Frugal Friday

I normally do a better job of tracking these things during the week, but it's been another crazy week. Post-vacation, pre-business trip. I leave for Singapore on Sunday, and am not ready at all! But, there are a few frugal wins to be had:

1. Cancelled the cleaning lady this week. My mom was here, and always leaves the house immaculate when she leaves. Such a gift!
2. I found inexpensive options for the boys Halloween costumes.
3. Packed lunch for myself on Sunday, as I knew I wouldn't have time to eat between activities. It was nothing I really wanted, but ate it anyway (leftovers). Bonus points. ;-)
4. Updated our benefits at work, and found a few new options that seem like they will save a bit in 2018.
5. Got a promotion & a raise. :-) My salary is about 1/2 of my overall compensation, so I won't know the bonus & stock increase for a few more months. The raise is a few hundred dollars/month more, which I'll use to increase our savings. 
6. Made dinner at home every night this week. Even though the boys were jonesing for a meal out. I know they will eat out when I'm in Singapore (as will I), so for all of our health & our wallet, it's better to wait.
7. Listed three items on eBay. I'm not a huge eBay fan, and find it a hassle, but discovered a pair of new black dress pants (that don't fit) when I was packing, so it was the kick start I needed to list those & a couple of other items. 

In other news, the school district had trouble processing our move paperwork, so I spent about half of my day on Monday straightening that out, leaving the work to pile up for the remainder of the week. That's now sorted, and I'm slowly working through my work before I head out. We also have a soccer tournament this weekend, which should add to the chaos. ;-) 

What about you? Anything fun on the agenda this weekend? Any big (or little) frugal wins?

Menu plan Monday

I'm trying to get organized before my next trip, so here's what we've been eating so far, and what's on the menu for the next few weeks.

• Friday - bits & bobs from the freezer. Too tired post-vacation & work to do much of anything. Used up a cheese pizza base (freezer) & doctored it with thinly sliced meatballs & fresh tomatoes. 
• Saturday - M is grilling chicken & potatoes. My parents will be with us for one final dinner before they head back home
• Sunday - I made butternut squash soup, and served that with goat cheese crostini + salad
• Monday - Potato soup (freezer) + rolls
• Tuesday - Pesto pasta with chicken (leftover from Saturday)
• Wednesday - Leftover soup + any final rolls
• Thursday - Leftovers, or spaghetti & meatballs
• Friday - Orange chicken + rice
• Saturday - one skillet chicken fiesta rice
• Sunday - Kebabs & rice
• Monday - I fly to Singapore. The kids & M will eat leftover kebabs & rice
• Tuesday - Singapore. The kids & M will eat leftover chicken fiesta rice
• Wednesday - Singapore. The kids & M will eat any leftovers. If none, spaghetti & meatballs
• Thursday - Singapore. The kids & M will eat tacos (freezer)
• Friday - Singapore. The kids & M will most likely go out. 

I'm back form Singapore on Saturday. Hurrah!!

What about you? Anything fun on the menu this week? 

Back from paradise, & Frugal Friday

We got back from Hawaii late on Wednesday, and I was clearly not prepared to go back to work on Thursday morning. It was a really rough adjustment back to life! :-)

Hawaii was amazing. We stayed at a hotel that had free activities & fitness classes, and I did 2-3/day most days. I went to 10 yoga classes! What a fun treat. We also went to Haleakala & hiked, swam with turtles, and went canoeing. But mostly, M & I just spent time together. Laughing, talking, riding in the car with no one else interrupting . . the simple pleasures. It was fabulous & I'm so happy we went!

Here are a few frugal highlights for the week:

• We stayed on track with our vacation budget. In fact, we only spent $25 at the hotel (minus the room cost, which we booked through Costco). Two poolside drinks on our last day, and a scoop of ice cream. YUM!
• We brought our own wine in our (free) checked bag, and had that on the lanai every night. 
• Stuck to happy hour for most dinners, and had one more elaborate meal out to celebrate our anniversary
• Ate breakfast in the room (protein bars, muffins, & bananas), as well as lunch almost every day. We stopped by Costco & picked up a few groceries. Our hotel room didn't have a kitchen, but it did have a mini fridge, so we kept our groceries there & got creative. 
• Took advantage of all the free workouts & a few activities as well - making the most of our resort fee that's included in the hotel.
• Free carpool to/from work both yesterday & today

What about you? Any big frugal wins to report? 

With that, I'm off to put together a meal plan, so the rest of the week ahead won't be so scrambled! 

Pantry Challenge Update & Saturday Happenings

I got up this morning, and whipped up some cashew butter, and then went for a two hour hike with a friend. When I got home, I took Nick to soccer, and then went to Costco, the produce stand, and the grocery store. We are all sorted for supplies for the week, as well as for our trip to Hawaii.

