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Last updated on March 28th, 2023 at 02:25 am
This is probably our most organized year ever. No, seriously. For the past couple months, Matthew and I have sat down at the beginning of the month for a family meeting. It sounds so bleh, but going through the month, it feels so good!
We used to just go along spending whatever we wanted, whenever we needed it. We’d remind each other on the day of some event or obligation we made. And usually we had no idea what we were doing on the weekend, from what we were doing or what we were going to eat.
It didn’t feel good not having a plan.
Alright, this wasn’t all the time. But it was a lot of the time. And it was getting so frequent that we obviously weren’t going to be reaching any of our big goals anytime soon if we kept this up.
So this year we’re buckling down on life.
Every month, we have a monthly family meeting to go over everything to do with our life as a family, and it’s made everything so much easier and more organized.
So what do we talk about?
Go through our calendars together so we know what’s going on.
It’s just part of life. Everybody’s got stuff they have to do. Appointments, swim lessons, speaking engagements, surgeries, you know …stuff like that.
Ok, maybe that’s just our calendar.
The thing is, Matthew uses iCal on his iPhone for keeping organized while I prefer using my planner (I use a Day Designer planner, and you can read about how I chose that particular planner here.)
We keep separate calendars because we keep them organized differently. It’s super important to coordinate so we know when we can set aside time for ourselves in order to …
Find a day to go on a date and decide what we’re doing.
This is one of our priorities this year. After looking at our calendar, we find an open day, pick an activity, and set up babysitting. We don’t have to do anything too fancy either.
Our February date was heading to a local coffee shop and writing down our goals for the year. In March we had sushi. The point is, we’re making it a point to get out to do something together …on our own …without our kid.
Pick a day and activity to do together as a family.
One weekend late last year we headed out toward the coast without having much of a plan. We ended up in Torrey Pines to eat at a taco shop and go hiking. There’s nothing better than tacos, beach air, and a little adventure.
I like setting aside super low-key days to just be together as a family. But sometimes we’re more planned with trips to Disneyland or the zoo.
This year we’re making deliberate plans to get out together once a month. Even if that means saying no to a party or getting the grocery shopping done. We need that time together.
Make our budget.
It took me FOR-E-VER to figure out that budgeting works a lot better when you do it every month. It’s not one of those set it and forget it kind of things. Different things come up every month, so we have to plan for them.
We’ve started asking ourselves, “What do we need to buy this month?” That way we’re putting down everything we could think of and budgeting every dollar. (Speaking of, we use Dave Ramsey’s Every Dollar app to budget.)
Most arguments in marriages center around money, so this is a crucial thing we communicate each month. We’re on the same page with our goals, so letting each other know what we need to buy aside from the regular bills has been really helpful.
Click here to learn about writing intentional goals this year.
Click here to read about the goals I set for 2019.
The point of all this is to work better together as a team. It’s way easier to coordinate our family life when we know what the other person’s up to. We’re growing closer by prioritizing and scheduling time together. And we know we’re on track to reach goals we set together instead of one person working toward something the other doesn’t have a clue about.
So here’s what you should do to make this your most organized year ever:
- Pick a date for a family meeting with your spouse and your kids if they’re old enough.
- Share events & appointments on each calendar.
- Schedule a date night & a family day.
- Set your budget.
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