August Goals Update

-
Time for our monthly goal check-in!


Here's where we at Thriftism stand:
  • Take 6 Courses Online
    1. A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment on Coursera (6/27/17)
    2. You and Your Money (7/15/17)
    3. Spanish Vocabulary Project (Began 7/31/17)
    4. Beginners German: Food and Drink (Began 7/30/17)
  • Install Bathroom Heater
    1. DONE!! So nice to have a warm bathroom.
  • Stain/Finish Captains Bedframe
    1. No progress here, this one seems to be a challenge for us. 
  • Read 12 Books
    1. Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
    2. The Summons by John Grisham
    3. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen 
    4. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
    5. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
    6. A Convenient Marriage By Georgette Heyer
    7. Emma by Jane Austen (~50%)
    8. Persuasion by Jane Austen (~50%)
    9. The MacGregors, Grant (~25%)
  • Take 2 Trips (Mexico & TBD)
    •  
    1. Trip 1✔ We went to Cancun in January. This is always a favorite of ours. 
    2. GERMANY!! We were able to get tickets half off by watching for deals. Watch for posts at the end of this month and into September on hiking through the Black Forest and in the Mountains, German Castles, and of course great food!

  • Paint & Trim Guest Bedroom

    1. Trim is done and paint are done. We even bought new doors, but staining doors and updating the air vents will likely be a winter/next year goal.

  • Workout 4 Days/Week

    1. Sand volleyball added 1 workout a week. While we didn't necessarily do a workout 4 times a week, digging holes for the egress window, gardening, and moving rocks have provided plenty of a workout more than 4 days/ week.

  • Save $10,000  ✔ 50% of income

    1. We are upping it to 50%, not sure if we will make it or not will less than half of the year left. We are currently at ~34% saved. The next two months may be difficult with a big trip, more car repairs, and some home renovations coming up. I'm hoping we can find enough sales to keep pushing money into our savings!

  • Lose 10 Pounds

    1. Down around 7 pounds.  70% complete. July was a rough month for keeping up with eating right. Lots of birthday parties and family visits kept us eating really good food and not on track for losing weight. We didn't gain any weight though so I'll take that as a win!

  • Knit/Crochet 12 Projects

    1. No progress here yet. Ah, is it August already?? Guess I'll be knitting up a storm once winter hits. Here's a video to get you started if you're learning to crochet.

  • Publish Blog Posts and Videos Twice a Week

    1. We did not hit twice a week, but there were still 5 posts published, and 6 new YouTube videos. We will keep working on improving our post times!
    2. In case you missed them, here's our latest posts:


      1. Cranberry Sauce
      2. Good as Grandma's Rhubarb Pie
      3. Walmart Savings Catcher
      4. Cranberry Brie Bites

  • Take/Pass Professional Engineer Exam (PE)✔

    1. We passed!! Glad we won't have to take that one again. Plus, we have official stamps now.

  • Write London Guidebook

    1. I have an outline. 

  • Have a Garage Sale

    1. We are hoping to hold a sale next week. If that fails, we have a backup weekend for September. Looking forward to clearing out the garage!

  • Make England Trip & Wedding Photo Book

    1. Still haven't started on the trip-- now I'll have two big trip books to make. Hopefully there's a sale this fall!
    2. Wedding photo book is hanging on our wall now!

  • Go Camping

    1. Visited Sibley State Park and got to try out the local Brewery & Winery along with some hiking, roasting marshmallows, and hurriedly packing to beat the storm on Sunday morning.

  • Construct One Small Piece of Furniture

    1. Found patterns for bedside tables and possibly a dresser. Not sure we will get to building anything more this year. We have been busy putting in an egress window, raising our front garden bed, fixing a car, and will be installing new basement windows yet this fall.
    How are your goals coming along? What are you doing to stay motivated?

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Thrifty Crafter: Natural Egg Dyes

    -
    Image
    Spring has sprung and Easter is around the corner! Such a fun time, filled with bright colors, candy, family, and more. It can also be a scary food time -- candy filled with corn syrup and other artificial ingredients, eggs dyed with petroleum products, and thousands of empty calories to name a few issues. I can't stop you from overindulging on your ham dinner, but I can help out reducing some of the artificial ingredients you're putting at your table this year. Colored Easter eggs have long been a staple at Easter time, whether you hide them for a Easter Egg hunt or put them out as decoration. Coloring Easter eggs is also just plain fun! That is until you start looking at what is in that dye you are using. Yellow 5, Red 40, blue 2.... Does that sound like something your body can digest well? If you dig a bit deeper you find that these colors are actually petroleum based and are known carcinogens. Yet we use these on food we are feeding our families. This year you can ...
    Read more

    Sour Milk Chocolate Cake

    -
    Image
    Got sour milk? There's not much worse than pouring yourself a bowl of cereal only to find the the milk has started to turn. Well maybe there is... finding out the milk is starting to turn after eating a bit of the cereal and realizing you still have over half a gallon of milk left. What a waste!! As you've probably figured out if you've been following the blog or can surmise from the name, we don't like waste here. Good news is that you don't have to throw out sour milk. If it's got chunks- it's too late and cut your losses, but until that point there are loads of great ways to use up sour milk. Here is one of our favorites. The best part? No one will know you used sour milk unless you tell them! Sour Milk Chocolate Cake What you'll Need 2 Cups Sugar 0.5 Cup Shortening 2 Eggs 2 tsp Baking Powder 2 Cups Sour Milk 3 Cups Flour Vanilla Preheat oven to 350 Cream shortening and sugar Add remaining ingredients (sift if need...
    Read more

    Simple Slow Cooker Broccoli Rice Casserole

    -
    Image
    Colder weather has arrived as have an abundance of school and work activities. The extra to-dos that come with fall make cooking a healthy and still budget meal much more challenging. Enter the crock pot or slow cooker. Slow cook meals can be both a time and wallet saver, not to mention the benefit of having home cooked meals most nights. Slow cookers allow you to set and forget and can work around everyone in the family's schedules. Scroll to the bottom for a printable recipe. What you'll need 1.5 Cup Rice 6 Cup Broccoli (Chopped) 1 Medium Onion 1 Can Cream Soup (Mushroom, Chicken, Celery, Your choice) 1.5 Cup Milk 3 Tbsp Margarine 3 Cups + soup can Water 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese (your choice of flavor - cheddar, colby jack, mozzarella) 6 Qt Slow Cooker Start by combining the ingredients except the shredded cheese in a 6 qt slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.  Add cheese and continue cooking until melted.  Printable to lett...
    Read more