Planning My Month: July 2014

 

 

Calendar for July:

July 1st: The Birthday Adventure Cake Walk

July 4th: Schenck Fourth of July

July8-10th Bennett Springs Fishing Trip

July 12th Marisa's Graduation party



Move It Out Mondays: I don't know about you but clutter is my enemy. This month I plan to follow Move It Out Monday every Monday of the month. My goal is to get rid of two bags or boxes of clutter every week, whether I'm throwing it in the trash or donating it....Out out out it must go!

Daily Focus:  This month my daily focus is paperwork. I am suffocating in it. So every day I will devote fifteen-thirty minutes to work on paper control.

Room of the Month: The basement. Actually the basement will be the room of the month for both July and August. It's a mess, the washing machine has went out and needs repaired/replaced, I need a new water meter, and it just needs a lot of TLC. I've started this grand adventure in decluttering and organizing already. I've made progress in the laundry area but there's still a need for a lot more. I'm on the lookout for a decent wooden (or fake wood) closet. I'd like to use it for off season clothing. I've talked about this for several years and I bought a cheapy one (with cloth walls etc) at Walmart but it's just not what I want or need so I'm on the lookout to replace it with something a bit sturdier. I will then move it over to the bathroom area for other storage needs. I've also made progress in the family room. It's about 2/3s done. There's still a huge box of books that needs going through. Hoping to get rid of about 85% of them!

Seasonal Chores: Weed the front flower beds. They are looking like a jungle!  This is the story of my life and I simply must invest in rocks for the beds to keep this jungle under control!

Coupon/ Grocery Goal: My goal this month is to save about 20 dollars a week using coupons/sales etc. This can ONLY be met buying things that are on the list, in other words I can't just buy something with a coupon to "count" that for the week. Since we are already well into the month I'll give you an update on this past week's trip. I also have a goal to cut our grocery bill by 15% and I plan to put those savings into a "fun trips" fund each week. This isn't a vacation fund (I already have one of those). This is more like "mad money" for a fund day out or a mini adventure. I love to squirrel away money so if something comes up I don't feel like I am messing up our budget!  Currently the fund is going towards Schenck Girls-Haunted Weekend-coming up the first weekend in October but most of the time it's something simpler!

Grocery Trip on July 11th:

1. Saving using Justin's employee card: $7.84
2. Coupon savings: $13.25
3. TOTAL- $21.09

Bon Appetit: This is my new adventure into cooking. I would like to improve my cooking and while I may not end up with gourmet dishes I'd like to explore new areas. Since I'm retired I want to develop some new interests and devote more time to different areas of my life. I've started a list of things/recipes I'd like to try. However for this month my goal is to use fresh fruits and vegetables at least twice a week. Something that should be easy this time of year. We've already had a lovely pot of fresh green beans and new potatoes, corn on the cob, cucumber salad and yummy tomatoes. One thing though is I have to be very conscious of the fresh things I have as it is easy for them to go to waste before I use them. This goal may require a small mid week trip to the market for fresh items rather than buying them all on my weekly trip. I will need to reserve money for this as it will contribute to my overall budget needs.

Currently Reading: Just got my new Kindle Fire HDX and I'm ashamed to say I'm not reading anything currently. In future months this section will contain my reading list for the month. What I'm currently reading and any other things I have on my "to read" list.

Must See Movies:  We just went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (because Evan wanted to). It actually wasn't a bad movie. I need to do a little research on what's out there this month because I'm not sure what I'd like to see. Each month I'll write my list and hopefully after seeing a movie I'll do a short movie review.

The TV and Me: It's about time for several new series to start on TV. I am not a huge TV viewer but several of them have peaked my interest. I jokingly commented that I needed to make a little list of the ones I want to check out and the days and times they are on....actually its not a joke...I can't eve keep that straight and then I end up missing episodes! :)

My Spiritual Journey:  During this month I am attempting to catch up over at Soul Musings with my posts about my study of the Gospel of John. I would also like to start a weekly bible verse study with the first "theme" being protection.

Creative Endeavors: I have so many projects I'd like to be working on but honestly my first order of business must be to get my creative space cleaned up a bit. I need a comfortable, decluttered area to be able to move ahead. I'd like to complete at least three pages in my art journal this month and put some finishing touches on a few previous pages I created.