I had a pretty decent month! Everything is better in October, frankly. We even had autumnal weather here in the swamp this week.

Money

I bought a new domain name, a used DVD set, two online writing workshops and a longer course that I’ll take in November, and a very cheap electronic drawing tablet. I had looked for a used one first (as I always do), but I was concerned about compatibility with my very crappy laptop and I wanted to be able to return it if necessary. Turns out it works fine! But I am still a terrible digital artist, LOL.

I spent $19.50 on my regular sewing subscription and a sewing pattern I’d had my eye on for months. I also spent $167.90 on a pair of eyeglasses from Zenni (I wanted “dressy” frames in my current prescription) and a skirt from eBay.

I spent $123.79 on books and audiobooks, and I think I’d like to spend about half of that next month in order to focus on holiday gift shopping. But let’s face it: Books are my weakness. So we’ll see.

Our grocery spending was pretty close to the budget target, as expected. We’ll see how next month goes. We don’t do anything too elaborate for Thanksgiving, but I expect we’ll be pretty close to the line again.

Writing

I wrote my monthly short story, and sent my newsletter ten times. Ten! I actually followed through and did the entire series I’d planned for Spooky Season.

Goals

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

Writing
+ Write short story
+ Spooky Season newsletters

Done and done!

Household
+ Replace bathroom faucet
+ Try one new recipe

We have a shiny new bathroom faucet! It even matches the bathtub faucet. I tried a vegan pasta bake that used a tofu “ricotta” and it was very good! I think I’ll make it again (maybe for a special occasion, as it was a “lasagna” amount of work) with an added layer of mushrooms and vegetables. That fake ricotta was simple but flavorful, and I’ll keep it in mind for other recipes.

Money
+ Complete YTD work for an occasional client’s two businesses

I didn’t quite get this finished, but should be able to get the last bit done next week. Sometimes it’s not even procrastination that gets me, just an underestimate of time required to finish a task. There was so much more data entry than I anticipated!

Personal
+ Finish holiday gift list, so I know what to shop for in November

Gifts are subject to change, depending on what I find, but the list is ready to go.

Goals for November

Writing
+ Write short story
+ Write something just for the fun of it

Household
+ Holiday gift shopping (at least the majority of it)
+ Try one new recipe

Money
+ Complete YTD work for another occasional client

Personal
+ Participate in two workshops and work through one online course

Everything Else

• We went to see Maria Bamford perform, and took Thumper to Haunted Objects Live. It’s not every month we see two awesome shows!
• I read (or listened to) 15 books in October. I’ve been re-reading a lot of Anne Perry. I hadn’t realized that she passed away a couple of years ago, so I’m belatedly very sad.
• I watched fewer horror movies than I usually do in October. I watched “V/H/S Halloween,” which was dumb as hell (though I loved, loved Fun Size), and Thumper talked me into watching “Clown in a Cornfield.” That was a fantastic movie! I loved it despite my (literal) coulrophobia. I’m not even playing. I’m so afraid of clowns that I once hid under a table in a restaurant when a birthday clown got too close.

And that was October.