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July Goals and Life Update

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 103 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Saturday was a really relaxing day, and we went to see The Conjuring. I thought it was scary but W thought it was stupid. We also had a family get together yesterday and that was a lot of fun!

July was another great month. The weather has been awesome and I’ve been busy, busy, busy. I went to a bachelorette party in Chicago a couple of weekends ago and it was a lot of fun. My best friend gets married next month!

We also bought bikes last month and have been getting decent use of them. We would still love to one day bike from St. Louis to Kansas City on the Katy Trail.

Definitely need to prepare for that though. Have any of you ever done long distance (200 miles and over) bike riding? Tell me all about it if you have!

August will be a fun month as well because we are going to New Orleans with another couple. None of us have ever been and we are all super excited.

I also finished paying off my student loans in the beginning of July and it still doesn’t feel real. I thought my goal of paying off my student loans wasn’t very realistic, but I still tried really hard. It’s  weird having so much extra cash flow every month, and we are still coming up with a plan for everything.

Before we were throwing EVERYTHING towards student loans.

We are still thinking about buying our next house, but we haven’t found anything that we absolutely love. Since we already have a house now, we definitely don’t just want to buy something just for the sake of buying it. We want to live in it for quite some time, and not just a couple of years (like our current house). So unless the perfect one comes up, then we will be waiting.

Waiting to buy is also good because we will have more time to adjust to the self-employment lifestyle, and also save up for a larger down payment.

I’ve also been thinking about posting something related to our net worth. I want to keep our privacy, so I’m not sure what I will do. Any ideas? Or should I just not do that because net worth updates are boring? I honestly like them so I still do want to share them.

My July extra income post will be live tomorrow, so make sure to come back!

 

July Goals Update

  1. Pay off student loans. DONE! 🙂
  2. Run 20 miles per week and lose weight.  Meh… I did pretty good with being healthy but I could definitely be doing better.
  3. Make an extra $9,000 this month. PASS! I made a really good amount last month. And I keep hearing from everyone that things should start picking up even more starting in August/September, so that is good also. I spend a lot of time on my extra income, and I also worked for free for quite some time also, so not all of this is easy money!
  4. Replace the garage door. FAIL. We didn’t even look into this.
  5. Get carpet for the living room. FAIL. We didn’t look into this either.
  6. Decide on my freelancing switch day. I have a date in mind… 🙂
  7. Read 2 books. FAIL. I didn’t even start a single book.

 

August Goals

  1. Run 20 miles per week and lose weight.  COME ON MICHELLE!
  2. Make an extra $10,000 this month. I definitely think this is possible. I have been doing very good with my extra income lately. I still do want to diversify my extra income methods a little more though because I want to be ready for anything that happens once I make the freelancing switch. So much of this extra income goes to taxes, and you also have to factor in benefits that I am losing when I am 100% self-employed.
  3. Replace the garage door. We want to do this soon. We will probably do it ourselves because a lot of people said it shouldn’t be too hard. I’m sure the labor costs are high if we hired it out, so I would rather do this myself. 
  4. Make an actual plan for my switch date. I have of course been thinking about this a lot, but I need to start writing everything down and have a positive plan for things I need to do before I leave my job.

 

How did you do in July? What is your top goal for August?

 

 

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Lena says

    July was such an exciting month for you!! I’d love to buy a bike too but we don’t have any good trails here really 🙁 July was not a fun month for us but I hope to get some good news in August.

    Reply

  2. CF says

    July was a pretty good month for us. I got below $20k on my student loans and doing pretty well at work. For August, I need to get back into a solid routine of exercise and blog work. It’s been so busy at my job lately that I’ve been slacking off!

    Reply

  3. Miss Entrepreneurette says

    I’m excited for your extra income post tomorrow! Those always motivate me. I think you should do a net worth post if you’re comfortable. Definitely up to you, but I’d like to see it. And how surreal is it to not have student loans to put all of your money towards? Each month we’re throwing all excess money (when there is any) at debt so I can only imagine how weird (and freeing!) it’d be to have money in the bank that doesn’t have to go to debt.

