Grocery Shopping on a Budget

I just want to start off by saying that I am an English teacher and not a math teacher, but I am a shopper and I get that from my mom and Maw Maw who can bargain shop with the best of them. Both women had different views on grocery shopping. My mom liked to go and get everything during one trip to the store, whereas my Maw Maw liked to go weekly and get just what she needed for the week. These are some things I observed while watching my two mentors growing up. Nowadays, I do a little bit of both. As a bargain shopper, you must be able to budget, and that is where the math comes in…I always tell people that I don’t do math unless it involves percentages or statistics and that’s what bargain shopping is all about: the math and science of shopping.

Here are a few simple rules and steps that I follow when I plan to go grocery shopping:

• Ask Essential Questions

• Make That List

• Research

• Favorites First

Ask Essential Questions:

I only get paid once a month, so I have to be strategic in how I stretch out my money. I like to make one big bulk grocery trip for items that I can either freeze or aren’t going to expire soon. Then, as my meal plan allows it, I will shop weekly for perishable ingredients. How do I plan? I have to consider some essential questions such as:

• How much money do I have for groceries this month? This is probably the most important question.

• What is my schedule for the month? I keep my work and life schedule in my Happy Planner®.

• How many days will I need or want to eat out? My coworkers and I eat out at least a few times a month, I eat out at least twice a month with my Modern Musings crew and Jason and I eat out a few times a month when we do our date nights. We switch out on paying.

• What do I want to eat this week/month? I usually keep it simple during the week because I don’t like to eat heavy at work. I cook a big meal at least once a week. For example, this week I am making Keto Chile Relleno Chicken Soup.

• What do I need that I don’t already have? I try to keep a list of things in my pantry and update it often. This process helps with the budgeting process.

Make That List:

After I consider these questions, I write out a list in my “all-purpose notebook” or APN. For those that don’t know, an APN is something I have been carrying around with me since middle school for random ideas and lists. I make a few different kinds of lists. Now, hear me out. You want to maximize your money.

• Wish List: First I make a list of all the things I want or think I need when I go grocery shopping. For example, I have two bags of coffee and I think I may be running low. I put that on the list. I have a few paper plates, so I will also add that to the list.

• Need List: After I write out everything that I think I might need, I consider what I will actually need for the next month and mark them as a “need.” For example, I have cats so I will need to buy a huge bag of cat food.

• Extra List: Everything else that is an extra buy such as coffee or peanut butter (things that are not specifically part of my meal plans), I mark as extra if I have the money to spend on them. On a side note, it is beneficial to keep a running tally of groceries as you put them in your cart and overestimate the amount to avoid surprises.

Research:

When I grocery shop, I am not a “one and done” person because I like to shop around for the best deals that I can find. Luckily, in the area I live in, I have an abundance of shopping options at my fingertips. I grew up in a small town where my family didn’t have that luxury. Once a month, my family would load into the car and drive an hour (or more) away to get our monthly grocery deals. Now, I don’t have to drive more than twenty minutes to my favorite grocery stores. Why do I research? Because I want the best deals for my money and my unique diet, as mentioned in my last blog. I eat low-carb, gluten-free, and mostly dairy-free. When I say mostly dairy-free, I still incorporate some cheese in my diet. Some of my favorite ways to research are:

• Weekly Ads: You can get these ads in few different ways, but most likely you will get the ads of the closest stores in your mailbox each week. If the stores you like to go to are a little bit farther away, you can sign up for the ads online and they will be delivered to your e-mail. Another money-saving tip when you sign up for ads is that you can also get coupons by mail or e-mail.

• Apps: If you are a phone app person, most stores have their own app that you can get ads and coupons directly. You can search and “cut” digital coupons that you can use at the store. Also, you can use the apps to shop for groceries and budget your money.

• Newspapers: If you don’t like apps or digital coupons but still want to look for savings, you can choose to buy a print newspaper or get one delivered. Every Sunday, the major newspapers carry weekly ads and coupons.

Favorites First:

When I am shopping and budgeting, I have a few favorite stores that I like to shop at first for my products. I don’t ever limit myself to one store. Sometimes you can save the most by shopping around. For example, if I am making chicken soup this coming week, I will look at the ads to see which stores have chicken on sale and what quality of chicken they might be offering. In addition to that, there are certain stores where I go for certain things such as the “healthy junk” I mentioned in my previous blog. Here are my favorite stores and why they are my favorites:

Items from the Manager's Special at Sprouts

• Sprouts Farmer’s Market: This is the store that I always go to first when grocery shopping because it’s a small store and I like the quality of their products. Aside from that, as I mentioned in my previous blog, they cater to individuals with special diets. This store also frequently runs “buy one, get one” free sales and “manager specials” on their meats, so it’s my first choice for “healthy junk” such as grainless granola and keto protein bars. I also buy my favorite low-carb, gluten-free bread here.

