Things to do today

First up, thanks so much to everyone for sharing their non-linear college experience & feedback. As a parent, it's so hard to know exactly how to support your kids during this time of so much change and growth. It's two steps forward, a step back, and vice versa. 

I'm looking forward to getting outside & maybe getting some gardening in today. Inspired by Kim, I thought I'd share my to do list. 

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

• Attend a morning yoga class. I realized that my yoga pass will expire soon, and I still have two sessions left. Wasting money is definitely not my goal, and my back has really been bothering me lately, so yoga it is!
• Seriously sort out the boys taxes. They received a link to their W2s (summer jobs), but no information on how to create an account or access the W2s via the link. 
• Prep content for week 2 of my class.
• Continue to apply for jobs. Specifically, send email to a friend who has offered to refer me, and prep details about role qualifications & some background about why I would be a good fit.
• Figure out what's for dinner. It was originally supposed to be leftovers, but I'm not totally convinced there are enough. If not, figure out what to add.
• Gardening
• Walk
• Hit up CVS & Rite Aid to use expiring rewards

What about you? What are you up to today? 

April Goals

 I'm hoping April is a better month for achieving my goals than March!

Here's what's on the list:

Financial:

• Pay our state & federal taxes
• Get a new job
• Prep for part-time job
• Earn $300 in side hustle
• Pantry/freezer challenge:
• 1 bottle of dressing
• 1 package of holiday cheese
• Soup from freezer

Family:

• Help Nick with college prep, spring break & senior trip planning
• Optimize points, perks & miles. Track value
• Date night with M

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• Strength train 15 days
• No S diet 15 days
• Average 13,000 steps/day
• Meditate 10 times
• Attend another tread class workout

Personal:

• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends 2x
• Play pickleball x1
• Help students (volunteer role) make college decisions
• Do something towards my "Try something new" and "Say yes to more adventures"
• Reduce screen time

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

March Goals Recap

March has been quite an adventure, and not always in the best way. But, I don't set these goals with the assumption I will always hit all of them, and having goals motivates me. Even when the results aren't so great. 

Here's how the month went (or, didn't go, might be more likely). 

Financial:

• Continue to pay for Sam's college expenses - yes, although Sam is rethinking how he wants the rest of college to go & if he wants to transfer, stay where he's at, or switch majors. 
• Get a new job - I've continued to interview & have 3 jobs in the hopper, but one may not get funded do to the economy. That's the one I was most excited about, so I'm pretty disappointed. I've invested a lot of time in it so far, but fingers crossed maybe it will still happen. 
• Prep for part-time job - I've prepped my content for week 1, and have set a goal to be 2 weeks ahead at all times, so I'll finish week 2 soon. 
• Earn $300 in side hustle - I only made $80 in March, all through Prolific user studies. 
• Pantry/freezer challenge:
• 1 bag of frozen fruit - yes, done
• 1 bottle of dressing - nope
• 1 package of holiday cheese - nope

Family:

• Help Nick with final college decision, including two tours - we did two tours, and Nick finalized his decision to go to Boulder! He's very excited. 
• Enjoy spring break with Sam. Help him finalize his summer plans - Sam & I spent a lot of time together over spring break, and as noted above, he's trying to sort out how he wants to handle the rest of college. It's a big change for young adults. 
• Optimize points, perks & miles. Track value. - I've saved $3,864 by using points through the following: 3 nights in Sedona on my girls trip, 3 nights at the Marriott in Corvallis, 2 nights in Boulder for an upcoming orientation for Nick, & a free night during skiing. 
• Finalize Spain trip details. - Spain was cancelled, so this definitely didn't happen. 
• Enjoy Nick's senior year. Attend soccer banquet & at least 3 tennis matches. -I attended the soccer banquet, but his matches have been rescheduled a lot due to weather & I haven't been. 

