Well hello there 2017! You know, it hasn’t sunk in at all yet that it’s a 2017… I’ve had to write a few dates at work this morning and while I’ve been highly successful at putting a 7 at the end, it’s still not something that my brain is registering fully. It’s 2017? Really? 2016 FLEW by… I mean, I’m glad it’s over. 2016 was a bit rough… I’ll talk about my year later this week when I do a recap, but for today I wanted to get on to our January 2017 goals and talk about my upcoming plans for the year. Plus, we want to have a giveaway and host a linky party!

So, oops… I guess I forgot to do December Goals last month guys… I’m sorry. I could go back and recap my November goals, but it’s not even pretty… You’d think with two months to complete those goals I could have gotten it together, but nope… November and December were a pretty big failure on everything. Everything was just out of control with my time, money, and life in general… I spent the majority of last year exhausted, overwhelmed, and struggling in more ways than I can even say.

Real Talk: My Big Issues

While I’m typically pretty anit-resolution and I scoff at “new year new me” because come on… It almost never works. There is a sort of “rock bottom” mentality that I reached with everything during the last few months.

Something Has to Give

I’m tired of being tired, busy, and not being able to dedicate time to the things that are important in life. I’m tired of always being too broke, and of overspending due to stress shopping. I’m tired of feeling like crap because I don’t drink enough water or I’m always eating out because I’m constantly on the go and practically living in my car… My messy car. I’m tired of having a messy car. I’m tired of having a messy house because I’m never home long enough to clean, and when I do get a few hours at home all I can do is crash or veg out because I’m SO exhausted. I never have time, or energy anymore… My life is being sucked out of me.

Where the Problem Lies

So, when looking at why I’m so wiped out all the time, I have to break it down into some of the time-suck problem areas and decide what to do about them.

Werk Werk Werk Werk Werk

While a big chunk of the problem can be attributed to the fact that I’m working two jobs. I work my regular day job 7AM-4PM Monday through Friday and then have 3-5 small shifts at my second part-time job throughout the week.

My Full-Time Job

Lately my day job has felt a little soul crushing… I’ve been in the exact same position for the past 7 years with no real opportunity or possibility of advancement. When that gets brought up with my supervisor I get told that it “appears like I don’t care as much as I used to” and all I can think is-well, how can I? There’s no challenge here, no reward, nothing that says I’m every going anywhere here. It feels a little hopeless and it’s driving me crazy. Buuuuuut, I make good money and have good benefits, and my job is comfortable and provides a lot of freedom. That’s hard to leave behind.

My Part-Time Job

Real talk? I can’t afford to quit my second part-time job at the moment.I need the income, plus I do actually enjoy working there and I feel a real obligation to my coworkers right now. I know logically that I can’t keep both jobs forever, but quitting the part-time job is not in the cards in the meantime.

Where Work Stress Led Me

But, if I’m being real honest, there were times where I seriously thought hard about how I could make it work if I quit my full-time job and went to work for my part-time company in a full-time position… Yes. I was so stressed about my day job, and loved my night job so much, I considered taking a HUGE pay cut and working retail full time. That’s the point I got to with my job last year.

A Cluttered Space is a Cluttered Mind

You know what else ends up being a HUGE time suck? Mess. Seriously. It’s hard to do anything when you can’t even get your head straight, and you can’t get your head straight when everything around you is a giant mess. It just can’t happen. If you saw my house you’d be severely concerned about me. I’m severely concerned about me. I don’t have time to clean it because it’s already to this horrible meltdown point that makes it feel like all I can do is tread water or let myself drown… There’s no getting ahead of it. It’s baaaad.

Broke as a Joke

Seriously, how can someone who has two jobs and makes fairly good money at one of them, feel so broke all the time? I’ll tell you how. Spending problems, budget problems, piles of debt, and the tendency to run away from problems when they get too big. Yep, that’s me in a nutshell at the moment.

Spending & Budget Problems

I don’t handle stress well, so to cope I end up either stress-eating and getting more unhealthy, or stress-shopping and spending money I don’t have. Lately it’s been more about the stress-shopping, since I don’t really have the time to sit around and eat. I then tend to get obsessed with something and spend spend spend on it… A few years back it was nail polish (OMG, who remembers that?) and I bought like 300 bottles of nail polish and got into all of the nail polish communities… Even though I almost never paint my nails.

