Monthly Goals: August

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure to learn more.

If I am being completely honest, July was the month that got away. Very few habits stuck, and I accomplished little in terms of my to-do list. In exchange was a month full of travel, friends, family, books, sand, beach, mountain, snow, sun, and summer. It was a whole lotta living and very little planning. The days were glorious, every minute worth my aching muscles and tired eyes.

Despite all this good stuff, my soul is calling for a bit of balance in the month of August. Time to readjust. To breathe. To enjoy California which I call home.

I have determined August to be a frugal month. The $600 EDD weekly stipend just ended so I think it would be a great month to focus on how we can all save extra money. I have a long list of frugal challenges in my course on Mastering a Budget, most of which can be found on this landing page. If you are also scrambling to find ways to cut costs, that would be a great place to start!

This month, there will be a few themes.

Frugality is the first.

Mental health is the second.

Minimalism is the third.

All three make up the foundation of this blog. Without further ado.

August Goals

PERSONAL:

Decrease phone use –> Dock phone when at home, do not allow the phone at the dining table or when in conversation with others, remove the Instagram app after every use to add a barrier to habit-scrolling, set screen time goal of 30 minutes or less per day.
No fun money spending –> Think about your long-term goals and how not spending money will get you closer towards your other financial goals. Follow the 30-day rule, which is to wait 30 days prior to making a purchase just to make sure you really want it.
Finish two books –> Read 20 minutes per day.
Stay offline one day a week –> Dedicate one day a week to time with family, being outdoors and in nature, or pursuing other passions and hobbies.
Learn French –> Complete 5 lessons of Duolingo per day.
Practice Guitar –> pick up the guitar at least three times a week.
Do nothing more often –> Every time you start to think about traveling or going out, force yourself to stay home and enjoy the joys of doing nothing.

WORK:

Get more affiliate projects for the blog –> Apply to at least 20 affiliates, get at least 5 partnerships for September.
Increase blog views from last month by 500 views –> Post at least five times a week and apply to five podcasts.
Increase Instagram followers to 900 by tagging more companies that the blog partners with.
Get through dental continuing education classes —> Do one online course every day on Mondays through Wednesdays.

HOME:

De-clutter the filing cabinet and desk.
De-clutter the kitchen and pantry.
De-clutter the garage.

HEALTH:

Schedule “me time” for two hours every week.
Wake up every morning and meditate or do yoga.
Take care of the physical body by committing to eating more fruits and veggies and exercising at least five times a day.
Schedule to call a like-minded person at least once a week to catch up and discuss ways in which you’re both thriving right now.
Write down one thing you are grateful for each day.

FINANCES:

Limit spending –> less than $250 in groceries and dining out, less than $75 in gas
Cut down on electricity – and even get paid for doing so!
Increase income –> Try to hit the goal of $500 from the blog.
Tackle loans –> Take advantage of the 0% interest rate on student loans right now and funnel all the money towards debt before September 30 hits.
Read JL Collins.

OTHER:

Write the book –> Work on it thirty minutes a day.
Bake 1 new recipe.
Explore 2 new places.

I know these goals are pretty particular to my life and situation, but I hope they inspire you to focus on whatever is calling to you right now. Below are a few resources to draw from, whether your focus is on frugality, mental health or minimalism.

FRUGALITY:

MENTAL HEALTH:

MINIMALISM:

Monthly Goals: July 2020

This post is sponsored by KINTO, a Japanese company that focuses on bringing tableware, drinkware, and interior items that bring its owners a sense of joy. Each of their items are heavily considered for the ease of integration into one’s lifestyle, without sacrificing the beauty of everyday things.

A few days late, but better than never. In May, I shared how daily habits can help get goals achieved and in June I wrote about how creating time blocks can facilitate getting goals done.

For July, I wanted to do something a bit different and separate goals from habits. Habits are tiny daily steps we take to create a particular lifestyle. Hopefully the habits feed into your future goals but let’s not get the two confused as being the same thing.

