Frugal Friday

 It doesn't feel like a particularly frugal week, as we are rounding out our list of supplies Sam needs for school, buying parking permits, & getting Nick his school items. But, it's always nice to look back at the week & find a few wins here & there. 

Saving on things we buy

• Packed snacks for the flight home
• It was not done with the intention of saving money, but a friend & I are going on a hiking trip to Moab in a week or so. We opted to fly home later in the evening on Thursday, vs Friday morning. This was largely done because we'd have to get up at 4 am on Friday morning, and who wants to do that? The flight change was free, and we'll save one (shared) hotel night, & a bit off of the rental car fee. 

Earning money

• Sold a few things on eBay: expensive face products I received from a hotel in Japan, two pair of sunglasses, a pair of Nick's pants he outgrew before he wore, & a luggage tag. I've actually made quite a lot on eBay this month, which is a big change from the previous months.  

Avoiding spending

• Called the dentist to ask why I was being billed a second time for an appointment Nick had. It was an error, and they credited me back the $150 charge. 

Eating what we have

• Because I wasn't home last weekend to prep food, we're largely eating out of the freezer this week. So far, we've had tacos (two containers of prepped ground beef out of the freezer), chicken marsala, & 
• I also made a double batch of zucchini muffins, using one of our garden zucchinis. 
• Made lunches for Sam & his girlfriend multiple times, to save them money (teens eat out a LOT!) & used up a few things from around the house. 
• Made smoothies to use up overly ripe bananas. 

For others

• Helped an old coworker with a job search
• Helped my sister with a decluttering project at her house, and listed a few things (eBay & FB Marketplace) & sold some items for her as well.
• I was matched with another student for my volunteer college counseling, so we had a call this week as well. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm late to the party this week, as Sam & I got home late from Portland last night. He did absolutely fantastic in the relay, despite it being 33 & sleeting his first leg! He started at the top of Mt. Hood. He says his second leg was the hardest, as he was already sore. He's definitely hobbling today, but says he would love to do it again. Love how flexible that kid is!

Menu Plan:

• Friday - I was with my mom at my sister's house, and we had a charcuterie tray & a slice of leftover pizza
• Saturday - I ordered Thai food for the runners, and we had that before everyone crashed. 
• Sunday - M grilled burgers, and thank goodness he made a lot, because Nick had two friends over last minute. they each had 3 giant cheeseburgers! And, 1/2 a Costco watermelon. ;-) 
• Monday - I defrosted chicken marsala, and will make fresh pasta to go with it. 
• Tuesday - leftover chicken yakisoba (freezer)
• Wednesday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Thursday - tacos
• Friday - TBD

What's on your menu this week?

Frugal Friday

 Not sure it's been a terribly frugal week, but here are a few wins.

Saving on things we buy

• Went to the grocery store to pick up a few items for diners, and used a coupon to get a free loaf of bakery French bread, a $2 coupon off of ice cream (for the teens) & the weekly freebie (electrolyte water). I also submitted my receipt to Fetch, and earned $2 via iBotta. 

Earning money

• Sold a few things on eBay: 3 packages of face cream, a freebie item I got from a store, & trail running shoes.

Avoiding spending

• We were planning a dinner out to celebrate the "last' back to school day, but Nick ended up having an away soccer game, so Sam, M & I had dinner at home. 
• I ordered a bunch of hiking gear (me) & new clothes (Sam), and returned everything that didn't fit. 

Eating what we have

• Used up a package of naan bread to make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch one day for the teens. Another day I used most of a bag of chicken nuggets I bought via an iBotta sale. They are not the favorite chicken type, so I'm trying to get these out of the freezer.
• Made Sam a smoothie using a very over ripe banana, as well as some mango from the freezer. 
• Made a few dinners & froze all of the leftovers.
• M made kebabs one night for dinner, using a package of prepped kebab meat in the freezer.
• Continued to use up lots of garden items: tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, mint & basil. 

