September Goals: A Fresh Start

 

I really enjoyed my time off in August! I'm most assuredly less tired than I was.  I knew the last week of vacation that the time off had been beneficial when I found myself not only noticing tasks that needed to be done, but I started feeling excited to begin working on them.  I restrained myself because I knew a fresh new month was just ahead.  

Now I am ready to begin!

I'm going to break down my goals into categories this month because I want to touch on several areas.  I'm not trying to make up for lost time.  I refuse to start out feeling lively and then work myself to death right away.  

It's list making season.  I'll be making a list as I work in each area of my home, indoors and outs, family related and personal.  I'll make lists of things to change, things I need to purchase or eliminate, etc.  It's all going on a list.   September is all about getting lists together to work by through the end of the year.  

Spiritual: I started studying the book of Romans in August and then when we came back from our retreat to the beach, I dropped it.  Why did I drop it?  Because I couldn't find the Bible I'd been using.  I kept telling myself to actively look for it and then forgetting.  It's a poor excuse at best, but that's the only excuse I have.  We have about 8 different interpretations of the Bible on hand on the bookshelves.  I have access to internet and Blue Letter Bible.  In fact, it was a Blue Letter Bible sponsored study that I was using.  I am going to pick this up again at this writing, but I plan to pursue the study this month.

I've also been convicted more than once in the past month over not having a private prayer/meditation time daily.  This past Sunday's sermon left me in tears, as I felt it was a direct message from God saying why I've felt I was missing Him in the day to day.  I want to incorporate that daily time in my life once more.  When I don't know.  I don't have a hard and fast plan.  I'm going to try getting up an hour earlier, which is hard for me I'll tell you right now.  But I'm going to start there and if that proves to be too difficult for me to train myself in, then I'll look at possibly having an evening quiet time, once Caleb is in bed.  I am, however, determined to get back into a close relationship with my God once more.  I am not effective, nice, strong, or gentle enough without having that personal relationship be as intimate as possible.

Personal:  I want to return to routine journaling as I find that very helpful in times of stress and if I'm in the habit of it when things are less stressful then I'll likely keep it up when things get stressful once more.

I want to keep my evening routine as calm as I might.  I'm finding coloring, Sudoku puzzles, reading and listening to vlogs rather than watching (talky ones anyway), or listening to a sermon or music soothes me at the end of the day.

I'll keep up the habit of listening to the Bible, etc. on those nights when I find sleep elusive. 

I want to take time to set up a few outfits with accessories that I can simply reach into the closet and put on without having to stop and wonder if they fit any longer, if I have anything to go with this top or that.  I let that little habit lapse, and it's not served me as well as setting things up beforehand did. 

 I have limped along this summer with a halfway wardrobe.  I've had some things that shrank from being put in the dryer so I could no longer wear them and some to just plain wear out.  I ordered a blouse from Stitch Fix that I truly wanted which didn't fit, decided to up to the next (and last) size, found it unavailable, so have sent it back.  I then upped my date to get another box from them at the end of August instead of mid-November as I'd planned. 

Here's the deal. I need to lose a few pounds.  I've already set aside all the blouses (all oddly enough, received in the past six months) that simply don't fit at the moment.  I'm not one to hold onto clothes hoping to lose weight so that they fit but then again, these blouses represent a pretty big chunk of my personal allowance and wardrobe.  After this box due to arrive, I think I will halt the shipments entirely.  I feel like I have plenty of cooler weather items to wear, especially since with our mild climate I can easily just do light layers with tanks under thinner summer blouses under sweaters, etc.

However, because I have things that don't fit that are brand new, I do want to alter my eating and get back to my previous weight.  I'm not going on a diet.  I simply want to change how I eat.  I'm going to try to follow the Iowa Plate Method once more, combined with the American Heart Association Diet which worked so very well for me 8 years ago.  I never felt deprived or hungry, I lost weight easily.  I see no reason why it won't work as well now as it did then. I'd been thinking of doing so for a few months now and kept putting it off, but there's nothing like needing to lose 8 or 10 pounds to push one to decide to get on with it.

Last on the wardrobe topic: I want to order a winter coat.  Yes, I have one.  Yes, it's a bit snug but it was before I gained weight.  I loathe that coat.  It's not what I wanted at all but what I settled for at the time.  Katie had given me a heavy flannel coat and I wore that until last year when she needed a coat once more.  I went back to the loathed coat.  Life is too short to be stuck with clothing you just hate to put on, or so I think.  And someone would be more than happy to take the almost like new, old coat.

I want to polish my nails more often.  One thing that holds me back has been my ability to mar a wet nail surface quicker than I can do a full manicure.  And then they chip within 24 hours.  I decided that the way to remedy this was to move to using the express dry polishes, especially during the week.   I want to make it a habit to wear polish more often because my nails are already weak, and I find the polish actually helps protect them.

I have very dry cuticles and frequent hangnails.  I want to be more proactive with using cuticle oil and pushing them back properly, etc.  I'm thinking I could use a deep conditioning treatment on my hands, despite using lotion on a routine basis.

