Stephany Writes

Categories: Goals

Monthly Goals | March 2024

I miss making monthly goals. I tried moving to quarterly goals this year, but it’s not working for me. I find it hard to figure out what goals I want to accomplish each month… so why am I doing this to myself? Just make monthly goals! That’s what works best for me, and so I’m back to setting goals every month. Yay!

I’ve broken my goals down into three sections:

  • Small Steps Toward My Yearly Goals – I’m setting five goals each month that will directly relate to my yearly goals.
  • Daily(ish) Routines – I have a spot in my planner where I can list out a handful of daily routines and mark them off throughout the week. If I get an A or B average at the end of the week, I get to buy something off my Amazon wishlist, which is a fun bonus!
  • Tasks – One-off tasks I want to get done this month.

Essentially, it means I’m setting 15 goals in a month but some of those are really fun goals (like reading an Agatha Christie novel!) and five of those are very small daily routines (taking meds, doing my skincare routine, etc) so it’s not as massive as it may appear. But before we get into my monthly goals, I want to take a look back on the quarterly goals I set in January and mark down which ones I accomplished:

  • Find 2-3 new prints for my living room gallery wall and get them framed and hung up. I did this! I have a plan in place to showcase some of the changes I’ve made to my apartment since my original Apartment To-Do List post, and my gallery wall is really coming along now.
  • Figure out my new organizational scheme for my bookshelf bins/walk-in closet and buy new containers to organize everything. Done! It feels so good to have everything in their rightful place and for my closet to be less of a chaotic mess.
  • Schedule an appointment with my PCP and my gynecologist. Done and done. I have a follow-up appointment with my PCP to go over my bloodwork results (I’m getting bloodwork done today, in fact!), but all went well with my annual exam.
  • Get my nose pierced. Done!
  • Try two dry shampoo brands. I tried the I DEW CARE dry shampoo powder, but I didn’t care for it. Right now, I’m trying out Not Your Mother’s “Plump for Joy” dry shampoo.

Okay, with all that fun stuff out of the way, let’s talk about my March goals:

Small Steps Towards My Yearly Goals

1) Install floating shelves in my kitchen. My stepdad is coming over sometime in March to help me with this. Yay! It’s going to give me some extra room in my pantry, and that’s a win/win for me.

2) Read Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. My goal is to read 6 mysteries by Agatha Christie this year, and this is the next one on my list after getting multiple recommendations.

3) Watch two seasons of a TV show. I gave myself a goal to watch one season of a TV show every month—and it can’t be reality TV. Well, I failed in February as all I did was watch reality TV. It’s such a comfort for me! But I am committed to this goal so in March, I need to watch two seasons of a show. I’m thinking of finishing The Bear (I watched the first two episodes and it was very intense, so I haven’t gone back to it) and maybe watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith since it’s getting great reviews. We’ll see!

4) Buy the “I’m Dead, Now What?” planner and fill out one section. This was one of my quarterly goals, so I’m putting it on my list for March so I can get it done!

5) Clean up my categories/tags. I have finished my massive blog recategorization project! Yay! But now I need to clean up my categories and tags before I install a new blog theme.

Daily(ish) Routines

1) Go for a walk Monday-Friday (three of which should be 30 minutes or more). I do okay with my weekday walks, although it’s rare for me to hit 5/5 days. It will be easier when the time change hits and I can go for a walk after 6pm (when I usually end my workday).

2) Take my meds daily. I made this goal in January because I was doing such a bad job at taking my meds regularly. But now I’m not! However, my goal with these Daily(Ish) Routines is to keep them for three months and then move on to a new routine if I feel confident that I have the routine down. So I’m keeping it on the list through March.

3) Do my skincare routine daily. Another pretty easy goal, and one I genuinely enjoy doing every morning and night. Some nights, I get lazy with it but that doesn’t happen all too often anymore.