I wanted to give an update on where I stand with my pantry challenge. Some definite progress, although more work to do! My dad will be visiting next week (while we're in Hawaii!), so hopefully he'll eat some of the cashews. ;-)

• An enormous (25 oz) jar of green olives. Side note: what was I thinking?
• 1/3 or so of a package of chocolate breakfast cereal. This is nothing we would allow the boys for breakfast, but I'm open to using it in something a little more snack like. One of our house guests brought this. - used, in a batch of granola bars!
• The end of a bag of pretzel chips. Used these for these delicious granola bars. 
• Two 1/2 used boxes of lasagna noodles - Used one 1/2 box, so down to the other half
• A 1/2 bag of pine nuts. -  Used some for homemade pesto, but only had enough basil to use a bit. 
• Most of a container of almonds - used about half for almond butter, when I ran out of peanut butter
• Most of a container of cashews . . . ditto the almond butter. Used about half for cashew butter, to replace peanut butter. 
• A few bits & bobs of trail mix - used, in a batch of granola bars!
• Most of a large bag of sourdough stuffing. 
• The last of a bottle of green chile sauce (from the fridge) - used up in chicken fiesta rice!
• An unopened jar of Nutella - turns out this was expired (& had a funky taste), so unfortunately, it was tossed. I have no idea why M bought this way back in the day, but it will never make it on another grocery list, so I feel like we can avoid this type of waste moving forward. 

Other than that, I need to do the laundry (Nick's uniform - as he has a game tomorrow), finish packing, wrap up my granola bars, and potentially sit by the pool with a book & a glass of wine. I'm making this yummy pilaf for dinner. I'll sub almonds for the hazelnuts, and add chicken.

What about you? What are you up to this Saturday? Any lingering pantry items you want to use up? :-) 

Frugal Friday

We're in the home stretch ahead of our vacation. SO excited! Here are the frugal wins for the week:

• No eating out. Made creative use of leftovers. I can highly recommend this new recipe (one pan chicken fajita rice. YUM!) 
• Took free carpool (work thing for October) to & from work every day. Also, walked to work on Wednesday! (7 miles) Combining commute time + my workout is a win! I don't have time to make it a regular thing, but it was great.
• Ordered the boys yearbooks before the deadline passed
• Received an offer for three free nights + $400 at my favorite Las Vegas hotel. I've been trying to find a way to do an affordable girls trip to Las Vegas in July, and this popped up. We will swap the dates (Las Vegas in April, the beach in July) & this will save a significant amount of money. 
• Started my list of packing items for our Hawaii trip. We will plan to: pack granola bars & muffins, so we can have breakfasts in our room/on the lanai. We'll pick up fruit at Costco as well, to supplement. 
• Working on creative options for Thanksgiving break, so we can avoid sending the boys to camp. Savings of ~$600
• Transferred earnings from recent business trip straight to my personal mileage account, soI can use the miles to offset our travel budget.
• Came in $2.57 over our grocery budget. Honestly, this is a huge win, as I did a big stockup of clearanced items for $20 earlier in the month, and that will save us in the long term.  Also, sticking to our grocery budget has been a huge challenge, so this is good progress. My goal for October is to *actually* be at my budget. ;-) 

That's it for me! What about you? Any big frugal wins for the week?

Setting October's goals

And with that, October is here. I love fall & am excited about the changing weather. We also have a vacation planned in October, which makes this an amazing month. I'll close out the month with a work trip to Singapore. Less excited about that - such a LONG flight!:-(

1) Financial - 

• Meet with a financial planner
• Finalize our 2018 budget
• Finalize our 2018 travel plans
• Make progress on list of house projects (i.e. prioritize a couple that are not dependent on other projects, and work on budget & timeline for those)
• Find one alternative cost cutting option
• Sell another $100 of items on either eBay or my local Facebook swap site. If nothing sells, donate & get rid of the clutter.
• Stay on budget for our Hawaii trip

2) Family - Spend more time together as a family!

• Cook one meal with each kid, so they can start helping with the cooking.
• Have a family game night. 
• Start our planning for Christmas
• More decluttering & organizing in our new house (would like to get the boys closet shelving installed, so they can put away/organize all of their games & toys)

3) Fitness/health - Lose 2 pounds in October

• Stay on track on our vacation & my business trip
• Eat five servings of fruit & vegetables (combined) per day
• Complete 1000 minutes of cardio
• Complete 6 strength workouts.
• Complete 6 stretching workouts
• Register for a Turkey Trot

4) Work/career - Improve my work life balance.

• Keep better perspective at work/reduce stress 
• Work from home 2x this month.
• Brainstorm how I would spend my time if I wasn't working. Really think creatively about what this would mean, what the challenges would be, etc.
• No driving to/from work - use only carpool options

5) Personal/creative - Spend more time on myself/creative pursuits.

• Try a new recipe using my new crockpot
• Do something social at least once per month.
• Volunteer a minimum of 1x/month.