• WinCo Foods: I first fell in love with this store when I lived in Utah years ago.  They are relatively new to Texas, but now they are popping up all around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.  The premise of WinCo Foods has always been a favorite of mine. It is a discount store that is employee-owned. Another plus is that most WinCo stores are 24 hours. They don’t have as big of a selection of certain items that bigger stores such as Walmart have, but the majority of their store brand dry goods you can buy in bulk. This is the store that I go to for most of my regular baking supplies, herbs, and spices. I also buy bulk candy here for gift baskets. You can also buy bulk vegetable bags at this store for large gatherings. This is also a good store to go to for ready-made meals and breakfasts. One thing I should point out if you have never been to WinCo is that they only take cash or debit cards, and you must bag your groceries yourself.

• Kroger: I used to think that Kroger was expensive but my best friend, sister, and fellow MMC Christen introduced me to Kroger’s clearance section. Every Wednesday, Kroger marks down their products that are almost out-of-date. Kroger is also another store that has great weekly-ad deals on meat and frequently offers certain meats as “buy one, get one free.” They also have alternate diet sections in their store in special sections, and they do carry some of the brands I like to buy for my diet. Aside from that, I really enjoy shopping at Kroger’s deli and cheese section. They make in-house charcuterie boards as well.

• Market Street: This is a great store to go to for their weekly ads as well. This store does not have as many special-diet options as Sprouts, but when you catch certain items on sale, your bill will be even cheaper than going to Sprouts. They frequently offer their meat selections as “buy one, get one free” and they have great deals on their store brand items. I especially like to go when protein shakes are on sale.

• Aldi: This store is still a favorite when it comes to discount shopping, and it is probably the cheapest place you can get certain items such as cheese, produce, and eggs. My only problem with Aldi is the fact that they are inconsistent with their items that are not in-store brands, so you never know what you will find when you shop there. However, you can shop at this store on any budget and still feel like you are winning by saving money. Aldi even carries some alternative diet items so anyone can eat healthy on a budget at this store. I typically only buy “extra” items at Aldi.

Other ways to save:

If all of that didn’t blow your mind, here are some other tips I have to save money when I shop:

• Don’t throw away your receipt: Often, receipts have coupons that you can use on your next visit. For example, Sprouts offers a $10 discount on your next visit if you spend over $75.

• Check your product boxes: If you have non-perishable items in your pantry, oftentimes there are coupons on the box. So, don’t throw away boxes without checking first.

• Go to product websites: My mother was a big fan of this concept. She would often go to product websites and download coupons off their websites. She would also go to couponing websites. It takes a lot of work and you have to sift through a lot of e-mails but saving money is worth it in the long run. Also, a lot of websites will allow you to try their products for free.

• Order grocery delivery: This is pretty simple. If you order groceries from delivery apps, you sometimes get discounts especially if you are a first-time buyer. Sometimes you can even get upgraded items if stores run out of your order.

• In-store coupons: if you look at certain products you are buying in-store, you will find coupons on the products. For example, the manager’s special that Sprouts has on their meats (see above).

• Know when to go: As I mentioned before, the best time to go to Kroger is on Wednesday when they do their markdowns. But, when do other stores do markdowns? In short, most other stores also do their markdowns on Wednesday mornings, typically because grocery stores restock their shelves mid-week and it is a low-traffic shopping day, unlike Friday and Saturday.

• Look for sales and discontinued items while in the store: Not all sales and discounts are listed in weekly ads, so sometimes you actually have to go to the store to check out low prices. Almost all stores also have a clearance section if you know where to look.

In conclusion, there is no right or wrong way to shop for groceries and my process may seem a little obsessive-compulsive at first but it is something that has worked well for me over the years. What do you do to save money while grocery shopping? Please let me know in the comments below or continue the conversation on our Facebook group: MMC Chat, and don’t forget to listen to our blog coming out this Wednesday

Sugar-Free Recipes Revisited

Last month, I wrote about my holiday cookie tradition, and in our podcast, I mentioned that I would try to find a way to make my cake-mix cookies in a sugar-free way. I wanted to take my recipe (linked below) a step further and make them keto. As we have discussed before, sugar-free doesn’t necessarily mean keto.

There are plenty of sugar-free cake mixes out there. What immediately comes to mind is the popular sugar-free line of cake mixes by Pillsbury® that could be easily substituted in my earlier recipe for cake mix cookies to lower the sugar content in the cookies. To make it keto, I needed to take it a step further and lower the carbohydrate content as well.