4) Continue doing 30-minute standing sessions once a day. I have a yearly goal of standing more during my workday, and I really like making sure I hit this goal! Most days, I get it done and it’s a nice break for my butt, haha.

5) Go to bed by 10:30 p.m. Ugh, my forever struggle goal. I probably only hit this goal 1-2 times a week, sigh.

TASKS

1) Get my tub unclogged and install the TubShroom. I put in a maintenance request to have my tub unclogged three weeks ago. SIGH. I could do it myself, but it’s the principle of the matter, you know? I rent so I don’t have to deal with these problems myself! (And also because owning a home is expensive.) But once I get my tub unclogged, I’m going to install the TubShroom, which will ensure my tub doesn’t keep clogging with all my hair. Lolz.

2) Declutter my junk closet. Some people have junk drawers, I have a junk closet. It’s my hallway linen closet and where I have all of my cleaning supplies and miscellaneous items like my suitcase, an old TV tray, wrapping paper, etc. I have just been throwing things into this closet and shutting the door very quickly so nothing falls out. EVERYTHING’S FINE. This is the month I will tackle it finally.

3) Do a big Goodwill drop. I have quite a few items that need to go to Goodwill, including a TV and computer monitor. Could I try to sell these on Facebook Marketplace? Yes. Do I want to do that? Hell no. I just need to get it all out of here finally.

4) Do my taxes. I still haven’t done my taxes! I usually do them as soon as possible because I like getting my tax refund early in the year. But recently, my tax refund has been tiny (literally $40 last year, ha) so I haven’t been compelled to complete my taxes. I’m also always worried I’ll have to owe, and I just don’t want to know if that’s the case. But I’ll do my taxes in March. Promise!

5) Do a week of time logging. For the last two years, I’ve time-logged during the last week of March. I’m excited to do it again and see how things have changed (or stayed the same).

What’s something you want to get done in March?

Categories: Goals

Quarterly Goals 2024 | Quarter 1

Happy Monday, friends! Today, I’m revealing my quarter one goals. This year, I am moving away from monthly goals and toward quarterly goals. These posts will be structured similarly to my yearly goals, as I’ve selected a few goals from each of those categories to work toward. There’s also a “Misc” category for some extra goals I want to accomplish this quarter that are separate from my yearly goals.

HOME

  • Install floating shelves in my kitchen. This shouldn’t be a hard task, but I am just overwhelmed by the process of doing it, which is why my floating shelves have been waiting to be installed for months now.
  • Find 2-3 new prints for my living room gallery wall and get them framed and hung up. I have a ton of options saved on Etsy. I just need to figure out which ones I want to buy and get this task done.
  • Figure out my new organizational scheme for my bookshelf bins/walk-in closet and buy new containers to organize everything. After spending 10+ minutes one morning trying to find the bin that I keep my cozy socks in, I decided it was time to revamp my organizational system because what I had was not working for me. I made a spreadsheet where I listed out every single thing I keep in my bins/containers/baskets/boxes so I could figure out a better organizational system. I’m excited to finally finish this project and feel a lot less stressed about my home.

MONEY

  • Pay off my credit card. This is my big goal for Q1. I must pay off this dang credit card. Things got a little tricky in the fall – there were a ton of unexpected expenses that had to go on the credit card. I know I can pay it off in Q1, but I just have to be a lot stricter with my spending to do so.
  • Bring my bank savings account back to $500. It will be a stretch to see if I can make this happen in Q1, but I’m going to try!
  • Itemize all purchases on Mondays and Fridays. Since I’m doing monthly budget posts again, that means it’s back to itemizing all of my purchases on a regular basis. I think I can handle working on it just twice a week.

HEALTH

  • Go for a 15-minute walk Monday-Friday. (In February, make two of these walking sessions 30 minutes. In March, make three of these walking sessions 30 minutes.) It also couldn’t hurt to replace my walking shoes. That’s something I should have done in early 2023. Oops.
  • Schedule an appointment with my PCP and my gynecologist. I want to see my PCP for a physical, blood work, and to get a referral for a sleep study. And I need to do my annual woman’s exam, of course!
  • Do one 10-minute standing session each workday. (In February, increase this standing session to two 10-minute sessions. In March, increase to three 10-minute sessions.) Slow and steady here!

