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70+ Goal Ideas For 2023: Make This New Year The Best Yet

Last Updated: January 1, 2023 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 4 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

What are your goal ideas for 2023?

Do you want to improve your finances? Focus on your health and fitness? Want to build better relationships with your friends and family? Are you looking for inspiration to reach your life goals?Goal Ideas For 2023

There are so many different yearly goal ideas, and since 2023 is almost here, now is a great time to start thinking about yours.

Whether you want to call it a New Year’s resolution, a New Year’s goal, or simply just a goal, setting personal goals for 2023 is a great way to start the year.

Your goal ideas can give you a fresh start and focus your energy on what you want in the new year.

Setting goals for the new year comes with many benefits, and you’re probably well aware of that.

Your New Year’s goals for 2023 can keep you motivated toward improving your life and trying new things, and goals can also keep you excited about your future.

Goals can help you grow, give you motivation, help you learn new skills, improve yourself, and more. There are so many benefits!

For me, I enjoy setting goals. I may not reach all of my goals, but they give me an idea for how I’d like my life to look in the future.

It’s also an exciting feeling to set new goals for myself!

Setting goals helps me create some sort of plan, and honestly, the planning aspect is something I really enjoy as well.

Now, that doesn’t mean that goals are easy to keep. Good things don’t always come easy! In fact, they usually require some hard work, but that’s what makes it feel so good when you achieve them.

Today, I am going to share some great 2023 goal ideas and tips for making each one attainable. If you’ve been wondering:

  • What are some ideas for goals?
  • What are some fun personal goals?
  • How do I set goals that I can actually reach?

Then this post is for you! This is a long list of goals for 2023.

With the New Year’s goal ideas on this list, you will be ready for a motivating and exciting new year. [Read more…]

4 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Goals, Life Tagged With: Budget, Goals, Life

Setting Goals For The New Year – Set 2023 Goals You Can Keep!

Last Updated: December 12, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Have you thought about setting goals for the new year?

At the end of the year or the beginning of a new year, it’s only natural to reflect on the past year and think about your future.

Perhaps in the past year you were happy, upset, or even indifferent.Have you thought about setting goals for the new year? Here's how to set 2022 goals you can keep and stay strong all year long.

The previous year wasn’t normal for many, many people, and you can have any number of feelings about it.

But now that 2022 is almost over, if you could do anything in 2023, what would you choose? Do you want to focus on your financial life? Want to build better personal relationships? Focus on self-improvement, physical health, or your job?

There are so many different areas to focus on, and now is a great time to think about what you want for your life in the future!

Whether you want to call it a New Year’s resolution or a goal, either can be a great way to think about what’s important to you so you can create a better future.

And, setting goals for the new year is a long standing tradition.  [Read more…]

5 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Goals, Life Tagged With: Budget, Goals, Life

How To Take Maternity Leave When Self-Employed – What You Need To Know

Last Updated: August 1, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 13 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you self-employed and pregnant? Are you wondering how to handle maternity leave when self-employed?

Big news if you haven’t heard yet – I am pregnant!

When I announced this news, I received many questions, especially ones revolving around what I am going to do for maternity leave since I am self-employed.Maternity Leave When Self-Employed

I am very grateful for the life that I get to live, and I realize that I run a truly amazing business that will allow me to focus a lot of time on this next exciting part of my life.

That being said, there are so many things about maternity leave when self-employed that I want to talk about!!

One of the first things I thought about when I found out that I was pregnant was what am I going to do when it comes to running my business?

As a self-employed person who is currently pregnant, I am in charge of my own maternity leave – there’s no official blogger maternity leave, haha!

Yes, the Family Medical Leave Act gives employees in the United States up to 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave.

However, that doesn’t exactly apply to me, as I want to take a self-employed maternity leave (there are a couple of states that do offer paid leave for self-employed workers, but that’s not the norm). [Read more…]

13 Comments
Filed Under: Business Income, Career, Life Tagged With: Career, maternity leave, Self-employment

10 Ways To Stop Comparing Yourself To Others & Love Who You Are

Last Updated: December 20, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 14 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Comparing yourself to others is one of the easiest things to do these days. We scroll through social media and see what other people are doing with their lives, and it’s so easy to start thinking about how your life matches up to theirs.10 ways to stop comparing yourself to others

Without even realizing it, you’re thinking about how perfect their life looks.

They’re on what has always been your dream vacation, they have a better house, they appear to be doing better financially, and so on.

