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? 

Frugal Friday

 Combining a few weeks, as we were at the beach last Friday. 

Travel planning/savings

• I'll post more about this trip in the recap, but my sister, parents & I are planning a trip to Palm Springs in the fall. I'm trying to keep costs very low all around. Neither of my parents had enough Alaska miles to cover the flights, so I creatively booked two one ways out of one account, and one out of another. Alaska doesn't allow for free miles transfers, or a cash + miles option that would have made this entire process easier! Nonetheless, it saved a bunch of money. I also booked the hotels using Hyatt points, so it should end up being a reasonably budget trip. 

Saving on things we buy

• Went to the dermatologist for a yearly skin check (good for everyone, but extra important as I'm both pale, and the medicine I take makes me even more sensitive to the sun). This is making the list of frugal wins, as I've already hit my deductible for the year, which means I may as well squeeze in as much as possible. 
• Uploaded receipts to Fetch & iBotta ($.05 cash back offer that they run semi regularly). 
• Picked up a prescription at CVS & rewards to offset the cost of sunblock (one for me, one for Nick, who burns & is working outside a lot this summer). The "retail" value was $15/each, and I paid $10.75 for both, after the rewards & coupons. I wouldn't have paid $15 for sure, but the actual retail (according to a quick search is around $12-15).So, a good deal on something we needed. I try not to be enticed by the frequent CVS offers they send out, but if I'm already there to pick up a prescription, and we need things, I can usually do much better than a sale price. 
• The reasonably priced wine I like to keep on hand was on sale at Costco. If I buy at case at the grocery store, and it's on sale I can get it for around $14. It was $6.99 at Costco. I bought two cases, as it doesn't go bad!
• I filled out some mileage updates for our car insurance, and our policy dropped by $550. Note that Nick also dropped out of the under 18 category for most of the year, which also helped a bit. Insuring the boys is very pricey!
• I bought a large canvas print of my BFF's daughter's engagement photos with her fiance, as an engagement present. I used a 50% off Shutterfly coupon, clicked through Rakuten & also used a free shipping coupon, bringing the price down quite a bit. 

Earning money

• Just my regular check, plus the boys working their standard summer jobs. 

Avoiding spending

• Met a former coworker for lunch, and she invited me to the office cafe, which is free. It was a real flashback to be back at my former office!
• Bought iced tea for myself + my sister on our way from the Oregon coast to my parents house. I used expiring Starbucks stars & a gift card for the rest, so no out of pocket spending. 

Eating what we have

• Made chicken curry for dinner, using up a bag of rotisserie chicken from the freezer. That's not what the recipe called for, but it turned out great & made the recipe even easier. Yay! Included the last of a bag of snap peas that were leftover from a veggie tray during the World Cup finals. 
• Made lunches for the boys when they were around, in use it up mode. 
• While we were at the beach, we went through quite a bit of food, but my sister & mom were able to take home all of the leftovers, which is awesome. No waste!
• Had the curry (above) for dinner the following week. It was in the freezer, so still good! M made rice.
• M picked up the Costco street tacos for dinner on Sunday, when we got home from our trip. Next time we will just buy the prepped chipotle chicken meat, vs the taco meal, as the sides aren't worth the value. However, still cheaper than takeout for sure. Sam & I had the leftovers for a second lunch. 
• Turned the leftover sides from the street tacos (plus some rotisserie chicken meat that M also bought on Sunday - we knew it would be a lazy cooking week) into this easy Southwest Chicken skillet. Bonus points that it used up chicken broth (freezer), diced tomatoes & black beans (pantry) & green onions (garden). 

For others

• Had a call with one of Nick's friends who is going through a breakup, and doesn't have a lot of other family support. Nick also brought her flowers & made her brownies to cheer her up. 
• Referred a couple of folks for roles at my company, connected with two other people on LinkedIn (through coworkers), who are job searching. It's a tough market, so I try to help out where I can. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

August Goals

 Let's hope August is a bit more stable than July, because I'd really like to make progress on a few things, and work on my overall fitness. Here's what I would like to accomplish this month.

