June 2018 Goals Tracker

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."  Laying out my goals this month to help (hopefully) improve accountability.  This month, I've been thinking of ways to incorporate more "self-care" into my life, as all my audiobooks and podcasts seem to be encouraging me to do so.  But before I can make time for self-care, I need to figure out what self-care looks like.

My current audiobook is "DIY Rules for a WTF World" by Krista Suh (actually an elementary school friend of mine, go Krista!) where she assigns an exercise for us to think about all the things we could never delegate to even the most competent personal assistant.  Her examples included eating for you, sleeping for you, exercising for you, spending time with your family for you, meditating for you, get a massage for you, be photographed for you, etc.  The interesting thing about the list is that so many people (myself included) de-prioritize these very things that no one can do for us in favor of things we perceive as "more important," many of which we could delegate.  Maybe then, self-care is at least in part, prioritizing the things that no one else can do for you.  Sigh, if only someone could exercise for me.

This Month.

• Fun, Friends, Family:
• Go cherry picking in Leona Valley (planned 6/16 with sister)
• Go lavender picking in northern SD (planned 6/23 with Bessie) 
• Organize Father's Day visits with Denny (planned 6/17)
• Get a hot stone massage with sister before 6/25 (Booked for 6/16 at 4:30pm)
• Start growing herb garden (cilantro, asian basil, mint, chives)
• Plan trip with Carolyn and Melissa (Texted them re SD in late July or August)
• Plan monthly sister trips (Next one Sat 7/7 in Malibu)
• Chores:
• Take Snowy to the groomer towards the end of the month (call Pink Pucci) (Appt 10:30am on Sat 6/30)
• Get an A/C quote (Denny said he's handling)
• Clean the white fence on the side of the house  (Completed 6/9/18)
• Arrange housekeeper visit before new roommate moves in mid-July (Maybe plan on a weekend so I don't need to pay for Snowy daycare?)
• Call PCP to send my prescription to Express Scripts (request email to send form) (Completed 6/12/18)
• Financial:
• Go to Union Bank and close account (Completed 6/11/18)
• Call TD America to unlock account (ask Denny why we don't use Robin Hood) (Completed 6/11/18)
• Interview new tax preparers
• Call Geico to negotiate down car insurance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/tip-13-negotiate-your-car-insurance/ 

Weekly.

• Meal plan and grocery shop on Sundays for the rest of the week
• Do Sunday meetings with Denny
• Goals check-in with Nancy

Daily.

• Make a smoothie every morning
• Wake up at 7am daily and walk Snowy
• Eat a salad for lunch at least 4 days a week
• Go to the gym at Sony at least 2 days a week 

June 2018 Budget Tracker

Purpose.

Below is my first attempt at a monthly budget tracker, which I'm experimenting with to reduce wasteful spending and practice "conscious spending," which is a concept introduced to me by Ramit of I Will Teach You To Be Rich (link). 

My read of conscious spending is that it is about planning -- you create a plan for your money which allows you to make progress on your financial goals while still spending extravagantly on the things that truly add value to your life (guilt-free).  Of course to spend extravagantly on the things that truly add value to your life you must: (1) determine what uses of your money truly add value to your life, and (2) learn to cut costs on everything else. 

I thought the best way to find my own answers to question #1 would be to record my discretionary expenses so that I can easily revisit them days, weeks, or months later to ask myself the question, Marie Kondo-style, "Does this purchase (still) spark joy?"  

Monthly Budget Tracker.

Restaurants/Bars

• Dinner and wine at Nancy's - $0
• Izakaya Hachi (Denny's 37th birthday) - $103.79
• Succulent Cafe (Wedding - brunch in Solvang) - $30.09
• Splash Cafe (Wedding - SLO famous clam chowder) - $20.23
• La Michoacana (Wedding - SFV Mexican ice cream and paleta) - $5
• Wurstkuche (Networking event) - $8.00
• ACC event - $0 
• Mercado (Heaven and Catherine) - $0 (expensed to Heaven's firm - $140)
• Revolutionario (USC meetup) - $0 (paid by Denny - $20)
• Kang Hodong Baekjong - $34.19 (Nancy and Aaron)
• Tanos Kitchen - $59.00 (Dinner with Sarah)
• La Michocana - $7.75 (Dessert with Sarah)
• Marie Calendars - $13.99 (Apple pie for Father's Day)
• Saigon Dish - $0 (Denny paid $15)
• Al Noor - $13.12 (To-go)
• Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens - $16.35 (quesadilla, salad, mrytle berry lemonade, pie with Bessie, Elis and Johnna)  
• Tofu Village - $0 (Denny paid $25)
• Maple Block - $24.22 (with Melissa)
• Gyu Kaku - $60.69 (Dinner with Denny before he left town)
• Total: $396.42
• Target Budget: $350/mo
• Remaining in Budget: -$46.42
• Notes: Somewhat unusual month in that there were 5 weekends (instead of the usual 4) this month.  Nevertheless, increasing budget to $400/mo next month.