In the past, I have been on different forms of a low carbohydrate diet. These types of diets are difficult for me because I have a sweet tooth. As I mentioned in my sugar-free baking blog, I have been on the hunt for a substitute to trick my brain into thinking I am being bad while I am still being somewhat good. I call it “healthy junk,” and I have been on a mission to satisfy those cravings since I started my weight loss journey in the spring of 2019.

I typically go to Sprouts Farmer’s Market or Market Street to get my “healthy junk”, and I will further explain my grocery shopping science in an upcoming budget shopping blog. However, I want to explain why I like these grocery stores so much. Sprouts caters to individuals with special diets such as myself (I am low-carb, gluten-free, and mostly dairy-free) by labeling their pre-packaged foods with diet-friendly labels to make the process of grocery shopping quicker and easier. The labeling process is also very helpful for those just starting out on a special diet.

At the store, I discovered that Swerve® also makes a sugar-free and keto-friendly cake mix. I also picked up some Lily’s® no sugar added Pumpkin Spice chips (on clearance) for a low-sugar add-in. From there, I kept the recipe the same and just substituted the Swerve® cake mix and the pumpkin spice chips. I did not change the oil and egg ratio or the baking time. I wanted to see how they turned out.

I could not be happier with the result! The box yielded 18 cookies with less than 1 gram of sugar and 4 grams of carbohydrates per cookie. As with Swerve®, if you are familiar, this consistency is a bit grainier than a normal cake mix cookie, but the taste is very similar.

For keto dieters that are not a fan of Swerve® or would like a cheaper option that you can find in any grocery store, Duncan Hines® also has a keto cake mix on the shelves as well as Birch Benders®

As always, let me know what you think in the comments below. If you try this keto recipe, what would you do differently?

Check out our downloads page for my cake-mix cookie recipe:

Downloads

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Resistance is Futile

“Resistance is futile.” Pardon my inner geek as I appropriate this “Borg” catch-phrase from TV’s Star Trek, but I just couldn’t resist. Some could argue that no truer words have ever been spoken. In his book, A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle talks about the detrimental effects of resisting change versus yielding to it, and we’ve talked a bit about that on the two-part podcast episode that we wrapped up today. In our discussion, we mentioned Tolle’s belief that there are only two options for coping with change, trauma, grief, and other life-altering events; you can resist, and thus remain stuck in the negativity that comes with it, or you can yield and pass through it, which can actually make you stronger in the long run.

Resistance requires energy. Resistance consumes resources. You can’t keep fighting without exerting tremendous amounts of energy and burning through resources. Think about an army that needs manpower, food, weapons, armor, and the money to buy those things. A successful army needs morale. So, too, does resistance to change…to grief, to trauma, to progress. The more a person fights these changes, the more energy and emotional resources they expend on it, the more angry, exhausted, and negative that person becomes. All that negativity takes its toll (no pun intended). Negativity rebounds as anger, stress, physical ailments, isolation, blame, and what some might call bad luck or karma.

But what does it mean to yield? The New Oxford American Dictionary has several definitions that apply. In the first sense, to yield is to produce or provide a product, generate a (financial) gain, or to deliver a result or gain. This is certainly true of many kinds of change when you look at the bigger picture. What do I have to gain from this? What message does this teach me? What positive outcomes have occurred because of this? In another sense, to yield is to give way to arguments, demands or pressure, to relinquish possession, to give something up, to cease to argue about, or to give something (as in traffic) the right of way. In this form, yielding is the act of going through the trauma or the change and coming out the other side, much in the same sense as Christen described going through the Swamps of Sadness in the Neverending Story without becoming part of the swamp. 

It should be noted that to yield often has a temporary connotation. When we yield to traffic, we give up our right of way until it is safe to proceed. It is not the same as giving up or giving in, which is what happened to Artax when he and Atreyu went through the Swamps of Sadness. When making that distinction, I like to think about quicksand. It is common knowledge that panicked flailing (resistance)  in quicksand can rapidly make the situation much worse, but the answer isn’t to give up either, because then you’ll just sink and suffocate. The answer is to move slowly and deliberately. Toss away anything you can to make yourself lighter. Keep your hands above the sand as much as possible. Reach carefully, for a branch or a helping hand, and pull yourself to safety. By accepting and adapting to the situation, you can move through it and come out the other side. Life is the same way.

Last month, I got a little first-hand experience in yielding. I’ve talked about my love for Christmas and holiday traditions of all kinds. I have some pretty well-defined notions of what that is supposed to look like, and because of the upheaval of the last few years, I’ve taken it upon myself to try and make those holiday experiences as normal as possible, which hasn’t been easy. My Christmas merry-making starts the day after Thanksgiving when my husband sets up the Christmas tree and gets all the decorations out of the shed. In recent years, Christen, her daughter, Reyna, and I spend that Saturday listening to Christmas carols and adorning our family tree. It’s part of the ritual and it helps set the holiday mood.

