October 23, 2019October 23, 2019 FOGA

September 2019 Goals Update

Goals, Lifestyle

Hello FOGA Readers! Happy October and welcome to the incredibly late September 2019 Goals Update. 

Yes, I am writing a goals update with only eight days left in the current month. Done something similar before, so why not. 😂

Let’s get to it.

September Wrap Up

This September was an interesting month all around. For work, it was the last month of the fiscal year. That got a little crazy. Turned out well with me selling five homes. Finers crossed they all make it to closing.

I also got to “meet” my new partners (already knew them, but never worked with them) and they know I will be working with them. That won’t be happening until December, so we have some time there. I am definitely going to miss my current partner who is awesome. 🙂

Some people had questions about how a “promotion” would work for me. Promotions in my world would not be going into management or anything like that. That path does exist, but it is a pay cut. For me, promotion is when they move you to a better performing community. In some cases, going to another community and selling the same amount of homes as you did in the last one would net you $40,000 more a year. Hence my use of the word promotion. It is still the same job, but in another location making more money.

Another big thing that I mentioned in New Directions is Mr. FOGA going part-time. That has been approved and will be starting at the end of October.

There was also a good amount of Dungeons and Dragons. We are somehow still alive being a two-person party.

Lastly, I did something fun for me and got a fun color in my hair. I was actually told that color may not go over well at work. After careful consideration, I decided that wasn’t really my problem and went with it. Figured they could handle the two months it would last for. Turns out, it’s all good. 😁

https://twitter.com/fromonegeek/status/1176674495525982208

Top Posts

Most Popular FOGA Post in August: Depression & Me
I was not surprised that it was the most popular one, but I was surprised by how many people shared it. This one took me a long time to write. I had been planning it since June but never figured out how to get it on paper. Glad I did. It was very freeing.

My Favorite FOGA Post in August: Depression & Me
Yep. My first time my favorite one was the most popular. It was my favorite because I wrote it. I didn’t think I would be able to write it much less post it for others to read.

My Favorite Post in August: Dave Ramsey Thinks You Are Too Undisciplined For Good Financial Advice
It summed up a lot of what I don’t like about Dave Ramsey’s advice and just general personality. A great read.

Goals for September

I’ll start off by saying that last month was a crazy month and some things got left by the wayside. Then I slid into a funk for a portion of the month that lasted a number of weeks. With that, some of this just didn’t get done.

So, how I do on the goals?

• Stay Under $550 for Eating Out. FAILED, but not really. Stopped tracking and caring about this. At the end of the day, we can afford how much we eat out and it is one of the things that does manage to cheer me up. With work about to get even crazier and everything going on, I am not limiting this. Not planning to go crazy, but no interest in making myself feel bad for getting ice cream when I am feeling down or Popeyes when I have a migraine. 
• Put $1500 into Savings for New Car. PASS! We are on track for Mr. FOGA’s car. Good thing too. Parts are starting to leak (the oil & the windows), so we started at a good time. Fingers crossed for a new car in 2020. 
• Set Aside $1500 for Vanguard. FAIL. Got $1050 set aside, so not bad. 🙂
• Finish Six Books. FAIL. I did finish quite a few though. Happy I had a fund day bingeing a bunch of them, because the month defintiely got away from me. Going to have to get used to my new normal. 
• Work Five Times This Month. Who knows! I say who knows, because I didn’t count. I have extended working out to include meeting my step goal, but since my fitbit was out of commission for the majoriry of September/October, I haven’t the foggiest idea. More than likely not, but I have been a lot more active this past month. 
• Clean Out the Excess Stuff from the Closet. New Direction. After reading some people’s experiences, I deicded to put a few things on Poshmark and see how that goes. So far not much going on with it. I want to try it for at least a month and see how it does. 

Blog Goals for September

• Post Four Times this Month on Tuesdays. 
• Get One Week Ahead on Posts. 
• Equal or Beat 775 Monthly Views.
• Track Twitter & Pinterest Growth. 

These were the goals and tracking for September. Going forward, I won’t be doing this. At the end of the day, I am not blogging for numbers or page views so it doesn’t really matter. With everything taking so much energy from me lately, I am cutting back on what really doesn’t matter. I blog because I find it fun and to be able to connect with people. If that leads to high page views then cool. If it doesn’t, that’s cool as well.

Blogging is not a business. At least, not to me.

Goals for October

With eight days left, I dare to make this section. 😂 Thankfully, I make the goals every month regardless of when I actually post this.

In October, I will get two paychecks, but they will be small due to the price point. Plus, we are going on vacation for our anniversary.

Also, Mr. FOGA’s income will be fluctuating a bit as he works overnights and recovers from a fall at work. Thankfully, he is mostly recovered now.

Here are the October goals:

• Put $250 into Savings for New Car. Not a lot of excess funds this month with the vacation.
• Set Aside $250 for Vanguard. Same thing here. This will put us at $1500 saved. Whether this goes into Vanguard, Fundrise, or Schwab (back on the table), we are not sure.  
• Finish One Finance Book. I went specific for the type of book with this one. I am actually reading one and I’m a couple of chapters in. 🙂
• Work Five Times This Month. I will need to track this. I only started tracking again this past weekend. So far I am at two. Let’s see if I can double it. It should be fairly easy in eight days.
• Clean Out the Excess Stuff from the Closet. Poshmark will last through November, but the excess stuff that wouldn’t work for Poshmark needs to go. Apparently, my mom has some stuff she wants to get rid of as well, so we’ll probably go together.

Plans for October

There is actually stuff that happened or will happen this month. First, we go on vacation for our anniversary. Work is going to be crazy due to the new year and Mr. FOGA going part-time. Plus, my mom has family coming to visit as well. All the fun all at once.

In Summation

That was the September 2019 Goals Update! I hope you enjoyed it. 😊

How was your September? Did you get your goals accomplished? Let me know in the comments.

Until Next Time!

-Ms. FOGA