Saturday things

 It was so nice to have yesterday off, as a bonus paid holiday. The company I just started with has a really generous time off plan, particularly compared to where I've previously worked. There is a mid year mini break (time off, where you don't have to use your PTO) of a Wednesday-Friday at the end of July, as well as a longer break over the holidays. I've never worked anywhere with mixed PTO (vacation + sick leave), but when given the option to work from home when sick, it's unusual for me to take more than a few sick days per year. There is also the standard collection of US holidays as well. 

What we were up to yesterday:

DH installed a shelf that I ordered for my treadmill. The treadmill hasn't gotten much use lately, because I typically run outside or at my workout class. However, you can set it at the very lowest setting, and walk while doing other things. I have a lot of training videos to watch, documents to read, etc, and this will be perfect for getting in some steps while I'm busy doing other things. My actual workouts will be shorter in the upcoming weeks, but hopefully I can use the treadmill for an hour a day or so at a very slow pace & pick up some steps. I'd like to keep my 12k steps/day goal for the year, if at all possible.

We had a fun day yesterday. DS18 was feeling very chatty about college, and we were able to understand how he did on his AP tests (scores aren't yet released to the students, but have been released to the colleges, so based on the credits given, we know which scores he got). He is going into college with 20 credits, thanks to his AP tests. He scored really well on everything but stats, where he passed, but got a 3, which means he received a general education credit, vs credit for a stats class. He was a little disappointed by that, but got full credit for: calculus & physics, both of which count towards his major. He is also bringing credits for US government & environmental science. All of these credits will save a lot of money in college tuition (about $20k), which is pretty crazy & also help him graduate on time, while not needing to overburden himself the first few semesters, as he's figuring out college.

I made everyone lunch, so they wouldn't eat out, and we chatted about all things college with DS18 & his girlfriend. She's studying abroad in Paris the first semester, and getting excited about her trip as well.

The adults had margaritas by the pool, which was so lovely, & caught up on the trip to Boulder, job searching, my new job, etc. DH grilled delicious burgers, and we had that with fresh fruit, and tater tots that DH made. He was so proud of himself, coming home with an 8 lb package of tater tots from Costco. I burst out laughing because... that's a lot to find room for in the freezer, but also, who is going to eat 8 lbs of tots?! He was so pleased with himself, when the teens loved them & cleared out the pan he made. ;-)

It's supposed to be pretty much perfect weather (for my taste) today, at 75 degrees. Sunny enough to enjoy, but not too hot to be outside & work in the yard. Yes!

I'm heading to a strength workout class this morning, will also do a walk or some sort of other cardio. Otherwise, I have a few errands to run, and plan to get ahead of some work for next week.

What are you all up to today? 

Frugal Friday

Happy 4th of July, for all of you in the US! I'm thrilled to have today off, to go to a workout class, as well as catch up a bit on life, work & prep for next week. 

I'll start with my frugal fail, although it's really Nick's frugal fail. Nick went golfing, and a friend was coming over on Sunday night for a late dinner & hang. No problem, I made some pasta & left out a bunch of hot dogs M had grilled (maybe, 18?) I asked him to put everything back before he went to bed, and he's typically very good about that. However, something must have happened, because when I woke up in the morning, lo & behold, the first container of hot dogs in grilled buns was empty & the container of 18 hot dogs was still sitting out on the counter. Into the trash they went. I hate waste! 

Saving on things we buy

• Once again, I scored on my credit card cash back rewards. (I save any I think there's even the most remote possibility we will use, and then forget about them, both because of my memory, but also because I don't want to make a purchase just to get the reward.) Nick lost his debit card on his road trip, so we agreed he could use the credit card for all of his purchases, and then reimburse me when he was back & had his card. He made a couple of fast food purchases during the journey, so I earned $1.13 from one, and $.26 from another. Basically getting rich here. ;-) But, it's money that takes almost no effort, and happens pretty seamlessly, as cash back from my credit card. 
• Won another $.75 of grocery store rewards with their current promotion, and redeemed another $2 of rewards won on another shopping trip. 
• Sam is going to visit my parents in August, and catch up with his cousin who wasn't around when we visited in June. His job & summer classes will both be wrapped up before school starts again, and he asked for more time with his grandparents, which I love. I used Alaska miles to book his flight, paying just $25 out of pocket. 

