Frugal Friday

Nothing feels particularly frugal these days, but here are a few wins we've had lately.  

Saving on things we buy

• This is more under a fun experiment bucket, but we tried the "Too Good to Go" food waste app, and picked up a mystery box at our local bakery. It was a full grocery shopping bag filled, for $5.99. Inside were a dozen+ doughnut holes, and three enormous loaves of bread. The loaves were probably double, or 2.5 as big as what you'd buy at the store. 
• Picked up deli meat & cheese, to go with our bread & make sandwiches for lunch. We don't keep bread at the house regularly, so we don't keep sandwich fixings on hand. Used an iBotta rebate to earn $.10 back, and uploaded the receipts to Fetch. Used a gift card to pay for the out of pocket spending. 
• M & I did some planning ahead to minimize travel costs for the to/from airport for our upcoming trip. It was quite a matrix of details, as we are leaving on different days & out of different airports, but we've got it worked out & will save quite a bit. 

Earning money

• Sam worked over time 2x (after camp child care) to earn extra money, and Nick helped his tennis coach, earning money as well. 
• I sold a few beauty products on eBay

Avoiding spending

• Arranged carpools, and drove our electric car for our portion of the carpool. 

Eating what we have

• Turned the giant loaf of bread (noted above) into a variety of sandwiches
• Using up as many tomatoes as humanly possible, & we still have SO many! Too many tomatoes is a good problem to have, I suppose.
• We finished the enormous loaf of bread, and Sam took sandwiches for lunch at work all week. 
• Used old carrots in a curry, and had that for multiple dinners.
• Kept on top of leftovers.

For others:

• Gave a giant loaf of wheat bread to a friend, and another huge loaf of rye bread away via Buy Nothing. Both from the Too Good to Go app 
• Helped a lost hiker, while on a run. She was heading in circles, so I'm glad she found me. 
• Picked up some cloth napkins on Buy Nothing, that nicely supplemented our napkins. I asked the giver, and she was excited to receive garden tomatoes. Yeah for the sharing economy!
• Traded another neighbor zucchini for lemons. We do have lemons, but never quite enough for our usage (M uses it as a salad dressing, and has salad 1-2x/day). This was a great trade, as we won't eat the zucchini before we head to Bend. 

That's it for us. What about you? Any wins to share?

Workout Roundup

I'm still working on getting my energy back, so my workouts were much more mellow than usual (dialed back time & intensity).  

Workouts for the week

• Monday - 1 hour elliptical
• Tuesday - 1 hour elliptical + short walk
• Wednesday - 1 hour elliptical + 2.5 mile walk
• Thursday - 1 hour elliptical + short walk
• Friday - 1 hour elliptical + short walk
• Saturday - 4.5 mile walk. I tried to run a bit, but it was mostly a walk
• Sunday - 90 minute elliptical + short walk

Eating

My eating has really been quite so so. It's a common challenge for me. When I'm not feeling well, I crave easy carbs (bread, sugar, & the like). 

Lowlights

Definitely not having my energy back entirely.

Highlights

I'm feeling much better this week than last week, which feels like a step in the right direction!

Things I want to focus on this week

Mix up my workouts a bit, and continue to improve my eating. Get plenty of rest. 

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

Menu Plan Monday

 Another week, another menu plan! I'm in a bit of a cooking rut, so let's see if I can force my way out of it. ;) 

• Friday - gyozos & wings
• Saturday - adults out to dinner, kids = pizza 
• Sunday - chicken curry & rice
• Monday - chicken fajitas
• Tuesday - leftover curry & rice
• Wednesday - leftover fajitas
• Thursday - clean out the fridge, or enchiladas
• Friday - traveling 

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

Saturday Happenings

 It's pretty quiet today, and I'm enjoying the leisurely morning. I slept in past 7, which is just about unheard of for me! Sam worked a couple of after care shifts at camp this week, so he's been tired & also enjoying sleeping in.

M & I are planning on a date this afternoon, which I'm looking forward to. 

Here's what I'm up to today:

• Laundry
• Work out
• Sort out a doctor's appointment for Nick (he's got some ongoing back pain, triggered by tennis & scoliosis). 
• Date with M
• Menu for the week
• Costco
• Pick up Too Good to Go order from a bakery (first time trying it)

What about you? What are you up to this weekend?