Grocery

• Ralphs - $44.96
• Prince Katsu Wasabi Butter Almonds (12 pack box) - $22.99
• Isopure Protein Powder (to add to morning smoothies) - $11.84
• Acai powder (to add to morning smoothies) - $10.87
• Asian market groceries - $0 (Denny purchased, around $50)
• Ralphs - $53.85
• Chevron - $5.09 (2 iced coffees with Sarah)
• Starbucks - $3.75 (coffee on road trip)
• McDonalds - $1.08 (diet coke on road trip)
• Amazon Prime Now - $55.66
• Chevron - $9.97 (2 waters, 2 coffees on way to hike with Melissa)
• Trader Joe's - $81.23 
• Total: $301.29
• Target Budget: $275/mo
• Remaining in Budget: -$26.29
• Notes: Increasing budget to $300/mo next month.

Work Lunch/Coffee

• Total: $131.43
• Target Budget: $120/mo (there are 21 work lunches this month)
• Remaining in Budget: -$11.43
• Notes: 21 lunches = $6.26 per workday.  Next month has 21 lunches too, so increasing budget to $130.

Shopping/Entertainment

• No show socks (4 pairs) for work - $9.99
• Underwear (3 pack) to try - $12.99
• Peppermint pen - $35.00 
• Gems of Pala - $12.50 (Gem mining with Bessie, Elis and Johnna)
• Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens - $3.50 (goat feeding with Bessie, Elis and Johnna)
• Deodorant from Sony health fair (no aluminum etc.) - $10
• Audio to lightening cable converter - $13.44 (due to new iPhone 8 plus)
• Office Depot - $12.03 (notebooks and markers)
• Total: $102.95
• Target Budget: $225/mo
• Remaining in Budget: $122.05
• Notes: Significantly under budget, but shopping is an irregular activity for me, so expect this will eventually shake out (i.e., will spend over $225/mo some months).  Nevertheless, reducing to $200/mo.  Also reworked budget so that it's split into "Regular" and "Irregular" spending categories.

Pet

• Enzyme toothpaste (beef flavor) - $8.91
• No-Hide Beef Chews - $10.57 (Snowy loved these)
• No-Hide Chicken Stix - $10.80 (Snowy didn't care for these)
• Premium lucky treats - $38.35
• Dog Training Collar - $39.83
• Royal Canin Hydropetide Food - $57.57 (Snowy loves this)
• Grooming at Pink Pucci - $65 (including tip)
• Total: $231.03
• Target Budget: $50/mo
• Remaining in Budget: -$181.03
• Notes: Way over budget, but this is also an irregular expense for me, so retooling budget to increase monthly to $75/mo and moved this to the "Irregular" spending category.  Need to return Dog Training Collar.

Gas/Parking/Uber

• Gas - $35.58
• Parking (Santa Monica - Heaven and Catherine) - $3.10
• Valet parking - $3.00
• Gas - $28.49 (Antelope valley day trip)
• Gas - $32.23
• Gas - $35.37
• Parking - $1 (Meter parking at Maple Block with Melissa)
• Total: $138.77 
• Target Budget: $130/mo
• Remaining in Budget: -$8.77
• Notes: Feel like gas efficiency may be impacted by either car's performance or excessive use of A/C.  Need to check odometer to calculate dollars per mile this month.  I recall my gas used to be only $75/mo this winter.

Personal/Professional Development

• CAPE Leaders Fellowship Application - $25
• UCLA Extension Program Application - $200
• Total: $225.00
• Target Budget: $250/mo ($3,000/year)
• Remaining in Budget: $2,775

Actions for Next Month.

• Spend $0 (discretionary expenses only of course) on Snowy to off-set heavy spending month.
• Return the training collar.
• Buy iced coffees and diet coke from the market (instead of buying at gas station)
• Use re-usable water bottle instead of buying waters.
• Plan more budget check-ins with Nancy
• Research selling tourmaline from Gems of Pala