Spring is here! March is in the air… March is here and spring is in the air!

Two of my ongoing zero waste projects required some maintenance! My compost bin filled up and I had to decide what to do. I dug a hole and buried my green-brown compost in the corner of the yard. I ran out of upcycled t-shirt tissues (I made 78 of them) and needed to wash them, which I finally did.

I spent time trying to halt my physical junk mail by collecting it from the mailbox and every few days looking up ways to stop that specific mailing. I didn’t realize that when I sign up for things online, the companies will sometimes just decide to send me things in the mail! I’ve also been unsubscribing to unwanted emails for the past few months and am hoping that eventually I’ll be receiving less spam.

I tried out my reusable pads and my silk floss this month. I ran out of my plastic floss which I am dearly comfortable with and though I’m not thrilled with the silk floss but am committed to using my entire supply and hopefully will get used to it over time. I love my reusable pads (and my Thinx – thanks sis!). They work so well and are easy to hand wash and then chuck into the laundry. Since it’s still so cold in the house, I place them over the air vents and they dry in no time at all! I also soaked some of my orange peels (from my recent favorite fruit) in vinegar (which I traded someone on my Buy Nothing Group for some unwanted clothes and foodstuffs) and water. I use this cleaning mixture mostly for dusty surfaces or to wipe down the kitchen counters.

I organized my growing glass jar collection by lip size and it makes me so happy to open my two drawers and see them all nestled in there!

I’ve collected quite a few sticks from my yard cleanup project for future fires and stacked it next to the house. I’m determined to clean out the backyard in our rental.

I cut my hair the shortest it’s ever been and donated it to Locks of Love. I’ve now donated my hair 7 times! That’s more hair in inches than my full body height (I’m only 5’2″).

My ongoing and future projects:

1. Make my own laundry detergent or source a better alternative
2. Line dry my clothes instead of using the dryer (when we have sun again)
3. Stop my junk mail (I’m working on it)
4. Get/Make/Source reusable cloth napkins and store in a usable location for both upstairs and downstairs
5. Source facial lotion
6. Source a toothpaste tablets/powder I like? I might table this one as I really like my toothpaste and am unsure this swap would be worth it
7. Visit the zero-waste stores in my area (they are on my list when I’m driving close to them)

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

As far as fitness goals go: After doing the February 100 abs challenge from Blogilates, I’ve continued to do an ab workout ~3/week in March. I also was able to get a complimentary composition analysis and compared it to the one I did in early January. I’m within 1 lb. of the same weight, but the body fat percentage is nearly 5% different. Did my body composition really change that much or do the two types of scanners differ that much?

I’ve added on another overarching and long-term goal for the year: learning Turkish! I have been using the Rosetta Stone Turkish since November, but I’ve added on to my steps to fluency after reading the exceptionally helpful book Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It by Gabriel Wyner.

September 2018: Duolingo practice, basic words and greetings
November 2018: Word of the day in Turkish, learn basic greetings and phrases
December 2018: Rosetta Stone Unit 1, Word of the day
January 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 2, word of the day
February 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 3, word of the day, vocabulary book
March 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 4, word of the day, read Fluent Forever, Create Anki cards for RS Unit 4 and review, create 25 vocabulary cards
April 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 5, Anki cards Unit 5, word of the day, first 250 of the top 625 in Anki cards, create 25 vocabulary cards
May 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 6, Anki cards Unit 6, word of the day, first 500 of the top 625 in Anki cards, create 25 vocabulary cards
June 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 7, Anki cards Unit 7, word of the day, all top 625 in Anki cards, create 25 vocabulary cards
July 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 8, Anki cards Unit 8, word of the day, top 800 words in Turkish in Anki cards, Vocab cards for first half of the grammar book, purchase a monolingual dictionary
August 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 9, Anki cards Unit 9, word of the day, top 1000 words in Turkish in Anki cards, 25 vocab cards,
September 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 10, Anki cards Unit 10, word of the day, 25 specialized vocab in Turkish in Anki cards, 25 vocab cards, read 1/2 a book and follow audio book in Turkish
October 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 11, Anki cards Unit 10, word of the day, 25 specialized vocab in Turkish in Anki cards, 25 vocab cards, finish 1/2 a book and follow audio book in Turkish
November 2019: Rosetta Stone Unit 12, Anki cards Unit 10, word of the day, 25 specialized vocab in Turkish in Anki cards, 25 vocab cards, take a placement test? Take a vocabulary test?

