I am never ever ready to go on January 1st with all the goals and plans and such. Part of the reason I start later is that our family hangs on to the 12 days of Christmas. My mind just doesn’t move forward very quickly into the new year because I savor the Christmas season a little longer on purpose. I don’t regret that at all. As I sit here on the Epiphany (which is always January 6th) I am drinking a cup of oat milk hot cocoa and thinking through the weekend of getting the lights down and all the stuff finally going to the attic for another year. I have been gradually putting the Christmas stuff away throughout the past week and the inside of the house is back to normal and clutter free (sort of). The last thing to come down is the outside lighting.

Dan is really our holdout this year because as he kissed me goodbye on the way out the door he said, “Happy Epiphany, I promise the lights come down after tonight.” I jokingly said, “FINALLY!” as I waved him off to work. LOL After almost 34 years I know he will be up at dawn pulling them down. Have I mentioned that he is a good man? It truly is how we have stayed married this long.

In the meantime, I have been working on some goals for this year. I have been writing them on real paper in a real notebook because that, somehow, helps me to realize them better. I have used lists from two different authors over the years. I have used the Kathy Peel plan to manage our home and Dave Ramsey’s plan to write goals for personal planning.

Other things I have been working on include building my new bullet journal. I am working through a Bible reading plan, logging movies I watch, books I read, books I want to eventually get, monthly spending/saving logs, menu planning, brain dump lists, gardening chores and plans, etc. I mentioned books I want to get… I am on a spending freeze so no new books for now. I will just write them down and if I still want to get them when I have money then I will allow it (probably used). I am also taking more real photos this year and staying offline more (analog is the goal). There might also be more bird watching in my future. 😉

The reading plan is off to a great start with one book under my belt. I finished Mary Hunt’s Smart Woman’s Guide to Retirement. I highly recommend it. It helped me to understand a lot of terminology. I feel more confident in my financial goals for this coming year because of what I learned with this book. I also love Mary’s website Everyday Cheapskate. I get the daily emails and they are super informative.

Another great resource I follow is Money Saving Mom – Crystal Paine. She shares a lot of sale items in grocery, household items, clothing and more. I am currently working through her Cut Your Grocery Bill Challenge. There is always another way to cut the budget and I want to continue to refine it all this year. With the hike in costs it has become a real challenge but with diligence I can continue to feed my family without breaking the bank. There are ways. Growing and canning/preserving more of my own food is one change I am making to help this process.

A few changes I have made over the last few years include NOT having a word for the year. I decided to drop that because it began feeling really contrived. As I moved through last year I began seeing a word come up over and over again in my life. If I had picked a word at the beginning of the year I think I might have missed that. God brought the word Abide to my attention throughout the year at His prompting. From that I built a page of scripture and some music and hymns in my bullet journal as they came up. The process has made me more focused and intentional. I much prefer that plan. So, I am waiting on the Lord for what He brings to the forefront as I move through 2023. I want to see His hand as I enter the unknown. The advantage to that is that He already knows where we are going. I will wait upon the Lord and let Him renew my strength right when I need it most.

I am also not making a book list for the year. I do so much better when I just pick the next book one at a time. I do still plan to make a TBR for each month but not the whole year at one time anymore. It felt freeing when I dropped this so I am keeping with this way of choosing the next book. I am also not reading very many new releases anymore. I have a few review books that will be new but many of my books are backlist books from my shelves, classics, or a recommendation from friends and family. I really love the older books. Too many new books just stray from things I am interested in reading about.

My question to you is… what are you planning this year? Are you changing the way you have made resolutions or goals this year? Are you slowing your life or plowing full speed ahead? Do you have something big on your calendar for this year? How are you moving into 2023?

Praying you all have a year full of joy no matter your circumstances!

Here’s to Joy in Your Journey,

~Leann

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash