Frugal Friday

 It was a pretty standard week for us. Here's what happened at our house. 

Saving on things we buy

• Uploaded a receipt to Fetch & iBotta ($.05 offer) & found $.02 in my shopping cart at Trader Joes. Big money wins here!
• I was really craving a sandwich with the fresh garden tomatoes from my coworker, so I picked up sandwich fixings during my Trader Joes stop. While groceries aren't particularly cheap these days, I got what I needed for $12, and enough to make multiple sandwiches. We don't keep bread on hand, so it's a nice treat when we do get it. 
• I was "in charge" of the Costco shopping this week, and found a few iBotta offers for things we were buying (grapes, Advil) & saved $2.40. I also uploaded the receipt to Fetch. 
• We weren't exactly seeking this out, but M's coworker offered to sell him a Southwest voucher for $150 off of the value. We can fly Southwest for a variety of places we go, including Nick to/from Boulder. We have a year to use it, so we will ensure it gets used up ahead of expiration. Given flight prices, saving any amount is valuable. 

Earning money

• Not really earning "money", but as part of Nick's room cleanout (this is sanctioned by him - he wants to get rid of stuff to make room for a bigger bed), I found a few gift cards that had slipped to the bottom of his desk. He will be thrilled to have them back - particularly the Chipotle gift card. 
• Sam took the boys highest value Magic the Gathering cards (Nick hasn't played since middle school, Sam for 3ish years) & sold most of them. The boys split the money. We have a plan for the rest of the cards - they just need to get packed up & sent off. 

Avoiding spending

• Nothing special to report here. I suppose that I didn't spend a bunch of money on decorations for Nick's college apartment? Seeing all of those Instagram videos really makes me wonder how much money folks have! ;-) 

Eating what we have

• My stomach was a little sketchy from the new medicine I'm taking, so meals have been pretty light. Dinner was popcorn one night, which is frugal if not completely nutritionally sound as a dinner. 
• Used up a zucchini I got from a coworker, and the remaining half of a bag of frozen Costco vegetables intended for roasting in our dinner on Sunday. We didn't love the Costco veggies the first time we tried roasting them, but they were better with this preparation. Now that the bag is gone, we will likely just buy fresh in the future, as it changes the texture of most of the veggies for roasting, and makes them a bit mushy. Overall very pleased with getting that bag out of the freezer, and ensuring we used up the garden zucchini, which was delicious.
• Made lots of sandwiches & breakfast burritos, featuring the fresh tomatoes from my coworker. They were so delicious, we didn't want to waste any!
• Sam asked for suggestions to make for lunch, so I pointed him to the leftover rotisserie chicken, tortillas & cheese, and he made himself a chicken quesadilla that he thought was great. 

For others

• Offered to help out a friend with a resume review & intro for a potential new role. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Weekly Spending

Inspired by Sam, I thought I'd do a daily spending tally, to see what we spent over the past week. Disclaimer, I don't track any of the boys spending, unless I bought them something, as they have their own money for spending. I used to do this semi regularly, but stopped along the way. Who knows if this will be a regular recurrence. I'm actually looking for ways to automate my spending tracking (a retirement project for sure), as it's a time commitment to track every purchase & categorize it. 

Friday: No money spent. I went to a workout class, but it was covered by a class pack I bought in December. I also walked in the neighborhood with a neighbor. - $0 spent

Saturday: I went to a workout class, although same as above on spending. I returned a pair of jeans to TJ Maxx & received a refund of $16. I went to Costco & spent $281.57, which was largely groceries, but also includes: Advil & cold medicine. Net spent = $265.57

Sunday: I met a friend for a hike (free) & picked up M from the airport. M just drives around until the traveler is ready, but I find that annoying, so I paid $4 to park & wait for him to come out. Net spent = $4. 

Monday: I worked, worked out at home & didn't spend any money. - $0 spent. 

