April 2022 Accountability Buddy

Friday, April 1
15 minute stretch class at lunch.
40 minute full body workout video. 

Saturday, April 2
30 minute Yoga with Adriene video.

Sunday, April 3

30 minute cardio tabata video. 

Monday, April 4

No workout because I was sick.

Tuesday, April 5

No workout because I was sick.

Wednesday, April 6

30 minute cardio class where I modified everything to low-impact.

30 minute lower-body body blast class.

Thursday, April 7

30 minute Two Birds Yoga video.

 Friday, April 8

15 minute stretch class at lunchtime.

40 minute back and arms video.

Saturday, April 9

Two yoga videos that totaled about 40 minutes.

Sunday, April 10

45 minute run outside on a kind of nice day. It was cloudy and windy and occasionally a tiny drop of rain would land on me, but, hey, this is the best we can hope for in "spring" in Wisconsin.

Monday, April 11

15 minute stretch class at lunchtime.

60 minute yoga class at the community center. My bad leg was acting up (the weather swings have been WILD and I feel it) and my balance was all off and it was quite a humbling experience. Ha!

Tuesday, April 12

30 minute yoga class.

30 minute cardio class.

Wednesday, April 13

30 minute cardio class.

30 minute arm-based strength class.

Thursday, April 14

Day off

Friday, April 15

30 minute yoga video.

Saturday, April 16

30 minute total body strength training video.

Sunday, April 17

Day off because it was Easter!

Monday, April 18

15 minute stretch class at lunch.

60 minute yoga class at the community center after work.

Tuesday, April 19

30 minute yoga class.

Wednesday, April 20

30 minute cardio class.

30 minute core-based body blast class. I really wasn't feeling doing SO MUCH core, so I may have cheated some of these moves.

Thursday, April 21

Day off.

Friday, April 22

30 minute gentle vinyasa flow with 2 Birds Yoga.

Saturday, April 23

3 mile run. It was hot and muggy and I felt like I should go outside, but it was maybe too hot and too muggy.  It will be below freezing again in two days, though, so I stand by my decision.

Sunday, April 24

30 minute restorative Yoga with Adriene video.

Monday, April 25

15 minute stretch class at lunchtime.
60 minute yoga class at the community center after work.

Tuesday, April 26

30 minute yoga class.

30 minute total-body tabata class.

Wednesday, April 27

30 minute cardio class.

30 minute body blast class.  

Thursday, April 28

Day off.

Friday, April 29

15 minute stretch class at lunchtime.

3 mile run.

Saturday, April 30

2 Yoga with Adriene videos that total about 30 minutes.

24/30 days of formal workouts of 30 minutes or more
13yoga workouts
12 strength/cardio workouts
6 short lunchtime stretch classes

February 2022 Accountability Buddy

Tuesday, February 1
PT this morning. He was determined that I turn as red as a tomato.
30 minute yoga class and 30 minute tabata class after work. The tabata class was cardio-based and I learned my lesson from last weekend that too much HIIT would irritate my back issue, so I modified quite a bit.  

Wednesday, February 2

15 minute stretch class at lunchtime.

30 minute body blast class after lunch.

Thursday, February 3

30 minute Yoga with Adriene video.

PT exercises.

Friday, February 4

15 minute stretch class at lunchtime.

Saturday, February 5

I tried; I really did. I did about 12 minutes of a resistance band video and implemented my "if you don't want do do something after 10 minutes, stop doing it" rule. I hate not doing 30 minutes of activity for two days in a row, but clearly my body is telling me something.

Sunday, February 6

40 minute Yoga with Adriene video. I was just going through the motions but it is done.

Monday, February 7

15 minute stretch class at lunchtime.

60 minute yoga class at the community center after work.

Tuesday, February 8

PT this morning.

30 minute yoga class, 30 minute tabata class after work.

Wednesday, February 9

15 minute stretch class at lunchtime.

30 minute body blast cardio-focused.

PT exercises.

Thursday, February 10

No workout because I was busy and didn't prioritize it.

Friday, February 11

No workout because the winter blues are real and I fought and fought myself, but I just couldn't spring up the energy to get off the couch.

Saturday, February 12

60 minute slow vinyasa flow with Two Birds Yoga. 

Sunday, February 13

40 minute low-impact cardio. I had a rough night with back pain, so I'm not trying anything too strenuous, but I do want to keep my lung capacity in a good place. (That video has a lot of positive, self-affirmation, cliched talked. If that's not your jam, you might get annoyed. I was able to just tune it out.)

Monday, February 14

60 minute yoga class at the community center.

Tuesday, February 15

No workout. Insert excuses here.

Wednesday, February 16

15 minute stretch class at lunch.

30 minute glutes and abs class, followed by 30 minute body blast (leg-focused).