HOBBIES

  • Read two Agatha Christie novels: Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I’m excited for this goal!
  • Watch season 3 of Only Murders in the Building and all current seasons of The Bear. I’m halfway through Only Murders so I am confident I can complete this goal in Q1.
  • Buy my new blog layout, install it, and update my categories/tags, pages, and sidebar information. This is a big goal for Q1, but one I’m really looking forward to!

FUN STUFF

  • Get my nose pierced. I’m doing this on Friday!
  • Try two dry shampoo brands. Right now, I’m using the I Dew Care Tap Secret dry shampoo powder that Jamie Golden of The Popcast recommended. (And I’m going to start using Engie’s very helpful advice to put on the dry shampoo before my hair gets oily! I hope this is the trick!)
  • Buy the “I’m Dead, Now What?” planner and fill out one section. Self-explanatory.

MISC

  • Set up recurring friend dates. I am committed to being more connected this year and in order to do that, I need to reach out. I have a few friends that I’d like to set up recurring monthly friend dates so we don’t go months between one-on-one chats.
  • Go to a coffee shop to work one afternoon a week. I want to get out of my apartment more during the work week. I know that does good things for my mental health.
  • Work on a new daily routine for myself. I’ve long struggled with developing a daily routine that works for me, but I’m going to keep trying!
Categories: Goals

My 2024 Goals

Who is ready for a fresh new set of goals for 2024? I know I am! One of my favorite things to do as one year comes to a close and a new one begins is to think about all the things, big and small, I want to accomplish in the coming year. My big theme for the year, which I haven’t really included here, is connection. I want to reach out more, schedule more dates with friends, find fun events to go to, and not experience all of the FOMO I had last year because I wasn’t saying yes to plans. This also includes connecting better with all of you in bloglandia: more emails, messages, comments, snail mail, etc. Connection is what we need most as humans after all the basics are covered, right? And that’s what I want for myself.

But aside from that, I have a whole slew of goals to achieve in 2024! Let’s dive in.

HOME

1. Create a book nook in my bedroom. I need to procure a cozy chair for the corner, a side table, and some bookish prints for the wall. I also think I might buy these floating bookshelves for some of my book collections (like all my Anne of Green Gables books, my Taylor Jenkins Reid collection, etc). It will all come together this year!

2. Finish my living room gallery wall. I need a few more prints to fill out some of the open spaces, but this should be a pretty easy goal to fulfill.

3. Move to a two-bedroom apartment. If it works out for my budget, I would love to make the move to a two-bedroom apartment this year.

4. Buy a new area rug and a new coffee table for my living room. I feel like I just bought a coffee table but I haven’t done a very good job of protecting the surface and now it has all sorts of stains and nicks. It makes me very sad to look at! So I’m on the hunt for a new coffee table as well as a bigger area rug.

5. Reorganize my home: add shelving to my kitchen, hang an organizer in my kitchen pantry, and buy new organizing containers for my closet. I’m excited about this reorganization project! A functional and organized home is my favorite thing. When enhancing your home, every little bit helps. For those interested in simple yet effective solutions, consider exploring the variety of options available at this website, for a range of great home improvement products. These products are easy to install and offer immediate benefits in terms of comfort and energy savings.

MONEY

1. Switch to a rewards credit card. Welp, let’s see if I can make this happen in 2024.

2. Complete monthly budget posts on the blog. They’re back, baby! I think this is the best way for me to manage my budget and keep track of my spending habits.

3. Add at least $1,000 to my emergency fund by the end of the year. I’m starting small here and I’m hoping to far surpass this goal.

4. Pay off the majority of my LASIK bill. I’ll be using my FSA to help with this goal, but also would like to throw some additional money at the overall bill this year.

