Monday, March 18, 2024

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm working hard on cleaning out lingering pantry & freezer items, and I'll try & make better notes on my menu of when I'm using things up. It's helpful for myself & maybe it will inspire others. :-) 

  • Friday - an appetizer style meal: coconut shrimp, gyozas, edamame
  • Saturday - lasagna & garlic bread (using up lasagna noodles from my parents last visit + tomato paste that has been sitting around forever + baguette from the freezer)
  • Sunday - pizza
  • Monday - grilled burgers & oven baked fries (using up a very old bag of fries)
  • Tuesday - chicken yakisoba (using up an old package of Top Ramen noodles, from the pantry)
  • Wednesday - lasagna 
  • Thursday - yakisoba
  • Friday - probably another appetizer style meal. 
What about you? What's on your menu for the week?

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Sunday Things

It's another busy day, but I find that I don't mind busy weekends now that I have the rest of the week to catch up, and I'm not trying to use weekends to prep for the work week ahead. I still try to be productive, but the pressure is off.

Yesterday was Nick's first spring club soccer game. Knowing the end is in sight, and how quickly it goes, I try to make it to as many matches as possible. The keeper went out with a head injury (he's okay, but they are very cautious with head injuries in soccer, as they should be), so Nick went in as goalie. He hasn't played that position in five or so years, and had one play where he dove to save a shot & slid across the turf on his face. He missed the shot as well. It don't think it was his favorite game, but was a good teammate & filled in. I'm glad I was there to support him, and also bring him water, because... despite being 17, sometimes you forget your water bottle. ;-)

M & I had pickle ball lessons, which were so much fun. I love learning something new together. We came home & I made chicken yakisoba for the two of us, while the teens were out with friends.

As for today, it should be a fun day. Here's what we're up to:

  • Workout class this morning
  • Nick has calculus tutoring
  • I'm meeting up with a friend for a walk
  • We're having takeout birthday pizza for dinner
  • Washing the sheets
  • Drying all of the rugs I washed
  • Gift opening
  • I'd like to make hummus
  • Scroll through LinkedIn & see if there's anything interesting
  • Read my book in the sunshine by the pool 
That's it for us. What about you? 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Saturday Happenings

It appears that I now can comment on my own blog again, but my comments need approval. From myself. 😂 Anyway, I'll give that a try, & also test out comments on a few other blogs. 

Here's what I'm up to today:

  • Workout class this morning
  • From there, I head straight to Nick's soccer game
  • As soon as I get back from soccer, I'll head home to grab lunch & then go to my first pickle ball lesson with M. It's been on our list to sign up for pickle ball lessons since we tried it in October on vacation. Glad we finally made it happen!
  • Making chicken yakisoba for dinner
  • Yard work
  • Laundry
  • Stop by the store
  • Work on our spring break plans
That's it! I also have a new laptop, and need to get everything transferred over, which is always a real treat.

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Friday, March 15, 2024

Frugal Friday

This week is really about using things up (rewards, gift cards, travel credits, food, etc), so that will be the theme of today's post. ;-) Having more time to work through all of these things is definitely useful, so I'll count that as a win.

Saving on things we buy:

  • Used two $20 grocery store rewards. On the first trip, I picked up items I needed for dinners this week, plus a few sale items ($.99 sourdough bakery bread, grapes, & cheese). I was on my way home when Sam (home sick with the flu) asked for a variety of drink options (Gatorade, ginger ale, etc). I used another $20 grocery store reward, and combined my purchase with the drinks I needed to pick up for Nick's soccer event, to use up another $20 reward. 
  • Went through all of my Fetch gift cards, and verified the balances, marked the used ones so they would no longer appear, and found two gift cards that were still available, with a combined $35 balance. One is for Safeway, which I'll use once I'm done with the current gift card, and the other is for Nike, which I'll use the next time I need to order Nick new tennis shoes. 

Earning money:

  • In a real frugal fail, I was reviewing an offer from a buyer on eBay who was driving me crazy offering way under listing, then when I'd counter, he'd raise his offer by $.50 at a time. I kept declining, but eventually was at the store, and hit accept on his last offer. I failed to review my own listing, which apparently included free shipping. I was already selling it way under my original price, so I made a grand total of $.50. Don't be like me. 
  • A coworker sent me a small bonus ($75) for a project I'd finished just before the layoffs. 

