Goals Archives ⋆ Light House Life Lessons

February 27 2020

What am I listening to?

Some of you are possibly wondering what is all that talking you hear coming from my car when I pull into the parking lot at work. Well, sometimes it is an audio book, but lately it has more likely been a podcast. If you are asking yourself what a podcast is and why you would want to listen to it, you’ve come to the right place. I will do my best to explain just that.

A podcast is like a radio show that is recorded and can be listened to on your computer or smart phone at YOUR convenience. If you find one you want to listen to on your computer, chances are there is a way to listen already built into your browser, so bookmark the site and keep track of which episodes you have already listened to and have at it.

If you want to listed without being tied to your computer, never fear! There IS an app or twelve for that. You DO have a smart phone, right? If not, what rock have you been hiding under? Go back to the last paragraph and see how to listen on a computer.

So, if you are reading this, you most probably have a smart phone, and are at least willing to give listening to podcasts a try.

I know there are many different apps for listening to podcasts, but I only know about the one I use, Stitcher. This is a free app and I like it because it allows me to save a few episodes to my phone while I am at home with access to WiFi and then listen to them while I am driving to and from work without using up cellular data. So to get the app on your phone, or computer just visit the website linked above or click on the picture below and then click Get The App and choose the platform you want to listen on. You can easily search for podcasts by topic or name.

When you find something that sounds good, save the podcast to a playlist such as favorites by clicking the blue + (see example below)

Then you will see various playlist choices or be able to create new ones. For now, just put the ones you want to try in favorites and give them a listen. This is one I didn’t know existed and now I want to try it out.

When I try a podcast, I like to start back at the very beginning and listen to all the episodes in order. I usually listen to an episode or two and if I decide I want to listen to the entire podcast, I usually create a tracker in my bullet journal because I like to track my progress on things. The first one I started listening to and tracking was Success Insider in 2017.

The in 2018, I began listening to the InvestED: The Rule #1 Investing Podcast by Phil and Danielle Town. I was late finding this podcast and had a lot of episodes to catch up on so I have tracked it across three years of bullet journals so far and because I have finally caught up with the back episodes, the grid is much smaller in this year’s BuJo:

Note, you can also watch this podcast: InvestED: The Rule #1 Podcast

As you can see I only got through the first 90 episodes in 2018, so I made a note and started the new grid from there.

This year, I guessed how many spaces to allow on the grid based on the fact that the podcast is a weekly show, then added a few just in case.I then discovered the Retire Inspired podcast that was later rebranded to The Chris Hogan Show. You can see above that I was close to caught up at the beginning of this year so it too has a smaller grid.

Note, you can also watch this podcast: The Chris Hogan Show

Knowing I was pretty well caught up with InvestED and The Chris Hogan Show, I added a new one this year based on Danielle Town’s suggestion. She recommended HerMoney with Jean Chatzky and I am only about 30 episodes into it right now, and loving it. Jean is constantly interviewing various authors and podcasters on the show so I am adding a lot of books to my want to read someday list on GoodReads. Here is my grid for HerMoney. You can visit Jean Chatzky’s Website to learn more about her and the show.

As you can see there are many episodes to listen to. I wrote out what was in the list including some called Bonus Mailbag where she answers listener questions. I figure if I catch up then I will need to add another grid on a new page in this year’s BuJo. No big deal, that is the beauty of bullet journaling.

If you like Mike Rowe, you may want to give his podcast, The Way I Heard It, a try. His are fun to listen to and usually only 10 minutes or less.

So, now that you know what I listen to, please share your favorite podcasts in the comments so we can all give them a listen.

Category: Bullet Journal, Goals, Money Saving, Review | Comments Off

December 19 2019

Reflection & Anticipation

The frantic pace of November and writing 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo comes to a close. Then the frantic pace of gearing up for the holidays replaces it. I find myself pondering what I want to accomplish in the new year. It seems odd to me that I don’t even consider what I might yet accomplish THIS year, but instead turn my thoughts to the bright shiny new year and pin my hopes on it instead. Now to be fair, part of that is due to this being our busy season at work because it is also giving season and I find it difficult to consider adding even one more small thing to my overly full plate in the last month of the year. I am already working fifty, sixty or even more hours each week trying to get all the work done before year end.