Shame, Shame, Shame

This year? This year it clothing-and being specific, leggings. Working at Torrid I ended up spending more than I made for at least the first 6-8 months of working there. It was all just there, and so cute, and I got a discount! Then came LuLaRoe, and those soft soft leggings… I became obsessed, and if I can admit some of my shame here… I may have dropped several hundred dollars on leggings alone in the span of 2-3 months. Seriously. I wiped most of my savings out thinking “Oh, it’s okay-I can make this up later” but then I never did… Because there were always more leggings… And there were things that were more important that came along and prevented it. Things like car licensing and vet bills.

Debt Problems

Buying a house was a much bigger thing than I realized… When I bought my house I had gotten my credit into a pretty good place, and I’d saved up just enough to cover a down payment. I don’t know what I was thinking… I should have had more in savings. I should have had a better plan… Sure, I can afford my mortgage, but I hadn’t thought about the other things I was going to have to buy. I needed a refrigerator… I bought it on credit. Washer and Dryer? Guess those will go on credit too… Oh hey, now my car needs new tires and I’ve maxed out my credit cards and depleted my savings, but I HAVE to have them for Winter so hey, new credit card.

Procrastination Problems

Oh, and did I mention that I’m so good at procrastination? Like the queen of it… Not only that, but when I get super stressed about something I have a bad habit of ignoring it or running away from it until it builds so big I can’t do either. So, when a few of my credit cards made it really difficult to pay, and impossible to schedule automatic payments, they didn’t get paid… I had the money, I just kept forgetting/putting it off until wham-default. Ugh. Over and over and over again…

Who Has Time to Worry About Their Health?

Yeah, yeah, yeah… Perhaps the most important thing you should worry about is your health… But with everything going on, things much louder and demanding than my own body, when did I have time to think about my health? I know I need to… I really need to… But I’m so busy… And so tired, and it’s just another stressful thing that makes my head want to explode.

Move More, Be Less Healthy? What?

You know what’s funny? I’m more active than ever, since my second job is very physically demanding… I carry heavy boxes, am constantly on my feet, running around the store, and moving. More moving than my sedentary body thought it could get used to at first-I get a good work out on the regular, and extra good workouts when we do a big project like floor sets…

But I’m fatter and more sluggish than ever… I’ve actually gained weight since I started my second, more active, job. You know why? I’m not sleeping enough, working late hours at one job and getting up early for the next will do that to you, and some weeks I’ll go days without even getting more than 4-5 hours of sleep. I’m not drinking enough water, because I’m pretty much surviving on coffee and diet coke… And I eat WAY too much fast food. I don’t have time to cook… I don’t even have time to shop, and if I do, I’m too tired to drag myself through the grocery store.

Excuse Me, it’s About Time for My Melt-Down

And boy, have I hit melt-down central. Everything sets me off… My car failed safety inspections because I need a new windshield and I basically had to run out of the mechanic shop to avoid bawling right there in front of them, then I spent the drive home hyperventilating and in the midst of a massive panic attack which set off an asthma attack and left me choking and gasping while my poor boyfriend tried to calm me down.

Burn it All Down

But it’s every day stuff too… I trip over something in my messy house and immediately lose my temper and want to consider burning it to the ground. Sometimes burning it all to the ground seems like the only way to get ahead of it all… Can’t I be a phoenix and rise from the ashes?

Maybe I should burn it all down… No, I’m not talking arson here, I’m not dumb, nor am I that masochistic. That would just make all my problems worse… But metaphorically, burning it all down sounds pretty good. I’m not entirely sure how to go about that, all I know is that something has to give.

Something. Has. To. Give… And soon. Immediately. I can’t live like this anymore.

My Motto for 2017: Get Your Sh*t Together

I’m not picking a word for 2017, instead I need a whole damn motto-GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER. That’s right, in 2017 I need to get m life in order, and stop messing things up worse. I think I’ll print it up and hang it somewhere like my bathroom mirror where I can look at it every day.

2017 Yearly Goals MUSTS

I don’t want to make some resolutions that I’ll fail at after two weeks… I don’t want to promise I’ll go to the gym x times a week when I know I wont… I don’t want to set a goal to lose x pounds… Been there, tried that, it doesn’t work either… But I do need to make some significant change in my life before I stress myself into an early grave, because that’s what will happen. I’ll have a heart attack or burst a blood vessel because I’m over-stressed and unhealthy. So these aren’t goals. These are MUSTS. I MUST do these to actually live and thrive at living.

Must #1: Get Organized

No more fooling around, the main thing I have to do this year is actually get organized. I’m tired of being a disorganized mess. Here are some areas I’m going to focus on, and some ways I’m going to accomplish it.

