1.  Reduce, refine and streamline – things and relationships: On this front I’m doing better. My MO in January was to cut the waste, the clutter and processes of daily life – and specifically the weekends. I’m enjoying more time to paint, draw and take photos.

2.  When in doubt remove excess. Refer to rule #1: I referred to rule #1 a lot when making decisions in January. It served me well.

3.  Be budget-minded each month; plan it and work the plan: I converted my budget plan to an online book which was a huge step toward e-billpay, Quickbooks and such. I conserved at every level. Rather than purchase an easel (even at the discounted rates online), I bought one that was used and saved a lot of money.

4.  “Make due.” Good enough is good enough: Each time I was about to make a purchase, I ‘future cast’ the ‘thing’ and asked myself was it going to be useful one year from now. In almost every instance the answer was “no” – and I didn’t make the purchase. The only exception, I bought a discount book at Books-a-Million for $9.97 and wished I searched online for an e-copy.

5.  Plan ahead – enjoy the moment: Yes, the month had some surprises at work and several long days. But (!) I did plan ahead and enjoyed three weekends where I hung out with the BGE, painted, drew – and relaxed. Really.

6.  Take ALL vacation days … every last one: None taken but I did enjoy some time for relaxing.

7.  When purchasing find a deal, and keep a tote board: As noted earlier, I saved a bundle on the easel, even more on some books that I wanted as reference tools, and my savings for the month was just over $200 – not including the things I didn’t purchase.

8.  Save more, and SELL what’s not needed nor used: I made a HUGE list of things that are going bye-bye. When I settle into the month of February I’m getting rid of some biggies (car, bikes, etc.) and a few things just in the way. My goal is to eliminate what I don’t absolutely use or need.

9.  Travel a lot … for vacation: We made plans for a trip on Spring Break — to Florida. Yeah. And we’re tentatively going to Hawai’i in early Summer. Even more Yeah.

10. Remember family. Go visit them: I didn’t visit anyone in January, but I did talk with several family members (more than usual) and communicated by email more than usual as well. February has a travel-trip to Nashville in it somewhere.
OK then. February is under way.