The hours I am putting in this month mirror, in a magnified way, the hours I put in last month while writing. It is a different kind of busy and tired. The company I keep, the crazy pace I am keeping and the end goal has changed, but it is also similar in a way. Misery, and I hesitate to actually call it that because I have chosen these tasks, loves company. Company is what makes what otherwise might indeed be a miserable task, seem less so. I dare say the company I keep is what drives me on to do these seemingly crazy things and what helps me to actually continue doing them to completion. Many hands make light work fits in this case because at work we have a team of temp workers to share the load and make the burden more bearable for the rest of us. The load for November cannot actually be shared as each of us must write our own 50,000 words to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge, but this task is made easier because we know we are not alone in this madness we chose to take part in.

So, why do I put myself through this madness, you ask? Well, because I CAN, I suppose. Because I enjoy challenging myself to achieve what others say I cannot, dare not, should not. It is kind of like a double dog dare as we called them when we were kids. I find the work enjoyable for the most part and while not exactly fun when I am doing it, it gives a sense of accomplishment knowing it has been done, once it HAS been done. In the case of work, I feel like I am making a difference. I am helping to process the grants that others have made possible through their generosity. It gives me a sense of wonder when I become discouraged with the negativity and bad things that happen in this world. It gives me hope to see that there are so many truly generous people giving to the causes they hold dear. The causes are many, they are varied in scope and the donations are anywhere from fifty dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars being given to help charities fulfill their missions. A few will close for one reason or another, but new charities will open too. There are so many people being helped because I put in the time along with my coworkers so that the accounts can be opened and the money can be donated and the charities can be supported. It isn’t all work. This year their is a committee trying their best to help us enjoy ourselves a little and take short breaks from the constant onslaught of work. This is not a time of dread that the work is piling up, instead it is a chance to get to know some new friends and appreciate all that we have learned over the past year. It is a chance to learn new skills and help with different tasks. No dull monotony to be found here. Each charity we vet and the due diligence we do is slightly different. It may be similar to something we did an hour ago or a week ago, but it is slightly different which keeps us on our toes and keeps the work from getting dull and monotonous.

One of the coolest things I have found about the company I work for is their willingness to listen to us if we have an idea for how we could do a task faster or more efficiently. Any idea that might shave off a few seconds is tested and many are implemented to save us all time or share an easier way of doing something. With each new temporary employee comes a new set of experiences to draw from and we learn from each one whatever they can teach us. Our jobs are ever changing and evolving and this too keeps things from getting dull and boring.

So as I get closer to the end of this year and the beginning of the next I am thinking constantly of what goals I might want to set or what tasks I’d like to accomplish next year. Do I want to continue using my bullet journal? Do I want to try more of a prefab way of keeping track of things? If so, what should that look like? Do you do an end of month or end of year review to go over what worked and what didn’t? I have been considering this and would love any recommendations or suggestions you can share.

Right now, I am just trying to work as many hours as I can and not get completely overwhelmed by the preparations for the upcoming holidays. I can work the crazy hours this week knowing there will be days to rest next week. In another few weeks, the busy season will have slowed and most of our new temporary helpers will have moved on to other opportunities. For now though, I intend to enjoy their presence and get to know them. Hopefully, a few will get to stay and get hired on.

How do you prepare for the year to come? How do you keep it all together this time or year. Do you have an organizing tip to share with us? Don’t keep it all to yourself, share it with us, teach us what you have learned so we won’t need to repeat any mistakes you made along the way. While we are at it, is there a topic you’d like me to address here? Do tell. What do you find useful, what would you like to see less of? I won’t promise to take your suggestions, but I can promise to read and consider all of them before deciding on any changes in the new year.

