Goals check-in: July

This is late 'cause I am swamped at the end of the semester. Sooo much work to do for 271A and the internship, church is having some administrative reorganizing, and we're about two and a half months out from the wedding. Ack!



Read 100 books in 2012.

Got up to #73. Slowly. Instead of my usual pleasure reading, I have been scanning a LOT of children's picturebooks for my internship and for 271A. I guess I can count the full-length graphic novels. I also had a few books that I just didn't finish! (One got taken back to the library; one is... somewhere around the apartment.) Currently working on Stephen King's Cell, which I had a vague idea was the story that got made into this hostage/sniper movie (not the Jennifer Lopez one), but apparently it's closer to zombie apocalypse.

Exercise for 90 minutes per week.
Nope. I walk about half an hour a day during my commute, but that's just necessity. I've been glued to the computer this summer with homework.


Get rid of (sell, donate, recycle) 80 items from the house by the end of the year.
I quit counting after 98, but I did take a handful of fancy items to a recent clothing swap. I haven't worn them in a while, can't see an occasion in the near future where I will, and don't need them. Although I don't shop often and this is rather unusual, two dresses had never been worn (one still had the tags on) because I bought them online and they didn't really fit. Instead of paying return shipping, I figured I'd sell them, but ended up donating to the swap instead.


Write 70 posts for this blog in 2012.
48 posts this month, for a running total of 115. My 271A book reviews kicked this up -- hopefully I'll be back to posting at a normal rate in the end of August.


Volunteer 60 hours in 2012.
My time spent on the internship is the bulk of my "volunteer" hours. I don't have much free time elsewhere! Soon I'll be starting up a new year in the Read Aloud program, so I can count that.


Save or donate 50 percent of my take-home income.
In July, I saved 63.8% and donated 9% of my net income. (I'm counting the cash I applied to the accounts, not any interest earned.)
Here's how it broke down:
Emergency Savings: 13.1% Skipped one usual transfer to apply it to rent.
Xmas 2012: 4% Stopped saving. 
Wedding: 0% Done.
House Fund: 8.1% Stopped saving.
Grad School: 24.6% Snowflaked some Amazon sales and credit card cash-back rewards.
Roth IRA: 14.1% Included a quarterly paycheck bonus.
401(k): taken from paycheck; 5% of gross income; not counted in this total
HSA and medical FSA: taken from paycheck; not counted in this total. When adding my sweetie to the insurance plan, I stopped saving for the medical FSA.
Investments: 0% this month; waiting for some windfall that's not already earmarked. Still waiting.
Church Pledge: 8.1% I switched to an auto-pay through my bank, which sends a physical check to the church office. It costs me $6 less but nets the same amount, because when I donated with a recurring credit card charge, I covered the church's administrative fees.
Other Donations: 1% Although I had unexpected expenses and couldn't donate the full monthly amount I usually do, I contributed to Mary's Meals, which will make the money stretch further.


Distribute 40 business cards by the end of the year.
I chatted up a 2005 SLIS graduate (now working at Stanford) at the internship site, but didn't give him my card. I think one went to the caterer (even though it's the wrong email address). That makes, like, 20? I dunno.


Spend 30 days without a phone or computer in 2012.
Two weekend days without a phone, but I had to use the computer for homework.


Be able to do 20 pushups at once by the end of the year.
LOLZ, no. Just no. I spent a couple days curled up in pain from my lower back -- pushups aren't on the table right now.


Write 10 recommendations on LinkedIn in 2012.
A few excellent coworkers have moved on in recent weeks. I'm connected with them on LinkedIn; maybe I will send them recs and let them post if desired.





Bonus:

Save change. DONE
I haven't added it up yet -- will edit here when I have a total.


Sell stuff. DONE
More of my old books have been purchased on Amazon; the proceeds go to my grad school account (and will probably be used to buy used textbooks from Amazon anyway). I organized a couple of shelves for the inventory I have listed as available. No bites on the Craigslist stuff. Lowered prices.


Settle wedding plans. DONE
Confirmed a venue (free!) and have met with a local caterer, who thinks she can drop off something blackberry-themed that's in our budget (the amount we'd have spent on the venue) and save us some stress the day of the wedding. We still get to use the thrifted china. :) Made my bouquet (still needs some finishing touches) but not the hairpiece. Finally hooked my dad and sister up with sheet music (after forgetting at least twice). NONE of my bridesmaids have gotten back to me about their dresses and we're 11 weeks out, so I'm not sure what to do there, but I'm trying to let it go. They'll either have purple dresses or they won't, but as long as they're present and accounted for, I'm happy. Invitations (the re-printed ones with the new address) are ready to go as soon as the address labels are printed and applied. My dress had its very minor alterations done, and hopefully my SUPER AWESOME PETTICOAT will arrive in the next week. My darling party-throwing friend is up for a bachelorette party that thankfully will not be a pub crawl but may still have karaoke. We got our official paperwork back from the Secretary of State. I'm in a good place.