Unfortunately, this year, we were in the midst of home renovations that were supposed to be completed before Thanksgiving, but actually didn’t even get going full-swing until mid-December. We dutifully cleared out half of our belongings in preparation, and thinking the project would resume any day, we were reluctant to put up the tree or start any decorating for fear we’d have to take it all down. They finally finished the flooring on December 22nd, and they informed us they would not be back until after the 1st of the year to finish the rest (yes, they are still working on it as I write). So here we sat, on December 22 with no tree, no stockings, and I really didn’t even feel much like celebrating Christmas at all. My niece, Ashley, kept telling me she was going to print a photo of a tree and pin it to my wall if I didn’t do something. I wanted my Christmas to look a certain way, and if I couldn’t have it the way I wanted it, well then, I just wasn’t going to have it at all. I was resisting the change, and I was making myself miserable in the process. To make matters worse, my bah-humbug attitude wasn’t just affecting me…it was felt by everyone in the house.

Ashley's cute little tree.

Ashley was the one who had the answer that turned it all around. She wasn’t asking for my tree…she just wanted a tree. And so a tree we gave her. I had a small tree that I usually set up in my kitchen, and I put Ashley in charge of decorating it. I found some fairy lights I had bought for my craft room. One set was broken and didn’t work, so we cut off the battery pack and used the wire-strung bobbles as a garland on the tree. The other set was so long it covered the tree twice. Rather than pull out my fragile ornaments for this wobbly little pine, we used another goodie from my craft room – a pile of pompoms I had been making for a garland. Ashley tied them all over the tree. It was very cute in its own Charlie Brown sort of way.

Creamy pumpkin soup in fine china on the patio.

I don’t tell you this to brag about how cute this sad little tree came out, but rather, to illustrate the point of yielding. In the end, we wound up decorating my back porch with lights, setting up a few folding tables with pretty tablecloths and my fine china to enjoy a fantastic dinner with family and friends. I won’t say it was all smooth sailing; I definitely had a little meltdown when I got frustrated with my husband, Mark, for not doing what I asked. It wasn’t the Christmas I imagined, but it was good. The weather was perfect (we were in the ’80s here), it looked nothing like my traditional Christmas feast, and it just felt right for this time in our lives. 

Stockings hung on the banister instead of their usual place.

The lesson I learned is that resisting the change only made me (and everyone else around me) miserable. When I embraced the change, found a way to work through it, not by insisting on doing it exactly as we’ve always done (resistance), nor by giving up (staying miserable by refusing to yield to the change), but by really embracing the singularity and uniqueness of the situation, we all found a happy place within the change. We found happiness in what is…in “now”. 

Acceptance – yielding to what is – is not a form of defeat. In fact, it is the only way to win. A battle is not won on defensive maneuvers alone. Winning requires acknowledging our circumstances, accepting our situation, and adapting to it. To make the most of what we have, and to keep moving forward…to remember the objective. To not give in or give up, and certainly not to keep struggling to make things happen on our terms. A good general knows this. The Borg know this. 

So the next time you are in an untenable situation, the next time life throws you a curveball, step back, take stock, and ask yourself, “How can I move through this? How can I yield? How can I turn this to my advantage?” Because to fight it, to resist, will only make you (and those around you) miserable. Remember, resistance is futile.

The tree with gifts for scale.

Christmas lights strung between the trees
made this very pretty after dark. 

 Hi everyone, Christen here checking in today!

Join us as we dive into Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth. This week on the Podcast we will be discussing the first two chapters. We are going into this discussion blindly because we have been reading the book, but have not discussed any of the contents other than when Cindy recommended it to Amber and myself.  I hope you’ve had a chance to get your hands on a copy of the book and start reading since we will be exploring the first two chapters together on the blog and during the Podcast this week. It would be awesome if you would like to read along and join in on the conversation on our Facebook page. If you have not had the opportunity to get the book, you still have plenty of time – we’ve added a link to the book through our Amazon Affiliate program below. Come find out why Oprah Winfrey calls Eckhart Tolle “The Father of Now”. 

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Purchase "A New Earth" by Eckhardt Tolle

Making S.M.A.R.T. Goals Happen: 5 Ways to Track Your Progress

All this week, we’ve been talking about SMART goals and how to make the most of them. We’ve talked about setting goals, making sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant, and timely. One thing we have not talked about is how to measure, or track, those goals.

