Best value per wear items in my closet

 (Note, no referral links - these are just my own recommendations)

When I think of what I wear the most, and what I get the most value per wear out of in my closet, the hands down winner to those questions are easily...workout wear! Not only are those items designed to last, I work out A LOT. 

It's always interesting to see what holds up, and for me, it's across a variety of price points. Every one of these items has a ridiculously low per wear cost at this point, which is interesting to see, despite the semi-varied initial cost. 

Workout clothes:

• Swiftwick workout socks. I ordered a second round recently, but my first batch lasted close to 10 years, and that's wearing multiple times/week. 
• Amazon workout tanks. I own six of these, so three packs. They fit well, aren't too big, too roomy, too tight, too drapey. They are there for hard work! I'd say mine are 6+ years old & are still going strong. I wash them, & then line dry them, although in a pinch (traveling, etc), I put them in the dryer. 
• Zella workout capri length pants. I purchased the first couple of pair at a Nordstrom anniversary sale pre moving to the bay area, so definitely pre-2013. I have bought up all the remaining pair on my size on eBay, and they are no longer available. I wear these pants multiple times a week for 13+ years, definitely gotten my money's worth. They are all going to fail at the same time, and the struggle to find a replacement is going to be difficult. I've tried a lot, and finding a pair of workout pants that stays put while running & fits comfortably is a struggle! I ripped the bottom of one pair hiking & I was incredibly sad. RIP, fair pants. 
• Champion sports bras. These are the older school kind, purchased from Amazon a million years ago. They don't make them in the way I like anymore, and I've attempted & failed to find replacements. The search continues. Similar to the rest of the above, these get worn multiple times a week.
• Brooks running shoes. I prefer the Ghost. I try to look for sales, and I order multiple pair at the same time, and rotate them. They are not cheap, so look for an offer, if you need running shoes. When the support goes, I keep them for "errand" shoes, and get another 6 months or so out of them.
• Uniqlo full zip workout jacket - I bought this at the Haneda airport Uniqlo, and as far as I can tell, it's only available in Japan. It has UV protection & is very thin. I wear it several times/week. 
• Athleta In Motion Seamless tank - I have this in three colors. I like the higher neckline over the Amazon tanks, so typically wear this for hiking, walks, etc. I also wear them almost every day around the house in the spring or summer. They don't look like workout tanks when paired with a sweater/cardigan, for work calls. They fit well & have been washed 50+ times. 
• Lululemon Align Leggings - all Lulu is basically overpriced, but M bought me a pair five or so years ago, or whenever they first came out. they are the most comfortable leggings I've ever worn, and are more go to, around the house pants. I will also wear them on walks or hiking, but not for a run, as the band slips. I also don't prefer them for a workout class. These are what I wear every day for remote work. As with all of my workout gear, I wash on delicate & line dry. 

Regular clothes:

• Banana Republic Outlet dress pants - worn on maybe 15 work trips. Can be dressed up or down, packs well.
• Tahari cropped jeans - I bought these at Ross for maybe $10 when I was in Spokane for a wedding 4 years ago. The have the frayed edges. I've worn them 100+ times, I'd say. A search turned up nothing similar, so no link.
• Reef flip flops - I wear these a lot out of the house, around the pool, etc.
• Sam Edelman natural leather slide sandals - bought these for Dubai spring break with my in laws, so it's been awhile. I wear them maybe 20 times/year. 
• Gap tshirts - I like the basic kind
• Loft Harbor tank tops - I own these in at least 4 colors. I like that I can pair them with a cardigan, or on their own. They cover bra straps, are a thick enough fabric that you can't see through them, and they are not tight. 
• Rothy's slip on sneaker - I love that you can throw the entire shoe (or just the insole) in the wash. Have worn 100s of times, all over. 
• A black semi sheer cardigan from Banana Republic that is at least 10 years old, I bought on clearance and I'm hoping to be buried in. ;) It's the perfect weight, goes with dresses, tank tops, and keeps you warm but can also be worn in hotter temps. 

Okay, that was a fun little stroll through my closet. Tell us about the lowest cost per wear items in your closet!

Future travel savings

I've been working to maximize the fun & travel options, while keeping our budget in check. We had a big trip to New Zealand (50th birthday + 20th anniversary) & I'm also going to Greece with friends (extended 50th birthday, as 2 of 3 are celebrating 50th birthdays this year). Because of that, it's really important to keep an eye on the rest of our spending. 

I've been surprised by how expensive it is to get Nick to & from school, as well as how many trips there are for parents. Move in, move out & family weekend. We could skip and/or send him to manage on his own, but at least for this year, we like being there & helping out where we can, buying supplies, helping him move his stuff (difficult without the ability to rent a car), etc. 

