In September of 2012, I was browsing Pinterest (again) and came across something called the $5 Savings Plan. It sounded pretty easy, so I began!
For the $5 savings plan, you never spend a five dollar bill. You get it as change, or the teller at the bank hands you a few when you're withdrawing cash, or someone's paying you back the money they owe you...never spend a five dollar bill! It was a little difficult at first to remember, but I just stuck it in a separate pocket in my purse and it became easier and easier.
I didn't know what I was going to save them for, but it was going to be for something big. So in August of 2013, when we decided we were going to Mexico, I decided that all the 5's were going toward that. By the time December came around, I'd been saving for 15 months and had a total of 500 dollars saved in five dollar bills! And when I came home, I had some left over, and started all over again! And within the past three months, I've saved over $200. Although, it's really helpful when you pay for a $10 pizza with a $50 and the guy gives you $40 change in 5's. :) The key is to not ask for fives in change or cash in any setting! I decided to set this money now aside for a little trip I may be taking in May. Otherwise, it's just going to be set aside for vacations.
Another thing, I don't ever spend change. One, I hate taking the time to count it out at the check-out. But two, you usually get change back when paying in cash. And that change can add up quickly. Not as quickly as five dollar bills, but still... :)
I just wanted to share this little savings plan with you because it's really worked! It also makes me more aware of what I'm spending.
If you've tried this before, what did you think? If you haven't, let me know what you think of this idea!
Sierra
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Friday, January 3, 2014
So Far So Good
Yesterday morning, I didn't really have any "resolutions" or goals to complete in 2014. For the first time, I created a strict budget that I wanted to stick to, but that had more to do with situations that will be presenting themselves this year than, "This year, I want to spend my money more wisely." (although I do want that, too).
However, this morning my mom informed me of something my church is doing together (I didn't attend this past Sunday so I hadn't heard of it yet). Our church is encouraging the congregation to read the Bible every single day, no matter how much. They've suggested three different ways to do this, although if we had our own way, it would still count. The three options they presented were: 1) read a verse a day and one "story" a week; 2) read an overview of the Bible; 3) read through the Bible in a year. Because I already have an app for a verse of the day, I decided to read through the Bible in 2014. This will require reading about 3 or 4 chapters day, and because I'd like to walk away with more knowledge, I'm taking notes.
Thus, a resolution or goal was started! Tomorrow, I will continue with Genesis, chapter 12. A few months ago, my mom gave me a new study Bible that she had received, brand new, for free. During my Bible study on Tuesday nights, the footnotes, maps, charts, and other tidbits have allowed me to dig even deeper into God's Word! I'm looking forward to reading the entire Bible and learning more and more about the God I serve this year. I've never done this before, but it's definitely something that I need to stick to.
But there's a second goal that I made.
Around 1:00am New Year's Day, being the weird person I am, I was looking through my own Pinterest boards -- mostly reading quotes I'd pinned in the past. I came across this one...
...and I thought to myself, What a fun goal that would be!. It wasn't until later that afternoon when I ran into Target that I thought of it again. I made a friendly comment to the cashier and in reply, she smiled at me and said, "Thank you for that!" I guess it doesn't take a lot to make someone's day a little brighter. It can be a friendly comment to a stranger, a sweet note to a friend, or a "thank you" to a family member.
I hope and pray that no matter what your goals are this year, that you are able to stick to them. :) I'm usually not very good about sticking to my goals, but I'm hoping that since I just picked two, I'll be able to.
Love in Christ,
Sierra
However, this morning my mom informed me of something my church is doing together (I didn't attend this past Sunday so I hadn't heard of it yet). Our church is encouraging the congregation to read the Bible every single day, no matter how much. They've suggested three different ways to do this, although if we had our own way, it would still count. The three options they presented were: 1) read a verse a day and one "story" a week; 2) read an overview of the Bible; 3) read through the Bible in a year. Because I already have an app for a verse of the day, I decided to read through the Bible in 2014. This will require reading about 3 or 4 chapters day, and because I'd like to walk away with more knowledge, I'm taking notes.
Thus, a resolution or goal was started! Tomorrow, I will continue with Genesis, chapter 12. A few months ago, my mom gave me a new study Bible that she had received, brand new, for free. During my Bible study on Tuesday nights, the footnotes, maps, charts, and other tidbits have allowed me to dig even deeper into God's Word! I'm looking forward to reading the entire Bible and learning more and more about the God I serve this year. I've never done this before, but it's definitely something that I need to stick to.
