Okay, I’m pretty sure this is going to be painful. So put your seat belt on.
Some of you might remember my mid-year check in. To be honest, I think I was doing better in the first half of the year compared to the last half of the year. I blame the onset of graduate school for that. 
Personal New Years Resolutions- 2011:
- Exercise more! Specifically, exercise at least twice a week (hey I’m starting off slow, they have to be achievable, right? LOL). This can be in the form of yoga, going for a run with the dog, or hiking. This was an epic fail last year, so hopefully I will be able to adhere to this resolution. I did buy a yoga DVD and I have a one month pass for a yoga studio I plan on using in February in which I will be going every day or maybe 4+ times a week.
MAJOR FAIL!!!!!!! I have not exercised one bit since September and my pants are getting tighter lol. I suppose its due to me being so sedentary on the computer all the time. The extent of my exercise between September and now was just ankle rotations while sitting at the computer and going snowboarding once. I really really need to start incorporating exercise in my week. One of my good girlfriends offered her condo treadmill (because you know I am against gym memberships) for me to use (free!), so we can exercise together and motivate each other. I’ll let you know how this goes…!
- Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff- Sometimes I find myself easily aggravated over little things, that really don’t matter in the big scheme of things. I need to be more patient and practice compassion. I know this isn’t really measurable, but I wanted to put it in here anyways.
SOMEWHAT ACCOMPLISHED: I think I have chilled out a bit especially now that I’m working less. I get to greet my boyfriend with a smile on my face when he comes home instead of an irritated scowl (I suppose work with a 15 minute break the whole day does that to you lol). With school work, I try my best and I know that as long as I’m not failing or am at least average, I am happy. I couldn’t say the same for some of my classmates- they seem quite marks- obsessed, and I’m not sure why.
- Continue volunteering- I volunteer twice a month at a soup kitchen and I also volunteered as a mentor last year for an immigrant who had recently come to Canada. I hope to continue this, but having both going on a the same time + blog + full time work + house stuff was a bit much last year.
FAIL: I had to stop volunteering at the soup kitchen 
It is very sad for me to have to give that up but it was getting too difficult to fit full time school, part time work, blogging, and volunteering. I did however meet up a few times with the person I was mentoring and it was very nice to see her progress so far.
- Hike the West Coast Trail- The West Coast Trail is a 75km wilderness backpacking trail on Vancouver Island and it takes about 6-8 days of hiking to finish. People come from all over the world to hike this popular trail and it is often on many hiking enthusiasts “must do” lists. 300 people a year have to be evacuated out of the trail due to serious injury, so it definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. There are pulleys, cable cars, huge 20 feet ladders to climb… the ladders is the main reason I’m not so keen on it. I HATE heights (my palms are getting sweaty just thinking about it) and climbing a huge ladder with a heavy backpack isn’t my idea of fun… but hopefully I will manage to conquer my fear and not plummet to serious injury!
DONE LIKE DINNER!: I can’t believe I accomplished that. I highly doubt I’ll be doing that again, perhaps one day when I completely conquer my fear of heights. It was an amazing journey and I’m looking forward to preparing for my next one, Mount Kilimanjaro.
- Go hiking once a week at least during hiking season. I was really good at doing the Grouse Grind (this 2km long outdoor stairmaster in Vancouver) two years ago, but last year I think I only did it once. I might consider buying one of those “unlimited passes” to download from the cable car this year so I will be forced to hike it more often.
Uhh….MEH: I got the unlimited Grouse pass later that summer and aimed to go 11 times in order to “get my moneys’ worth and break even” for the cost of the pass. I think I only went 8-9 times. I can still go next year because the pass is valid for one year, but I am a little disappointed with myself for not going more often. I think this proves to me that gym memberships or any sort of memberships don’t work if they are located too far away (it is a 45-60 minute car ride to get to Grouse mountain).