I've been closely tracking our travel budget for 2026 & came up with estimates for what we still need to spend. I then challenged myself to be as creative as possible with credits, miles, etc. Here's what I've come up with so far. I'll do a post on travel hacking on the hotel portion of Greece separately:

• For Nick's move out weekend, I used credits for myself & for M to get to & from Boulder. For the first night, I used a Hyatt free night awards, as I need to work remotely & don't want to disturb my friend. After that, we will stay two nights at my friend's house, so no hotel cost. We do need to still pay for the rental car, which I booked through Costco. We are helping a few kids move out, as two of Nick's friends our from the UK, and their parents cannot easily assist. I've rented a mini van & am prepped to take multiple kids & gear, so I'm all set!
• We are doing a summer family trip to the Oregon coast, and I was able to use another flight credit to offset some of M's travel cost, and covered my flight + Sam's flights with additional United credits. I paid out of pocket for Nick's flight. All of the United credits are now gone!
• In October, we are going back to Boulder for family weekend. I used United miles for those flights, as they were almost $1k each! Michael & I are each doing a career coaching panel at the school, so we will both be attending. I also booked the nearby Hyatt using free night awards. There is a much more "fun" hotel that is the closest to the school, but a free night vs the outlandish cost (more than $1k) for a hotel makes this an easy decision. 
• For Nick's Thanksgiving flight home, I used his United travel credit. 
• When Nick flies home for winter break, I used United miles, as traveling near the holidays is incredibly expensive. 
• Additionally, while I haven't booked yet, I'm planning to use American miles earned while traveling for work to book Alaska flights (they are partners) for our Christmas flights. That will save around $2k, as we are very limited on when we can travel those dates. I'm waiting for a flight I'm taking in a week or so for work, which should tip me into having enough American miles to book these flights. 

I do still have a few flights to book for the rest of the year:

• Nick's move back trip in August. We may allow him to bring his car, which would mean we all road trip to Boulder, and then M & I would fly home. This is still very much TBD, which is why no travel is currently booked. 
• Anniversary trip to Las Vegas/Utah in September - my plan for this is to use Southwest credits to offset some of the cost, but it's expensive as always, as we will be flying back from Las Vegas on a Sunday afternoon - peak travel time. 

This is about $4k in savings, across the Hyatt free nights + the United miles, not counting the Alaska/American plans for Christmas, as those aren't booked yet. By optimizing our hotel points + miles, it really helps us use our travel budget for the fun stuff. It feels especially victorious to use airline miles for hard earned work trips on personal travel. Slightly offsets the pain of the jet lag. ;-) 

What about you? Any travel perks or points usage to share? 

Fitness Monday

It was not the best fitness week I've ever had, for a variety of reasons, but posting for accountability all the same. I had my hip dry needled at Stanford on Tuesday, and took a few days off from strenuous exercise after that. It was not the most comfortable thing I've ever had done, shall we say. 

I also got a pressure point massage on my back and shoulders on Saturday, as part of my continued mission to improve my overall health & well being & reduce pain. 

Weight: 156.4 (down .6 lbs from my last post)

Calories: 1,562

Steps: 8,162 - I think my lowest ever! I usually do a big hike & offset some of the lower "work" days, but our plans to hike yesterday were foiled by a different schedule & a need to drop off the dog at a different time. Then I was just lazy & didn't do a big hike, as it was already warm. #excuses

Workouts:

• Yoga
• 2 very hard workout classes
• A 3 mile walk
• Several dog walks
• Several days without any formal exercise

Goals for the week:

• Drop the calories back into the losing weight range (typically around 1350 or so)
• Get back into the swing with steps & working out

What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness goals? 

Menu Plan Sunday

Oh my, another week gone by! A flying by the pants sort of week, since I didn't get a chance to meal prep over the weekend. I'll try to do better this week!

• Friday - wings & edamame
• Saturday - Philly cheese steak (freezer)
• Sunday - a non-traditional Easter request from Sam of grilled burgers & potato salad
• Monday - grilled chicken salad
• Tuesday - cauliflower rice chicken enchilada skillet (uses up cauliflower rice & rotisserie chicken from the freezer) (we actually made this earlier in the week & I can report that it was delicious!)
• Wednesday - grilled burgers & potato salad
• Thursday - leftover cauliflower rice skillet
• Friday - TBD. If I have time, I might meal prep something for Sam & M, as I leave for London on Saturday. If not, I'm sure M will just eat salmon every day, because that's his favorite easy meal. ;-) 

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

Saturday Happenings

 It was another long week, but Friday was a bank holiday in the UK (as is Monday), so I was actually able to catch up a bit on my work while the majority of the team was on holiday. That was excellent.

