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Review of the month and July goals

1st July 2020 by shoestringjane@outlook.com 5 Comments

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Here is my review of the month of June and my goals for July.

July goals

review of the month

I don’t always set myself monthly goals, but when I do I find I focus more. However, I don’t always achieve them! Sometimes I think I don’t focus on the right things or I am not realistic about my chances of achieving them. I say I am going to decorate a room, for example, without checking that I am going to have the time!

When I set unrealistic goals that I then don’t achieve, it makes me irritable and anxious. I need to really think about what I want and whether it’s possible right now.

Occasionally I forget what my goals are until I think about the review, which makes setting them rather a pointless exercise. Since I am generally a bit scatter brained, I am going to write my goals out and stick them to the wall in front of my desk. That should keep me focused.

1# Making an early start

One of my goals for the year was to get up earlier. I should have decided to get up earlier and get things done! In reality, I often wake up pretty early, around 5 or 6 am, but then grab a cup of tea, take it back to bed and get lost on Twitter or the internet generally.

This month, I am going to be more specific and set my alarm for 6 am Monday to Friday, get up and dressed, take the dog out and then start work.

review of the month
That face though!

As Archie doesn’t like the heat, taking him out early is sensible. However, what often happens is that we fall out of bed, throw on some clothes and take him, then shower and get ready when we get back. Before you know it, it’s 10.30 and nothing has been achieved!

On rainy days, it works better for me to get myself ready, do an hour’s work and then walk the dog. I am so much more productive and creative first thing, so I need to take advantage of that.

2# Track my hours

I really have no idea how many hours a week I work at the moment. One of the things I love about self-employment is that I can set my own schedule. However, with the easing of the lock down, recently I have been distracted by activities other than work.

review of the month
Keeping it simple

I need to be a bit more focused and self-disciplined, and not swan off to see family and friends, or hit the charity shops when I haven’t spent enough time working.

I have tried tracking my hours before and even installed an app on my phone. However, I got too bogged down in the detail and lost enthusiasm. This month, I am going to try a more simple system in the form of a notebook by my laptop.

I will note down roughly my start and finish times and what I was generally doing, rather than trying to work out precisely how many minutes I spend photographing, how long washing and ironing stock, how long blogging, etc.

At this point I just want to see how many hours I am working, and try to do at least 30 hours each week.

3# Sort my unlisted stock and office space

As regular readers will know, I earn some of my income by reselling on eBay. Even though I had no boot sales or charity shops to go to, because I am a slow lister I still have loads of unlisted items hanging around.

review of the month
Pile of shame!

In fact, there is an extremely untidy corner of my little office where there are piles of it. It’s simply not a big enough space to be this disorganised! I keep going in there to vacuum, then leaving it because there is so little floor space!

The plan is to find a place to store it – possibly in the shed in plastic boxes – with some kind of clear system so that I don’t forget about it. I am thinking one box could be bric-a-brac, another could be winter clothing to be listed September time, etc.

I also have piles of old comics and Warhammer type magazines that need to be sorted into lots. If I store them somewhere I will deliberately ignore them. I have no interest in them or enthusiasm to list them either, but the sooner I do the sooner I can free up some space!

review of the month
This one’s even worse!

The other thing that needs sorting in my office is all the cardboard boxes I keep. You never know when you will need a good box, so I hang onto any that I come across. However, they are currently in a big mess. I think I need a large plastic container for those as well.

4# Go through my listed stock and reduce prices

I really need to do a review of some of the things I am trying to sell that have been hanging around for ages. If they aren’t selling, why is that? Have I set the price too high? Could the photos and description be improved? Or are they just not popular items and would be best donated to the charity shop?

I don’t have enough storage space for things to sit around for years, so I want to go through all of my listings and reduce prices, improve the listings and end them altogether if necessary.

5# Freelance writing

review of the month

I love writing – it’s one of the reasons I started this blog. In fact, I am even working on a book.

Occasionally, I pick up a bit of freelance writing work. This was always something I planned to expand on, but my time and focus has been spent elsewhere. This month I would like to research ways to find more freelance opportunities, how to pitch, what to charge, etc.

I would love to do more writing and make this a worthwhile and enjoyable part of my income generation, but it requires some time and effort. Something to do instead of lazing in front of the TV in the evenings maybe!

6# Read the damn book

The book in question is Total Recall: Perfect Response Training for Puppies and Adult Dogs*. Archie is a cute little boy, but he is also a law unto himself.

review of the month

When it is just me and Mr S out walking, it is pretty easy to call him back – especially if you have a cube of cheese or some tasty dog treats about your person. However, if he sees another of his doggy friends, or any birds, he is off!

I received the book from Amazon a few weeks ago, but have only read a few chapters. I can’t leave it lying around in case the flipping dog eats it! The best place to keep it so that I remember to read a bit each time I take a break from work is by the kettle, I have decided.

We also managed to find a puppy training class and book him in, starting at the end of the month. They have an outdoor training area fortunately, so are able to restart their classes earlier than other dog trainers. So, off to school for Archie! We need all the help we can get…. Puppies are almost as hard to parent as children, I have decided!

Chewing monster

review of the monthTalking of Archie, we fell out big time this month. He is literally chewing everything. Now that he has his adult teeth, he has decided to start on the fixtures and fittings. Several times we have had to stop him biting the skirting boards, he has ripped up the hall carpet (luckily this is due to be replaced, but not until he has calmed down!) and his most recent triumph was eating one of the spindles on the banisters.