Thursday, February 17

35 minute Yoga with Adriene video. 

Friday, February 18

No workout.

Saturday, February 19

40 minute old school walking with Leslie video.

Sunday, February 20

30 minute Yoga with Adriene video.

Monday, February 21

15 minute stretch class at lunch.

30 minute Yoga with Adriene video. Because of *reasons,* I've been having to exercise after dinner/before bed and I don't want to do anything that will keep me from sleeping, so that's why there's so much yoga.  Something is better than nothing.

Tuesday, February 22

35 minute Two Birds Yoga video.

30 minute tabata class.

Wednesday, February 23

15 minute stretch class at lunch.

30 minute upper body strength training video.

Thursday, February 24

30 minute Yoga with Adriene video.

Friday, February 25

15 minute stretch class at lunch.

30 minute Fitness Blender workout. 

Saturday, February 26

30 minute Yoga with Adriene video. I was having a very stiff day, to this was a struggle. Ha.

Sunday, February 27

30 minute cardio video. 

Monday, February 28

15 minute stretch class at lunch.

60 minute yoga class at the local community center.

Totals: 

22/28 days of formal workouts of 30 minutes or more

12 yoga workouts

10 strength/cardio workouts

9 short lunchtime stretch classes

I'm actually quite proud of this. February is hard for me and I fought for this. It's not a great percentage (78.5%), but it's better than 0%.  

2021 Q4 Quarterly Goals Update

And here's the final recap of my 2021 quarterly goals. Q1, Q2, and Q3.  

Area One: Health

1) Two yoga classes of thirty minutes or more twice a week 

    October: 10 

    November: 11 

    December: 13

    Total: 34

    Average: 2.6 times a week - This is pretty good, especially since I would also occasionally throw do some yoga for less than 30 minutes, so that would not be counted here.
2) Three other fitness classes/fitness activities of thirty minutes or more per week

    October: 17 

    November: 17

    December: 16

    Total: 50

    Average: 3.8 times a week - This is excellent - I really pushed myself this year!
3) Buy a sports bra - I did it! I actually purchased three sports bras and two pairs of running pants. It felt indulgent, but I do wear them a lot and I still (very occasionally) find that I don't have enough workout wear.

(I bought two She Fit sports bras - I like the zip enclosure, I HATE the velcro straps. I HATE them. It is impossible to get the velcro to line up exactly, so it's always rubbing at my shoulder and chafing. I will wear all my other bras before wearing these, which only sort of defeats the purpose. They are the best I have for running and high-impact workouts, though. I also bought an Ultimate Zip Front Bra from Athleta. I like the front zip and it does an okay job as long as you're not doing minutes and minutes of jumping jacks or burpees. I would probably NOT buy the She Fit ones again, but would buy the Athleta one again.)

I feel good about my health goals.  I definitely need to keep these up next year.
      

Area Two: Financial
1) Track what I spend my money on each month - I did this with the dog and cat last year, but I'd like to extend it to see where my money is going (I'm modelling it after monthly budget updates from Stephany Writes) - Done!

October

November

December

2) Put $500 into our savings account each month and $500 into my retirement accounts

Oh, boy, this just didn't happen again this quarter. They got $100 each month, but I honestly can't figure out how to put more than that into them, so I need to figure this out.

3) Create a budget using the tracking information to save more money -  cut my costs by 10% from the first quarter to the last

This didn't happen, either. I'm hoping that now that I have most of a year worth of data, I can do some budgeting.

My financial goals could use some serious work in 2022.

Area Three: Communication
1) Continue to post to my blog twice a week

    October: 14 posts

    November: 30 posts (I did NaNoBloPo, so I wrote something every day)

    December: 20

    Average: 4.9 times a week.

Definitely met this metric, but it hardly seems fair.  My posting tends to wax and wane through the months, but quarter four was a good quarter for writing in this space.

2) Continue to send snail mail to my uncle K, aunt D, and my mom once a month, plus one other person who will be chosen on a rotating basis - I did do this. I sent Halloween cards in October, Thanksgiving cards in November, and our holiday cards in December. 
3) Keep a list of the books I read - I did do this!

I feel very good about these goals and hope to keep up my progress in 2022.

Area Four: Personal Improvement
1) Brush Hannah and Zelda's teeth every day

    I just didn't do this, particularly in December. On to the goals list for 2022.
2) Duolingo every day

    My streak remains!  It takes between five minutes and 30 minutes every day and I think there have only been one or two days in the quarter when I've been sliding into bed and realized I still need to do it.
3) One house project every month

    Ha ha ha! Who am I even kidding? Absolutely not.

December 2021 Expenses

 

Well, I did better this month in that I didn't spend more than I made, but I didn't actually do much savings, either, so there you go. Here's the order from most to least.