We are dog sitting for a friend until tomorrow, so that will be the majority of our activity - watching out for & taking care of our temporary guest. ;-) Fingers crossed that she adjusts well to the new location.

Other things I'm up to today:

• Yoga class
• Pick up gift card for Sam's Easter basket
• Pick up the dog
• M will then be in charge of walking the dog while I'm gone
• Go to my sports massage
• List some stuff on Buy Nothing
• And, eBay
• Clean the house
• Plant green onions (saved from the ones we already ate in the garden - they constantly replenish, as long as you don't eat the white bottoms completely)
• Plant lettuce & kale seeds
• Make dinner

I also have a few work tasks to complete. 

And, for visual interest...My office desk faces our pool area, and an orange tree & is quite lovely. The squirrels regularly run across the fence to get to the oranges, and perform all kinds of acrobatics, given the oranges are much bigger than they are. I had quite a surprise on Tuesday, when this creature came to visit & find some oranges. I thought they were nocturnal!

Hope you have a fabulous Saturday!

Frugal Friday - times 2

Combining two weeks, as I was out of town last Friday. 

Saving on things we buy

• Earned $20 cash back from a TurboTax credit card offer, and $1.98 in a gas cash back. Costco gas is always cheaper than other stations, but sometimes Nick fills up on his way somewhere else, so I always download the gas offers. 
• Uploaded our Costco receipt to Fetch & iBotta, and caught a $.10 off any grocery purchases from iBotta. 
• Received an email that $6 of Rakuten credit cleared from a purchase way back in December. 
• Submitted my last claim for my health & wellness reimbursement. I had $108 left for reimbursement, and had a sports massage to work on my QL for $110. An almost perfect match!
• Had to mail something to Nick that arrived after he left, so used Pirate Ship to save a bit off of standard USPS rates. 

Earning money

• I put money aside in a savings account to pay taxes. Now that we know how much we need (and have paid), I have moved the rest of the funds into a CD that is paying 3.5%. Not amazing, but we need quite a bit of cash for future college spending (among other things, where we don't want to add to our investment accounts). This should generate about $110/month of interest, which will be helpful. 
• I charged an expensive work course on my credit card, and will be getting reimbursed in a few weeks. The purchase will generate about $30 in credit card rewards. Nothing incredible, but it all adds up. 

Avoiding spending

• Washed all of the bathroom rugs, and took advantage of the sunshine by drying them all outdoors. That saves quite a bit of drying time/cost, given how heavy they are. 
• My bay area friend & I hit up a lounge at the Las Vegas airport, where I had a sparkling water, filled up my water bottle & we both took advantage of a pretty good kale salad, to add a bit more nutrition to our packed lunch (sandwich & protein bar). 

Eating what we have

• Sent Nick to the airport with a bagel & a banana. he wasn't hungry in the morning for breakfast before his flight (and, let's be honest, didn't get up early enough for that anyway), but this way he could have food on the flight & avoid buying anything at the airport. 
• Made the Costco pad Thai for a quick dinner on Saturday. M eats more protein than that, so I added a leftover grilled burger patty on the side with his. 
• For dinner on Sunday, M made rice & I pulled grilled chicken out of the freezer to go with it. This worked well with our dinner plans, as the rest of the rice was used to round out a chicken satay dish, also from the freezer. Sometimes it's about adding enough to round out a couple of leftovers, and Persian rice is both delicious & great at bulking up a meal. 
• I inventoried both freezers, so I have a better idea of what we need to use up.
• As part of my goal of working down our freezer & targeting one item a week, I pulled out shredded zucchini from the garden last year & made a shredded zucchini casserole. This recipe also used up: more cottage cheese (almost gone!), the rest of a bag of cheddar cheese, the end of a container of sour cream (not called for, but added it in to avoid waste) & I topped it with green onions from the garden. We are always looking for ways to use more green onions! 
• M made barbecued chicken & rice for dinner on Sunday, and I made a salad. I added a green onion from the garden. 
• I packed food & snacks from the condo (from the groceries we purchased and/or I brought from home) for airport/travel food on Sunday. 
• Used United miles & Hyatt hotel credits for family weekend at Boulder in October. Both flights & hotels were outrageous, so we opted to use miles & credits. 