Use My Planner

In my ever on-going habit of wasting money and being as disorganized as possible, I buy a planner every year, and every year I don’t use it. This year I picked up the new Mini Happy Planner because it’s the planner I love, but it’s portable! I figure if I put it in my purse and take it everywhere with me I’m more likely to use it. I was also told that I need to make time to sit down and plan for a set time each week.

Home Organization

I need a clean space if I’m ever going to focus or feel good, and the first place to start is my home. This is supposed to be my sanctuary. It’s supposed to be a place where I can relax, and right now it just stresses me out more. I also don’t want to have people over these days because I’m so embarrassed, and I really miss having people over.

One Room at a Time

While I’m going to try and get my house presentable as a whole earlier than this, I’m going to major tackle a different room each month and set individual goals for that room in order to make it so I don’t go into 2018 just “treading water” with disorganization. This means I’ll also need to invest in a few improvements around the house, so I’m going to make a goal to save up for these a little later in the year.

My Room Schedule:

• January: Upstairs Organization & Deep Clean
  • Take Down Holiday Decor
  • Move Table from Kitchen to Living Room
  • Move Grandma’s Hutch from her house to mine (and into the kitchen)
  • Organize all shelves/cupboards/drawers
  • Organize Living Room Closet – Games and Craft Supplies
  • Desk Area – Clean and Organize
  • Deep Clean
• February: Bedroom Organization and Deep Clean (no cost)
  • Clothing
  • Closet
  • Shelves
  • Drawers
  • Deep Clean
• March: Downstairs Bathroom Organization & Fixes ($0-$100)
  • Laundry
  • Set up downstairs shower
  • Clean out/treat under-floor pump
  • Plumbing fix-up
  • Replace Ceiling Panels
• April: Yard Clean-Up and Garden (minimal cost: $10-$200)
  • Take old furniture from garage and yard (yes, my back yard is that ghetto right now) to the dump
    • Borrow or rent a truck
    • Convince brothers or strong friends to come help
  • Move yard tools into newly cleaned garage
  • Clean up weeds, spray weeds
  • Build Garden Boxes (wood is already purchased and ready to go)
  • Plant Garden
• May: Garage Organization ($0)
  • Sort Stuff to Keep/Sell/Donate/Trash & Do It
    • Sell stuff taken photos of and listed on sale sites, or labeled for Yard Sale
    • Donate Stuff taken and donated before end of month
    • Trash stuff thrown in the trash or sectioned off for Dump Run
  • Move stuff from front room into back room
  • Set up Ceramics stuff & Kiln
  • Reorganize totes and boxes so everything is properly stored
• June: Garage Front Room Organization ($0-$100)
  • Move kept stuff to back room.
  • Move stacks of wood to my parents’ house (possibly)
  • Have Yard Sale to get rid of to-sell stuff
  • Get garage re-wired for 220 power for Kiln
  • Make room for possible winter car/bike parking
• July: Upstairs Bathroom Organization & Small Upgrade ($10-$50)
  • Organize Storage (shelves/vanity/under sink)
  • Deep Clean
  • Paint
  • Get Jetted Tub plugged in and working (Tentative-need a professional to look into the electric to make sure it’s safe)
  • Get ceiling fan/heater fixed
• August: Spare Bedroom Organization & Deep Clean ($0)
  • Closet
  • Storage
  • Furniture Arrangements
  • Deep Clean
  • Paint Touch Up (Paint is already purchased and stored)
• September: Kitchen Floor Upgrade ($200-$500)
  • Tear up old Laminate and replace with new laminate
• October: Living Room Floor Upgrade ($50-$500)
  • Tear up Carpet
  • Floors
    • If floors underneath are good, rent a buffer and refinish floors
    • If floors underneath are bad, install laminate flooring
• November: Winterize & Decorate ($0-$50)
  • Take out A/C units
  • Cover All Windows with Plastic
  • Get the Furnace serviced and replace filter
  • Yard Stuff Stored for Winter
  • Set up Holiday decor early
• December: Relax, but plan out the updates for 2018!

Dejunk For Good

Why am I hanging on to so much stuff that I don’t even have room for? I have closets and a garage just full of crap! Time to get rid of it, and get rid of it for good… No more keeping things I think I may need someday.

