Frugal Friday

 This is a bit of an abbreviated Frugal Friday because it's been too crazy for me to really even think of anything. I'm usually pretty good about dropping in things as I go, but this week has been wild with work, preparing for my trip to London, and getting Nick packed & ready to go.

Saving on things we buy

• I went to CVS to put together a little "first month" kit for Nick, including some gift cards & extra things he might need. A mom & daughter had just received vaccinations, and there was a $10 coupon associated with that. They handed me the coupon as they walked out, and I was able to apply it to my order. So sweet & thoughtful. 

Earning money

• I received $168.27 from Rakuten, which is much more than my normal amount, thanks to a credit card sign up offer I received ($150). 

Avoiding spending

• We actually bought several small things for Nick's dorm room (extra socks, underwear, a lock for his filing cabinet, etc), so we spent more than normal for sure. 

Eating what we have

• Sam & I greatly enjoyed the leftover Persian takeout for lunches. So delicious. 
• We also ate the kebabs & rice that M made as leftovers throughout the week.
• By yesterday, we needed something different, so I baked some chicken & M made gyozos for us, both from the freezer. 

For others

• Hosted a few more events for Nick & his friends, so they could get lots of time together, before everyone heads out to college. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Fitness Tuesday

I'm a bit delayed this week (story of the week, for sure!), but better late than never.

Weight: no change on my weight

Calories: 1,675 - yikes! Too much Persian food over the weekend

Steps: 12,126

Workouts:

• 3 cardio + strength classes
• 1 strength focused class
• 4 mile run
• 3 mile run
• 45 minute treadmill workout
• 30 minute treadmill desk walk

Overall nutrition/goals:

• I'm still trying to find the right balance on getting workouts in during the work week, which remains challenging. 
• I also have had so much going on with the family, and lots of celebrations, which has impacted my eating. Overall, I feel like I'm doing "okay".
• For this week, goals are to keep eating really balanced & get in plenty of running, before I head to London on Sunday night. 

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness goals this week?

Menu Plan Sunday

 This isn't as much a menu plan as a loose list of meals, because things will be pretty crazy over the next few days, leading up to heading to Boulder.

• Friday - M & I ate the last of the chicken curry
• Saturday - M, Sam & I unexpectedly went out for Persian food. It was so much fun & we had such a great evening. The food was delicious. 
• Sunday - tonight, M is making Persian kebabs + rice for Nick & his friends, as a going away dinner. I'll make salad, and cut up watermelon to go with it, and we have ice cream for dessert. 

Other meals that are available:

• Leftover Persian food (including the Saturday dinner out + the kebabs & rice)
• Hot dogs + buns
• Grilled chicken

It's not a great meal plan, but I don't envision Nick being home much this week, and Sam heads to Portland tomorrow. 

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

Saturday Happenings

 It's our last weekend before Nick leaves for college, so we have so much to get done!

Sam did a mini orientation at a restaurant for a new job last night. It's Nick's job that he has to leave when he goes to college & about half of their staff is headed to college this year & they need a lot of replacements. He also finished finals yesterday & is thrilled to have a bit of a break before school starts again. His plans include: Kendo (a type of martial arts) classes, the gym, working, & hanging out with friends. He is also headed to my parents house on Monday for a week. He didn't get a chance to see his cousin this summer, as he was with his other side of the family. They will hang out together, go mountain biking & chill with the extended family.

On the list for today:

• Go for a run before it gets too hot. I ran at noon earlier this week, and it was 80. It was not a great life choice.
• Go to a strength training class
• We are going to a going away "mehmooni" (Persian party) for one of Nick's closest friends. I need to pick up a gift & find a bottle of wine to take. 
• We are hosting Nick's friends for a going away dinner tomorrow night. Need to sort the plans for that. 
• Go through a bunch of tasks with Nick: sort school health insurance, pay tuition (gulp), sort out automatic book charges, review schedule, make reservations for next Saturday, PACK!
• Meal plan & create a shopping list

Tomorrow will be even crazier, as we are hosting, & I have a bunch of work/work to do. 

Our house is also a pit of disorganization, as we have things all strewn about in order to get Nick packed & sorted. 

For visual interest, here's a view from our patio last week when we were in Napa. 