For others

• Offered to help two college students out with calls to discuss careers, how to find a job, skill sets they need, etc. 
• Found a lost wallet at the condo we were staying at, and returned it to the owner

What about you? Any wins to share? 

March Goal Upate

 March was a pretty good month, all things considered. Here's how I did against my goals.

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys colleges expenses - yes
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items - yes, I made it a point to use up plenty from the freezer, including: bagels, shredded zucchini, leftover pizza, and baguette. 
• Be more intentional about saving & spending. - yes. It was an expensive month (see taxes, below), but I've been much more aware of our savings to finish off Nick's college (in a HYSA account, and eventually a CD). 
• Find one expense to optimize - Nick has a music subscription as a gift, and they have a student discount. He filled out the paperwork for that, and we will save $6/month.
• Finish taxes - yes, and federal is paid, state will be auto deducted on April 15th. 

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - yes
• A monthly date with M - we went on a few hikes
• Have a fabulous & on budget trip to Las Vegas/Zion with friends - yes
• Enjoy having Nick home for spring break & his birthday - had a great time, even though we barely saw him. ;-) 
• Help finalize summer plans for everyone. - still a bit of a work in progress
• Book summer travel - we are still working on this
• Figure out next big trip with M - we are discussing Iceland next June. 

Fitness:

• Start therapeutic massage appointments - yes, have had two
• Get hip dry needled at Stanford - yes, done
• Lose 3 lbs - I lost 4.4 lbs
• 10 positive days in a month - 9 days of strength training, 7 days of No S, 5 days of meditation
• Come up with a general workout template - no
• Positive eating - track protein & produce - I did "ok" at this, but plenty of room for improvement 
• Average 12,000 steps/day - 12,266/day

Personal:

• 10 days of language lessons - zero
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 56/50
• Get together with friends - a hike, a workout, dinner & a trip to Zion
• Try something new - several workout classes
• Say yes to adventure - yes, a girls hiking trip
• Get to know our neighbors - tried to hike with one neighbor & meet another for dinner, but schedules haven't worked out yet
• Try a new recipe - made a zucchini casserole

What about you? How did you do with your goals for March? 

April goals

 I'll be updating my March goals soon, but here's what I would like to accomplish in April.

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys colleges expenses
• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items, and one item that's a true random item
• Continue to track net new savings for 2026
• Make $100 in side hustle
• Find one expense to optimize
• Build out exit work financial plan & lock in on timing

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life, including summer jobs
• Monthly date with M
• Finalize summer travel/flights for beach trip
• Finalize family weekend flights
• Use M's United credit to book move out weekend travel
• Continue working on "next big trip" plans with M

Fitness:

• Continue with massage appointments
• Lose 3 lbs
• 10 positive days in a month (strength train, No S, meditate)
• Build out a workout template (strength, cardio, pilates/yoga)
• Track nutrition
• Average 12,000 steps/day

Personal:

• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends
• Try something new
• Say yes to adventures
• Get to know our neighbors
• Try a new recipe

What about you? What's on your goal list for April?

Frugal girls trip round up

Two of my friends met for the first time on the October Las Vegas girls trip, and they are both hikers. I worked with one in Seattle, and one in the bay area & they are both incredible women. We started talking about a future hiking trip together, and finally coordinated some dates for the end of March. I've been very excited about this trip, but knowing it was coming in between two expensive international trips (New Zealand & Greece), I needed to do it on a budget.

Here's how I minimized cost, and how much I spent, for a trip that went from Wednesday-Sunday.

Lodging: - $0

• I booked a free night (with a small hotel credit + $50 of free gambling money) through my hotel rewards. One of my friends flew in a night early to hang out in Las Vegas, so she shared the room with me, making it free for both of us. 
• Same friend who met me in Las Vegas has a vacation condo in St. George, and we stayed with her for the rest of the trip.

Flights: - $0

• I booked a round trip Southwest flight for just under the $500 credit I received from my Chase credit card. I think I have about $60 left on the credit that I can use for a future purchase.

Transportation - $57 for shuttle

• My friend with the condo rented a car to get us from Las Vegas to St. George & Zion, and she is staying in St. George for a week longer than we are. I bought groceries & parking (below) & offered to pay for part of the car rental, but she was happy with the free night in Las Vegas our first night.
• My second friend & I took a shuttle from St. George to the Las Vegas airport on Sunday, as my condo owning friend was planning to stay longer. 
• M dropped me off on Wednesday on the way to the airport, and picked me up on the way home. 

