Wednesday, January 31, 2018

It's February!

Read 20 books.
Reduce waste.
Pay off consumer debt.
Do two "low spend" months.
Eat more homemade meals.
Stick to a healthier lifestyle.
Deep clean the house.


1. Read 20 Books. Earlier this month I read a thing saying that if you read for 30 minutes before bed (the same amount of time you tinker around on your phone before bed), you would read about 175-200 pages every week. That being said, it should be easier to read 20 books this year! I'm almost finished with The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up... and am about 1/2 through The Power. Not gonna lie, the book about tidying up is kind of blowing my mind - I guess I've been doing it wrong the whole time.

Reduce waste. I have actually been doing REALLY good at this one. I recycled most of my plastic grocery bags. I still use some for things like animal waste clean-up (thanks, dog vomit!) and the bathroom trash cans. But I have been using reusable grocery bags so much I ran out of plastic ones! I had to pat myself on the back when that happened! I've also been using my water cup at work more (instead of getting styrofoam cups) and using my reusable coffee cups more. AND I've been working on filling the first half of my compost bin, so all of the fruit/veggie food scraps go in there. I barely had a full trash bag to take out last week!

Pay off consumer debt. Chugging along - my tax refund will take a big bite out of this.

Do two "no spend" months. (I am amending this to "low-spend months") So January was my first "low spend month" and I didn't do super great at it. The first two weeks I destroyed it! I didn't buy anything outside of necessities on my grocery list, didn't buy coffee, didn't buy clothes. The third week I started slacking and the fourth week I went down the tubes. I went out to dinner more than once/week. I bought lunch at work instead of bringing it. I went and got coffee during work a couple days a week. Better than I was doing? Sure. As good as I set out to be? Nope. It did kind of reiterate how spending less money is what I need to be doing. I think I'll set my next low-spend month for the summer time - maybe June or July.

Eat more homemade meals. I have for SURE been eating more homemade meals. Every breakfast and most lunches and dinners have been homemade. I feel like I have a lot more control over what I am eating when I eat at home.

Stick to a healthier lifestyle. Again, I was kicking butt at this for the first two weeks. And then I started slacking. I'm back on the wagon though! Even though Logan and I are going to grill cheeseburgers for dinner.

Deep clean the house. I'm a little torn on this goal. One of my plans was to do one room a month. Really focus and throw things out. BUT THEN I READ The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and she actually comes out and says that this plan is hugely flawed. Harumphf. Unfortunately, I don't have the time nor the space to line up every single item in my entire house at the same time. I think for the most part I can accomplish my goal by doing it one room at a time. Hi, my name is Rachel and I have too much stuff. (Hi Rachel!) Either way, my first room was the kitchen and I really did good! I was able to throw out a lot (broken things, items missing pieces, empty boxes that got put back in the pantry, etc). I think my next "room" for February will be the hallway closet, guest bedroom, and hallway bathroom. There isn't much in any of those rooms, so I don't think it will be terribly difficult to do them all together.

My to do list:
1. Keep reading before bed.
2. Keep using the reusables!
3. Keep paying shit down.
4. Nothing here - keep applying the "low spend" mindset
5. Keep eating at home.
6. Keep going to 9R. Keep drinking water.
7. Clean the February rooms.

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