For others

• Signed up to volunteer another high school senior, and had a call to review essays with my current match.
• Gave away a bunch on Buy Nothing. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Wednesday things

 This week is flying by, and Sam & I leave tomorrow to head to Portland. He will be participating in the relay, and I will be at my sister's house, hanging out with my mom. I'm planning to help her list a bunch of stuff on Buy Nothing & Facebook Marketplace. We are also going to purchase any of the college dorm items Sam needs. I will pick it up in a few weeks, when I fly back in for Sam's move in day. We are also hosting a brunch at my sister's house for my dad's birthday. Should be a fun weekend!

I've had a great week of selling & giving things away, and have had a bunch of eBay sales. Woohoo! Junk out of the house! I've also given away a lot on Buy Nothing, and I love to see those items out of the house as well.

And, my hip/glute is feeling so much better. I've been able to work out more, and my PT gave me harder exercises to try over the next four weeks, and approved me adding another day of running. Hurrah. Very excited about that.

Here's what I'm up to today:

• Workout class
• Package & mail eBay sale
• Clean kitchen
• Clean fridge
• Vacuum
• Clean bathrooms
• Laundry
• Finish packing for our trip
• PT exercises
• Check in for flight
• Nick's senior portrait
• Daily chores (journal, language lesson, meditate, water the plants & work in the garden)

What about you? What's on your schedule today?

Menu Plan Monday

 We had a couple of big winners last week, so I'm trying some new recipes again this week. Trying to break out of our rut. ;-) 

• Friday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Saturday - Korean beef rice bowls
• Sunday - honey garlic chicken
• Monday - Thai peanut chicken noodles
• Tuesday - leftover Korean beef rice bowls
• Wednesday - leftover honey garlic chicken
• Thursday- leftover Thai peanut chicken noodles
• Friday - I'll be in Portland, having dinner with my mom. Sam will be participating in the relay. Nick & M will be on their own! 

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

Saturday things

 M & I had a fun evening last night when he got home from work. We sat by the pool with a drink & discussed upcoming travel plans, and preferences for a few of our outings. We also played cards for a bit, while we waited for the teens to solidify their evening plans. No one was having dinner with us, so I went ahead & planned a dinner for two. Now, I made this mistake earlier in the week, and we ended up having four people, two of whom joined just as I was plating the food. That was a scramble. ;-) This time, there were really just two of us. I made a salad (lettuce from the garden!) & found two burger patties M had grilled a few weeks ago. I made a homemade aioli with mayo, whole grain mustard, garlic salt & sriracha. And, a bowl of chopped fresh tomatoes, with salt & pepper. It was delicious. No leftovers, which is perfect.

As for today, I'm hoping to get a chance to play pickle ball with M, but here's the rest of my to do list:

• Work out
• Volunteer at soccer event from 11-2
• Help Nick with college essays. We have a few that are very close to final draft phase!
• Stop by the grocery store for dinner items
• Daily chores: journal, language lesson, meditate, water the plants, garden
• Laundry
• Start packing for the relay + trip to Portland
• List a few more things on eBay & Buy Nothing

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

 It's been a busy week, as Nick goes back to school on Monday! Here's what we've been up to. 

Saving on things we buy

• Nick is opting not to take the August SATs, as he's pleased with his June score. I cancelled, & received my money back, minus a cancellation fee. 
• Treated Sam to lunch at Subway, and used a BOGO free foot long sandwich coupon and a gift card. I can get two lunches at of a foot long. For Sam, that's just one meal. ;-) 
• Speaking of Subway, went through & combined all of our gift cards into one (it's a hassle in the app to have gift cards with not enough balance to cover a transaction) & got everything cleaned up, plus got a clear view of how much money we have on the gift cards. 
• Made a stop at the grocery store, and picked up sparkling water that had both an iBotta & Fetch offer. This rarely happens, and the grocery store was having a BOGO offer for the same brand, so it worked out well & saved ~$8. 
• I also bought Nick's two Christmas gifts at the local sporting goods store, as they were having 50% off camping gear, and that was his entire Christmas list. ;-) We got a really nice tent and sleeping bag. 