There are many different ways to track your goals. One of the easiest is to keep a simple list and check off each step as you complete it.  This is a great method for tracking the number of days you got 8 hours of sleep or that you went for a walk every day. But what if you want to get more specific? What if you want to make it more creative or fun? That’s where bullet journals (also called BUJO’s) can come into play.

The most popular form of BUJO is a notebook with graph lines or a dot grid. In these types of journals, the user draws their own trackers and charts. These can be a lot of fun for creative types because you can make them as simple or as fanciful as you like. I thought it would be fun to share 5 different trackers to help you with your SMART goals. You can draw these yourself into any notebook, or you can create them on your computer to print out and add to a 3-ring binder.

Daily Task List

This little tracker is one I made to help me manage my daily tasks. I used an 8.5” x 11” dot-grid paper made for the BIG Happy Planner and cut it down to the size I needed.  After penning in the list items, I laminated it and punched the disc holes again, so it works as a dashboard in my planner. The lamination allows me to use a dry-erase pen on it to check off everything I complete each day. I also did the backside, so my list is visible whether it’s flipped to the right or the left in my planner. You can easily make this planner yourself using your own supplies. I’ve linked what I used at the bottom of this post.

Reading List

I made this fun page to document the books I’ve read (or started reading) this year. The fun thing about a page like this is that you can put as many or as few “books” on the shelves as you need and you can color it or leave it black and white. I like to use either my colored pencils or watercolors on mine. Again, I used the 8.5” x 11” dot grid from Happy Planner, since most of my BUJO pages go into my BIG Happy Planner.

When I’m making trackers like this, I usually draw them lightly with a pencil first, then go over my design in pen before erasing the pencil marks.  I wrote in the names of every book I started and colored in the ones I actually finished. I will keep adding to this throughout 2022 (or until I fill it). The plants and other accessories on the page can also be colored, or used to track something else…it’s entirely up to you.

I’ve linked my preferred supplies below. 

Work Week Tracker

This versatile tracker is laid out to document or track 20 facts or details like tasks associated with work/school days or something similar. You can also add more hexagons or make them larger or smaller to accommodate whatever number of data you need to track. You could even make 365 little hexes to track something for an entire year. I haven’t decided what to do with mine yet.

Household Projects List

This is more of a list than a tracker, but I included it to show you that, oftentimes, they can be the same thing. By simply changing the bullet points into checkboxes or blanks, any list can become a tracker. A small blank could be a spot for a date, or a box could be a space for a checkmark when the task is completed.

Monthly Task List

This task list is probably one of the most complex I’ve ever used. It took me several months to perfect the design and get the order of everything exactly right. I use this tracker every week to log all my household and business-related tasks as well as a few personal goals (please don’t judge me by my failure to clean out my fridge all month!). 

I draw this one by hand onto the opening page for each month in my BIG Happy Planner. The page is pre-printed with some dot-grid, lines, and graphics.  I just use correction tape to “white-out” any parts I need to cover and then draw over it with my pencil/pen as if it wasn’t there. 

As you can see, I have used several different sections and styles on this same page, and I love having all my trackers in one central location.

There are also lots of ready-made worksheets, goal planning workbooks like PowerSheets®, and stickers and add-on pages for the various brands of planner notebooks.  Whatever style you like, we’d love for you to share your SMART goals with us over in the Facebook group. Let’s set some goals and carry on the conversation with some mutual support for one another! I’ve even posted a BONUS tracker idea in the group for you!

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Here are some of the products I use to make my trackers:

• Tombow Mono Eraser
• Fudenosuke Hard Tip Brush Pen
• Bic Velocity HB#2 Mechanical Pencil
• Bic White-Out Mini Correction Tape
• Happy Planner Dot Grid Paper

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S.M.A.R.T. Start to the Year

 Hi everyone, I hope that this post finds you feeling amazing vibes for the new year and excited for a fresh start! I am super stoked about 2022. In April of 2020 many people were already anxious to move on past 2020 and into 2021, so they could have a fresh start. Don’t get me wrong, I was really digging the collective desire to upgrade our lives, and I know that was just the beginning as we enter a new age! 2022 just feels like it is bursting with opportunities. So what better time to discuss S.M.A.R.T. goals than the beginning of the year? At this moment I wish I could tell you to close your eyes so that I can take you on a quick visualization, but I can’t if you are reading, so bear with me, and maybe try it out for yourself once you are done reading.

“If you start your year the same way that you start your morning, with purpose and clear intentions,  you will find that so much can be accomplished.”