Tuesday: Costco was out of a few things when I went on Saturday. M went back on Tuesday & picked up the missing stuff. Net spent = $92.45

Wednesday: this was an unexpected spend, but M's coworker offered him a $1k Southwest voucher for $850. Southwest flies almost all of the routes we travel (to visit my family, Nick's flights to/from Boulder, etc), so we should have no problem using this. And, we have money in our travel budget, but just wasn't planning on making the purchase right now. Regardless, a good deal. - Net spent = $850

Thursday: No spending for today, as I'm hoping to go to a workout class (included in a class pack paid for last year). 

Total spent = $1212.02 - that's quite a banger of a way to kick off a week of tracking. I expected it to be much less, as the travel voucher spending was unplanned. 

What was your last unexpected purchase?

Fitness Monday

It was a pretty good week for me, in the health & fitness results space, even though I didn't feel great for a few days of the week. I made the most of the days where I did feel okay.

Weight: 148.1, down 1.4 lbs from my last check in, which was 2 weeks ago. 

Calories: 1,294/day

Steps: 12,193/ day

Workouts:

• One 45 minute elliptical workout
• Two very hard workout classes
• One 2.5 mile walk with a friend
• A 7 mile hike with another friend

Other health related things:

• I'm back on the injectible medicine that I took for a few weeks before I went to Japan. I had to stop taking it when I went on antibiotics for the foot infection. Unfortunately, the first 3+ weeks you take it, you are exhausted. Like, need 11 hours of sleep exhausted. However, the long term benefit is that it makes the overall lupus symptoms better for most people - you just have to stick it out. I've been really tired over the past two weeks, and start my third injection on Thursday. I'm hopeful that I can stick it out & see the longer term benefits. It takes a while for them to kick in, sometimes as much as six months. So, it's definitely a long term investment. Fingers crossed!
• My back has been really bothering me (more than usual), so I'm getting a massage today & I'm very happy about it!

Goals for the week:

• Consistent workouts, even if I have to dial it back to accommodate for the days I don't feel well
• Balanced eating. I find that I'm so tired lately, I'm skipping dinner, which is not ideal from a nutritional perspective.

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

Menu Plan Sunday

I didn't end up making some of the dinners I posted earlier in the week (it was just me, so I tend to skip meal prep as a result). So, you'll see some duplication & carryovers.

• Friday - breakfast burritos (tortillas, eggs, cheese, garden tomatoes from coworker)
• Saturday - grilled burgers
• Sunday - fall sheet pan dinner
• Monday - carnitas 
• Tuesday - leftover fall sheet pan dinner
• Wednesday - one pan chicken fajita rice
• Thursday - leftover carnitas
• Friday - leftover chicken fajita rice

What about you? Any fall recipes starting to creep into your menu plan? I'm still adjusting our menu to continue to use up what we have, but also adjust for fewer diners at the table.

Frugal Friday

 Move in with Nick was expensive, as expected. A few wins, against all of the spending the weekend entailed. Also, zero regrets, because one of the reasons we try to make other financially advantageous choices is so we can help our kids & their friends during times of transition. 

Saving on things we buy

• We had a huge cart at Target, stocking up on kitchen supplies, plus some apartment furniture, towels, etc. The cashier offered us a 20% off college student coupon, but you had to jump through a bunch of hoops to verify identity. We had to pull our cart off to the side (after checkout, but before we paid) & spent another 10 minutes getting it to work, but we saved $120 on that coupon + some others I'd clipped in the app. I also earned a $15 Target gift card, but I rarely go there, and there's no one close to Nick, so I gave it to my mom to pass on to my special needs aunt. 
• Uploaded all of my many receipts for the weekend, and one of them triggered a 2800 Fetch bonus, which is unheard of for me. 
• Boulder has a "resale" shop that the university operates. They had tons of used dorm move in & apartment move in items. They were pretty cleaned out by the time we went on Sunday, but he did get: a headboard, multiple extension cord & power strips, some cups, an organizing container, and a shelving unit for $11. 
• I've gone back onto a new medicine that makes me exhausted, so offered to buy lunch for Sam if he would pick up my lunch as well. I was craving chicken & wild rice soup when I got back from Boulder. Used a $15 gift card for Panera & paid out of pocket for the rest. 