Caleb:  Continue to focus hard on potty training.  Right now, it's all ups and downs.  We might go several hours with a dry pull up and then he'll have accidents all the rest of the day no matter how often we go.  Or go through a stage of refusing to even attempt going so that it's a battle from sun-up until sundown.  I've suspected at times that merely mentioning going potty has led him to go ahead and flood his pull-ups, too.  John suggested I try telling him 'You're a WINNER!' each time he goes without a fuss or has a dry pull-up when we do go, because right now that is a big deal to Caleb.  

And what happened to the no-wears as he calls his training pants?  Doggone if he hasn't completely outgrown them!  It's like putting on a second skin trying to pull them up.  So, we're back to full-time pull-ups until I can get him more. 

I'm hoping once we master number one that number two will start to sort itself out.  At this point in time, he will occasionally tell me he has to go, especially if he happens to be in the tub and he'll get out and make an attempt.  But he's still prone to go hide and mess his pants most other times of the day.  I recognize that Josh did the same at age 3 and I'm trying to give Caleb grace on that point.  Also trying to keep my eye on him so that if he does go into hiding, I can encourage him to try to go on the potty instead.

I want to make every attempt to get him outdoors 5 or 6 days a week.  Right now, that means going out in the early hours or heading out immediately following breakfast regardless of chores, because otherwise it gets too hot.  I've noted that we have a much better attitude all day long if he gets an hour outdoors in the mornings.  As the weather cools, we'll try to get back to twice a day and add in an afternoon hour.

I'm also trying to give him more independence outdoors.  I'll send him out to play with the assurance that I'll check on him in a minute.  And I do! Then I go back indoors and start to increase the number of minutes I leave him alone, but of course, I'm near a window watching him to be sure that he's playing where he should be.  I want him to fill safe and be confident, but I know better than to think because he's nearly four he can be left utterly alone.  

House:  Everything about the house just now is in my focus.  I'll narrow it down this month to two things.  I want to get back into a regular cleaning routine and to calm some of the chaotic mess.   I am referring to the stuff moved from the kitchen to our bed and bath and the stuff in the kitchen like flooring, computer stuff that we're awaiting a return label to send back, sink, stove hood, faucet, second island...

I'll say this for taking a vacation, even if you're doing routine maintenance sort of cleaning, such as keeping up with vacuuming, spot cleaning and putting things away, it's not enough to keep a house really clean.  Even taking the odd ten minutes here and there to wipe off cabinet doors, sort out a drawer or cabinet, and wiping appliance fronts once a week, is not enough.  

This month I'll tackle zones with a view towards doing some of the deep cleaning tasks.  I'm not going to get it all done at once.  This I know.  But I will make it a point to tackle each zone and at least get the most notably needed deep cleaning tasks done.  I'm actually looking forward to mopping, polishing and shining things up once more!

I want very much to reclaim my kitchen.  I know the contractor says he's coming in October.  And he might make that, but shall it be the first week or the last?  Huge difference in time frames there...I'm sick of the stacked boxes in my bedroom and sick of limping by with a camp kitchen.   I thought I'd try to unpack one or two boxes each week this month.  I won't be putting every item back in the kitchen, but it will give me time to now consider what I plan to put back permanently when the reno is done and what I might as well set aside for another time or donate.  I could use a lid or two for the pots and as weather cools, I could use a proper baking pan and perhaps a casserole dish.  

Every year in September I get ready to refresh my home just a little.  It's truly too early to decorate for autumn here.  We have too much warm weather ahead of us and not nearly enough of the signs of autumn.  However, I do like to try and do something to just make things look a wee bit cozy, fresh and new for a new season ahead.  A bouquet of mums, some fresh pillow covers for the chair cushions, perhaps a light throw tossed over the back of a chair, rotate in some of the other Knick knacks that I had put away, rotate out those that we've ceased to see because I've had them out since spring...Those things go a long way towards refreshing a room,  especially when you make good use of what you already have on hand.  

Outdoors:  There's a lot that can be done outdoors: roses are looking leggy.  Planters are looking worse for wear overall with a bare space here and there.  I won't prune the roses yet.  I'll look for mums or snapdragons or something to fill in those empty spots where plants have died out.  It's also a good time to start dividing iris and daylily and replanting them.  If I find daffodil bulbs, I'd love to get a few of those planted as well.  These tasks are a lot of work right there.  I won't get it all done.  I'll just chip away at things as I can doing small bits each day.

It's time to pull out the tomatoes, peppers, and probably the eggplants.  It's time to make a real harvest of herbs.  I'd love to plant some fall/winter crops.  In the last few years, our first frost date has been nearer the first week of November rather than the second or third.   I'll have to check and see what might grow in the limited window of time I have.  I know there are some crops I can plant that don't mind frosts like collards.  I want to look into those things and get some seeds or starter plants.

I have an outdoor table and chairs I really should get rid of.  I'd love to keep the chairs and just let the table go, if you want to know the truth, but it seems silly to think anyone might want that table without them.  But then again if I offer it up for free with pickup, they might well be more than willing to take it.  The patio will then have a bit more space for a little boy's outdoor toys and be less of a tripping hazard for the rest of us.  There is a load of empty pots tucked away out there on the patio that I never used this year.  Time to put them away.

