Results: October goals

1. Be active
2. Stick to a budget
3. Put myself out there

Just three goals this month which I think was more manageable than September goals. I feel good about this month. 

Being active as a family has gone very well. We went fishing and hiking one Sunday, went bike riding one Saturday afternoon and overall just tried to spend more time outdoors to enjoy the weather while it lasts. We even rode our bikes to my packet pick-up for my race and I rode my bike to and from the race later that day. Plus all that walking for some Halloween candy totally counts :)

My last race of the year

Oh the budget! I've been listening to Dave Ramsey podcasts on iHeartRadio for the entire month and learning a lot from reading his book Total Money Makeover. It's a good thing that this was a goal for the month because we had to evict our tenants at the beginning of the month and we are in for a bunch of rental house repairs next month once they are gone. That means we also have to make two mortgage payments out of our own funds for the month of November which won't be any fun in the money department. Budgeting has become extra strict this month because of all these unexpected expenses. No more going out to eat during the week for lunch (I only use to go once a week but I've cut that out). No more chai lattes from Starbucks to keep me awake a couple times a month at work. No extra spending aside from what we absolutely need. Any time the hubby says something from a restaurant sounds good to eat, I come up with an alternative to eat at home. The kids are having a hard time getting used to the spending restrictions but I know we'll all come through alive. 

We played BINGO at school one night as our cheap entertainment. Total spent = $6!

Budgeting is hard, but putting myself out there was even tougher for me. I desperately want a new job and I look daily at the job postings and apply for anything that sounds remotely interesting to me. I finally scored an interview for a position that I applied for. Turns out I was qualified for two positions they had open in their marketing department so I felt better about my chances. The interview went well and I got asked back for a second interview before even leaving the first one. Unfortunately, I've heard some not great things about the people who work there which is making me very nervous about the position. It's a software company so it is very male dominate and my new boss actually worked for my current company before I started and I've heard stories about his behavior. I could probably deal with the male dominate environment but I'm not sure I can deal with a douchey boss. I haven't scheduled the second interview yet so I'm continuing to look.

Come back tomorrow and see what I have planned for November. It's getting crazy around here!

I'll take the cash

With the holidays approaching I thought others might enjoy knowing about this site. Let's start off with, I was not paid to say any of this, I found the site all on my own and used it and this is my experience with it. 

GiftCardRescue.com ... take your unwanted gift cards from $20-$5,000 and get paid cash for them! Or you can get back even more by getting an Amazon credit. 

I received a $25 gift card for the Olive Garden last Christmas. We don't eat at the Olive Garden, and it is on the opposite side of town from us so it's been sitting in our drawer. I went to their site and within minutes had sold my $25 gift card for $20 cash! (I could've taken $21 Amazon credit but I like cash!) You can also buy gift cards from them at a discount as well, some up to 10% off the card value. I had to pay for the stamp to send in my gift card but I think it was worth it. They sent me an email when my check was on the way so all I had to do was wait for Mr. Postman. Now what to do with my $20?

I did it again!

Remember when I hit my reading goal for the year so I decided to up to 45 books for the year? Well holy moly I did it (I even threw in an extra because I didn't realize it)! And it's not even November! Here's what I've read this year ...

Favorites: Fifty Shades series, Born to Run, Body Movers series, anything from Gillian Flynn

Worth skipping: Girls in White Dresses, My Fair Lazy (Jen has so many better books), Friends Like Us

What's next: Finishing out the Pretty Little Liars series, I like that it is an easy read but still can hold your interest. And then I'll move on to Sylvia Day's Crossfire series. I'm seeing a bit of a series trend here :) Oh I also can't wait to read book #7 from Stephanie Bond's Body Movers series.