Hello July! A new month, which I’m hoping will be just as good as June was to us. What is slightly scary is that I can now say our due date is next month. Time is definitely ticking away and I don’t think we can quite comprehend the massive change that will happen to our lives in a month’s time. I finish work in the middle of July, so then I’ll be spending time getting our finances, house, food and blog stuff sorted. I’m hoping to do some batch cooking for the freezer before the baby arrives, so we’ll have some ready made meals just to reheat when we’re busy/tired/stressed/all of the above.
Every month I like to set myself aims for the month, to keep myself focused and to make sure I actually use the time during the month wisely! There are two sets of aims: Finance and Personal. June worked out in our favour so I’m hoping that July will be just as restrained in terms of spending.
Financial aims for July:
– Have 20 No Spend Days (or NSDs)
– Overpay our mortgage by £120
– Put £700 into savings
Although I hit our NSD for June, I’m going to keep it the same for July. The reason for this is we still have some baby related expenses coming up, so don’t want to be worrying not meeting a higher target of NSDs. Again, as for the foreseeable future, our overpayment target is £120. Even though we smashed our target for June savings, I’m keeping the aim for July the same as before. Again, the main reason for this is to make sure we can cover all baby related expenses this month as we get the final things needed.
Personal Aims for July:
– do some batch cooking for the freezer
– eat healthily
– get all baby related items organised
As part of being organised and making sure we don’t rely on lots of takeaways when the baby arrives, I’m aiming to do some batch cooking for the freezer so there are lots of home made meals that are quick and easy to cook in there. This means I actually have to do this! I’m planning on doing things like beef chilli, spaghetti bolognaise sauce and some slow cooker meals where I can just put everything in the slow cooker on the morning and forget about it. Would anyone be interested in me doing a post on this? I’m trying my best to continue to eat healthily, though as I get more uncomfortable, food is starting to not be a priority. Not much longer to go though in that respect. And then baby related things; we need to wash all of the baby clothes we have, plus get things like nappies, muslin cloths and a baby bath. I also need to pack the hospital bags for the big day. This all needs doing in July, ready for August when it’s D-day!
Do you have any aims for this month? What will challenge you the most? I’d love to hear from you!
Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank says
Time really passes by so quickly. It’s July already. Yay! This month, I am aiming to get healthier and fitter. More importantly, I have to save more for the preparation for the ber months (Christmas season).
Nicola says
Good luck with getting healthier and fitter! 🙂
Laura Marconi-Cox says
I really enjoyed reading this post and it inspired me to write one of my own to get me focussed on the month ahead. Thanks for sharing what you’re up to, I look forward to seeing how your plans this month turn out.
Nicola says
Glad I inspired some focus 🙂 let me know how your month turns out!
Tony @ Stock Market Valuation says
Now that summer is officially here I want to start doing some marathon training. All my life I’ve been doing sprint training, but as I age it gets harder and harder. Hopefully I’ll be able to run my first marathon by the end of fall.
Nicola says
Good luck for your marathon training; I’m not a runner but admire anyone who is! Thanks for stopping by 🙂