Looking Back, Looking Forward

Things are still pretty busy here.  We are still in the thick of trying to make the right educational decision for Princess.  Who knows, maybe that will be a post in the near future.  However, I'd like to take a moment to pause and do a little reflection, as well as to see where we are going.

Financially:
We started working through the book Your Money Map by Howard Dayton.  We weren't happy where our finances were taking us and have slowly been making some changes.  This book was a gift to us at the right time.
Looking Back:

• We no longer use credit.  If we don't have the cash for it, we don't get it.  For us this has been a very good thing because it takes away the false sense of security that we had. We have been learning to live within our means.
• We have increased our giving dramatically without jeopardizing our budget.  You can read this mini-series here.
• I began to coupon and to combine those coupons with sales whenever possible.  This stretched our budget just over an additional $5100.  (I have learned to never turn my nose up, even to the smallest coupon)
• The Colonel quit smoking.  (This will also appear further down)  On those weeks where the loads weren't the greatest, this made a big difference.  In a year's time (which is fast approaching) that saved us well over $1000.
• We started paying attention to what we do around the house and seeing if there were any small changes that we could make that would help stretch our budget.  Organization was a big part of it.  You can read about the lessons we learned here.  There are also several posts about our story and struggle with organization.  There are so many other ways that we have stretched the dollar!  We will share them as we can on Our Journey to Debt Free Living

Looking Forward:

• The next step in Your Money Map is to begin creating an emergency fund, something I think is essential for those of us that live on an income that isn't consistent.  That will be a big part of our focus this year.
• Looking for more ways to live frugally around our home.  (I've already got a few ideas in mind and some that we are trying that I can't wait to tell you about)

• Re-evaluating our spending habits from last year, and finding ways to improve them for this year.  (Just a sneak peak - some of our big spending areas that need to be addressed are the amount we spend on cards and our habit of overdoing on gifts for the kids.  We will share more on the changes we made in a future post).

Health:
Looking Back:

• The Colonel quit smoking just about a year ago.  This was huge for us.  It has made it easier for him to unload trucks and keep up with the kids.  It also means no more smoke covered clothes coming into our home or smoke on his breath (even though he didn't smoke around the kids or I to begin with).
• I finally had my allergy testing updated.  Much to our dismay we found out that I have a shellfish allergy as well as several other food allergies so we are adjusting to that.
• We are taking baby steps in the area of cleaner eating.  When we do stick to it, I find that my energy levels are much better and it decreases behavior issues with the kids.  So far we have switched to aluminum free baking powder; from fake maple syrup to real; from hot dogs that are loaded with ingredients I can't pronounce to the Oscar Meyer.  I also try to make more things from scratch.  This past year though I found that this tends to be one of my biggest areas of burn out.  

Looking Forward:

• Looking into ways to make our home more allergy friendly.  Right now the biggest area we are looking into is the cleaners.  Between the allergens and the chemical cleaners, cleaning can be quite difficult some days.
• Finding ways to help decrease the burnout while still feeding my family a healthier, less processed option. 

As a Family:
Looking Back:

• The kids have done great having one parent staying home with them.  We plan on continuing this.
• Being with the kids all the time and trying to handle everything while the Colonel is on the road this past year has created burnout for Mom.

Looking Forward:

• We are in the process of finding the right educational option for Princess as she starts Kindergarten.  I am also planning on starting to do some Preschool activities with Buddy this fall.
• I will be trying to make more time for me.  Investing more into myself, as I tend to get so busy trying to make sure everyone else has what they need that many times I have forgotten about myself.
• The Colonel and I continuing to try to find the right balance as we work as a team.

Did you have any major accomplishments last year?  What do you plan on working on this year?