My rocker is broken and needs to be hauled off the back porch.  We've been storing odds and ends on that porch and some of those should be moved to the shed.   I got Maddie's old doghouse off the porch and then filled up twice the space with junk. I want to set up a shelter for Sassy for the coming cold months as she still prefers the back porch as her chosen environment. (And of course, the day I wrote this I immediately noted she's staying on the front porch...Sigh).   

Both porches could be prettier and perhaps I'll get around to dressing things up a little more.  I could put wreaths on the doors, I would like to refresh out there as well.

The front porch is a hazard of toys.  I'd like to dress that porch up a wee bit, too.  It remained largely neglected over the summer this year.  I admit when it comes to the outdoors, I have a far harder time limiting my thinking to what I can reasonably do at this stage of life.  It's not age but the care of a small boy that truly limits me.  In another year, he'll be in school.  That will free up days of time.  Which is a sad as well as a happy thought, isn't it?

Finances:  Summer was hard on us.  Now mind you all, it generally is in one way or another and has been for years.  It feels like every year we are faced with an unexpected expense or higher costs or increases in fees, etc.  This year was no exception.  I found our car insurance increased by more than $500.  Our phone bill went up by $10.  Two other bills had slight increases.  Our household income decreased by a portion.  It all subtracted from our income and made a difference.

In the midst of all that we were purchasing items for the home renovation, providing financial support to another and looking at ever increasing grocery costs.  

I foolishly ignored the grocery budget for two months running and while I wasn't purchasing frivolously, I failed to take serious note of how much those increased prices had me spending on groceries overall until late July when I totted up the previous three months of spending and discovered we were spending even more than the newly increased budgeted amount.

Just before we left to go on our retreat, I noted that our account had sunk to new lows.  We had the money set aside for the retreat and I was determined to use those funds as we'd intended.  We are very good about saving overall, but we tend to be less serious about planned things like a few days away.  I knew however that once we were home again, we'd need to retrench and retrench pretty hard.

Fortunately, Katie has a new position and will once more be paying us rent/grocery money.  That will be a tremendous help.  It doesn't mean I need to watch spending less closely because if I'm to stick to my budget I'm going to have to make some changes.  There's no doubt about that!  But it will help overall with the balancing of the teetertotter we call 'The Budget'.

I noted in August that there are other areas we can easily eliminate or trim.  

What we won't be giving up are the weekly 'dates' we tend to take on Saturdays.  I just need to be sure we plan ahead for those as we do other things.  We can cut down on some of the pricier meals out we've had and opt for less expensive ones.  There are a few restaurants we go to that serve really fresh, good foods and the bill is rarely a surprise.  I've enough accumulated to get some gift cards that we can also use at restaurants.

John set up an appointment for me with the chiropractor at the end of August.  I don't think I'll need loads of treatments, but I do need some help relieving a problematic shoulder and here of late the sciatic nerve has been twinging hard enough to be painful, especially at night.  I'd rather attend to that before it gets too inflamed for me to function.  I'll need to be sure to plan that into the budget for a bit.  

I want to call and find out how much our house insurance may increase come November.  The company actually sent out a statement last week that came on Saturday, showing what my new rate will be.  Yes, it's gone up, but I needed only $100 more than I'd planned because I'd already increased my rate of savings thinking it would rise...

One other thing I need to do is touch on my financial status at least once a day.  I've always been opposed to that for the mere reason that I can get too heavily focused upon them, but I've found it hard to find the block of time I used to dedicate to a weekly check-up.  It will be far easier to do a little something each day than try to create that bit over an hour time frame that I used to give this task.

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Blogging:  I'm looking forward to getting back into the writing habit.  Truth: I've been working on a few posts the last couple of weeks already.  I'm not planning big blog changes.  

I want to work more consistently on monetizing the blog through Amazon.  It isn't a big earner but it's a help.  It doesn't in any way cost you more, but a small percentage of your purchases do generate an earning for me.    I don't mind saying that Amazon Associates affiliate links is a minor thing in the scheme of earnings, but every little bit helps and I'm very thankful when any of you choose to shop through links that I share.  However, if I provide no link you can't use it to help me earn that little bit either, so I'm going to try and be more consistent.

I want to make sure I make time to share more about our life here and not just about how we save money. I can't deny that will still be a vital part of this blog because it was that format that helped me write from the beginning.   But it's not the sum total of our lives.  I want to let you all know me because I find that you then share things about yourselves that allow me to know you as well.  And that's something I deeply appreciate!

I know that many who comment are seasoned frugalites...but there are still young women out there who are new to having to budget, keeping a house, planning a meal, figuring out how to cut down and yet live well.  I hope they will read and it's really for those that I write about the budget-y side.  My methods are older, they are not techy in any way, but they still apply to real life in any home, I think.

Now I shall end.  I need to get supper finished up for a little boy...He'll be begging to go to bed before I turn around.