But there's a second goal that I made.
Around 1:00am New Year's Day, being the weird person I am, I was looking through my own Pinterest boards -- mostly reading quotes I'd pinned in the past. I came across this one...
...and I thought to myself, What a fun goal that would be!. It wasn't until later that afternoon when I ran into Target that I thought of it again. I made a friendly comment to the cashier and in reply, she smiled at me and said, "Thank you for that!" I guess it doesn't take a lot to make someone's day a little brighter. It can be a friendly comment to a stranger, a sweet note to a friend, or a "thank you" to a family member.
I hope and pray that no matter what your goals are this year, that you are able to stick to them. :) I'm usually not very good about sticking to my goals, but I'm hoping that since I just picked two, I'll be able to.
Love in Christ,
Sierra
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Looking Too Far Ahead
Last week, one of my assignments was to create a short-term goal (to complete within 3 months) and a long-term goal (to complete within a year). Now, the short-term goal was no problem, mostly because it was a goal of mine even before this assignment. However, the long-term goal shouldn't have been, but it was...a problem for me.
If you remember this, I posted last January a few of my New Year's Resolutions. And I said I was "dead serious" about them. I really wanted to complete all these goals in 2012, but I knew, in my heart, I wouldn't. I knew, Lord-willing, I'd accomplish a handful of them, if that. But there was one that I was really excited about and I had my heart set on it: becoming a college Junior by December 31st, 2012. I hoped and prayed that if any, this would be the one that would actually happen. It was looking pretty possible when I passed Introductory Sociology. However, when I took four months on Natural Sciences and failed that test, which just so happened to be 6 credits, that goal started to slowly fade. After that test, it wasn't very sensible to study and take another test in the three weeks I had before I left for Brazil. Mainly because of everything I needed to do in preparation for Brazil. After Brazil, of course, I wanted to take a recuperation break. And I needed to finish some other high school work... And there went July. In August, I started studying for Introduction to Computing, which, praise the Lord, I passed at the beginning of September. Then this course came along. This is a 16 week course crunched into 8 weeks. Because I'm also slowly working on my Senior year of high school, studying for an additional test on top of the that and this course would not have turned out pretty.
All that to say: if that initial goal was still my goal (which it's not), I would have exactly 73 days to earn 24 credits. No. That's not going to happen.
Anyway, back to my assignment. So there I'm sitting looking at how slow I'm going at this college thing and I feel like a complete failure. Then I start mapping things out into the future to find out when I could "reschedule" that goal: to become a college Junior. Well, being the organized person I am, I felt the need to map out the rest of my degree. The whole goal of this is not to take four to five years on my college degree. I'm sitting there having an emotional breakdown because I'm so overwhelmed with everything I have to do and on top of that, I'm questioning if I chose the right major!
I told my mom, "We need to sit down and discuss this now. Because I need to make a long term goal and I won't be a Junior until I'm 19 at this rate!" Well, we sat down, laid out the rest of my high school life (which, by the way, is only seven months left!), and I still wasn't figuring out when I would become a college Junior. My mom then took my list of tests I have left to take for college, and helped me lay out a schedule for the next seven months of high school work and college work so they fit together. I will be a Junior, Lord-willing, by the time I graduate from high school.
As for my degree? I have no idea. I was (and still kind of am) questioning whether I was going into the right major. Would I really be good at the courses and test I'll be taking? What kind of job can I get with this degree? I was probably the crabbiest person alive that day.
I am 17 years old. I'm a Senior in high school. That day, I felt like I had to lay out and make a schedule...for the rest of my life. I feel that when I decided on a major, I was stuck. That's what I had to do...for the rest of my life. I don't. I didn't. My assignment that I had was just to make sure I knew how to set a long-term, attainable, and realistic goal. They didn't tell me to plan the rest of my (hopefully) long life! Besides, if they did...that's not biblical. Thank the Lord, I never have to plan the rest of my life. Yes, I should set attainable, realistic goals so that I learn diligence and responsibility and accountability, but I never need to worry about my future.
