Planning For The New Year

January 3, 2020

I don’t know about you but I love planning for the New Year. I know it sounds cliche but it’s like a new start.

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Now I’m not talking about new year’s resolutions like “I’m going to work out everyday” or “I’m going to read 25 books this year.” I’m talking about realistic goal planning.

I think the first step to being able to plan for the new year is to assess the past year. To be able to plan out new goals we have to look at what we accomplished this past year.

We look at what went well, what went wrong, and what we want to change. This helps us plan to be more successful in the coming year.

When we are planning for the new year there are a couple different categories that we consider including financial, health, wants/needs, and miscellaneous.

I’m going to talk you through those categories, our process for discussing them, and our plans for the upcoming year.

I’m sharing our goals to give an example of what I’m talking about but also to give myself some accountability because we all know that sticking to goals is hard sometimes.

Also at the end of this post I’ll be offering a free printable package that has pages to help you plan out all of the categories we are going to talk about!

Financial Goals

First we will take a look at our finances and figure out our future goals pertaining to that. For instance, our main financial goal for 2020 is to pay off our debt.

Then we look at our budget and decide when we can realistically reach that goal. We realized that we could be done by the end of August 2020 if we really put our minds to it. We also set a back-up goal of the end of the year.

We will shoot for August but sometimes life happens so we will definitely be done by the end of 2020.

We also take a look at our goals and make a plan to get there.

We figured out how much we needed to pay each month on our debt and then how we were going to bring in that money.

Whatever your financial goals are, you need a plan on how to get there. This is the perfect time to set up that plan.

I’ve included a debt payoff chart in the Planning Printable to help you with keeping track of your debt free goals.

Help with budgeting

I follow several YouTubers/Instagrammers that are focused on being debt-free and budgeting.

Following them and learning from them has really helped us hone in our budget and get better control of our money.

I want to share these ladies with you, in case you need some help or encouragement in this area too.

Lydia Senn– She has a YouTube channel, Podcast, and Instagram. She shares how she makes a full time income working part time from home. She also talks about ways to save money and easy ways to make money from home.

Marissa Lyda– She has a YouTube channel and Instagram. She shares a lot about being debt free and budgeting. We use her budgeting template for our monthly budget. It is available in her Etsy shop for only $7. She also shares about being pregnant and saving money on baby/pregnancy stuff.

Jessi Fearon– She has a YouTube channel, blog, and Instagram. She shares a lot about being debt free, budgeting, and working from home. She does a lot of Q&A’s on her Instagram stories that are really helpful.

RELATED: 10 YouTube Channels for Moms

Health- mental and physical

The next thing that we will evaluate is our health needs. This includes physical health and mental health. First let’s start with physical health.

First we will talk about our individual goals for our health.

For instance a big goal of mine is to have more energy. I know what I need to do to get there but have been slacking on doing it.

I’m hoping and planning that this year is going to be my year to just overall improve my health.

I know it sounds cliche because at the beginning of the year everyone says they want to lose weight and stuff. Mine isn’t really about losing weight (although that’s a bonus), it’s more about feeling better and not putting so much junk into my body.

Talking with your spouse or friend about what your physical health goals are can help keep you accountable. They can encourage you on your way and help keep you motivated.

Mental Health

Next we will talk about mental health.

We will talk about how we are handling stress and what we can do to improve that. We will also talk about self care and anything that needs to improve in that area.

Wants/Needs

Next we will discuss our wants/needs for the upcoming year. This may be projects we want to get done or big purchases we want to make.

We don’t have any big purchases we want to make in the upcoming year, because we are focused on paying off debt. However, an example of this could be purchasing a mattress or a car.

We do have some projects we want to get done like painting and redecorating our bedroom. These are things that we can start planning or saving for.

It’s important to talk about these things so you can start planning for them. It’s easier on your budget and your mental health if you plan ahead for big purchases.

Miscellaneous

We will also talk about what we have going on for the next year. For instance in 2020 I have 3 semesters of school that are going to get progressively harder and more involved.

We also have a vacation planned and some other small things going on. This helps us see what we need to save for and plan for.

For instance with my school getting harder, we have to figure out childcare options for my daughter. This also involves planning for that financially.

I think it’s a good idea to discuss with your spouse what all you have going on. This way you are both on the same page and there is less room for conflict.

Vision board

Some people make a vision board for each year but we have a general vision board. We take off things as we achieve them and put on new things.

There are a ton of good blog posts out there about vision boards. The Content Bug has a good blog post and video about making a vision board. I would check those out if you want to learn more about making your own.

Other areas that you and your spouse can discuss for the new year are:

Your Relationship
Business/Jobs
Habits

Basically think of anything that you deal with in your life and discuss it. Think of things that aren’t working well for you and things that are working well.

I also suggest getting a good planner if you are a planner person. I write down everything as it helps me to constantly be reminded of my goals. There are many different options out there for good planners, you just have to find what works best for you.

This year I chose a pretty basic monthly view planner and then got a set of to do checklists. In the past I’ve used The Happy Planner and loved it!

These are the main things that we do to plan for the new year. What are some things that you and your family do to prepare?