My 2009 Action Plan

Ben at Money Smart Life doesn’t like me. I can tell. He tagged me to make a New Year’s Action Plan. Crud. I’ve been avoiding this. I have a 2009 goals post drafted, but meh, I don’t feel like posting it yet. It seems bland and dull. Nothing really exciting around here at MFC. 3 years of blogging and I’m not sure I have the oomph to keep on going. (3 years as of yesterday. Hooray?)

I’m going to indulge Ben because:
1. I don’t read his quality blog enough.
2. I’m a crappy meme participant and often forget I was tagged.
3. I really don’t have enough to write about and cast about aimlessly to find something.

Let me think of an action plan. However, since Ben’s aren’t necessarily about personal finance, mine are only peripheral as well.

I want to focus on my job. In the last year, since I started work as a consultant, I don’t think I’ve been that happy with work. Actually, I’ve been miserable and contemplated quitting many times. I entertain every job listing my friends float my way. Too bad I’m not interested in working “on post” (i.e. on a military installation) and having every aspect of my life scrutinized by the Feds. It’s weird. It’s creepy. I’ll stick to what I’m doing as a consultant, but I want to strive to do what I’m doing well. This first year has been about a lot of insecurity about being at the right place with the right skills. I’ve settled into a contract at work that is challenging with a lot of great people and I was shocked at all the nice things on my last performance review. I hope that it turns into a good bonus for me. (I think it will because I forgot to send in a self-assessment in a timely way and my boss was nudging me to get it done for review during bonus season.)

What does focusing on my job mean?
1. Making all my billable hours.
2. Grow my technical skills.
3. Looking like a superstar on my project. (But hopefully not being so important that I can’t take a vacation.)

I guess #3 supports #1. But #2 could be anything. We’ll see what kind of training I can scrounge up with company dollars.

I want to clean out my yarn/craft stash. I have too much stuff in my apartment and yarn is part of it.

Projects in mind:
1. The first item I want to finish is a baby quilt for nephew #2.
2. Make myself at least one more lace shawl.
3. Make myself a sweater.
4. Make myself some wrist warmers because I can’t find any of my old ones. (Did I give them to my mommy too? I think I did because she already has the matching socks…)
5. Make myself a pair of socks, i.e. finish a pair I already started.
6. Use up some blue Lamb’s Pride worsted weight yarn. (Bought 10 skeins on sale a few years ago at a great price.)

I want to get rid of stuff. Ok, to stop and get all weird-girly here, I have this fear that my boyfriend doesn’t ask me to move in because I have too much stuff crammed into my studio and I think it scares him. (I’m only making that up, Bridget-Jones-style, but it could be true.) At any rate, I’m not nearly as disciplined as Madame X during as her 242-sq-ft studio days. I have a place twice the size and too much stuff.

So what’s the plan here?
1. Clean the dining room table off. (Because it’s swamped under crafts)
2. Shred my old financial papers and get my key papers down to 2 boxes again. (It’s around 3+)
3. Be ruthless with my clothes and throw out everything I have not worn in two years. Don’t cut it up into rags. Don’t send it to Goodwill.(Because this just means sitting around in the house or car ready to go to Goodwill.) Just chuck it out.

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