Oh, May. May was such a wonderful month for me in so many ways, and such a terrible month in other ways. I am not looking forward to recapping my progress on the goals I set because it won’t be pretty. But! It’s a new month and I have a renewed attitude toward my goals. Let’s do this thing!

Recapping May goals…

Enjoy my cruise! PASS. I had a fabulous cruise and the best time with my mom. We travel so well together, and this cruise was a little more key than normal, but no less fun! I’m already looking forward to our next cruise.

Join another DietBet and continue losing weight. Pass-ish? I did join another DietBet but haven’t lost weight this month. Womp, womp.

Find a therapist that accepts my health insurance. FAIL. I did not even think about this one!

Add at least $400 to my savings. FAIL. I wasn’t able to add any money to my savings account this month, due to other expenses that cropped up.

Go back to church. FAIL. Sundays tended to be busy days, where I seemed to have things going on (and I’m so lazy and that extra day to sleep in is so nice).

(Hi, my name is Stephany and I like to make excuses.)

In June, I want to…

Start my spending freeze, pay off my credit card, and bring my emergency savings to $700. I used my credit card a bit in May, with my cruise and then for buying new eyeglasses and contacts at https://lowcostglasses.co.uk/. So my spending freeze comes at the perfect time. I want to get my credit card paid off ($537), and I am hopeful I can add around $400 to my savings account, too. I will be doing biweekly updates on my spending freeze to give me further accountability to see this thing through.

Write a new “About Me” page for the blog, and put up “Hire Me”/”Contact Me” pages. I am really craving a new look for this blog, and I am going to spend the next few months doing some behind-the-scenes updates before launching a new design. There are so many things I need to do, and I want to start by freshening up my “About Me” page, and adding “Hire Me”/”Contact Me” pages since I want to dive into some freelance work in the next few months.

Go back to church. Because I need to go to church. Church makes me happy. Setting Sunday morning alarms doesn’t make me happy, but church itself makes me happy.

Lose 5 lbs. This is doable. I can make this goal. I know it’s not ideal to set such an arbitrary goal, but I think I need this. I need to see myself succeed at this.

Make a dentist appointment. I’m slowly but steadily trying to make all those blasted doctor’s appointments that need to be made. Last month was my eye appointment, June will be the dentist.

What are your goals for June?

It’s the last day of the month, which means we are almost ready to dive into May. I have so many great things planned for May – my cruise, brunch book club, and starting a new DietBet. But first… let’s talk about goals, yeah?

Recapping April Goals…

Lose 4% of my weight and “win” Amber’s Spring Shape-Up DietBet. Well, I can’t mark this as a pass just yet, but doing this DietBet has really changed the way I’ve attacked losing weight and eating healthy. I am so, so thankful that Amber did this DietBet, and that I joined it because it really forced me to look at my eating habits and get super serious about losing weight. Even if I don’t end up winning (which I don’t think is likely, as long as I don’t completely fall off the wagon!), I’ve seen such a change in the way I view eating and exercise, and my clothes are fitting better. That’s a huge win, regardless of what the scale says.

Set up a therapy appointment. Oops. I did not do this. It’s just one of those nagging tasks that I know I need to do, but I think I’m letting my fears hold me back. I just didn’t get much out of therapy from my first therapist, and I don’t know if that was me, or her, or both of us. So I’m just putting it off because I’m like… worried I can’t do therapy? Which just tells me that I really need to be in therapy. Once you start worrying that you suck at therapy, well, it’s all really downhill from there, isn’t it?

Work out every day. Nope, but I did start working out six days a week! And I consider that a huge success!

Make two meatless dishes. Nope. I’ve been searching for meatless dishes, but I just haven’t found a dish that looks appetizing to me. (I’m a really, really picky eater.) And the ones I do find that look somewhat yummy are usually pasta dishes, and I’m trying to stay away from pasta as much as I can. (No real reason… just don’t need all those carbs!)

Spend less than $150 eating out. PASS! I spent $137 this month eating out. I am very happy about this! That’s my lowest eating-out total in 2014, and I’m hoping I can keep pushing it lower and lower.

