For most of my long break I was a lazy bum, but sadly vacation has come to an end. I’m trying to use this day to get up and get organized, so I thought it would be the perfect time to share a few of my resolutions for 2015. I mentioned this last year, but I do like to set resolutions/goals at the beginning of each new year. Sometimes I do really well and other times I utterly fail. It’s more important to me though that I try, rather than beat myself up for the goals that I don’t complete. Here are a few things that I’d like to work on in 2015.
– Finances. This is a constant struggle for me and things got a bit out of control during the holiday season. In 2015 I’d like to get back on track and work harder on living within my means. That means more cooking at home, fewer nights out and fewer impulse purchases.
– Take a trip. Somewhere, anywhere! In 2014 I didn’t really travel and that was a major bummer. I did go to Philly once in March and to visit my family in California in December, but other than those two times, I didn’t leave New York. The hope is that if I do well with the goal above, I can set aside a some money for a mini-vacation sometime later in the year. This goal should give me some incentive to work on goal #1 because I really think that not getting away last year was not good for my physical/mental health.
– Journal more. I’ve always wanted to be able to journal consistently. Usually I can manage to write daily for a few weeks or so, then inevitably I taper off. I’ve tried one of those “one-line-a-day journals” and I’ve sort of kept up with that. Some days I remember to write in my physical journal, but most days I don’t. I recently bought a digital journaling app called Day One because I thought it might be easier to add entries daily if I could type them. I’ve been using the bullet journal method since last February and that’s actually worked really well for me. I use it more for planning and jotting down notes though, and this year I’d like to try and use it as a logbook as well, as described in this blog post. I like the idea of jotting down little bits and facts from my day and I think this would be easier to maintain. Also, there’d be nothing to stop me from writing longer entries that day if I felt like it. The gist of this is that I’d like to try a few different methods and hopefully one of them will stick.
– Write more letters. I still think that sending snail mail is really important, but in the last year or so I’ve been majorly slacking on this front. I have plenty of pretty stationery that’s going unused and that’s just a shame. I’d like to dedicate a half-hour during the week to writing notes to friends and family to let them know that I’m thinking of them and that I care.
I hope your 2015 is off to a good start. If you’ve made any resolutions that you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about them in the comments down below.
(image via)
![📖 Last, now, next (thanks to the tagged publishers for the free copies)!
I’m mixing up the genres this month because I feel like I burned out on holiday romances last year 😅 Have you read any of these?
[CD: Nnenna holds three books in front of a tree, then shows the covers of the following books: OUR MISSING HEARTS, KISS HER ONCE FOR ME, and FIVE SURVIVE.]
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#OurMissingHearts #KissHerOnceForMe #FiveSurvive #bookishreels #bookreels #amreadingya #cozylittlechristmas #bookreel #bookvideo #lastnownext #booktok #bookvlog #currentlyreading #readingupdate #holidayromance #yathriller #cozychristmas #literaryfiction #thrillerbook #bookvlogger #litfic #romancereader #christmastree #amreadingromance](https://starcrossedsmile.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
My big goal for this year is to make it back to Scotland! I’m pretty confident I can pull it off….
Courtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines
Ever since reading Outlander, Scotland has moved way up on my list of places I’d like to visit!
Nights out do a number on a budget! I’m also trying to curb unnecessary spending and would like to pad my savings account this year.
http://bedknobsandbaubles.com/
Once I get my credit card bills in order, I’d like to pad my savings account too.
Ugh I hear you about fiances. I tried that savings resolution challenge (http://www.lifeproof.com/blog/2014/01/saving-money-challenge/) last year and gave up half way through after realizing how I should have started it backwards. This is year I’m trying it again and doing it in reverse as it always seems you have more money in the beginning of the year then you do by the end of it. I’m also trying to curb my spending, esp on impulsive clothing buys.
<3
heather
fashionistanygirl.com
Finances = ongoing struggle! I’d like to pay off all my credit card debt and then start adding money each month to my savings account. Good luck with your savings goal!
Great resolutions! I too started a journal a couple weeks ago just to get my thoughts out and it’s been incredibly therapeutic! I’m hoping to keep up with it too!
Thank you Natalie! I usually only feel the urge to journal when something great or terrible happens, but I’d like to be better at cataloging the day-to-day stuff too. I think it would be nice to have to look back on. I hope you do well with your goal to journal more :)
I’m also excited to make resolutions and I agree with you, the important part is to try. In my list, I also have journaling, I’m starting by writing each morning what I’m thankful of and my goals for the day. It helps a lot!
