September Goals: Fitness, Financial, Blogging and Personal

Good morning and happy September! The leaves are starting to turn color, our annual Minnesota State Fair trip is coming up this weekend and the kids go back to school next week. Hard to believe summer is just about over. But… that means fall is coming and it’s time for September goals!

This is just a little post I do each month to help me stay on track and focused. I don’t necessarily always get everything done but posting posts like these helps me be more productive and I hope to encourage you to be more productive too!

September Goals

 

Fitness

My fitness goal for September is to continue Ashley Horner’s Charlie Mike Six-Week Fitness Plan (found on Bodybuilding.com). I’m getting close to mid-way through and I’m really enjoying it so far. For me, circuits make the time fly by so much faster than other types of workouts.

I also plan to do two treadmill HIIT workouts per week.

 

Financial

My financial goals for September continue to have everything to do with getting out of debt. Roger is still laid off from his previous employer but he is working full-time (for another previous employer) and we are so thankful for that. August wasn’t a super successful month as far as paying down debt goes but I was able to pay off 3 credit cards making monthly payments that much easier to manage.

Our current debt total as of August 31st: $224,706.98

*Full disclosure: Our overall debt balance is down a tiny bit from end of June (when I started tracking) but it’s higher than last month. School shopping definitely affected this total. I always shop for school clothes using my Old Navy Visa and my Kohl’s store card to get the rewards and discounts. I always pay these off in full but as of August 31, they have balances so I’ve included that in the total. I will also receive cash back rebates from eBates, BeFrugal and Mr. Rebates in the coming weeks. Those earnings will go towards the lowest balance in our debt snowball.

Even though the total debt is higher than last month, we are still projected to pay off all debt by August 2022. And that’s only if I keep our snowball number where it’s at right now, which is pretty low to start. It’s a huge mountain to climb! The end date has already decreased 3 months since we started and I know the more aggressive we are, the faster it will be paid off!

The mortgage payoff will likely be pushed back because once all the other debt is paid off, it’s time to save and invest. It’s still fun to track and see the principle balance go down each month. I find tracking our debt payoff so closely really keeps me motivated.

Potential minor setback: Last month we dealt with an increased mortgage payment so we’re adjusting. Also, my computer pooped out on me on August 1st so I purchased a new, inexpensive laptop to replace it. This meant less money towards debt this month.

September financial goals:

• Continue the debt snowball and get our overall debt balance below $222,500.

• Continue putting $5 a week towards my IRA account. This is an automatic transfer. After credit cards are paid off, this will obviously increase. I just want to get into the habit of contributing to it and watching it grow. Slowly.

• Research investment methods. It’s all kind of a foreign language to me but I want to educate myself so I’m ready when the time comes.

• Schedule all August bills.

• Spend $400 or less on groceries to feed our family of six. Thank God for Aldi.

• Continue listening to The Dave Ramsey Show podcast on my way to work. This is so motivating to listen to. I’ve actually teared up listening to others share their debt free journey because it makes me feel like I can get there too. This show really inspires me to keep chipping away at it.

 

Blogging

The traffic for this blog was on a pretty nice upswing during August so I’m hopeful for September and the rest of the year. I had quite a few hiccups this past month as far as hosting goes (my apologies if you dealt with any of that – I know how frustrating it is) but I’m settling in with Bluehost for the long haul. Their customer service has been amazing and I definitely feel like you get the most bang for your buck compared to similar hosting plans.

I tried a new company this past month and my site was shut down within two days because I had used “too many resources”. This was while on their “mid-size” plan. Ummm… my blog isn’t that large!

My September goals related to blogging are:

• Post 2-3 times per week on topics like fitness, financials, blogging and/or meal planning

• Continue using CoSchedule to help me plan my editorial calendar and social media posts

• Increase monthly pageviews from 9,939 –> 11,000

• Brainstorm blog post ideas and plug them in to CoSchedule

• Fill out monthly blog stats for August

 

Personal

In addition to my fitness, financial and blogging goals, I also have some personal goals to work on this month.

• Spend 30 solid minutes with God every day (for prayer, gratitude, Bible study, devotions, etc.)

• Read two books. I didn’t get a lot of reading done in August. I plan to read Shella and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children this month! A girl from work borrowed Shella to me and it’s a dark, true crime story – my favorite. Besides memoir. I plan to read that one first so I can give it back to her quickly. If you’re interested in other ideas, check out this round-up: 8 Books to Snuggle Up With This Fall.

• Spend 10-15 minutes every night planning for the next day in my Erin Condren Life Planner (to-do list, appointments, goals, etc.)

• Finish up the living room. We started painting and I hope to get all of the painting finished and the walls put back together by the end of this month. It’s been a lot of work but so worth it.

• Get the house ready for fall! I love fall decor. I’ll be bringing out the pumpkins, garland, white Christmas lights and candles for cozy feels and soft glows. I. can’t. wait.

Time to get busy!

from Lifting Makes Me Happy http://www.buildyourdreambody.com/september-goals-2016.html
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