Last month someone asked about actual dollar amounts and I should probably keep that to myself, but here they are.  

Pets ($794.03 - 31.2%) - I did buy birdseed and Zelda the Cat got some food and some medicine for joint care, but this is almost all Hannah the Dog. Poor baby. If I had known that Hannah would be this expensive, I would have signed her up for pet insurance ASAP and I would have adopted a healthier dog set up a savings account for her.

Groceries ($741.45 - 29.1%) - We don't eat out, Dr. BB must have gluten free foods, and so this is what it is. I know it's a lot, but I'm not sure where we could cut. 

Holiday ($251.81 - 9.9%) - I thought I had finished holiday shopping, but I forgot that we hadn't gotten our nieces/nephews in the kid draw yet and had to buy two presents for them and some additional random stuff (wrapping paper, etc.).  One of the benefits of doing this tracking exercise is that I learned it costs me about $2000 for holiday costs - I need to start setting aside money every month for this next year.

Personal care ($183.42 - 7.2%) - There was a trip to Ulta for a few skincare products and a tiny bit of makeup and a trip to Walgreen's where I purchased lotion and vitamins (which I guess should have gone under health, but I didn't separate, so...).

Health and fitness ($189.18 - 7.4%) - $75 is that STUPID YOGA PASS I DON'T USE. Otherwise, I had to pay for some bloodwork, a yoga pass I actually use, my running app, and my fitness classes. I'm debating whether or not to cancel my running app since I won't be able to run for a few months.    

Savings ($100 - 3.9%) - This is just deducted from my account every month.

Bills ($97.58 - 3.8%) - Car and home insurance.

Other ($58 - 2.3%) - I bought tickets for a holiday light show at the local rotary gardens and I paid for a Zoom account. 

Charity ($53.79 - 2.1%)  - I was recruiting people for the board of directors where I volunteer and I bought lunch a couple of day.  

Cars ($49.79 - 2%) - Gasoline.

Eating out ($23.47 - 0%, but is actually money I spent) - I had lunch out once and bought coffee once.  A girl has got to have some vices, right?

And that's all, my friends.  If I didn't have a dog, I'd be doing okay. What's the expense that's holding you back?

November 2021 Expense Report

I most definitely spent more money this month than I made. I wasn't exactly eager to share this with all of you, but here's what went down.  We had a lot of big expenses this month - I did holiday shopping, including ordering holiday cards; our VW needed new tires and some other work; and Hannah's health is Hannah's health. Just to give some comparison, last month, a more typical month, we spent roughly 44% on groceries and this month it comes to 10%, despite the dollar amount changing little. There was a lot of money spent is what I'm saying.

Bills (8%): I paid for car/home insurance, the water/sewer, and for the plumbers when they came to take care of a blockage in our main drain.

Cars (22%): This was entirely taking our VW in for routine maintenance that turned into more. I will say, however, that this is the first time we've spent a substantial amount of money on the car and it is more than two years old. 

Communication (2%): I paid for stamps, a Zoom subscription, and some Thanksgiving Day cards. I did not include our holiday cards, which I included under holiday spending.

Eating out ($33, which is 0%, but is actually dollars): I had lunch out twice and coffee out twice.  A girl has got to have some vices, I guess.

Gifts (1%): Two birthday presents for nephews.

Groceries (10%): Bog standard grocery bill this month. Next month it will go up because I'll be going to the winter farmers' market and stocking up for all winter with root vegetables and honey.

Health and fitness (11%): I got some bad news and still have to pay for the stupid yoga pass I'm not using in December. November includes that yoga pass, a yoga class I'm actually attending, my running app, and new eyeglasses. The eyeglasses will come out of my HSA, so it's not coming out of my checking account, but it is money I put in there!

Holiday spending (27%): Presents, cards, and our annual ornament.  

Other ($15.49, which is 0%, but is actually dollars): I paid for a meter in Milwaukee and bought a few Kindle books.

Personal care (1%): Hair cut.

Pets (20%): Hannah. Poor Hannah. Food for both of the girls this month, several prescriptions for Hannah (allergy, antibiotic, anti-fungal), and her seemingly endless vet appointments.  I hate to admit this, but the first entry I made in my December spreadsheet was hundreds of dollars for some tests for Hannah, so this is not going to end any time soon.

Savings (2%): Ha ha. Whatever was in here was immediately taken out, right?

This was not a great month, but I'm really liking about this exercise of tracking all money all year is that I can see there are months when I spend very little and months when I don't. I'm hoping I can make a sort of yearly budget for myself for 2022 so these expensive months don't take me by surprise. 

What were your big expenses in November?

October 2021 Expenses

Bills (4.5%) - I paid insurance this month.