Earning money

• I'm officially back at work, and earning money. And, getting health care benefits! Woohoo!! I signed up for the HSA account, as well as my 401k, which felt nice. 
• I received a $36 settlement for something. They take so long to payout, I can rarely remember what they are for. 
• Sold a couple of things on eBay, earning $15, and further continuing out my stuff. 

Avoiding spending

• Picked up a free package of shredded cheese (I had a game piece from the store with this as the reward), which saved close to $5. Wow! Expensive, and not something I'd purchase unless it was much cheaper. 

Eating what we have

• A friend dropped off a flat of strawberries, so we have been eating our way through those, in addition to our garden strawberries. We are also freezing some for smoothies. 
• We managed to clean out the fridge pretty well, which was needed, as it was getting overly full. 
• Sam & I avoided takeout, despite me having APAC meetings in the early evenings. We ate some delicious samosas from the freezer, and had breakfast for dinner one night. 
• I had salads for lunch, and had prepped a big tray of chicken, and added that to lunches for a quick meal option. 

For others

• Bought my sister's flight for a trip she's making to visit in a couple of weeks. She and my BFF are flying in on a Thursday night. We are all going to work on Friday, and cut out a few hours early. Then we will have Friday late afternoon/evening + all day Saturday together & Sunday morning. It was tricky to find time to get together, with me starting my new job, and BFF is a school administrator, so also has a limited travel window. I wanted to thank my sister for hosting Nick & his posse for his senior trip, as she spoiled them with takeout, lots of snacks & homemade meals while they stayed with her. I used a flight gift card, purchased on a discount at Costco. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Reflections a few days into a new job

 I'm at the start of day four, and it's been a lot of fun & full on so far. Any time you are onboarding, meeting a bunch of new people, and just figuring things out, it's intense.

• I'm liking all of the social connections
• I'm going to have to work hard to get in physical activity/steps
• I need to meal prep easy breakfast/lunch options, especially in the beginning
• I have a ton of on-boarding meetings to meet new people. It's a big & very matrixed organization, so I think have about 50+ intro meetings over the next month or so! It's a lot.
• Learning how to use new tech is..not my favorite. ;-) I'm still struggling how to set up my computer so I can easily find everything I need. That's been a bit of a journey.
• I most certainly need to find a new workout schedule. I'm fine with it being ad hoc for a few weeks, as my schedule evens out a bit.
• TONS of early morning calls, although much fewer evening calls! The majority of the folks I'll engage with regularly are split between London & the bay area, which means my day is very front loaded with early morning meetings.  I'd much rather have this schedule than the one my London based manager has - late calls in her time zone. My energy levels drop drastically later in the day, which is part of why I work out first thing after waking up. Calls in the evening are terrible on my energy levels. So, if I had to choose one time zone flex, it would definitely be London vs Tokyo. 
• I'll really have to manage my own schedule, to carve out time to eat, go for a walk, etc, because it is way too easy to do back to back meetings for six hours & not have a moment to grab food. The first few weeks are super tricky with all of the on-boarding meetings, but I'm pretty good at calendar management in general.
• Going from having total schedule flexibility has been an adjustment, and I'm generally really tired at the end of the day! So happy I joined on a four day work week.
• There's lots of time off in this role, which is so awesome! 

I really think I'm going to enjoy the group of people, the team & the culture. The work feels pretty familiar to what I've done before, but with enough new twists & business challenges to keep it interesting. And, I really like my boss & think we will get on great. 

On a funny note, I've mentioned my role is pretty niche, which also applies to some of the roles of the folks on my team. I went into my first meeting with one of my team members, and he had previously worked with my direct report on my old team at my last job. Such a small world! 

If you have easy lunch or breakfast options that can be prepped in advance, please share!