Avoiding spending:

  • It's one of our 2024 goals to reduce travel costs by using points, miles, credits, etc. We are going to Portland in June for Sam's graduation party, plus a 70th birthday biking event for my uncle. Flights for four are super pricey! I was able to book my flights + M's flight using miles (saving $872), and used a flight credit for the boys flights, saving $565. Our out of pocket was $307, vs the standard $1744, so a big win. 
  • Used a gift card to make a purchase at Safeway. I've been keeping a closer eye on the ads, and picked up cheese, Goldfish crackers (I swap through a variety of snacks, as we try to keep only 1 available at any time. These made the rotation for the month, given price!), & apples. Used $23 of a gift card, and spent $0 out of pocket. 
  • When Safeway swapped their ads, I went another day to pick up couple of other items I need for meals next week, including cabbage at $.37/lb. I used my gift card again, so no out of pocket spent. There is a Safeway in the parking lot of my gym, so it's now super convenient to stop & pick things up when I'm done working out. 
  • Disputed a charge for something Amazon couldn't explain, didn't know what it was, and I didn't order, saving $16.

Eating what we have:

  • Turned the $.99 sourdough bread into grilled cheese sandwiches for the teens. Minus a huge chunk someone tore off the bread before I could rescue it. 
  • Used up extra cilantro, avocado & sour cream in chicken fajitas. They were leftover from the cauliflower taco rice. I remembered to plan another dish that would use up the leftovers, which was a win!
  • Ate lots of leftovers for lunches this week, and used up all of the Mexican themed sides (cilantro, avocado & sour cream) for various dishes.
  • Used lots of fresh mint (from the garden) in M's salads, per his request. He loves fresh mint. 
  • Planned meals for next week around what we have in the pantry & need to use up.
  • Made corn dogs for Nick one night, when he missed dinner (again) due to a late tennis match. The corn dogs have been on my "use it up" list for a while. 

For others:

  • This is silly, but there was a cart blocking not one but two parking spots at the grocery store near my house. It has a small lot to start with. I parked my car pretty far out, and then stopped & picked up the cart on my way, freeing up the spots for others.
  • Shared some resources with my coworker, who was also laid off. 
What about you? Any wins to share?

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Some travel planning

It's strange to not be worrying about vacation day/time off requests right now! 

M & I are planning a last minute spring break trip with the kids, and have largely aligned on a road trip to Redwoods National Park, with a one day detour to Lassen National Park. I have free Hyatt nights I'd hoped to use, as they are expiring soon, but unfortunately, there are no Hyatts near either national park. Instead, we opted for inexpensive lodging nearby. I've set a target budget for the trip, to include gas, lodging & food. Let's see how we do. This will be the last spring break where both boys are available (college & high school spring breaks don't overlap), so we wanted to take advantage. 

As for the free Hyatt nights, I've been wanting to do a hiking trip to Sedona, so I'm in the process of seeing if I can book a few nights there at the end of April. My mom will likely join, as we travel well together, and she's retired. ;-) I have two free nights, and the hotel is reasonable for the other three nights. I have flight credits for myself & to cover my mom, so that just leaves us with three nights at the hotel, plus food. Our activities will largely be hiking, and relaxing at the hotel. Similar to the above, I've set a target budget for the trip, and am hoping to keep things in check.

And finally, I have one free Hyatt night for a much higher end property, so I've reached out to see if I can book Carmel Valley Ranch (so nice!) at the end of June, for M's birthday. I would use the free night voucher, plus points for a second night. CVR is in driving distance to our house, so it would just be food for that trip. 

I'm happy I finally went through & came up with some options to use our free nights. Originally, we were planning to use all of our hotel perks/status/points for our Turkey trip. With that canceled, and our benefits expiring before that trip will happen, we need to find creative options. But, we need to do that with budget in mind. 

What, if any, travel is top of mind for you at the moment? 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Ongoing blogger problems & other things

First off, apologies that I cannot comment on your blogs. In fact, I can't even reply to comments on my own blog. Something is really not working & I need to figure out why I can log in to publish posts, but am then logged out to comment. So irritating. Please know that I do read & appreciate each of your comments, even if I can't reply right now.

For SAM, here are the kind of kebabs my husband makes. He uses his dad's recipe, but this is the general idea. We serve our with tadiq (Persian rice), grilled tomatoes, & maast o khiar (yogurt dipping sauce). 