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs - I lost 1.3 lbs
• Strength train 15 days - 11/15
• No S diet 15 days -  6/15
• Average 13,000 steps/day - definitely not! I was at 11,600/day, which dropped my average for the year. 
• Meditate 10 times - 7/10 times & found an app to use (free with my credit card). Having access to the app is making this goal much easier. 
• Try a new workout - I tried out a new workout class format & really liked it. It's a much longer running class, so I'll be adding more of these into my workouts. 

Personal:

• Language lessons 15 times - I totally fell apart on this, particularly once I realized we weren't going to Spain. While I didn't track this, I'm also not sure I did any language lessons in March. 
• Declutter 50 items from the house - No progress this month!
• Get together with friends 2x - Yes! I went for three hikes, a girls hiking trip & met another friend for yoga & lunch. 
• Play pickleball x1 - nope
• Help students (volunteer role) make college decisions - Yes, I've continued to meet with my mentees. 
• Do something towards my goals of "Try something new & uncomfortable" and "Say yes to more adventures" - went on another girls trip (hiking to Sedona), which was a wonderful adventure. 
• Reduce screen time - I've made progress on this, and also spent time skiing & hiking, which is definitely good for reducing electronics time. 

All in all, it was a very "okay" month by objective measure, but I kept on & am more than ready for April! What about you? How did you do with your goals for the month?

Fitness Monday

 It's been a wild few weeks, and I'm having trouble keeping track of various things. Posting gives me accountability, and requires me to go back & tally everything up, which is always helpful.

I've had a bunch of *very* active days (hiking in Sedona) & a few road trip days where my steps were very low. I've also not tracked my calories particularly closely for a week or so, and used estimates. And, I haven't weighed in! I will get to that for next week.

Weight: I haven't weighed in since my last update. 

Calories: My calories trended up after my vacation (so much delicious Mexican food & all of the queso!) My new daily calorie average for 2025 is 1,576. My goal is around 1,400, so I have some work to do. 

Steps: I've had some really high step days, but also days where I was driving for the majority of the day & got less than 5,000 steps. That's really dragged my daily average down. I was previously at a daily average of 12,403 & I'm now at 12,081. That's a big drop! I'll have to focus on this in the coming weeks. Luckily, I have a bunch of active days planned, which will definitely help.

Workouts recently:

• 2 hiking days
• Several travel days (no workouts)
• A couple of elliptical workouts
• A long walk with a friend
• A yoga class
• Several days of my workout class

Overall nutrition: way too much eating out & snacky food. I need to focus on increasing my intake of fruits & vegetables & reduce carbs. 

I'm giving myself a "D" for the following few weeks, as my metrics really show a drop off in my 2025 progress. That's okay, the tracking helps me get back on track & understand where things aren't working.

Goals for the weeks ahead: 

• Weigh in 
• Consistently getting 12k+ steps/day
• Increasing fruit & veggie intakes
• Following the No S diet on week days

How are you doing with your health & fitness? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 

In addition to the dinners I have listed, I also need to find the time to make a few soups for the freezer, as they make great easy lunches. 

• Friday - grilled chicken & rice
• Saturday - out to eat
• Sunday - leftover chicken & rice
• Monday - chicken shawarma
• Tuesday - Korean beef
• Wednesday - leftover chicken shawarma
• Thursday - leftover Korean beef
• Friday - TBD, but likely gyozos & spring rolls, or something similar from the freezer

What about you? What's on your menu this week? I need to find a way to use a bunch of fresh herbs (doesn't have to be together), so if anyone has recommendations that use a lot of any of the following (mint, rosemary, thyme, tarragon), please let me know. I'm going to cut back a bunch next week for friends/neighbors, dry a bunch, and would also like to make a few recipes with the fresh ingredients.

Frugal Friday

 I've had a busy week, with lots of job applications, interview prep, and getting ready for the course I'm teaching. 

Saving on things we buy

• We largely avoided spending this week, so no savings on things we buy to report. 