5. Complete a no-spend month. Ideally, I’ll do this during one of those three paycheck months that comes around a couple of times a year.

HEALTH

1. Figure out an exercise routine that works for me. More to come on this topic, but here’s what I know: I do not want to exercise every day. I do not want to join a gym. And I do not want to spend more than 30 minutes working out. From there, let’s see what I can come up with that will meet my needs!

2. Lower my resting heart rate. My resting heart rate is around the high 80s/low 90s and I want to work toward lowering it this year. If I could get it down to the 70s, I’d be a happy girl!

3. Use my standing desk more often – get to a place where I’m standing for two hours each day. I have a standing desk but I rarely use the standing function. I want to change that in 2024 and get to a point where I’m regularly standing for two hours of my day (not all at once, but throughout the day).

4. Get a sleep study done. Rollover goal from 2023!

5. Be able to comfortably walk 3 miles regularly. One thing I always notice when I’m on vacation and walking a lot more than I normally do: I get worn out so easily! My feet start aching much more quickly than they should, which limits what I can do when I’m on vacation. (And makes things a whole lot less fun.) This year, I’d like to go on more walks and be able to comfortably walk 3 miles.

HOBBIES

1. Read 100 books. I used to give myself much more ambitious reading goals but now, I like keeping it simple with 100 books. This is a number I can comfortably reach.

2. Read 6 books by Agatha Christie. She’s the queen of the mystery genre, right? I’ve only read one book of hers (And Then There Were None) and I picked up Murder on the Orient Express while at an indie bookstore in Tennessee. I’m excited to dive into more of her books this year!

3. Reach 100 listeners per episode on the podcast. Our tiny but mighty podcast has a small set of loyal listeners, and it’s amazing that we even have anyone other than our mothers listening to our silly ramblings. I would love to see our listenership numbers grow this year!

4. Update the blog with a new theme and reorganized categories/tags/pages. I’ve been favoriting WordPress blog themes on Etsy and can’t wait to get this done soon!

5. Watch one season of a show every month. I’m not the best at watching TV, but I’d like to be better. There are so many shows I want to watch! So here’s a small, fun goal to watch at least one season of a show every month. Reality TV does not count! It must be a show that is telling me a story and it cannot be a show I’ve already seen.

FUN STUFF

1. Spend a long weekend at Rainbow River. Recently, I realized that there are tons of VRBOs and Airbnbs available right along Rainbow River, which is the natural spring where I went tubing last year. We could bring our own tube and float along the river! We may do this for my mom’s birthday in July.

2. Get my nose pierced. I’m hoping to do this very soon! I can’t wait!

3. Get more tattoos. Currently, I have four tattoo ideas in my head. I’d love to get two cat tattoos right above the back of my elbows, and I have a vision of an anchor and tulip tattoo on the inside of my ankles for my mom. And probably more to come after that because can’t stop, won’t stop.

4. Take a cake decorating class. This goal was fully inspired by The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge on Netflix, which had me googling cake decorating classes near me. Even if my cake turns out terrible, I want to at least learn the basics!

5. Find a dry shampoo that works for my hair. Do you have a dry shampoo you love? I have struggled to find one that works for my hair. I have very fine, oily hair that starts looking gross even the morning after I washed it. I’ve tried a lot of dry shampoo brands and none of them really work for me (my hair not only gets greasy at the roots but also the ends, so that’s fun). I think I may have to pay the big bucks for a dry shampoo that will actually work for my hair. Or maybe it’s just impossible.

6. Listen to one new album every month. My Spotify Wrapped every year is pitiful. And that’s because I rarely listen to new music these days, unless it’s Taylor Swift. This year, I’d like to open up my musical horizons by listening to one new album every month. Maybe I’ll find my new favorite artist?!

7. Learn how to back into a parking space like an overconfident white man. Do I need to say more? I’m still so very cautious about backing into parking spaces, even with my handy-dandy backup camera.