I lost my voice for two weeks in March and didn’t finish Unit 4’s final test/review yet, but I plan on completing it this week. I’m on track according to this above plan. I love the Anki app and spaced repetition and feel like it’s spring boarding my vocabulary in Turkish. According to my list, I’ve learned more than 250 words, which seems so minuscule compared to my English vocabulary of over 25,000 words.

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 and a brief breakdown for how March went.

I made extra side income this month and even with my extra payment for my tax preparation and giving cash to my SO to spend in Mexico on chocolate and tacos, I was able to meet my overall goal of spending less than 50% of my incoming money.

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!

It’s already March!

I spent February working like mad to sell off/give away/get rid of without trashing a lot of my belongings that no longer serve a purpose for me. I sold furniture that has been sitting around, clothing I never wear and won’t realistically ever wear or want to wear, and some other random stuff that I thought other people might value. I gave away opened items or low-value items I didn’t think were worth my time trying to sell. I still have a small pile of things I am giving away or selling. I have also up-cycled some of the plastic packaging and containers we’ve taken into the house – like the plastic container that we got our Costco cherry tomatoes in I use to hold my cotton up-cycled shirt hankies. The #10 can from one of my prepper foods that we used up is now the receptacle for the used hankies in the bathroom. Our ‘trashcan’ in the bathroom is only used for compostables.

On a related note… We lost power for 3 nights and 2 days this month and had to work with our old-fashioned yet reliable fireplace for heat. Thank goodness our stove top is gas powered! I was able to burn a lot of the paper that’s been sitting around the house from junk mail and records that needed shredding. Huzzah! I was also able to cook/pack in coolers and ice/take to a hotel and put in their fridge to conserve all the food from the fridge/freezer that was mine. Thankfully, I don’t stockpile frozen food.

I also tried out the Imperfect Produce with mixed results at first. I did a cost analysis of all the produce I chose in the first box and looked at pricing from our local Safeway store here in WA state and found that the prices were usually 30% less with Imperfect Produce! A win for my budget. I also was able to use a discount code for my first box! I really like how naked the produce from Imperfect is and how customizable each box is. I can buy organic or regular produce at a discount. I also scheduled weekly boxes so I can reduce my trips to the grocery store, thereby reducing impulse buys. I highly recommend you try out Imperfect Produce too! You can use this link to get $10 off your first box!

I have been saving up Amazon gift cards until I had enough to purchase some silk floss, Ethique shampoo bar sampler, reusable pads and loofah sponges. I have mixed feelings about the floss – but I think over time I can get used to it. It came in the cutest cardboard packaging and I re-used their cardboard mailer. I haven’t tried the Ethique shampoo bars or reusable pads yet. The loofah sponges were smaller than I realized but I put one in the shower to use on my face/body and will use another in the kitchen when my old sponge is used up. Those did come in plastic packaging.

I still am looking to source a Zero-Waste toothpaste and facial moisturizer alternative in the near future, but still have at least 30% of each bottle left that will last me a good few months.

Next month’s goals: to test out my zero waste shampoo/conditioner, cutting (and donating) 12″ or so of my hair, trying out my reusable pads, and learning to wash my up-cycled shirt tissues and pads.

My ongoing and future projects:

1. Make my own laundry detergent or source a better alternative
2. Line dry my clothes instead of using the dryer (when we have sun again)
3. Stop my junk mail (or parts of it?)
4. Get/Make/Source reusable cloth napkins and store in a usable location for both upstairs and downstairs
5. Source facial lotion
6. Source a toothpaste tablets/powder I like?
7. Visit the zero-waste stores in my area

I’ve been reading Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste by Bea Johnson and think it’s a very useful guide!

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

As far as fitness goals go: I’m able to find my balance point in crow and can hold it for several seconds without teeter tottering out of it immediately! I continue to work on strengthening my wrists, lifting weights, and walking every day. Eventually, I may find it valuable to work one-on-one with a knowledgeable hand stand instructor.

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 and a brief breakdown for how February went.

Even with my unexpected car expenses, I was still able to spend under 50% of my earnings! Woot woot!

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

Here is my January goal check in blog post!