Financial:

• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items
• Continue to track net new savings for 2026
• Finalize part time adjustment & exit date
• Make $100 in side hustle
• Find one expense to optimize
• Adjust post work budget & plan, depending on exit date/benefits
• Determine whether it makes sense to switch spending to a different credit card through EOY (evaluate ROI)

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life
• Get Nick moved in & have fun with my mom. Minimize cost
• Monthly date with M
• Continue planning for our next big trip (M's 60th)

Fitness:

• Lose 3 lbs
• Research & finalize medicine selection
• 10 strength workouts
• Track nutrition
• Average 13,000 steps/day
• Sort out any medical appointments before EOY

Personal:

• Make list for part-time schedule (to dos, fun, etc)
• Declutter 50 items
• Get together with friends
• Try something new/say yes to adventures
• Get to know our neighbors
• Try a new recipe

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

July Goals Recap

Buckle up, because July was a wild ride! I was in Lake Tahoe for the 4th, work trip to Tokyo, got cellulitis (a foot infection) & couldn't work out & was sick. Then I was at the Oregon coast. I also started a new drug for lupus that had quite an impact on my energy level.

Financial:

• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items - we had our very hungry house guest & used up some stuff, but I didn't track it at all.  
• Continue to track net new savings for 2026 - yes, this has continued
• Give notice at work & set an exit date - YES!!!! This is done
• Make $100 in side hustle - I made $0 in July, as I had eBay largely shut down due to being in & out of the house & not consistently in town. 
• Find one expense to optimize - yes, our car insurance. Filled out some low mileage forms & got that submitted. We are saving over $500 this year (take that with a grain of salt, because insuring the boys is extremely pricey). Some of the discount is due to the low mileage, but likely more of it is due to Nick turning 19. 
• Finalize post work budget & plan - yes, more details on this to come. 

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - yes. As always, plenty to do here. 
• Finalize Nick's move back plans - this is sorted, and my mom asked if she could join last week, so I've added her to the trip. Should be fun. She wants to spend as much time with the grandkids and kids as she can while she's still able to comfortably travel. 
• Monthly date with M - we had several in Lake Tahoe
• Reschedule family dinner - we've had a few more impromptu dinners lately, which has been really nice.
• Continue planning for our next big trip (M's 60th) - lots of discussions, but nothing booked. Depending on another friend's 50th birthday trip, we may do the Dolomites in September. 

Fitness:

• Lose 3 lbs - I'm exactly the same. Not exactly shocked, as I was unable to work out for much of the month & super low energy due to my new medicine. 
• 10 strength workouts - 3/10, and I'm definitely feeling out of shape.
• Track nutrition - yes, I've continued to do this. 
• Average 13,000 step/day - 12,638, which is not too shabby given for almost a week I couldn't wear shoes.

Personal:

• Do well at Japan external event- session went extremely well. Getting a foot infection was a lot less fun. 
• Declutter 50 items - 21/50
• Get together with friends - went for a hike with a friend
• Try something new - Rented a house for the family & planned out Oregon trip + some work excitement in Japan
• Say yes to adventures - pretty much same as above. Added my mom to Nick's move out trip, which will be a bit of an adventure
• Get to know our neighbors - we tried hard to find a date to get together with our neighbors before our kids both go back to college, but couldn't find options that worked. We are getting together for dinner after school starts. 
• Try a new recipe - I honestly can't remember? 

How did you do with your July goals? 

Cost for a family trip to the Oregon coast

We've been trying to get back to the Oregon coast with my family since we sold our place. It's taken a while, and it was definitely hard to get all of the cousins together. We ended up with a great group, and finished it off with a family party at my parents house over the weekend. We were there for 5 nights & 6 days, total. 

As we left the airport yesterday, Sam said it was one of his favorite family trips, which was so nice to hear. My dad said something similar. All of the boys/cousins are at an age where they are adults & very enjoyable to spend time with, plus they all get along great. 

The Oregon coast, on a stunner of a day (Wednesday, I think)

Flights: $301.72, for four flights

All of the flights were broken up a bit, to use some United credits. Why were they all different costs? No idea. Mine is slightly lower likely due to a company discount I can use for personal travel.