Goals for July

 July is definitely going to be an interesting month, with starting a new job, helping Nick get ready for college, and helping Sam figure out if he's going back to OSU, or prefers to stay local & attend community college. I also have friends visiting (yay!), M & Nick are going to Boulder for orientation, and there's just plenty happening at our house. 

Goals for July:

Financial:

• Spend sign on bonus per the plan, assuming all of this is allowed:
• Max 401k for the year
• Max HSA 
• Max 529 contributions to get the full company match per kid
• $5000 to my nephew for college
• Create a new budget, based on new paycheck amont
• Meal plan, and avoid takeout/eating out unless planned. I want to focus on this, especially as I don't know my work schedule, when/if I'm going to the office, etc. 

Family:

• Get Nick's college prep sorted as much as possible, & finish required orientation tasks.
• Have a fabulous visit with my sister + BFF, who are visiting mid-month
• Help Sam decide on fall plans
• One date night with M

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• 15, 15, 15 - strength workouts, No S days, and meditations
• Figure out a new workout routine for my work schedule
• Average 12,500 steps/day

Personal:

• Get together with friends x2 
• Say yes to adventure & try new things
• Figure out new work schedule/transition, & get settled into new job
• Declutter 50 items

What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish in July?

June Goals Recap

June was a ride, but with lots of great things happening! Overall, I'm really happy with my progress for the month, even though the fitness side definitely suffered in the midst of everything else. 

Financial:

• Bank all of M's severance, and open CDs  - done
• Shuffle existing CDs for better rates - done
• Find a job - WOOHOO! Done
• Finish teaching class, and invoice for all sessions - done
• Earn $300 in side hustle - I made $2052 in June, with $2000 coming from my teaching job
• Get rid of 3 pantry items - no

Family:

• Have a fantastic graduation for Nick (including time with my parents & celebrating in Washington) - both his actual graduation & the party in Washington were so fabulous.
• Have an on budget & fabulous trip with M to Las Vegas - yes! It was so much fun
• Work with boys on various life stuff. Help Sam decide on fall plans. - Work in progress on both of these. 

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs - I gained 1.5 lbs, so I need to get back to this for sure
• 15, 15, 15 - strength workouts, No S days, meditations - 14 strength workouts, 6 No S Days, & 3 days of meditation
• Try something new in my workout routine - I did another treadmill class, which is unusual for me, & definitely pushes me to work on my running pace & endurance
• Average 12,500 steps/day - 12,340, which I will take, given the month

Personal:

• Get together with friends x2 - oh yes, lots of friends get togethers. Walks, hikes, brunches, a birthday dinner, and saw my sister + BFF at my parents house
• Say yes to adventure & try new things - a lot going on in June, and starting a new job is definitely something new
• Reduce screen time - yes! I found that once I had a job, I was so infrequently looking at my email & no need to be constantly on LinkedIn
• Declutter 50 items - 60/50

What about you? How did you do with your June goals?

Fitness Monday

 Finally back & attempting to get back on track with my health & fitness. It was a pretty good week, particularly in comparison to the rest of June. ;-) 

Weight: up 1.5 lbs since my last weigh in! This is why it's so helpful for me to record my food & fitness. When I'm not doing that, the train is off the track. 

Calories: 1502, a little higher than I'd like

Steps: 11,673. I had one day where I was supposed to do a gym class, but instead did the elliptical, after I discovered my tire was super low & didn't want to drive. M fixed me up, but I'd missed my class. I absolutely should have gone for a walk at some point that day, but it's been too warm for me, and I bailed. Otherwise, my steps each day were pretty good. 

Workouts:

• 3 60 minute workout classes (combination of running, rowing & strength)
• Two hikes + one more casual walk with a friend
• Treadmill class (lots of running)
• 30 minutes on the elliptical 

Overall nutrition: I ate pretty well, and had a lot of salads & more produce. I had two mini Trader Joes ice cream cones & a couple of days with higher calories than I'd like, but overall pretty decent on the nutrition front. 

Goals for the week:

• Figure out a workout schedule, at least for the next couple of weeks
• Eat well & clean out the fridge/freezer while M & Nick are in Boulder
• Get 12k steps/day, which will be definitely more challenging with work & meetings

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness goals over the past week?