That's it for me! What are you all up to today? 

Frugal Friday

This is unrelated to frugality or any of the below, but wanted to share that M's dad passed away over the weekend. It was especially painful, as we haven't been able to see him in 15 years. That was the last time his parents came to visit. After that, we tried to put another trip together, but his father was getting older, and international trips became very difficult (visiting the US requires a lot of pre-work, including a 2 week trip to Dubai to try & secure a visa, as there are no embassies in Iran), then the ability for them to visit the US changed. By the time we worked out options for us to visit in another location, even a trip to Dubai (relatively close for them) was too difficult for him to manage. It's been very hard for M. When he left home as a very young man, I don't think he or his parents could have imagined that some 40+ years later, it would still be so difficult to spend time together. 

Saving on things we buy

• I picked up two of my favorite sunblock (the spray, but non-sticky Neutrogena ones) when I went to pick up my prescription at CVS. I had a $10 reward, plus another $4 reward expiring that day. And, the sunblock was BOGO40% off. I also then uploaded my receipt to Fetch, as well as iBotta. iBotta pretty consistently has a 4% off CVS receipt offer, so I saved another $.50 that way. 
• Used a $10 grocery store to offset the cost of some dinner ingredients I picked up.
• Nick and his close friend group had their "last hang" last night at our house, so I splurged & ordered pizza to be delivered (it was well after standard dinner time, as Nick had to work). I used a promo code for the pizza. 

Earning money

• Just the regular W2 income this week. 

Avoiding spending

• Took advantage of free lunch & a sparkling water at work, when I drove in this week. Lunch isn't normally free, but it's temporarily being provided as an incentive to come to the office during the ongoing construction. 

Eating what we have

• Made a huge batch of taco meat for dinner on Sunday, and then froze four additional dinners worth. It took a bit more time, but saves a lot of time in total, compared to making & preparing each dinner individually.
• Used jalapenos from the garden in the guacamole I made to go with our tacos. 
• Used up a bunch of vegetables from the fridge in the chicken curry dish we had on Tuesday. Prepped by cutting all of the veggies & chicken ahead of time, so I could still make it to an   afternoon workout class. Bonus: used up coconut milk & red curry paste in the recipe. Also, the recipe is so quick & easy & absolutely delicious. Highly recommend it, if you haven't tried it. 
• As part of the coconut milk used in the chicken curry, after dumping the coconut milk into the pan, I had some coconut milk around the edges of the cans & lids (as you do). I decided to rinse the cans with some water, but didn't want to add that much liquid to the recipe. Instead, I used the liquid in my coffee the next day. It was more of a blend between coconut milk & coconut water. I would have liked it to be thicker, but it was fine. I steam my oat milk typically for coffee, so just subbed in the coconut milk/water. Tomorrow, I'll do half oat milk, half coconut/milk water, for better consistency. 

For others

• Finished my final project for the college counseling program I volunteered for this year. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

July Goals Recap

As expected, July was a really busy month, as I transitioned to a new role. I mostly got done what I wanted.

Financial:

• Spend sign on bonus per the plan:
• Max 401k, HSA & 529 contributions to get full match - this didn't work out as planned, due to payroll processing issues, but I believe it's all in motion now. The HSA requires a 30 day review, and my sign on bonus was paid out in my first paycheck. The 529 process is very complex, so I *think* I have this set up, but I'll need to see after the first contribution trickles in. 
• $5000 to nephew for college fund - yes, done
• Create a new budget - I've kept this very high level for now, so done
• Meal plan & avoid takeout unless planned. - we've done a very good job of this, despite some eclectic meals. 

Family:

• Get Nick's college prep sorted & finish required orientation tasks- still some things left, but all required July items got done. 
• Have a fabulous visit with my sister + BFF - despite it being short, we had so much fun!
• Help Sam decide on fall plans - while I'm still waiting for him to verbalize this, he's registered for classes at the local college. I think he has a bit of a block on saying he's not going back to OSU in the fall. We are very supportive of this change, and I think it will be really good for him. He's also applying to a job, as his summer job just ended. 
• One date night with M - we ended up going to Napa for a mini getaway, when my office was closed. 

