The fastest summer on record has come and gone. At least for me.! I am working on completing a couple more items that I did not finish this summer. Sounds strange to say but I am hopefully that sense, I am back at work, things will become smoother and less hectic!

Groceries- Budget $975   $ 922.23 Goal Met! I am planning for this number to continue to go down for the rest of the year. My current plan is to shop as close to once a month as possible and to only buy items that are a really good deal or that we are currently completely out of.

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal Not Met!  We have spent $715.15 This includes all the gas we spent traveling to and from Florida.

Blogging- 15 posts per month. This is post number 5 I just can’t find my groove for blogging. I end up busy and then I just want to veggie. I need to find a balance.

Exercise- I managed to work approximately 30 miles at Disney without pain. But with medication changes and stress, I am now down to walking once a week with lots of pain.

Summer Goals
1. Kitchen Floor- Complete with a nightmare story. I can’t share due to my agreement. But I was not happy.
2. Bathroom Floor (Matt responsible) – This has started and will likely be finished mid September.
3. New to me car- Purchased and it is the nicest car I have ever owned. I am curently looking at refinancing for a lower interest rate and easier payment method.
4. Back Deck- We have an estimate and it will be after the Bathroom is completed.
5.  Purchase and process a whole cow including canning broth and ground hamburger. DONE!
6. Restock freezer with 100 meals and at least 50 breakfast burritos and 52 packs of bagels. I am going to make this as a success!!!! I am actually surprised and pleased with how much food we currently have on hand!

I am afraid to say this out loud but I feel that July was the slowest month of the year for us. This has included multiple doctor appointments, both Lily and Kendall working pretty much every day and Zach having both driver’s education and football. I do remember this busy season when we have teenagers in the house before, so I knew in the back of my head it was coming.  The good news is that I was able to sneak in a trip to the outlet mall to purchase back to school clothing as well.  Another plus is that we actually have accomplished most of my goals for the summer. I currently have 21 days until returning to work fulltime ready or not.

Groceries- Budget $975   $ 1051.13 Goal Not Met! I did purchase 4 boxes of tomatoes. Otherwise it has been purchasing things to restock the pantry. I have decided that I would like to use the pantry August through May and only buy what is needed/ we are out of and use the summer to get things back in order.

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal Met!  We have spent $374.50 It does help with our gas cost that I am not driving to work currently.

Blogging- 15 posts per month. This is post number 11. I just can’t find my groove for blogging. I end up busy and then I just want to veggie. I need to find a balance.

Exercise- I got a shot in my knee in the middle of July. So far since then I have logged 4 days of exercise.

Summer Goals
1. Kitchen Floor- Complete with a nightmare story. I can’t share due to my agreement. But I was not happy.
2. Bathroom Floor (Matt responsible) – We have an estimate and waiting on the installation. We met with the contractor and this should start in a couple of weeks.
3. New to me car- Purchased and it is the nicest car I have ever owned.
4. Back Deck- We have an estimate and it will be after the Bathroom is completed.
5.  Purchase and process a whole cow including canning broth and ground hamburger. DONE!
6. Restock freezer with 100 meals and at least 50 breakfast burritos and 52 packs of bagels.  I have made huge progress in this area. In fact, the kids are complaining that the freezer is getting too full. I have the breakfast burritos. I have 42 jars of spaghetti sauce along with 3 cheeseburger pies, a chicken lasagna, 4 cheeseburger pizzas, a baked ziti and 3 baked spaghettis. I also have another 20 jars of cooked hamburger meat in the canning pantry along with multiple jars of soups.  I need to add chicken and pork chops, but I am getting very close on this one.

August is a extremely busy but exciting month. My birthday trip is to Disney, Lily moves to Disney for the college program, Kendall starts community college and Zach is playing football!

This June was one of the busiest months, I can remember. I honestly don’t even feel like I have started my summer break yet. I am also very aware of how little actual time I will have this summer to enjoy the break. But I am reminding myself that each season has positive and negative and God’s plan is much better than my plan.  July is busy but i am hoping to get everything together by the end of July.

Groceries- Budget $975   $ 1437.76 Goal Not Met! This included supplies for Kendall’s birthday party as well as my trying to restock some needed things. I also have seen reports of 50% increase in groceries in the last year.

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal Met!  We have spent $575.37

Blogging- 15 posts per month. This is post number 9. Busy and I can say I tried!

Exercise- I am having lots of Knee pain…. not sure what to do…

Summer Goals
1. Kitchen Floor- Complete with a nightmare story that I will be sharing including pictures once I have settled with Home Depot.
2. Bathroom Floor (Matt responsible) – We have an estimate and waiting on the installation.
3. New to me car- Purchased and it is the nicest car I have ever owned.
4. Back Deck- We have an estimate and it will be after the Bathroom is completed.
5.  Purchase and process a whole cow including canning broth and ground hamburger. DONE!
6. Restock freezer with 100 meals and at least 50 breakfast burritos and 52 packs of bagels.  This has been the biggest struggle so far. I have about 25 breakfast burritos and one baked ziti in the freezer as of now.

Groceries- Budget $975   $ 952.56 Goal Met! Unless you count of course the cost of the whole cow we purchased.

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal Met!  We have spent $441.14

Blogging- 15 posts per month. This is post number 13.  I am going to call this one a win as it is much better than April!

