Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash
I love reading monthly reports from bloggers, seeing what they value enough to track and how those things build and change over time. These are the categories I plan to share here: a few praises, books finished, articles read, Google rabbit holes I fell down, and how I spent my pocket money.
October got off to a rough start, but just when the weather starts to cool down, I rev up and am ready to do all the things. My mood shouldn’t track with the Arkansas heat and humidity, but I guess just knowing that can help me prepare for next year!
Praises
Pretty self-explanatory, this is a list of just three things I’m thankful for this month (though there are, obviously, countless others).
- The weather has finally cooled down and feels like fall.
- My 3yo son, Roger, is starting to show signs of being a real human and not a perpetual 3yo.
- A fruitful study in the book of John.
Books
In this section, I list the books I’ve read this month + one quote instead of a summary. And I’m sure I finished another book, but if it’s not posted to Instagram, apparently it didn’t happen and my brain won’t remember?
Educated: A Memoir :: Tara Westover
“I could tolerate any form of cruelty better than kindness. Praise was a poison to me; I choked on it. I wanted the professor to shout at me, wanted it so deeply I felt dizzy from the deprivation. The ugliness of me had to be given expression. If it was not expressed in his voice, I would need to express it in mine.”
The Year of Less :: Cait Flanders
The full subtitle is quote enough!: “How I stopped shopping, gave away my belongings, and discovered life is worth more than anything you can buy in a store.”
A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost Art of Buying for Life :: Tara Button
“Advertising has done a fantastic job of making it cool not to be careful. It celebrates impulsiveness and sneers at anything that speaks of self-control. THis works for marketers, because the more we think things through, the less likely we are to buy something. What advertising wants from us is automatic responses.”
Articles
Honestly, I didn’t keep track of this…but I think it would be a worthwhile section to have for the future 😉
Worthwhile Google Searches/Rabbit Holes
From @racheladawson on Instagram
- Powersheets
- Intermittent fasting
- FI/RE
Money
In this section, I detail (or at least outline) where my spending money for the month went and how I feel about my choices.
- Ipsy subscription – $10
Canceled. Fun package to get every month, but it wasn’t enough to make me *love* makeup, plus I didn’t love everything they sent me (green eye shadow like every. single. month) and would rather free up that $10 for something I’ve chosen myself. - All the random junk food
Like I said, I didn’t start out the month intending to document these things, so I’m a bit unprepared. But I did spend my money WAY too freely and early this month, so that I’ve been sneaking a pop while gassing up the car or taking a Chick-fil-A breakfast off the top of a freelance check meant to go to the student loan. Failure but lesson learned for budgeting better next month.
