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October Goals and Life Update – Root Canal Fun

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 65 Comments

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October Goals and Life UpdateHello everyone and happy Friday!

September was another great month. It was a great traveling month, a great business month, and St. Louis had great weather all month long.

We spent one week in Colorado at the end of August/beginning of September and it was great. It snowed on us while we were there, but it was still a lot of fun. Wes was able to climb a few 14ers and I was able to do some work for a Colorado client of mine.

We also spent a little less than one week in New Orleans for FinCon. You can read my FinCon recap over on DiversifiedFinances.com. The conference was great and I already bought my ticket for next year. Will you be going to FinCon15?

The weather in St. Louis has been pretty wonderful too. It’s been a nice 80 to 85 degrees everyday with low humidity. Loving it!

It was an expensive month though.

The only bad thing about September was that it was an expensive month.

We had a lot of unexpected expenses come up, and one of them was an expensive root canal. Keep in mind that we do not have dental insurance. Insurance is one of the joys you get to deal with when you are self-employed.

I shopped around and went to two dentists. The first dentist was a total scam artist, and the second dentist even laughed at me for going there. I read reviews on the first person and they were NOT good. I didn’t notice the very bad review/article (someone DIED while in their dentist chair) until after I already had a consultation. Luckily, I went to Wes’s dentist and he was great.

It turned out I had some trauma to my front tooth (I bumped my tooth very hard on a cup) and it made an infection form. It really sucks that something as stupid as bumping my tooth caused this because I am a religious tooth brusher and flosser. The dentist said it had nothing to do with that though and they actually asked if I got hit in the face with something because it was that bad. LOL! Anyway, I got the root canal and didn’t even use any anesthesia. Yup, I am that awesome!

No, I did not choose to do it without anesthesia because of cost. The dentist said I wouldn’t feel anything and even though I was terrified, he was correct – I didn’t feel a thing.

It was also an expensive month because we had to bring our dogs in for their annual check up and shots. Turns out our bigger dog (the one in today’s pictures) is overweight by about 10 pounds, and our other dog has really bad allergies.

Home insurance update – Remember how a few weeks ago I talked about how our home insurance had shot up 69%? Well, I shopped around and I couldn’t find anything cheaper. In fact, everything I shopped around for at other companies were almost double what we were currently paying. I called up StateFarm and they said if we switched our car policies back to them, then they would be able to give us a good deal for combining our policies. Keep in mind we used to have them grouped together but separated them because it was cheaper for us to shop for car and home separately through two different companies. Turns out StateFarm was able to give us a great deal and we are now able to save around $400 a year. Don’t ask me how this works, but I guess they wanted to give us a deal because they knew I was angry and wanted to leave.

September Goals Update

  1. Make $13,000 in business income. PASS. September was a great income month. It was a very busy month, and I was able to add a few new clients as well. I also had my very first on-air live appearance, and it was through Huffington Post. I am very proud of myself for stepping outside my box!
  2. Work out 2 times a week. FAIL. I am just embarrassed talking about this now.
  3. Work on passive income ideas.  FAIL. Didn’t create an action plan.
  4. Work ahead on MakingSenseofCents posts. PASS. I have been working ahead and it’s been really great. I love having posts scheduled and not having to worry about them. Even though I love blogging, it can sometimes be hard to actually sit down and write something.
  5. Have fun at FinCon! PASS. FinCon was a blast! I met so many awesome people and reconnected with others that I met last year.

 

October Goals and Life Update2

October Goals

  1. Make $15,000 in business income. I’m upping this goal finally. I have some major business goals, and I hope to reach a lot of them. I’ll never get anywhere unless I set goals for myself!
  2. Work out! I’m going to start going on daily walks and riding my bike more. Wes has been doing around 50 miles a day on the trail and he just seems to crank those out so easily. I hope to be at that point someday.
  3. Work ahead on MakingSenseofCents posts. I am still working on this goal. I would like to be at least one month ahead. Eventually I would like to be two months ahead of my big posts.
  4. Eat in 5 days a week. We have been doing bad with this again. We have been eating too much fast food and it’s something we need to work on.

 

How did you do in September? What is your main goal for October?

Was it a cheap or expensive month for you?

 

P.S. If you want to see more amazing dog pictures, follow me on Instagram where I post too many of them.

