Sunday, November 1, 2009

Monthly Roundup - October

It seems that a lot of us found October rough ... and I've just heard on the news that here in NZ we have had the coldest October is over 60 years! So ... roll on November and the summer weather that we hope will come with it.



October was a frenetic month here at Domestically Blissed, two lots of overseas visitors (not staying with me but lots of get-togethers), two lots of grandparents arriving from overseas, a bunch of birthday parties, hubby putting his back out ... AGAIN and to top it all off the whole family came down with a gastro bug ... ick!



I am pleased to say that I still managed to get a fair bit done ...



My goals for October were

- write 2 more 'areas of play' posts.
Result: Half pass ... wrote a post of music, still working on one on creativity!



- stick to grocery budget - strictly.
Result: Half pass again ... I overspent by $60 but we had a few dinner parties and then when I got sick we used a bunch of sposies. I think we can make it stick this month!



- bring Little Guys' baby book up to date.
Result: Oh, you guessed it - another half pass. I wrote a bunch of notes, sorted the photos and glued them in, and have decided to wait for another season of my life to do the final version.



-write list of Christmas gifts and stick to a maximum of $15 per person for gifts.
Result: PASS ... now I just have to stick to the list. I nearly bought 'off the list' today but managed, just, to stop myself (I think the shoplady thought I was mad)



- organise spare room wardrobe
Result: PASS ... and it is great. Even got hubby to put up a shoe rack that we got really cheap on TradeMe, and bought some wooden coathangers. Wardrobe bliss is mine .... and I got motivated to also organise the wall unit in our dining room.



- get at least 8 more listings up on TradeMe
Result: PASS PLUS ... 8 sales on TradeMe, 4 sales on another forum ... making a big difference to the last vestages of the pregnancy/new baby clutter.

So onwards and upwards ....

Well my goals for November are:

- keep an exact track of where the 'cash' part of our budget goes. Each week I get a little bit of spending money out, and each month it all goes - poof - into thin air. Time to track track track.

- buy all our Christmas presents except for the children.

- make Christmas mince, ready for making mince pies

- re-organise little guys wardrobe for summer

- another eight listings of second hand stuff on TradeMe.

So, what are your goals for November?

8 comments:

Nova said...

good effort! baby books/scrapbooking are a hard one huh, because you don't want to let the little memories & details slip, but trying to do it while they're still young is so hard!

as for me, november is all about xmas preparation! then hopefully that leaves december free for lexi's bday & summer tasks (yay for once for our delayed summer weather ;) )

Sharonnz said...

Oh yes, baby books. My big girl (10) was looking through hers yesterday and my other two (7 & 4) were asking for theirs...ummmmmm, BAD mummy;-) Go you!!

Annicles said...

I gave you an award! Come on over and get it.

Indigo, madder, marigold said...

way to go! Wish i had accomplished as much around the house. In November, we have thanksgiving holiday here and pretty much one long mad dash until christmas. So, i'm going to be doing lots of making, and hoping to keep the house clean. My new goal is to keep the house only as messy as 20 minutes' worth of cleanup. So, that gives me a little leeway and helps take away the drudge!

P.S. Montessori said...

I've gotta ask... What exactly IS mince pie? :)

Gypsy said...

Thanks for your encouragement everyone! PS Montessori - mince pies are great - they are fruit mince so stewed liqueured currants, sultanas, dried cherries etc, that is bottled and aged and then put in pastry cases. So delicious! Will post a recipe. They are an English thing :)

Montessori Beginnings said...

Congratulations for getting so many things done! If only I could be so organised.
I left you an award on my blog. Thanks so much for writing such informative posts. I've learnt so much from reading your blog.

PlanningQueen said...

I want to stick to my Christmas shopping list this year too. I do get a big caught up in the shopping experience some times, so I really want to stick to budget this year.