Cars (2.8%) - I filled up each car with gas once this month. 

Clothing (21.4%) - This seems crazy, but I'm attempting to fill my quarterly goal of buying a new sports bra and while I was at it, I got some more gear for working out during cooler weather. Some of this has already been returned, but hasn't been credited back to my credit card yet.  I think I've settled on three sports bras, two running pants, and a long-sleeve workout shirt. I might want one more shirt and then I think I'll be set.

Eating out (3%) - I got coffee a couple of times and had lunch out a couple of times. Not too bad.

Groceries (44.3%) - We spent so much money on groceries this month!  It's crazy and I need to go through our line items and figure out why this is happening. I suspect it's because I'm not taking random trips to Target, so ALL of our household expenses are getting added to the grocery budget (personal care items, cleaning items, paper products, etc.).  

Health and fitness (7.2%) - I honestly considered putting all the clothing purchases into this category because it's all workout gear, but I separated it. I wonder if I'll regret that choice later. Anyway, this is my regular fitness class subscriptions, some KN-95 face masks, vitamins and supplements, prescriptions and tampons. It sort of annoys me that I spend so much on this category, but I guess if you're going to spend money, spend it on yourself, right?

I'm still paying $75 a month for the yoga studio I'm no longer using and it kills me to get the notification about it every month. November will be the last month that I'm billed for it, thankfully.

Pets (6.7%) - Zelda was the pricey pet this month, to be honest.  We bought both dry and wet food for her this month. I think we probably only buy that dry food two or three times a year because she gets so little every day that the bag lasts for a long time. Hannah has been eating a lot of chicken and eggs while she's on antibiotics, so some of her food costs have been taken out of this category and added to groceries.  

Savings (4.6%) - Ugh. Not good.

Other (6.2%) - This is a hodgepodge.  A charitable donation, Halloween cards, and buying candy for a work event make up the majority of this.  

It's not pretty, but it's about to get worse because I want to get all my Christmas shopping done soon.  

2021 Q2 Quarterly Goals Update

I've been putting off doing my quarterly review of goals, but I guess I should be honest with you and myself. Things are not going well.  Here's Q1 for comparison. 

Area One: Health
1) Two yoga classes of thirty minutes or more twice a week 

April: 7 classes

May: 11 classes

June: 8 classes

This averages to exactly 2 a week, so I met this one.

2) Three other fitness classes/fitness activities of thirty minutes or more per week

April: 10 days

May: 13 days

June: 14 days

This averages to 2.85 a week, which rounds up to 3, so I give myself an A- on this. There was a period in April when I got my second dose of the vaccine and felt crappy for days, so I didn't work out and in June I was traveling and didn't get a workout in, so I feel pretty good about this.  

3) Tracking goal
        Q2: Caloric intake using My Fitness Pal

I didn't do this at all. I think I'm going to take this goal out for Q3 and change it to buy a new sports bra and complete a 5K run, which I purchased an app to help me complete.

        

Area Two: Financial
1) Track what I spend my money on each month - I did this with the dog and cat last year, but I'd like to extend it to see where my money is going (I'm modelling it after monthly budget updates from Stephany Writes)

April, May, June

I did do this!

2) Put $500 into our savings account each month and $500 into my retirement accounts

I completed this in April and May. I did not in June. I also still haven't figured out how to add the amount I'm putting in my retirement accounts. I guess I'll roll this over for the next quarter.

Area Three: Communication
1) Continue to post to my blog twice a week

April: 9 posts (6 books, 1 shopping, Q1 goals update, monthly expense wrap-up)

May: 10 posts (8 books, Hannah update, monthly expense wrap-up)

June: 11 posts (7 books, Hannah update, monthly expense wrap-up, podcast roundup, small town gossip)

This is an average of 2.3 times a week, so full marks!

2) Continue to send snail mail to my uncle K, aunt D, and my mom once a month, plus one other person who will be chosen on a rotating basis

I only sent stuff out in May (Mother's Day reminded me). I'll have to get back in the habit of writing cards and keeping track. What a bummer.  

3) Keep a list of the books I read - Q2 book list complete. I like the addition of books I don't finish. It's actually encouraged me to complete more books just so I don't feel like a failure when I add something to the list.

4) Keep a list of the snail mail I send

I didn't do this at all.

Area Four: Personal Improvement
1) Brush Hannah and Zelda's teeth every day

April: I missed Hannah one day and Zelda two days

May: I missed each on one day

June: I missed Hannah three days and Zelda four days

Considering that before I started keeping track, I did this about once every month, I will call this a win.

2) Do a 30-day challenge every month
    

I didn't do this at all. I'm also more than halfway through June and I haven't done it in June, either. Obviously this was too much of a stretch goal for me. I'm probably just going to take it out for Q3 and Q4 without too much guilt.