In May I want to…

Enjoy my cruise! I am super excited if that hasn’t been apparent. Mom and I leave this Sunday and we’ll spend five wonderful, relaxing days sailing and exploring Key West and the Bahamas. I think marking this goal as complete will be easy!

Join another DietBet and continue losing weight. I really loved participating in my DietBet this past month because it really forced me to get serious about dieting and losing weight. Knowing that I could win my $25 back (and possibly more!) has been super motivating for me. I would like to join a new DietBet around the week I return from my vacation, so I can get right back on track.

Find a therapist that accepts my health insurance. I wasn’t successful at scheduling my first therapy appointment so, instead, I am going to break this down into steps. The first step? I need to find a therapist that accepts my insurance. That’s it, that’s all.

Add at least $400 to my savings. I’ve been slacking on my money goals for this year, but once my cruise is behind me, I can get back on track. I am hoping to add at least $400 to my savings, which will put me halfway to my goal for this year.

Go back to church. I haven’t talked about it much, but I haven’t been regularly attending church for well over a year now. Probably closer to a year and a half. It’s just something I fell out of the habit of, and it’s hard getting back into it. Well, that changes this month as I’m going to start making a concentrated effort to attend church on Sundays and hopefully become more involved in the community.

What goals do you have for May?

I really, really love the beginning of the month. As is well documented on my blog, I love goal-setting and I love the freshness of the beginning of the month for setting new goals. I like sitting down to rehash what went well, what didn’t go so well, and decide on five goals I want to accomplish in the upcoming month. Let’s dive right in!

Recapping March goals…

Observe Lent, and eliminate chocolate and soda from my diet. FAIL. I knew this goal was going to be very hard to meet, but I really tried! My downfalls came on the weekends, but I really put a lot of effort into trying to meet this goal and I’m proud of the slight step forward I took in releasing this addiction, even though I could have done so much better. You win some, you lose some.

Pay off my cruise deposit. PASS. Paid in full, and now my mom and I just need to figure out our excursions for the three ports we’re stopping in (Key West, Nassau, and Freeport in the Bahamas).

Spend less than $100 eating out. FAIL. I was actually on track to make this goal until the last week of the month. Then things seemed to fall apart.

Try one new recipe a week. FAIL. I only ended up making two new recipes this month. I made turkey meatloaf (in a cupcake pan!) and honey mustard chicken. The rest of the time, I fell back on old favorites.

Start the 30 Day Shred challenge. PASS. I didn’t work out every day, and I’m only about halfway through Level 2, but I did it! Very proud I stuck with this one as it’s not easy.

In April, I want to…

Lose 4% of my weight and “win” Amber’s Spring Shape-Up DietBet. I am really excited to start this DietBet! I’ve never done one before, but I really think it will motivate me to get super serious about healthy living and losing weight. I want to win my $25 back!

Set up a therapy appointment. I really need to get myself to therapy, even if I have to somehow choke up the $55 fee every month. I think I found a good therapist – she’s young and specializes in anxiety disorders and women’s issues, like self-esteem and body image. I just need to see if she takes my insurance!

Work out every day. Working out has really turned into a hassle for me. It’s annoying to wake up early to work out, and I never have energy left at the end of the day to work out after work. But I also know that I have to put more effort into my workouts, I feel good when I get regular exercise, and it’s an essential part of losing weight. So, for April, I’ve decided to attempt to work out every day, for at least 30 minutes. I need to get some sort of activity in every day, even if it’s a simple walk with Dutch.

Make two meatless dishes. I don’t believe I will ever go full vegetarian (I love red meat and turkey subs too much!) but I would like to cut down on how much meat I consume because a) it’s not that healthy and b) it’s so inhumane. So I’m going to start taking itty-bitty baby steps to cutting out meat from my diet. This month, I want to attempt to prepare two meatless dishes. Meatless meals scare me a little, mainly because I’m a picky eater and every meatless meal I’ve seen doesn’t sound delicious, but I’m willing to try anything once. (Your suggestions are much appreciated!)

