Well, we are not halfway through 2020, and although it’s only been 6-months this year has already felt like 10 years long. When I first decided to do 20 goals for 2020 I did not anticipate life throwing so many curve balls this year.
But here we are at the end of quarter 2 so time to update how I’m doing keeping up with my goals.
In an effort to streamline this process now that some of the goals have been achieved I’m going to divide my 20 goals for 2020 into 3 categories: achieved, in progress, re-evaluation required, or what I like to call the good, the not-so-bad bad, and the ugly.
Table of Contents
Achieved (the Good)
1000 Sun Salutations
I’m super happy to report that I have now completed 1127 sun salutations this year. Although I consider this goal now complete, I’m still trying to do sun salutations daily. Moving and stretching first thing in the morning helps me feel better throughout the day.
Set up Work Space at Home
The current pandemic has definitely been an accelerator for this goal. Being forced to work from home motivated me to set up a workspace that I could work in daily.
There were many times when I was teaching a lesson online this past school year, only to have my little one tearing apart my desk at my feet. It’s hard to keep a toddler entertained.
1 Month Eating-Out Ban
This one turned out to be a double bonus this year. As I reported in my quarter 1 update, in February we did a 1 month eating out ban. Since then we have not really eaten out for convenience or at all due to the pandemic.
Without even really trying we didn’t eat out in June at all either. Being home and having time to cook and experiment with new recipes has for sure helped.
So this year we have achieved 2 months of no eating out – February and June.
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$250 in “Found Money”
Besides the 1000 sun salutations, this may be my favourite goal this year. It’s fun to see all the ways that I can “find” money. So far I have been able to “find” $284.32. Yahoo – goal achieved.
Some of that has been in ridiculous ways such as doing surveys for 5 cents – I tend to try and over-optimize things at times. And some of the money has been from cashback rewards for things that I was already doing.
My favourite “found” money sources so far are:
- Great Canadian Rebates
- PC Optimum Points
- EQ Bank (2% interest on my savings)
I’m toying with the idea of saving all my found money for the year and then seeing how low I can get my budget for the month of December.
In Progress (the Not-So-Bad)
Be Able to Touch Toes at Least Once a Month
This one has been achieved every month so far this year – thanks in large part to regular sun salutations. It is still considered in progress because it is an ongoing monthly goal for the year.
Exercise a Minimum of 3 Times a Week
Exercising 3 times a week is something that is off and on. When I was going into work I had really found a rhythm of lifting weights three times a week in the mornings.
But now that I have been working from home for the past 3 months this has gotten harder.
Gyms are closed and now I’m home all day without childcare trying to work, blog, and be a mom.
I have taken the little one out for runs with me in her stroller. And we are walking every day, so even though it isn’t the intense workouts I’m used to, it’s still something.
I’m not satisfied with this one and will continue to experiment over the summer.
Wear Sunscreen Daily from May – September
So far so good with this goal when appropriate. I have managed to avoid getting sunburned while still spending a lot of time outside. That is the purpose of this goal so I’m happy.
Once again it’s considered ongoing because it stretches until September.
Read 20 Books
I’m on track with this goal as well. So far I have read 10 books which is exactly halfway for the halfway part of the year.
I expect to finish this goal before the end of the year but we will see how it goes.
No Phone in Bed Before Bed
This is a goal I’ve really focused hard on and it has paid off. I’m sleeping way better because I’m not losing time scrolling through my phone.
Now if I could only stick to not using my phone first thing in the morning that would be a double win.
Potty-Train our Little One
Our little one is still not yet two so a bit early on this one. But we are regularly sitting her on the toiler and she does use it at least once daily so progress being made here.
One Family Holiday
I don’t really know where to go with this one. We are a family that has always valued travel. In the past, we have been limited due to the Zika virus and trying to conceive.
But now we are more restricted because of the current global pandemic.
We had planned on going on a ski trip but that was canceled when the country shut down in late March.
As of right now our only family holiday planned is to go visit my in-laws for a few days. They are only a short drive away, we have been super careful with preventing the spread and there are currently no cases in their municipality.
Luckily they live on a farm so when we get there we can stay out there and not have to go into town.
Other than that we will be focusing on a family staycation this year.
Input Money Tracking by the End of the First Week of the Month
This has gotten a lot easier this year. Before I always got to inputting my monthly tracking eventually. Now that I have a goal to do it in the first week, often I do it in the first couple of days.
It feels good to just take the time and get this done. I will definitely continue this for the rest of the year and beyond.
Host 2 Women and Money Meetups
Providing a safe place for moms to learn about and talk about money is important to me.
Earlier in March before things got too crazy I tried to host an in person Momma’s Talk Money meet up, but didn’t give anyone enough notice so it didn’t happen.
So in April I tried again but this time virtually. I had 4 mommas signed up but when it came time for the online meet up only 1 was able to make it. I’m counting this as a small victory.
