2019 August Goals – Accountability, Check in, and Selling My Car

by in Rachel Barnard and tagged , , , , , , , ,

As a combination money-saver, stress-reducer, and positive environmental impact I’ve sold my car! I’m attempting to utilize my bike, electric bikes/scooters, and ride-sharing more.

Do you have any other ideas I should consider to reduce my waste?

 

My goal this month was to follow the Blogilates Glutes challenge. I also followed the Blogilates abs and squats challenges as well. I did modify the challenges by taking Wednesdays off and towards the end of the month I took a few days off as well so that I have 5 more days of challenge to finish in the month of September to complete the three challenges.

Here are my fitness stats for the month:

  1. Biking: 74.6 miles
  2. Pole classes: 4

Turkish language progress:

I now have 1,299 Anki cards. I’ve done 5,771 reviews. I have spent 6:05:12 reviewing with an average of 52 reviews per day. My grade is 68% D. It appears some data was lost as my time and reviews has gone down since last month. I’ve also missed a few days’ reviews this month.

I fell behind in my Rosetta Stone and have to catch up to finish Unit 9 this week! I will also have to work extra diligently to complete Unit 10 this month since I will be “on vacation” for 10 days.

I purchased a yearly subscription to Memrise and will start incorporating daily practice with that app. I also have been utilizing the daily lesson in Mondly (free).

I tried out a Skype session with a live person from Turkey to see how personalized lessons would work. I wasn’t thrilled with the technology of Skype and it was difficult to understand the trainer at times. The sound quality left something to be desired as well. I don’t think continuing is worth the price at this time. Perhaps I will consider it again when I have finished all the Rosetta Stone units.

My main goal for the year was to save as much money as possible! I’m doing this by earning more money, spending less money, and investing the money that I do have. Here is my monthly budget spreadsheet:

Categories $$ to spend 19-Jan 19-Feb 19-Mar 19-Apr 19-May 19-June 19-July 19-Aug
Take home pay *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Earnings *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Total Earnings   *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Rent 700 same  same same same same same same same
Phone 45 same same same same same same same same
Car 300 Over Over Under under under under over (paid for my 6-month insurance) Over (timing belt replacement)
Travel 100 Under  0 0 90.05 99.42 196.58 over (paid for a trip to Disney) 32.40
Housing Supplies 25 0  Over Under 105.52 (sharpened knives and got zero-waste supplies) 25.84 7.61 37.54 0
Health & Wellness 60 0 Over Under 113 110.45 84.95 179.45 90.95
Writing 25 Over Over 0 14.42 (e-books) 0 0 3.29 0
Charity/art 25 Over  15 Under 32 10 15 15 15
Entertainment 70 Over  20.95 Over 66.33 61.46 66.95 33.05 38.33
Fitness Classes 75 Over  0 30 0 133 35 100 115
Food – eating out 100 179.98  96.00 185.03 251.16 (Travel to FL) 536.77 (family is in town) 458.99 (family is in town) 276.98 277.34
Food – groceries 400 575.47 324.88 444 608.48 (travel to FL) 226.03 256.95 563.30 355.78
Misc. 50 47.92  92.03 660 (put my tax prep and a present in this category) 1.60 348.50 14.34 220.02 166.07
Total Spent  <50% 55% 42% 48% 47% 55% 42% 76% 35%
Total Savings 2080 Over Over Over Over Over Over Under Over

After getting my car in tip-top shape (replacing the timing belt), I sold it! Here are the final cost stats: $249.67 each month to legally own and drive my own car 🙂 – this is equivalent to paying $0.26/mile!

My writing goals!! I am considering self-publishing my middle grade fantasy that has been sitting for several years. I would want this to be published in time for the holidays and holiday sales. This would be my only middle grade book and I could then have an offering for younger readers. I also am in love with the cover art – I had it made by an artist whose work I adore = Donavon.

I nabbed three books from the library on plotting:

  1. 90 Days to your Novel
    A Day-by-day Plan for Outlining & Writing your Book
    by Domet, Sarah
  2. Fast Fiction
    A Guide to Outlining and Writing A First Draft Novel in Thirty Days
    by Jaden, Denise
  3. Take Off your Pants!
    Outline your Books for Faster, Better Writing
    by Hawker, Libbie

What are your goals and how are you meeting them this month?

Here is my January goal check in blog post!

Here is my February goal check in blog post!

Here is my March goal check in blog post!

Here is my April goal check in blog post!

Here is my May goal check in blog post!

Here is my June goal check in blog post!

Here is my July goal check in blog post!