    Reply

  4. Eva @ Girl Counting Pennies says

    Big congratulations on paying off your student loans!
    My summer has been extremely frugal, but to be honest I’m enjoying not spending more than ever as I know this is for a good cause (to wipe out all my debt). Good luck with your August goals! 🙂

    Reply

  5. C. the Romanian says

    Congrats for a great month, Michelle! Your side hustles are doing great and all that extra money sounds quite yummy 🙂 Finally paying your student loan gives you the option now to start saving more and I am sure it won’t be too long until you’ll find that dream house you’re hoping for!

    Reply

  6. Mark Ross | Think Rich. Be Free. says

    Glad you achieved some of your goals. Congrats! As for me, my main goal in August is to improve my website and up my site’s traffic. 🙂 I hope I can achieve at least 1,500 unique visitors a day, though, it’s a small amount for big bloggers like you.

    Reply

  7. Thomas says

    I like that you are being patient before making the switch. If you don’t really have anything right now to use the extra income you can really beef up the savings for when you do plan to make the switch. I do agree on waiting to buy a house if you have one but I am looking more for purchase real estate for investing purposes. July went great for me. No income yet but a lot of goals met and still a few I need to work on.

    Reply

  8. Alexa says

    I heard that The Conjuring was really scary, I wanna go see it. Good job with the student loan debt. I am excited to see your extra income post tomorrow. With the way things have been going I am sure you will crush your August goal!

    Reply

  9. Sara says

    Paying off your student loans is huge!! I didn’t really have big goals this month. One thing I wanted to accomplish is sell some stuff on eBay which I did. This month my goal is to make a hundred bucks through online surveys and selling a few more things on eBay. Ha such a small goal compared to your 10k.

    Reply

  11. DC @ Young Adult Money says

    Best of luck running 20 miles this month! I need to start running more than 6 miles a week…it just seems harder and harder to fit in those workouts when there is so much I want to do with my blog and projects around the house.

    July was by far my best month for side income. It was nowhere near the range of $9k+, but I am happy with the amount and if I could pull it off every month I would definitely consider outsourcing some work and getting my second site started. Just gotta keep moving forward.

    Reply

    • Michelle says

      It’s 20 miles per week DC! Haha per month that would be no problem.

      And that’s awesome that July was a great month for side income. Good job!

      Reply

  12. Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank says

    It must be fairly exiting / nerve racking to be so close to starting a full time online income. I know that has always been my goal, but I think that when the day comes I will struggle to leave the safety net of my normal 9-5 job.

    Reply

  13. Liz says

    Wow sounds like July was a busy and successful month! Hubby and I bought our first home last year and we too are beginning to get the itch to move. We like our house but once we moved in, we did notice that the house has some quirks and if we want to start a family it does’t offer very much space to grow into.

    Reply

  14. canadianbudgetbinder says

    I’m so proud of you taking that step leaving your job I know I couldn’t do it. After all my years of school and training I’d be so worried that I’d be living in the now and if things tanked in the future I’d be left with lost years of experience, a degree down the toilet as students are well above me in years of training. Mix that up with I’m not getting any younger, jobs are hard to come by and the older you get the harder it gets. So much would go through my mind so kudos to you for taking that leap. You just finished your student loans as well so well done. If you want to share your net worth it’s up to you. I was going to stop but my fans said no they like it, so I post it. Good luck with the 10K but I’m sure you don’t need that.

    Reply

  15. Lance @ Money Life and More says

    I’m glad things are going so well for you! Time is flying!