3) Duolingo every day

100%. My daily streak is over 400 days at this point.

4) One house project every month

I did complete a bit of decluttering in the guest room, but that's all I have done. Not great.

I don't know. It doesn't feel like much of a win.  My health goals are okay, but my communication goals are just a disaster. Ugh.  Next quarter is a new quarter, I guess.

June 2021 Expense Report

 

I feel like now that I'm doing more post-pandemic, I'm getting a more "real" idea of what my money issues are and how I spend money and I'm almost scared to do these posts, which is why we're almost halfway through June before I felt like I could do it.  Anyway, you'll note that I put nothing in savings and I'm embarrassed about it, but there you have it.  My big sadness.

Gifts (7%) - I went to a high school graduation and wrote a check.

Bills (6%) - Insurance and Zoom.

Cars (7%) - Filled up the gas tank a few times and a couple of car washes.

Charity (2%) - I really need to do better about this.

Eating out (6%) - I went on a trip to see my mom and sister and took my mom out to dinner a few times.

Groceries (27%) - I have no shame about this. We eat.

Health and personal fitness (8%) - My usual fitness classes, had to buy some insoles for my running shoes, and I added a new tracker for runs that I'll probably cancel mid-autumn when I stop running outdoors.

Personal care (2%) - I got a haircut for the first time in sixteen months.  It looks great.

Pets (22%) - Even in a month when both of our girls are healthy, we still have to buy them food, medicine, and Hannah needs baths.  They're expensive, but loved.

Other (13%) - This is a bit larger than I like my "other" category to be, but a good chunk of it is two nights in a hotel when I was in Michigan.

The reason I did not put any money into savings is because roughly 30% of my budget this month did go to that trip to Michigan.  Some of that was factored into the above categories (gift for the graduating senior, eating out, gas for the car, hotel room), so I didn't create a separate travel category, but during those few days, I spent way more money that I would on an average day.  In August, I'll be traveling to Ohio for a few days, so I anticipate a similar situation, although I'm hoping I will be able to actually factor in some savings, even if it's the full amount I want.

The other thing that's happening in July is that our payroll system is switching from once a month to twice a month and I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen to my deductions, so that will be a fun thing to figure out.

Onward. I have to stop being so nervous about doing these posts. I'm doing okay. Not great. But okay.

May 2021 Expense Report

I'm getting to this late in the month because I was super nervous about tallying it all up. This is the month that I kind of, sort of, dipped my toe back into "normal." I got a hair cut and my nails done and then there was Hannah.

 

Hannah's a true delight, but she's not inexpensive to keep around.  You'll note here that the big piece of the pie that is 49% is our dear darling pets.  And I want to make it clear that a small portion was birdseed and kitty litter, but the rest was all Hannah. There were medications, many trips to the vet, and a pesky MRI.  I have you given you percentages here, but that MRI alone was about three-quarters of my take home pay for the month. Most of that came from our savings account. So I have given you the truth (above), but I'm readjusting it as if the MRI had not happened.

When I do it this way, this seems much more in line with the world I want to live in.  

Savings (27%): Not quite where I want to be, especially considering I took a bunch out for the MRI, but at least I'm being intentional about it.

Pets (16%): Hannah had several prescriptions, vet appointments, and  it just all added up.

Groceries (17%): We've gotta eat. I guess we could cut this back, but it would be a challenge.

Health and fitness (13%): Ugh. I had an eye appointment and ordered contacts, which was quite pricey.  I also got my normal fitness class passes, ordered new insoles for my cross trainers, and paid for a prescription. It is what it is. A bunch of it came out of my Health Savings Plan, but that's money I earned and spent.

Other (4%): This category is pretty large this month. It includes all my charitable contributions and some odd bits and bobs, like a Kindle book, getting my shoes resoled, and paying our water bill.

Cars (7%): Gas a few times and both cars needed new registrations this month ($105 per car). Next month I'll have to do even more with cars because I'll go on a road trip to Michigan!

Gifts (10%): Big gift-giving month. Dr. BB's birthday and my twin niece and nephew.

Personal care (5%): Hair cut, mani/pedi, and some facial care products. I refuse to apologize for this expense. My hair situation was dire after about eighteen months without a cut.  

Eating out (1%): This will go up next month because of my trip to Michigan, but I think it's reasonable to get a coffee out once a week.  

I was really nervous to put all this together because it just felt like I was hemorrhaging money all month long, but when I lay it out like this, it's actually not too bad.  We had planned on the MRI, so that wasn't a surprise and the fortunate outcome of the MRI is that Hannah shouldn't need surgery, so we dodged a bullet there.  I don't know how to feel about this, but I'm going to go ahead and say that it's okay to get a few luxuries here and there since I haven't really done much since March 2020.  

