New Year, new goals

I know I'm a little late to the party with the goal setting for 2009, but I thought it a worthwhile endeavor anyway. 2009 is going to be a very strange year for me. My husband will (will!) be finishing grad school this year, which means we will be moving and will both be changing jobs some time mid-year. This affects my goals a lot. Our income will definitely increase a lot, but there is a chance I will be without a job temporarily (although his new income may be higher than our current combined income). I also have to consider short term cash flow issues involved with moving and save accordingly. With all that in mind, in 2009 I hope to:

1. Increase my savings to cover 3-6 months of expenses, plus an extra cushion for moving expenses.

2. Pay off at least one of hubby's smaller student loans. While it may not be our highest interest loan, it will make a much more immediate difference when his loans finally go into repayment and we get those first few bills.

3. Cook more from my stockpile. Since we'll be moving in six months or so, I need to start using things up and stop buying more.

4. Find new ways to generate passive income.

5. Continue to find at least one new way every week to help charities that fit into my time and budget.


Please feel free to share your own goals!

Doing good: e-cards

Right now, for every holiday greeting you send, Robeez will make a $5 product donation to Kids In Distressed Situations. If you leave a comment below with your email address, I'd be glad to send you a card.

If you have a blog, you can make an even bigger donation. For every post about the Robeez campaign, Robeez will donate $25 in product.

Get sending!

More e-cards that donate:

Cupcakes for a cause
Send something sweet

Doing good: Knit one Save one

My good deed for today was to crochet a baby cap for the Knit One Save One campaign at Save the Children. They'll send the caps to their infant care programs throughout the world, and send personalized letters to President-Elect Obama, encouraging him to help eradicate poverty. It was so easy to follow their pattern, and since it is so small it took little yarn or time.

Other good deeds so far:

• I baked cookies for my kids at school.
  
• I gave some of my CSA vegetables to one of hubby's labmates.
  
• I added a dollar to my grocery order to help the local food bank.
  
• I walked around my neighborhood and picked up trash.
  
• I covered a colleague's class for a few minutes so she could get a break.
  

Nothing huge, but I hope it is making a difference. Please share your good deeds too, it helps keep me motivated!

Doing good this holiday season

This holiday season I've decided to focus on doing good (as opposed to doing well). Given my recent feelings of defeat, I'm hoping that this project will help me feel better while at the same time helping other people.

I'm commiting right now (and I hope you'll all help me stick to it) to one good deed every day. I know everyone is busy, so these may not be huge or time-consuming actions, but I just want to know that I'm doing something.

Today, I'm focusing on things I can do in my pajamas without getting up from my computer, so here's a few:

Go to Give respect.org and follow the links, and Geoffrey Beene will donate between 5 and $10 to domestic violence charities.

Sign up at Stouffer's Diner Club and you will get 100 free points, plus points for any Stouffer's meals you've bought. Right now, you can donate your points to Feeding America. Every 20 points gives one meal.

Sign up at Uncle Ben's and sign his petition and the company will donate to Feeding Hunger's Kid's cafe program.

I'll hopefully find more online donation programs over the next couple weeks. I also plan to dig into my stockpile and make donations to my local food bank and domestic violence shelter and to look for Random acts of kindness I can do throughout my days. Hopefully I'll be able to do some good deeds that involve more time commitment in volunteering or more substantial donations as well, but I'm giving myself credit for any good that I add to the world.

Any suggestions on good deeds I can do are more than welcome!

See also
Free and Easy Ways to Help Charities
More Ways to help charities
Click to donate

Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving, I had several grad students over for what I intended to be a simple Thanksgiving dinner. It wasn't. Once we started talking to people, everyone wanted something particular, and my husband kept promising them we'd make it. So much for simple. Oh well. At least we have plenty of leftovers to eat this week, and I was able to send everyone home with some food as well. Feeding people really does make me happy.

So, despite my exhaustion (and my dread of Monday and returning to work), I really do have a lot to be thankful for.

I'm thankful that we have good friends to spend holidays with when our families are far away.

I'm thankful for a family that loves me and laughs at my jokes (Even when they're not funny).

I'm thankful for the food in my fridge and freezer.

I'm thankful that I have a good enough job that I can afford this.

I'm thankful for my grocery and HBA stockpile because it lets me give to the foodbank without hurting my budget.

I'm thankful for all the deals bloggers that help me acquire food cheaply and the green bloggers that inspire me to make good choices in my life.

I'm thankful for my CSA baskets every week.

I'm thankful for the (artificial) Christmas tree my husband insisted we buy after Christmas last year, even though I resisted.

What are you thankful for?