Happy Holidays!

Category: Blogging, Goals, Organizing, Planning | Comments Off

December 5 2019

My 7th NaNoWriMo – Did I Win?

Every November for the last six years, I would tell myself I CAN win NaNoWriMo this year, I know I can because I have done it before. What always takes me by surprise is how different each of my seven, consecutive NaNoWriMo wins has been. This year was a real struggle. I was working at the same company as last year, but this year, the job I have is almost completely in front of a computer screen for eight to ten hours a day with only a few walks down the hall to the ladies room as a break from the screens and to stretch the kinks out from sitting so long. I work through lunch. The last thing I want to do after working all day staring at a computer screen, or in this case three screens, is go home or anywhere really and do more of the same. So this year was difficult in a different way than it ever has been before. I did not end up writing at work at all.

This year was different in another way, because, as I mentioned in my update post a month ago, I was sharing my current word count every day that I was at work in a very public way. It helped to motivate me to try to stay on par with my word count, just knowing others would be checking in on my progress. A few are still asking me if I really wrote 50,000 words last month. Yes, I did, how could I not? Today, Danny asked if I wrote 50,000 unique words, and I admitted that there are some words that show up more than once in the entirety of what I wrote, like a and the for instance. I think it amazes him, and I understand completely. It still amazes me too.

So in case you are wondering, the top graph shows how far above or below par or goal I was each day and the bottom chart shows how much or how little I wrote on each day. I finished the challenge on November 29th, and did not write at all on the 30th. There was no point since they took away the badge for writing all 30 days this year. I was over it and so ready to be done writing by then.

If, like me, you are a chart nerd and want to see the stats from my previous years, you can see my 2017 results and my 2013 to 2016 comparisons. There is even an entire category devoted to NaNoWriMo because it has made such a huge difference in my life. The thing that impressed me the most after seeing the newly revised NaNoWriMo.org website was the total number of words I have written for the various events I have participated in since November 1, 2013. (See below, 422,170 words!)

That words written total doesn’t count all the blog posts I have written and shared, including the guest blog post from August 21, 2017 on the NaNoWriMo Blog, I was especially excited to be asked to guest write for them. I had no idea back then that I would someday see that I had accomplished so much writing in just seven years. I still tell myself when I am faced with doing seemingly impossible things, that I can do impossible things and I continue to do impossible things. I am a writer. I push myself to do what most would consider crazy and impossible every November, I write at least 50,000 words. Someday, I might convince myself to actually edit them and get them out in the world, but not this year. That is future Karen’s project.

I learned that I can still do it, that I am a winner, that it isn’t always fun, but I am always glad I have done it and pushed myself to get the words in my head down in the computer file. Will I always write in November for NaNoWriMo? Always is a huge commitment. Right now I must say that continue the streak that is now seven years long is hugely motivating. This year I learned that I can still get my words down mostly at home and that ten to fifteen minute word sprints can be very productive. I am so happy to have gotten so many of my childhood memories down to edit later. Will YOU be writing with me next November? Don’t you just love the theme this year? It is gorgeous! Happy 20th year of NaNoWriMo, may it continue indefinitely!

Category: Goals, NaNoWriMo, Writing | 1 Comment

September 19 2019

Menu Planning

One of the important things I do to help us keep our budget under control is to plan what we will be eating for dinner each week. If you find you are having trouble thinking of new and interesting ideas, keep track of what you eat for a while to help inspire your menu planning. Don’t have a recipe? Search online.

Now you can write your menu on a chalkboard or dry erase board, back of an old envelope or whatever works for you. A few years ago, while walking through the local Staples store, I spied this lovely little tool, and decided to get it. It now has a place of prominence on the front of my refrigerator. I try to plan out the meals for the following week over the weekend.

