Plan The Year Ahead
Plan The Year Ahead
We Start a new year, and we want to start fresh as this is a new year new start. Unfortunately, we get the January blues!
Firstly, we may get down because the weather outside is miserable, and second, we have no money! Lots of us get paid the week of Christmas, and then we have to wait till the end of January. Before we get our next pay packet, it can be a long time to wait. With this, we have a lot of time on our hands and are stuck indoors. Which can lead to feeling down and miserable and then looking through socials and wishing we had things we don’t have or can’t afford!
Starting another year like this is what we keep doing year in and year out. Most of us say, “Let’s do a New Year’s resolution.” We start on the 1st of January, but how many people stick to these? How many New Year resolutions have you had that have been successful? Most people’s resolutions fail in the first few weeks, but I suppose it’s kept you busy for a few weeks while you wait for January to end! So how about getting out of the rat race and starting things feeling different and becoming a new you? So let us Plan the year ahead.
PLAN - Plan yourself, Family & Money
Plan the year ahead looks at planning yourself, your family, and your Money, so you can become a better version of yourself. Give yourself ambition, drive, and self-good feelings, and have something to work towards. Get the feel-good vibes instead of the January Blues. What do you want to achieve? Personally, Family, Home, and Money.
Let’s check out the Key Areas of what you may want to plan!
Make sure you plan time for yourself
I have found over the years of being a mum that you put your whole family first, and then you become the last thought! And where many people see when you are busy, you do not get any time. It is not the way. We get guilty thinking that we are selfish, and this is not the case. A happy you are a happy family. So when I plan, I make sure there is some time in there. Also, make sure I have time to manage and get that time.
Planning special times in the year
We love the seasonal holidays from Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. If we make some of these significant events, we need to plan them.
Budgeting Christmas
we should be budgeting Christmas in January. To ensure we have the budget to spend instead of getting ourselves into debt around Christmas time. We want to start every year fresh, not worrying about how we will pay for the last Christmas in January.
Setting routines in the home
Life should be shared within the house, not just down to one person. I found over the years that I was trying to do everything! From working a part-time job to caring for the kids, dinners, all the housework, and doing the house bills to keeping my partner’s books up to date. It becomes too overwhelming, and I feel run into the ground. So now we plan the household jobs and do things on to-do lists for the kids. It creates an excellent way to build independence, plus they love to help and feel part of a team. When sitting down as a family, discuss what jobs you are better at and what you can all do. From this, you can plan a balanced job list. Everyone will be happy, and you have more time to spend as a family.
Meal Plan
Meal planning for each week, even a month, is a game changer! It can be one of the hardest things to do, as deciding what to eat each day for a week or month can be challenging. But if you can do this, planning your food makes life so much easier. Making a list for shopping takes the stress out of deciding what meals you will cook for the week before heading to the shops. Rather than waste money as you buy and still need to learn what dinners you cook for the week. You can make your meals more varied when you plan for a month. Then, your plan will change monthly as our seasons and many people’s pallets change. Plus, with the bonus planning for a whole month, you have different dinners from week to week.
Being Organized
over the last few years, being organized has become a big thing through social media. A clutter-free, clean, and organized home can play a big part in a more planned home. Feeling calmer as there is no mess creates happiness as you feel less cluttered in your mind, which makes a sense of peace in the house. If you have clutter everywhere, you need a sense of order. You are particularly leading to no direction, wasting money, and focusing less on the bigger picture. It can lead to thinking, as there is so much stuff about the home. Having a plan to organize your home can leave you to think about what is essential that you want to achieve.
Getting rid of unwanted things
There is a big market to sell your stuff when you don’t want it. We are becoming more aware of just putting our unwanted items in landfills and thinking about the environment more and more. I hate throwing things away. If you can sell or upcycle an item, that is better for our planet. This area links into the organized section. When I am decluttering and organizing, then this comes to its own. When planning to sell, look at the seasons and when you are selling things. You want to get rid of your unwanted things and not store them. Preparing your organization with selling items then makes the plan so much easier.
Do what you want to do
be your unique self and do not follow anyone else journey to make your happiness. We spend so much time looking at our socials, following everyone’s hopes and dreams of what they will achieve in their year. We get hooked on the trends and need to think about our dreams. You start following someone else’s path, then find in a few months that’s not for you. So be yourself and not what others want, and do what is best for you. It would help if you thought about what you truly want and then plan how you tailor that plan to get to your goals for the future.
Learning About Ourselves
When planning the year ahead, we always learn what is best for ourselves and our families. Some plans need ideas and focus from others, like your family. So you get the best of the plan and its goals and ambitions to work together to achieve. Plus, this is a great way to help the kids learn how to plan themselves. This skill can be handy when planning their school work, and they can plan their futures when they get older and leave.
Sometimes, we go off plan, but that is ok!
You may go off your plan at some point, as this is natural. Sometimes, life throws us a curve ball, and then we must adjust our plans. It would help if you were looking at your plans regularly. It is a great way to re-evaluate and tweak your plans to fit the path you are now on. Always make time in your plan to be able to re-evaluate. I would do this every few months so you can make the most of your year. And make great things happen for you and your family.
So get inspired to achieve what you want for yourself, your family, and your home. Start planning your year ahead and achieve your goals and aspirations.