Exercise- Walked in the pool on 2 days. Still did not get to the YMCA.

Summer Goals
1. Kitchen Floor- Scheduled for June 18th
2. Bathroom Floor (Matt responsible) – We have an estimate and it should happen in June as well!
3. New to me car-  Planning for this soon
4. Back Deck- We have an estimate and it will be after the Bathroom is completed.
5.  Purchase and process a whole cow including canning broth and ground hamburger. DONE!
6. Restock freezer with 100 meals and at least 50 breakfast burritos and 52 packs of bagels.

I have 2 weeks of work left. Things are going to be crazy for the next couple of week. Hopefully I can share along the way!

April was a really fun month. We started it off at Disney so how can I complain? I did come home with a nasty cold which put me out for the first two weeks of the month.  This month I have also been dealing with increased pain due to my psoriatic arthritis.  My insurance stopped paying for Humera and it took almost a full month to get the new prescription.   I am hoping it will help and I can get back to life. 

Groceries- Budget $975/ $450   $ 945.76 Goal Met! By the skin of my teeth! 

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal Met!  We have spent $257.17 without gas to and from Disney. Including Disney gas we ended up at $750. 

Blogging- 15 posts per month. 4 posts this month. Yeap a struggle.  I knew this was low but wow this may be the least ever. 

Exercise-We walked a total of 25 miles at Disney. I have not been able to walk since.  Better things are coming once I get all my medications fixed. 

Earn extra money: a $50 gift card from Fetch.  They moved the goal but I was able to cash in for a $50 gift card to Amazon!   I will only go for $10 in the future as it took me a year to earn this card.

TIME for Summer Goals
1. Kitchen Floor
2. Bathroom Floor (Matt responsible)
3. New to me car
4. Back Deck?  Redo  if possible
5.  Purchase and process a whole cow including canning broth and ground hamburger
6. Restock freezer with 100 meals and at least 50 breakfast burritos and 52 packs of bagels.

Sounds like I am going to be super busy!

December was a hard and busy month. I got to make two trips to Florida and visited with Haley both times!  We have had quite a bit of sickness this month. Matt missed 3 days of work. I have missed several days of my Christmas Break due to being sick.  Now is the time to start looking ahead and planning for the future after reviewing goals of course!

Groceries- Budget $975   $1564.96 Goal NOT met!  I am heading into the pantry challenge where I hope to save enough to purchase at least half a cow this summer.

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal NOT Met!  We have spent $561.57 this month.  The most expensive part of our trip to Florida was gas. We get 8.9 miles to the gallon when pulling the camper.

Blogging- 15 post per month.  9  post this month.  I am continuing to struggle with this again.

Exercise- I am struggling both with my health and how to improve it!  I am losing a small bit of weight. I have been sick at least the last week and half so no progress.

Earn extra money: a $50 gift card from Fetch.  I am at 45552. That means I need 7448 more points. Or 30 more receipts to scan at the minimum.  I seriously doubt I hit this goal before March at this point but I will keep working.

November has flown by!  We have stayed much busier than expected.  I am hoping to get a handle on my life and schedule but seriously December is going to be just as busy!

Groceries- Budget $975   $726.18 Goal met!  Going to try something new in December. First I am using Walmart Delivery for this month. My goal is to get and keep stocked while controlling the budget. I do like the fact I can see what I am spending as I go.  Second I will be moving any amount left in the budget to a separate account marked for meat purchases.

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal Met!  We have spent $384.64 this month.  Gas prices are coming down. Lots of driving planned for December!

Blogging- 15 post per month.  10 post this month. Small increase are always good!

Exercise- I am struggling both with my health and how to improve it!  I am losing a small bit of weight. The goal for December is to maintain with more weight loss focus in January.

Earn extra money: a $50 gift card from Fetch.  I am at 40000 need to get to 53000. This has been such a slow process.  Doubt I will get this card this month!

October has come and gone.  And nope I did not find the balance for life.  November and December are my favorite months!    I am going to try and get better with doing things and keeping up!

Groceries- Budget = $975.$475   $1455   Goal NOT met! The problem is that we had 5 weekends this month so it resulted in two shopping trips to Costco. Yikes!

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal Met!  We have spent $468.55 this month.  I am not sure why but Matt’s job change has not resulted in a decrease in the gas budget.

Blogging- 15 post per month.  7 post this month. I am actually really surprised that this was as high as it was!  I am hoping for more balance.

Exercise- I am struggling both with my health and how to improve it!

Earn extra money: a $50 gift card from Fetch.  I am at 37000 need to get to 53000. This has been such a slow process.  Not even sure if I will get the $50 by Christmas

September has ended. I am struggling to get back into a routine and to balance work and home.  The goal for October is balance…

Groceries- Budget = $975.$475   $396   Goal met! I have been working to use what we have and to eliminate waste!  Menu planning is in full force but we are also giving ourselves grace to eat out if needed!

Auto/ Gas. Goal -= $600.  Goal Met!  We have spent $436.50 this month. This is still significantly higher than I was hoping for but I plan to get an average for next year based on September to December.

Blogging- 15 post per month.  7 post this month. Did I mention needing to improve on my balance.

Exercise- 1 enough said!

Earn extra money: a $50 gift card from Fetch.  I am at 35000 need to get to 53000