Even though you have no idea what their life is actually like, you’re measuring yours against theirs, which can often lead to some really negative thoughts.

Maybe you feel you’re not good enough, not successful enough, you may feel jealous or angry, and so on. In today’s age, it can be easy to spend hours scrolling on social media and simply feel bad about yourself the whole time.

For some people, comparisons can lead to spending money to keep up with others, wasting time dwelling on others, and any number of negative behaviors. [Read more…]

14 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Life Tagged With: Life

We’re Pregnant!

Last Updated: August 1, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 188 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hey everyone!

Big news.

We are having a baby!

We are super excited for this new adventure that we are on, and I can’t wait to share more.

I went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to share this directly on the blog, but many of you have been with me for years, and I haven’t really done a life update in a very long time.

I completely understand that a pregnancy announcement can lead to mixed feelings, and both good and bad judgment/advice/etc. Also, I do not plan on having things change around here on Making Sense of Cents, as personal finance is still what this website is all about.

Anyway, this is exciting news for us, as Baby Gardner is due in December 2021!

We are so excited to share that we will be starting our greatest adventure yet, and we can’t wait to show our new family member the world.

Pregnancy has been interesting so far, with lots of nausea (but I actually haven’t thrown up at all) for the past couple of months. Eating has been difficult, which feels crazy because I’m usually a huge eater and will eat anything. But, pregnancy has led to a lot of food aversions.

I am starting to feel better now, though, so I am hoping to get ahead in work, do as many fun things as I can, and prepare for the new family addition as best as we can.

I know that many of you are probably wondering (this is the number one question that I’ve received so far)- Our plan for right now is to live with our new family member on our boat. We plan on taking it slow but eventually doing a lot of travel with our new family member by boat, van, plane, etc.

Please leave a comment below:

  • If you have any books or blogs that you recommend I read about pregnancy, starting a family, work/life balance as a parent, traveling families, etc.
  • If you have any positive advice or kind words that you’d like to share
  • If you have any questions for me.

Thank you so much for following along on my journey over the years. Things are about to get even more interesting!

Have a great week!

 

Related content:

  • How To Take Maternity Leave When Self-Employed – What You Need To Know
  • Best Baby Gear – Guide For New Parents
  • 15 Delicious, Easy Freezer Meals For New Moms & Dads

 

188 Comments
Filed Under: Life

10 Lessons I’ve Learned From Living A Nomadic Lifestyle

Last Updated: March 19, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 13 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

If you’ve ever wondered what the nomadic lifestyle is really like, I’ve been traveling full-time for over five years, and I’m always excited to share my experiences.

It all started back in 2013 when my husband and I left our day jobs and became location independent. We started traveling more extensively, and we loved being able to spend more time outdoors doing what we love.nomadic lifestyle

Then in 2015, what feels like a lifetime ago, we started traveling full-time. First, we sold our house in Missouri that we had owned for a little over five years and moved to Colorado. 

We rented a house in Colorado and bought an RV right after we moved in, but the house didn’t last for long. We were ready to move into the RV and start traveling full-time.

Traveling is always something I was interested in, even from a young age, but I never thought that I would live a nomadic lifestyle.

It was exciting and scary at first, and I’m so excited I gave it a shot as it has greatly changed my life for the better.

I’ve found many nomadic lifestyle advantages over the years — I have learned so many skills, I have met amazing people, been to countless beautiful places, and more. [Read more…]

13 Comments
Filed Under: Life, Travel Tagged With: Living on a sailboat, RV, Travel

Ask Me Anything

Last Updated: May 24, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 114 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hey!

It’s been a long time since my last Ask Me Anything here on Making Sense of Cents.

Ask Me Anything is literally that – you can ask me anything. If you’re struggling to figure out what to ask, here are a few of the topics you may want to know more about:

  • Personal finance
  • Blogging
  • My life
  • Travel
  • RVing
  • Sailing
  • Being location independent
  • Business
  • Making extra money
  • Questions about my dogs

And so on, and so on.

Seriously, ask me anything in the comments below, and I will take the time to answer every single one. Of course, please nothing inappropriate or creepy. I’ll let you be the judge of what is creepy, I guess, haha!

All right, go for it, ask away!

P.S. If you’re looking to see all of the comments and questions, make sure to hit “Older Comments” or “Newer Comments” below. The comments break apart in pages once there are over 50 comments.

114 Comments
Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Ask me anything

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Hello and welcome!
My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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