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs - I gained .4 lbs in July, so definitely not the direction I was hoping
• 15, 15, 15 (strength, No S days & meditation) - 11/15 strength workouts, 8/15 No S days, 0 meditations 
• Figure out a new workout routine for my work schedule - while not perfect, I've actually adapted pretty well & gotten in more workouts than expected. 
• Average 12,500 steps/day - 12,451 - I'll take it! It's very close, and very pleased with this, given my new work schedule

Personal:

• Get together with friends x2 - went for a couple of hikes, & did the mini trip with my sister + BFF
• Say yes to adventure & try new things - yes! Agreed to do a half marathon in October (work schedule permitting) & started planning a trip to Greece next summer. And, decided to do a trip to Las Vegas for a concert. 
• Figure out new work schedule & get settled into new job - this is largely going well
• Declutter 50 items - definitely no, but I did get rid of 10 items, including 4 items of eWaste that have been in my closet for over a year, waiting for me to find & remember to deal with them, plus Nick's BMX bike, which M has been begging to get out of the garage. So, good progress despite the numbers. 

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

August Goals

 I feel like July absolutely whipped by. Here are my goals for August.

Financial:

• Keep working on 401k contributions
• Ensure HSA & 529 contributions are properly set up
• Meal plan, & use up 3 freezer/pantry items, preference to those things that are Nick's favorites & we won't eat. 

Family:

• Finish all of Nick's college prep & drop him off at college. (Cue all of the emotions)
• Help Sam decide on fall plans
• One date night with M

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• Start back with fitness checkins with friends
• 15, & 15 (strength training, no S days - dropped the meditation, as I haven't been prioritizing this at all)
• Start half marathon training plan
• Average 12,000 steps/day

Personal:

• Get together with friends x2
• Say yes to adventure & try new things
• Figure out new work schedule, & get settled into new job
• Declutter 50 items
• Work on planning fun travel & budgets

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

Fitness Monday

 Ooof, it was not a great week on the fitness front. Here's the recap of how things went. I knew it would be a rocky calorie week with Napa, but I was expecting better workouts & not a challenging weekend. (More on that in a separate post, but we had a death in the family, and eating well took a back seat to a lot of other things.) 

But, accountability is helpful, even when it's not the message you want to share, or wish it were. 

Weight: I did not weigh in, but will do this week.

Calories: average of 1,835/day

Steps: average of 12,621/day

Workouts:

• 2 mile outdoor run (my first in a long time) + 45 minute strength training class
• 1 regular workout class (combo of cardio & strength)
• 1 7 mile hike
• 2 - 30 minute elliptical workouts (Napa)
• 1 hour treadmill walk

Overall nutrition/goals: I'm becoming much more aware of my protein intake, which has been really helpful. I've also found a yogurt that doesn't bother my stomach, which is a huge win. I've been enjoying that + a protein granola & berries. It's very filling & a great meal option. 

Goals for the week:

• Back on track with the nutrition
• Get into my running training plan
• No S days

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness goals last week? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 Things have been a bit haphazard, as we all adjust to various schedules (Nick is back from Lake Tahoe & working again, Sam has the end of college classes but no work, etc). 

• Friday - grilled chicken (freezer) + quesadillas for the teens. M had the grilled chicken + salad. I found a one serving dinner of a chicken & rice dish in the freezer & made that.
• Saturday - Philly cheese steaks + fruit
• Sunday - tacos
• Monday - lemon pepper chicken + pasta
• Tuesday - chicken vegetable curry + rice
• Wednesday - leftover tacos (late day in the office)
• Thursday - leftover lemon pepper chicken
• Friday - leftover chicken vegetable curry

What's on your menu for the week? 

Frugal Friday

 Another week is flying by! Here are a few things we've been up to. 

Saving on things we buy:

• Used a $20 grocery store to pick up items we needed. As a bonus, they also had $1 off peelie stickers for the oat milk I was buying, so total saved on the trip was $22. 
• As noted in my travel post earlier this week, I was able to use very old British Airways miles to cover two premium economy tickets to Greece (for myself + my sister) for next June. Although it's a long way out, they had limited availability. We're pretty fixed on dates, given my BFF's job at a school, so these dates seem likely. If not, I've checked, and we can adjust to other dates with availability with no penalty. 