Lots of similar goals for October, with a few new ones to keep things interesting! What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish this month? 

September Goals Review

And just like that, another month is gone. Here's how I did with my goals in September. Overall, I did okay. It was a busy month, but I managed a few wins. Looking forward to October! Also, I tried a new recipe & it was amazing! I highly recommend this one pan chicken fajita rice. We served it with: sour cream, diced tomatoes, guacamole, & chips. Sam used the chips to create nachos (excellent!) & I think we'll serve the leftovers with tortillas, so people can make their own burritos. Loved this recipe, and both M & Sam also loved it. Winner, winner!

1) Financial - 

• Meet with a financial planner - I ended up having a work conflict, so I had to push this out. 
• Finalize investments & budget from post rental house sale - Yes! I may shift things around, but so far, so good. 
• Plan our 2018 budget - I think this is mostly done. 
• Plan our 2018 travel plans - Mostly. I need to sort my two girls trip still. But, overall priorities & budgeting is done. 
• Finalize list of house projects for our "new" house - we're on the fence about how much work we can/want to do. So far, we've identified two "must do" projects. Otherwise, many of the others are dependent upon each other, which is a challenge. 
• Find one alternative cost cutting option - Not really. I continue to look for ways to reduce & reuse where possible. 
• Sell another $100 of items on either eBay or my local Facebook swap site. If nothing sells, donate & get rid of the clutter. - Sold nothing. 

2) Family - Spend more time together as a family!

• Cook one meal with each kid, so they can start helping with the cooking. - the boys have been helping with fruit & veggie prep, but haven't yet started making their own meals. 
• Have a family game night. - Sam, M & I had a Monopoly battle when Nick was out of town. 
• Get the kids involved in prioritizing our 2018 travel. - Yes, the kids helped to prioritize and decided on skiing in Tahoe vs Hawaii. 
• More decluttering & organizing in our new house (would like to get the boys closet shelving installed, so they can put away/organize all of their games & toys) - We haven't made much progress here. Definitely more to do. 

3) Fitness/health - Lose 4 pounds in September - I lost 3 pounds! Woohoo!

• Stay on track on my business trip to London (complete at least 3 workouts) - I did two workouts, and more walking than usual. 
• Eat five servings of fruit & vegetables (combined) per day - I was on track, but failed on my trip with this. It's harder when traveling. I averaged 4/day.
• Complete 1000 minutes of cardio - September was my lowest month of the year - 595 minutes. Normally I have at least one two hour workout, to balance out the shorter ones. Not this month. :-( 
• Complete 6 strength workouts. - I had 7 strength workouts!
• Complete 6 stretching workouts - but only 2 stretching workouts.
• Find another event to train for, now that my relay is over - I'm looking at a half marathon with my sister & friend. 

4) Work/career - Improve my work life balance.

• Keep better perspective at work/reduce stress - international travel is a great reminder that I cannot/do not want to do this anymore. 
• Work from home 2x this month. - achieved. 
• Brainstorm how I would spend my time if I wasn't working. Really think creatively about what this would mean, what the challenges would be, etc. - Haven't started this yet. 

5) Personal/creative - Spend more time on myself/creative pursuits.

• Try a new recipe using my new crockpot - yes! I tried a potato soup recipe. I didn't love it, but I did try the crockpot out for the first time. 
• Do something social at least once per month. - Yes, I went to a painting/wine party that I won at the school auction. 
• Volunteer a minimum of 1x/month. - they've changed the volunteering event I primarily did (at the school, & have used technology to replace the parents). I need to find another volunteering event that fits with my schedule. 

What about you? How did you do with your goals in September? Any big wins, or goals you need to carryover to another month?

Menu plan & other weekend updates

I ran a bunch of errands yesterday, and took the boys to soccer games. That, plus my normal house work left me exhausted by 7:30 pm. I was pretty proud I made it that far, given the jet lag.

I made dinner rolls, two ingredient cookies, & whipped up the casserole we had for dinner. Today I'm making a triple batch of banana muffins (freezer), trying out my crockpot for the first time with potato soup, and making the chicken fajita rice. I'll report in on any winners

We also have: a school fundraiser, one soccer game, and two birthday parties. I was up by 5:00, so I've already gotten the soup in the crockpot, and have the last round of muffins in the oven.

• Saturday - Italian baked chicken & pastina casserole
• Sunday - One pan chicken fajita rice
• Monday - potato soup in the crockpot
• Tuesday - Ground beef tacos (meat from the freezer)
• Wednesday - leftover fajita rice
• Thursday - Eat up any & all remaining leftovers
• Friday - Hazelnut mushroom pilaf (with chicken) 

In frugal news, I pushed on with making dinner, even though I really, really didn't want to cook after the last soccer game. 

And, with that, I'm off to plan the day, make our schedule for the week, and figure out how to squeeze in a workout! What about you? Trying any new recipes this week?