• Sell: Whatever can be sold needs to be listed and sold, which will help me financially as well.
  • Clothing: Sell more of my good-condition clothing in my Poshmark closet.
  • Other Goods: Sell good-condition non-clothing goods in online yard sales, Mercari, eBay, or an actual yard sale.
  • Craft Hoards: Destash my hoards of craft supplies I’ll likely never use.
• Donate: Whatever good-condition items don’t or wont sell will be donated to charity (goodwill, homeless shelters, etc.)
  • Selling time-limits: Anything that doesn’t sell after 3 months get’s donated.
• Trash: Anything that’s broken or not in good condition needs to get junked/recycled.

Schedule Regular Household Tasks

Using my planner, I’m going to schedule cleaning tasks daily/weekly/monthly that need to be done and stick to my schedule. I also need to make a plant-watering schedule, and a schedule that involves daily exercise and care for Bub.

Must #2: Set a Plan to Fix My Finances

This month I need to sit down and figure out all of my finances. I need to write down everything I need, figure out how much I make on average, and what my allotments/budgets are so I stop digging myself deeper into debt. I also need to work on a plan for using the snowball effect to pay off my debt faster and get myself into a better place so I can one day invest, and upgrade to a better home.

Must #3: Figure Out a Career Path

I need to really decide this year what I want to do with my life, and then set a course of action for getting there. Getting my debt out of the way will really help with that plan, as I wont need two jobs to survive. I also need to go back to school, but I don’t have the money or time for it at this point. Getting a good set up for what I really want to do will help me go back to school with a focused goal in mind.

Must #4: Get Back to Creative

I’ve let my blog fall aside for a while, and I really miss it. I miss writing for real, and on a regular basis. I also haven’t had much time to do creative things, and this year I have a few endeavors I’d really like to get going this year. I miss being creative. I need more freedom for it, and to build a life out of my blog and handmade goods.

Must #5: Practice Self-Care

This one is very important. I absolutely must start doing more to take care of myself.

• Get More Sleep
  • Set a bedtime and wake up time and stick to it
  • Talk to manager at part-time job about less closing shifts during the week
  • Limit/cut out TV and phone before bed
• Eat Better – NOT Diet
  • Stop eating fast food so often (will help finances and health)
  • Cook at home
  • Meal plan/prep ahead
  • Drink water
  • Quit Soda
• Get Bubba to a Good Place
  • Walk him more often – we both need it
  • Save up and get him into a full-on training course with Jill at Salty Dog Behavior Training
• Take More Time for Me

 January 2017 Goals

Okay, so those are my long-term goals, and man they’re extensive. Hopefully having them so detailed out like that will help me as I go along, I just need to remember to refer back to this post when I am lost and need to get back on track. Plus, I will check it each month as I write out my goals for the months in our Monthly Goals Linky Party.

January Home Goals

• Pack up and put away Holiday decor, move it out to the garage
• Organize the living room closet to hold games and craft/art supplies
• Move kitchen table into the living room (making a dining nook since I need room for my grandmother’s hutch)
• Move grandma’s hutch from her house to mine, set it up in the kitchen
• Clean out Fridge/Cupboards
• Organize cookware and drawers/cupboards
• Deep clean the kitchen
  • Stove
  • Dishwasher
  • Microwave
  • Counters
  • Sink
  • Shelves
  • Floor
• Deep clean the Living Room
  • Vacuum
  • Carpet/upholstery clean (see if I can borrow the carpet cleaner from mom)
  • Wash walls & touch up paint
  • Dust
• Find all the plants new homes (I adopted several of my grandmother’s and they’re just hanging out in the way)
• Organize shelves, unpack boxes of books/decor stacked in the corner onto them
• Hang some decor on the kitchen and dining room walls
• Move A/C window unit & Packed Pool out to the garage

January Blog Goals

• Finish new design updates (Did you see? How cute is that?!?)
• Write & schedule out new and awesome posts
• Put together a killer monthly giveaway (more info coming soon)
• Figure out my 2017 sponsorship program changes
• Get back into the groove of blogging

January Work Goals

• Suck it up and figure out how to be happy (even if just for now) at my day job
• Work less at my part-time job, use part-time job money more wisely

January Finance Goals

• Figure out my budget and how best to stick with it
• Start the snowball effect to pay down some debt
• Set a strict no-spend budget
• Leave 80% of my LLR Facebook groups (I have to stop buying it)
• Start listing more things to sell in my dejunking process

January Life Goals

• Read/listen to at least 2 books
• Have a great visit with Josh before he heads back to Canada
• Have a great visit with MelanieGrace and her family
• Attend Callie and Katelyn’s wedding
• Visit my grandmother more often
• Visit my parents’ for my mom’s birthday or for my parents’ anniversary
• Get my planner set up and in use

What are your January and/or 2017 Goals?