All I have to do is trust in Him. Not myself. Not my goals. Not my parents. My heavenly Father. The One Who tells me not to worry. The One Who has magnificent plans for me. The One Who wrote every single day I will ever have in my life in His book before any one of them came to be. The One Who I can trust with all of my heart and the One Who will make my path straight.
****
321. seeing my cousins
322. attending my cousin's wedding
323. a LIVE meeting
324. encouragement from moms of LIVE girls
325. playing paintball as a family
326. catching up with another cousin
327. my coach who takes time in her vacation to talk to me
328. playing Sardines in the dark with friends
329. hair cut
330. watching shows with my Grandpa
331. buying crafty things for my craft weekend in a couple weeks
332. having a video call with a friend from Brazil (I love Skype!)
333. getting fun ideas for my grad party (a long ways away)
334. ordering new contacts
335. playing air hockey with my siblings
336. finding cute cards on sale
337. a very productive day of school
338. laughing with my brother & sister
339. having only one and a half weeks left of my course
340. my mom helping me understand my assignments better.
Love in Christ~
Sierra
If you remember this, I posted last January a few of my New Year's Resolutions. And I said I was "dead serious" about them. I really wanted to complete all these goals in 2012, but I knew, in my heart, I wouldn't. I knew, Lord-willing, I'd accomplish a handful of them, if that. But there was one that I was really excited about and I had my heart set on it: becoming a college Junior by December 31st, 2012. I hoped and prayed that if any, this would be the one that would actually happen. It was looking pretty possible when I passed Introductory Sociology. However, when I took four months on Natural Sciences and failed that test, which just so happened to be 6 credits, that goal started to slowly fade. After that test, it wasn't very sensible to study and take another test in the three weeks I had before I left for Brazil. Mainly because of everything I needed to do in preparation for Brazil. After Brazil, of course, I wanted to take a recuperation break. And I needed to finish some other high school work... And there went July. In August, I started studying for Introduction to Computing, which, praise the Lord, I passed at the beginning of September. Then this course came along. This is a 16 week course crunched into 8 weeks. Because I'm also slowly working on my Senior year of high school, studying for an additional test on top of the that and this course would not have turned out pretty.
All that to say: if that initial goal was still my goal (which it's not), I would have exactly 73 days to earn 24 credits. No. That's not going to happen.
Anyway, back to my assignment. So there I'm sitting looking at how slow I'm going at this college thing and I feel like a complete failure. Then I start mapping things out into the future to find out when I could "reschedule" that goal: to become a college Junior. Well, being the organized person I am, I felt the need to map out the rest of my degree. The whole goal of this is not to take four to five years on my college degree. I'm sitting there having an emotional breakdown because I'm so overwhelmed with everything I have to do and on top of that, I'm questioning if I chose the right major!
I told my mom, "We need to sit down and discuss this now. Because I need to make a long term goal and I won't be a Junior until I'm 19 at this rate!" Well, we sat down, laid out the rest of my high school life (which, by the way, is only seven months left!), and I still wasn't figuring out when I would become a college Junior. My mom then took my list of tests I have left to take for college, and helped me lay out a schedule for the next seven months of high school work and college work so they fit together. I will be a Junior, Lord-willing, by the time I graduate from high school.
As for my degree? I have no idea. I was (and still kind of am) questioning whether I was going into the right major. Would I really be good at the courses and test I'll be taking? What kind of job can I get with this degree? I was probably the crabbiest person alive that day.
I am 17 years old. I'm a Senior in high school. That day, I felt like I had to lay out and make a schedule...for the rest of my life. I feel that when I decided on a major, I was stuck. That's what I had to do...for the rest of my life. I don't. I didn't. My assignment that I had was just to make sure I knew how to set a long-term, attainable, and realistic goal. They didn't tell me to plan the rest of my (hopefully) long life! Besides, if they did...that's not biblical. Thank the Lord, I never have to plan the rest of my life. Yes, I should set attainable, realistic goals so that I learn diligence and responsibility and accountability, but I never need to worry about my future.
"Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself..." ~Matthew 6:34
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
"...all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." ~Psalm 139:16
He says it right there in the Bible! He has my plans in His hands. Plans not to harm me or stress me out but to give me hope and a future!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." ~Proverbs 3:5-6
All I have to do is trust in Him. Not myself. Not my goals. Not my parents. My heavenly Father. The One Who tells me not to worry. The One Who has magnificent plans for me. The One Who wrote every single day I will ever have in my life in His book before any one of them came to be. The One Who I can trust with all of my heart and the One Who will make my path straight.
