July Goals

Hello all.  I've been doing a world of thinking these last two weeks and with May and June pretty much having flown past and very little accomplished over the last 8 weeks, I thought I'd try and make July count HARD.  I have three social/visits already on the calendar for July, too. I'd love to think that all of life is summer and like the photo above but I need to do a lot of work about here.  It might well prove to be a busy month.  There are nevertheless things I MUST do this month and I thought I'd like to add another thing or two just because, you know, I might not have enough to do...

#1.  Frugal Boot Camp started last week of June.  Why?  Because I need it just now.  I have this feeling I need to refresh my knowledge, find new ways and means to save.  Typically July is always a sticky sort of month and I don't mean because of the heat, which by the way is meant to be in the 100f range.  It always feels as though we have a slow down in the income, an increase in the outgo and enough wants/needs besides to frustrate.  I'll be reviewing several books from my bookshelves.  So all throughout July I'll continue to read and look for methods I have forgotten or need to now employ.

#2.  Really clean up the guest room and work hard on finding solutions to several problems I've noted over the past visits.   Naturally, the bulk of my work in that space will be 'Use what you have' generated.

#3.  Sort out the pantry/little freezer.  I've offered the smaller of the freezers to Katie.  I need to clear the pantry shelves so I can move them to move the freezer and then put the pantry stuff back.  Not a short job.  In this case I need to clean the guest room in order to have space to put things and be able to move the freezer out of the room.  BIG fruit basket turnover scenario...

#4.  Give notice at the flea market and clear that space...another fruit basket turnover situation.  I need to move some things meant for donation from the shed so that I can move stuff from the flea market into the shed.  Bonus:  I've two sets of shelves I can use in either the pantry area or the shed or both spaces.

#5.  Get my house back into shape.  It's not horrid, but it's looking careworn and is suffering from minor neglect.  I'd love to do a whole deep clean thing but I know too well with all my other plans I don't have enough time nor energy to do that this month.  I will get it back to neat and orderly though.

#6.  Shopping:  I need some things for my wardrobe.  I don't have shorts or lightweight pants or skirts I can wear about the house, nor do I have decent t-shirts.  I'm so over looking in the mirror and grimacing and tired of panicking at state of my clothing when the UPS man or the mail lady comes up unexpectedly.  It is a rare bit of clothing that doesn't have stains or paint on them or that isn't miles too large.  I don't have anything in my closet that can filter down to fill this gap.  I'm saving my allowance diligently in order to meet this and a few other clothing needs.  Other items on my list: robes (lightweight summer, heavier one for winter and I am up to sewing these if necessary).  Pajamas and nighties.  Fresh summer tops are needed as well.   My spring ones looked nice, but were just not fitting me well.   They did fit Bess perfectly.

#7. Get my pantry and freezer restocked.  I'll work on this slowly.  I've noted that Patsy at A Working Pantry and Brenda at Coffee, Tea, Books and Me both mention the challenge of slowly building pantries with low cash amounts.  I thought I'd like to give myself an allowance of $20 per pay period to start with.  I'll make a list, watch for sales and try my best to get big bang for small bucks.

#8.  June was a heavy month for grocery spending.  I was over budget and why shouldn't I have been?  While Bess and Sam helped out, we also had four family gatherings during the month.  I'd like to be below normal budget amount this month.  I've thought seriously about this and think I'm going to try to spend $50/week this month, which must include any cleaning, food, pet, and paper supplies needed.  I'll allow the $10/week for restocking (total of $60/week). 

#9.  Further my Diabetes Education.  I told myself last year that I needed a break and to do things slowly.  I concentrated hard on the basics: losing a few pounds, learning to balance carbs and lowering my blood sugar numbers.  My numbers are very good and I've maintained my weight loss.  I've had a few questions through out the year but reminded myself that I was focused on just those three areas and I stuck to that.  Now I'm ready to educate myself a little further, perhaps lose a few more pounds and learn more about what my body really needs in order to be healthy.  I've been collecting two different Diabetic magazines over the past year and I've pulled a few articles here and there.  I want to read and study and decide what my next focus areas will be for the coming year.

#10.  Blog.  I have several ideas for extra posts and of course, I hope to have more ideas as I do my budgetary work, study, boot camp, etc. 

And I think that is quite enough planned for July, don't you?  What I'm not adding in is working in the yard but if a few early mornings prove to be pleasant enough to allow it I might well do a few tasks over and above watering plants.  Ideally, I'd find a substitute plant for the petunias that are suffering in the full sun and heat.  I'd also organize the shed, read a few hundred books, cook up a few new recipes, etc. etc.  I know myself well.  I'll be busy aplenty without adding any of those tasks!

What do you have planned for July?