April Challenge

I’ve been writing down monthly goals for the past few months now, though I did forget to do them for March. I usually make about five big goals that I want to attain that month and usually end up completing 2-3 of them. So I want to focus on making smaller goals and also bring in my New Years resolutions to them. If you remember, I made three resolutions and all pretty big ones. But I figured that if I can get these three areas of my life squared away, it will have been a successful 2010.

Resolution: Become a healthier person.
While I’m well on my way to this resolution, I do employ a lot of unhealthy habits in my daily life. My goal for my first month of Weight Watchers was to simply eat within my Points range, track, exercise regularly, and drink more water. And I did that. So now it’s time to focus on what I’m eating – and drinking. And what I’m drinking is a whole lot of soda. I’ve talked before about my soda addiction. It’s gotten a whole lot better since I started Weight Watchers but I really want to kick this addiction!

Even though we’re not Catholic, my mom gave up cookies, brownies, and cake for Lent. And she succeeded! She did awesome, even when faced with tons and tons of temptation – and tons of bad days where baking cookies would “make her feel better.” (But would it?) She wanted to do another challenge so she’s going to give up Diet Coke for 30 days, from April 8th-May 8th. I decided to join her.

So I will be giving up Coke for 30 days. While I’m hoping this will help me lose a little extra poundage, I really want to see if I can do this. It's going to be so tough but with both of us doing it, I think we’ll succeed. I’m going to have to find other drinks to have. I don’t like tea and there are very few fruit juices I can handle. Honestly, the only one is orange juice. I don’t want something too sugary. Do you guys have any suggestions for what to drink? (Obviously, I’ll be drinking a whole lot of water but I need other options as that can get old fast!)

Resolution: Become a godlier woman.
I have to be honest: I haven’t done much prayer-wise, Bible reading-wise, or worship-wise. The only time I open my Bible is for church. I only pray when I need something from God. I talk a big game, but don’t do much about it. I want to change that. I want God to be a more active part of my life and I know the reason I feel like my life is so out-of-control 95% of the time is because God is not the center of it. I’m not laying all my stress and troubles at God’s feet.

I don’t have time to do quiet time for a long time every day. My days are so go-go-go and are going to become even more so during this last month of school that it’s just not physically possible. My goal for this month is that I start conversating with God more. I start making Him a bigger part of my life that’s more than just a “God help me” when life gets too stressful. I want to pray to God and feel His presence in my life. I don’t right now. Once school is over with, I’ll have more time to devote to establishing a quiet time and better prayer life. Right now, I just want to have an active prayer life.

Resolution: Get in control of my finances.
While my finances are still in quite a mess, I have managed to pay over my minimum amount for two of my credit cards and aside from two times where I had to use them (At Subway, when my debit card wasn’t going through for some reason.) I haven’t used them at all. I’m about $200 away from paying off Target completely, and then I’m getting rid of it. I’m hoping to get this one done with by late June. My second card, which is my bank credit card, is the one I want to keep. It has a $500 limit, which is the perfect amount for me.

The one I’ve been conveniently forgetting about it my Old Navy credit card, which is now with a collection agency. It makes me cringe to even think about that! But I need to call this company and set something up. Because I need to get serious about paying this off.

But that’s not my resolution. My resolution this month is one of my “101” goals which is to start tracking my spending. I really don’t drop a lot of cash in one place. It’s just a whole lot of little things adding up to a lot. I want to start to see where my money is going. I also need to figure out how much money I do have a month to devote to paying off my credit cards. Aside from little things here and there, I don’t have any bills to pay for. Since we downsized, my mom has been able to pay all our bills – and still have money left over! (What a concept!)

So, those are my goals. Just three small things that will hopefully add up to achieving my resolutions at the end of the year. It’ll be interesting to see how I do, especially with the crazy month that’s ahead of me. The good news is, I’m in the home stretch! This insane semester is almost over with – now we just have to see if I pass all my classes. ;)