Goals for July- Waste Not

 

I can't believe that I am sitting here planning the seventh month of this year...How June has flown by!  I am always amazed at those who seem to have no sense at all of passing time.  I mean those who say, "Well that's not until next month..." and I'm looking at them saying, "You know next month starts on Saturday..."  I mean the new month is right there practically staring us in the face.

I hope that the new month will see the start of the kitchen renovation.  Of course, I've had my moments of panic. I mean, did we buy that kitchen sink?  Or did I just think we had when we were looking at them nine or ten times?  How many knobs/handles do I need?  I've no idea how many drawers and doors I shall have...We've got the vanity but not the flooring nor the shower unit and base and faucets.  We need to ask a question or two of someone before we order the shower, and we need to measure the bathroom to see how much flooring we will need.  John wants new lights.  I keep reminding him we don't have wiring for a vanity light above the mirror which is what he keeps thinking he wants. Yes, just a mild panic attack...

Panic attack aside, I am as prepared as I can be at this moment.  And I'm not in charge of the contractor or his schedule.  But I am more than ready to get this done!

On to planning what I do have some control over:

1.  Work with Caleb on potty training.  He's more hit than miss with No. 1, but just this past week, he sat down and did No. 2.  I want to concentrate more on making him mindful of the need to go to the restroom and get him closer to that fully trained mark.  My goal at present is to hopefully enroll him in the Montessori school in August.  

And I'll double this on Thursdays.  Millie needs some more work herself.  So I'll be mindful of her need to be reminded and taken and urged to go without bribes.

2. I know full well that July in Georgia is HOT.  I can only stand so much outdoor activity before I'm wilted and done.  If I stay outdoors too long doing too much, I tend to get nothing else done indoors or out for two days.  So, I want to pace myself properly.  However, with a garden and a three-year-old, there is of necessity going to be some outdoor work/play sessions.  My goal is to get out there early in the day to do the work part.  

3.  Katie is planning to get Caleb a sprinkler.  We talked over a pool but I am less keen on a pool. No fear of drowning, but the necessity of putting it on the patio which is hard and small, or killing grass under it in the yard.  Pools tend to get very hot.  A sprinkler would be more refreshing I think, and he can get just as wet in that manner.  Anyway, the sprinklers at the store were silly expensive.  I've just been pricing old fashioned lawn type sprinklers and they aren't much lower, but I think that will do as well as anything.

4.  Concentrate on Zone Work.  I've been doing lick and promise cleaning for months now.  Yes, part of it was due to overwhelming busyness with a small child, but he's better at occupying himself, a better helper than seven months ago...I can't rest on excuses any longer!  Time to really get my house cleaned up once more.

5.  Declutter.  Packing up the kitchen made me open my eyes.  I have 14 boxes packed and numerous things just sitting about in my bedroom at present.  I'm very conscious too of the fact that paring down things has not in the least hindered my cooking ability.  

Some items aren't even related to cooking!  I have five ceiling light covers that we've held on to for 26 years.  They were extras that we never needed to use.  I suspect they were given to us for the lights that would have been installed where we put ceiling fans.  And mousetraps that we never once caught a mouse in.  Not once.  Why am I keeping them?  They didn't work when we had mice and they likely won't work now either.  The pest control man puts glue pads in the sheds, so we won't use them there either.  

More than anything though, it's made me very conscious of how much stuff I have that is simply excess.  Unused, not necessary.  I'll never be minimalist, but I can let go of some of this stuff.  

My plan: each Zone week I'll look at what I can reduce in each area.  I don't have to do it all in that week's time.  I might just concentrate on emptying out and considering each item in one piece of furniture or one section of a closet.  But I can at least make a start!

6.  Finances: We've had a slight reduction at present in income.  This renovation work is taking a lot of savings.  Perhaps not a lot by some standards but a lot by ours.  I can't replace those funds.  They were set aside to do exactly what we are doing: renovate the kitchen and bath.  However, I can stop the slow leaks, the oozing spots, from unnecessarily draining our finances.  I need to get my stuff together financially once more.  I've been lazy and while not careless, I have been less cautious.  As of this month that has to change.

This time of year, I am far more aware of electricity usage.  I generally have a bit of overage in the account for June, but will July heat outstrip that overage?  Will I have to scramble for extra funds in August?  

We've also got car insurance renewal this month.  Rates went up.  

And then I want to look at how well we're doing in saving for those upcoming annual expenses, including Christmas...July is a month of reckoning when it comes to our finances!

I want to reduce our spending on groceries a little.   I say this after having been to the grocery and having spent roughly half of my top budgeted amount.  I didn't get enough to last two weeks in many areas.  I was aghast.  Never mind that we'd filled a buggy full...I know full well that at present, food doesn't go as far and what we buy is dearer than ever. I can be a bit more careful and thoughtful in what I'm purchasing and using and how it's being preserved, be more conscious of what we're eating and what it's costing us.  

7.  Stock up.  The last week of June, I realized that I was out of ground meat entirely.  No venison, no ground beef.  I have some ground turkey we've found to be unpleasant.  I might make that into sausage.  Obviously, I want to restock my freezer.  There are low places and outages in my pantry. I want to build those up.  It's the balance of watching the spending and doing the stocking up that is necessary.   

And this area also includes making the very fullest and best use of every single item I acquire, free, purchased, growing myself or otherwise.  I've worked hard to reduce waste but there's always room to go a little further.

8.  In order to do this, I really need to be more careful of keeping an up-to-date inventory.  I try.  I do well for a month perhaps and then I let it slip and that's it.  I've lost.

9.  Sanity Saver Saturdays.  It's getting hot which means we're less likely to enjoy a picnic or a walk about a historic site or state park.  Museums and restaurants will most likely be where we want to go more often.  Each Saturday we have this big debate, 'Where shall we go?'  I'd like to have a list of places ready and have those costs figured into the financial plan for the month.  We used to be very good at finding free or low-cost entertainment.  Perhaps I can research and figure out what we can do inexpensively.  

10.  Really examine my wardrobe and determine what it is I need/want to add to it.  I've been with Stitch Fix for two years now and honestly think that while I like their products, I'd rather order a piece or two that I have chosen for myself.  Apparently, my present size limits me to certain styles.  I think I'm at the point where I would rather do it on my own.

11.  Make the best of whatever comes my way.  Be it time or foodstuffs or goods or moments.  It doesn't matter.  I don't want to lose my blessings.  I want to be more mindful of them and expand upon them.