Goals update: August

Read 100 books in 2012.

Closing in on it, with #83. Ann Patchett's Run was a captivating set of insights into a family's complex bonds, including birth order, transracial adoption, and parental expectations.

Exercise for 90 minutes per week.
I'm managing a bit more walking, but no regular exercise. This year has been pretty bad for it.


Get rid of (sell, donate, recycle) 80 items from the house by the end of the year.


Write 70 posts for this blog in 2012.
38 new posts this month, for a running total of 145 (more than twice the original goal!).

Volunteer 60 hours in 2012.
Some committee meetings for church, and time selecting Read Aloud books... but it doesn't seem like I should count those. I'm not sure what exactly makes something seem like a "volunteer hour" to me, but despite my extracurricular commitments, I haven't racked up very many.

Save or donate 50 percent of my take-home income.
In August, I saved 60.2% and donated 6% 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: 13.5%
Xmas 2012: 0% Stopped saving. 
Wedding: 0% Done.
House Fund: 5.1% Stopped saving.
Grad School: 15.9% Snowflaked some Amazon sales; not enough credit card cash-back rewards to redeem this month. I also got a refund of the "extra" financial aid funds after tuition was paid, but I'm just hanging onto those and won't count them in my savings total.
Roth IRA: 25.7% (most of the 3rd paycheck this month)
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. (FSA saving is complete for the year -- now I have to spend it!)
Investments: 0%
Church Pledge: 5.1%
Other Donations: < 1%

Distribute 40 business cards by the end of the year.
Only about midway on this goal. I should go to an SJSU meetup!

Spend 30 days without a phone or computer in 2012.
I went without a phone for a whole weekend after wrapping up the semester, but I used the computer for entertainment. That's a running total of 4 days with no phone OR computer, and 4 more days with no phone.

Be able to do 20 pushups at once by the end of the year.
Completely abandoned. Bah!

Write 10 recommendations on LinkedIn in 2012.
No more to add this month.


Bonus:

Reorganize the pantry and kitchen cabinets. NOT DONE
Waiting for the housemate to move out -- that date was bumped about 2 weeks, so this will be a September goal.

Sell stuff. DONE
I'll be writing up some more details about how reselling my old textbooks on Amazon funds my upcoming semesters.

Close storage unit. DONE
It came down to the wire, but my sweetie got everything moved out and stacked up in the apartment today. We'll be navigating boxes for a while until some things get sold off and all of the housemate's stuff is moved. But hooray! That payment can now go toward rent.

Book honeymoon. DONE
We have our reservations, but were greatly disappointed to learn (AFTER we'd booked for our Tuesday/Wednesday stay) that Knott's won't be running the Halloween Haunt during the week this year. Unfortunately, our flights have been booked and can't be changed, so we're missing out on a trip we've been planning for more than a year. I'm sure we weren't the only people looking forward to awesome scary mazes and a pre-Scare buffet and being out in the park until very late. I expect KBF staff had to contact all of the guests who had booked Haunt packages on Wednesdays or Thursdays. They refunded the difference between the Haunt package and the regular stay, but (if I wanted to be hysterical about it, which occasionally I do) they've already RUINED MY HONEYMOON. *sulk* We're still going to stay there and enjoy the park, but it's not the same.