Self-improvement projects for April

The days are longer, the sun is up before I am, and life is getting even better. I have a few self-improvement projects I have started half-way in March but want to properly track them in April. Here they are in no particular order:

Track every penny

I don’t use a budget right now because 1) the cost of living is so low in China, and 2) I’m at the point where frugality is a habit. However, I know I’m not perfect and a few dollars here or there can add up rather quickly. So for the Month of April, I’m going to track every penny I spend and see if I can make some improvements. This will be particularly interesting since I will be back in Canada for August where the cost of living is much higher.

Broad categories:

• Groceries: food I cook myself, including snacks
• Eating out: take-out, restaurants, and convenience food
• Leisure: books, movies, trips, anything that counts as entertainment
• Health/Hygiene: meds, toothpaste, pads, etc. etc.
• Clothing: self-explanatory

You’ll notice there’s no rent, utilities, insurance, internet, cellphone, or transportation costs. That’s because the school pays for them 😀
Well, not the cellphone bill, that’s $7. I’m going to tack that onto leisure because it doesn’t really fit anywhere else.

I’m thinking somewhere around $200-300CAD, taking bets on if you think it’ll be closer to $200 or closer to $300 😉

Daily food log

I’m not tracking the food I eat as much as I’m tracking the instances of food consumption. The goal for this is to cut down on how many times I snack throughout the day and to decrease the number of processed foods I consume. I started the log back in March and I’ve noticed I’m definitely more mindful about how many times I reach for a snack and what the type of snack is.

I’ve tried to fast through until lunch but currently would still eat some small snacks around 10:30. Not eating breakfast has increased my mental awareness in the mornings, to my (un)surprise. I think I can aim for lunch if I remember to drink more water and sleep more. I definitely notice that I eat more when I’m dehydrated/tired.

Stretch goal: eat no processed snacks for the entire month of April 😀
If I don’t buy it, I can’t eat it is gonna be my mantra.

Morning exercise

I’ve been working out in the mornings before work for 2 weeks already so just aiming to continue. I really enjoy the routine and the calm start to the day even waking up 10min earlier provides me. Some days are better than others but even on the worst days I still put on exercise clothes and stretch for 5 minutes. The focus here is not how much I do, but that I’m committing to the process and committing to building the habit.

So there you have it, my three mini self-improvement projects for April. What do you think? Do you have any goals for the month of April?