Goals for September

1. Exercise on a weekly basis. I do walk everywhere I go because of my lack of a car, but I wouldn’t really count that as exercise. My school has a gym that is equipped with machines and a pool, so I want to check it out. It’s free for students! At a minimum, I have exercise DVD’s I can do at home, but the hardest part is actually getting started.
2. Write down/track spending on a weekly basis. I want to revise my budget, but I think I should track my spending for a month first to see where exactly my money is going and where I need to cut back. I sort of know where I spend too much money (trips to Philly, Starbucks iced coffee, random items Target), but I need the exact numbers to really hold myself accountable.
3. Wake up an hour early at least twice a week to do reading. I am most productive during the morning hours. So, it makes more sense to get reading done for school at that time when my mind is fresh. This also requires going to bed earlier since my bedtime has been getting later and later, which translates into staying in bed the next morning until the last possible moment. Staying up to watch the Olympics and then the DNC coverage hasn’t helped me to adhere to a bedtime.
4. Purchase a file cabinet. Perhaps like this one from Ikea. I need to get organized and make files for bills, financial aid for school, tax returns, school work, etc. I am a fairly organized person, but I think it’s about time for me to upgrade my filing system, especially for financial records.
5. Attend the next ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Funds’ Meet Up event. Ginger over at GJWHF has been having great events all summer and I haven’t made a single one yet…I hope to change that this month.
6. Sign up for Zipcar to run my weekend errands and start using my driver's license for more than just photo ID. I have to check the pricing first, but I don't think it's that expensive.
7. Make comments or ask a question during every class meeting for my grad school course. It’s a good habit to develop in my graduate courses and participation is apart of my grade anyway.
   
   So how did I do on my goals for August? Not all that good…
   
8. Stick to an exercise schedule (crunches everyday, exercise dvd's three times a week, dance class at least twice this month) –FAIL, maybe I’ll do better in September…
9. Modify monthly budget –FAIL, I want to monitor my spending for the month of September first
10. Transfer my phone to my name from Dad's and start paying my own bill :- ( —PASS, now I have another bill to worry about…oh the joys of being an adult and paying ALL your own bills
11. Get EF over $1,000—FAIL, I forgot how expensive textbooks were and didn’t budget for them
12. Start a Roth IRA lump sum fund (sub ING account).—FAIL, this will have to wait a while longer, I revisit this goal in October
13. Finish one short story—FAIL, this will have to be tabled for now, keeping up with the blog will have to count as my continued effort to improve my writing
14. Complete one graduate school application—PASS, I did apply to a school and ended up getting accepted to one I applied to earlier
15. Attend at least one (career or business) networking event—FAIL, I honestly didn’t look for an event to attend
16. Attend the next Meet-up that Ginger at Girls Just Wanna Have Funds has because I have missed all of them so far due to schedule conflicts—FAIL, yet another scheduling conflict, but I plan to attend the next event taking place in September

I’m feeling pretty good about my goals for September, we’ll see how I do at the end of the month.