Earning money

• Earned $20 taking surveys
• I worked quite a bit on the course I'm teaching. It's a 10 week module, and you get paid at the end. You are paid for the time spent teaching, and for prep work, so I'm technically working on the paid prep work now, although I won't be paid until June for the work, when the course is complete. I'm hopeful that this will be a side hustle that drops in time commitment (once you've taught the course & prepped the first time, I imagine it will be infinitely easier for each subsequent delivery). 

Avoiding spending

• I couldn't think of any good lunch options one day, but I avoided grabbing lunch out. Instead, I made a very eclectic lunch of a grilled cheese (on the last of a hamburger bun), edamame from the freezer, and an apple. 

Eating what we have

• Nick hosted an impromptu poker party on Sunday, as he really wanted Sam to be able to join one. I dug through the fridge & freezer & served up: burgers leftover from our dinner, chicken nuggets, and leftover ski snacks. It wasn't a very cohesive assortment, but everyone got fed, and the teens had a great time, which is all that matters. 
• Used the last of the sour cream to make blueberry muffins for M.
• Nick hosted a second event last night to talk about the senior road trip he's taking with his friends. He made a huge batch of popcorn for his friends, and served that.
• Defrosted some taco meat yesterday, and turned that into our dinner. Bonus points, grated the last of the cheese to go with it. We're running low on almost everything!
• Including the above, I made some very interesting lunches this week, and have basically cleared out all of the obvious lunch additions, as well as snacks. The teens are begging for some new additions. ;-) 
• We've also polished off almost all of the fresh fruit & veggies, so a stock up trip is definitely in order.
• Cut the first of some volunteer lettuce, and used that in M's salad.
• Our herbs are also going crazy (thyme, tarragon, mint & rosemary), so I need to cut those back & dry them, and offer fresh cuttings to our neighbors. 

For others

• Had a call with one of my students I've been mentoring, and she got into so many good UCs, and they met all of her financial need! I'm thrilled for her. She's had a lot of challenges in her family & is a great & dedicated kid. It was so lovely to hear about her good news & help her navigate the decision of which college to attend. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 We're planning a few fun dinners (they will likely shift around), as Sam will be home for spring break. Hurrah!

Here's what's on the menu this week:

• Friday - I made spaghetti & meatballs (freezer) + garlic bread 
• Saturday - orange chicken & cauliflower rice
• Sunday - M is grilling burgers
• Monday - grilled chicken & Persian rice
• Tuesday - leftover burgers
• Wednesday - leftover grilled chicken & rice
• Thursday - tacos
• Friday - Sam's choice

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

Frugal Saturday

I was traveling back from Sedona yesterday, so I didn't get this posted. We had such a fantastic trip, and really enjoyed the hiking & gorgeous location. Hiking trips are fabulous for chatting & catching up.

I went from a Lake Tahoe snowstorm & a dicey drive home (Monday), to a cold but sunny Sedona (Tuesday) in one day. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used $240 of dining vouchers during our trip to Lake Tahoe (we stay at a casino, so the rooms sometimes come with food offers.) We bought dinner for four teens one night, M & I had a dinner out, and then I picked up some breakfast items for the teens on our last morning. 
• Stopped by Costco for gas at the halfway point of our drive to Lake Tahoe, for the cheapest gas option. Did the same on the way home, and stopped in to feed all of the hungry teens. 

Earning money

• Cashed out $20 for research studies
• Earned $10 in Fetch rewards for a gift card
• M received his annual bonus (this is for 2024)

Avoiding spending

• I used points to cover the cost of our hotel in Sedona
• Used Starbucks points to pick up a breakfast for myself & M one morning in Lake Tahoe

Eating what we have

• While we ate out for two dinners in Sedona, we also bought groceries & turned that into our lunches & ate leftovers for dinner one night as well. We tried to keep things pretty reasonable. 

For others

• Helped my sister navigate some investment/retirement stuff while we were together. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Frugal Friday

 It's been a busy week!