In no particular order, random thoughts for the day:

  • I've been up since 4:45. I was having work anxiety dreams, so I figured it was better just to get up.
  • For my birthday, M bought me a total indulgence milk frother. It has upleveled my coffee so much. Every morning when I drink my one latte, I get a kick out of it. I tried it at a friend's house, wrote it off as a huge indulgence after pricing it, and was so pleased when M got it for me. 
  • I've made enough progress cleaning out the freezer that I could wipe part of the interior this weekend. Woohoo!
  • I've lost 2.5 lbs in the last couple of weeks. A few things that have helped: 
    • lots of exercise & consistency
    • no work snacks/meals (my meals are probably better calorie controlled)
    • my workout classes are later than I normally go, & I don't like to eat ahead of such a hard workout. Therefore, no breakfast & I fast until after my workout class
    • stress, which I don't recommend ;-) 
  • Still trying to figure out a spring break option with the teens. They are very, very different people, so finding a mutually agreeable option has been a challenge! We're leaning towards a road trip to Redwoods National Park, which none of us have ever been to. 
  • I have a couple of work calls today. The first one is with my boss's boss's boss, and I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to say. I hope it's not awkward. I appreciate him wanting to check in post-layoff, but again... has the potential to be awkward. The second call is with an internal recruiter. Not only are there no jobs open, but I'd really have to be excited about a role at this point to consider it. But, my laid off coworker found the call helpful, so I figure it's a small time investment.
  • I'm taking the free Coursera course "The Science of Well Being", and love it! Many of the things I already do, but it's super useful to here the "why" behind each of those, and I'm learning new things along the way. 
Have a great day, everyone!

Monday, March 11, 2024

Menu Plan Monday

I'm experimenting with what works best for us menu & food prep wise, while I'm in this new phase of life. I'll likely continue to do leftovers, but add in another "new" recipe during the week, which I wouldn't have tried before, given my schedule. 

Here's what's on our menu this week:

  • Friday - garlic shrimp
  • Saturday - chicken fajitas
  • Sunday - kebabs & rice
  • Monday - leftover fajitas
  • Tuesday - leftover kebabs & rice
  • Wednesday - beef and cauliflower taco skillet
  • Thursday - any remaining leftovers
  • Friday - gyozos & wings
What about you? Any new recipes to share? I tried the peanut chicken noodle recipe, and we loved it! We doubled it, and have enough for two dinners. We served ours with the chopped peanuts, and squeezed some fresh lime on top, and added a bit of sriracha on top for a bit more spice. 

Sunday, March 10, 2024

March goals check in

 March has been quite a ride so far! I was supposed to be leaving for Tokyo this morning, made even more "fun" by daylight savings. I'm grateful to not be on that flight.

Financial:

  • Set new goals & come up with revised budget, post layoff - I've made good progress on this
  • Max Nick's 529 - haven't received our bonuses yet
  • Max our 401Ks- haven't received our bonuses yet
  • Put aside money for taxes- haven't received our bonuses yet
  • Save any remaining bonus money for Sam's college expenses- haven't received our bonuses yet
  • Earn $300 in side hustle - no progress on this
  • Pantry/freezer challenge: use up:. I made progress, but mostly not on these items (used 1/2 a bag of the shrimp scampi.) I did use up a very old bag of cauliflower rice & the end of a bag of corn, made muffins out of a bag of pureed bananas, gave away a can of peaches & tossed some expired food. So, overall good progress, just not much on these items. 
    • 2 cans of green beans
    • 2 cans of coconut milk
    • one bag of shrimp scampi
    • the rest of the corn dogs
    • almost full bag of fish sticks
Family:
  • Help Sam finalize his decisions - final college tour in April
  • Get Nick started on the college process - minimal progress
  • Optimize points, perks, miles. - Used points to cover two nights at a very fancy hotel in Napa
  • Plan one fun activity with the boys - planning a spring break trip for April


Fitness:
  • Run a half marathon - done!
  • 8 stretching workouts - 3/10 so far
  • Lose 3 lbs - 1.5 lbs lost
  • 10 strength training workouts - 3/10 so far
  • Follow the No S diet - yes, my new schedule works well with this, and much fewer snack temptations at home
Personal:
  • Get together with friends. - I suddenly have more free time. Met a friend for a workout + coffee, another friend for wine + chat, and had the long weekend with my mom & sister in Napa. 
  • Practice Farsi 10 times - 5/10
  • Declutter 50 items from the house - 12/50
  • Start pickle ball lessons - they start next weekend!
What about you? How are you doing with your March goals?

