I’m not sure what it is about time. Some moments, it feels like it’s crawling. Then, all of a sudden, you blink and almost half the year is gone. I started off the year with good intentions. Scratch that. I started with priorities. Rather than worry about where I’m headed or how far I still have to go, I thought today would be a good day to celebrate where I am right now when it comes to priorities, life online, and clutter.
Priorities
Make time for what matters more. Passing. Painful as it was initially, I passed on a few opportunities to earn more money at work simply because it would have required me to spend even more time away from home. I have also tried to push my side hustles online so that I can spend more time with my son. But I’m still not taking those $15 writing jobs or $14 tutoring gigs.
Focus on goals, not money. Passing…in a way. In the past, I’ve been a lot more focused on dollar signs that I currently am. I still probably care far too much about money as an end, rather than a tool. But I’ve started shifting my focus to things like 10,000 steps on my Fitbit and decluttering, so that’s been supremely helpful.
Say no…without apology. Failing hugely. I honestly feel like one of my students here. “Why didn’t you meet your goal?” Uhhhh. Because I forgot I set it. This is such a huge part of my personality. If I ever want to change this, I’m going to have to be more deliberate. I am, however, getting better at politely declining things. It’s just being seized with guilt before, during, and after the decline that’s the problem.
Earn More Online
Keep investing. Passing. Homerun! Touchdown! Go sports! Seriously, any sports metaphor that you can think of works for this one. We maxed out both of our Roth IRAs in April. That means all of the money we would normally funnel toward that each month is going straight to our mortgage. The only thing I like more than investing is destroying debt.
Pay for Christmas with credit card rewards and app earnings. Passing. I have a more detailed post on this coming soon, but things are beginning to a lot like Christmas. Just kidding. It’s finally NOT snowing, so I’m not about to rush this holiday. According to our spreadsheet, we already have $533 to put toward Christmas. The only way this could get any better would be if I could actually earn enough with apps like Ibotta to not have to spend any of our credit card rewards.
Build up a freelancing base. Passing. I am ghostwriting consistently each month for two different clients. I also have a handful of less predictable but equally awesome writing opportunities. I am hoping to be able to pursue more of this over the summer. The current obstacle is the fact that most of my portfolio (i.e. this blog) involves a nom de plume.
Declutter
Continue to purge purposefully. Passing. You know what is even better than the MinsGame that I keep losing? Minimize in May! Britt at Tiny Ambitions put together an awesome challenge that I am all about. I sold a pair of shoes and a pair of sunnies on Poshmark. I also have a few donation items gathered up, but I’m going to try to be more strategic with my donation than just send them to Goodwill (who will send them to a landfill).
Focus on experiences over things. Passing but always room for improvement here. You know how you can’t always see progress in the day to day? Now that we’re just a few months away from our son’s first birthday, my parents asked us if we would rather have money for college or museum passes. No clothes. No toys. No stuff. My priorities are shifting and people are noticing. Holla!
Earn money from my closet. Passing. I am back in the Poshmark game. I don’t have much time to devote to listing on Posh or cross-posting on other platforms, but I will this summer. Still, I’m going to toss another $80 at my mortgage this month thanks to two Poshmark sales.
So Tell Me…Are you keeping track of your priorities or do you find yourself feeling like the year is getting away from you?
Thanks for the shoutout, Penny! I actually dropped off a bunch of stuff at a local consignment store this past week so my own Minimize in May is off to a good start. As for my own goals, I definitely feel like I’m falling behind (especially with the blog). I made a goal of writing one blog post a month about tiny houses/sustainable living. It’s now May (which is bananas on its own) and I’ve written zero. So.. that’s a thing. Here’s to kicking butt for the second half of the year!
P.S. It’s so awesome that your family is recognizing that you don’t want more stuff for HP. That’s the minimalist dream.
How is it May, Britt? With how long winter lasted, I swear it’s only March! I cannot wait to read your tiny house posts. But honestly, I’ll take anything you write!
So great your parents are noticing your shift in priorities and asking ahead of time about gifts for HP. Winning!
Yes! It feels like such a victory. I know we will likely still get some gets. Just like Christmas, I’ll return the toys and exchange the clothes for bigger sizes 🙂
I’m more of a systems person than a goal oriented person. So far this year, all systems are still moving me forward. One old saw that is really true is that “days creep by, but the years fly”. So true. Finding joy in each day is important because, in the end, your life will be a collection of those days.
We are in the process of moving (just across town), and it is highlighting how easy it is to collect a lot of worthless crap. I quoted Retire Before Dad the the other day to Mrs. Oldster. We were standing in our garage (which has never known a car), and said “can you believe that all this junk used to be money?” She just looked at me like I was crazy. She may be right.
Going back and reviewing goals monthly or quarterly, i have found to be so effective. It just helps you not lose sight of what you truly want, and what you should be working towards.
Looks like you guys are doing great so far, I’m really thinking we should look at maxing out IRA’s earlier in the year, that will definitely free up some cash for other goals.
The biggest reason we were able to max out was bc I earned a lot less when I took my leave. So our refund went straight to Vanguard!
Woah, $533 extra for Christmas and it’s only May?! I’ve stepped away from dollar goals myself, this market is anxious and there’s no point in putting dollar signs on that.
My issue is setting appropriate goals, what do you do/feel if you don’t hit something? For me, it’s like a whack to the gut if it’s something I tried. This year is progressing quickly!
Congrats on passing so many of your goals! I do better when I set monthly SMART goals, so I can measure them quantitatively once the month ends. For example, I wanted to make $X freelancing last month, so I set a SMART goal (and crushed ittttt). I increased my income goal this month and, fingers crossed, I’m set to crush that one too. 🙂
Looks like you are going well Penny – although I have to say you have a lot of priorities, and I can see why you forget about the odd one! I’m trying to keep my list small, but it’s hard.
This list is probably a lot longer than it should be. I guess I tend to think of it in three chunks and don’t worry too much about the details. But that’s how I totally forgot the saying no without apology thing. Whoops!
My priorities are definitely clear for the next 3 months. Date myself. Move my body in ways that bring me joy. Feed myself well. Do not accept ANY new clients. Date non-seriously and have fun in life. Finally finish mastering the skill and get a gig in it.
I did doodle how I would attack investing and debt pay down once I’m in the higher paying gig, and I was not surprised to see that some of my priorities had re-arranged themselves there. It’s fascinating to wonder what those priorities will be once that money starts coming in. Definitely too early to say.
Love this check-in! I think it is important to have some goals “fail” because then you know that you are pushing yourself past a limit. If you could easily pass every goal, then you might need new goals to begin with. Good luck with the rest of the year!