To be honest, usually I spend the month editting and drafting my monthly goal update post. Not this month! So, there’ll be no list of my meals. And everything feels a bit sketchy!
For new readers, every month, I like to check in with the ‘New years goals‘ I set. It’s a regular reminder of what I’d like to be doing!
Financial
Save $20k $26k cash by 22 Dec (for when I get a mortgage offset account): stalled
August: $21,140.13
September: $21,020.20 (-$120)
Such a nice looking number, but sadly not on target for my stretch $26k goal. Thanks to… booking a holiday to Vietnam with the BF!
12 in 2 Adventures savings fund: hahaha what? nope
July: $749.93 (how’d that go down?)
August: $1.72 (-$748,21)
September: $1.73 (+$0.01) Oh for interest!
Grocery spend: improved from August’s HUGE spend
I’m loathed to share figures, as Australia’s costs vs other countries and readers might be misinterpreted. Let’s just say, it’s a little more than double my ‘usual’ spend when I lived alone. I’m happy with that. 22% is on meat, 13% on dairy (we eat so much cheese!). I’m pleased that fruit and vege % spend are up on last month. I’ve got a piece of fruit a day as a snack (banana or apple), plus frozen berries on my porridge. Vegies aren’t so simply integrated, yet.
Volunteering hours: alright (poorly remembered though!)
Sat 13th: 4hrs doing church flowers
Health
Cook at home twice a week: Achieved!
The BF and I have a great ‘menu’ for every week, which helps the ‘I don’t know, what do you want’ conversations. I’ll get a few more photos together, and then I’ll share it with you.
Sugar: Totally not on my radar
Although, after our housewarming this weekend (I’ll bake a number of treats), I’m pledged to try and join Lucinda Sans in her first mention of the Droptober challenge to eat less sweets. Here’s the rules she published.
Train for polo – Training to run a half marathon: inconsistent, but some running
Actually, the summer water polo season is starting, so far I’ve not been to training, due to a cold, then my lift/carpool hurting her toe, and the next week being out of town.
However, on the running front, I did a 9km organised run, and I’ve signed up for the Neon run in October (5km) and the Color Run in February (5km). This past week, which is technically October, I’ve run twice, though quite short distances, and once the week before.
Cultural
2 films a month: wow, another month with no cinema visits
2 books a month: achieved
I read World War Z (remember I saw the film earlier this year?) The book was totally different, as commenters warned me. I enjoyed the book, but it took me a while to get through it.
Then I read Plastic Free, by Beth Terry which I reviewed earlier this week. I really enjoyed it!
I’m in the middle of Mr Know-it-all by A.J. Jacobs. I read his book about reading the bible and living it literally, and was reminded of this book of his thanks to Lucinda’s review.
Social
Call/connect with an out of town friend: Did wonderfully
I had a friend from Orange come to town, and we met for a hot chocolate. Another friend stayed two nights in our guest room when she came to Sydney for a wedding (I’d seen her a few weeks ago in Melbourne!). A very dear friend in Brisbane has been great at encouraging me via Facebook, so I feel closer there, and another friend who used to live in Sydney and moved to Alice Springs, and then to the UK, we had a great chat on Facebook the other evening. We couldn’t believe it was three years almost to the day, that I’d visited her in Alice!
Career
Certification: last edits needed, then submit them in October
All my episode reports are written, and long enough. My external mentor has reviewed them all, and now I need to make some improvements and submit them! I hope to have them submitted by the end of October.
Sorry there wasn’t any photos… How are your new year’s resolutions progressing?
That's extremely exciting about the Vietnam trip!! It's so good to have "social" on the Goals list. I always forget to call people that I really want to speak to, then another month goes by full of "busy work."
Will the final edits for the certification take much work? Very exciting there, too!
The Vietnam trip is at the end of this month (Ooctober), so I know it'll sneak up on me! We've only booked two nights accommodation so far. The social goals are important cause I do feel a little reclusive, but even if I wasn't, there's people who live far and wide, and take more effort to catch up with (than a coffee or seeing them at the next social get together). I'm glad I reflect each month and realise I'm keeping friendships alive by small measures. The final edits (hopefully) shouldn't be too extensive, though I think there's one episode my mentor thinks I should totally rewrite. Maybe public holiday Monday's task…
Wow, you have so much on the go… it's good to see it all written down, so you can see progress. Maybe I need to do that. So much of what I do as a SAHM just disappears every day!
Oh my, sometimes it seems like nothing, and sometimes like a lot – just depends. I think I'd need a list if I stayed home (which I did today), and cross things off to show myself the progress… Today's has not been as crossed off as I'd hoped!
I'm glad you liked World War Z 🙂 I've also read the Year of Living Biblically and really liked it, so I will have to check out Mr Know-it-all.
I'm also glad your grocery spending has settled down. Did you do anything in particular or was it just getting used to shopping together?
Nope, no real changes, except for avoiding the super expensive gluten free bread which I know we bought in the first month. They just aren't worth it! AJ Jacobs has a great sense of humour, and even though I'm slow reading this latest one, I am enjoying it when I get to it.
Hope you have a blast for your housewarming. And then drop on over for Droptober!
I haven't been to the cinema for a while either. There's nothing that's attracted me. I think there are better thins on TV at the moment. And I watched a great old movie on ABC last night when I couldn't sleep. The Cardinal. Made in the 1960s. Long, a bit ponderous, but riveting.
You are inspiring me to connect with friends. I nearly didn't make it to yesterday's catchup at the Absinthe Salon as I am increasingly hibernating in my house. Think it is becoming a bad habit.
The housewarming might go ok – if I didn't totally muck up the cookie recipe doubling the eggs but nothing else!! Anyhoo… Then I'm droptobering all the way!
You're right, there's nothing I felt like seeing really, so I don't feel like I've missed out. I so seldom try TV when I can't sleep (I usually stubbornly lie there, getting more and more frustrated!)
And I definitely think that it's easy to drop seeing friends to 'relax', but I know my mental health is so much better for having and maintaining friendships, so I try to put it higher on the list of priorities. Best of luck with your attempts.
I have read The Year of Living Biblically and Drop Dead Healthy – I love his books! I'm happy to hear you've booked a vacation – you haven't travelled out of the country since you started your blog, but I know you were a frequent traveller before that!