Earning money

• Just the usual stuff around here. Sam is working two jobs, Nick is going to test out going to a nearby company (the same one he worked with this summer) to help them out. He's hoping it is feasible without a car (he'll need to take the bus.) 
• Nick had a yearly physical (it had been a couple of years) & didn't really want to go, but he's had a lot of ear problems when flying. I remembered that I get a $100 (taxable) bonus from my insurance 1x/year for each person on our health plan who has a physical or from a list of other screenings. I offered him $50, and he somehow got in on the last day before we flew to Boulder. He was very happy to go to the doctor for $50. ;-) 
• Sold a shirt on eBay & made $12. 
• I'm actually home for a few weeks in a row now, so I listed a few new items on eBay. 

Avoiding spending

• I got three free checked bags on United, thanks to my status. I also offered the other three free checked bags to Nick's old roommate, who was flying with us, but he didn't make it to the airport in time, unfortunately. He had to pay out of pocket, and two of his bags were over weight. Poor guy. 
• We skipped our standard grocery store run last weekend, as I was in Boulder with Nick, and we knew M would be gone mid week for a trip of his own. Which, is good, because we certainly spent a lot outfitting Nick's apartment with food & supplies!
• Serendipitously given the above, I had to go to the office on Wednesday, and a coworker brought in tons of garden tomatoes, a few cucumber & squash. No one was taking it, so she encouraged me to take as much as I wanted. I left a bunch for others, but ended up with a very generous amount of grape & beefsteak tomatoes, a cucumber & a squash. I am so excited to have garden fresh tomatoes, and expect them to go quickly. 

Eating what we have

• Nick & I went to the lounge before our flight on Friday. I filled up my water bottle, and he had a bagel. He reports it wasn't very good, but it was free, so...? 
• Made Sam a freezer dinner of spring rolls & meatballs, and paired that with pineapple slices. 

For others

• Provided lots of transportation, took kids shopping with us, fed kids meals & generally tried to provide as much support as possible last weekend.

What about you? Any wins to share?

Thursday things

 It's very quiet around the house this week, so I'm using that time in between meetings & work to try & clean & organize Nick's room. He has asked to upgrade to a bigger bed, and to remove his desk. Once you start moving furniture, the dust bunnies (dogs, really) come out in full force. Lots of cleaning happening & hopefully we will be able to find a reasonably priced second hand bed frame for him & give him a bit more space.

We also leveraged the college dorm room trick of moving his dresser into his closet, which does free up a lot of additional space. I have some feelings about all of these changes, because the bed frame is so lovely, matches all of the furniture, & I bought them for both boys as they moved out of cribs. I suppose at 19 & 20, they are ready to have something a bit bigger. ;-) 

I'm also going through & gifting things on Buy Nothing, listing things on eBay & FB, and trying to remove stuff from our house. I've found a renewed incentive to do so, as this is the first stretch where I'm home for multiple weeks, since the beginning of June. 

As always, there is way too much to do on any given day! What are you up to today? Are you focused on any organization projects at the moment?

Mini menu plan

 We are down to two diners this week, and are getting a late start on menu planning, so this is just mostly for myself & to organize my own mind on meals.

• Sunday - DH grilled burgers
• Monday - DH grilled salmon
• Tuesday - chicken caesar salad
• Wednesday - carnitas burritos
• Thursday - dinner out with friends
• Friday - leftover carnitas burritos
• Saturday - chicken Caesar salad
• Sunday - Fall sheet pan dinner

That's it from my side. I'm definitely going to have to adjust my cooking to plan for fewer people, with Nick back in school.

What's on your menu this week? Any fun new recipes you are trying? 

Move in weekend trip recap

We've gone back & forth on letting Nick have his car in Boulder this year, but we agreed to have him wait until second semester. As a result, we needed to arrange flights & a car rental for move in weekend. This is what I consider a "logistics" trip, and definitely not a vacation, so here's how we optimized to keep costs in check. 