I like the idea of writing in the morning. Usually I’m running around trying to get ready in the mornings, so I don’t get to journal until the evening, but I might need to try this.
I’ve been thinking about journaling too. I am not sure how to tackle it as of yet but perhaps I’ll start too! :)
Yay! I you find any great tips or writing prompts, pleas let me know :)
Yeah, I need to get my finances in check also! Less spending, more saving! If you need someone to send letters to I’m your gal! I have a pen pal, but would love more! :)
~Sara
Sure, I would love to exchange letters with you! When you get a chance, maybe you could email me your address (starcrossedsmile@gmail.com) and we can go from there?
Loving your resolutions! I think you’ll have no trouble at all keeping them. I tried to pick up a journaling habit a few years ago, but I couldn’t get it to stick until last year. Now I actually keep two journals; one stays on my nightstand for personal reflections and the other I bring around with me to jot down notes, lists, and ideas. I even write book reviews and blog posts in it, on occasion, which I never used to do longhand. But I’ve sort of fallen for the introspective element of writing in a journal. It’s very soothing!
Once I started to make book videos last year, I started to jot down notes about almost every book I read and I’d really like to keep that up this year. It makes it much easier to remember how I felt and what I thought about each book! As far as journaling, it’s been one of my resolutions for a while and I’m hoping that as long as I keep trying, it will become a habit. I agree that writing in a journal can be very therapeutic :)
I just downloaded a journal app to see if I can stick to keeping an online journal :) Thanks for the blog recommendations~
Oh, which app did you download?
It’s called Diaro. You can upload pictures and put content and have it locked as well :)
Thanks! I’ll check it out :)
These are great resolutions! Taking a step back to observe the finances is always a good start :)
Thank you Jenmarie! Hopefully I can make some progress on all of them :)
I think these are some great goals. I am right there with you on getting back in charge of my finances — before I got laid off last year I had my 401k all set up with weekly contributions on top of my regular savings account and neither of those accounts have seen a cent since december 2013. Yikes.
Planning a trip would be really great too. Other than NYC and Boston, I went nowhere last year. That needs to change.
Good luck with your resolutions!
I was having a conversation with my dad a few months ago and it made me realize that I really need to start saving for my future- both the near and distant future. Long-term goals!
Thank you Lydia! Good luck with your goals too and I hope we both get to take a trip somewhere this year :)
If I’d made some goals for myself I think they’d be pretty similar to yours. Save more {or just, save} and journal! I’d really love to be the journal type and I was actually thinking of giving the one line a day journal a go. But I’m not sure if it’s a habit you can adopt, I’d heard somewhere that either you’re a person that keeps a journal or you’re not and I might kind of agree! We’ll have to see how we both get on. I think the best kind of journal for me would be one with collages and pictures and writing all together. Like an illustrated book. Because sometimes I’d rather draw or glue than write. So, basically, an art journal. But then I see all those beautiful creations people post on their blogs and I’m like, mine’d be so boring. I think I need to get over that :-)
And I’d also love a pen pal, never had one, just in case you’re still looking.
Kat
That’s interesting what you said about either being a journal person or not. I was able to journal consistently once- in college, we had to keep a journal for one month and that’s the longest stretch where I’ve journaled daily. Of course, there was a bit of incentive there as it counted towards my grade, but I did learn that I can do it if I put my mind to it.
If I had any drawing skills, I would love to keep an art journal too. I think you should go for it! I don’t think it would be boring, even it’s something just for your own personal enjoyment :) Also, I’d love to exchange letters with you. Shoot me an email with your address when you get a chance (starcrossedsmile@gmail.com) and we’ll go from there!
Same page, yet again! I’d like to do more of the above as well! Hopefully this year, I’ll be able to travel outside of the country again! And definitely need to get my finances in order :P Also, I was looking at that Rifle desk calendar at Strand and I really really wanted to get it!! I think I’m gonna make the purchase, it looks so good in your photo!
Love that we’re on the same page :) I don’t actually own this calendar, although I’m sorely tempted to get it too. I bought a calendar as a gift for a friend during Rifle Paper Co.’s Black Friday sale and now I’m kind of kicking myself for not buying one to keep!
Love the idea of writing more letters! I write them around the holidays but perhaps I should it more throughout the year. And yes, travel! Always.
I used to write a couple letters a month, but I really slacked off last year! I’d like to get back to sending handwritten notes regularly :)
And yes, travel! My fingers are crossed!