Last year, I didn’t make a resolutions post. I had just moved to a new city and started a job a few months before and back then, I didn’t really know what to expect out of the year. In fact, sometimes I think when you go into things without any expectations at all, you end up surprising yourself. 2014 was a wonderful year filled with joy, challenges, wins, loss, and a whole lot of love both near and far. Having finally moved away from home for the first time, I learned how difficult it could be to not have visability into everything happening back in Seattle, but that I had to also survive on my own for the first time and not rely on others that I knew were just a phone call away.

Well it’s been a year. I took everything day by day and though I’m not writing this from Seattle, I finally feel like I have a firm grasp on my new home and my two feet on the ground. So there’s some things that I really want to strive for in 2015 and I think we can do it and we should. I’m about to turn 25 in a few months and I think naturally 25 is just meant to be an awesome year for everyone.

• Be more of an adult – I’m going to get another credit card which I’m excited about because not only do I think it’s just time for another one, I know it will really challenge me to be more on top of my finances. I’m going to discipline myself to save more and more each month because I’ve wasted a lot of time not saving when I could have. My dear friend Toby told me recently that she wish she would have started this when she was my age. She just bought a house and someday I’m going to need to the same! I’m also going to rip off a chunk from my student loans and there’s no better feeling than getting that balance closer to zero. The average time it takes to pay off your student loans is 10 years and my goal is to beat that! I know that some people will try and shorten that time by working extra, or seeing if they can build on what money they already have by going online to websites such as oxi casino, for example, to have a gamble, however, I don’t think I could do that so saving is the way to go for me!
• Make smart purchases – I’m someone that loves gift giving, but I realize sometimes I do these outside of the gift giving windows ie) holidays/birthdays. I need to practice spending money not just for the sake of spending it, but spending it on worthwhile purchases. I also need to make sacrifices and understand when it’s okay to make a smart purchase for myself for things I really need even the ones that are a little bit more costly, but absolutely necessary.
• Dress better – Working in tech, it can be easy to choose comfort over style. Getting dressed for work has never been easier because I know that I can literally show up in anything and be fine with it, but what I didn’t realize is that what I wear impacts how I feel about myself and my day. I recently tried to attempt the fancy sweatpants look because of the latest trend and realized I never felt as lazy as I did when I wore those to work. Like every new school year and every new year, it’s time to just purge the closet and start the new year off with a new wardrobe.
• Channel Taylor Swift – I’ve got a love/hate relationship with Taylor Swift. I don’t always understand her, but what I’ve always appreciated is that she has a strong group of girlfriends always behind her. Team Katie was a nice reminder at home this time around, but I can’t take them with me back to the Bay and I’ve gotta have that strong support system with me down there too. I’ve forgotten how important it is to have those “girl nights” and I’ve really missed them!
• Wear high heels – At 25 years old, I’m going to trade in my everyday flats for heels and my vasaline for lipstick. One thing that I’ve always struggled with is looking my age (sometimes that can’t be helped!) but sometimes you can change it and it starts with your every day routine.
• Treat myself to a vacation – After moving away, I felt a really strong pull to visit Seattle often. I was lucky to have been able to 3 times this past year, but now that I know that Seattle just isn’t going anywhere, I’d like to take advantage of 2015 by taking a vacation for me and going somewhere for an extended period of time. I always said that since I never had the opportunity to study abroad, that I would save it until after I graduated school and it looks like that time is pretty much now. I have been thinking about affordability to go and do this, but if I’m stuck for some cash then I can always go and see this page about a vacation loan that can help me make this a reality, so at least I have that.
• Stay active – Last year, I took a few hikes and spent some time climbing. I’d like to do more of that this year and follow-through with some of the things I’ve been wanting to do like that dance class that I’ve been putting off and SoulCycle in the city.

So readers, as you inch closer to the new year, are you starting to write up your New Year’s resolutions? We’d love to know!