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You are here: Home / 2013 / Archives for December 2013

Archives for December 2013

5 Steps to Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions

December 31, 2013 by KerryAnn 4 Comments

Five Steps to Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions
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Five Steps to Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

 

Most people set goals and keep them… for about two weeks. Then they get derailed or overwhelmed and fall back into their old patterns, even moving themselves forward.

I routinely set and meet goals in multiple areas of my life, and I always follow the same steps to do so. In 2013, many people watched as I reached a couple of goals that were so big, many didn’t think I’d get there. I had to listen to a lot of naysayers try to rain on my parade. In response I prayed, put my head down and worked that much harder. In the end I built a second income and even got a $10,000 bonus.

This year, my goals have gotten bigger.  I have set goals personal goals for my income and weight. In addition, my children have set their goals, and we have financial planning goals as a family and home. It’s time to push and stretch myself to the next level.

Sometimes you need real, serious change, and that doesn’t happen by forgetting your goals. Whether you need to lose weight, get in shape, fix your finances, advance your career or anything else, you take the same five steps to reach your goal.

 

Pick a Goal that Scares You

No, really. If your goal isn’t so big that it scares you at least a little, it isn’t a challenge. If it isn’t a challenge, you’re not likely to follow through with working towards your goal, because you feel like it’s so easy you could do it quickly… when you finally make up your mind to do it. It’s a psychological trick, but an important one to get you over the hump of getting started. However, most people don’t set big, hairy, scary goals, so they never take that first step.  Setting a big goal is one of the best ways to get started on the right foot.

A goal needs to be long-term, measurable and require discipline or a skill.  Doing a one-time event isn’t a goal.  Saving up the money to afford that one-time event is a goal.  Going on vacation in May isn’t a goal; saving $1000 before you leave for your vacation in May is a goal.

A family sets a goal of putting $15,000 back for a new van. That sounds like a LOT of money to get together all at once.  That’s kinda a scary amount to imagine in your hands. It’s also enough to purchase what they need without debt, which they want to avoid.  Their current vehicle should hold out for another year, to give them time to meet that goal.

Or someone who sets an income goal that is 100% more than the average monthly income in their area while moving to being debt-free with the extra income.  Big?  Yes.  Possible?  Yes.  But still scary. Sometimes, financial freedom is the scariest thing.

 

Set the Date

Now that you know where you’re headed, how fast do you need to get there?  At what point do you need to reach your goal? Write down the date.

Open-ended goals with no date give you no motivation to get started. You should always set a goal with a specific end date, and something tangible that can be measured or tracked.

The family buying the van knows that their current vehicle will hold out for another year, if not more. They set the deadline for their $15,000 as Friday, December 26, 2014. The husband gets paid every Friday.  This gives them 52 weeks.

 

Do the Math

When you set a large goal and pick a date, the best thing you can do is to break it down into small bites.  Bites that are small enough that they look doable.  Bites that you think you can accomplish.  Depending on your goal, you will want to choose weekly or monthly bites.

If your goal is to pay off $20,000 of debt by December 31st, it sounds huge and freaky. It sounds impossible! But if I tell you in order to pay off $20,000, the first step you need to take by January 15th is to raise your current income, reduce your expenses, sell items or a combination that equals $833 so you can send that money into the credit card company by January 16th. That smaller amount sounds much more doable, even if it is a stretch for your family budget, than the $20,000 goal you’re staring at.

Our family buying the van has 52 weeks in which to raise that $15,000.  That means that they need to set aside a minimum of $288.50 a week.  That’s $15,000 divided by 52. Telling someone to set aside $289 a week (or $577 if they get paid every other week) looks easier than telling them to set aside $1250 a month or $15,000 a year.

These small bites are key to meeting your goal.  Knowing the small bites and assigning dates to them will be the meat of what gets you to where you want to do.  And this is the step that most people skip, and that is half of why they don’t meet their goals.

For most financial goals, I like to break them down by pay-period.  That way, you must see that line item on your budget every time you get paid.

 

In Your Face

The other half of why people don’t meet the goals is that they don’t keep them in their face.  Literally.

If you have a goal, write it down and put it somewhere where you see it every.single.day.  My first three months of goals for 2014 are written in dry erase marker on my bathroom mirror.  My bites for January are posted right beside my computer monitor.  And they are also on the dashboard of my car.  They are constantly in my face, constantly in front of me.  Why?  To keep me motivated and in action.