Saving on things we buy

• Ordered Nick a birthday cake, and the bakery he loves isn't open on Sundays or Mondays. His birthday is a Sunday, so I found another highly reviewed place. It was 1/3 of the price. I could definitely have made this myself, but he's turning 18 and wanted a very specific cake. Done. 
• I used a $20 grocery store reward to buy items for the soccer banquet, and another $20 reward to buy drinks & snacks for the tennis match I was asked to cover. 
• Used a $10 CVS reward + another $4 reward to pick up some Advil. 

Earning money

• Continued filling out surveys
• Applied for more jobs
• Worked on prepping for my teaching class. Once I get this prepped, it should be much easier to teach future sessions. I'm paid out after the 10 week class is done, although it does include some prep time in the payout calculations. 

Avoiding spending

• I don't typically keep lunch meat on hand, but sometimes I'm craving a sandwich. I thought of buying one, but instead picked up sandwich fixings at the store, which was about the same price as a sandwich out, but will allow me to have 2-3 sandwiches, plus a few for Nick as well. 
• We cancelled our trip to Spain (it is right at the end of M's "job search window" through his current employer, so in addition to wanting to cut costs at the moment, it also gives him more flexibility to job search.
• We cancelled our train tickets (minus a small fee) & got a refund for those, which is awesome.
• I was able to get a large credit back from United, which we will likely use for a trip to Hawaii in October for our 20th anniversary, and to cover our flights to my parents house for Christmas.
• United is also supposed to be refunding us for one ticket, and $700 from the second ticket for our cancellation.
• I was able to cancel our hotel stays. While we were using free night awards x2, points for another hotel, we were paying out of pocket for another, so that was all cancelled. 
• I re-booked my parents flights (they were going to come to watch Nick while we were in Spain) to cover a visit for his graduation. They also received a $108 credit for a future flight.

Eating what we have

• Found two lonely hamburger buns in the freezer, so turned those into chicken patty sandwiches for a late dinner for Nick
• M bought two very large packages of Costco cauliflower rice when they went on huge sale, so I've been trying to incorporate those into the menu. We had orange chicken with cauliflower rice & edamame. All from the freezer.
• M has been laboring under the illusion that our Meyer lemons are oranges, and thus unwilling to use them on his salad. We finally went down a rabbit hole of Google images, and he's now convinced. ;-) This means the lemons will be quickly used up, as he makes his own dressing each day for the salad (not so much dressing as lemon juice, balsamic, and olive oil). 
• Made a large chicken stir fry for dinner, using up lots of veggies that were in the fridge, including the not super fresh carrots. 
• Picked up two oranges from our neighbor's "free" bin, which I will use in smoothies. 

For others

• Nick's soccer banquet was planned by a novice mom, who forgot some of the details (creating a spreadsheet for parents to indicate what they were bringing, so you don't end up with all of the same items, etc). I filled in the gaps for her, to make sure we had everything we needed. 
• We weren't going to use one of our free night awards (due to cancelled Spain trip) before it expired, so I offered it to an old coworker who long ago used his United upgrades for the boys when we flew to Dubai. 
• I also used a small amount of our United credit for my friend's flight next week, as I knew she was flying on United. She hosted us last weekend, so this felt like a nice way to thank her. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Fitness Updates

I'm a few days late getting this post up, so let's dive right in. I was in Colorado with Nick & definitely ate more calories than normal (restaurant meals), and then came home with some sort of bug. I feel like I've been fighting the same bug on & off for at least 8 weeks. I've tried harder to take it a bit easier on days I'm not feeling great. 

Weight: I've lost 1.1 lbs since my last weigh in, for a total of 5 lbs for the year

Steps per day: I was pretty inactive the days I was sick, so my daily average dropped a bit. I'm currently at 12,403 steps per day for the year. Still over my target of 12,000.  

Calories: my goal is to be around 1,400 calories/day. With being on vacation, that didn't happen. My new cumulative 2025 daily average is 1,552. I'll continue to work on this, because of course, calories in makes a big difference on weight! 

