Our 2012 Goals: August Update

At the beginning of January, I shared our goals for 2012 and promised you all a monthly update so you could check in on the progress we are making.

Family Goals

1. Go to the cottage at least twice. We went once as a family, and once Elliott and my husband went up together.
2. Enroll Elliott in at least one social activity. We’re looking into hockey classes and will hopefully enroll him soon.
3. Take more family photos. We took a few family photos in August.
4. Do more crafts and cooking with Elliott. A few crafts were done, but no cooking. He does like to watch, though!
5. Do more active family activities. Walking.. lots of walking.
6. Include Buddy (our dog) in more family activities. We took Buddy on most of our walks.
7. Plan first Christmas at home. We’ll start planning for this in another month or two.

Marriage Goals

1. Have “date night” at least once every month. We had 2 dates in August.
2. Go away for Valentines Day (last outing before new baby arrives). This was technically part of our February date night. We went away for the night and saw the Harlem Globetrotters, ate cupcakes from an over-priced bakery and slept in the next morning. It was awesome!
3. Schedule alone time once every month, where the other spouse takes care of cooking, cleaning, kids, etc. Instead of an entire day to ourselves, we took turns letting each other work.
4. Plan anniversary event. We only went out to dinner. We decided to take a family vacation instead. We’re hoping to go soon (not sure where, yet)!

Financial Goals

1. Put all extra income into house fund. We bought our house in July and move in late October. I’ll be writing about this adventure soon!
2. Create & stick to a budget for Valentine’s Day & anniversary celebrations. We doubled our Valentine’s Day budget.. but it was worth it.
3. Create & stick to a yearly expenses budget for 2012. So far, so good! We’re actually very under budget.
4. Put maximum amount allowed into both of our TFSAs (this will be part of our house fund). Done!
5. Investigate and understand the Home Buyer’s Plan (HBP). I’m pretty sure we understand this now!
6. Create a will. I can’t believe this still isn’t done. We do have it almost ready to go, we just haven’t had time to see our lawyer yet and get everything finalized. This WILL happen by the end of the year, I swear!
7. Set up RESP for new baby. Done!
8. Rebalance RESP asset allocation for Elliott. Done!
9. Allocate money to charities. We made a donation to an animal shelter in August.

Personal Goals

1. Drink at least 6 glasses of water every day. I did very well in August. I think I averaged around 6 per day. Sometimes 7!
2. Make healthy meals at least 5 days per week. Done!
3. Read at least 1 book every month. I read two books in August. Eat That Frog (again!) and The Rescue. Loved them both!
4. Stay active. Done! Mostly walks in the evening, but it counts!

Did you set any goals for 2012? I’d love it if you shared your progress in the comments.