October Goals

I think October is my favorite month.  My favorite month, when I lived in the Midwest was September, but since winter starts later here, let's bump that back to October, shall we?  Not only is the air crisp, cool and refreshing, but we are slowly approaching------     FOLIAGE TIME!

Gorgeous!

I am officially a total foliage nerd.  Last year, I was snapping pictures out of my car window on my way to work (not recommended), and I reveled in my long commutes because it meant I could spend more time ogling leaves.  Ogling leaves is free, so you can see why I'm so excited.

For a bit of perspective, this is where I grew up:

Gorgeous as well, but a bit more spare

Not right here, this is a picture I took while driving down the interstate (not recommended), but I grew up on the prairie where we get about two days of foliage before all the leaves fall off and it starts blizzarding, plus, there are just fewer trees.

Foliage, y'all.  I'm pumped!

But enough about that, it's time to decide how to be responsible with my money for this lovely, foliagetastic month.

Presently, I am about two months over on my clothes budget.  What I mean by that, is that my mint.com account will not get rid of the angry, red "you went over budget!" line until November--if I don't buy any clothes in October, but I have a balance due on my Old Navy card, so even that's not going to happen.  The outfit remixing is going well, so I'm just going to stay on task, and really, really try not to buy anything new.  Plus, I get to break into my sweater collection again, which is very exciting.

October challenge: No New Clothes!

It's not all bad though.  I'm back to my two days off a month work schedule, which bums me out, but I have been doing better at not frivoling away my downtime.  I bribed myself into running errands the other day by promising myself a Salted Caramel Mocha at Starbucks, and it totally worked!  I got not only a feeling of accomplishment, but also a delicious beverage in my tummy.  So I need to remember not to be so extreme.  I don't have to get everything done in one day, just chip away at the list bit-by-bit.

October Challenge: Don't be such a spaz!

This month, and the month of May, I came within four miles of my uber monthly goal of running 100 miles (my regular goal is an average of 62 miles a month to meet my annual goal of 750--I like spreadsheets, ok?).  This month, I'm going to nail that goal to the wall.  I have a half marathon and a five mile run coming up, and I've been logging a lot of miles and feeling fantastic.  Plus, I have this adorable running jacket to wear once the days start getting a little chilly.

October Challenge: 100 Miles!

I'm ready, and a little bit excited.  I've been feeling erratic and frenzied, but now I've got that calm, zen thing going on, probably because I'm not sweating all the time (I can't handle the heat--can't).  What does everyone else have planned for the magical month of October?