The family buying the van puts a chart on the fridge where the whole family can see their progress. Every time they stick back more money, they have their two girls update the chart.  And every time something comes up that is not within budget, they can refer to the chart and their goals to evaluate which is more important, or what could be arranged to be able to do both.

 

Keep a Check

At the end of each bite, you have to re-access your goal and where you are.  So at the end of each week, pay period or each month, evaluate how you’re doing.  Chart your progress or otherwise get it on paper so you can see where you are.  As you get closer to your goal, that visual reminder will become more and more motivating.

Figure out if you need to do something different or step up your game. If you didn’t meet your bite, was it a lack of time, focus or something else?  What can you do to fix it?

I’ve found that with some goals that seem scary, once you break it down, you actually realize it isn’t big and scary.  It’s doable.  A couple of months of being on track shows you that you can move it up and accomplish it early.

The family buying the van looks at their budget weekly to make sure they’re where they need to be.  They also work to tuck back extra money, even if it’s just change, towards their goal, to get them there quicker, or cushion them for times where they can’t meet their weekly goal.

 

Set your goals, reach and stretch, grow and learn. Keep it bite-sized and keep it in your face to get there. In the end, you’ll grow in confidence and grit as you find that you really can do things you never thought possible!

What are my goals for the year?

Five Steps to Keeping New Year's Resolutions

 

Yes. $20,000 a month in income with It Works by December 31, 2014.  It’s a big goal and it scares me! By God’s grace, I’ll get there.  I’ve set the goal, broken it down into monthly bites, laid out what I need to do to get there, week by week, and I’m going to eat this elephant, one bite at a time.

Grit, determination and LOTS of prayer. I’ll get there!

 

Happy New Year!

 

 

Photo credit: New+Year+Resolutions+Clock by husin-sani on Flickr

Filed Under: Frugality, Home Matters, Homekeeping, Routines, Sanity Savers, True Confessions

A Christmas Miracle: Greens with Bacon Vinaigrette

December 27, 2013 by KerryAnn 2 Comments

Greens with Bacon Vinaigrette
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A Christmas miracle has occurred, two days late.

I’ve finally found a way I’ll eat collards.

Yesterday I was cleaning out my fridge when I discovered that I had five pints of bacon grease scattered around on different shelves. Plus I had another full pint on the counter. I needed a way to clear it all out. I had a faint memory of a salad dressing made with bacon fat, so I went on a hunt. The same fridge clean-out also revealed bunches of collards and kale that needed using.

I never eat collards. As a good little Southern girl, I had them shoved down my throat, over-boiled and slimy, as a child. Complete with pot-licker. Since then, I haven’t been able to tolerate them, not even the smell of them cooking. Those types of memories die hard. My son, however, has different ideas. His great-grandmother cooked him some collards on a recent visit. On a trip to the store, he spied them in the produce department and started begging.

I tried to dissuade him. I pointed out the Brussels sprouts, the kale, even the cilantro. He would have none of it. He wanted collards.

This is, after all, the kid who recently threw a party in the produce aisle in Trader Joe’s over Brussels sprouts being back in season. This kid loves him some strong-tasting green stuff.

How could a mom say no to a kid begging for greens? I was getting crazy looks from other moms for even trying to talk him out of it. Their eyes said, “I wish my kids would beg for healthy foods!” Heck, I was even getting crazy looks from Jeff for trying to talk him out of it! “The boy wants greens, feed them to him!”

We went home with the collards, Brussels sprouts and kale in tow. I gave in. I intended to bring them home and let them wilt until I could throw them out, as I have several other times before. Just.can’t.do.it. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat them. And now I couldn’t throw them out, because he saw them during the fridge clean-out and the begging began anew.

So today, I decided I was going to clear my mind and give it a whirl. I broke out the greens and whipped up this little ditty with the extra bacon grease.

And I actually liked it.

 

 

Greens with Bacon Vinaigrette
From IntentionallyDomestic.com

1/4 cup bacon grease
1 Tbs raw honey
2 Tbs coconut oil
1 bunch of collards, thoroughly washed, stemmed and cut into ribbons
1 bunch of kale, thoroughly washed, stemmed and cut into ribbons
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
dash white pepper

In a large skillet or wok, heat the bacon grease over medium heat until melted. Pour into a small bowl. Whisk in the honey until the honey has melted and set aside.

Place the coconut oil in the skillet and allow to melt, then add the collards and the kale. Sauté, stirring constantly, until the greens are completely wilted. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes, or until the greens are completely tender.