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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

  2. kammi says

    The way you write is really entertaining! Yep, September wasn’t the best for me, either financially, but I should be back on track in October. That dentist (the first one) is pretty scary! I had a bad experience with a dentist one time (he was clearly trying to make money off of me) and I ran away and never came back (thankfully he wasn’t my regular dentist, who is a family dentist for us). Wonderful dog there, too 🙂

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Thanks Kammi! Lets hope for a better October for the both of us 🙂

      Yes, that first dentist clearly just wanted to make some money off of me. It was aggravating.

      Reply

  3. Kemkem says

    Congrats on another great month! I’m glad you were able to save on the insurance rates. I bet that would have worked for me too if we were still living in the States and had cars still. $400 savings us nice!!!

    Reply

  4. Mrs. Frugalwoods says

    Dog photos!!!! Love the hiking pack with a handle! I’ve always wanted one of those for Frugal Hound, but she’s far too gigantic of a dog. Bummer about the root canal, but glad to hear it’s fixed and done. And congrats on your income this month–wow!

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Haha Sailor (our bigger dog) is pretty big. She’s 80 pounds so that handle doesn’t do anything.

      The dog backpack is pretty sweet though. She can hold all of her stuff and even her leash when we get tired haha!

      Reply

  5. cherie says

    So much cuteness 🙂

    Glad the root canal wasn’t painful, at least to your body, though I’m sure it is to your wallet!
    Great job on the insurance – it’s often the case that they’re happiest when they have ALL. THE. MONEY. So they give you a deal – we usually stay bundled for that reason though since Sandy everyone’s homeowner’s has skyrocketed here as well.

    What are you going to do for doggie allergies? Just curious 🙂

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Haha his allergies are so bad that he gets to have Benadryl multiples times a day. We also have to clean the spot above his tail every single day because the vet said the allergies are building up. The last thing we have to do is something we will never do – we’ll let the vet continue to do it. It has to do something with his butt glands that we will not mention here LOL

      Reply

  7. Charlotte says

    Girl, you are a champ re: the root canal. I’d probably have to be sedated for something like that haha!
    Congrats on another great business month, love your new goal! I have no doubt you’ll be able to reach it.
    it sounds like you and Wes are about ready to head out to Colorado, you sure do love it out there! Is the move happening soon? 😉

    Have a great weekend, Michelle!

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Haha I was definitely nervous about the root canal. I asked the dentist like 10 times if he was sure that I wouldn’t feel it.

      The move won’t be happening for around another 18 months. I wish it was sooner though!

      Reply

  9. Amy says

    Congrats on your on-air appearance and for achieving so many goals!

    My husband had a root canal a few months ago, and he said the same thing. It wasn’t nearly has bad as people make them out to be.

    I had a pretty good month for achieving goals in September. My biggest October goal is to make a dent in our credit card debt. I just received my first paycheck in almost five months, so I’m off on the right foot!

    Reply

  10. Brian @ Debt Discipline says

    Other then the root canal, sounds like a great month. Even with dental insurance I always feel like I’m getting ripped off at the dentist. I’m hoping to attend FinCon15. When does the location get announced?

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      I hope you can go to FinCon15. I’m not even sure if I can go (my good friend is getting married next September), but I bought the ticket anyways. The location will probably be announced within the next few months.

      Reply

  11. Natalie @ Financegirl says

    Dental care is one thing I refuse to shop around for. I’ll pay top dollar for a good dentist. My grandpa and dad were dentists and I value good quality. I had a root canal last year and it was $1,200! Yikes. But thankfully we’re both done with that now! I hope October isn’t as expensive for you 🙂

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      I agree with you about looking for quality. However, I was forced to shop around because the dentist I’ve had since I was 5 years old retired 🙁

      Also, the first dentist I found actually killed someone a few years ago by sedating them too much, so I am very happy I shopped around and found someone with better reviews.

      Reply

  12. Clarisse says

    Another solid month income Michelle! And talking about the root canal, I had a phobia about having a root canal because my friend had it when we were in high school and it was very expensive than I thought!

    Reply

  13. Will says

    Dying in a dentist chair. Holy cow that would not be my favorite way to go. I woke up once when I was getting my wisdom teeth removed. That was bad enough. Sounded like crunching jolly ranchers…

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Yeah the article I read was very bad. The dentist was all over the news because of it. I don’t know how I didn’t stumble across that when I was looking this dentist up before I booked. I guess the dentist sedated the patient too much and they died.