A few weeks before the trip, my mom asked if she could join, so that's also reflected here. 

Note that this doesn't include the actual costs of moving Nick in (grocery runs, etc) as that's included in his college budget. 

Flights: $637.18

• One way flights for me + Nick: $279.36. The rest was offset by various travel credits on United. I booked the flights this way so Nick could have access to my checked bag allowance I get with airline status. The United flights were about $10 more per person than Southwest, but the free bags I get make all the difference & more than offset that cost. 
• One way flight home for me - $280
• Flight for my mom from Portland to Denver: This was largely covered by my United miles, but I got her a better seat & the rest is taxes on the miles -  $77.82

Transit: $319.08

• Car rental: $228.04. Pretty steep, but it's move in weekend, so cars are in high demand. I also will be moving a bunch of stuff, so couldn't rent a compact car. I actually got upgraded to an even bigger car, which was incredibly helpful for moving things around, but also quite hard to park!
• Gas: $56.04
• Tolls: $35 (estimate). Not completely sure, as this will get billed through the rental car company.

Lodging: $0

• Staying with a friend one night, so we can hang out & I can also get Nick's stuff out of her garage
• Using a Hyatt free night award for the second night. The location make this easier for the second night, as her house is a drive from Boulder, and the hotel is down town. 

Food: $295.80

• Chipotle on Friday for lunch for myself, my mom, Nick & his friend - $33.05
• BFF provided dinner & appetizers for dinner on Friday & breakfast on Saturday - $0
• Shared an order of fries & a water with my mom on Saturday as "lunch", because we had absolutely zero time to do anything else, bought Nick lunch -  $18.98
• Took Nick, my mom & two of his friends to dinner on Saturday night - $166.97
• Had a coffee & a piece of toast for breakfast (included) at the hotel with my mom - $0
• Planned to have lunch with my mom & Nick before the airport, but ran out of time, so my mom & I got food & a glass of wine at the airport. - $76.80

Total spent = $1252.06

Price aside, I have absolutely zero regrets of flying in & helping Nick set up for his next year of college. We were able to drive him around, get what he needed for his apartment, spend time with his friends, & ensure he was ready for the year. Because we had a car, we also took his friends to various shops with us, and helped them with their move ins as well, and we are so happy we can help them out.

I'm exhausted - lesson learned for next year! Definitely need an extra day, plus also need M! 

Frugal Friday

Nick & I are heading to Boulder for move in weekend, which I anticipate to be very pricey! Getting someone set up in a new apartment tends to be that way, even though we've gotten really lucky on a few fronts. His apartment is mostly furnished & my BFF has a few items she's giving him that her daughters don't need. Those will both make a nice dent in our spending needs. I'm also just grateful we don't need to carve out time to try & cobble together furnishings in an apartment, and then figure out what to do with them at the end of the year. 

Saving on things we buy

• Picked up a few things we needed at Trader Joes (my favorite yogurt, mini cucumbers for Nick, and the peanut slaw mentioned below), as well as mini cones for Nick's last week before he heads back to college. I uploaded the receipt to Fetch & iBotta, for the $.25 cash back offer. That's pretty much the only offer I use with iBotta, as we don't buy many brand name items. 

Earning money

• I have a count down on of how many full-time paychecks I have, as well as how many part-time checks I'll be receiving before my employment ends. I'll be very excited to "retire" (I may pick up future part-time work), and have a clear plan for how we will handle our finances until I can tap into my 401k. 
• On a related note, my employer matches the first $1k you put into a college account per year, up to two dependents. Based on my understanding, that match doesn't happen until late January, and I thought I would be ineligible because of the timing of my departure. But, I jumped through a bunch of hoops & filled out the paper work. It turns out that if you are already at $1k by June 30th, they match at that time, and then if not, they match at the end of the year. So, my early planning & saving resulted in a $2k match from my employer for college - which I'm absolutely thrilled about!
• I went to the bank to deal with a CD that was up for renewal. My banker pointed out that if I added a bit from savings to the CD, I would qualify for a higher tiered interest rate. The current CD rates that are paying the highest at my bank are 4 months, so still ample time until I need my savings after my last paycheck. I'll earn another $400 in interest, which is great for no work on my side. 