Frugal Friday

It was a pretty quiet week, as I was recovering from being sick for part of the time. M & the boys helped me out with some of these. 

Saving on things we buy

• M had a great grocery store stop (copious instructions were provided!) It was double points day, as well as Freebie Friday. The freebie was my favorite (expensive) protein bar. I also had two coupons for free items (avocado & a dozen eggs) if you spent $10 in a transaction. I needed oat milk for my coffee, and I've been going through it more regularly, as Nick now likes it in smoothies. We also picked up two packages of Tillamook cheese, which were on sale. He used a gift card for the remaining out of pocket, & I uploaded the receipt to Fetch when he got home.

Earning money

• Continued to list a few things on eBay, and sold a jacket & a makeup product.
• Not for me, but Nick has finally paid off his very expensive mountain bike! We made a deal last summer, that if he left his bike at my parents (where he does the majority of his biking), he would need to earn enough to pay for a bike here at our house. It's taken just under a year, but he's done it. He's earned the money through a few side jobs (reffing in the fall & spring + helping his tennis coach out), as well as applying all of his birthday & Christmas money to it. It's nice to have him understand the value of hard work. And, now I can erase the long tracker, showing him how much he still owes me. ;-) 

Avoiding spending

• Serendipitously, a neighbor posted free, new teen shorts on Buy Nothing. I'd just bought some of the same kind for Sam, so I was able to return those, and instead the free ones fit him perfectly. What a lovely gift from a neighbor!
• Additionally, I've been looking for a solution for Nick's closet organization, and a neighbor offered up furniture that was pretty much an exact match to our existing furniture. We haven't figured out how to reshuffle the furniture across the boys room, but really excited to have some additional pieces to leverage. 

Eating what we have

• Used garden strawberries & an overripe banana in a smoothie 
• Ate leftover Chinese takeout for several lunches & a dinner. I added some leftover rice to egg drop soup, to give it some more heft, and it was delicious. The soup was the gift that kept giving, as it sounded good, even when nothing else did. 
• Continued to use up lots of garden items: cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, lemons, etc.
• Used the rest of the lettuce (from lettuce wraps, as part of the Chinese takeout) in a salad
• I'd made tomato sauce out of a giant bag of tomatoes picked up for $1 at the produce stand, & stuck it in the freezer. Took that out for an easy dinner this week, and added meatballs & pasta/soy pasta.
• Ate a chicken curry dish (leftover from a dinner one night, that I then froze) for lunch one day. 
• Made tacos for dinner last night, using up taco meat from the freezer 

For others

• Finished my leadership course! Having COVID was no fun, but it did actually force me to rest & be in bed/on the sofa, which gave me a lot of free time to finish my class. I can now 1) apply for reimbursement for the course, and 2) start serving as an advisor for the university
• Gave away a bunch on Buy Nothing

What about you? Any wins to share for the week?

Workout Roundup

This is the week that I got COVID, so things look a little different, to say the least. 

Workouts for the week:

• Monday - 95 minute elliptical workout
• Tuesday - I had a high fever, so I didn't work out, breaking my 249 day streak! I was pretty sad about it, but always best to listen to your body. 
• Wednesday - same at Tuesday, but add in a cough
• Thursday - went for an incredibly slow 25 minute walk to the mailbox. 
• Friday - 20 minute elliptical, at a very low pace, which I regretted
• Saturday - walk around the block
• Sunday - 3.5 mile slow walk

Eating:

My eating was all over the place, and under my goal calories. I had lots of popsicles & Gatorade. Smoothies, soup, etc. The first day I started the Paxlovid, it bothered my stomach, so I ate a lot of crackers throughout the day. Altogether, eating was a wash & I'm not worried about it. 

Lowlights:

The obvious - getting COVID & being sick.

Highlights:

I feel lucky that I'm still healthy, and so far *fingers crossed*, COVID hasn't triggered a lupus flare. I'm also feeling like I've turned the corner & am getting better, which I'm very grateful for. 

Things I want to focus on this week:

Getting my energy back, plenty of rest, etc. 