Join Us for the Monthly Goals

How to Play Along:

• Follow your hosts My So-Called Chaos and A Peek at Karen’s World in some way to keep up with these linkies.
• Write up a post about your goals for the month.
• Include the button (below) or a link back to my post or Karen’s.
• Link up in the linky below.
  • The linky goes live on the first of each month and is open all month so link up at any time.
  • Only posts talking about your goals (in whatever format you like) can be linked up.
  • Posts that don’t link back or contain the button will be removed.
• Visit other people in the linky and lave encouragement and support!

Link-Up

Angie

Angie is a coffee-fueled writer, artist-wanna-be, and over-worker who currently resides in a tiny fixer-upper near Salt Lake City with her boyfriend and 70lb rescue pittie. She works full time in Customer Service/Computers, part-time in retail and fashion, goes to school part-time on and off, maintains this and another couple of blogs, as well as volunteers with rescue dogs. In her free time, what little of it there is, she likes to read, play nerd games, craft and create art, and spend time with all of the awesome people in her life.

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

Whoa, where did April go? I guess it’s time to jump into our May goals then, isn’t it? Whew! First, let’s recap how we did in April.

April Goals Recap

Home Goals

• Finally put away all of the Christmas decor. SUCCESS! Finally. lol
• Get the house Spring cleaned and de-junked. IN PROGRESS. I’ve done a lot, but not all…
• Figure out how I want to do my garden and get it set up and start planting. FAIL. Not yet… Ugh.
• Get my spare room set up for possible roommate situation. SUCCESS! He’s moved in there.

Social Goals

• Celebrate my 30th birthday party. SUCCESS!
• See Gayvid while he’s in town. SUCCESS!
• Get family/30th birthday pictures taken and posted. SUCCESS! See them HERE.

Blog Goals

• Get my Email Subscription back on a track with a wonderful printable. IN PROGRESS.
• Edit more old posts and get them pinnable and set up SEO. SUCCESS! I got a few big ones done.

Other Goals

• File my taxes. SUCCESS!
• Get Bub out for walks and be more active. FAIL.
• Get Bub at least one sleepover at our dog trainer. SUCCESS!
• Save some money and pay off some more debt. FAIL. Ugh.
• Cross train in another department at work. SUCCESS!
• Get and stay caught up in both of my classes. FAIL. I withdrew from one lol…

Well, you win some you lose some, am I right? Moving forward…

May Goals

Home Goals

• Finish de-junking the house. Especially my bedroom.
• Get a garden started with at least tomatoes. Tomatoes are the number 1 must have!
• Start sorting stuff in the garage and setting aside stuff for a yard sale this summer.

Social Goals

• Go on a trip to Savannah, GA and see my friends.
• Visit my family for my brother’s birthday and/or Mother’s Day.
• Put together some nice handmade Mother’s Day gifts.
• Send Mother’s Day cards to family I won’t be seeing.

Blog Goals

• Write at least one Better Your Blog post.
• Edit and update a huge chunk of old posts.
• Finish up reviewing and updating Andi’s blog.
• Write at least one DIY or recipe post.
• Come up with some new threads for participation in the Grow Your Blog group.
• Update my pages.

Other Goals

• Apply for a second part-time Summer job.
• Save some money for my Savannah trip.
• Do some art-how I miss it!
• Get out for more walks with Bubba.
• Pass my French final.
• Start working on my A+ certification again.
• Go to a few events that friends are hosting.

What are your May Goals?

Join Us for the Monthly Goals

How to Play Along:

• Follow your hosts My So-Called Chaos and A Peek at Karen’s World in some way to keep up with these linkies.
• Write up a post about your goals for the month.
• Include the button (below) or a link back to my post or Karen’s.
• Link up in the linky below.
  • The linky goes live on the first Thursday of each month and is open all month so link up at any time.
  • Only posts talking about your goals (in whatever format you like) can be linked up.
  • Posts that don’t link back or contain the button will be removed.
• Visit other people in the linky and lave encouragement and support!

Link-Up

Angie

Angie is a coffee-fueled writer, artist-wanna-be, and over-worker who currently resides in a tiny fixer-upper near Salt Lake City with her boyfriend and 70lb rescue pittie. She works full time in Customer Service/Computers, part-time in retail and fashion, goes to school part-time on and off, maintains this and another couple of blogs, as well as volunteers with rescue dogs. In her free time, what little of it there is, she likes to read, play nerd games, craft and create art, and spend time with all of the awesome people in her life.

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com