Hello February- Goals & Budget

As I spoke about on Monday, I have come to the realization that I currently can’t do everything that I would like to do or for that matter focus. I can’t focus on my full time job, my education, side  hustling, being healthy, time with friends and family and then my own sanity. I want to live a life full of intention that makes me happy, calm and glad to be where I am all of the time. While I’ve been working on doing just that, the never ending not enough time continuum  bares it’s ugly claws at me and although I cringe, I can’t help but also look back at it. Bully.

After having a talk with myself,  I have decided that I am interested in pursuing more educational pursuits like graduate school and studying abroad in Israel! Both of these require time, studying to keep my GPA up ( I currently have a 3.75) and seeking fundraising ideas to help make my opportunity a reality. I have also recently decided to pursue a minor’s in sociology instead of just taking a bunch of random electives due to my interest in socialization and crime, more importantly juvenile offenders.

I’ve also decided that I will continue with my current projects that I already have on my plate since it’s helping me build my online social business portfolio and bring financial education to the masses. These ventures alone along with my part time job I have a few days a week will bring some of the extra income I currently crave and long for but instead on fully focusing on making more, I will devote my time to these instead along with my educational pursuits and my full-time job as a coordinator for a non-profit I love working with disadvantaged youth. I would still love to get involved with a few more ventures and contacts I met last year but I will see if God is willing for it to happen.

Not everybody is the same and I am okay admitting that, despite it being hard in a world of bloggers. I can’t work full time and then go home and hustle five hours. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want financial freedom any less than someone else. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have the hustle in me ( tell me that after I have a 15 hour day between work AND school). It just means right now I am prioritizing my time in a better way for me, including making time to work on lowering my stress levels.

Goals For February 

• Bond with my fur baby. I took the plunge and adopted a beautiful cat named Harrison. His rescue family found him living in a dumpster and he doesn’t take too kindly to dogs or other cats or have enough patience for children so he would do best in an adult home. Umm, hello. I put a cat into the universe who was grown and didn’t need a companion and God sent me one! He’s coming home today but I am ready to get to know him and cuddle while binge watching Netflix. Bonus? He’s a polydactal cat!
• Change mailing address. Now that I’ve moved, I need to change the address to all of my bills and the companies I prefer to use for business.
• Schedule a homework calendar. If it’s not on my calendar it doesn’t exist and I already feel desperately behind in classes even though I’m not. I need to do this so I feel better and not all over the place.
• Finish scholarship application for Israel and create a Go Fund Me campaign! My application is due in one week and I need to get that in ASAP. I also would like to film a video for my Go Fund Me campaign for my Israel trip and share my story of how I came to be. My college experience has never been a traditional one but neither has my life come to think of it.
• Unpack and work on creating my apartment my home. I’m officially moved into the new digs and  the only room that currently is unpacked and together is my bathroom. I still have work that needs to be done and make this space my own. But, I can already say I feel comfortable which is a plus!
• File taxes. I need to do this along with my FASFA since I will be putting some of both towards my study abroad trip to Israel.

Budget 

• Rent $780
• Internet $50
• Groceries $250
• Household $200
• Chiropractor $40
• Health Insurance $135
• Therapy $140
• Prescriptions $40
• Car Insurance $130
• ASU Parking $125 ( more time on campus means more in parking 🙁 )
• Gas $100
•  Car Registration $100
• Cat! $30
• Entertainment $75
• Eating out ( restaurants +bars)  $75
• Coffee $25
• Beauty $30
• Gifts $50

My budget is really high this month due to moving into my first apartment! I allowed a larger than usual grocery and household amount to account for the expenditure. I can already allude to you that I have spent more in health care due to bronchitis but it is what it is.

As much as I want to focus on earning extra income, I’m going to stay focused on my current projects as to not overwhelm myself and just worry about cutting costs when I can.

What is your February looking like? Anything fun planned?