April Expenses

 

I foresee a lot of changes to my spending habits now that I'm fully vaccinated and not afraid to go into stores. Already in May I have a hair appointment, a huge vet appointment for the dog, and I've been going into antique stores looking for a kitchen hutch and shoe rack. I anticipate a manicure/pedicure combo happening soon, too. So, watch out as next month this will probably look quite different as furniture and personal care come vrooming in from nowhere to become expenses.

Big expenses continue to be groceries (22%) and savings (42%).  The other thing that was big this month was pets (14%) because they both got food this month, I ordered Hannah Apoquel, which has gone up in price, and Hannah went to the vet for routine vaccinations. She's doing well, but has lost a few pounds, so I think I'm going to have increase her food intake by another eighth of a cup and see if we can get her weight closer to ideal.

I do see groceries going down a tiny bit in the next few months because we have entered CSA season, so I'm getting a bag full of veggies from the farm every week and that means I'm spending a bit less in the produce aisle.  We're also getting eggs every other week, so it's possible that we might save a smidge at the grocery store, but probably not as much as I always think we will.

Other expenses:

Health and fitness (8.6%) - Regular fitness class passes and some medications (allergy, fish oil, vitamin D)

Charity (6.2%) - Hmmm...this tracking exercise is teaching me that I don't give to charity as much as I thought I did.  This was a donation to my alma mater and to a friend's fundraiser for a hunger charity. I should probably just figure out what the difference is between what I've donated every month and what I want to donate and then write a check to the non-profit that I'm the president of the board of directors.

Gifts (4.3%) - This seems right for April. May is brutal - it's my husband's birthday, our anniversary, and two of our nieces and nephew's birthdays.  This will also be a big May expense.

All the other categories are less than 1% - I had to mail something, got gas for one of the cars (this might change in May, too, as we stop being housebound and occasionally drive places!), got coffee a few times - but I really didn't make a ton of extraneous purchases in April.  

I am anticipating that May will be a financial challenge.  

2021 Q1 Quarterly Goals Update

It is time for me to do a quick check of my first quarter goals for 2021. Strap in because it's a wild ride. 

Area One: Health

1) Two yoga classes of thirty minutes or more twice a week 

    January: 9

    February: 10

    March: 14 

    Total: 33 

    I've met this goal quite handily.
2) Three other fitness classes/fitness activities of thirty minutes or more per week 

    January: 12

    February: 13

    March: 13

    Total: 38

    This is one workout shy of the goal. I will count 97.4% as A work here. 
3) Tracking goal
        Q1: Liquid intake using Aqualert - I did this for like two days before I deleted the app because I 

        was so annoyed with it.  I think these tracking goals may be impossible for me.  

Overall, I'm pleased with my number of workouts. This doesn't count the large number of 15 minute "move and stretch" classes that I do during my lunch breaks, nor does it include the hours and hours that I walk with Hannah. I know there's some cliché that folks became much less active during Covid, but I have found it's actually a lot easier to get movement when I'm working from home.  

        

Area Two: Financial
1) Track what I spend my money on each month - I did this with the dog and cat last year, but I'd like to extend it to see where my money is going (I'm modelling it after monthly budget updates from Stephany Writes) - I did it! January, February, and March posts for your viewing pleasure.
2) Put $500 into our savings account each month and $500 into my retirement accounts - Okay, this is complicated. 

    January: $900

    February:  $950   

    March: $1125

    Total: $2975

This is only $25 off what I'd hope to accomplish in the first three months, so it's pretty good. What's not good is that most of that is going right into our savings account because I can't figure out how to add money to my retirement accounts and I keep saying I'll deal with it and I mean it, but I honestly am stressed about it, so there you go. I'd give myself a C- on this goal.

Financial goals are going okay, I think.  

Area Three: Communication
1) Continue to post to my blog twice a week 

    January: 14 posts

    February: 13 posts

    March: 14 posts

    Total: 41

This is actually more than three times a week, so I crushed this.

2) Continue to send snail mail to my uncle K, aunt D, and my mom once a month, plus one other person who will be chosen on a rotating basis - Sure?  I did send out letters in January, Valentine's Day cards in February, and St. Patricks' Day cards in March.  Crushing it.
3) Keep a list of the books I read - Yes! Here's the first quarter book list. It's actually pretty unwieldy doing it by quarter and I wonder if it would be better if I did a monthly book list instead. Let me know if you have a preference. 

4) Keep a list of the snail mail I send - Hm. I did this in January and then just sort of stopped doing it. I'll have to get back on the train in the second quarter.

Communication goals are on track. Yay!

