March is whizzing by! It's been a very different month for me, as I'm not working. I have been spending quite a bit of time "browsing" jobs, having meetings with various folks, doing some networking, etc. But, still lots of time for productivity and goals.
Financial:
- Set new goals & come up with revised budget, post layoff - I've made good progress on this, and have decided to buy CDs for the remaining college expenses, so the money is tucked away.
- Max Nick's 529 - haven't received our bonuses yet
- Max our 401Ks - haven't received our bonuses yet
- Put aside money for taxes - same as above, waiting on bonuses
- Save any remaining bonus money for Sam's college expenses - ditto above
- Earn $300 in side hustle - made $75.50
- Pantry/freezer challenge (green beans, coconut milk, shrimp scampi, corn dogs, fish sticks). - I've made progress on some of this (used up 4 more corn dogs & 1/2 a bag of shrimp scampi), but I've also used up a lot of other items: a very old bag of cauliflower rice, the end of a bag of corn, a bag of frozen pureed bananas, gave away a can of peaches, tossed pantry expired food, made yakisoba out of an ancient package of Top Ramen, made hummus out of soon to expire garbanzo beans/tahini, & made lasagna out of a package of noodles that had been in the pantry forever. So, feeling really good about progress on this one.
Family:
- Help Sam finalize college decisions - final college tour in April
- Get Nick started on the college process - a little progress, but SATs are scheduled
- Optimize points, perks, miles - lots of progress here:
- Used points to cover two nights at a fancy hotel in Napa
- Used Southwest miles to cover my mom's flight to Sedona
- Used Hyatt free night awards to cover 3 of 4 nights in Sedona
- My Sedona flight was very inexpensive ($118), but used a gift card to cover that
- Used Hyatt points to cover two nights at a hotel in Carmel for M's birthday. Bonus, used a suite upgrade award to upgrade the room for free.
- Found an old Safeway gift card, and have been picking up meal planning items with that.
- Used a CVS gift card to buy Easter items
- Plan one fun activity with the boys - we are planning a spring break trip
Fitness:
- Run a half marathon - done!
- 8 stretching workouts - 5/10 so far
- Lose 3 lbs - yes, I've lost 3 lbs!
- 10 strength training workouts - 9/10 so far
- Follow the No S diet - really doing well with this. My new schedule works so that I fast in the morning, and I have much fewer snack temptations at home. Bonus that I'm not stressed out about work & mindlessly stress eating.
Personal:
- Get together with friends. - I suddenly have much more free time. Met a friend for a workout + coffee, another friend for a wine + chat, and had the long weekend with my mom & sister in Napa. Also, met two coworkers for a walk, one friend for an early morning hike, and another coworker for a lunch.
- Practice Farsi 10 times - 11/10 so far
- Declutter 50 items from the house - 54/50
- Start pickle ball lessons with M - yes, we started last weekend & we had a great time!
What about you? How are you doing with your March goals?
I would love to know more about your decluttering process. You seem to find so many things in your home to discard or donate, and I wonder if some of the items aren't in the trash category such as old cosmetics, medications, food items, etc. It would be great to learn more about your methods of letting things go. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYour March is doing quite well, even through the personal changes. Color me impressed.
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