Avoiding spending

• I attempted to get free car charging at work, but in a frugal fail, my charging app wouldn't log me in & I couldn't reset my password. So, frugal fail on that front. 
• Arranged for M to drop us off at the airport on his way to work today, as Nick & I are headed to Boulder - let the second year of college commence! 
• I was finally successful in getting Nick's health insurance waiver approved for school, saving us close to $3k. This was a multi week journey, and a huge time investment, thanks to some technical hurdles. DONE!
• Took advantage of my 3 free checked bags on United (thanks to status), for all of Nick's stuff. 

Eating what we have

• With the cost of food, we have amped up our attempts to reduce food waste even further. It's not exactly the season in our lives for a lot of elaborate meals, or complicated recipes. But, we have been attempting to stretch our meals further, get creative about incorporating leftovers, etc. On Friday for example, I paired leftover rice with chicken meatballs (TJs) & then topped with a peanut slaw, which really makes the dish. The original "recipe" calls for TJs fried rice, but I preferred M's leftover rice. 
• I found a few small tomatoes that the squirrels somehow missed! So, that makes 4 for the season. ;-)
• I also picked a bunch of fresh herbs for the chicken M made on Saturday (so delicious), and lemons for the chicken. M marinates it for hours before grilling. It's a family favorite. 
• I had leftovers of the rice/meatball/peanut slaw dish above for lunch after my Saturday workout, ensuring no waste. 
• We had eggs that no one was eating, so I made a double batch of egg bites (inspired by Kristen at The Frugal Girl). I included: spinach (had to buy this), cottage cheese (needed to be used), shredded cheddar (purchased for another recipe), diced red peppers (found in the pantry, no idea why it was purchased), green onions (garden) & some salt & pepper. I made a double batch & they were fantastic. Need to work on the cooking time a bit, as they were a PITA to get out of the pan. Sam had some in the late afternoon when they came out of the oven, as he was headed to work. I froze a bunch, and now easy breakfast is in the fridge. They are also really high in protein, and largely used up things we already had on hand. 

For others

• Nick's friend is joining us on our flight to Denver, and then are giving him a ride to where he parked his truck for the summer, to save on transit flights. I will also feed him of course on Friday, as we will be together in transit all day. 
• Hosted one of Nick's friends who doesn't have anywhere to stay for a few days. 
• Offered to check some bags for Nick's friend, who was joining us on our flight, as we still had additional bags we could check for free. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Micro organization projects

When I was in Greece & Tokyo recently, I was gobsmacked by how messy my toiletries bag had become with medicine, and various travel antidotes (Tums, vitamins, cold medicine, etc). I really wish I would have taken some "before" photos, but you will just have to trust me that my old system (I had 9 ziplocks in my toiletries bag & then 5 ziplocks in my travel backpack) was ... not the best. 

I also knew that my habit stacking reminder of setting out all of my medicine at home each day & then putting it away when I'd finished taking everything was... also suboptimal. For home, I bought a larger medicine organizer at CVS using rewards, and put everything I need for the week in it, by day. This is particularly helpful as my lupus medicine is 2x as much on odd days vs even. That's the actual prescription, which seems strange, and can be difficult to remember. 

Here's my home solution:

 

For travel, I wanted a couple of options, so I could have one organizer in my toiletry bag (in my roller suitcase) & one in my travel backpack. I very rarely check a bag, but it does occasionally happen, and in case that gets lost a long the way, I want access to my medicine. 

Having a few pain relievers and the like in my back pack also means I can more easily access medicine on the actual flight, instead of trying to dig into my roller bag. This is more about organization than frugality, but all of my prescription medicine is quite expensive. M

My previous process was a bunch of ziplocks, medicine mingling in & I recently had something spill in the bag that got everything damp, and it all had to be tossed. I promised myself that I would invest in a better travel solution, particularly now that I take multiple medicines, and carry other things like sleeping medicine (if needed), as well as what I take if I get a mosquito bite, to prevent an outsized immuno response. 