Area Four: Personal Improvement
1) Brush Hannah and Zelda's teeth every day

    January: Hannah 31/31, Zelda 30/31

    February: Hannah 27/28, Zelda 26/28

    March: Hannah 27/31 (I ran out of toothpaste and went to half a dozen stores looking for more only         to end up just ordering it on Amazon), Zelda 30/31

This is so much better than I have ever done before. I now have a system for when to brush their teeth and they expect it now and (mostly) cooperate.  This is a nice place to be in for their dental health.

2) Do a 30-day challenge every month
    January: Meditation every day using the Headspace app on my phone - 31/31 days. It was great. 
    February: 30-day core challenge - 19/28 - You're going to start noticing a downward trend in my stats     from here on out.
    March: This insane good posture in 30 days challenge - 0/31 - I decided to restart the core challenge,     but I only even did that for a few times in the month. I'm realizing that I haven't done anything yet in     April, either. I better get started.
3) Duolingo every day - Yes! I am well over a year of doing practice every day.  Woot! 
4) One house project every month  - Ha ha! Well, no.  We got a new dehumidifier for the basement and that's about it.  I'm really terrible at this goal.

So my personal improvement goals are a mixed bag.  Let's hope for some gains in the next quarter, although that is definitely unlikely from what I'm seeing so far!

March 2021 Expense Report

 

Okay, so here we are, about 25% of the way through the year. Whew.  2021 has been a blast so far, hasn't it?

Biggest expenses:

This month my biggest expenses continue to be savings, groceries, and pets. I had some other larger categories, including bills and charitable giving.

Breakdown:

Bills (9.5%) - This includes water/sewer and some insurance payments.

Cars (1.6%) - I had to get gas for both cars once during the month. I am thinking that when I get together with Dr. BB to go over spending allotments, I might take on our car payment since I'm supposed to cover our car expenses and they've gone down dramatically since the start of the pandemic.

Charity (11.8%) - There were a couple of large charitable donations made. You know, there's a lot of bad things happening in the world and if I can throw some dollars at it, I guess I'll do my slacktivism from the couch.

Eating out (1.1%) - I ordered takeout for lunch once and stopped to get coffee a few times.  

Gifts (1.5%) - My niece had a birthday and I picked up a present for a friend who has a birthday in April.

Groceries (20.6%) - We've gotta eat.

Health and personal fitness (4.1%) - This category is almost entirely made up of dental expenses, but I also have my monthly fitness passes.

Pets (11.9%) - Damn, the girls are pricey.  Food for both of them this month, toothpaste, I bought birdseed for our outside feeders and included that in this category, and there was a grooming appointment, and some medications purchased.  

Savings (33.4%) - I still can't figure out how to get money into one of my retirement accounts, which actually kind of makes me nervous about if I ever want to take the money OUT and that was a goal for March that never got done, so I guess I'll roll that over into April.  In the meantime, our shared savings account is looking healthy, my Christmas fund is growing away, and I'm pleased with my savings progress.

Other (2.1%) - This is the category I added household expenses, a book I bought for book club when the library hold just took too long, and some fancy earring backs that I ordered on a whim.  Since those were my only "whim-related" purchases, I feel fine about this category.

Wrap-up/things I want to buy:

I'm actually pretty frugal and since I rarely leave the house, I feel pretty good about how "essential" my purchases were in March.  I do have a rather long list of things I'd like to purchase soon.  Ready for it?

1) A buffet/hutch/sideboard for the kitchen - This has been on my list since we moved in. There's currently an old IKEA bookshelf there, holding our microwave, cookbooks, and stand mixer, but it's bowing under the weight of the KitchenAid, isn't really big enough, and I hate the way it looks.  Once I'm fully vaccinated (fewer than two weeks left, yo!), I'll be hitting antique shops.

It's not great. It was a temporary solution, but the longer we live here, the more I think it's going to be this way forever. No. I won't let it. I'll get it fixed by the end of 2021.

2) A two-tiered shoe stand for our mudroom - We currently have a rubber tray and it's not large enough and the shoes have taken over the room. There's one from LL Bean that I like a lot, but it's sold out.  I'm going to buy one before the end of this calendar year, I just know it.

Sadly, it's not available. But isn't it great?

3) New towels for our bathrooms - We've had our towel set since we got married and they are all old and raggedy.  The seams are coming undone. They roll in strange directions.  I'd like to replace all the towels, bathmats, washcloths, and hand towels, and donate our current ones to the Humane Society. I also want to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and TOUCH all the towels before I buy anything.

4) So much personal care - I'm imagining that my personal care budget is going to skyrocket in April. I'm planning on getting a haircut, eyebrow wax, and pedicure as soon as I'm fully vaccinated.  I'm also considering ordering some shower oil from L'Occitane during their friends and family event.  I normally only use shower oil during the winter, but I do love that stuff.  