Meanwhile, whisk in the red wine vinegar into the bacon grease mixture.

Salt and pepper the greens, then pour in the bacon vinaigrette and toss until completely coated. Serve immediately.

 

Filed Under: Pork, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetables

A Different Christmas: Towards Health

December 21, 2013 by KerryAnn 5 Comments

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This year, we are having a bit of a different Christmas.

The week before Thanksgiving, Jeff had a health issue reveal itself in a scary way. I won’t go into details, but it resulted in about a week of worry, a lot of doctor visits to get a diagnosis and weekly visits for ongoing treatment. Thanksgiving wasn’t the jolly holiday it normally is for us.

Part of his treatment is diet-based, as Jeff is seeing an awesome Functional Neurologist. He’s already showing improvement. And because it is critical that he stay on his diet, that means that I am not fixing anything for Christmas that might tempt him that is outside of what he is allowed to eat. His diet is difficult, so I’m not wanting to make it any more difficult on him than it already is. As a result, I’m not fixing sweets or carby goodies before Christmas.

The kids had some treats for their end-of-the-year parties at school: pizza, cookies and some other yummies. I made those while Jeff was at work and made sure there weren’t any leftovers. I’ll also make a small treat on Christmas Eve. I’ll be making a small serving of an on-diet treat for Jeff, then baking a few cookies after the kids go to bed as a means of announcing to the kids that they’re getting a particular type of lessons that they’ve been begging for as their Christmas gift. We will not be doing any other sweets.

Christmas dinner will be all on-diet for him. Instead of focusing on the meal, we’ll be focused on the activities we normally do on Christmas Day- after they open gifts and have a little time to play with them, we have the meal and then spend the day together watching movies and playing board games.

So I really haven’t had any recipes to blog. My recipe development has stopped for now and my focus has been on seeing him improve. That’s requiring a lot of my time and attention to prepare his meals and help him manage his care while keeping everyone else fed, too. I’ve also had to finish recording the Healthy Child Summit in the middle of all of this. I haven’t had much time to write, I’ve just been focused on keeping everyone fed, the laundry done and my head above water.

This year, our focus is on together time and family activities instead of the food and gifts. We’re thankful for his improving health and that he’s still with us. Right now, that is all that matters.

Filed Under: Health

Real Food Storage on $10 a Week: Paleo Diet Edition

December 12, 2013 by KerryAnn 2 Comments

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Real Food Storage on $10 a Week

If you follow my blog, you know I’m a huge fan of buying in bulk to quickly build your food storage to maximize your food for a minimum of money. However, not everyone has that as an option. Some folks only have a small amount each week to devote to their food storage.

Spurred on by a recent Facebook post about how to build your food storage using $5 a week using processed foods, I decided to make a similar list for $10 a week and the real foodie, updated to today’s food costs. I will do several variations on this theme, including multiple diets such as real food, GFCF real food, paleo and the like. Today we’ll look at a paleo. Check back for a $10 a week list for a different diet.

The idea here is to dedicate $10 a week above and beyond your grocery budget, and set the food aside to be the basis of your family’s food storage program.

This method of building a food storage plan is the low-and-slow method.  However, it’s perfect for those on a tight budget who can’t free up more funds in their budget to do something quicker.

[Read more…] about Real Food Storage on $10 a Week: Paleo Diet Edition

Filed Under: Food Storage

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Meet KerryAnn

I'm KerryAnn Foster, a crazy vibrant Jesus Freak with a heart full of hope. I'm not afraid to love on the least of these or get my hands dirty. This blog is my journey from ineffective, uptight, obese wallflower to a woman on fire for God and living the most vibrant, passionate life possible!

I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina with my husband, Jeff, and our two teens. I blog about self-confidence, health and home, homeschooling and living a vibrant, wide-open Jesus-centered lifestyle. I have over seventeen years of real food, natural lifestyle and health experience. We have homeschooled our children since birth and both Jeff and I run home-based businesses. We're crazy, we know it, and we love every second of it!

Read about my journey to health through celiac disease, PCOS, food allergies, obesity, adrenal fatigue and heavy metals.

  • We had peppered eggs and hash browns for dinner.  I complained of eggshell in dinner because something was crunchy.  It wasn't eggshell.  It was a piece of the cast iron pan!
  • Another shot from this weekend
  • Winter formal this weekend. She was beautiful!
  • Allllll day.
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