• My flight ($556), completely covered by a United credit, from the time United stranded me overnight in London, and then dropped me from business class to a middle economy seat. Good times. ;-) Bonus, I got upgraded to first class on the flight from SFO to Portland, which was an unexpected treat!
• Sam's flight ($566), completely covered by a United credit, because Sam had originally planned to go to family weekend in Boulder last year & then couldn't make it due to work.
• M's flight  ($611), completely covered by a United credit, leftover from my London debacle. 
• Nick's flight to Seattle ($264), used Alaska miles. Paid $5.60 for taxes. Nick flew to Seattle on Friday, hung out with friends & then his friend drove him to my parents house. 
• Nick's flight home ($353), covered partially by a United credit. Outstanding amount we paid = $296.12 

Transit: $434.88

• Pre-paid parking at SFO airport - $96. Unfortunately, we had to fly in & out of SFO to use our United credits (United doesn't fly that route from our closer/preferred airport), and the cost to get to & from the airport is higher. I did research, and this is the cheapest option, by quite a stretch. This is also the "far away" parking, that requires 20-30 minutes of transit. Our flights were at reasonable times of the day vs late at night or super early, which made the less convenient parking more appealing. 
• Car rental in Oregon - $228
• Gas - $38.91 + $71.97

Food: $362.60

• Groceries = $102.59 + 97.01+ 1.50 + 4.29 
• Pizza = $120
• Airport meal for the boys - $16.51
• Beer - $13.05
• Ice cream - $7.65

Lodging: $2443.32

I paid for a very large house on the Oregon coast, & covered the cost for everyone (family, plus my BFF + her daughter). This was much cheaper than finding hotels, which are in limited supplies on the Oregon coast, or finding several smaller, separate houses. We had a total of 11 people & spent 3 nights at the beach. 

Activities:

• Walks on the beach
• Meals out (largely covered by other folks)
• Family party
• Poker games
• Happy hour on the back patio

Total spent for the trip = $3,542.52

Considering how many people we had, I think it was a pretty great deal! Of course, not captured here are the food costs everyone else spent, lest you think anyone went hungry. ;-) 

Fitness Monday

I started feeling more like myself on Thursday, which makes sense, as I was just coming off of the antibiotics. I was also able to wear shoes by Thursday (hurrah), which meant walks, and getting back into my workout class. 

Weight: 150.9, up about a pound from the last time I posted. 

Calories: 1,378

Steps: 13,884

Workouts:

• 2 - 30 minute elliptical workouts
• 1 - 45 minute elliptical workout
• 1 three mile walk
• Two hard workout classes (yay for getting in strength training again!)
• 1 seven mile hike with a friend

Goals for the week:

• Keep the calories in check
• Take advantage of the vacation & family time & get in lots of family walks

Another health & fitness win: Going to the dermatologist today for my annual skin check up, which is important for everyone, but particularly me as I'm quite pale & take a medicine that makes me more sensitive to the sun.

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

Menu Plan Sunday

 We will be on the Oregon coast with family for most of the week, so this represents a bit of a hybrid menu plan. We did plan out our meals when together, and have rented a house with a kitchen.

• Friday - M & I had leftovers - fried rice, meatballs in teriyaki sauce, topped with a peanut slaw
• Saturday - easy chicken curry + rice
• Sunday - Philly cheese steaks
• Monday - leftover curry & rice
• Tuesday - My parents are making & bringing lasagna & bread to the rental house
• Wednesday - M is grilling burgers. My mom is making potato salad
• Thursday - My is grilling hot dogs & my mom is making macaroni salad
• Friday - we are heading to my parents & having additional folks join, celebrating my BFF's daughter's engagement. We are having pizza, cake & champagne
• Saturday - family party. M is grilling chicken, and we are doing a make your own pita wrap buffet, with pita, feta, tomatoes, onions, cucumber & tzatziki. There will also be fruit salad, green salad, maybe a few more sides (definitely appetizers before hand, & dessert afterward)

What's on your menu plan for the week ahead? 

Frugal Friday

 Future travel planning

• I booked a hotel in Palm Springs for M's upcoming 2027 days off in March. He prefers to line up his time off for the freebie vacation days, which is fine. We had originally discussed Sedona (booked with Hyatt points), but landed on Palm Springs instead, so we can also go to Joshua Tree. I've never been to Palm Springs, so I'm looking forward to it, and it sounds like March will be a great time to visit. I used Chase travel rewards to book a Hyatt hotel, and after the rewards, it came out to $540. I also received a $250 statement credit back for the type of hotel I booked, dropping the price to $290 total, for three nights. The reservation also came with a $100 resort credit, which I'm sure we will use for a drink by the pool, or something like that. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used my $10 CVS rewards, plus a few cash back offers to restock some of my travel toiletries, while I was waiting to pick up a prescription. 
• Went to the store to pick up a few things, and noticed Ben & Jerry's on sale for $2.99. I also had a $2 off coupon when you buy two, so I bought two containers for a total of $3.99, which is a pretty great deal. Since I was at the store, went ahead & picked up the weekend freebie, which was some sort of gummy candy.
• Uploaded all of my receipts to Fetch. 
• Earned a $2 cash back reward on my credit card for gas.

