Goals check-in: December

I've summed up my progress for the year as well and will post it later today.

Read 100 books in 2012.
Absolutely gravy this month: I checked out a stack from the library mid-December and enjoyed brain popcorn up to #125.

Exercise for 90 minutes per week.
I was definitely on my feet more after the semester ended. The weather got worse, though, so I was less inclined to spend time outside. This has not been an active year.

Get rid of (sell, donate, recycle) 80 items from the house by the end of the year.
Many wedding items need to go; we also took a few things to a friend's clothing swap (but ended up taking home more!).

Write 70 posts for this blog in 2012.
10 new posts this month, for a running total of 176. With both the end of the year and the end of the semester this month, I stepped it up a bit. And my pageviews were the highest ever!

Volunteer 60 hours in 2012.
Well, no.

Save or donate 50 percent of my take-home income.
In December, I saved 74.4%  and donated 8.1% of my net income. (I'm counting the cash I applied to the accounts, not any interest earned.)
Here's how it broke down:
Emergency Savings:  56% (bolstered by a third paycheck in the month and a generous Xmas gift)
House Fund: 0% On hold for now.
Grad School: 15.9% 
Roth IRA: 2.5% (I thought about adding more to max out my contributions, but decided to keep money liquid in emergency savings instead)
401(k): taken from paycheck; 5% of gross income; not counted in this total
HSA and medical FSA: taken from paycheck; not counted in this total. (FSA saving is complete for the year -- now I have to spend it!)
Investments: 0%
Church Pledge: 5%
Other Donations: 3.1% Homeless Children's Network gift drive, church staff love offering, and a few non-monetary contributions as well.

Distribute 40 business cards by the end of the year.
Sigh.

Spend 30 days without a phone or computer in 2012.
Up to 4 days with no phone OR computer, and 10 more days with no phone. This is tough when I don't have (or want, for that matter) a landline or a watch. Even on the vacation days I wanted to take pictures and share my doings on Facebook, or text friends or family members to confirm on change plans. And ESPECIALLY check Nextbus.

Be able to do 20 pushups at once by the end of the year.
Um, no. 

Write 10 recommendations on LinkedIn in 2012.
Also no.


Bonus:

DONE! Work at home the week after Xmas.
While I need to remind myself to move more often (or remind the cats that I am mortal and must occasionally shift position), this was overwhelmingly positive. I get so much more DONE when I'm not surrounded by people talking!

DONE! Don't buy any new gift wrap.

Got through the season with a lot of brown paper, paper towel rolls, and saved ribbon, but I think I'll be making a trip to the New Year's sales to stock up on discounted bows, tags, and boxes.

PARTIAL Reorganize the pantry and kitchen cupboards.
More needs to go, but a workable plan is taking shape.

DONE! Make goals for next year.
This coming year's goals are a bit different -- less quantitative and more qualitative. I don't want them to be yet another source of stress.