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Saturday Happenings

I'm finding "the weekend" to be a strange concept, when I'm not working. I'm so used to rushing, & trying to carve out a small window of relaxation among the need to be productive on weekends. It's very different to feel like it's a regular day, where I can get things done, but not be stressed. 

Sam had the flu yesterday, and it was also strange to be able to run around & pick up drinks for him, check on him every hour, clean up vomit & not be worried about work. Having the flexibility to take care of him felt like a real luxury. I'm so, so lucky in that I think he's missed a total of 3 days of school since we moved to California, so staying home sick isn't something he's done much of. 

As for today, here's what I'm currently planning to do today:

  • Workout class
  • Make muffins
  • Farsi lesson
  • Journal
  • Yard work
  • Clean out the freezer, and reorganize a few things
  • Organize pantry
  • List a few things on Buy Nothing
  • Wrap Nick's birthday gifts
What are you up to today? Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Friday, March 8, 2024

Frugal Friday

It wasn't much of a frugal week, as I was out of town Friday-Tuesday on a girls trip for the half marathon. Here are a few wins we had.

Saving on things we buy:

  • I noticed that I was charged for a one night destination fee (supposed to be included in the rate) & called to have it waived ($23.05 back) 
  • Used a Fetch gift card to pick up Easter treats at CVS. There was a couple of dollars left on the gift card, so they gave me that back as cash. 

Earning money

  • I managed to submit a gym reimbursement on Wednesday, not knowing I'd be laid off that evening. I just saw that it popped up as approved, so I supposed I earned $35 or whatever by filling out the form. 

Avoiding spending

  • Used the last of the Amex gift card to pick up some lunch fixings to keep on hand (I've been eating for free at work for the last 10 years). 
  • I was also able to use Hyatt points to cover two nights of our hotel. I have status at the Hyatt, so we got a very fancy free breakfast every morning, and then skipped lunch. The food was fabulous. 
  • I was going to pick up inexpensive gloves at Target for the race (I didn't pack mine, and realized how cold it would be once we got there), but they were handing out gloves at packet pickup. 
  • Cancelled our Alaska Airlines credit card, as I'm not a fan of their change policies. You get a companion fare to use yearly, which largely offsets the cost of the card. However, if you change a flight booked with the companion fare, you lose the discount entirely. The last few years, we've needed to change our flights, resulting in a loss of the discount. I also have better travel credit cards, and am looking to streamline. Saved $95 by cancelling. 
  • Paused Nick's gym membership, as he's currently playing two sports
  • Picked up some freebie snacks at the half marathon, and brought those home for the boys

Eating what we have

  • Used naan bread from the freezer to make gyros for Sam, and grilled cheese sandwiches for Nick
  • Dug buns out of the freezer to make chicken patty sandwiches, for a quick dinner between events
  • Used two cans of coconut milk (one of my targets for the pantry cleanup) to make a chicken peanut dish. 

For others

  • Thanked all of the volunteers at the race last weekend (it was super cold & chilly)
  • Extended a lot of patience when things went wrong at various points. Went above & beyond to thank the people involved, assume best intent, etc.
  • Helped a couple of teens at the race.
  • Continue to provide support to special needs aunt on her finances, including negotiating bills, setting up autopay, tracking down a missed payment, etc. 
What about you? Any wins to share? 

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Sitting with my feelings

First up, we finished our half marathon! It was a super rainy & cold day, but we did it. My mom absolutely crushed it, and placed very high in her age group. She's amazing. I felt great until mile 11, and then felt...less great! :-) We had such a lovely time together, and it was really nice to spend time with my family, coming off the news of the layoff. We moved to a "fancy" hotel (booked with points) on Sunday & Monday & it was gorgeous. Our room faced a winery, & looked like something in a movie. So lovely & relaxing. 

How am I feeling right now? I am a person who really likes progress, decisions, a clear plan, etc. Post layoff, I'm finding it so hard to sit with my feelings, the unknown & just be comfortable in this space. It's hard, but I'm working on it.

It sucked to end a long career without a chance to have a proper goodbye, particularly given I managed a very global & remote team, & I hired the entire team myself. I've known multiple folks for more than ten years. I'm also frustrated & disappointed by how some of the process is being managed, but I assume that's standard. There's no "good" way to handle layoffs.

