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I’ve never been terribly into formulating resolutions at New Year’s per se, but I do set goals throughout the year. Here is some of what I tried to do last year.

Eliminate my bad debt

This is a strange thing to be proud of, since I only had to do it because I exercised poor judgment in the past. But it was hard — I was so aggressive that I miscalculated what I could afford to pay down some months and incurred a few overdraft fees as a result, and I only reached the finish line with the mid-December paycheck. Hopefully the pace I set will count for something when mortgage credit-evaluation time comes. Even if it doesn’t, it feels really, really good to have this behind me. (A goal throughout the year)

Open a savings account

Mixed. I opened one and set up an automatic payroll deduction, but I had to raid it once to deal with an overdraft situation as described above. I didn’t restore the borrowed funds within 2007, so I fell short of the year-end balance goal. (Goal set in March)

Consume less caffeine

I’ve stabilized my coffee consumption for most days at 3 mugs in the morning, and 1 in the afternoon. I don’t know exactly how much of a reduction this is, but it’s definitely substantial. Tracking it for a month or so on this site definitely helped, and as reported there, I’ve reaped benefits of reduced facial tics and better digestion. Maybe it’s psychosomatic, but I’ll take it. (Goal set in July)

Resume regular dental visits

This turned out to be a bummer. I just had my second checkup in 6 months, and it wasn’t any easier than the previous one, after somewhat more than 6 months. This is a lot easier to manage with insurance! (Goal set for reals in May?)

A month of buy-nothing days

I didn’t keep the original entry updated, but I reached my milestone easily. On the canonical Buy Nothing Day I spent $5 to rent a video. (A goal throughout the year)

Eat less low-value food

Mixed. I’ve all but eliminated sodas from my diet, and get a Dunkin Donut or the like no more than once a month. I felt pretty good about how I handled Halloween. But the snackbar at work continues to be a problem. At least they seem to have stopped stocking the mixed candied nuts, so that’s one temptation removed. (I don’t remember when I set this goal)

Write more

A total bust. (A goal throughout the year)

Record more

Ditto. (A goal throughout the year)

Get greener

Not doing so hot. I can’t claim adopting compact fluorescent lights since that was 2006, but I will note for the benefit of several readers concerned about mercury content that CFL reclamation facilities are sprouting around Cambridge, and presumably elsewhere, too. We put insulating plastic on our heat-losingest windows this year, which we failed to do in 2006. I’ve reduced my intake of overfished critters, especially tuna and salmon, but not eliminated them from my diet. I’ve made a little more effort to not leave electronic devices on standby. Thanks to Envirosax we’ve reduced our plastic bag consumption, and we look stylish doing it, too. But basically I’m at a point where making significant further improvements will require lifestyle changes that won’t be easy. And I’ve started to worry about things like the carbon debt of ordering a package from Amazon (especially with their ever-more-ludicrous packaging practices ) vs. the typical suburban drive-to-a-store approach. (A goal throughout the year)

Reduce the number of books and CDs in the house

Meh. BookMooch has been a boon, with a net 74-book reduction. The Minuteman Library Network continues to be an awesome resource. But I had some major backslides, like a big binge of Lindsey Davis historical mysteries. LaLa.com hasn’t done as much for us as I’d hoped — I’ve shipped 250 discs and received 240. But since several of the 250 shipped discs were things I got from LaLa, didn’t care for and shipped out again, I think I may be operating at a net surplus. I also made two old-school new-release-Tuesday visits to Newbury Comics, by which I mean coming home with 5 (or more) discs at once. Last.fm has definitely not helped; neither has WMBR. (A goal throughout the year)

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