March-ing Orders

Well here we are with a new month nearly upon us and I am determined to make good use of the month ahead.  Naturally in the South we think we can plan ahead and start to plant our gardens or do loads of outdoor work.  Maybe we can do some of the latter but even that is iffy.  April is a  more prime month of weather for planting, and painting too.  There's entirely too great a chance of cold, wet or pollen in the forecast to do much of anything.  So any outdoor plans for this month all begin with IF, rather than I will...


Just to share how my February goals went: we ate fewer meals at home than I'd anticipated so not a lot of experimenting with meatless or alternative protein meals.  Nor a whole lot of usage from the pantry overall.  I was ill with a minor bug and felt poorly, so I didn't  go out to get the things needed to set up the sick pantry...bit of irony there, right?  I didn't set up any shoe box meals but the week isn't quite over.  So maybe.

The new sub account savings has about 1/5 the money required to purchase the thermostatically controlled propane heater.  I'd meant to add more two different pay periods and both times the money was required for a higher than planned electric bill, so pffft on that.  I am pretty doggone proud of the savings made thus far though and I have another portion to add to this provided we make it through the end of the month with no further surprises and it's looking very hopeful indeed.  That amount will set me at about the half way point.  Not bad for just one month.  It will go a bit more slowly from here, but you'll see why in a moment.

I learned to crochet.  I've only sewn a mere handful of yo yos for the quilt but I did spend a good bit of time making the slipcover for my chair, so at least I wasn't totally slacking on the sewing front.

I didn't do a thing in the shed, but it's on the schedule for this week so there's hope yet.  And last, there was no work on the yard at all because the few sunny days to be had were also days I was away from home and the rest of the month was foggy, gray, drizzly or pouring.  Seriously ready for sunshine!

And though it wasn't on my month goal list it was on several weekly lists in February...Finish the chifforobe!  I didn't do a thing about that.

The February goals I haven't touched on by end of week?  All will slide over to the March goals list.

So where does that leave me and my planning for March, when I think I've done quite enough indoors and am just longing to be outdoors instead?  Continuing to see what it is I might do indoors, using hard reasoning about what I really might get done outdoors, and continuing to plan and study and practice for the rest of the year.

As I write out my hopeful plans I am gazing out the window at the most impossibly blue clear sky, white wild pear blossoms and bare branches.  The dogs just went romping across the back fence line, slightly shortened by the heavy growth of the spring weeds which generally constitute the first mowing of the season.   The wind is gusting hard, just as though it knows that  the blowing season has arrived even if it is a few days early.

I have a big audacious, scary financial goal...and my tummy lurched just typing that out but I would like to have six to twelve months living expenses saved in a brand new account by the time John retires.   That's extra savings by the way, not rerouting the savings I already make each month.  Can it be done?  I think so.  I really do but it's going to take time and hard core dedication.

After working on that proposed retirement budget worksheet for John to look over, I realized that we have room for a little more savings if I make certain cuts now.   If anything goes wrong, and something will because that is the way life works, and I end up having only 3-6 months of living expenses in savings and I know I've tried, then I'm okay with that.  But my goal is bigger and higher than that.  I don't mean to aim low, hit the mark and quit.  I'm aiming high.   Naturally that added savings will begin this month when we have, at present, no outlook for overtime or holiday pays.  You know, just to really give me a challenge!

I want to return to doing two things in my kitchen.  First, to return to a weekly prep day in which I plan to work ahead so that meals are more readily and easily done each week, cutting down on the temptation to use higher priced convenience type foods when I'm tired and lacking inspiration.  And second, to really work to lower the costs of foods overall.  John and I are not much for over eating but I daresay that without measurements, we do overeat.  I would rather boost a meal by adding a seasonal fruit or vegetable servings to each meal than to continue to use more of the higher priced foods to fill the  desire to see a  full plate.  This goal is set to work both with my desire to find still more time in my day to be productive in other areas, to be more creative with our meals and snacks and last, to help along those savings I hope to make. 

I can't escape that John is a snacker.  So that's one more thing: to have ready snack foods on hand that are not  store bought snacks but good healthy things like boiled eggs, sliced oranges, cut celery or sliced cheese, mixed nuts, energy bites and even some baked goods, like homemade granola bars.    I don't have total control over any other money area as our two most recent  high electric bills (both due to necessary repairs) attests.  Food on the other hand, is almost always a controllable area.  That's why so many of us focus on food first when we're looking to decrease our outgo.

I want to really concentrate on my pantry/freezer this month, too.  I know for sure that this pay period (last of February/first week and a half of March) I need produce and dairy and not a lot else.  I can swing two ways with this 'extra' money: save it or spend it on the pantry/freezer.  I'm going to do both.  I'll split the difference between the new savings plans and my pantry/freezer.  Because of this I want to go over my pantry list and plan what I mean to buy this pay period.

I really do want to experiment with more meatless meals and I mean to do that this month by hook and crook.  I have pinto beans soaking just now for a meal this week.  I'm going to use my meatless meal option FIRST each week rather than push it to the back of the week.  

I plan to continue sewing in the month ahead and learning crochet.  John and I laughed over my learning to make the Magic Circle in crochet.  There was nothing anywhere on the page that suggested what I might do with that circle but I know how to make one!  I would like to have a completed crochet item by end of March.  I'd like to have made noticeable difference on my yo yo quilt and I am playing with the idea of possibly maybe sewing something to wear.  We'll see on that end.  I have material on hand and I do have a few patterns in my current size and I may come up with something that will work with what I have on hand.

Now for my IF goals...IF the weather permits I would like to get both porches cleaned and ready for spring painting as soon as pollen season is past.  If the weather allows, I'd like to begin some really necessary work on the beds about the house and prepare things for spring/summer plantings.  I am sure my outdoor work will consist of continuing to pick up limbs.  We've had some heavy winds this year and there are broken branches in nearly every tree in the yard.  With gusty wind they will eventually fall and I must pick them up so that the yard is mower ready.

I'm going to seek out the best options for seat covers on the outdoors furnishings.  There's a certain little doggy and a cat who like to sit on the chairs on the back porch.  A darker option would be better and certainly something that is removeable and washable.  I have four cushions I can recover and two that are iffy.    This goal is not a hard and fast one but I do want to keep it on my list for the month simply so I'll keep my eyes open and can determine my options.

The last two goals are purely for pleasure: I have a set of brass bells that sound absolutely lovely which must be restrung and I have a bird feeder that needs to be hung up outdoors, as well as a hummingbird feeder I want to get ready for use.  I need to hang all three items, so that's on my list for March as well.