8. See a Dolphins game in person. Rollover goal. I have to make this happen in 2024!

9. Buy new luggage. It’s been a really long time since I replaced my luggage. I finally got rid of the Jessica Simpson suitcase I’ve been using since 2011 because it was starting to break down. (That baby held up!) And my carry-on suitcase was a spur-of-the-moment purchase when I had to buy a small suitcase quickly before a trip. I don’t love it; it only has two wheels so rolling it around an airport is annoying. So it’s time to treat myself to new luggage; I’d like to get a large suitcase and a smaller carry-on suitcase.

10. Start working through the “I’m Dead, Now What?” planner. Maybe this doesn’t belong in “Fun Stuff,” ha, but I’m keeping it here because it’s one of those miscellaneous tasks I need to do. I can’t remember who talked about this planner on Instagram, but I think it’s a great idea. It’s just an easy place to put all of the things that your loved ones will need to remember after you’re gone, like medical information, financial information, accounts to cancel/close, pet information, etc. I think I’ll need to go through this very, very slowly but I can at least get started in 2024.

Categories: Goals

Quarterly Goals Recap

APARTMENT

1) Create a favorite books bookshelf. Complete! I love it and had such a fun time styling it.

2) Create a reading nook in my bedroom with a cozy chair, ottoman, table, and bookish prints. Not complete. I’m still looking at Facebook Marketplace for chairs and hoping to score a nice deal soon.

3) Frame and hang the print I bought in Charleston on my gallery wall, and hang two more prints on this wall. I framed and hung the Charleston print and also hung my old license plate. (What else was I supposed to do with it? I think it looks fun on the wall!) I have a few more spots that need to be filled in, so I’m hoping to buy some cute prints on Etsy.

4) Reorganize my pantry and hang up shelves on the wall. My pantry has been reorganized! I loved the suggestion from Kyria to put bins in the pantry that I can pull out when I need something. I got these sturdy, see-through bins from The Container Store and each one serves a specific purpose. I would like to get a few more bins, but I’m so happy I can use my pantry now! This weekend, my stepdad is coming over to hang up shelves and from there, we’ll see what else I need for my kitchen.

5) Redo my office space: monitor arms for my monitors, hang up a whiteboard, and buy a pretty table lamp. The monitor arms and whiteboard have been installed. Target had some table lamps, but nothing has caught my eye just yet.

HEALTH

1) Go for a walk almost every day (aim for 70% completion). Omg, no. My completion percentage is 3% and if you’re keeping track, that means I went on ONE WALK in October.

2) Drink at least one bottle (16 oz) of water almost every day (aim for 50% completion). I didn’t really track this in October. My bad! I’m definitely drinking more water. It’s of the LaCroix variety, but my dietician says it counts! I probably have 1-2 cans a day at this point.

3) Make an appointment with my PCP to discuss my carpal tunnel pain and to get a referral for a sleep study. No progress made.

4) Get LASIK! Complete! Yay!

5) Adhere to a 10 p.m. bedtime routine. I’m not as concerned about this bedtime these days. I’m sleeping a little later since I don’t tend to start work until 9 a.m. and I feel good about my nighttime routine these days.

MONEY

1) Save money every week by using my gamified savings system. (0/13) I didn’t do this in October due to some increased expenses, so it just means I need to double up in November!

2) Switch to a rewards credit card. No progress made.

3) Fully fund my bank emergency savings ($500). No progress made.

4) Do weekly budget recaps (either publicly or privately on my blog). I started doing this privately, but I think it just makes more sense to keep it to my budget spreadsheet for now.

MISC

1) Finish the A-Z reading challenge. I’m reading two books right now to knock off V (Verity by Colleen Hoover) and X (The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling), and then I just have to read a book for Z. (I’m thinking Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde – thanks to Engie for helping me out with those last letters!)