Let's hope this saves me time & money in the long run. If nothing else, it's absolutely delightful to visually see what I have, vs the ziplocks  As you can imagine, this is a pretty big step up. 

Toiletry bag organizer. This came in a three pack set, and also came with labels. I haven't gotten around to adding those, as I typically recognize everything I take, and they are quite differently sized/colors, etc. 

Size reference of both organizers:

And, here's what I'll keep handy in my actual travel backpack. My travel purse is tiny, so no medicine is stored in there. 

This project cost me about $10, given I had the CVS rewards for most of the larger organizer. I also bought a travel jewelry organizer, as I was previously using a small bag. As you can imagine, there have been a lot of tangled necklaces. I haven't used that yet, but will report in if I like the organizer I purchased.

Have you done any mini organization projects lately? Sometimes it's the little things that put a smile on your face, or make every day or travel life easier!

Fitness Monday

 Finally, a week with four strength training sessions! I'm very pleased, as that's my overall goal. I'm hoping to see some downward movement on the scale soon. 

Weight: 149.5 - down the pound from last week, which makes me even with my lowest weight of the year. I am also finally feeling like I'm getting back into shape, and focusing on building muscle, so I'm hoping this is a sign that things are trending in the right direction & I'll see some actual downward movement on the scale soon. 

Calories: 1,281/day, so definitely about where I should be for weight loss, as a menopausal woman attempting to lose weight. 

Steps: 11,888 - very close to my goal! Should have tracked this earlier in the week a bit closer, so I could have hit my target.

Workouts:

• One 60 minute elliptical workout
• Two days without workouts (in office day + a day I had to go to the tire shop 2x for Sam's car)
• 4 very hard workout classes (combo of cardio & strength training)

Other health related things:

• Set up an eye doctor appointment, which I'm required to have every year or so to keep on top of an macular changes, due to a medicine I take. 

Goals for the week:

• Three strength workouts
• Staying the course with healthy eating & lots of protein
• Hitting my step goal for the week, in spite of my trip to Boulder for Nick's move in

What about you? How did you do with your health & fitness goals last week? Any wins to share? 

Menu Plan

 Another week with plenty going on, as we help Nick get ready to go back to school.

• Friday - mostly from Trader Joes: teriyaki meatballs, soyaki sauce, peanut salad slaw, and then leftover rice
• Saturday - grilled chicken + rice
• Sunday - Nick & I are having dinner with one of his friend's mom, as a thank you for us hosting her son many times. Which is super sweet. No idea what's on the menu. I asked what I could bring, but was told no. I will probably bring flowers, as I'm not sure she's a wine drinker. 
• Monday - ground beef tacos
• Tuesday - leftover grilled chicken + rice
• Wednesday - leftover tacos
• Thursday - any remaining leftovers
• Friday - I'll be in Boulder with my mom, Nick, my BFF & her family. I will pay for takeout or something at my BFF's house, as a thank you to her for storing Nick's stuff all summer, and letting us crash at her place on Friday night. 

That's it from our side. What's on your menu this week? Are you trying anything new? 

Saturday Happenings

I'm looking forward to a productive day today, and I got to sleep in a bit this morning, which is always a treat! I've had a lot of early work mornings this week, so I appreciated the extra time to catch up. 

After being out of town last weekend, our house is most definitely not clean. Nick was also home alone for most of that week, if that gives any clue about its state. ;-) 

I'll be meeting a friend for a workout later this morning, and M is in charge of dinner tonight. Hurrah.

Here's what else I'm going to get up to today:

• Clean the house
• Workout class
• Laundry
• Pick up prescription + use CVS rewards before they expire
• Drop off an Amazon return
• Freeze the leftovers of the chicken & rice dish I made

That will probably take up the majority of the day. What about you? What are you up to today?