      Reply

  14. Myles Money says

    $15,000 is an amazing goal! It’s great that you step out of your comfort zone and keep pushing yourself with your goals each month. Sounds like your dogs need a bit of a workout too 😉

    Reply

  15. Michelle says

    Bummer about the root canal 🙁 I’m glad that you rocked it this month and there’s nothing like hiking a 14er. Umm, just saying if you end up here IT WILL SNOW. Now it is snowing every other day in the mountains. Happy to see you at FinCon and get the Michelles picture done. Maybe there will be 5 of us next year? By the way, Colorado’s health exchange is pretty good compared to what I’ve read about in other states AND you have a dental option.

    Reply

  16. Sarah says

    Congrats on a great month! I had to have a root canal done during the third trimester of my last pregnancy, it was terrible. It took a total of four appointments and various calls between my dentist and my OBYGN because the dentist said the infection was so bad it couldn’t wait. My last visit was three days before my baby’s due date! My dentist was afraid I was going to go into labor. 🙂

    September was good for me. I started tracking my income sources and what I’m bringing in. Hopefully, someday, it will be enough for me to only have to work from home.

    Reply

  18. Leslie Beslie says

    Have you been able to determine why you two eat out so much? What keeps you from having dinner at home? Is it because you want to get out of the house? Or a time issue? Figuring out the reason behind your habits is the key to changing them 🙂

    Reply

  21. Shannon @ Financially Blonde says

    Wow! I cannot ever imagine getting one month ahead of myself on blog writing, although, if I was I would have a lot less stress in my life. I do plan an editorial calendar for the month and feel if I am a week ahead of myself then I have succeeded. Good for you!! And awesome numbers too!

    Reply

  24. DC @ Young Adult Money says

    I’m glad you found a good dentist but I’m practically pleading with you here: get Angie’s List! It’s a lifesaver and I wouldn’t even consider going to a dentist, hiring a contractor, etc. without first checking it. Then again it saved me about $8k a year or so ago when I had a scam company (Roto Rooter…who would have thought big brands literally try to scam new homeowners) try to intimidate me into an expensive and unnecessary repair.

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      I know, I need to sign up for Angie’s list! I went to Wes’s dentist though and we have a friend who works there too so I don’t know why I just didn’t go there in the first place.

      Reply

  26. Christine Berry - Wealth Way Online says

    September was a crazy month for me, as you know! I am having to completely rebuild my life, but it’s kind of fun. I’ve never been in such a great position to start fresh. Trying to figure out my travel plans, but they keep evolving. I have outsourced HEAPS of my work this month and I’m really enjoying feeling more free.

    Amazing you’re ahead in your blog posting. Very very cool! I need to add this to my list of things, especially as I might be going off the grid a little (contemplating visiting Burma)

    Reply

  27. Erin @ Journey to Saving says

    I am so sorry to hear about the root canal! I had to have one done last year (without insurance, and thus, without anesthesia), so I know how painful it can be, both on the wallet and the mouth. I would love to get ahead with my own blog, so that I have more time for freelancing. My boyfriend makes me jealous with all his running, so I need to up my game as well!

    Reply

  29. Michelle S. says

    Hey!

    Dentist #2 said the first one was crazy and that my teeth were great except for the tooth trauma to the front tooth.

    The root canal wasn’t bad. I didn’t get a shot, anesthesia, numbed or anything. He just went right in and started the root canal. I was really surprised that I didn’t feel anything.

    Reply

  30. Poor Student says

    I also like to schedule my posts ahead… Although I’m not always successful with it. I like to procrastinate, but then I also realize that I write better if I have posts lined up because I can go back editing them before they’re published.

    Good luck with your income goal this month! I really hope you can achieve it 🙂

    Reply

  32. Don @ Breath of Optimism says

    I love writing ahead of schedule as well. It frees up my time to work on the many other aspects of blogging and gives me flexibility when to schedule posts, etc.

    Great to hear you stepped outside the box to do the interview. You have to keep pushing yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone if you want to get better and be better. Keep up the great work!!

    Reply

  33. Veronica Lee says

    Congrats on another great month!
    Glad to know the root canal wasn’t bad at all. Just the mere thought of visiting a dentist sends shudders down my spine!

    Reply

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