Wrap up of June 2018 Goals

Who’s ready to see how I did on my June 2018 goals?

Come on I know someone out there is reading this and wants to know how I did in June!

I’ve decided to add a feature to my blog, the occasional vlog in a blog. Vlogging, in case you’re unfamiliar with the term, is doing a video of a blog post. Seems to be how things are done. Videos are all over the place on Youtube and embedded into blog posts.

Here’s the list of my June 2018 Goals followed by did I hit it or not.

1. Save $500 towards my 2019 TFSA – Done!
2. Put at least $100 into my vacation fund – Done! Actually, nearly doubled that with $194.
3. Incur no debt – I’d say so. I had to buy new eyeglasses in June ($550 – Yikes!) that I paid on my credit card, and then have paid off the card in full. Also had the vet out for my horses, but haven’t got that invoice yet.
4. Learn how to kayak – Yes! Done and fun! I signed up for 4 kayaking sessions during the first half of June.
5. Ride my bike to work at least 3 times a week – Nope. Failed at that one. We had a lot of bad weather in June. Rain and then a heat wave. And then more cold and rain. I don’t have rain gear for riding my bike and getting soaked on a bike ride isn’t my idea of fun.
6. Take at least 2 scenic bike rides – Yes! I even took a ride along the dyke during the heat wave time, but I’d decided beforehand to ride half an hour out and then turn back.
7. Ride each horse twice a week – I rode them a few times in June. In addition to the bad weather, I had the vet out who floated their teeth. Dental work, means she sedated the horses and then used a drill to file down the sharp edges. I didn’t think the horses would want a bit in their mouth after that so gave them a little time off. Also my Appaloosa, Whistler, had developed a cough which is why I’d called the vet. I had to give him meds twice a day for 10 days.
8. Cut my grocery bill – you know I sucked at that too. I just started tracking my spending on a spreadsheet. In May my grocery bill totalled $320.78, so I thought $300 would be a reasonable budget goal. I ended up at $329.52. How does this happen? Especially since I was trying not to buy groceries and eat up what I had on hand in my cupboard, fridge, and freezer. To start off with, the money spent on grocery and drug stores isn’t all groceries for me. I bought a case of canned dog food, 3 big bags of dog treats, and one small bag of dog treats for the car. That easily totalled $70 plus tax. My black lab, Chica, is on a high fibre diet so I had to buy two more bags of oatmeal ($9) but I eat some of that too for my super easy overnight trail mix oats. I also buy Chica frozen mixed veggies and 2 jars of applesauce that I don’t normally eat. I also put other stuff that I buy at the grocery store included in that total such as toiletries, make up, cleaning supplies, and food wrap. It’s maybe fair to say that half of that amount, or maybe even a bit less than half that amount, are items that I actually consume. I’ll still be working on this!
9. Eat down my pantry – Yes, that went pretty well. My goal in June was to shop only for fresh produce and perishables, though a few other items made their way into my grocery cart such as bottled water that I was running low on (tap water from our well is safe but has a minor ground water smell and taste that turns me off) and ice cream treats to help out during that heat wave. I can tell you that the top cupboard in my kitchen where I keep crackers, granola bars, cookies, and snacks is pretty much empty.