June goals. . . . .

I apologize for the late post! I confess that I'm having a little difficulty focusing on my goals for this month, primarily because I'm anxious that it will be very tight financially and I'm hesitating to even create my zero-based budget!

Sticking my head in the sand isn't going to make me any less anxious, so today I'm committed to getting my goals out there and to updating my monthly budget. . . .

Financial:

• Add at least $200 to emergency fund to make up for $300 spent on drain repair.
  
  
• Send at least $200 to American Express (more than twice the minimum) to continue the satisfaction of watching that balance shrink!
  
  
• Keep gas bill under $40 this month. This might be difficult, considering gas prices. I've started taking the bus from my house a few days a week, to avoid driving to the transit center. Although it's a longer, less satisfying ride, it might help me meet this goal.



• Find an airline ticket for $200 or less for my July trip to California. Pay cash!
  
  
• Keep an eye on entertainment (fun) related costs, which were relatively large in May. I want to decrease this, without decreasing the fun in my life! I've tried very hard to find a balance between work, school, and having a social life, and when the chips are down, my social life suffers.

Blog-related:

• Increase personal learning about financial matters that I can share with readers.



• Submit articles to five carnivals this month. I didn't meet this goal last month, so will work harder on being aware of what else is going on in the blogosphere and networking with my fellow bloggers.



• Welcome at least 3,000 visitors to my blog this month. Last month over 3,200 of you visited me, which I find amazing. My goal this month is less than that, because many of the readers who visited came from the MSN Smart Spending site that highlighted one of my posts. Is it wrong not to try for 4,000? Can you tell I'm in an uncertain mood today?



• Finish reading an amazing book, called 'Simple Prosperity', by David Wann, and review it on this site.

Personal:
Some meaningful quotes that I've discovered in Simple Prosperity, which may interest and inspire you:

"Inconceivable amounts of money and effort are spent to fill every consumer moment with a product, leaaving little time for healthy food, great relationships, or learing new skills. Because the real wealth makes us feel content, the marketers have learned how to ridicule it and portray it as 'boring'. You don't see a lot of ads for small, well-designed houses, backpacking adventures, potluck dinners, or other experiences and products that reduce the GDP yet elevate our gladness to be alive" David Wann

"You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy" Eric Hoffer

"I'm not sure people are meant to work full-time. Life is more complicated than that. We human beings need time to think, make music, weave baskets, play with kids and dogs, bond with each other, and care for friends and family. Those of us with demanding jobs that continually spill over into our personal lives often don't have the time for those things while we work full-time". Carol Ostram