Since January 1st is our recognized “beginning of the year” we are going to start with Day 1.  This exercise could be altered for other calendars or traditions that do not consider 1/1 the beginning of the year. Additionally, someone who is in recovery may consider their Day 1 to be their first day of sobriety etc. Regardless, let’s consider that a 365 year is a larger scale representation of your regular calendar 24 hour day.  If that were the case, Day 1 would be considered your morning. On your regular calendar day, you would wake up, get ready for the day, “eat the frog” (I will explain that here in a moment), and then tackle other action items and proceed through your day. You might check in throughout the day to ensure that you are meeting your daily expectations, and once the day starts to come to an end, you will adjust the following day’s schedule as needed, reflect on your accomplishments for the day, and determine what was a win, or what could have been improved. If you are like me, then you might have a day planner to keep you in check with your daily tasks.  Many life coaches, and self improvement books will tell you to start your day off with making your bed as it will get you into the habit of action oriented tasks, which in turn, makes it easier to transition into that more complicated or daunting task that must be completed aka “the frog”. It also gives you a good feeling when you see your bed nicely made. If you start your year the same way that you start your morning, with purpose and clear intentions,  you will find that so much can be accomplished.

“A goal without a plan is like attempting to bake a cake without knowing what goes in it or how long to bake it.“

How do you get that clear intention though? I am positive that every single person has started a New Year's resolution that ended up being a complete flop. Why was that? It was most likely due to lack of planning. I could imagine that many people start off with a goal, verbalize it, and then leave it to the wind. In order to achieve your goal, there must be a clear instruction list for yourself and a method to hold yourself accountable. S.M.A.R.T. goals are the best way to do this because the goal is like a recipe to help get you on your way to completion. All you have to add to the recipe is desire and action and you will succeed! 

If you consider a S.M.A.R.T. goal like a cake recipe, you’ll see that there is a clear indication of what the cake is,  a list of the ingredients, the time needed to bake, the serving amount, and the instructions on how to actually bake it. A goal without a plan is like attempting to bake a cake without knowing what goes in it or how long to bake it. 

Another great analogy that comes to mind is Mt. Everest., If your goal for the year is to climb the summit, you simply cannot just waltz over there and start climbing;, you need to research gear, determine travel time, get a Sherpa to take you...there is also a huge investment of time for all of this, and all of it requires planning. But if you know how, it can be mapped out using the S.M.A.R.T. goals method. 

There is not much need to go over what S.M.A.R.T. goals are, you can find lots of material online, but I will just briefly describe what the acronym stands for. There are several instances where the words have been interchangeable. I put an asterisk next to my favorite.

S - Specific

M - Measurable

A - *Actionable, Assignable, Attainable, Achievable, 

R - *Relevant, Realistic

T - *Time-Bound, Timely, Time-Based

I have an awesome success story that I want to share with you all. In this story, my husband and I turned a vague goal into a reality! In the fall of 2019, when Travis and Reyna moved in with me, we decided that having the two of them wait for me to come home from work and cook dinner was too late. It was a tough change and adjustment for all 3 of us. Travis, my then fiancé, was struggling to come up with ideas for dinner. He suddenly became the main meal provider in our family and had very little skills in the kitchen. We had many bizarre dinners, mostly canned and frozen foods, and I was really starting to get filled to the gills; I had grown up in a home where mom cooked dinner, and there was homemade meatloaf and mashed potatoes from scratch, chicken and dumpling soup, and I could just go on. I was also raised at a young age to know my way around the kitchen - so I can cook on the fly. I then realized that Travis was going to need a lot more guidance.

When January 2020 rolled around, I turned to him one day and asked him what his goal for 2020 was going to be. He had no clue, he wasn’t the type to set goals or New Year's resolutions. So I said, in kind sweet words, that if he was planning on marrying me, he better set some goals. After some laughs and some thought, he came up with “I want to be a better cook,” and I thought that was a fantastic idea. His goal was vague, and I knew immediately that he was going to need some coaching on what to do next. He really was stumped. I helped him rephrase his goal that came without a game plan into a S.M.A.R.T. goal. 

We started off by changing the language! I am a firm believer that this is a crucial step in achieving the goal. This falls into the “Specific” guideline. Take out phrases like “I want” or “I need” or “I will be”. I want to climb Mt. Everest is not a goal, it is a statement, and one of lacking. When working through the details with him, I said “Hey, how am I going to know that you are a better cook then?” He said “I guess you will taste it?” I explained to him that the word better is a good starting point but it is not specific enough, so he suggested “good cook” So I asked him what makes a good cook. He was really getting frustrated with me by now, but the gears were turning. He thought about it and came back with “they know how to cook things without a recipe and what spices to add and stuff.” I left it at this, and knew we would circle back at the end to create the final wording for the goal. We were heading in the right direction.

I then asked him when he was going to be “a good cook.” We decided on the end of the year. That was an easy one for “Time” which led me right into my next question for him. 