Now I’m thinking about planning my next Momma’s Talk Money meet up as another virtual meet up. If you’re a momma (or know someone who is) and want to join reach out in the comments below.
50% Annual Saving Rate
This is a goal that won’t really be accurate until the end of the year. Our savings are not consistent every month as some of our big annual expenses come out in the spring and a few of them come out in the fall.
I’m a big fan of paying expenses annually if we can afford it. It means one less expense I need to worry about monthly.
I also have not calculated all the intricacies of our saving rate and probably won’t until the end of the year.
For now, taking what we saved and dividing it by our net take-home pay, we have a 39.98% saving rate.
Pay Down Mortgage by 20%
Our mortgage pay down this year has gotten off to a bit of a slow start. We have decided to keep a bit more cash around than we normally do because of the uncertainty the pandemic brought.
Now that things have somewhat normalized for us and our jobs seem to be secure for the long term, I’m anticipating putting down a large lump sum on our mortgage over the next couple of months.
As of right now we have paid down our mortgage by 4.9% this year.
Re-Evaluation Required (the Ugly)
1 Massage a Month
In the first three months of the year, this goal was achieved. In the previous 3 months, the whole country has been on shut down, therefore, making this goal impossible.
I’m not really sure where to go with this one. Do I try and catch up and go for 12 massages this year? Or do I forget the last 3 months and adjust moving forward now that massage therapists are operating again? What do you think?
Wear Everything I Own
I have to admit; this was a bit of a vanity goal for me; one that sounded good on paper. It was inspired by one of Sarah’s goals on Smile and Conquer. But truthfully I have no idea of how to accurately implement and track it.
The purpose behind this goal is to not have an overabundance of clothing. I have gone through and donated a bunch of my clothes that I no longer wear.
And I don’t have a large wardrobe, to begin with. I can’t remember the last time I bought new clothes. Well besides maternity clothes that is.
I still wear clothes I bought in high school.
So as a goal for this year I think I might just forget about this one and be happy with the trimmed down wardrobe that I have. I will re-evaluate my clothing in the fall and again donate what I haven’t worn in a while.
Volunteer Quarterly
This goal is another victim of the pandemic.
The purpose of this goal was to volunteer my time more frequently. My charity of choice to volunteer with is the food bank. But they stopped accepting groups of volunteers due to the pandemic.
Moving forward I will look for more opportunities to volunteer and will make it a goal to still achieve 4 volunteer sessions this year.
15 Minutes of Writing Every Day
Once again, another goal that started out well in the year but then got forgotten by the wayside when everything changed.
I do enjoy writing and that was part of the reason that I started this blog. And even though I’m not writing every day, I am still taking the time to write multiple times a week.
In the next quarter, I’m going to hit reset on this goal and start fresh to see what I can achieve in the second half of the year.
Hopefully this goal is still salvageable.
Find a Reliable and Trusted Babysitter
Well now that I’ve been working from home for the past 3 months and nothing has been open we haven’t really had a need for a babysitter. And we don’t really want a lot of people in our home right now.
I’m hitting pause on this goal until the situation changes enough for us to need a babysitter.
Final Thoughts
Well, we are halfway through the year and a third of my goals have been achieved. Over half of this year’s goals are in progress and on track to be achieved by the end of the year. That leaves just over a third of them with some serious work to do if they are to be achieved.
Progress is being made and for right now with everything else going on in the world I’m going to be happy with the progress.
What about you? How are your goals shaping up so far this year?
It blows my mind that it’s still 2020, honestly.
$284.32 in found money is awesome! Love that (and I’m going to have to check out Great Canadian Rebates — I’m familiar with the other two fav sources, but that’s a new one to me).
On the exercise front — I feel like walking has become everyone’s go to these days, especially during the stage where going outside fo exercise was about all you could do. Definitely won’t be the weight-lifting level of intensity but if you ever want to do walking that is a little bit less..stroll-like, I always recommend Walk at Home with Leslie Sansone. If nothing else, her energy makes me smile.
On the goal front here, I only set three financial ones. I’ve finished the project for goal one, and the other two projects are underway and on track. So…no complaints here (although even if I was not on track, I wouldn’t be too worried due to the whole uh, global pandemic thing. You can only do so much, right?)
Tara – you should definitely check out Great Canadian Rebates, it’s cashback is better than some of the other options out there. Although recently Amazon’s cashback was substantially cut back which kind of sucks.
I’ve never heard of Walk at Home – thanks for the recommendation, will definitely have to check it out.
Sounds like you are making some great progress on your goal – well done:)
These are such well balanced goals! Great to see so many on track. I probably should have added one for potty training as that’s on the agenda for us this year, hopefully by year end. Hopefully you are adjusting well to this new normal!
Financial Pilgrimage – I think potty training may be easier during the pandemic because I have been working from home since March. Although we only have one little one so I don’t have anything to compare it to.
I’m happy with the progress that I’m making on my 20 goals for 2020 considering like you said, the new normal.