Goal Setting, Part I: How did we get here?

Last year Joe and I set our goals for 2009. Over the weekend we looked at our 2009 goals to evaluate our progress and determine what needs to be adjusted and we set new goals for 2010.

My favorite yoga apparel site talks a lot about goal setting and they even have a super cool goaltender website that helps you understand the importance of goal setting and coaches you along in creating goals for your life.

So what exactly constitues a goal anyway?

"A goal is a written, measurable statement with a specific subject and a deadline. A goal is a milestone in the creation of your ideal life. A goal is what inspires you to do the work everyday." (goals.lululemon.com)

We started setting goals mainly for fiscal reasons. We are DINKS, which makes life pretty easy. But at the end of 2008 we were left scratching our heads and wondering why we were no "further" ahead than we had been the previous year. I mean we worked (a lot) and we only lived (a little). So what gives?

I keep all of our finances on an excel spreadsheet, so I hopped on there and did the math and here's what I came up with. You'll die. I promise. In a spreadsheet I jokingly titled (before doing the math) where did it all go? here's what I found.

House Renovations

Credit Card Debt

Household Spending

Retail Spending

Vacation

Spending

Eating Out

Total = way more than we expected

Positives. We paid off our credit card debt completely and went on some ridiculously fun vacations.

Negatives. I have no idea what "spending" is. It's just a category for money I couldn't put somewhere else. Really. That bad.

Before this spreadsheet I couldn't convince my husband to care about our finances, after...well after the spreadsheet was a whole other story. Do we have good jobs? Yes. Do we have the ability to recklessly spend like this? Hell no. So we set some goals for 2009 and I think we were largely successful.