I usually stsart my menu planning by looking at our Google calendar to see which nights we have something happening. To be honest, once I finish the menu, I usually take a photo with my phone so I have it handy for ready reference in case I can’t remember what I was planning for dinner that night while I’m at work. The meals are all up for grabs on any given night but sometimes the meals that take longer to make are scheduled on nights when we will have more time, so moving them around doesn’t always work well.

The example above was obviously a time when I was counting calories. It is probably one of the early ones, because I can tell by how neat and thin the writing is, that it was written with the marker that came with the board, and that went dry a few years ago.

This was obviously not a great photo, but works for what we need anyway. Sometimes, I get colorful like the week shown below.

The one below is for the current week. I remembered I had taken the photo and hadn’t added it yet, so consider it a bonus. If you want more specifics, feel free to email me or leave a comment below.

The most important thing about planning meals in advance is it helps you to make a grocery list. We all know when you shop with a list and try to stick to it, you can save money. Not only will you be eating healthier, you won’t be eating out unless it was planned ahead of time. This can also save money. Lately I have been taking inventory of what we have on hand and challenging myself to use everything up and buy as little as we can from the grocery each week. Sometimes this can backfire because you run out of everything and then you have a huge stock up week when the budget is completely blown, but in theory you saved more than enough in the weeks leading up to then to cover the budget deficit for the week.

So, do you plan your menu each week? If not, how do you know what to get at the grocery. Do you have any tips or tricks to share with us? Please give us at least one money saving idea or menu planning tip in the comments below.

You can find more interesting ideas on saving time (and possibly money) in this post from last fall, Finding Time to Write NaNoWriMo.

Category: Depth Year, Goals, Money Saving, Planning | Comments Off

July 25 2019

Top 10 Money Books I’ve Read

I’m just going to say it. I’m sure most of you have realized this by now anyway. I am a woman of a certain age. I am a proud member of the over fifty club, and as such, I hope to be financially able to stop working in the not so distant future if I so desire. I am spending more of my time thinking about ways to earn extra money. The actual goal is that by the time Hubby turns sixty, we will have hit the magic number that only he seems to know that will mean we can afford to retire. So, in roughly four years, I hope to have learned to invest well enough to earn a million dollars and be able to afford to retire. I also want to have a job I enjoy so much that I won’t actually want to retire, but instead keep working and add to the nest egg so we can afford to be generous with our time and/or money when we actually do stop working full time for a paycheck.

In the past couple of years I have had money on the brain. I didn’t realize how bad it had gotten until I was browsing through Goodreads at the books I have read so far in 2019 and those I read in 2018. So I decided to make a list of the top ten books I have read about money for you today. Just so you know, the links for books below are affiliate links, because, like I said, I have spent a lot of time thinking about ways I could possibly earn some extra money. It hasn’t worked so far, but you never know.

1) Invested: How Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Taught Me to Master My Mind, My Emotions, and My Money (with a Little Help from My Dad) by Danielle Town (and Phil Town)
2) Retire Inspired: It’s Not an Age, It’s a Financial Number by Chris Hogan
3) Get Money: Live the Life You Want, Not Just the Life You Can Afford by Kristin Wong
4) Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! by Phil Town
5) Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
6) Everyday Millionaire by Chris Hogan
7) Refinery29 Money Diaries: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Your Finances… And Everyone Else’s by Lindsey Stanberry
8) Fight for Your Money: How to Stop Getting Ripped Off and Save a Fortune by David Bach
9) Profit Sharing: The Chapman Guide to Making Money an Asset in Your Marriage by Gary Chapman
10) You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero
11) The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau

Just because I couldn’t decide which book to cut from the list to make it just ten, you get a bonus book.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Distant
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Because I am a visual person, and really like to see the covers of books before I read them, enjoy the affiliate linked covers to the eleven books listed about. I really enjoyed reading all of them and learned different things from each one. If you were going to read just one of them, I would recommend it be Invested, because it just might change your life. If you have a money related book that you think I should read, please leave your recommendations in the comments below.