- Continue blogging three times a week- I love blogging but I find that it takes up quite a bit of my time. I need to continue on this quest for balance.
ACCOMPLISHED?: Thanks to my new staff writer, Teacher Man from My University Money, I have managed to keep the regularly scheduled posts three times a week. It was really quite difficult for me because school was quite busy. I often had so many ideas but no time to write the posts. Hopefully I can avoid this from happening too often for this year.
- Read a book every two months- Sad to say, the only time I read is during vacation, but I need to find the time to read in my day to day life. Usually I’m too exhausted to read before bed. I’ll try and read once a week during breakfast instead of watching the morning news.
ACCOMPLISHED: Instead of watching the morning news to start the day, I’ve started reading. I enjoy the “quietness” of reading before I start the day, but I do find that I seem a bit clueless when it comes to current affairs. Yup, less informed water cooler talk for me!
- Bring a lunch to work every day- I actually look forward to my lunches (I make them the night before) and I like how I am saving $8 a day. Instead of lunches, I save my money for travel
ACCOMPLISHED: I have brought a lunch about 99% of the time and occasionally ate out with my coworkers about once a month. To me, bought lunch is equivalent to the latte factor. I don’t need to be spending $8-10 a day on food, I would rather eat my own and save my money for more conscious spending, like travel.
- Don’t go on facebook on the computer at home- I find my self obsessively compulsively checking facebook, maybe 15 times a day, I log in refresh, and log out. It’s almost like an addiction to updating and refreshing! I look at pictures of friends of friends sometimes, people who I don’t even know or even care about. I know this is definitely not healthy and is a huge time-waster (aka death to productivity). I am allowing myself to go on facebook during the day on my iPhone, but in the evening, I’m going to try and stay off it. I’ll do this by signing up for that site where you can ban sites from firefox called LeechBlock (shout out to 27 and Frugal who introduced me to this) and you can choose when to ban it (I chose M-F from 1800-2355).
SEMI-FAIL: I’m still bypassing my Leech Block on Firefox and using Safari from time to time (or uploading it from my iPhone), but I think my frequent visiting on Facebook has calmed down a bit. I think it has to do with some annoying people on my friends list who post every 2 minutes about everything happening in their day. I have blocked feeds of the offending friends but more and more keep cropping up. Oh, and what also helped is that I don’t want to appear like I am “online” on Facebook (I don’t want to look like TOO much of a loser, haha) and that’s been limiting my computer time on Facebook. So thank you, Mark Zuckerberg for decreasing the incidence of Facebook stalking!
Readers, how have your personal resolutions for 2011 panned out?
All in all, I think you did pretty good. Most people can’t reasonably expect to achieve anywhere near 100% of personal goals they set for the year, but that you got around 50% isn’t too shabby.
@Money Beagle- Thanks for the encouragement
Nice to see you too!
I would agree with MB. All and all you did good. You actually did as good as many of us. We all have things on our list that didn’t work out. Keep your chin up and best of luck in 2012. You always accomplish something remember.
I think you did an awesome job on your goals considering that you found time to do the West Coast Trail.
I have lived here 6 years and still have not done that.
It seems when I have time off I love to travel off the island. It seems different after living here versus the mainland.
@Steve- Oh and think you and Lina would love it. It’s a great family thing- I saw a lot of fathers and sons and fathers and daughters on my trip
I guess the grass is always greener? When I go to the island it just seems so serene and such an amazing place to live
I definitely see some areas where you made progress. I’m happy the work situation, facebook checking, your version of the latte factor, and the book reading have all improved significantly. That’s not bad at all!
@Roshawn- haha, I’m just glad the facebook checking has calmed down a bit! It was getting a bit sad, my obsessive compulsive checking…and refreshing…!
I think you did pretty well overall, but you need to step up the exercise. Doesn’t your school have a student gym you can go to?
@retirebyforty- Ahhh except it’s a distance program so I’m not where near the school. I have stepped up the exercise Joe! I went jogging about 3 times already since Jan 1… are you proud of me? Lets see how long this lasts….!
