Goals for 2010

Praise God for all of His blessings this past decade! Even the financial turmoil that our nation has gone through has had so many positive influences on us! More people are motivated to support their local economy, more people are committed to being good stewards of the money and possessions God has given them, more people are rethinking their priorities and sticking closer to home/family. I am filled with hope in what this new year will bring!!

We certainly have more than our share of blessings in this family! Cora will obviously be the highlight of 2010, but there are many other things we're looking forward to as well! Rob and I have enjoyed thinking and planning together about our near future and have set some goals that I'd love to share with you. Please pray for us as we trust in the Lord to accomplish them!

My personal goals (in no particular order):

*As mentioned previously, I'd like to make at least $500 online this next year. The plan is to use it for our 2011 vacation so the more the better!

*I plan to make that goal, in part, by revamping and being consistent with my food blog, Eat From Your Pantry. I'd like to post more than once a week, and turn it into an organized resource for others.

*Finish incomplete craft projects. I've seriously got way too many half-done (or worse!) projects that I've purchased materials for. To accomplish this I've joined a challenge on a forum that I frequent. My goal is 52 completed projects - one for each week! You can check it out here: MDC.

*Launch not one, but TWO Etsy.com shops (details coming)!! Gotta do something with those 52 completions! :)

*Turn Bob's room into a kiddo room! That's right! He will be moving most likely at the beginning of March (details as we get closer) and we will have a blast creating a playroom.

*Have regular evening devotions. I'm a slow mover in the morning and it is hard to do anything that requires focus when Aidan is awake. Thankfully, he is very consistent with his night-time schedule. It's time to get consistent with mine!

*To accomplish all of these things, Rob has helped me plan a daily schedule that I will stick to. Now that Aidan is old enough to play independently with some guidance, and Cora will be little enough to tag along (hello nursing at the keyboard!) with whatever I do for a good part of the year, I need to be disciplined about the way I use my time. I already have a daily routine, but I am looking forward to seeing this goal take shape as I try to stick to these time limits:

wake-up - naptime: get ready for the day and complete all housework planned for that day

naptime: Internet work - specifically blogging and marketing

after nap - dinner: play! work on kid-friendly projects (like the room), take walks, & plan

dinner -Aidan's bed time (8pm): family time and clean-up

8-10pm - crafting and devotions/reading

Family Financial Goals (roughly in order of priority):

*Pay off Rob's graduate student loan. We've been putting quite a bit of extra money into our loans each month for the last year and we are close to paying off the big one! The others (2 out of 3 of my undergrad loans) have much lower interest rates. We hope to have his grad loan paid off by May.

*Fully fund our Roth IRA for 2010. We've been putting the maximum in for the last three years and hope to do so again - this time in increments throughout the year instead of all at once near the end. Total will be $5000.

*Purchase a second car. This one will be cheap and used. We are hoping that we'll be able to accomplish this in early Fall 2010 as the weather cools and I'll need more options for keeping two little ones busy.

*Start saving for a house. Will we move into a home with a back door before the third baby Barr comes along? Start casting your votes now! :D

We have been inspired just recently to press on in this time in our lives a little longer without jumping into purchases that we could technically "afford" by the world's standards. We can more than make our bills right now, but we have debt. We've decided that for us, we won't be living "within our means" until that debt is paid (or mostly paid with an end in sight) off. It's so very tempting to want more and we've certainly done our share of giving in. Two families that have encouraged us to keep on keeping on are the Jeub Family (with 15 children living WELL on roughly the same salary Rob makes!!!) and this local blogger who just wrote about how she and her husband got through law school without any debt and now have enough money to buy their first house with CASH! Makes our goals seem pretty minor! I'm thankful for being challenged. Keep us accountable!