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* Save 40 per cent of income. Saved 42 per cent, including payment from side job (about a third of which went to our new passports! Gah)
* Keep eating out to $160 a month.. Oopsies! Totally blew this – $213 was the final damage. There was a friend’s birthday, a few drinks out, a few dinners – one night we tried a new restaurant after I finished work instead of going grocery shopping (it was 9am on a Sunday…) In fact, it’s just been one of those months. Life months. Add rotating shifts into the mix and I ended up buying some few lunches (bless Revive and their half-price vouchers – I’ve gotten so many on the backs of my bus tickets lately!)
* Donate to charity every month. Done! (I have an ever-growing list of causes to donate to. All these natural disasters keep derailing it.) Oh, and I finally started a small change fund to keep in my wallet for buskers. I always encounter awesome street musicians but never have coins for them. But now I do! And I gave my first dollar to a guy letting rip some Led Zep.
* Text one friend a week. Er. Didn’t keep track. But as I had free calling credit, I made a few calls this month. And I did more socialising this month than I have in a looong time.
* Learn to confidently use full manual settings on my dSLR. Took my longer lens out for a spin (can’t remember how long it is and too lazy to get up and check.) Any tips on making the most of it?
* Read 100 books. I’m not reading as fast as I normally do, so I’m not quite on track with this, having only read 16 books. A) I have less free time lately and B) I’m reading much more challenging books. Books which I want to savour, and which deserve not to be skimmed.
* Continue running at least once a week, and run a 10k. Win! Here’s a recap of how my race went.
Just realised I didn’t think up a monthly challenge for March nor do I have one brewing for April. Maybe I’ll come up with one in May.
How did your goals go this month?
Wow! That’s awesome that you saved more than 40%.
And congrats again for the 10k run. I would love to be able to do one in less than an hour 🙂
Congrats on the goals … the savings and the 10k one especially rock. I’m still at the stage of training for a 5k right now.
I like the donate to charity every month goal; I might add that onto my monthly goals. I’ve inadvertently done that already this year by sponsoring various friends in bike/run events (one for cancer, one for diabetes, one for autism). I should just carry that through the year.
My March goals post goes up tomorrow and I don’t think I did too badly for a first month blogging! 🙂
Oh … camera stuff. I forgot. The best thing about long lenses is the ability to compress the background a little. Where are you on the camera learning curve? How comfortable are you on full manual? If you’re still learning, I really HIGHLY recommend getting a copy of Understanding Exposure by Bryan “Moose” Peterson. You can work thru the exercises in that book and it’ll really help a lot.
I didn’t have any goals for March, but I do have a goal in April for losing 10lbs!
I would love to start running, but I just don’t know how to get into it. I think I’m addicted to the elliptical. Once I get on a treadmill, my legs feel like jelly after 5 minutes…
I’m sorry, did you just say “only having read sixteen books”? I thought my husband was kicking my arse with eight!