Earning money

• Signed up to volunteer with soccer club uniform distribution, which saves $100 off of club dues. We are "required" to do 3 hours of volunteering, and when we complete our volunteer hours, we get the credit off of our fees. 
• Sometimes it takes a while for Rakuten to feel like it pays off, but earned $71 in a payout, thanks to a few purchases that paid a high percentage (running shoes, if I recall one). 
• Sold two pair of Nick's tennis shorts on eBay for ~$20

Avoiding spending

• We finally figured out what we are doing with our United credits! We'd love to do a family trip to see M's family, but with Nick & Sam having highly varied spring breaks & overall schedules, that's not possible before the credits expire. Instead, M & I are going to Spain! This is best categorized as "how to not let a huge sum of United vouchers expire." I'll post more on this trip, as we will also be trying to use hotel points to offset a bunch of the remaining cost. 

Eating what we have

• I've been working through a few freezer items, and was able to use up all of the bag of small wontons & a bag of coconut shrimp for dinner last week. I also used 3 ciabatta buns.
• Continued to feed people leftovers, expand and contract meals to accommodate anywhere from 3-6 diners at any given night (with, almost no notice). Cut up fruit, caprese salad (tomatoes & basil from the garden) & garlic bread are my on hand additions I can always add, if I don't have as much of the main course. 

For others

• Donated books to the library sale
• Volunteered at Nick's high school orientation
• Volunteered with college assistance program

What about you? Any frugal wins to share?

The chicken marsala was a hit, and other Wednesday happenings

 We've tried two good recipes this week, so I'll share them. Chicken marsala & garlic noodles with beef & broccoli. Luckily, I doubled the chicken marsala recipe, as we had a full table of folks last night for dinner!

I also add a lot of caprese salads to the meal, when I'm trying to stretch it out for unexpected diners. Tomatoes & basil from the garden. 

I volunteered at Nick's school yesterday (schedule pick up) & it was so nice to see all of his friends. They are really sweet & polite. It was fun to help out & see the kids all excited for the start of their senior year. 

As for today, I have a lot on my list!

• Workout class
• Daily chores (language lesson, journal, meditate, garden, yard work)
• PT exercises
• Take Nick out to find new cleats. He has blood blisters from his soccer cleats from last season - apparently, his feet have grown! He also needed new hiking shoes. Keeping shoes on teens is an expensive project.
• Nick & I have carved out three hours today to work on college essays. His schedule is definitely getting busy, and we are hoping to get a bunch more done before school starts next week.
• Vacuum
• Clean the bathrooms
• List items on eBay

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Tuesday things

 Sam's friends have started to trickle off to college, so things are getting pretty real for him! Nick & his friends are frantically trying to soak up as much time together as possible before school starts again on Monday. There have been: beach trips to Santa Cruz with the girlfriends, golfing in Half Moon Bay, fishing trips, golfing at every local course that participates in the discounted youth membership, and...doing chores with Mom. Everyone is thrilled about that last one. ;-)

Sam has also been training for the relay that's coming up in a week & a half. I bought a companion fare (before I canceled my Alaska Air credit card) for myself & Sam, as I was also planning to do the relay. There was no way for me to cancel my part of the flight without canceling Sam's, so I opted to still go next weekend. My mom is also really struggling, as she helps her sister adjust to an assisted living situation, so I'm planning to spend some time with her, which she's excited about. 

I met a friend for lunch yesterday, and barely ate because I was so excited to hold her squishy new baby (4 months old). Oh my, holding a baby is so adorable. She was in fine form, and looking around, playing with my hair, and just generally cracking me up. 

I'm heading to a workout class today, and then volunteering at Nick's school this afternoon for orientation. He tried to convince me to volunteer when the lower classmen would be there, but I'm excited to see his friends. He was ... less excited. ;-) 

Our hibiscus plant is so beautiful right now! It only puts out one flower at a time, but the one it does put out is stunning. 

As for the rest of the day, here's my list of activities:

1. Gym class
2. A walk (gym class is strength focused, so I always try to get in some steps to hit my 12k/day goal)
3. Sort out dinner for unknown number of folks (it's a mystery who will turn up every day)
4. Daily chores: language lesson, meditate, journal, garden, water plants
5. Budgeting/bills
6. Apply for some jobs
7. Laundry
8. Volunteer at Nick's school

What about you? What are you up to today?

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm trying to get back into the rhythm of cooking a bit more, and trying out a few different recipes. Here's what's on our menu this week.