How about you? How are you doing with your fitness goals?

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm trying to keep things easy this week, as my energy level is pretty low. Here's what's on the menu for the week. 

• Friday - takeout leftovers
• Saturday - burgers & caprese salad
• Sunday -  beef skewers & grilled zucchini
• Monday - burgers & Greek salad
• Tuesday - tacos
• Wednesday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Thursday - tacos
• Friday - TBD, or wings & gyozos

What's on your menu this week? Any recipes to share? 

Saturday Happenings

I'm now on Paxlovid, to try & keep my symptoms from progressing, so fingers crossed that works. It will be a quiet weekend for me, for obvious reasons. Any errands noted below will be run by others. ;-) 

1. Menu plan
2. Shopping list for Costco/produce stand
3. Garden
4. Finish LAST module of leadership course. The bright side of taking time off of work & laying around all week is that I made a ton of progress on my leadership course, and I'm on the last unit. Once I've completed it, I can begin my role as an advisor for the university program.
5. Stretch. I'm tight from all of that time resting - my body is quite confused.
6. Find an option to organize Nick's closet. I've posted on Buy Nothing, but if I come up empty there, may look online for something at Target or Amazon.
7. Work on plan for Bend trip
8. Review schedule for the week
9. Read by the pool

What are you up to this weekend? Hopefully you are having a more exciting time than me! 

Frugal Friday

Now, I have COVID, so I'm staying home & trying to rest. Some of these things were done before I was sick. 

Saving on things we buy

• I used some rewards to offset the cost of an item for Sam, and added in an inexpensive shirt, to qualify for free shipping. The shirt itself was "free" vs paying for shipping. 
• Converted $37 of loose change into an Amazon gift card. Change was found while cleaning out the boys room. They both owed me a bit of money, so this offset that, much to their delight, since I did most of the work ;-) 
• Used an iBotta offer for popsicles, when I wasn't feeling well
• Used a grocery store gift card to pick up a few things we needed here & there

Earning money

• Continued listing things on eBay, & sold two makeup sample bags & one of M's shirts
• Finally had enough points in Fetch to redeem for a $10 Amazon gift card, so now have that added to my account

Avoiding spending

• Picked up the Friday Freebie (a 1.5 liter of sparkling water) at the grocery store
• Used flight credit to buy flights for my parents in October (they are coming to watch the kids while we are on a trip for our anniversary)
• Used a gift card to have lunch delivered on Tuesday, when I had a high fever. It was a splurge that I very much appreciated. The soup totally hit the spot.
• Also used a gift card for M to pick up dinner one night, when I couldn't cook. It's a double win, because I'm also trying to work through the gift card stash, & we have lots of leftovers.   

Eating what we have

• Ate leftovers for lunch (the chicken curry rice dish was so fabulous as leftovers)
• Made grilled zucchini out of garden zucchini
• Used applesauce (from the freezer, since last fall) to replace a missing ingredient in muffins. That muffin recipe also used up 1/2 a bag of frozen cranberries.
• Ate a burger that had been in the freezer for quite some time. 
• Lots of garden items, still being used: lemons, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, basil, mint, etc. 

For others

• Invested a lot of time in my leadership course. Once that's complete, I can serve on a non-profit advisory board for a university. On the positive side, I was able to use some of my sick days to listen to some of the content, and I made really good progress. 
• Gave away a bunch of stuff on Buy Nothing (8 bags of things on the porch!)

What about you? Any wins to share?

Workout Roundup

 It's been useful for me to have a place to reflect on my fitness, so I'll keep this going for the time being. 

Workouts for the week

• Monday - 2 hour hike with M
• Tuesday - 2 hour hike, while the power was out. I tried a new trail, and it was hilly!
• Wednesday - 20 minute walk on the treadmill + hour spin class
• Thursday - 100 minutes of elliptical
• Friday - 1.5 mile run, 45 minute walk, 1 hour of yoga
• Saturday - 60 minute Orange Theory class (treadmill, rower, & strength combo)
• Sunday - 95 minute elliptical (while I listened to TED talks required for leadership course. Multitasking!)