Earning money

• Just the usual around here, but also met with both HR & benefits to understand timing of leaving & impact to end of year type things. 

Avoiding spending

• Used a BOGO free entree to buy lunch for myself and Sam at Chipotle, and paid with a gift card. It's been rough coming back with jet lag, and not feeling good. Cooking has been low on the priority list.  
• I ordered a new Kindle when mine stopped working. I read A LOT, and it's a daily activity at my house. Luckily, M was able to repair it through a variety of technical workarounds. We were both pretty surprised, as my older edition is no longer supported. I returned the newly purchased Kindle, but it appears I've received a temporary free subscription to Kindle Unlimited, so I will definitely take advantage of that and ensure I cancel again. I really enjoy Kindle Unlimited, as the library doesn't have a tremendous selection of Kindle formatted ebooks. I will binge read in the mean time!

Eating what we have

• My appetite has been a bit low, thanks to the infection, antibiotics + jet lag. As a result, the Chipotle bowl above served as three meals (two lunches, one dinner) for me. Definitely not bad. 
• I also made the most of the Costco grain salad + rotisserie chicken, and that was multiple meals as well.
• One night, we had bonus diners, so I added a bag of Trader Joes fried rice to the dinner, which easily stretches things out, even if it wasn't very "on theme" for the rest of the meal. 

For others

• Provided meals & a place to shower for one of DS19's friends who is in a bit of a family transition. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

The road to recovery

 I find myself quite impatient at the moment, even knowing that this is part of the process, and recovering & getting back to "myself" is a bit of a journey. 

I finally updated my fitness tracker. I've been in a bit of denial, and tracking it made it feel a little too "real". Rather than my typical every day some kind of workout, it's been much more hit or miss - many weeks where I've had 1-2 lighter workouts. I had a one week work trip to LA, a week trip to Tokyo, and two weeks in Greece. Greece included plenty of walking, but I didn't go to the gym once while there. And now recovering from the foot infection.

I really enjoy hard workouts, and they (typically) give me energy. Without them, I feel a little blah & lower energy. That said, the lower energy is also related to the new medicine I've started, so there are lots of physical adjustments happening, at the same time my schedule has been absolutely wild. 

Unsurprisingly, I've lost no weight over the last couple of months, and I feel like I've lost muscle mass. As an impatient person (always, always impatient), I keep reminding myself that my body is going through things, and I've also had life. But, I am committed to getting back into shape & feeling more like myself. 

For visual interest, here's a photo of someone (Nick) who is very active & adventurous at the moment, preparing for a camping, climbing & backpacking trip to Yosemite. This is ultimate boy style packing. ;-) No list, just chaos. 

As my health has evolved & changed, I mentioned that I'll be "retiring" soon, and by retiring, I mean no longer having a "big career" job, but taking some time off, and then perhaps working part time, or volunteering, etc. We are lucky that we have saved a lot to prepare for this time period, and I want to make my health a top priority. That's very difficult to do with my current role (I traveled 8 times in less than a year!) & the expectations, hours, etc. I'm still finalizing details & timing of leaving, but it is in motion & conversations have begun. 

I'm looking forward to the next adventure, and taking care of my health & frequent workouts will be a core part of that "new" life. 

Would love to hear how you weave health & fitness into your life, whether you are working or retired!

Minimal Fitness Monday

 Let's just say that workouts have been hard to achieve lately, as well as few & far between. I did work out on the Saturday I flew to Tokyo, and then got in two elliptical workouts at the hotel gym before I realized I had an infection & felt unwell. 

Today was my first mini workout since I got home. I did a 30 minute slow workout on the elliptical, with shoes but no socks, to reduce friction with a shoe. I've been dying to get in some sort of a workout, so this was a little mini something.

Otherwise, I've been focused on sleeping & eating well, and have done a decent job with both. I'll be back with an actual proper fitness update next week, so fingers crossed I can get in a few more workouts, some walking, & strength training - which I'm really missing.

Hope you are all doing well with your health & fitness goals!