favorite travel rewards card is THIS ONE. The rewards can be used for hotel rooms, all inclusive resorts, and airline tickets all over the world. Our next favorite travel rewards card is THIS OTHER ONE. That one covers many of the same expenses, but also things like rental cars. Want to learn more from experts on travel rewards? Check out Travel Mom Squad. It’s our favorite podcast on travel hacking, and their website is a useful resource for learning the travel points hobby. Below are a few more helpful travel things that I recommend:
- BOOK: First Class Travel on a Budget: How to Hack Your Credit Cards to Book Incredible Trips for Less
- Compression Packing Cubes – organize and fit more into your suitcase
- Re-lyte, Avoid jet lag and dry skin. Rehydrate with this!
- We love this travel charger!
Goal: Improve Health
The health of Americans has been all over the news lately. More and more people are realizing that the food we’re eating contains ingredients that are putting our health at risk. One simple solution to taking charge of our health is to cook at home. This can seem daunting and overwhelming, but it can be easily done with some preparation and planning. I stay away from recipes that have dozens of ingredients and complicated instructions. Keeping meals simple is one way to stay on track. Another thing we do is meal prepping. Once a week we make our lunches and pack them into meal prep containers. We take our lunches to work to make sure we’re: 1-eating healthy food, 2-preventing the urge to buy fast food, 3-saving money. The last thing we do to make sure we’re consuming healthy food is something that is often overlooked; we make sure the pans our food is cooked in don’t contain harmful metals or chemicals. We’ve been extremely happy with this set we use.
- Cookbook: Make It Easy: A Healthy Meal Prep and Menu Planning Guide
- lunch containers
- Our favorite healthy cookware
Goal: Increase Fitness
Moving our bodies consistently has more benefits than I can go into detail today. A few examples often given are reducing blood pressure, increasing metabolism, and helping with bone density. My favorite ways to be active are walking (both outside and on my treadmill) and resistance training with weights. I read years ago that as we get older, working out with weights becomes more and more important in order to protect our bone density. I often hear people say things like, “I don’t have money for a trainer,” or “I don’t know what to do.” I hung these exercise charts up in my workout area. The sturdy, laminated charts show examples of exercises for all of our body parts. If I see an exercise on the chart that I’m not quite sure how to do, I just look it up on YouTube for an example. Another tip I have is to anticipate excuses I might come up with, and remove the obstacles ahead of time. For example, set out your workout clothes the night before, or maybe even sleep in them. If you plan to walk outside, buy yourself a great rain jacket and spray waterproofing on your walking shoes. Don’t let a little rain stop you from getting your walk in!
Goal: Get Organized
A place for everything, and everything in its place. I’m not the first person to say it, and it’s definitely true. Living in a historic house means that we don’t have a huge pantry or closets. Even though I had already purged our belongings several times over the last few years to get rid of unneeded things, I was worried that we were going to have to get rid of even more. Instead, I began to focus on making sure the spaces we had were being used to their best potential. I bought organizational pieces that maximized the vertical space. In any space that I had on a shelf, I used racks or acrylic shelves to make sure the entire vertical space was being used. Underneath beds we are stacking flat narrow containers to hold things like off-season clothing and wrapping paper. In closets, we added 3 tier shelves to hold shoes and purses. On shelves above closet rods, we’re using more acrylic drawers and stacking the same flat containers that we use under the beds.
Goal: Financial Health and Financial Literacy
Something I am very passionate about is living debt free. I’m not exaggerating when I say that if there is one thing that I could talk to anyone about for hours, it would be finances. Money is something that has always been taboo to talk about. A lot of us were raised by a generation who didn’t teach us how to budget or invest, much less how to keep a checking account or strategically pay taxes. When our kids were in high school, we encouraged both of them to take a series of 3 classes that taught them about finance and business. Our culture has become increasingly focused on consumption, with access to every store we could ever want right on the phone in our pocket. It is really important that we educate ourselves and our families on how to live a content, full life away from the choking burden of debt. My very favorite podcast is ChooseFI. This podcast has been around for a while, and I really encourage you to go back and start at some of the earlier episodes and move forward from there. (Did you know that one of the largest groups of millionaires in the U.S. is teachers? This podcast can show you exactly how it’s done.) I have so many easy-to-read favorite books on how to live financially independent, but my top choice is A Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins. If you don’t have time to read, listen to the audiobook. Another essential tool that I recommend is YNAB. YNAB is an app/website for budgeting. In YNAB you link all of your accounts (banking, savings, credit cards, etc) and you categorize spending and savings in real time. It gives you the freedom to spend money and also keep track of bills. One thing I love about YNAB is that each subscription can share their subscription with up to 5 people. Those 5 people can if they want to, but do NOT have to share their budgets with you. It’s completely private.
- BOOK: A Simple Path to Wealth
- BOOK: Clever Girl Finance
- YNAB: You Need a Budget, app
- Monthly Budget Planner
These are some of the most common New Years goals. Whether you are wanting to travel more, get healthier, increase your fitness, get organized, or find financial freedom, I hope some of these tools help you on your path to success. Take one step today and another step tomorrow. In time you will find yourself closer to your goals than you were yesterday. The important part is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I wish you a happy, healthy New Year. As always, this is a community to share ideas. Please feel free to comment below if you have other tips that you would like to share!
