Status Update — 1Q2009

I can’t believe that we are three months into the new year. That went by quickly, didn’t it? Remember three months ago? When we were all hopeful and dreamy and thought this might just be the best year ever?

Ahem. Anyway…

It is time for the quarterly review of my goals for 2009. {A drum roll would be perfect here.}

Giving
Make calls in January to area non-profit organizations to find volunteer opportunities. Make a decision as to where to give my time by February and begin volunteering (or training, if needed) in 1Q2009.
Status: Done! I found a new organization, completed training a few weeks ago, and started volunteering. Now I’m thinking of branching out into a new area within the same organization.

Maintain charitable giving and continue to make quarterly donations.
Status: I haven’t made any charitable donations yet this year. I still fully intend to…I’m just waiting to make sure I have a job first. But I am stepping up the volunteer time so I’m hoping that counts for something.

Green
Use only green cleaning products
Status: So far, so good! All my cleaning products are environmentally friendly. This one was easy.

Use reusable bags on all shopping trips
Status: I have been able to do this one too. I even brought my bags into Target and KMart, not just the local grocery store. And I love not having 4,783 plastic bags falling out of my laundry room cabinets anymore.

Buy recycled products whenever possible.
Status: I think I’ve done okay here too. I haven’t been buying much of anything lately so this hasn’t been too difficult. Mostly I find myself buying recycled paper products. And I have given up paper towels completely. (And that was harder than when I gave up caffeine, believe me.)

Finances
Increase my savings 30%
Status: I have already blown past this (thanks to careful spending, hoarded Christmas money, tax refunds and incentive pay) and that doesn’t count the money I’ll save from the paycheck I got today. I’ll have to think about what my next savings goal should be.

Free Time
Spend at least 4 hours per week writing.
Updated 21Jan09: Spend time writing and come up with a project to focus on (a collection of essays, a short story, etc.)
Status: Okay, here is one I need to work on. I have definitely spent plenty of time writing each week (between blogging and my daily journaling and let’s not even discuss the amount of time I spend on Twitter) but I haven’t worked on any projects or pursued finding a writing contest. Perhaps I’ll spend more time on this in the next quarter.

So, how about you? How are your goals shaping up for 2009?