This month’s goal formula has monthly goals, weekly goals, and daily habits listed separately. I consider monthly goals to be TRUE GOALS – one time events that occur after reaching a certain thresh-hold. In contrast, daily habits are tiny wins that we wish to accomplish so as to create a particular lifestyle. They are not true goals in that there is no end point. You do them daily, so it’s not like you drank 8 cups of water today therefore you’re done with that goal. Habits should be things that never leave you. You still want to do that again tomorrow in order to maintain a certain lifestyle. Lastly, weekly goals are somewhere in between. They’re goals that you can cross off and forget about for a few days, until a new week begins. They create a repeating habit over time. Below, you will see the difference between the three.

Monthly Goals:

Increase Instagram followers to 800 people, which may not seem like a lot but for a non-socialite such as myself seems like such a huge feat! If you like this content, perhaps you might enjoy a follow😉
Get a podcast recording in the books. It’s been a while since I’ve shared my story or put myself out there. After a few years of going down this loan repayment path, maybe some people can glean valuable info from my mistakes and my successes? I will try to see if there’s a space who would be interested in hearing the story thus far.
Finish online continuing education courses for dentistry and plan future live CE’s. Since we are spending a lot of time quarantining, I might as well use this time to knock out 25 of my 50 required continuing education credits. As a frugalist, I always do 25 of them online for FREE, which is the maximum allowed remote courses one can take.
Upgrade bathroom. We recently re-painted our bathroom in June. I wanted to upgrade the rest of it to make it feel like a brand new space without breaking the bank. I will be brainstorming a frugal way to upgrade a bathroom and will be sharing the project as we continue along.
Pantry declutter project. Every month I try to check the pantry for soon-to-be-expired items that I then integrate into meal planning. I like a minimalist fridge and pantry, getting rid of ingredients before buying more. We have very little pantry space in our small home, so it’s kind of a necessity, but also, a fun challenge for me.
Digital declutter project. For so long, I keep telling myself this will be the time I will digitally declutter. I have tons of files, photos, emails, subscriptions … I’d love to tackle this today!
Break $500 with the blog. I just recently started making money from the blog in the hundreds and my goal is to continually increase my blogger income. This month, I hope to break $500 in extra cash. One way I do this is by getting affiliate sponsored posts or by making affiliate links.
Explore 2 new places. It’s always good to have goals that nourish the soul. I love to explore and experience new things so this month, I wanted to explore two new places that we have never been before.
Bake 1 new recipe. I typically try to learn a new baker’s recipe every month using a variety of cookbooks or bloggers as inspiration.

Weekly Goals:

Stay offline one day a week. This means no blogging or social media for one entire day. This will be the day I spend with Mike, friends and family.
Deep clean house including bathroom, kitchen and floors.
Run 3x/wk. We have been pretty good about running a few days a week and I am proud of my abilities now (running up to five miles) so I want to keep this up. Hopefully it naturally turns into a habit so that I won’t have to keep making it a goal.

Habits:

Stretch/yoga10 mins every morning
Wake at sunrise
Use Headspace every morning
Skin care routine every morning
Wear TBC eyewear when using screens
Make bed every morning
Read 20 pages every day
No social media after 7pm
Drink 8 glasses of water
Turn on humidifier every evening
Wear a nightguard every night
Sleep at a decent hour every night
Write at least 30 minutes a day
Get outdoors 30 mins per day

I love to check off goals when I complete them. As for habits, I love to track. My favorite printable habit tracker download is by Unbound, which you can buy here.

I hope your month goes swell! See y’all in August.

Monthly Goals: May 2020

This post was sponsored by Smitten on Paper but all opinions, thoughts, and tips are my own. Smitten on Paper is a paper company based in Monrovia, CA. They have daily planners as well as wedding services including invitations and thank you notes. They also host a number of workshops, for those into stationary and calligraphy.

I always get questions about how I get so much done. Balancing blogging, dentistry, dog-sitting and once a bakery on top of being a wife, sister, and daughter can seem like much, and people often wonder, “How can you even consider yourself as someone who lives a slow lifestyle?” But I do.

You see, a slow lifestyle isn’t just dawdling on the couch reading, or sitting cross-legged on a meditation pillow for an hour in zen (although I also do both). Slow living is all about being mindfully in the present moment. Not surprisingly, when you choose to live slowly, you get more out of the time you have.

Once of my favorite aspects of slow living is intentionality. In order to have time for the things that matter to you (books, exercise, bread, whatever it is that excites you and lets you call this a life), you need to be intentional with what you do. Most people are not intentional enough. They try to do thirty different things at once, instead of honing out the single chore that will get them to where they want, fastest. It is this minimalism with what you choose to do that paves the way to slow living.