Workouts recently:

• Several no workout days
• Several hiking days
• Multiple hard workout classes 
• A few casual walks

Overall nutrition: this is going well. I've been doing a better job of increasing intake of fruit & veggies, and reducing carbs & snacks. I also have had a few "No S" diet days, which is always great. I'm trying to get back on track, because the no snacking in particular is a super helpful target for me. 

I'm giving myself a "C+" for the past few weeks. Low energy, eating out, etc so definitely room for improvement. But, a nice drop on the scale! According to my measurements, I've also lost a little bit of body fat, which is always a win. We are theoretically skiing this weekend, and then I'm heading out on a hiking trip. That will likely result in plenty of physical activity, but higher than average calories as we eat out. I'll work on making good decisions, and keeping to my No S plan.

What about you? How are things going with your health & fitness?

Menu Plan Sunday

 

• Friday - ate an eclectic meal at Nick's soccer banquet
• Saturday - quick chicken stir fry
• Sunday - M is grilling burgers
• Monday - mystery chicken dish from the freezer + spring rolls (I hope this combo goes together!)
• Tuesday - leftover burgers
• Wednesday - chicken fajitas
• Thursday - tacos
• Friday - leftover fajitas

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

Not much to report - Frugal Friday

 It's been a week! M got laid off a week or so ago, and we're still trying to figure that out. He has 8 weeks to job search internally, and if he doesn't find something within that time, he gets a severance. He would prefer to stay where he is, as he has quite a bit of stock still available to vest.

In the meantime, I've been much more aggressively job searching. Financially, we can weather quite a storm, but we absolutely need health insurance. I need to start considering doing regular infusions, and those are crazy pricey. So, that's been taking up the majority of my time.

Nick & I had a great trip to Colorado, and he absolutely loves Boulder. So, that remains a top choice, while we wait for the final schools to trickle in. He is likely to have a decision in the next few weeks, which will be really helpful as we lock in our college payment plans, as well as travel, schedule, calendars, orientation, etc.

On the frugal side, I've been doing the basics:

• (Mostly) eating at home, although ate out with Nick in Colorado, and then again with a soccer mom group I put together a few weeks ago. 
• Eating from the freezer.
• Made smoothies a few days when lunch didn't sound great. I'm *still* getting over some sort of chest congestion thing, which seems like it's come & gone a few times. It's a very unwelcome guest at this point.
• M drove us to & from the airport, to save on transportation.
• I've done a few surveys here & there, to earn a little bit more.

That's pretty much it! We have Nick's soccer banquet tonight, which should be fun (we paid for it a month or so ago, and includes food, although they have definitely run out before, because... teen athletes). Otherwise, I need to keep working on prepping for the upcoming class I'm teaching.

What about you all? Any wins to share?

March Goals

 It's time for March goals - can you believe it?

Here's what I'd like to get done this month:

Financial:

• Continue to pay for Sam's college expenses
• Get a new job
• Prep for part-time job
• Earn $300 in side hustle
• Pantry/freezer challenge
• 1 bag of frozen fruit (smoothies?)
• 1 bottle of dressing
• 1 package of holiday cheese (sealed, so still fine to eat)

Family:

• Help Nick with final college decision, including two tours
• Enjoy spring break with Sam. Help him finalize his summer plans
• Optimize points, perks & miles. Track value.
• Finalize Spain trip details.
• Enjoy Nick's senior year. Attend soccer banquet and at least 3 tennis matches

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• Strength train 15 days
• No S diet 15 days
• Average 13,000 steps/day
• Meditate 10 times
• Try a new workout

Personal:

• Language lessons 15 times
• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends 2x
• Play pickleball x1
• Help college students (volunteer role) make college decisions
• Do something towards my goals of, "Try something new & uncomfortable" and "Say yes to more adventures"
• Reduce screen time

What about you? What do you have planned for March?