****
321. seeing my cousins
322. attending my cousin's wedding
323. a LIVE meeting
324. encouragement from moms of LIVE girls
325. playing paintball as a family
326. catching up with another cousin
327. my coach who takes time in her vacation to talk to me
328. playing Sardines in the dark with friends
329. hair cut
330. watching shows with my Grandpa
331. buying crafty things for my craft weekend in a couple weeks
332. having a video call with a friend from Brazil (I love Skype!)
333. getting fun ideas for my grad party (a long ways away)
334. ordering new contacts
335. playing air hockey with my siblings
336. finding cute cards on sale
337. a very productive day of school
338. laughing with my brother & sister
339. having only one and a half weeks left of my course
340. my mom helping me understand my assignments better.
Love in Christ~
Sierra
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Things Do Change
I am a girl who likes to plan. I like to know what is going to happen months ahead of time. I will sit at my desk and write out schedules, lists, and charts, to organize everything. From my schedule to my income, I want to know. Right now, I am saving for my own laptop. I have been for a while now, but it's hard. So this past weekend, I sat down, and wrote out how much money I was expecting to make each month so I could know when I'd be able to get my laptop.
I was really excited, because it looked like one of my New Year's resolutions was going to happen. As I planned, I estimated I'd be able to buy my computer in August/September. As I was figuring all this out, I made a chart of how many hours I'd have to work for each job each week. I have one job that is sort of regular, but it's about 3 hours a week, if that. My other job hasn't exactly started yet, but I hope that will be about 3-4 hours a week, too. Anyway, after I made this chart and was all positive about my new goal, I found out I'd only be working 2 hours this week for my "more regular" job. My enthusiasm didn't stay very long.
I realized that I can't plan out my whole life. I can't make a chart and say, "This is the exact day I'm going to be done with high school, this is the exact week I'll be finishing up my last college course, this is the day I'll be getting married..." I do not have the power to control my life in that way. Things happen. Things change. I can never know when I could get sick and get behind in high school a few days. Sure, I can estimate and try to stay on schedule, but in the end, God is the only one who knew all along when these things would happen.
I don't know when I'll get my laptop, but I just have to trust that God will make it happen if it's His will and if it is His will, then He'll make it happen in His timing.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
241. August 23, 2012
242. things to look forward to
243. music
244. game time with my sister
245. Post-It notes
246. technology
247. reading mysteries with my brother
248. discoveries
249. rainy days
250. happy emails from Laura
Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sierra
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A Year Behind Us and a Year Ahead of Us
Let me tell you, I am excited for 2012! I'm ready for some new beginnings. A new year with a clean slate. 2011 had some ups and it had its downs, too, as with any year. But I've put together a list of some of the events that happened in 2011:
- I turned sweet 16 and my mom threw me the greatest party ever
- I got my driver's license
- At age 16, I started college and earned 27 credits
- For the first time in my life, I moved :)
- I started developing sweet friendships with "sisters" that I can't wait to continue to get to know
- My mom and I developed a close relationship
- My family found a church we love
- I applied (and got accepted!) for my first mission trip
- I witnessed, first hand, how God answers prayer
- I discovered more about myself and who God wants me to be
- I made sweet memories with friends
Those are just a few things that happened this, excuse me, last year. As for 2012, I have some goals. In fact, I have quite a few goals. For the first time, I am actually dead serious about sticking to my New Year's Resolutions. Below are only a few on my list of 19 goals:
- Become a junior in college by December 31st, 2012
- Take at least one picture each day
- Blog at least once a week
- Journal once a week
- Trust in the Lord with all my heart
- Be a better encouragement to others
- Be a reflection of Him
- Try to attend at least one prayer call each month
- Have at least one video call with someone a month (try to have more)
- Buy a laptop
- Read 20 books
Lord willing, I will be able to accomplish my resolutions. Lord willing, I will grow closer to Him. Lord willing, I will become a better student, sister, daughter, and friend. And Lord willing, I will live 2012 fully for Him.
May you have a blessed 2012.
~Sierra
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