I’m just like you. I bring my lunch everyday. This is a HUGE savings for me.
@Michelle- Thanks for visiting! Huge- it cannot be underestimated. It’s probably my biggest money saving secret lol. I hate paying for lunches.
Some hits and misses. Not bad!
Cool you have a staff writer. Maybe I’ll try and become one too
@Financial Samurai- For me? I don’t think I can afford you, boi!
Yeah, hits and misses- I think that’s pretty standard for resolutions 
Don’t be too hard on yourself. You accomplished more than you think! Working, going to school AND blogging requires a lot of time. I have no idea how you do all of this!
I love hiking. I need to do more this year. We have mountains and trails all over and I don’t have a good excuse for not doing it.
@Aloysa- Awe thanks girl. I don’t think I’m being too hard- just honest
Hiking is awesome- where do you live? Any recommendations of good hikes where you are?
I love reading resolutions – I know a lot of people gripe about how they don’t work, but I think the point is more just to *try*. Even if you don’t quite make it, or your priorities change along the way, it’s always good to push yourself and experience new things!
@tinaysarah- Agreed! It’s always good to push ourselves and not accept “status quo”
Hey Young,
Enter a half-marathon. Shell out the money and enter an event about 6 months from now (half marathon, 15k, whatever….but it has to be tough).
Then tell everyone about it. With a tangible goal, running becomes a lot easier. Get some great motivational tunes prepared for your runs, and stay away from treadmills. They can destroy the hardiest soul.
Good luck! I know you can do it!
@Andrew Hallam- Oh I was SOCLOSE to entering one. Two of my good girl friends have entered/done one recently. The training is too intense for my schedule though right now. She goes running like 3-4x a week. Besides, all that marathon-ing gear is kinda expensive and out of my league lol. I will definitely do it one day though (maybe when I finish school) because its on my bucket list.
I’ll be sure to hit you up for pointers when I start training! Hope I’m still around on the blogosphere then!
I agree with the Millionaire Teacher (Andrew). I hate treadmills, running outside is just so much more natural. I’m glad that the writing thing has been working out for both of us!
Mount Kilimanjaro huh? That’s pretty crazy.
You also should have retroactively added “take on graduate degree full bore” to the list in order to give yourself an accurate portrayal of your efforts in 2011.
@MUM- The only thing about running outside is the concrete haha. though you can easily get hurt on a treadmill too. I sustained an embarassing fall on concrete on Jan 1 haha I tripped on my dog and scraped both my knees lol. Talk about punishment.
LOL oh yeah, forgot about the graduate degree. I should also add “Aim for 2011 is to only sustain myself by sleeping 5-6 hours a night” haha.
[...] Youngandthrifty gave us her 2011 resolutions, a year in review. Don’t be so hard on yourself Y&T! [...]
That list was not that painful! You made some good progress
@MOA- Well, the only part I found really painful was the exercise part
It’s pretty sad I didn’t exercise for 3 months hahah..
[...] Young and Thrifty looked back at how she did with her 2011 New Year’s Resolutions [...]
Considering that I didn’t really make any goals for 2011, I guess I met all of them
My general aim is to save as much as I can while still meeting the necessities and avoiding financial waste.
You seem to have done pretty well. Congratulations!
@JA- Making no goals can be refreshing because it’s less stressful and people tend to not beat themselves up as much
Sometimes having a concrete goal (e.g. save $10,000 this year) really drives one to meet or exceed it though, I find.
[...] and Thrifty gave a lookback with 2011 New Years Resolutions- A Year in Review. Interesting to see how tough it is to stick to the new year plan, I don’t feel so bad [...]
Great job, R&T, and I’ll be looking forward to Mt Kilimanjaro!
@Financial God- Thanks! I’ll definitely blog about it. I’ll even blog about the lack of toilets on the hike too.