• Friday - coconut shrimp + caprese salad
• Saturday - garlic noodles with beef & broccoli
• Sunday - grilled chicken & rice
• Monday- chicken marsala 
• Tuesday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Wednesday - leftover chicken & rice
• Thursday - leftover chicken marsala
• Friday - wings & gyozos

What about you? What's on your menu for the week ahead?

2025 travel

You might recall that we planned to visit M's mom & other family members in Turkey this year, over spring break. Unfortunately, there was a medical issue in the family, and that didn't work out & we had to cancel. Add additional travel restrictions due to the tension in the region, & travel is much more complex. We most definitely would have preferred to use our travel vouchers for a trip to visit M's family, but given Nick & Sam's varying schedules this year (one has spring break in March, & the other in April) & the expiration of the travel vouchers, we were unable to find a date when we could all make the trip happen. 

Instead, M & I will use the travel vouchers on a trip for the two of us, and then plan to use mileage in the future to cover a trip to see family. Luckily, I have 500k+ United miles from many, many work trips, so that should work. And, we'll avoid having all of these travel vouchers expire, which has been a concern given the difficulty planning a trip.

So, where are we going? As background, I've done a lot of international work travel, but largely to the same destinations. And, even in those places, I've done zero exploring due to time restrictions. I've been to France personally, but no other personal travel to Europe. M did more traveling in his 30s, but neither of us have ever been to Spain! 

We bought two business class tickets to Madrid in April, using up all of our vouchers, and adding another $787 (M was very set on flying business on this trip) ;-). We are planning to spend just a couple of nights in Madrid, and then head to Seville & Granada. I'm working on all kinds of fun activities & sites to see, but we will also plan to relax, eat tapas & drink Spanish wine. 

My goal for the trip is to spend $4,000 or less, which would include our flights (above) & flights for my parents to come & stay with Nick while we're gone. We will likely use gift cards to cover my parents flights. We're hoping to use mostly Hyatt points for the hotels, and the majority of our spending would be food (alllllll of the delicious Spanish food) & activities.  

We are super jazzed & will take any & all recommendations! I'll share more about our budget & planning as we go along, although I'm no travel blogger. ;-) 

Saturday Happenings

 I usually have big workout plans on Saturdays (long runs, mostly), but today I think I'll go for a hike, as I start to prepare for my trip to Moab. 

We've been picking A LOT of tomatoes!

And, I've been making lunches out of: garden lettuce & tomatoes, whatever protein I have on hand (chicken shawarma for this particular lunch) & topped with my favorite sunflower seeds. 

What else am I up to today?

• Helping Nick with college essays
• Making a new dinner recipe (garlic noodles with beef & broccoli)
• My daily chores, and adding in a new language lesson for a trip (more on that in an upcoming post this week!)
• Playing pickle ball with M, if it's cool enough
• Yard work/gardening
• Working on trip planning for the trip above

What about you? Are you growing any garden goodies? What are you up to today?

Frugal Friday

 It's nice to have a week back at home, and certainly makes it easier to make good choices. Here's what we've been up to this week!

Saving on things we buy

• When we were in Oregon last week, I changed my rental car to one day shorter, and accepted the smaller rental car (they were sold out of the car I'd selected), which together saved almost half of the cost of the rental car. Brought it down from $180 to $105. 

Earning money

• After a long hiatus, listed a few things on eBay. 
• I always find I sell more on eBay after I post new things, so sold three sports bras & made $18
• Alarm clock that I listed (first bullet) sold for $100! I was thrilled. 

Avoiding spending

• M received an award that included points for shopping at an online portal. We almost forgot about it, but luckily, I remembered before it expired. He had a good amount (roughly equivalent to $1k), so we bought a Christmas gift, a piece of luggage he's been wanting, & then we had an awkward amount left, so we bought some cute tapas Le Crueset dishes. The award included taxes & shipping & handling, so it was truly zero dollars out of pocket. 
• Noticed I was charged for a subscription that we no longer need for Nick's tennis, so cancelled that & received a $130 refund. 