Eating:

My eating is never "perfect", nor is it my goal to make it so, but overall it went pretty well. I've definitely cut out the evening snacking, which is my biggest problem. I can trim up a bit more here & there, but progress was made, & my eating is both healthier & I'm keeping my calories in check. It helped to have the baked oatmeal option available, as by the time I'd finished working out most days, I was starving. 

Lowlights:

Nothing really stands out, which I suppose is a good sign. 

Highlights:

Last week, my focus was to run more, & get back to balanced eating. I did a pretty good job of both of those. 

Things I want to focus on next week:

Continue to work on balanced workouts (more stretching) & intuitive eating. I can still do a better job with getting in enough fruit & vegetables.

How about you? How are you doing with your fitness goals? 

Zucchini recipe

For those of you with an abundance of zucchini, I highly recommend this recipe for grilled zucchini. It was delicious & easy. 

Any other zucchini recipes you'd recommend?

Menu Plan Monday

We're largely back in action, with Nick at a sleepaway camp & the rest of us back in the swing of things & all working, with Sam starting up club soccer again. As a result, the menu reflects our schedule(s).

• Friday - grilled chicken sausages + grilled zucchini
• Saturday - grilled chicken, with watermelon/feta/blueberry salad
• Sunday - burgers + caprese salad
• Monday - orange chicken + rice
• Tuesday - leftover grilled chicken + caprese
• Wednesday - burgers + grilled zucchini
• Thursday - leftover orange chicken + rice
• Friday - TBD. Maybe pizza, or whatever Nick requests, as we're picking him up at camp. 

What about you? What's on your menu for the week? Any good recipes to share? I included links in other posts, but I've tried a few recipes I really liked lately:

• One pan coconut curry chicken rice
• Baked oatmeal
• Watermelon, feta, blueberry salad

Sunday things

I accomplished almost everything on my to do list yesterday, so I'll consider that a win. Sam is thrilled to be out of quarantine, and we went to boba last night to celebrate. I don't mind taking the boys for an occasional boba splurge, because it's not remotely tempting to me, and it means I'm not indulging in treats. ;-) 

Here's what's on the list for today:

• Work out. I'm thinking of using the elliptical, while watching some of the lessons from the training I'm taking. Multitasking at its finest.
• Garden
• Help Nick with last minute packing
• Take Nick to camp drop off
• Read book club book
• Laundry
• List a few things on eBay
• Find some more items for Buy Nothing. I'm on a decluttering roll
• Get out a ladder, and drag out one of my family members (all of them are taller them me by 3+ inches) to pick some lemons at the top of the tree. 
• Sit by the pool (in the shade) with my book. It's going to be 88 today. 

Decide what to do with all of the spearmint. We have a ton of mint, and I've been drying that, for a recipe M uses a lot. I may use it to make iced tea, which sounds delicious. 

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Saturday Happenings

Here's what's happening in our house today. It looks like it's going to be about 80, which is the perfect temperature for reading by the pool (in the shade) & potentially enjoying a cocktail. :-) 

Other items needing doing:

• M to cut the boys hair
• Make a menu plan & shopping list
• Potentially go to the produce stand. I'm a sucker for their $1 bags, which means I often come home with unexpectedly large quantities of things.
• Costco
• Go to a workout class this morning
• Laundry
• Finish helping Nick pack for camp
• Make muffins
• Pick & dry more herbs
• Work in the garden
• Read more of my book club book

That's it from my side. What about you? What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

It was a week! It doesn't feel particularly frugal, as M drove to pick up Sam when he had COVID, & gas prices are $$$. The rest of the week was all about the garden, & using things up. 

Saving on things we buy

• Did another grocery store offer, buying a travel gift card, & earning a $60 grocery store gift card
• Bought a $1 bag of tomatoes from the produce stand. It weighed just over 5 lbs. We have quite a few tomatoes, but I wanted to make a triple batch of pico de gallo
• I booked M a night in Medford, so he could stop & sleep during the drive to pick up Sam. I was able to use some reward points to cut off about 1/2 of the stay. 
• Took advantage of a 1/2 off drink coupon at Starbucks, and indulged in an iced tea/lemonade combo. We had no power, & I was trying to avoid being in the fridge. This was a nice treat. 