Menu Plan Sunday

 

We were lazy & ordered Greek takeout on Friday (also celebrating that M had a great interview day), and with me starting a new job, we definitely need a menu plan so this doesn't turn into a trend.

• Friday - delicious Greek takeout. I had a gyro bowl
• Saturday - leftover Korean beef & rice
• Sunday - Philly cheesesteaks
• Monday - chicken fajitas
• Tuesday - M & Nick will be in Boulder, so Sam & I will probably have a frozen pizza, like the party animals we are
• Wednesday - chicken fajitas over salad
• Thursday  - leftovers 
• Friday - likely grilled hot dogs or burgers, for the 4th of July

What about you? What's on your menu plan this week?

Frugal Friday

 It's been a reasonably quiet week on the frugal front, as I tried to wrap up all of my projects ahead of work next week, as well as meet up with friends. 

Saving on things we buy

• Forgot about a Southwest credit card offer I'd saved to my account, and earned $1.46 (big money) o our recent flights.
• Used a 40% promo code at CVS to order a few more graduation pictures for Nick.
• Nick & Sam took their girlfriends on a date night, using Nick's discounted meal that he gets for the place he works. Apparently, it was a lot of fun, and I love that they double dated. 

Earning money

• Sold some hand cream on eBay & made $6.50. I accepted a pretty low offer, as I'm trying to clean out my eBay shelf. Hopefully I can get rid of more in the next few weeks!

Avoiding spending

• M, Nick & I were originally all going to go to his college orientation 7/1-7/3 in Boulder. However, my new manager requested I start on 6/30, ahead of her taking off on vacation. M offered to take Nick on his own. We had the hotel booked with free night awards in my name, and our flight reservations included all three of us. United doesn't make it easy to split a flight reservation, unlike some airlines, but I spent time on the phone & got that sorted. I'll get a future flight credit. I was also able to cancel my free night awards, then transfer the awards to M, and rebook them under his name. Done & done, but saving a lot of money. And, ultimately all of this allows me to start work a week earlier, get a "free" vacation day on July 4th, and get an earlier month of health insurance (July), which is a huge savings. 
• We ate at the airport lounge (for free last weekend while we were traveling), & filled out water bottles for free at the airport both ways.

Eating what we have

• Our garden is really producing, so we have tons of tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, & herbs. Some sort of wildlife is eating my cucumbers & squash, which is irritating me to know end. I want M to set up a critter camera, so we can see how they are getting into our heavily fortified garden boxes. Ate lots of strawberries for snacks. 
• I made quite a few meals out of freezer items (taco meat, broccoli beef, chicken salads for lunch, etc), which has been nice & avoided a trip to the store. We didn't have quite enough of the broccoli beef, so I added a lot more fresh broccoli (steaming right before serving) & served it over pasta, as the recipe calls for. The pasta really adds bulk. Nick had his with meatballs, which meant we had just enough for the three of us eating the beef & broccoli.
• Shredded my one lonely zucchini I've grown this year. I picked it & then didn't have a chance to make it right away, so I figured that shredding was my best option. 

For others

• Let my sister know about the money we plan to gift my nephew for his fall college tuition, so she can plan accordingly for her contributions & overall finances. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

How I'm feeling about going back to work

 It's going to be a big change, after a glorious 16 months off of work! I worked full time for 25 years in a "career" job, worked three jobs in college, and started working when I was 15. (My sister & I waitressed at the same restaurant, so she could give me a ride.) Taking the time off has been so incredibly good for me, and our family. I got to spend so much time with Sam before he left for college, and enjoyed Nick's senior year. We said yes to all of the impromptu hosting, ski trips, swim parties, last minute lunches & generally just enjoying all of his friends & their shenanigans. That's time I would never have had with either of them. 

I also got time with other amazing people in my life. Two hiking trips, with two different girlfriends. Took my nephew to Las Vegas. Visited my mom. Ran a 10k with my sister & BFF. Went on another hiking trip with my sister & BFF. Took both boys to admitted students days at college, plus orientation, plus college drop offs (still ahead for Nick). I've had so much fun, and been so lucky. 