Eating what we have

• Our cucumbers are finally ripe, and Nick is LOVING the fresh garden cucumbers. Cucumbers are his favorite food, as I wrote about a few weeks ago on our most common grocery splurge post. 
• We are also eating plenty of garden tomatoes, the handful of strawberries, peppers & herbs. 
• I'm consistently making my lunches out of garden lettuce, tomatoes & anything else that's ripe, then topping with leftover protein.
• We did a good job of eating leftovers this week
• Made banana muffins, out of overly ripe freezer bananas

For others

• Had a call with the student I'm mentoring
• Gave away all of Sam's old clothes to a neighbor
• Gave away a bunch of other items via Buy Nothing
• Went through & edited essay prompts for the student I'm mentoring

What about you? Any wins to share?

Wednesday Happenings

 It's a pretty quiet day here, which is much appreciated after a whirlwind July. The boys are not working (camp ended the last week in July), but have plenty of other things to keep them busy. Sam is spending lots of time with his girlfriend before they both start college, as well as a bunch of college prep activities. Nick is living his best life, golfing & fishing with friends, and working on college applications. Club soccer starts this weekend! 

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

• Daily chores (journal, meditate, Farsi lesson)
• Workout class
• PT exercises
• Bonus walk (depending on the weather)
• Work in the garden + water plants
• Have a call with the student I'm mentoring
• Run to a couple of grocery stores
• Package & mail an eBay sale
• Make muffins
• Go through eBay & Buy Nothing items
• Fill out monthly report for volunteer activities
• Dinner prep

What about you? What's on your agenda for today? I've been watching clips of the Olympics in the evening, & it's so fun & inspiring!

August Goals

 I'm hoping for a much more successful August than July, in terms of goal completion! Here's what's I'm hoping to accomplish this month.

Financial:

• Achieve savings goals
• Confirm that M's BA miles were extended
• Sort out united credit plan
• Freezer challenge: get rid of a minimum of six items (my freezer is packed!)

Family:

• Have a successful back to school (last one for K-12!) for Nick
• Help Nick with college/essay applications
• Help Sam with college readiness & have him decide what to bring to college & what to leave behind
• Plan one fun family activity (Nick's choice, as a reward for winning the Presidential Volunteer Award)

Fitness:

• Finish Hood to Coast relay with Sam (very much TBD until I see if I can participate, due to hip injury)
• Start PT for hip & back issues
• Stretch 12 times
• 12 strength workouts
• Follow the No S diet 22 days & track calories daily

Personal:

• Meditate 20 times
• Get together with friends
• Practice Farsi 20 times
• Declutter 25 items
• Continue exploring jobs
• Spend time on volunteer role
• Help sister & friend with financial planning activities

What about you? What's on your list of goals for August?

Menu Plan Monday

 Things get crazy after a trip, plus we had a lot of bonus guests over the past few days, so a menu plan was critical. I'll include Thursday, as it was our first day back.

• Thursday - Pizza, after the airport pickup. Sam's girlfriend joined us, so we had six, including four teens for dinner.
• Friday - The teens took their cousin to Santa Cruz, so M & I had whatever was in the fridge. He had leftover salmon, & I had leftover Greek food a neighbor dropped off (falafel wrap + Greek salad that I made with garden items)
• Saturday - chicken shawarma
• Sunday - tacos
• Monday - leftover pizza
• Tuesday - leftover shawarma
• Wednesday - leftover tacos
• Thursday - ravioli, meatballs & diced garden tomatoes
• Friday - big green salads with roasted chicken on top

What about you? What's on your menu plan for the week?

July goals - how did I do?

This was probably the most inconsistent month I've had in a long time. There were lots of mini trips! Lake Tahoe with Nick & two friends, an impromptu Las Vegas trip with my nephew, and the most recent trip to Portland to see my family/celebrate my special needs aunt's 70th & Sam's college orientation. As you might remember from prior busy months, being out of my routine is not great for my goals, even if each of the events is fun. I did also remind myself to "say yes" more this month, enjoy being unemployed, & remember that this time with Sam & Nick at home is fleeting. 

With those caveats, let's see how I did!

