It has been a stressful month! I’m not doing very well, and have had to deal with multiple work crises over the last few weeks.

Money

August spending was fairly normal.

I spent $6.00 on my regular sewing subscription and $70.06 on clothing. I finally bought some replacement underwear when I came across a good sale. (These were brand new, just to be clear — there are some lines even I don’t cross when it comes to secondhand, LOL.) I also got some secondhand costume jewelry and two knit tops from eBay/Poshmark.

I spent $122.54 on books and audiobooks. I’ve been acquiring a lot of physical books this year, so I need to focus both on reading through those and finding a consistent way to pass them on. There’s only so much storage space in our flat!

Aside from the usual categories, I purchased a used DVD from eBay, and a few gifts (also secondhand, though all were new with tags). I actually started my holiday shopping as early as I always say I will!

Grocery budget stayed under target again, but some foods are already noticeably more expensive and will probably continue to climb. I plan to focus on wasting less.

Writing

I wrote my monthly short story, but due to a work crisis (not my fault, honestly), I didn’t get my newsletter edited on time. (I finished a draft and will send it out next month.) I did some work on my Spooky Season drafts, though. I also have a fiction project brewing, as I’ve decided to write something just for fun.

Goals

I listed six goals for August. (Some of my 2025 goals will change from month to month, and some will remain the same.)

Writing
+ Write short story
+ Send newsletter

Story yes, newsletter no.

Household
+ Replace bathroom faucet
+ Try two new recipes

We bought the faucet, but haven’t scheduled the plumber yet. I tried THREE new recipes: A vegan vanilla mug cake (one of those single-serving microwave desserts), a low-fat recipe for fasolakia, and a batch of simple vegan carrot muffins. These were all pretty good! I know fasolakia sounds like food treason without a ton of olive oil, but I liked this recipe. I’ll never be able to eat authentic Greek food again, so I have to take what I can get. The mug cake was fine. It was about as good as microwaved baked goods get, which is to say that it was tolerably tasty when you’re craving cake in a hurry, though it’s never going to win any prizes. I only had one complaint about the carrot muffins: They generated a huge pile of dishes, as I used the food processor to shred the carrots. But they tasted great! All three recipes were “repeaters.”

Money
+ Complete four modules for certification training

I didn’t do a single one, and have fallen way farther behind than I had hoped. I’m going to have to do a big push over the next couple of months to finish on time.

Personal
+ Sew one garment

I sewed a woven tank top I already had cut out, and finally learned how to do bias neck bindings that lay flat. I also took my serger (overlock machine) in for a check-up this month. Now it’s running like brand new, so I’m itching to make a couple of t-shirts next!

Goals for September

Writing
+ Write short story
+ Send newsletter at least twice

Household
+ Replace bathroom faucet
+ Try one new recipe

Money
+ Complete entire first section of certification training

Personal
+ Sew one garment

Everything Else

• We went to a “Weird” Al concert! Really fun show, but it was outside and kind of physically miserable. I’d seen him once before about 25 years ago, but as neither Al nor I are getting any younger, I thought I’d better go again. He played all the hits and the costume changes were pretty crazy. All the musicians were so versatile! The backup singers all played at least one instrument, and you generally never see a backup singer just casually whipping out a baritone saxophone. Very entertaining.
• I read (or listened to) 18 books in August.
• I’ve been catching up on “All Creatures Great and Small” on PBS Passport, since a new season is on its way early next year. By the way, please send a donation to your local public media station if you’re in the US and can spare a little cash. The federal funding cuts are devastating, especially for smaller PBS/NPR affiliates.

And that was August.