I've worked out 5-6 days a week, met friends for an endless amount of hikes at the local nature preserve, and read by the pool every day there was a little sun. I did a moderate job of keeping the house clean. I truly relaxed and got rid of years of work stress. 

When M was laid off, it was a real turning point for both of us. I'd said in October (when we were in Costa Rica), that I thought I was ready to start looking for something to keep me busy. Once he was laid off, I decided that I would also look for an actual career job with benefits, so he could have the option of finding another career job, or starting his own business, which he's wanted to do for years. I'm not sure if he will actually do it, or take another career job (he's got lots of interviews going), but this gives him the flexibility to choose, and having options in life is so valuable. 

I feel really lucky to have found something that's very well compensated, because I looked at jobs that paid 1/2 to even 1/3 of what this job paid. It's just a crazy market, and the compensation in tech is really all over the place. If I tried to do a career pivot, I was basically looking at starting out in a very junior role, earning 1/3 of what I was before. It just didn't seem worth it, when I only see myself working for another 3-5 years. Why not earn the bigger salary, staying in the same area I was in before, and pad the accounts before I officially retire? 

I'm very excited about the people in this new role. One of the reasons I said "yes", was because I loved everyone I interviewed with. This job is a very natural extension of what I was doing before, so I also feel really confident about the subject area, and my ability to add value. 

On the financial side, we could have afforded for both of us not to work for at least another year, but then the cost of health care really started to eat into our retirement savings, which no one wanted. By going back to work now, we preserve both our retirement, as well as what I'll call our "flexible" savings, which allows us to splurge more. Help my nephew with college. Save money for my special needs aunt, should she reach a point that she needs it. Travel overseas to visit M's family. Update our house (I would LOVE to have a bathtub at some point.) Cover some out of pocket medical expenses that are likely looming for me. Treat my parents to some fun trips. Go to Italy. Donate to causes we care about. Set aside money for the boys, as they enter adulthood. 

I will absolutely miss the flexibility I have in my current schedule, but I've also worried that becoming an empty nester at the same time I'm not working might be too much "freedom" for me, and I might enjoy a bit more structure. This job is coming at pretty much the perfect time, as we drop Nick off at college in mid-August. We'll see how I feel in a few months, after I've gotten a chance to get a feel for my schedule & my coworkers!

Wow, that got long. Apparently, I had a lot to say about my return to work! Happy to answer questions! I'm in a *very* niche field (there are probably 15 people who have the exact experience I had that qualified me for this role), so won't give a ton of specifics about job, but any other questions are fair game. 

Plans for my upcoming income

Once I see how much my paychecks net out to, I'll have a more clear plan of how much we can save, where we will spend, etc. I'm excited to work on a new budget that includes my income! As background, my new job comes with the following compensation elements:

• Salary
• Annual bonus (30% of my salary)
• Stock 
• A sign on bonus - $60k paid out in year one, $20k paid out in year two)

How will we spend the sign on bonus? Our plans are as follows:

• $5k to my nephew for college
• Max my 401k - $23,500
• If allowed, put $1k/per kid in the 529 match account, to earn the match - $2,000
• Save the rest for taxes 

I need to research the rest of our benefits, but I'm hoping that maxing my 401k & the 529 contributions are allowed through the sign on bonus. 

As for the rest of my income, I'm planning to largely keep our spending the same, with a few small tweaks:

• Increase our travel budget/savings for 2026+. It's my 50th birthday, and our 20th anniversary, and if things ever settle down in the middle east, we know we want to see M's mom at least one more time before she's unable to travel. And, she can't come here with the current travel bans. So, we're likely looking at another trip to Dubai, and we will bring both boys, if we can work it around their schedules. We will also have additional travel to/from Boulder, and if possible, would like to do a family trip (if schedules don't align for Dubai) & maybe take my parents to Las Vegas. All of this is still TBD, as we figure out availability, budget, time off, etc.
• Pay for a cleaning service. One of my mental tradeoffs with going back to work. ;-) 

Our larger financial goals are as follows:

• Max out 401ks, HSAs, and any 529 contributions with company match
• Save $5k/month for investments
• Potentially considering remodeling our bedroom/bathroom area of our house. Very much TBD
• Pay for both boys college degrees. (They will use their saved money from jobs to cover their "fun" money, eating out, etc.)
• We'd love to continue to help my nephew with some of his college expenses, and will try that out this year. He is going into his junior year in the fall. 

