I can’t believe we’re already two full months into the year. My coworker reminded me yesterday that there are only 10 more months until Christmas. That was a cruel reminder of how quickly time flies. There is already spring flowers in my garden:
It’s the beginning of a new month and I’m hoping things slow down a bit for me. I had some awesome contributions from other bloggers last week because I was feeling a little overwhelmed with everything going on in my life and needed to take a week off from posting. I’m incredibly grateful for the help that Corey, Jason, Ross and Rohit provided, and I’m feeling a little more refreshed now.
At the beginning of the year I posted some goals that I had for 2013, and a rough plan as to how I wanted to achieve them. Brace yourself, guys, it’s a riveting read.
My goals were as follows:
- Add $10,000 to my emergency fund
- Earn an extra $1,000/month
- Lose 10 lbs over the year
- Travel
I know that there has been a lot of noise in the blogosphere lately about making posts interesting, but frankly, this is my blog and while my goal posts are not very interesting to you, they keep me accountable. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to.
So here’s how I did in February:
Emergency Fund
I’ve never planned on letting that amount of money hang out in my emergency fund collecting a dismal amount of interest, but I wanted to build up that amount before I re-allocated it.
At the beginning of February, I added $588.45 to my EF. At the very end of February I transferred $450 into the fund, but it does take awhile to show up in the account so that amount will show up on my March calculation.
Extra Earnings
I have been rocking this. Absolutely. I made an extra $400 from babysitting in February, and then of course my re-occurring online income ventures. I made just over $1100 this month online and from babysitting.
It’s been helpful in stocking up my emergency fund and also allocating some of that money toward my various savings accounts.
Lose 10 Lbs
I lost about a pound in February, which was less than I wanted to lose. I had a very stressful few weeks and that was reflected in my eating. I eat crap when I’m stressed out.
I’ve been cooking less as well, which doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ve been eating out more, but that I’ve been eating really stupid meals lately. The other day I had a piece of carrot cake for dinner. I kid you not.
At the end of this past week I started to eat better, by introducing more nutritious food to my fridge. My fridge is apathetic about it, but my body is thanking me.
I made:
- Greek salad
- Crunchy Asian Salad
- Fruit salad with yogurt
- Kale, Strawberry and Pecan salad
It sounds like a lot of salad but I actually really like salad, when it’s not boring.
Travel
I booked my time off for my October trip with my best friend. I’m continuing to accrue WestJet rewards dollars from my Mastercard, so the flight will be almost paid for in full.
I have been a bit gun shy in booking other vacation time, because I don’t feel like things are so busy at work. I don’t want to book it and then leave the company and not be able to take it. At the same time, I don’t want to lose my vacation time either, so I need to look at other vacations.
I’m doing alright so far, so hopefully March is really good. Since I’m sort of coasting with the EF and extra income goals, I need to step up my weight loss game.
So there you have it – a recap!
I like goal posts because they keep me motivated as well! Glad you had a productive month – my weight suffered in February too from a couple stressful weeks at work.
I second Desi. I’m one of those people who likes reading goal posts. I’m just nosy 🙂 Sorry to hear about things at work; I can imagine that’s very stressful.
I am also sick of reading of other bloggers complaining about other people’s posts. If you don’t like it, don’t read it! I personally love goals posts because I like to see how other people are doing and how we stack up. You’re doing well. I also had a bad month in February losing weight and only lost a pound. So the past four days I’ve been VERY good and have already seen progress on the scale!
Preach!
Awesome on the one pound. I couldn’t even do that.
Daisy, it’s not for everyone but the low carb diets work really well. I have been on a low carb “lifestyle for the last 12 years on and off. When I’m off, I’ll gain fifteen pounds, when I’m off they fifteen pounds come off pretty easy (and my lipid profiles get nice as well).
I know what you mean about eating badly. I had banana bread for lunch and dinner yesterday.
Daisy, where have you made your money online? Is it through ads, ghost writing, or another online business?
Hey Ross – all of the above. Staff writing, ghost writing, ads, and other stuff.
I like your goal posts! I don’t find them boring at all. I think it’s really useful to see others setting goals and going for them–very inspiring!
I’m sort of gutted by what your coworker said about Christmas though! That really puts it into perspective!
I love your posts! Don’t worry about what other people say.
what’s going on at work?
Thanks girl! It seems like everything is going on at work, haha. I have just been struggling with some supervisors.
Looks like you’re doing pretty well with your goals. You can probably increase the babysitting rate if things are going well and your time becomes more valuable. I should learn how to cook more nutritious meals like those. It’s annoying when it takes me like a whole month of eating properly and exercising to lose a few pounds, and then it takes just one weekend of poor decision making to gain it all back, lol.
I love goal posts! I’m with the others, I’m sick of people trolling around and tell others how to blog. People really need to start minding their own business and getting a life. – Sorry, I am just sick of it! haha
Why do you think things aren’t going well at work?! And I love your flowers, we have a big goal to make everything come alive at our house and plan on planting a lot of flowers and grass seed.
I really enjoy goal posts! Why? Because it humanizes the writer, and sometimes the goals are similar to mine. So, It’s really motivating to read what people are up to. Keep them coming. There is power in the mundane.
Hey!!
That kale salad sounds awesome and I hope to see the prices come down this summer so I can try it. It’s so pricey right now over $2.50 for a small bunch. I do like my fruit salads and I’m going to try and make my own yogurt soon. Your goals seem reasonable to me and kudos to you for the extra income. I wish I could bring a bit of extra in myself one day. Cheers mate! Post what your heart desires… it’s yours after all! Have a good one!
Goal posts might not always be terribly exciting, but perhaps that might mean the goals are sane and reasonable. It’s the crazy and unreasonable goals that get attention.
Sounds like you’re making good progress, even if it’s not exactly as fast as you wanted. Be sure to celebrate your victories!
Looks like the start of the year for you was great. Hope this will continue till the end of the year.
We always like to hear updates from you and find them interesting. So you don’t have to put an extra effort to make them more interesting.