February 2021 Expense Report

 

Biggest Expenses:

This continues to be groceries, savings, and our beloved pets.

Breakdown:

Savings: Not quite where I want to be, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to get money automatically sent to my retirement accounts.  My goal is to figure this out in March. (32.7%)

Groceries: We gotta eat.  (22.7%)

Pets: Good thing they're adorable. (11.8%)

Health/fitness: I decided to lump my health-related purchases (in this case, a bunch of KN-95 masks) with the costs of my regular fitness class passes. (8.4%)

Communications: Big month this month. This includes some greeting cards, my Zoom account, and some postage stamps.  I don't regret any penny I spend in this category, but I should start using my back stock of cards for birthdays and other occasions. (6.6%)

Personal care: I'm running out of my shampoo and so I ordered some different kinds from Sephora to try some out. (4.4%)

Gifts: Birthday presents for the ones I love. (3.4%)

Bill: Home and car insurance (recurring monthly expenses). (3.4%)

Clothing: I don't actually buy much clothing and this expense was actually me sending out my beloved Mephisto sandals to get resoled.  (3.3%)

Eating out: I ordered lunch takeout twice this month with huge tips and got a coffee once.  (1.8%)

Cars, House: Each of these was less than one percent.  I got gas for one of our cars once and we bought a pad for our house humidifier. 

Different from last month:

I didn't pay our water/sewer bill because that's every other month. I made no charitable donations, which seems weird until I realize that Dr. BB did most of our charitable giving for a couple of fundraisers. There is no entry for my credit card here because everything that went on my card has been entered into one of these categories.  

January Expense Report

 

I don't really know how to go about this, but this is part of my yearly goals, so I just tracked everything I spent and shall move on from here.

Big expenses:

The largest chunk is savings, which is good. I need to bump this up a bit and I think I can do that because my credit card bill will not be an issue from here on out since whatever I charge will be categorized in other entries.  This credit card bill was mostly December expenses, including a lot of holiday presents and shipping.

Other big chunks are groceries and my beloved pets. January included food for both girls, lots of one-time, first of the year things like a license and dog park registration, and included a six-month supply of Hannah's flea, tick, and worm preventative, as well as her allergy medication. Hannah went to the groomer twice in January, which is a real luxury, but she needed it.

Breakdown: 

Bills - This includes our water/sewer (bimonthly), car and homeowner's insurance.  (5.5%)

Cars - Gas and an oil change.  (2.5%)

Charity - A couple of local fundraisers and my undergrad alma mater (4.2%)

Communication - Greeting cards and Zoom account (1.7%)

Credit card - Again, this paid off expenses from December, so it won't come up again.  (22.9%)

Eating out - I went to a local restaurant once for takeout when I was having a particularly bad day and the rest is just me stopping for coffee when I take Hannah to the dog park. (1.3%)

Entertainment - I bought a state park pass for our car. I refuse to feel terrible about this. I take the dog to state parks all the time and Dr. BB rides his bikes in the parks, so it's a one-time fee early in the year and we'll use it several times. (0.7%)

Fitness - This includes my yoga pass for unlimited class during the month and my local health care's system that allows me access to unlimited classes during the month, as well.  I consider this an investment in both my physical and mental health, so I will happily pay this every month. (2.5%)

Gifts - Part of the rules of our marriage is that I do all the gift and card procurement. I take this job seriously.  One of our nieces and two of our nephews had birthdays in January, along with my sister.  (4.4%)

Groceries - This is a little light because Dr. BB went one week instead of me because I was quarantined (no, I did not have Covid, but I had symptoms).  (16.7%)

Office supplies - We needed paper for our office printer.  (1%)

Personal care - In a normal year, I would go to my salon's end of year sale when everything is 25% off and buy everything I need for the coming year. I did not do that and I'm finding myself running out of all my face, hair, and nail products.  I imagine this category will be fairly sizeable in the next couple of months as I try to figure out what pandemic NGS needs. This is fine because I'm not getting my hair or nails done in a salon, so these are mostly to keep me from looking too haggard.  (2.5%)

Pets - Seriously, the dog costs a lot of money. (10.3%)

Savings - This is savings I do on top of whatever comes out of my paycheck for my retirement through the university. (23.7%)

I think it's worth pointing out that my husband pays the mortgage, car payment, and cell phone bills, so this is literally not a good portrait of what our actual total household budget looks like. It's also missing any health-related costs because I didn't have any in January, although that seems unusual.  My real goal is for me to really track my expenses and then he and I can figure out a way to try to and make it so that we're living on only one of our incomes and saving the rest. That is more of a 2022 goal, but I'm inching closer to it by just starting to track things.