How are we going to “Measure” the progress? Once he started to think about it a little bit more it dawned on him that he could cook recipes until he was “a good cook.” We decided that since he cooked every single day of the week now, he should be able to try 100 recipes. That’s really only 3 a week, and they could be anything. It’s not outside of the scope of his day to day life, therefore it is “Relevant”. 

You will see that one of the words for A is Achievable. I do not use that one, because it is redundant in my opinion. I believe that if a goal is relevant to you, then it is achievable. I much prefer to use the term “Actionable”. This is the part of the goal that is all you -- making effort to achieve the goal. The rest is just the padding around you, kind of like insurance. In order for Travis to meet his goal by the end of the year he determined that he would need to do research, planning and implementation. Assignable is also a good word for this, as you have to assign tasks to be completed in order to achieve the goal, it doesn’t just fall into your lap. Travis developed a routine for looking up recipes, meal planning and grocery shopping to ensure that he had everything he needed. He even had to plan out his time as well. 

I bet you are wondering how it turned out? After we took the phrasing of “I want to be a better cook” and reprogrammed the goal to be “I will cook 100 different recipes in 2020,” I can definitely say that he is a better cook. Not only is he a good cook, but a damn good cook. Did he cook all 100? We actually lost count - it was well over 100 by the time August rolled around. I am very proud of him for his great accomplishment and it is a story that I love to share. If you have a goal in mind and are needing help rephrasing it into a S.M.A.R.T. goal, send me a message! I would love to help you out with some ideas!

 

SMART Goals for Everyone

This week on our podcast we are continuing our discussion about goals. Having goals, I think, is an important aspect of life. My goal setting and organizing can be attributed to my mother and my best friend Christen, who pushes me to broaden my goal horizons. I also believe goal setting is an important aspect of teaching and I try to convey that to my students as much as possible. 

I started implementing this in the classroom back when I taught seniors because I believe you have to have goals when you exit high school. I always tell the kids that goals and plans change. Most kids get overwhelmed because they think they have to know what they want RIGHT NOW but that’s not the case. In high school, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I loved (and still love) animals and science. However, as I took journalism and English classes in college, my plans changed and I knew I wanted to be a writer, and later an English teacher. So, what you want right now, will change as life experiences set in. 

At the beginning of the year, I ask the students to tell me what their future goals are and ask them how they plan to achieve them. Since I teach 8th and 9th graders, most of them don’t know how to set goals or have never been asked what their goals are at this age. There is a strategy called SMART goals that I like to teach my students every January after we pick our One Little Word for the year. 

What are SMART Goals?

SMART is an acronym that you can use to guide your goal setting. Its criteria are commonly attributed to Peter Drucker's Management by Objectives concept. The first known use of the term occurs in the November 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran. Since then, Professor Robert S. Rubin (Saint Louis University) wrote about SMART in an article for The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Doran explained that SMART has come to mean different things to different people.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound

How can we use this?

(S)pecific

Write down a clear and SPECIFIC goal that you want to achieve. When thinking about this, answer the five “W” questions:

• What do I want to accomplish?
• Why is this important?
• Who is involved?
• Where is it located?
• When do I need this goal accomplished?

(M)easurable 

Your goal must have some data/statistics to track it. For example, you can use your PowerSheets to track your goals. You can make a goal-setting notebook. In my classes, students have goal charts glued in their class notebooks. Ask yourself these questions:

• How much?
• How many?
• How will I know when my goal is accomplished?

(A)chievable

Your goal must be achievable, for example, drink 44 ounces of water per day, or, n a student’s case, make an “A” in English class. Your goal should stretch your abilities but also be something that you can easily work toward. Ask yourself these questions:

• How can I accomplish this goal?
• How realistic is this goal?

(R)elevant

Your smart goal must have a relevant purpose to advance your quality of life. Your goal should be realistic. This is a goal that matters to you and no one else. Ask yourself these questions to figure out if your goal is relevant:

• Is it the right time for this?
• Does this goal seem worthwhile?

(T)ime bound

This should be a goal that you can achieve in a certain amount of time. You don’t want to set a SMART goal twenty years in the future. You will need a workable target date for your goal. Ask yourself these questions?

• When will this be accomplished?
• Where will I be six weeks from now?
• Where will I be six months from now?
• What can I do today to work towards my goal?

How do I apply this in my classroom? 

At the beginning of the semester, as I stated before, students pick their One Little Word to drive their year. Next, students think of one goal they want to achieve by the end of the school year. The goal can be, make all “A’s” for the semester, get better at a certain sport, or even get up the courage to resolve a problem they have with a friend. They have a goal worksheet that they put in their notebooks that tracks their progress. First, they have to answer a series of questions like I mentioned above that follows the SMART guidelines. I like to check in with my students periodically throughout the year and let them reflect on how they are reaching their goals. Do they need to take a step back and reevaluate?