Earning money:

• Nothing out of the ordinary here. Sam is finishing his last week of work for the summer, as his job supports summer interns. He was so lucky to find a job that paid well for someone with his experience, and was full time. He was able to save quite a bit of money. On the flip side, the restaurant where Nick works was supposed to undergo a couple of weeks worth of renovations. Instead, they have been closed unexpectedly for five weeks. He had a limited number of weeks to work in the summer anyway, so his savings has taken a major hit. He's enjoyed the time with friends, but is stressed about his college savings & is considering getting a job first semester. We would like him to put that off until at least second semester, so he can get used to college & classes - he's taking very challenging classes as a freshman. We shall see. I like the independence. :-) We will probably provide him a bit more support than planned for his first semester, to dial down the pressure for him. 

Avoiding spending:

• Drove our electric car to our mini vacation getaway in Napa, and charged for free at the hotel, thus eliminating the cost of gas. 

Eating what we have:

• I had a very eclectic dinner that used up a lot of tiny bites in the fridge. Leftover beef kebab with a tiny portion of Mediterranean takeout lunch. One small scoop of remaining tzatziki & hummus. One naan bread. It was delicious all together, and allowed me to clean up the fridge & reduce waste. Always a win. 
• Had unexpected guests for dinner again (oh, teens ;-)), so rather than our planned leftovers, I turned to the hot dogs & buns in the freezer, and we had that with potato salad & fruit. DH also made gyozas, which was Sam's request, despite them not quite fitting with the rest of the menu. Everyone was pleased & full after, which I suppose is the only real goal. It was nice to get the buns & gyozas out of the freezer, and create a bit more space as well. 
• Made banana blueberry muffins for M, using 6 freezer bananas, +1 overly ripe banana from the counter. He requested the addition of blueberries, so I used a combination of fresh, and a small amount of frozen I found in the freezer. 
• Nick's friend's family went fishing in Alaska, and brought some fresh halibut & salmon for us. What a tasty gift! M is the big salmon lover, so he's been working his way through that, and I've had the halibut. 
• I finished up the last of the fruit I cut up with our unexpected guests earlier in the week. Sam wrapped up the gyozas for another lunch. 

For others:

• Booked a flight for my sister for Greece, but in reality, this is a gift for myself, because I absolutely want her to be on the birthday trip!

What about you? Any wins to share?

Fitness Monday

It was a pretty great workout week, and this is basically how I'd want every week to be, in terms of fitness. Eating was not bad, but the working out was both 1) what I'd planned and 2) challenging but doable. 

Weight: my weight is up .3 lbs, which is frustrating. But, weighing more often helps me see trends & stay on track, so I'll try not to be too frustrated & instead look for tweaks to refine what I'm doing. 

Calories: 1,609/day

Steps: 12,096/day

Workouts:

• 4 combo cardio/strength workout classes
• 1 treadmill class
• 1 strength class
• 1 7 mile hike
• 1 15 minute walk + 15 minute elliptical 

Overall nutrition: my nutrition was pretty good. Minimal snacks, no sugar, pretty balanced choices. 

Goals for the week: we should know by today if we can go to Napa for a few days (my office will be closed). I'll assume so, for purposes of goal setting:

• Set up my first week of the training plan. Waiting to hear from my manager about upcoming travel, but hoping to do a half marathon in October with my sister & BFF. Get in consistent workouts, despite the mini trip.
• Keep the calories very low for all non-Napa days, to offset indulgences.
• Avoid sweets 

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

Menu Plan Sunday

 We all might be out (minus Sam) later in the week, as we wait for M's schedule to stabilize a bit more. Nick is also going to Lake Tahoe with friends, so we will take that opportunity to have meals he doesn't prefer. ;-) 

Friday - baked salmon + cauliflower rice Unexpected guests again, so we turned to hot dogs (always on stand by, some buns I found in the freezer + potato salad. And, fruit. 

Saturday - Philly cheese steaks

Sunday - Sesame chicken + rice

Monday - chicken wings & gyozas

Tuesday - leftover sesame chicken & rice

Wednesday - possibly out of town for dinner. If not, something haphazard from the freezer. 