Earning money

• Sold three of M's outgrown shirts on eBay, as well as a hat
• Listed a few new items on eBay

Avoiding spending

• Returned a few things we bought, that didn't work out
• Discovered I had everything on hand to make the watermelon, blueberry, feta salad for the 4th of July. 
• Picked up a few groceries from a neighbor who is moving, and can't bring the items with her
• Used a gift card to pick up Subway for Sam (his choice) when we had no power on Tuesday. He was thrilled. The foot long came with a free 6" sandwich, so that was also my lunch. 
• Picked up a free container of hummus through a Fetch offer
• Took advantage of a free spinning class through work

Eating what we have

• We were able to use up lots of garden items this week:
• Juiced lemons, which we will use in salad dressing
• Used parsley & oregano to make a chimichurri sauce
• Fresh tomatoes & basil for a caprese salad
• Lettuce, peppers & tomatoes for salads
• Made a giant batch of pico de gallo, using up cilanatro, tomatoes & jalapenos
• Strawberries on the 4th of July cake
• Mint in the watermelon salad
• Peppers in the macaroni salad
• Jalapeno, cilantro & basil into a coconut curry dish, which is one of my favorite easy dinners I've made in years! Highly recommend
• Used up some really old celery in my macaroni salad
• Turned the tomatoes (above) into a triple batch of pico de gallo, as well as two batches of tomato sauce
• Used leftover jams from the 4th of July cake in baked oatmeal, to have on hand for easy breakfasts. This baked oatmeal recipe was fantastic. 

For others

• Gave away a bunch of additional items on Buy Nothing. It always makes me happy to get stuff out of our house, and into the hands of people who want them! Bags & bags on my porch, for others to pick up & enjoy!
• Continuing to work on a leadership course, which will then enable me to serve in a non-profit advisory role for a university. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Goals for July

 This will be a month of Sam working, and Nick attending summer camps! Hoping to enjoy this lovely summer month, while still being productive. I'm streamlining a bit this month, to hopefully knock a few more of these off of the list. 

Financial

• Stick to our budget
• Progress towards side hustle goals
• List all of M's outgrown clothes on eBay. Go through & donate non-selling eBay items

Family

• Plan one activity with the kids
• Finalize plans for Bend
• Have two dates with M
• Plan a call with M's family (or, send videos)

Fitness/Health

• Start posting weekly workout/fitness summaries, to keep myself on track
• Beat June's calorie burned goals
• Close rings daily
• Take advantage of workout classes
• Meditate 5x

Personal

• Do something social with friends
• Finish work volunteer commitment
• Complete half of training for advisory role
• Read Biased for book club

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

Workout Roundup

 I'm experimenting with a new type of post, that's more fitness related. Mostly for my own purposes, but maybe it will be helpful for others as well. I'll probably tweak the format here & there, but here goes. I get into a real rut with my workouts, so this helps

Workouts for the week:

• Monday - 90 minutes of elliptical
• Tuesday - 90 minutes of elliptical + 60 minute yoga class
• Wednesday - 20 minutes on the treadmill + 60 minute spin class
• Thursday - 90 minutes of elliptical
• Friday - 5 mile run. My first run in a long time. The consistency of my other workouts must be paying off, because it was a really great run, and much longer than I'd normally be able to go, on a first run out. 
• Saturday - 60 minute Orange Theory class (combination of strength, rowing & running)
• Sunday - 100 minutes of elliptical 

Eating:

I don't do well coming back from vacation. I'm usually in a bit of a funk, & eat like I'm still on vacation for at least 1-2 days. I used to also not work out, but I've broken that bad habit. I did, however, eat ice cream & had some brownies & other junk. My body doesn't appreciate it, and my clothes feel tight, particularly after a week of vacation eating.

Lowlights

• Snacking in the evening
• Not as many vegetables/fruit as I would like

Highlights

• My 5 mile run
• A decent mix of workouts, throughout the week
• Hitting my workout goals (cardio minutes, calories burned, & standing) all week

Things I want to focus on next week

I want to run more, and get back to balanced eating. 

And, for my June summary, I had 62 workouts (some are just short walks), for a total of 56 hours of working out, burning 17,127 calories. 

What about you? Any health or fitness goals you want to share, or are working on?