    We made it through the wedding last month without going too over budget, so that in itself is a major victory. I figure in September we’ll finally be back to normal 🙂

    Reply

  16. Laurie @thefrugalfarmer says

    Michelle, good for you guys for waiting for that perfect house. We did that and are SO glad we didn’t settle for less. Also, you are kicking it on your income – woohoo!!! As for net worth updates, I love reading them, as I find it encouraging. But you guys have to do what makes you feel most comfy. 🙂

    Reply

  18. Christopher @ This that and the MBA says

    Way to go michelle. Look on craigslist for a laborer to install the garage door. I always do that when its work I would rather not perform. July was amazing for myself and my sites as well. I think you should do a net worth update. I really enjoy reading them and seeing how others are doing online.

    Reply

  21. Michelle's Finance Journal says

    Congratulations~!!! What an awesome month for the side hustle income.
    I get scared too much to watch horror movies. I quit when I was 23 since I couldn’t sleep for days after watching a horror movie. What can I say. I’m a chicken.

    Reply

  22. MonicaOnMoney says

    Wow Michelle! I’m always inspired by your goals for extra income each month. Good Luck! Oh, and I have the same goal for running, sometimes it SO hard to get motivated to run in the summer heat.

    Reply

  25. Rich Uncle EL says

    Hey Michelle great month, 9 K in income is crazy. The most I have ever biked is 25 miles, so I can’t help you there, but good luck on the 200 mile trip. Running 20 miles is great, but you might get the most bang out of your health by running 10 and doing some strength training on alternate run days. (Light Dumbbells) It is the best balance for the body I feel.

    Reply

  26. Budget and the Beach says

    The longest I ever road on a bike is about 45 miles, and that was with a really good road bike. It’s pretty tough, but doable if you really want to. Congrats on the awesome income and have fun in NOLA. I’ve never been myself. My big goal for August is to just pace myself and enjoy life. I found that every time I set specific goals I come up short, but get a lot accomplished in other areas, so I decided to just stop doing that. 🙂

    Reply

  27. Dear Debt says

    I want to meditate more consistently, pay off $1,300, focus on my blog and plant the seeds to making more money! You are killing it with the side hustle income!

    Reply

  28. Madame says

    I love scary movies and want to see The Conjuring too, but just haven’t had the time. It sounds like you had a really busy, but productive month and there is only more to come! I think sharing your net worth would be different and interesting, but I agree with you it might hinder your want for privacy. Good luck on planning the next steps/details on making the full time switch to freelancing. 🙂

    Reply

  29. From Shopping to Saving says

    I want to watch The Conjuring! But I also want to watch so many other movies that came out this summer…I’ve been telling myself to go watch World War Z, Pacific Rim, Wolverine, etc but I just haven’t had time lol. Also, New Orleans sounds fun, I wanna visit – BF’s brother and family live there! Have tons of fun:)

    Also I’d love to see a net worth update, they interest me as well. Also, I’m a runner and 20 miles a week is a ton! Are you training for a marathon or half? When starting to run after a long break I try to aim for 10-12 miles a week, right now after some training I do 10 miles nonstop running a week plus 3 miles of sprints on Fridays. I also got some compression sleeves!! They work great on sore calves:)

    I feel like I haven’t commented in awhile since I’ve been so busy, haha miss you!!!! I can’t believe your friend is getting married next month, felt like just yesterday when you mentioned the wedding planning!

    Reply

    • Michelle says

      Yes, there are SO many good movies out right now!

      No I am not training for a marathon or anything. 20 miles a week shouldn’t be too bad, because I can do 5 miles a day for 4 days.

      Reply

  30. Jamie says

    Congrats on paying off your student loans! What kind of bikes do you have and what’s your time frame for the long ride?

    Reply

    • Michelle says

      We both have city bikes, so we do need to get good trail bikes.

      And we don’t have a time frame, as we don’t even know what a normal time frame would be!

