The financial success of any entity is tied to two key budgeting figures: projected values and actual values. When looking ahead at an upcoming fiscal period, an educated guess is made on how much money will be received and spent. When looking back, the actuals are tallied. At that point a detailed analysis can be made to determine why, exactly, we never come close to predicting the future.

Need an example? While the following is not of a fiduciary nature, it’s still a good illustration of the elements of budgeting. My projections and actuals for 2018:

Projected	Actual
January
Ahhh! The new year! A clean slate! Endless possibilities! I shall kick things off by creating an ambitious to-do list. Some of my 2018 goals: promote my recently-published memoir, finally finish moving into the “new” house, clean up the junk room, organize the garage, complete the landscaping and exterior projects, finish a solid draft of a novel, compose and record a new album of music, and lose forty pounds. And by “2018 goals” I don’t mean “my goals for 2018.” I literally mean “the two thousand and eighteen things I want to get done this year.” First order of business in all that? Finally get my home recording studio set up again.	I got tasked with a big project at work last year. By the start of 2018, I’d already been working on it for several months, but by January 31, things were really moving into high gear. And if that weren’t enough, I also got knocked down with the flu for more than a week. No progress on the goals yet.
February
Maybe set up that recording studio. Or dust off one of those manuscripts-in-progress. I didn’t get as much done in January as I would’ve liked, but that’s okay. Most of the year is still ahead of me.	Still worked on that big project pretty much the entire month. Sadly, it’s now extended into longer hours each day as well as taking up weekends.
March
The weather in Texas is getting better. It’s probably time to work on that landscaping. We got nearly halfway done in 2017, but the year ran out on us before we could complete the whole task.	Good news on the work front! This project should be done pretty soon. Then I can get back to focusing on myself.
April
Well, the project isn’t wrapping up the way I’d hoped. So I’ll probably still be working a lot this month.	Worked a lot this month.
May, June, July
I’ll probably still be working a lot this month.	Worked a lot this month.
August
Wrap up that big project by the end of the first week. (Really!) Then start catching up on things. Pick a few items off the list and take care of them.	It happened. It finally happened. At last that ginormous, all-consuming, work task is behind me. Everything else fell by the wayside this year. But when the burden lifted, I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself. Where do I start? August flew right by and apart from catching up on some bills and reintroducing myself to those people I live with, nothing happened.
September
Resurrect the blog, get back to Scribophile, and, hey, maybe start setting up that home recording studio again.	Huh, weird. I actually did everything I said I would. The studio is nowhere ready to go, but I did “start” as planned.
October
Wow, since things kind of started going my way last month, let’s shoot for the stars in October. Before Halloween, I will promote my recently-published memoir, finally finish moving into the “new” house, clean up the junk room, organize the garage, complete the landscaping and exterior projects, finish a solid draft of a novel, compose and record a new album of music, and lose forty pounds.	I don’t know where the month went.
November
It’s November already! NaNoWriMo has rolled around once again. This month I shall dust off my old “Ronald” manuscript from 2013 and give it a fresh go. My schedule seems pretty clear and I can finally buckle down and focus on one of my bigger 2018 goals: finish a solid draft of a novel	Completed about eight percent of my manuscript. In spite of the month looking like it would be clear and free, I got sidetracked by work, family, and traveling (both business and pleasure). But, at least I have a better start than before. I may still be able to turn this into something.
December
Prepare for Christmas.	Christmas.

And just like that, another year is over. I’m consistent, if nothing else. (And, at this point, it honestly does feel like I’m nothing else.)

I’m heading into the upcoming year with the usual deflated, semi-depressed feelings. I did some serious introspection this year, and I guess time will tell if that changes anything in 2019. But if I can be perfectly honest, I’m getting rather tired of making plans that never materialize. What’s that quote again? The one about trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

Although . . . Hmmm . . .

You know . . . technically-speaking there are three whole days left in 2018, so I really can’t say the year is over yet. While every day feels like a blink, the reality is we can get a lot done in twenty-four hours. So why not whip up a few goals for the last three days!? That should be plenty of time to promote my recently-published memoir, finally finish moving into the “new” house, clean up the junk room, organize the garage, complete the landscaping and exterior projects, finish a solid draft of a novel, compose and record a new album of music, and lose forty pounds.

Let’s do this!!!