Spend less than $150 eating out. In January, I spent $200 eating out. In February, I spent $250. And in March, I spent $175. I love eating out. I love it, love it, love it. But I also need to gain control over this area of my life, both in my quest to become more frugal and in my quest to lose weight. But I realize that making a goal to spend less than $100 – after usually spending twice that or more in any given month – is setting myself up for failure. Instead, I need to focus on baby steps. So in April, I’d like to spend less than $150 eating out. Honestly, the feeling of relief that washed over me when I set this goal helped me to see this feels much more manageable to me at this point in time. Ideally, I want to get to the point where I’m eating out only 1-2 times per week, but that’s going to take a serious lifestyle change and those happen in small steps.

What are your goals for April?

It’s time to recap the goals I set in February and set some new ones for March. And I think, after this post, there will be no more talk about setting goals until next month. And everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Let’s get started!

Recapping February goals…

Pay off my credit cards. PASS. And WOOHOO to that! My credit cards are now paid in full, so this huge monkey that has been on my back for months is finally gone. It’s also nice to have that buffer of having $1,000 on one credit card should an emergency arise before I have my emergency fund in place. In any event, I can cross one debt goal for this year off and that makes me very, very happy.

Organize my closet, bedside table, and bathroom. A sorta pass. I ended up organizing my closet and bedside table but didn’t get around to organizing my bathroom just yet. I filled up one trash bag to donate to Goodwill and another trash bag of just junk so that feels really good. I’m still trying to decide how to organize my shoes (I don’t have many – maybe six or seven pairs of shoes?). Pinterest hasn’t been very helpful. I’m thinking of either a hanging shoe rack or simply getting a basket to throw them all into. Thoughts?

Eat fewer sweets. FAIL. Man, oh man. This goal did not go well at all this month, which is why I am eliminating chocolate from my diet for the next 40 days. I need to get my sweet tooth under control!

Eat out no more than three times a week. FAIL. I didn’t track this but judging by how much I spent eating out in February, I am more than positive that I failed with this goal. I love eating out! Bah!

Look for a therapist. FAIL. I didn’t even try for this goal, even though it was on my mind to do so. Finding a therapist is hard! How do you even begin? And I need a therapist that offers Friday appointments (or something after 6pm on the weekday), and I feel like that’s nearly impossible. (My last therapist only offered appointments Monday – Thursday before 5pm.) And let’s not even get into the expense of going to therapy. (I think I get 2-3 “free” visits and then it’s $55 each visit. That’s a lot of money for me!) I’m holding off on this one for now.

In March, I want to…

Observe Lent, and eliminate chocolate and soda from my diet. Today is Day 1 of 40! I am trying to be excited about these next 40 days, but I’m in a state of “can I really do this?” I don’t have much faith in myself, but I really want to see this thing through. Here we go!

Pay off my cruise deposit. My mom and I have until April 4 to pay off the cruise, but I’m hoping to pay it off by mid-March so I can have it off my plate and get back to my debt/savings goals.

Spend less than $100 eating out. This is going to be HARD! I love eating out, but it is seriously getting in the way of my goals, both healthwise and debtwise. So. I must learn to eat out less. Baby steps?

Try one new recipe a week. What I would do for my own personal chef. Man. I really dislike cooking and trying new recipes, because I’m a picky eater and not the best cook, so I often mess up recipes. But I also hate eating the same stuff over and over again, so I’m challenging myself to try one new recipe each week in March. (Any favorites?)

Start the 30 Day Shred challenge. Bah. I have such a love/hate relationship with Jillian Michaels. I did the challenge a few years ago and have attempted it again since then, but never seen it to completion. But I think I want to try it again to shake up my workout routine and hopefully, it will lead to fabulous results in March. (Remember, I need to lose 10 lbs to be on track to lose 40 lbs this year!) Plus, Krysten just completed it (along with cleaning up her diet) and lost 10 lbs, so hello, inspiration!

Any goals for you in March? Got any great (easy!) recipes I should try this month?