August 2018 Goals Update

Original Goals Post

January Goals Post
February Goals Post
March Goals Post
April Goals Post (didn’t happen)
May Goals Post
June Goals Post
July Goals Post

Horse Goals

1. Take 6 lessons through the year. – 6/6 done, and check!
2. Ride 3 new-to-me horses. – lololol I didn’t ride at all in August.
3. Research 3 different retirement situations. – I’m learning a LOT from my Equine Retirement Survey (still open!) and looking forward to sharing the results on Friday.
4. Write retirement budget for Tristan. – Definitely going to work out a longer post for this at some point in the near-future.
5. Reach goals for horse-specific income stream. (Primarily through Etsy shop.) –  August was a great learning month. Etsy shop sales started to truly stabilize, and I added a bunch of new inventory + have a bunch more in progress getting ready for the holidays.
Stretch: 6. Read and review 12 books about riding on the blog. – up to 9/12 with the Black Stallion books

Financial Goals

1. Fully fund Tristan’s savings account (to $1,500) – this is holding, thanks to the huge HUGE accomplishment of matching up Etsy + other income to Tristan’s vet bills this summer, which have been constant. It feels like treading water, which sucks, but it’s actually pretty great. Perspective!
2. 50% fund my overall emergency fund savings account (to $7,500) – on to $6,750, and this goal is now officially on track (barring, y’know, emergencies) to complete in 2018!
3. Track every purchase made in 2018. – August crushed it. September will be harder – some travel, some house expenses.
4. Create 30 day wait list for any purchase over $25 (excluding groceries & emergencies). – Yes and yes, this continues to hold.
5. Pay off 50% of energy improvement debt. – we’ve paid off 33% of the total; barring some other kind of intervention on my part, this will not hit goal, which is frustrating. still thinking about how best to make it happen.
6. Stretch: 75% fund my overall emergency fund savings account (to $11,250) – this was only going to be possible if I was able to funnel all additional income to the EF; most of it has gone toward vet bills. yay.

House Goals

1. Finish dining room (finish wallpaper, skimcoat lower half, plaster upper half, paint). – oh God I am so close I can taste it. Finishing this week!
2. Finish garage in basement (finish strapping, put up drywall, plaster drywall, paint floor, clean out).
3. Finish living room (strip wallpaper, plaster, deal with ceiling, repaint). – changed this goal to reflect a shift in priorities from the upstairs bedroom to the living room
4. Develop plan & budget for preserving mud room mural.
5. Build second raised bed, start seedlings indoors, can/process results of garden. – Tomatoes are starting to come in, and the basil has recovered – I may even do pesto soon!
6. Stretch: Finish breakfast nook room (strip wallpaper, plaster, figure out heating, repaint)