2) Complete my blog recategorization project. I’m nearly finished with recategorizing 2020 blog posts (nothing like re-living those early pandemic days!) and then I just have to recategorize 2021 and I’ll be DONE.

3) Watch 3 standup specials. No progress made.

4) Get my nose pierced. No progress made. This may end up being a 2024 goal, but we’ll see.

5) Start training Lila to tolerate being picked up. I keep trying and she keeps resisting me.

Categories: Goals

Quarterly Goals | Q4 of 2023

I’ve always been a big fan of setting monthly goals, but I decided to change things up for the last part of 2023 and set quarterly goals. Some of these goals are part of my yearly goals and some of them are entirely new. I’ve also devoted the entire “Apartment” section to things off my Apartment To-Do List, so it will be fun to start marking things off this list if I can!

So, without further ado, let’s talk about my Q4 goals!

APARTMENT

1) Create a favorite books bookshelf. Since the bookshelf I ordered should be here this week, I am confident I’ll be able to complete this.

2) Create a reading nook in my bedroom with a cozy chair, ottoman, table, and bookish prints. I’ve been scouring Facebook Marketplace for cozy chairs, so I’m hoping I can make it happen soon.

3) Frame and hang the print I bought in Charleston on my gallery wall, and hang two more prints on this wall. I want to update the gallery wall in my living room, and this is a great place to start.

4) Reorganize my pantry and hang up shelves on the wall. I’m excited to make my kitchen more functional!

5) Redo my office space: monitor arms for my monitors, hang up a whiteboard, and buy a pretty table lamp. No office for me this year, so let’s make my little office space work better for my needs, yeah? For commercial property rentals, B8 Real Estate is the best.

HEALTH

1) Go for a walk almost every day (aim for 70% completion). I haven’t been doing great at going for a walk every day, but the weather is getting nicer (at least in the mornings!) so I really want to make more of an effort to get this done. If I can hit 70% completion, I will be well above what my completion percentage was in the first half of the year.

2) Drink at least one bottle (16 oz) of water almost every day (aim for 50% completion). Another area of struggle for me, so I’m challenging myself to hit my goal 50% of the time. I can do this!

3) Make an appointment with my PCP to discuss my carpal tunnel pain and to get a referral for a sleep study. Getting a sleep study done was one of my yearly goals. I also need to talk to my doctor about my carpal tunnel pain as well as the wrist pain I’ve been experiencing for quite a while.

4) Get LASIK! Yesss! This will be happening on October 20th. I just had my second nightmare about the procedure (ugh), so I really just want to get this over with!

5) Adhere to a 10 p.m. bedtime routine. Getting to bed at a decent hour is a constant struggle for me. I really want to work on this in the last quarter of the year.

MONEY

1) Save money every week by using my gamified savings system. (0/13) I mentioned the way I have gamified my savings in my recent Demerits and Gold Stars post, and I want to keep it up throughout this quarter!

2) Switch to a rewards credit card. One of my 2023 goals!

3) Fully fund my bank emergency savings ($500). Another 2023 goal!

4) Do weekly budget recaps (either publicly or privately on my blog). I would like to write a weekly budget recap, even if I make it private on my blog. There’s something about laying it out all out there that really appeals to me.

MISC

1) Finish the A-Z reading challenge. As I mentioned yesterday, I only have three letters left: V, X, and Z.

2) Complete my blog recategorization project. Only two more years to recategorize!

3) Watch 3 standup specials. One of those standup specials will be Taylor Tomlinson, but I’m on the hunt for two others.

4) Get my nose pierced. Eeks! I am excited about this. I think I’m going to do this in November. I’ve always wanted to have my nose pierced, but felt super self-conscious about my nose when I was younger. Now or never, right?

5) Start training Lila to tolerate being picked up. Lila is my skittish little lady and she detests being picked up. So I have respected her boundaries, but it’s time to train her to at least tolerate being picked up. I’m going to start working on this with her, so any tips or advice you can give me are very much welcome.

What’s something you’d like to accomplish by the end of the year?