June Goals Recap

 June flew by, with a lot of fun. My sister & I took my mom to Hawaii for an early 70th birthday celebration, & M & I did two mini trips. Nick & Sam wrapped up school, Sam started his job, and Nick enjoyed tennis camp. Then the kids headed to my parents for "Papa camp" + Disneyland, and more fun was had. It's been quiet at our house, & we've missed them!

Here's how I did with our goals for the month.

Financial:

• Stick to our budget - we're well over in some categories, such as "Boys", and food. For the boys category, we weren't expecting to need many summer camps this year, but Nick requested to attend tennis camps. The ones geared for his age group are pretty expensive. Food, well, it's expensive. 
• Have a great time in Hawaii, while sticking to a reasonable budget - we did well here. It was a great trip, and we made smart tradeoffs on where to spend our money. 
• Finalize long term budget/FIRE plan - My plan is to basically save as much money as possible by March of 2023, & see where that gets me. The biggest factor is our stock price, which is a huge part of my overall compensation. 
• Progress toward $1500 side hustle goal, gift card & Fetch/iBotta goals - I didn't make any progress on my side hustle goals this month. 
• List or donate remaining eBay inventory - actually, I added a few things, but need to go through & pull everything that doesn't appear like it will sell, and donate it. 

Family 

• Plan one fun activity with the kids - we went out for boba a couple times, as well as did a family dinner & a bowling day
• Manager summer schedule - there were a lot of moving parts, but we made it happen!
• Have two dates with M - we crushed this one, with two weekend getaways, and a bunch of impromptu dates while the kids were gone
• Have a call with M's family - we filled in with videos instead. 

Fitness/Health

• Decide on some updates to my eating habits. Move away from calorie counting, and go with something easier to manage. Focus on eating well, and dropping a few pounds. - I struggled with balancing my eating in June, & have more work to do here. 
• Close rings daily - yes
• Lose 4 lbs - definitely no
• Sign up for new fitness classes - yes, and I'm enjoying the mix of workouts!
• 4 strength & 4 stretching workouts - I got in 56 hours of working out in June, & burned 17,127 calories! I'm feeling excited by the tracking, & want to push myself in July. 
• Meditate 5x - No, & I'd like to get back into this

Personal/creative

• Do something social with friends - I worked out a few times with friends
• Finish volunteer commitment for girls in tech org - done
• Continue working on post work plan & options - I agreed to serve on a college advisory board, and am taking an executive leadership class as part of that. Looking forward to trying that out!
• Some sort of personal writing - I'm not feeling this right now, and will likely drop it, moving forward. Maybe I'll be re-motivated at another point? 

That's it from my side. How did you all do on your June goals? Any progress to share? 

COVID & the menu plan

Happy 4th of July to all of us in the US. I loved SAM's comment this morning to embrace what's good. 

Sam has COVID, so M embarked on a 24+ hour round trip drive to pick him up from my parents yesterday. Everyone else is testing negative, so we wanted to do everything possible to reduce exposure for my parents. We are really hoping to limit the spread to just Sam. Fingers crossed. 

• Friday - out to dinner, after running errands. We shared calamari, a burger & salad. 
• Saturday - steak, brussels sprouts & caprese salad M jumped in the car, just as the steak came off of the grill. I had some of the caprese salad
• Sunday - I had some leftovers, caprese salad, & macaroni salad
• Monday - grilled hot dogs (steak), macaroni salad, & watermelon/blueberry/feta salad + poke cake
• Tuesday - one pan coconut chicken curry & rice
• Wednesday - orange chicken & rice
• Thursday - leftover coconut curry chicken
• Friday - any remaining leftovers, or caprese salad & wings

What's on your menu this week?

Long weekend things

 I had a great workout with my friend yesterday, but today I am feeling it! The five mile run on Friday, combined with a hard workout class yesterday is definitely sending me reminders, every time I go to sit down or get back up. 

We are using up so much from the garden, which always makes me happy. I made a large batch of pico de gallo yesterday, as well as chimichurri. It was nice to use up lots of garden goodies! I also made caprese salad. Yum!

I also juiced a bunch of lemons, filled out Nick's camp paperwork, gave away more on Buy Nothing, made a return at the mall, and sat by the pool reading for a bit.