I'm trying to give myself space to process all of these feelings. I've also had so very many lovely colleagues reach out to wish me well, thank me for our time together, share fun memories, offer to extend their network, etc. I've worked with a really awesome group of folks & feel so lucky about that. 

I'm trying to focus on some daily activities, to give structure to my now completely unstructured days. Here's what I've come up with so far:
  • Journal
  • Farsi lesson
  • Meditate
  • Work out
I have a ton of house projects, yard clean up, financial stuff, projects to help my aunt, and other life "back log" items to catch up on, so I'll also be weaving those in on a daily basis, and choosing a few things from the longer list.

As for today, it's been a reasonably productive day. So far, I've:
  • Gone to a gym class
  • Meditated
  • Taken my Farsi lesson
  • Journaled
  • Stopped by the bank
  • Picked up a few things at the grocery store. Then, discovered the meat I bought was rotten, so went back & got a refund.
  • Attempted to book my parents travel for Sam's graduation. Couldn't use their discount code. Called Alaska & got that all sorted & travel is now booked.
  • Dealt with another bill for special needs aunt.
  • Canceled two credit cards that aren't doing much for us. One has a yearly fee, so that will save a bit.
  • Cleaned the house
  • Did two loads of laundry
I'm actually making dinner mid-week! This is a new development for us, as we are typically very busy, and we just do leftovers during the week. I never got to the peanut noodles with chicken recipe, so I'll be making that tonight. 

Hope you are all having a great week! Also, blogger doesn't want to let me post comments on other blogs, so I need to get that fixed, but apologies in advance. 

Saturday, March 2, 2024

March Goals

March is the month of the half marathon, combined with an international work trip, and whatever comes my way with work more generally I got laid off, but i guess I also get to skip an international work trip. We also get our annual bonuses in March, so you'll see us trying to knock out some of our yearly financial goals.

Here are my goals for the month:

Financial:

  • Set new goals & come up with a revised budget, post my layoff
  • Max Nick's 529
  • Max our 401Ks (standard for both of us, + M's catch up contribution)
  • Put aside money for taxes
  • Save the remainder of any bonus money for Sam's college expenses
  • Earn $300 in side hustle
  • Pantry/freezer challenge: use up
    • 2 cans of green beans
    • 2 cans of coconut milk
    • one bag of shrimp scampi
    • the rest of the corn dogs
    • an almost full bag of fish sticks
Family:
  • Help Sam finalize his decisions (one more tour coming up in April)
  • Get Nick started on the college application process + SATs & AP test prep
  • Optimize points, perks, miles. In March specifically, I'll be using miles to cover two nights at a hotel
  • Plan one fun activity per month with the boys
Fitness:
  • Run a half marathon
  • 8 stretching workouts
  • Lose 3 lbs
  • 10 strength training workouts
  • Follow the No S diet
Personal

  • Get together with friends
  • Practice Farsi 10 times
  • Declutter 50 items from the house
  • Start pickle ball lessons

What about you? What are your goals for March?

Friday, March 1, 2024

Frugal Friday

 It's been a week, and more frugality is required in the future. I got laid off this week, which is likely for the best, but still hit hard after a very long career. I'm trying to spend the next few weeks processing & not really stressing out, but after that, I'll turn to the inevitable question of "what comes next" and trying to think in the longer term. Lots more on that ahead. 

Saving on things we buy

  • I picked up a few gift cards we will use & earned $45 of grocery store rewards
  • I thought of ordering dessert for a school banquet, as I have a really crazy work week, but planned ahead, picked up $5 worth of ingredients at the store, and made brownies over the weekend. The recipe says it freezes great, so fingers crossed. 

Earning money

  • M & I each received $80 as a settlement we were part of

Avoiding spending

  • Sam & I are doing one last college tour, and I used travel credits (from a cancelled flight) to cover the cost

Eating what we have

  • Used provolone cheese (leftover from Philly cheese steak sandwiches) to top grilled burgers over the weekend
  • Nick didn't like the dinner I made one night, so made himself a bagel & wrapped up his dinner. I had his leftovers for lunch one day.
  • Got home super late from a school meeting, so threw together a "cheater" chicken pad Thai kit we bought at Costco for just such an occasion. 

For others

  • Helped out with set up and clean up of the soccer banquet
What about you? Any frugal wins to share?