Live More Simply

Another year has come and gone, and while I'm not one for making New Years resolutions because you almost never follow through all of the way, I am definitely one for making goals and working towards them.  Sometimes you succeed and can feel amazing for accomplishing that goal, however since you're working towards something it's hardly a failure when you do not succeed, but rather a bump in the road.  I find that with resolutions, you set very high expectations and it's all about the end result, so if you fail there is a higher chance of giving up.

My motto for this year is "Live more simply."

This is sort of a wide ranging goal.  Living more simply includes a lot of decluttering, dejunking, and cutting out the things and people that bring me down or hold me back in life.  I want to be able to breath without worrying or stressing about things all of the time, and I really want to be able to easily love and trust that those around me love and trust me-without being a complete drain all of the time or causing drama.

I am inspired a lot by the 2012 Declutter & Organize Calendar created by My Simple Life. It is a calendar listing daily simple tasks to help declutter, organize, and simplify your existence.  It's such a great idea, I am totally going to work on doing as much of it as possible.

Here are some things I want to see happen during 2012 while I am living more simply:

• Find a new apartment and live on my own for a little while.  Hopefully a bright and sunny two bedroom (so I can have a guest/craft room), a little further south, for the same or cheaper cost than the one I'm in now, where I can have my kitty.   There's no rush on this, I still love my roommate, but he's about ready to find a place and try it on his own for a while.
• Figure out a budget and stick to it.  I'm so terrible with my money.  I don't save well and I still manage to live paycheck to paycheck when I'm making a decent amount.  Not acceptable anymore.
• Save Money.  End my year with a good chunk of money in my savings account.  
• Fix my credit.  I'm already working on this, and I hope that this will by my last time renting.  I'd like to buy a house in a year or two.
• Not let the little things get to me.  I want to be much more zen and not always let the little silly things cause me stress or worry.  It's not worth my time.
• Finally Get Healthy.  My coworker and I are joining a gym, I'm starting eat healthy, drinking more water, no more soda, etc.
• Keep things generally picked up.  It doesn't always have to be clean and tidy, but I just don't want it to get so out of hand anymore that I spend all day deep cleaning the house.
• Spend more time with those who are good for my soul.  Those good friends, family, framily, etc. who love me unconditionally and respect me-those who constantly uplift me and make my life a better place.  In turn, I am spending less time with those who are not good for me, and cutting out as many of them as possible.

What goals do you have?

Also, I'd like to throw in my happy list today.

I'm happy that I get the opportunity to start clean with a new year, and to work towards my goals and live more simply.

I'm happy that Mamarazzi is hosting the Happy List again because while I loved it, December was a rough month and I messed it up more than I got it right!

I'm happy that I just got an email that says I'm getting a $500 Christmas bonus from my company, even though it's after Christmas.  That's all going into savings!

I'm happy to be back at work and back to blogging regularly! 

I'm happy that I won the happy list link up for December! Yay for Mamarazzi's favorite things! (sounds like Oprah hehe...)