He also decided to strip the wallpaper in the hallway. We were trying to decide whether to repaper or just repair and paint over it. Think he has made the decision for us now….

review of the monthWe are definitely putting plans to redecorate the hall on hold! I would be gutted to repaint and paper it all only for him to destroy it.

Having said all of the above, I am going to go easy on myself if things don’t go to plan. It is easy to start to feel overwhelmed and anxious if you spread yourself too thinly, as I said in this post.

Review of the month, June 2020

My goals for June were as follows:

Weed control

I did manage to weed the veg patch early in the month. However, the weeds are growing fast so it urgently needs doing again and more often.

Mr S did all the flower beds, although the pesky bindweed is proving an issue as usual. We are trying to keep on top of it. Let’s hope it’s a bit cooler this month, as the heat zaps my energy and enthusiasm.

Hustling

I intended to do a bit of hustling to drum up some work for the blog. Fortunately, a couple of opportunities arrived by themselves. Unfortunately, this made me a bit complacent and I have done little work on this goal. However, I am going to focus just on freelancing this month, as I said above.

100 listings

review of the monthMy eBay goal every month is to do 100 listings. I hardly ever quite manage it! During June I managed 85 listings. I am a slow lister, but I really need to speed up!

I have been watching some You Tubers who are eBay resellers to see how they do it. I wrote this post about my favourite eBay resellers to follow on You Tube here if you want to find out more about how it all works.

Reducing the grocery bill

This subject seems to appear on all review of the month posts. There is no doubt that going back to shopping at Aldi rather than online at at small local shops has reduced the cost of our food this month. A rough calculation suggests we spent about 20-25% less on food during June than we had for the previous three months.

In an idea world, I would buy lots of our food from small independents and farm shops. However, our household income has reduced since Covid-19 arrived and who knows what the future holds? We need to pay the bills so it is important to reduce as many of our costs as possible. Aldi is the way forward I think!

Washing the cars

review of the monthI finally got round to cleaning my car! I hoovered and polished it inside and gave it a good wash and wax outside. Mr S hasn’t done his yet, so I need to give him a little kick on that one. Still, it was my goal and not his!

Decluttering the kitchen drawers

I did this one early in the month to get it out of the way. Little and often works for me when it comes to decluttering. If I aim to do too much at any one time, I struggle to find the motivation to get started.

review of the month
I wondered where all the string was!

I know Marie Kondo says to do it all at once, but I simply don’t have time to go through the whole house and having a puppy helping is liable to send my blood pressure soaring.

So, that is my review of the month. Hopefully, I have set some realistic goals for July. Time will tell.

How has your month been? Do you have anything you really want to achieve in July?

This post contains affiliate links marked with *. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission.

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Comments

  1. Chrissie says

    1st July 2020 at 11:30

    Archie is so cute but what a tinker ! Have you tried him with a Kong to satisfy his urge to chew, smearing it with a bit of peanut butter right to the bottom used to keep ours happy for ages. A friend of ours had her dog trained beautifully to recall , she did it by hiding from him in the house so that he was so pleased to have found her he was always grateful to come back but some dogs especially when teenagers, prefer to hang out with their mates !

    Reply
    • shoestringjane@outlook.com says

      1st July 2020 at 11:50

      I bought a Kong yesterday in the range! Hope it works

      Reply
  2. Julia says

    1st July 2020 at 11:40

    Ouch – that is some chewing!!

    I’m not sure what July goals to make – I don’t think I’ve kept any of the other months goals anyway! This year just seems to be ‘on hold’ as far as I’m concerned!

    I’d be tempted to slice along the tape with the boxes and flatten them for easy storage. You can always make them up again when needed, but it will take up so much less space in the meantime – even sliding into spaces between furniture.

    My food bill keeps going up and up, but now I have another one living full time at home it’s not likely to change any time soon!
    PlusI’ve fallen out of love with my nearest Aldi, and have only been there once since the lockdownr. It involves a bus ride to get there and isn’t that great when you do! The only advantage is that it also has a large Asda and Sainsburys within a few hundred metres in which I can get the items my much smaller local branches don’t have. It’s also the only supermarket I’ve seen in weeks that has had a queue to get in – and I’m not about to hang around waiting when there are others I can walk straight into!

    Reply
    • shoestringjane@outlook.com says

      1st July 2020 at 12:16

      I have so many boxes that are flattened. I just need to do them as I go rather than chucking them on the pile!! No queue at our Aldi thankfully, but I do choose quiet times

      Reply
  3. Ozzie says

    1st July 2020 at 16:02

    My 10 month old welsh terrier hasnt chewed but he has scratched the plaster in my hall. We are leaving it another couple of months then we will repair.

    I’ve found lockdown hard and I’ve done very little. But like you I’m trying to make a list and stick to it.

    Reply

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About Me

Would you like to take control of your finances, pay off your debts and save for the future? At Shoestring Cottage we aim to show you that you can live a good and happy life on less than you think, you can get off the consumer treadmill and you can live more simply and healthily and not feel deprived.
We are also moving toward a less wasteful, more sustainable lifestyle and believe frugality and sustainability go hand in hand. Read More…

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