How do I apply this in my life?

I have long-term and short-term goals like everyone else. For example, I want to finish grad school. That is a long-term goal, and it will take me a few years to complete. A short term goal I recently had was to get my cholesterol down. My doctor contacted me and told me it was on the high side. I thought to myself, “okay, how can I accomplish this?”

• Specific: Get my cholesterol down within six months.
• Measurable: Incorporate more servings of fruits and vegetables each meal.
• Achievable: Hold myself accountable and keep track of the food that I consume.
• Relevant: This is relevant because I want to be healthy.
• Time bound: The doctor wanted to see me again in six months.

One way I accomplished this SMART goal was by doing research on the calorie counts of certain foods that I like and lower calorie substitutes. For example, I replaced my milk consumption with almond milk and oat milk and I began to eat less red meat and more chicken. I began meal prep and measured out my fruit and vegetable consumption. I kept a daily log of what I ate and I did all of this for six months. My doctor recently called me and congratulated me on the significant amount I lowered my cholesterol in six months by setting measurable goals, making smart choices, and sticking to those choices. Did I have a cheat day in the last six months? Of course, I did but those days became few and far between when I rediscovered my love for vegetables.

Using SMART goals works for my students and it helped me lower my cholesterol. What is one measurable goal that you wish to set for yourself in the future? Let me know below. Also, head on over to our Facebook page to continue the conversation in our Facebook group.

Christen's Fan Girl Crushes

Merry Christmas everyone, Christen here.  If you haven’t found out yet, I am a huge fangirl for Syfy and Fantasy books, movies, art, and games, you name it! This will not be the only time I go on gushing about my favorite fictional characters - I just know it. Although there are some really hunky actors and spicy actresses out there, I find myself crushing on the fictional characters themselves more than the real life people. I just couldn't resist sharing my all time favorite Hollywood Fantasy Hunks. I mean, I literally have two Pinterest boards dedicated to my favorite movie males. Disclaimer, one of these is not a true “hall pass” for obvious reasons. 

My very first fantasy movie crush was Atreyu from Never Ending Story, portrayed by Noah Hathaway. He was just so cute in that movie, and I kind of wanted to be him too! I even got the Auryn tattoo as an adult! Yes, I am obsessed. The Never Ending Story was, is, and always will be my favorite book and movie. I am fairly positive that it shined the light on my interest in the fantasy genre. He is not a hall pass by any means, but was too important not to mention.

Captain Malcom Reynolds, talk about steamy! Firefly the TV series was short lived, but long reigns in my household as one of the greatest TV shows of all time. I just can’t get enough of Nathan Fillion and his devilish grin. I have watched this series over and over and never tire of him. He portrays the captain of Serenity in this syfy western by Joss Whedon.

Ronon Dex, of Stargate Atlantis, most popularly known as Jason Momoa. I just have to say, I had the hots for this guy way before all you other chicks did, so he is mine, back off! If there ever was a hall pass, this guy is for sure the one. I think that the reason I like this character so much is because he is gruff, burly and even though he has a sour attitude at times, his character is really sensitive at the core.  I have joked with my husband about this yummy man-meat before and he knows, oh he knows, that he is a hall pass. Anytime he sees something online or on the TV about Jason Momoa, he will let me know; it’s like he is egging me on.

Uhtred, son of Uhtred...that man may have a fiery temper, but hot damn - he is delicious. He falls into the category of Dirty Hot as my mom and I call it. He looks like he needs a bath, but for some reason that is sexy to me. The actor, Alexander Draymon actually has a very sweet face and looks quite different outside of his role on The Last Kingdom.  If I could go back in time to 1006 AD I would totally be his shield maiden.

And lastly, my most recent hunk…shocker… he also has long hair, Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher. Henry Cavill plays the main character in this fantasy action thriller based on a video game, and he is a chiseled beast I would like to grab ahold of. Now this actor is handsome, whether he is Superman, Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk, or Sherlock Holmes. I have had the pleasure of watching him grow older from his soft pudgy cheeks to his well defined jawbones. He doesn’t need a costume or fantasy role to be a hottie in my book. I have been a fan for a while, and was thrilled when I saw that The Witcher was coming out on Netflix. If you have not seen any of those movies, or shows, you gotta check them out. 

Well, I could go on and on about my favorite celebs, or movie characters. I want to end my list with just a few honorable mentions: Dean Winchester of Supernatural (Jensen Ackles), Batman (Christian Bale’s version), Matt Smith as the Doctor in Doctor Who, and Madmardigan in Willow (Val Kilmer). I would love to know who some of your favorite Syfy hotties are in the comments and what makes them worthy of being a hall pass.