Here's what's on the agenda for today:

• Figure out where to get a passport photo taken. I need one for my Japan visa paperwork.
• Pickle all of the peppers in the fridge.
• Work out
• Work in the garden
• List 5 items on eBay
• Stretch, foam roll, and use the massage gun
• Recap June's goals
• Write July's goals
• Figure out plan/schedule for executive leadership class
• Laundry
• Clean/organize fridge
• Plant radish seeds
• Make macaroni salad

What are you up to today? Are you prepping any food for the 4th of July, if you are in the US? 

Saturday Happenings

 It's Saturday, and a four day weekend around our house. Woohoo! I'm very excited for the bonus vacation days. We get Monday & Tuesday off, for the 4th of July. 

We had big plans to barbecue, and get in the pool on the 4th, but the boys changed their plans & are not coming home as planned on Sunday. Sam's job didn't need him next week (low enrollment due to the 4th) & Nick asked if he could move his tennis camp to another week. Much to their delight, I adjusted their flights to come home on Friday evening instead. My parents were so excited to have them stay for an additional few nights. My 17 year old nephew also adjusted his plans, to be able to stay with my parents as well. It makes me really happy that all of them are so excited to spend more time together. You know you are crushing it as a grandparent, when three teens willingly cancel their plans at home to stay at "Papa Camp". 

As a result, M & I are alone again this week! We had to run an errand about 20 minutes away yesterday, and went to one of our favorite nearby restaurants for dinner. We shared an appetizer, burger & salad, and had wine. It was so much fun, chatting, & not worrying about the time. We started a movie when we got home, but we are both early birds, & didn't finish it. 

As for today, here's what's on the agenda:

• Meet a friend for a workout class this morning
• Make pico de gallo
• Work in the garden
• List a few things on eBay
• Call Nike again, about a summer camp
• Return an item at the mall, that didn't work out for Nick
• Fill out my entry visa for Japan
• Pay a few bills
• Fill out Nick's camp paperwork
• Complete end of month goals summary
• Write goals for July

That's it on my side. What about you? What are you up to this weekend? 

Frugal Friday

 We were out of town for part of the week, so there are some additional travel related wins. Wins aside, traveling is expensive! So, saving where we can is important. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used a $20 grocery store reward to do a fill in shop, while the kids are out of town
• Uploaded receipts to Fetch & iBotta. I'm in a good habit of uploading all of my receipts to Fetch. With iBotta, I'm typically only doing the standard $.10 receipt offers, when those crop up. 
• Researched transportation options to the airport. Uber used to be less expensive than airport parking, but it's gone up so much. We weren't able to do the pre-book online airport parking (you save an extra 20%), as it was sold out, but it was still cheaper than Uber both ways. 
• Saved $14 on a pair of shorts for M (slowly adding to his closet, after he gave away almost everything, due to weight loss), by using a reward. Earned another $1.10 on Rakuten, & paid the remaining balance with a gift card.
• Bought a travel gift card at the grocery store, earning a $60 grocery store gift card

Earning money

• Nothing outside of our standard paychecks. However, it's on the to do list to get a bunch of stuff listed on eBay over the next few weeks.

Avoiding spending

• We filled our water bottles at the airport, and avoided buying any food, both ways. I'm usually weak on the way back from a trip, & splurge.
• Took advantage of comp'd food from my husband's poker tournament. 
• Attended two free fitness classes at work (spinning & yoga), and had free breakfast/lunch x2 at the office

Eating what we have

• Using lots of garden lettuce & tomatoes in our salads
• Defrosted a pan of chicken enchiladas that my mom made when she was here, and we had those for two dinners
• Avoided eating out after a late flight on Sunday, and made a frozen pizza + salad for dinner. It got everyone fed!
• Made a grilled cheese, to go with a box of tomato/red pepper soup. The soup expired six months or so ago, and I wanted to get it used up. A grilled cheese to go with it is required! Okay, if not required, seriously enhances the flavor of the soup. Yum. 

For others

• Continued my monthly contribution to my aunt's health care
• Sent money to the boys, to cover a meal out with my parents at Disneyland. 

That's it from our side. What about you? Any wins to share?