Thursday - possibly out of town for dinner. If not, something haphazard from the freezer. 

Friday - grilled chicken (freezer) + caprese salad

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

Special PS for Nelson: I realized your comments have your email address in them, so I will delete them, so they are not published for everyone. But, wanted to share the link you requested. I believe you are looking for this post, where I shared some of our favorite recipes. 

Travel planning + dreaming

 The next year is going to be big for travel, as we have a lot of milestones. We've planned this into our budget, but we still want to maximize points, miles, etc as much as possible. I've really enjoyed playing around with dates & hotels & flights to find the best deals.  

We are currently thinking of the following trips:

• Trip to Las Vegas with three friends + my sister to see a concert (50th birthday) in November
• New Zealand hiking trip with M, for our 20th anniversary in February
• Trip to Greece in June with sister + BFF to celebrate our joint 50th birthdays (yes, a double celebration). 

I've used United miles to cover one flight to New Zealand, as well as Hyatt points for our hotel before we fly back from Christchurch. The rest of the trip will still be pretty pricey, as we are doing a hiking tour, and staying at another hotel after the hiking trip, doing winery visits, etc. There's not much we can do about offsetting the rest of those costs, so we've just budgeted accordingly.

For the trip to Greece, we're having a lot of fun discussing & planning. My BFF works at a school, so days off are very specific, and there's no flex to move things to lower cost dates. That makes planning tricky. We think we've come up with a plan that might work, and maximizes fun, while minimizing cost. We're doing a call this afternoon to further discuss, which is always a good time.

• Flights - you remember M's expiring British airways points from last summer? I bought a pair of workout pants through their shopping portal, & thus extended their expiration date. I didn't pay close attention to how much they were worth, short of going through & verifying they were worth keeping. I was price checking United (all of my miles were used for NZ trip) & flights were insanely expensive. As I was flipping through my spreadsheet where I track all points, miles, credits, etc, I happened to see the British Airways points & decided to go plug them in & see what we could do. We have enough points for two economy plus tickets to Athens from SFO! This is huge, and a savings of about $7k, vs paying through United. I'm so thrilled. We need to lock in the dates soon ish, as one of the dates we are thinking of leaving on only has two seats left. 
• Hotels - we want to minimize logistics & transit, but maximize what we see & do. Here's what we're thinking on the transit side, and corresponding hotels.
• Athens - We will stay at the Grand Hyatt Athens 1-2 nights when we arrive, and I'll use Hyatt free night awards for that. It is a category 3 hotel, so I should have plenty of Hyatt awards I can use. BFF also may have awards to use, so that will be covered.
• Santorini - we will then fly or take the ferry to Santorini. We do want the white building/Santorini type experience, but we also don't need a lot of night life, and are not exactly going to be club kids out there. The Hyatt has a property on the other side of the island that is supposed to be fantastic, and much quieter. I will likely have enough Hyatt points to cover this stay, and/or will combine points with BFF to sort it out. There are three of us, which always makes room booking outside of the US tricky, as you typically need 2 rooms, or a suite. 
• Paxos - from there, we will take the ferry to Paxos. There are no Hyatt properties on the island, but Marriott has a hotel that looks like a good fit. Between myself & BFF, we will transfer points from our other travel cards & can hopefully cover most of the Paxos stay with points. 
• Athens - we will stay the last night in Athens again, ahead of our flights home. We will use free night awards to cover this as well. 

I've always been so stingy with my time off, needing to use it for the kids spring breaks, ski week, and between Christmas & New Years. A few things have changed: no more ski week, & I'm not delusional enough to think the boys will want to spend their spring breaks with me. ;-) Also, they have different spring breaks, so a family trip isn't an option at the moment. The company I work for closes during Christmas & New Years, and I won't need to use vacation days. And finally, I'm going to be 50, M is close to 60. . . why not enjoy the time we have & travel? It feels a little strange to plan to use all of my vacation days, but I also remind myself that I have a huge bucket list of places I want to visit, and should make the most of this time in our lives. 

M says travel planning is my hobby, which I somewhat agree with. I love: thinking about fun adventures, playing around with rewards to minimize cost, and having fun things to look forward to.

What about you? Do you enjoy travel planning, and hacking to keep costs low?