July 2019 : Goals and Such

Howdy y’all!

I want to preface this post with the fact that I’m not in such a great head space at the moment but I’m forcing myself to write, to continue my normal routines, so this might end up all over the place and weird but I have to write something. I have to do this. Okay, awkwardness aside, let’s get into this.

I have a few goals for July. One huge goal and a few smaller goals. I’m hoping that by focusing on one main thing we’ll have one main success with maybe a few smaller wins sprinkled in there. I also want to set a goal that needs to be met mid-month, so I can’t procrastinate it.

Goal setting is something I definitely believe in, even if it didn’t really work out for me last month. The important thing about failing to meet your goals, is that you don’t let it keep you down. Recognize why you didn’t meet that goal and plan for those circumstances next time around.

Without any further babbling from me, here are my plans for July this year:

1. This is the big one. July is going to be a “no spend” month for us.
   • Yep, you read that right. No spending money. Now, obviously we can’t get away with spending absolutely no money, we have dogs that need to eat, a nineteen year old college student in our spare bedroom, and Jacksonville isn’t exactly a walking/biking city. We’ve modified this a bit so it’s no spending outside our allotted budget. We’ll take out cash for our regular expenses, i.e. groceries, gas, dog food, etc. and of course we’ll be paying all of our bills.
   • We’re doing this to prepare for a big trip we’re taking in August and also to prove to ourselves that we can live on the budget we set. We can definitely do this. We’re two days in and going strong thus far.
2. Five blog posts in July.
   • This is one post per week. I set this same goal in June and didn’t meet it. I’m going to meet it this month. I’m already at two posts, the July follow-up will be three posts, we’re planning a Hello Fresh post and some other things are in the pipeline.
3. Continue with my nighttime routine.
   • I started this routine in June and I need to remind myself to stick to it. Hot tea at 8:15PM, screens off by 8:30PM, in bed before 10:00PM. Take care of my skin, cuddle with the dogs, unwind, and get to sleep at a decent hour.
4. Write 5,000 words by July 15th and another 5,000 words by July 31st.
   • In June I didn’t include a word amount in my writing goal. This month, I am. I’m going to count my blog posts, the story writing I do, if I decide to write a particularly wordy Reddit post, I’ll count that too. 10K words in a month is absolutely manageable for me. Breaking it up into two smaller chunks will make it more reasonable.
5. Don’t let the “no spend” month turn into eating garbage.
   • This usually happens when we put ourselves on a budget, we end up eating crap and blame it on the money. I don’t want that to happen this time. We’re going to end up eating off of our regular meal plans because we’ll be eating what we already have in the fridge/pantry, but that doesn’t mean we need to eat ramen noodles four nights a week.
6. Complete a sticker kit. Make a keychain. Perhaps loom a bracelet.
   • Because we’re not spending money, I’ll be left to find entertainment in the house. I have plenty to do here, and creating things always makes me feel good. I need to make sure that this “no spend” month doesn’t make me go crazy saying, “we need to go out and spend money to have a good time.”

Alright, those are my six goals for July 2019. Are you setting goals for yourself for this month? If you are, what are they? If not, why not? I believe you can set a goal for yourself and I believe you can reach it.

Until next time – Xx