Creating Goals

On the first of every month, I write down the goals I want to accomplish. I list personal goals, work goals, home goals, health goals, finance goals, and leave a category for “other“. However, just saying I want something done doesn’t actually get it done. I tie each goal to a habit that I want to form that will get me there… slowly.

Why habits instead of tasks?

When habits are formed, they stay for good thereby improving you over the long-term. When tasks are performed, they are checked-off and dropped, never to be seen again. The difference is that habits make your future life EASIER. You store certain actions that make you 1% better each day in such a way that, eventually, takes no extra energy. Once a habit is formed, it becomes rote motion, thereby making you more efficient. Aditionally, your brain power is now reserved for other thoughts or actions. You compound the interest invested in yourself, and you continually get closer to the person you want to become while also gaining the freedom to stack on even more goals and habits come next month.

Starting this month, I wanted to share with you guys my monthly goals on the first of the month. More importantly, I will share the habit I tie to them, to demonstrate how I use talent stacking to make me one bit more efficient each day.

The goal isn’t the important part. I don’t care if I don’t reach it at the end of the month. It’s the habits that I track. I mark my top habits and physically track them on a daily basis using Smitten On Paper’s Weekly Agenda (#gifted). It is my favorite planner, and the monthly goals page is so helpful to keeping me focused.

I note the goals here in the following manner: GOAL –> HABIT

I hope this is helpful.

May 2020 Goals

PERSONAL:

Decrease phone use –> Dock phone when at home, do not allow the phone at the dining table or when in conversation with others, remove the Instagram app after every use to add a barrier to habit-scrolling, set screen time goal of 30 minutes or less per day.
Show self-care —> Remember to wear the NG every night and turn on the humidifier before bed.

WORK:

Get more affiliate projects for the blog –> Apply to at least 20 affiliates, get at least 10 partnerships
Increase blog views from last month –> Post at least five times a week and get another podcast on the books
Get through dental continuing education classes —> Do one online course every day on Mondays through Thursdays

HOME:

Keep the home tidy –> Put things in their proper place once you are finished using them.
Make it look neat –> Make the bed every day.
Keep it clean –> Run Roomba every other day, deep clean the house every other week.

HEALTH:

Get into a workout routine –> Run or do yoga 6 times a week, Work up to running 6 mikes.
Protect the eyes –> Wear Blue-light glasses from TheBookClub

FINANCES:

Limit spending –> less than $250 in groceries and dining out, less than $75in gas
Increase income –> Make bonus on a daily basis
Tackle loans –> Take advantage of the 0% interest rate on student loans right now and funnel all the money towards debt before September 30 hits

OTHER:

Start writing a book –> Work on it thirty minutes a day.

Tips on Habits

If you’re looking for inspiration – check out this ditty about the power of habits. For more creative minds who struggle with the structure of habits, may I suggest this read? Lastly, a few tips on how to make habits stick.

Create a path of least resistance by setting up cues and reminders for yourself to get a habit done. If you want to read every night, set a book down on your pillow when you make your bed. If you want to exercise every morning, put on your exercise clothes the minute you wake up.
Make it something you want to do. There are many habits you can do to get you to a goal. For example, if you want to lose weight, you can try multiple diets, stop buying plastic, get a gym membership, go on a run, do yoga in your PJs, eliminate just sugar, &c. There are many habits you can use to get you to the same goal. Choose the habit that works for you. You only need to pick one.
Provide motivation. Try using a habit tracker for that natural neurotransmitter kick. It’s FREE! Or try a reward system where you promise yourself something after reaching a goal using the habits you created.
Hold yourself accountable by sharing with a friend, or the world. Tell somebody about what you want to accomplish. Agree to get something done together with someone else. Use people around you to hold you accountable, too.
Make it a positive habit. Verbage is key. If you write something in a negative way, you already start with negative thoughts and your chances of success are diminished. For example, instead of writing “Spend 25% less of my weekly wages this month”, write “Pay 25% more towards credit card debt.” You feel good after your habit, instead of feeling starved.

Of course, there are many other tips and if you have one or two you’d like to share with other readers, please do!

See you in June!