Choosing a word to focus on for the New Year has been very popular over the years. I joined the crowd many years ago only to completely forget about my word by mid-March.
But 2019 was different. My word was REDUCE. I wanted to reduce our non-mortgage debt, my clutter, my distractions, my impact on the environment, and my consumption of sweets.
By the end of 2019, we nailed one major bullet point and I was on cloud nine.
Read: A 2019 Recap
After 2019, I had a lot of hope for finding a word for 2020 but struggled to find one that was meaningful to me. After writing some financial goals that had a lot to do with researching topics, such as retirement and college savings strategies, I realized that maybe my word for 2020 was READ.
Read: My 2020 Financial Goals
Of course, 2020 brought us a pandemic and a lot of free time. With the libraries closed for months, I discovered the Libby app on my iPad. I never embraced reading on my iPad, but have now found that I enjoy it and actually read more when on my gadget than an actual book. I read more in 2020 than I have in years.
Enter 2021. I’ve been thinking for a few weeks about what the right word would be. I thought about reusing REDUCE, but it’s a new year, so I need a new word.
My word for 2021 is INCREASE.
1. I want to INCREASE our savings and net worth.
In January 2020, we had a lot of savings goals. We paid off all of our non-mortgage debt in 2019, so we felt we could shift our focus to saving money for other goals, like retirement and college savings.
However, our business took a downturn early in the pandemic and our goal became to survive financially.
Early in the pandemic, we felt like we were losing everything we had spent 20 years building. A lot of small businesses felt this way, and many will not or have not survived.
Today, we feel fortunate that our business has survived and we’re extremely grateful that we spent prior years focused on our Debt Freedom Plan. With our non-mortgage debt out of the picture, we could focus on keeping our business and budget afloat in 2020 and not worry about making debt payments.
By the end of 2020, our business was getting back to pre-pandemic numbers, but we continue to be on alert for sudden changes to the economy. Cautiously, we’re turning our attention back to our savings goals.
Related reading:
- Track your Net Worth with a Family Balance Sheet + Get a FREE one for your family!
- How our Debt Freedom Plan Prepared Us for the Pandemic
- How I’m Managing our Family Budget during the Pandemic
- 2019 Debt Freedom Plan Update
2. I want to increase my good habits.
Some habits that I want to work on include, getting to bed at a decent time, drinking more water, eating fewer sweets and junk foods, and making time for fitness.
3. I want to increase my intake of fresh foods.
As a family, we do not eat enough vegetables and fruits. I must find ways to make this easy for us.
4. I want to increase our open space.
We live in a small house by today’s standards and have lived here for 19 years. We are drowning in stuff and I will take the full year to go through our home room by room to remove unused and unneeded stuff from our lives.
5. I want to increase my creativity.
I spend way too much time on social media and less time on creative thinking and hands-on activities. I need to add more creativity back into my life. I want to write more and get back to developing and trying new recipes, something I used to do regularly here on FBS. And I’d like to start knitting again. I started a project a few years ago that I really would like to finish.
Bring it, 2021! I want to INCREASE the good in my life and REDUCE the bad. Let’s do this!
Did you create a word for 2021? Share it in the comments.