Food: - $299.41

• I used hotel credits & my loyalty offer to pay for dinner on Wednesday night for me + my condo friend + breakfast & coffee on Thursday morning. 
• The rest of the food totaled $299.41, and third friend & I shared the cost of groceries, coffee supplies, meals, etc for our friend with the condo, as a thank you for her sharing her place with us. 
• Packed a sandwich & protein bar for the flight home (as did my friend flying back with me), to avoid airport food. 

Activities:

• My friend & I gambled a bit & I used my "big" $50 of free gambling money that came with my room, and I also brought money from my January winning. ($500, which I've not included, as it comes from a previous slot win & I set aside in cash for this trip.) 
• The rest of the time included free activities - plenty of hiking, laughing & hanging out by the pool, drinking free wine (picked up in the casino as part of my friend's comps) on the patio. 

Other stuff: - $21.60

• I bought no gear for the trip, as I had all of the hiking stuff needed for our day trips. I used my Osprey day hiking bag that I got for free a few years ago as a work giveaway. It's fantastic for these trips. I also used my water bladder that I bought for Moab a few years ago. 
• I brought a few snacks & electrolytes from home. 
• I did, however, need to buy a hat at the park, when mine went missing. Turned out it was buried under another bag in the car. The good news is that a receipt from the gift shop covers parking at Zion, so all was well. I spent $21.60 on the hat. 

Overall, I came in at $378.01 against my total budget I set of $800. Would love to hear about any fun budget trips you've planned! 

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's a bit of a scramble this week, as I got back from a fabulous hiking trip today. Here's what I've been eating + what's on the menu for the rest of the week:

• Friday - we ate out at a restaurant in Zion after a long hiking day (almost 30k steps!) I had a delicious salad
• Saturday - we picked up a pizza & had that at the condo
• Sunday - M made barbecued chicken & rice 
• Monday - chicken satay over rice
• Tuesday - salmon
• Wednesday - leftover barbecued chicken
• Thursday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Friday - wings & gyozas (part of our freezer clean out!)

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

And, Zion photo, for fun.

Freezer challenge - part 1

 Oh, the exciting lives we lead. . . when you were just a young 20ish year old, fun loving & fancy free, did you ever think a fun project you would give yourself would be inventorying your freezer & then figuring out to do with all of the odds & ends?! ;-) 

I went through & made a digital list of both our inside & outside freezer. I then realized that M bought spanakopita at Costco again, even though last time we bought it, we ended up giving it away, because he can't eat carbs, & Sam & I didn't like it. Nick would also not be a fan. So, I gave away all of it (with the reminder to please never buy it again) & a bonus pack of frozen corn. Oddly, I really dislike frozen corn & have no good reason for this. I'll eat fresh corn all day long. But, nope on the frozen corn. My parents bought it for a recipe & didn't end up using it. So, some random items already out of the freezer.

Next up is a bag of zucchini from the garden last year, which is my project for this week. I'm going to make this shredded zucchini casserole as a side dish for tonight, which has the bonus of using up the last of the cottage cheese as well as some shredded cheese that we need to get through. I'll skip the bread crumbs. 

We have an absolutely embarrassing amount of overly ripe bananas, breads/buns of all kinds (mostly because we really don't eat much of it), a lot of pot stickers, so many chicken wings, two bags of chicken bones from a rotisserie that need to be made into broth, & other exciting items. 

Stay tuned for more of these exciting happenings. ;-) 

What about you? How do you stay on top of your freezer inventory? 

Fitness Monday

 The weekend went by way too quickly this week, but here we are... Monday again. ;-) 

Weight: 157, down 1.8 lbs since last week

Calories: 1,407/day

Steps: 14,655

Workouts: It was a particularly crazy work week, with lots of things coming together to in a way that made more creative/intense workouts difficult. But, I adapted & tried to do something.

• 4 elliptical workouts
• 1 yoga class
• 1 -5 mile hike with a friend
• 1 intense cardio/strength workout class

Goals for the week: keep the eating in check on my trip. Get in some sort of exercise on the days we are driving to/from St. George. 

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

Menu Plan Sunday

 Oh my, have we ever been flying by the seat of our pants, as it relates to meals.  It's been a big mystery who will join us each night.

Friday - I had an apple (late lunch) & M had a leftover grilled burger from the freezer. Nick ended up dropping in between activities, so he had a much more robust dinner of: two grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit, veggies & hummus & a few meatballs leftover from Thursday's dinner.

Saturday - chicken pad Thai

Sunday - grilled chicken & rice

Monday - chicken satay (freezer) & leftover rice

Tuesday - finish off leftovers, or spaghetti & meatballs

Wednesday - Saturday - I'll be on a girls trip

Sunday - I've requested that M cook dinner ;-) 

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