October Plan With Me

Does the beginning of a new month bring anxiety or leave you overwhelmed with everything you need to do? In this article, “October Plan With Me,” I share my goals for the month of October in finances, health and nutrition, career,  relationship, and personal growth. This process works well for me because having structure and planning ahead gives me focus.

When I have a clear spending plan and budget before payday, I know I have a specific mission for every dollar I earn. I extend this to various areas of my life to keep me balanced and focused on the things that I value and mean the most to me. So let’s dive in on my October goals and plans. 

Finances

Finances have been on the top of my list this year, and I was off to a good start during the 1st quarter of 2022, but March began a tailspin, and my competition went off the rails. The one thing I have learned over this last quarter is that I’m not getting any younger and wasted a lot of time focusing on things that I couldn’t control instead of paying off my debts as quickly as possible. 

I’m back on my Dave Ramsey kick and following the Baby Steps. I listen to the Dave Ramsey Show podcast daily to keep myself motivated and track every bank transaction and dollar spent in the Every dollar app. I’ve been diligently tracking my expenses for three months, and I’m slowly getting my budget dialed in. One area that I see that I need to improve on is my Target runs. 

Target is my archnemesis to my money goals. I thought that order pick-up would help to reduce my spending because when I go into Target, there is a rush of adrenaline that makes me feel so happy, and everything is so bright and clean that I have to shop!  My goal for October is to limit my shopping at Target to twice a month. I usually purchase staple items from Target, like toilet paper, paper towels, bath soaps, and cleaning products. 

I also had a few unexpected expenses like ordering a copy of my birth certificate that I need so I can apply for a new Real driver’s license before my current license expires at the end of October and purchasing renters insurance and earthquake insurance policies that I’ve been putting off for a few months. 

One goal that I accomplished was saving up my emergency fund. The next step is to start paying off debt like crazy. 

Financial goals for October

• Reduce shopping to twice a month at Target
• Track all expenses in Every dollar
• Plan out expenses (birthday gifts, baby shower gifts, and dining out)
• Pay off one debt in full and focus on paying off your credit card over the next four months

Fitness and Nutrition

October means it’s time for my quarterly check-in at work. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, I’ve shared that as an incentive to our staff to stay healthy, they offer a $150 fitness bonus that we can receive quarterly. All we have to do is to improve by 1% or maintain our weight, body fat, muscle, or water. I hit my goal in the first two quarters despite not seeing much movement on the scale. Since the last check-in, I’ve started to walk for 20-30 minutes each day after work, in addition to strength training three times a week. 

Do I feel positive that I’ll hit my goal this quarter? Well, I’m not as confident as I was during the year’s first quarter. I lost weight because I stopped drinking alcohol, eating sweets, and working out on the weekends. It took four months to drop twenty-three pounds. However, March was a rough month for me emotionally, and drinking alcohol was a way to cope with sadness and loss. 

This went on for a quarter, and my weight fluctuated by two or three pounds and stayed the same. So, a few weeks ago, I decided to save money and not buy alcohol weekly. I would allow myself to have a glass of wine at happy hour at work, but I needed to find another way to deal with my emotions. 

Things that I learned last quarter

Alcohol is not my friend. Despite my blood glucose levels improving and almost at a normal range, my body was still inflamed. 

I continue to struggle with emotional eating. Sweets are not my friends. 

Dining out has been kept to a minimum until recently. I’ve been consistent with bringing lunches to work and eating dinner at home.

Fitness Goals For October

• Walk for 20 minutes each day
• Strength train 3 days a week
• Workout on the weekend- hike, walk or go to the gym
• Limit alcohol to one happy hour a week

Career Goals

One goal I’ve been particularly proud of is writing new content for this blog each week. I’ve consistently written blogs weekly for the past two years, and I’m looking for ways to expand this blog’s reach to help other people and generate income for myself. This month I started a new writing goal: my first self-care e-book. My goal is to focus on writing for 20 minutes each day and to write as much as I can for short periods of time. This has been particularly helpful when I’m feeling overwhelmed or not motivated, and all I want to do is watch a movie and eat Outshine popsicles all night. 

Another area of my career is the need for fresh and digital content that will bring value to my blog followers and on social media. I’ve been brainstorming ideas and will eventually outsource the creation of digital products like e-books and self-care workbooks. 

Social media, Tik-Tok in particular, has been a challenge. Honestly, I haven’t been motivated and didn’t have anything exciting to share for the last few weeks. There are a few projects that I’ve been putting off that I need to focus on in October.

Career Goals For October

• Create 4 Tik Tok videos this month
• Write for ebook each day in 20-minute blocks
• Film one Youtube video to prep for release in January

Relationship Goals

Ugh, this area of my life hasn’t been going well of late. Each day, I’m questioning what I really want in life. I’ve spent a lot of time alone recently, but I did have a nice phone call with my best friend. It was nice to connect with her again. Unfortunately, matters of the heart are a bit more complicated….

Relationship Goal

• Reach out to one friend this month

Continue to work on yourself in mind, body, heart, and soul.

If you enjoyed this October Plan With Me, then you must read Fall Self-Care Routine, September Plan With Me.