I didn’t get to the July check in of our yearly goals because…life. We’re enjoying our summer, and a small blogging break is just what I needed to get the creative juices flowing again!
Happily, we’ve been able to cross a few things off of our list this summer.
The nice thing about having yearly goals is that it keeps me grounded. When I find myself on Pinterest dreaming of new projects to take on for the house, I don’t go into debt trying to take on more project than we can afford.
Instead, I focus on getting these projects done. And I make a list of things I’d love to be able to do next year!
And honestly, the anticipation of getting a project done is half the fun. When you sleep on the idea of trying something new around the house, you’ll probably come up with a dozen better ways to do it.
Or you may find that dreaming of the idea makes it somehow less appealing than you’d first thought.
Money and Life Goals 2018
This is the year we wanted to paint most of the rooms in our home. We’re still loving the new look in the living room. Unfortunately, certain circumstances have made painting anything else difficult.
I’m hoping to get more done in the fall, though. I already have the paint for the staircase!
Painting
- Our son’s room
- The staircase
Living room- Dining room
- Computer area
- Kitchen
- Our bedroom
Kitchen Redo
The kitchen is easily the most hated room of our home. The cabinets have been falling apart for years and are made of a very cheap material that can’t be painted.
The counters are in terrible shape, too. So is the floor. Previous owners cut a lot of corners in this room.
However, this project is looking less and less likely each month. The cost of a kitchen renovation is probably not something we’ll get to this year.
I do want to start mapping out the cost of this project and learning more about how we can accomplish it.
Living Room Makeover
I won’t lie and say there’s nothing else I want to do in this room. But I’m happy with the changes I was able to make there! It looks like a whole new room.
And I know that I still need to put together a before and after post for you. 🙂 Maybe once school starts!
Closet
Our 1950s home doesn’t have much closet space at all, so we plan to add a utility closet to the corner of our dining room.
We’re hoping to tackle this project this fall.
Barn Goals
We have a mini farm here, so we always have goals for improving our barn and critters set up.
Baby Goats
We had 4 adorable babies born in February! We sold 2 of them and kept 2 pretty does for breeding in the future.
Fruit Trees
If I can find a good deal on trees, I hope to buy a few this fall to plant. I still need to learn how to take care of fruit trees, though.
Chickens
We’ve managed to keep them all alive so far! They should begin laying sometime this month.
Family Goals
Family time is big for us! We spent March through July cheering each other on at the baseball field. But now that ball season is over, we can fit in some of our other favorite things to do.
Monthly Family Outing
February: Trampoline park using a gift card from Christmas.
March, we took a fun family trip to celebrate the end of our #yearofno!
April: Just lots of baseball.
June: Just baseball as a family, but the kids enjoyed going to camps and a few of them were extras in a movie!
July: Vacation!!
Date Night
We’ve only had two dates this year. Whoops!
Vacation
Done! We had so much fun! Read all about Things to Do In Washington DC with Kids.
Personal Goals
Reading
I set a lofty goal to read 52 books this year, but I’ve fallen woefully behind. Still…I’ve read more books this year than most other years! Here are the ones I’ve checked out lately:
The Knowledge Deficit: Closing the Shocking Education Gap for American Children This was a fascinating read about education. If your child struggles with reading, I strongly recommend it. I really highlights the importance of reading and being read to.
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold C.S. Lewis considered this one of his best books, and I have to agree. It’s one of those books that is a great read on its own, but you know you’d catch more of the underlying lessons on a second and third read.
The Secret Diary of Anne Boelyn A friend passed this one on to me. I’ve always been fascinated by the Tudor era, so of course I enjoyed this book!
Our busy summer has meant I requested several books from our library, but couldn’t make it to the library in time to pick them up! That’s life.
Money Goals
If you love the idea of accountability and chatting with people who also love the frugal life, be sure to join the Living That #YearofNo Life Facebook group!
Finish Credit Card Debt
DONE!!!!!!! There has never been a more satisfying strike through than that one. 
Get Water
Our BHAG (big, hairy, audacious goal) for 2018 is to get better access to water from our home.
You can read about our water situation here. We’ve now paid for a better set of blueprints and are actively looking for quotes to do the work. It’s starting to look like we may find the cost prohibitive, so we’re also considering just having a well drilled.
At this point, I just want a better water set up!
Double Retirement Contributions
Waterfall Funds
Here’s what I’m calling a waterfall fund:
- We’ll be keeping our mini emergency fund, but it will become our savings account. We’ll pump it up to $1,500 and use it for unexpected expenses. (Things like car repairs or suddenly dead appliances.)
- Next, we plan to rebuild our sinking fund. This will be for irregular bills that we do expect, like insurance, car tags, and home maintenance.
- Once these are filled, we will begin a true emergency fund. We’ll sock away money into a separate savings or money market account until we’ve stored up 3-6 months worth of expenses.
So far we’ve accomplished the first step and need to start the second.
Setting SMART goals and putting them on paper (er…blog space) has made a HUGE difference in our family life!
It’s not possible to overstate how important this is. If you haven’t written down a few of your most important goals, DO IT! Life gets crazy and we all need reminders of what’s most important.
If you want a little nudge to save money in small ways so you can afford those big dreams of yours, read more about what we did in our #yearsofno. Changing the way we spend money changed our lives!
Have you met any goals lately?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
Why do you think your kitchen cabinets can’t be painted? I ask this because I had utility room cabinets that I didn’t think were paintable and I found a primer that worked and the difference was amazing for very little money! Mine were some type of laminate, but with the primer, painted very well.
They’re made of some material that is a VERY thin plastic over top of pressed cardboard. A lot of the plastic has chipped off or flat out broken away from the cardboard. Even if I painted them, they’d still look terrible! Also, several of them have broken off the hinges. Think of the cheapest material you could find for cabinets, then go cheaper. haha!
I would watch on craigslist for someone getting rid of cabinets from a kitchen remodel and start from there.
Get a rug for the floor and the cabinets and that would go a long long way!
Purchase a few of those dry mats that you lay out for drying dishes on and lay them on the counters when not in use.
Might just might make the kitchen useable for awhile until you can get some money together for the rest.