Financial:

• Sort out tuition payment/timing - yes, I'm just waiting for Sam's first bill to come in
• Figure out what to do with M's expiring BA miles - we are waiting to confirm that they've been extended
• Sort out a plan with United credits (goal plan + backup plan, as his mom's availability to travel will be limited & likely down to the wire) - I did attempt a few times to extend the credits through various hacks, & none of those worked. So, we will for sure be needing this plan, but I didn't actually make it.
• Freezer challenge: use up remaining bag of cranberries + bananas - yes to both, although more bananas were put in the freezer when we went out of town last week

Family:

• Have a great 4th of July with Nick & a friend in Lake Tahoe - we had a great time, and Nick brought two friends along. 
• Help Nick edit draft college essays & work on new ones - some progress was made, but there's still a lot of work to do
• Get Sam set up for his solo senior trip (install airline app, activate credit card, use Uber, etc) - yes, this was a success.
• Plan one fun family activity + days for my nephew to visit - we had a lot of fun with the teens, and plenty of family time. My nephew came back with us on Thursday, and the boys took him to Santa Cruz, to In & Out, they went to the city together, and they've played a lot of Magic the Gathering.

Fitness:

• Finalize legs for relay (me + Sam) - I've been battling a hip injury that is a very, very long recovery window & never truly heals. Today is the final decision day for the relay, but it's unlikely that I can do it. I trained for 5+ months, so I'm very, very sad about this. 
• 70 miles of running, including some longer runs for relay prep - definitely no
• Stretch 12 times - yes, thanks to trying to loosen up my hip
• 12 strength workouts - I had to cancel a lot of workouts this month, so no
• Follow the No S diet 15 days - definitely not. I'm not feeling great about my eating habits during all of those travel days. 

Personal:

• Meditate 20 times - I'm very inconsistent with my routine while traveling, so this didn't happen
• Get together with friends - yes, some hiking & also an impromptu girls trip added on to last week's trip to Portland
• Practice Farsi 20 times -  I'm very inconsistent with my routine while traveling, so this didn't happen
• Declutter 25 items - 14/25 items
• Continue exploring jobs - I've done a lot of work here, and have had two interviews. Lots of prep time ahead of both interviews, and I have another interview tomorrow. 
• Spend time on volunteer role - yep, continue to support my students I'm mentoring

All in all, definitely not my most successful month, and I've been frustrated, particularly on the fitness front. I also know that I need to really clean up my eating if I'm not able to work out as much, which I'm not enjoying! But, these months are what help you make tweaks & changes for the more successful months (or, so I'm telling myself as we head into August.)

How did you do on your goals for July? 

 

Bike riding

 While Sam & I were up to other things, Nick has been doing long bike rides. He's been on his bike 5 times this year, and the average length of each ride has been 67 miles. He's a real glutton for punishment. Tons of mountain biking in Bend, a gorgeous trip to the top of Mount St. Helens, and a 70 mile ride around Portland.

I'm living vicariously through him, as my hip injury is definitely slowing me down from my normal workouts. 

Happy Saturday!

Frugal Friday

The boys & I are back after a whirlwind trip. There were a lot of moving parts to this trip, and everyone was sleeping somewhere different every night, it felt like. My back was not excited about a few of the sleeping options, so I got very little sleep on the trip. I went to bed at 8 pm last night, and got almost 10 hours of sleep, so I'm slowly starting to feel a bit more human!

We were at my parents house for my special needs aunt's 70th birthday, and then helping my mom move her sister to an assisted living home. Then a brief girls day where we went out for frose' (frozen rose' wine), and finally Sam & I went to his college orientation in Corvallis. We also brought home my nephew when we flew home yesterday, as he hasn't been to our house since we moved to California (11 years!) 

Saving on things we buy:

• Used a $5 coupon for pizza we had last night, and had Nick & my nephew pick it up, saving on the delivery fee

Earning money

• The boys are now done with work, and earned their last paycheck

Avoiding spending 

• The boys were upgraded to first class on both segments of their flight, and my nephew was also upgraded on the flight back with us. He's 6'4", so I know he appreciated the extra leg room. 

Eating what we have

• We haven't eaten at home in a week, but I'm prepping food for the weekend. We also did a "find things in the freezer" dinner at my sister's house, on Wednesday night. 

For others

• Shared garden items with friends & neighbors
• Helped my college counselor student out with a few questions
• Upgraded my friend to first class for her flight to visit last weekend

That's it on my side. What about you? Any wins to share?