      Reply

      • Jamie says

        Ya, the Katy trail would be rough on roadbike. It’s a nice trail though! It’s pretty flat too, which would make longer rides easier even for inexperienced riders. Though, if you were going to put in more than 15-20 I would recommend some bike shorts, as it would make it more comfortable all around. If you decide to do the whole trail I would maybe consider getting some pedal cages so you can both push down and pull up on the pedal. Not a huge deal if you’re doing short rides, but it could make a difference on a long ride or a multiple day ride.

        Thanks for the great blog. I just discovered it and I’m really enjoying it!

        Reply

  32. KK @ Student Debt Survivor says

    Maybe I’m just a huge nerd, but I really enjoy reading net worth posts. I find them really inspirational. I’m trying to pick up my running a little bit too. Right now I’m doing 2-3 days per week but I really should be donig 4-5.

    Reply

  33. Little House says

    July was a great month for you. I’m sure you’ll meet that 20 miles a week goal this month. And as for the bikes, I love biking but haven’t done anything close to 200 miles. My other blog, Bike Lane Living, shares stories of those that have, but I think if you plan it out and give yourself enough time, you can do it comfortably.

    Reply

  34. Savvy Scot says

    Your income is on FIRE!!!!

    I had a great month, largely due to the arrival of our new puppy… I am also looking forwards to things picking up through August and September! 🙂

    Reply

  38. Fanny says

    Hi Michelle,

    Thanks for visiting my blog. Your posts are inspiring and I’d like to earn a little more. Reading your blog reminds me that anything is possible. But having a kid makes it a little harder.

    Would you like to be part of my work at home series? It’s just answering 7 questions by email. Let me know. Would love to share your story.

    Reply

  43. Shannon @ The Heavy Purse says

    Looks like another great month, Michelle! Paying off your student loans must have felt so great!! July was a good month for me – mostly because I finally got to enjoy nearly 2 years of saving for our Disney Cruise! 🙂 I haven’t been away from work that long since I was on maternity leave! LOL! It’s good to be home but I’m already dreaming of my next vacation. I’m more of a runner than a bicyclist but that actually sounds like a great ride.

    Reply

  44. Alexandra @ Real Simple Finances says

    I think it’s very hard to share your net worth and also keep privacy; I’d love to know how you do it, if you can come up with a way! I am already having a hard time sharing my budgets while still keeping my actual income private on my blog.

    Good luck on making the switch! I also had a date in mind for letting my job know I was leaving. It’s very difficult to actually go there and do it, no matter how much planning you have.

    Reply

  45. John@MoneyPrinciple says

    We know how you feel having paid off your student debt! It’s the same with us and our $160k debt which we finished in January. It’s all a bit of a let down so we are girding our loins for the next big challenge but chilling at the moment in Cornwall – very beautiful. We went to Lands End today!

    Reply

  50. Amanda says

    Congrats on your side income! You are putting so much effort into everything, the amount really reflects it! Hopefully you are still enjoying the summer! One of my August goals is to pay $400 of my student loans. Let’s see what happens!

    Reply

  51. debtfreeoneday says

    Wow you did amazingly in July! I can’t wait to read about how you get on with your goals for August. July was good for us, we managed to pay off our largest payment so far towards our debt (just over £1000). So we’re making progress!

    Reply

  52. Gary @ Save Money & Live Better says

    Congrats on such a successful month!

    Last month I started simplifying my meals as a way to loose weight and save money. It was inspired from Tim Ferriss’ 4 hour body. My meals during the week consisted of chicken, lentils, and veggies, and on Saturday I ate whatever I wanted. Was the diet boring?…YES, but it was very effective. Last month I ended up losing 8 lbs, and saving over $100 on food cost. 🙂

    Reply

  53. SuburbanFinance says

    Take food to work. Ever counted how much money you throw away buying food at work daily? Start preparing your food for the day on waking up: Get up earlier, Eat a solid breakfast. Prepare your food for work in the meanwhile. Total time 30 minutes. No stress during the day about what you’ll be eating & you get healthy food while sparing money

    Reply

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