Any big financial goals on your side, or planned changes to your budget & income?

Menu Plan Tuesday

We were out of town for the weekend, and didn't get any meals prepped, so we're definitely playing catch up this week. Here's what we've eaten so far, and what's our menu for the days ahead.

• Friday - M, Sam & I ate at the airport lounge before our flight. Sam followed that up with some pizza at my parents house
• Saturday - M grilled burgers at the graduation party, and there were also all kinds of salads, treats & sides. My mom made an incredible chocolate cake, per Nick's request
• Sunday - we were all tired after our flights and not hungry, so no dinner was consumed. I guess my free airplane pretzels? ;-) 
• Monday - I found taco meat in the freezer, so M, Sam & I had tacos, while Mr. Social Nick was at a birthday party for a friend
• Tuesday - beef & broccoli (freezer) over noodles
• Wednesday - Korean beef & rice
• Thursday - wings & pot stickers 
• Friday - Philly cheese steaks (M will make them)

What about you? What's on your menu plan this week?

Fitness Monday

 I have been so far off track with my fitness! I haven't been tracking my calories consistently, focusing on my 12k/day steps, and I haven't been following the No S diet. Things went sideways around Nick's graduation a few weeks ago, continued during our Las Vegas trip, and definitely kept going during our wonderful weekend with my family. 

Time to get back on track! I also need to figure out a new routine with my work schedule, although that will be a bit of a work in progress. It sounds like I might be working from home for the first few weeks due to construction, which frees up time in the mornings to potentially attend a workout class or go for a run. If I am going to the office, I need to see if they have showers, as I could attend an early workout class close to the office, and then shower & get ready there, which is something I used to do at my old company. And, I don't think this company provides free lunches, so I'll go back to my old lunch packing ways! But, everything is a bit TBD until I figure out if I'm going into the office 3x/week, or working from home. More to come on this, as I build a new routine for myself.

It was a busy week, but I did get in some workouts:

• Four no workout days, which is pretty rare for me - two while I was at my parents house, and one on Monday when we came back from Las Vegas. I skipped class on Thursday, as I tweaked a muscle the day before.
• I did get in three workout classes.

All in all, it's time to get back on track for sure. Goals for the week:

• Four No S days
• Work out every day
• 12k steps
• A salad every day
• Track calories again
• Get on the scale (yikes)

What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness?

Frugal Friday

 I have almost nothing this week, as we were in Las Vegas last weekend, and it's been a pricey week this week as well (dinner out for a friend's birthday, brunch with another friend, etc). But, here goes! I'm combining the list this week, as we don't have too many wins.

• Invoiced for my last three classes
• DH received his severance! We will be able to save almost all of it, and will be giving my sweet nephew some money for college, using a bit of it for travel, and a few house projects. 
• I start my new job on June 30th, saving us from having to pay for health insurance via COBRA in July! Hurrah.
• We opted to swap our flights for this weekend, in order to leave earlier on both sides, and I used Southwest credits or gift cards for almost everything, minus $120 or so. Given there are 3 of us flying, the $120 out of pocket was a great savings, and is largely offset by the transportation cost difference getting to the closer airport vs San Francisco. 
• We received credits back from the cancelled flights, and can use those for future travel for Nick, as it's United, and Denver is a United hub, making that the best option for him when traveling to & from college.
• We got home late from the airport on Monday, but I found some freezer options & whipped up dinner.
• We priced out transportation options for our flights this weekend, and pre-booking parking was by far the best deal. 
• I'm researching benefits for my new job, and am excited to look into best ways to maximize my income.
• I've picked & eaten so many strawberries. They are incredible right now!

What about you? Any wins to share?