Frugal Friday

 Another week has flown by! Unrelated to Frugal Friday, but folks have asked for recipe updates on some of the new ones I've tried & I can say that this chicken broccoli casserole recipe was a big hit & incredibly easy. 

Saving on things we buy

• I am paying for my Dad's flight to Japan in about a year's time. He & my mom are both doing one big international trip. My nephew is taking my dad to Japan, and my sister & I are taking our mom on the cruise. I offered to pay for a non-economy seat for my dad, who is 76 & his back would not be able to take flying economy for that long. I was able to leverage some American miles + buy additional American miles to book a premium economy seat on Japan Airlines, which is quite a step up from regular economy. I saved $2583 by doing it this way, including the taxes, fees & purchasing the miles, so it was well worth the effort. 

Earning money

• I was able to push my end date at my employer out by using PTO (I'll still end my work on the same date) vs getting paid out the PTO as a lump sum. This has a few advantages: I'll get another 401k contribution + match, I will likely receive a wellness reimbursement of $480 & I will get an HSA contribution. I also have to pay back the second wave of my sign on bonus, and even using just a few extra weeks of PTO reduces how much of that I owe. All told, if the dates line up as they did last year, it's about $2000+ of extra value by shifting my time in this way. 

Avoiding spending

Eating what we have

• We did lots of meal prep over the past week or so, many of which focused on using things up from the freezer & pantry.
• I made a chicken quinoa skillet dish that used up: quinoa (pantry), chicken broth & rotisserie chicken (freezer), as well as some salsa lingering in the fridge. That made two dinners & three individual lunches, plus I put another dinner's worth in the freezer.
• I also made chili, which made an absolutely enormous amount. We ate that for two dinners, and I froze several more dinners worth, plus we had a few lunches this week. 
• We pulled mystery steak out of the freezer & had that on Sunday & reinvent as Philly Cheesesteaks another night. 
• I ran out of granola to have on my yogurt, so I crumbled up 1/2 a granola bar (received at work) & saved the other 1/2 for another breakfast. 
• I used overly ripe bananas (freezer) + a few sitting out to make another batch of muffins for M. 

For others

• I finished the last of my cards & purchased the last gift cards for the Guardian Scholar program I'm supporting, and got everything mailed off. This way, students will receive the supportive cards + gift cards in time for finals week. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Thursday Happenings

 I'm so grateful for the day off today. Last week was a bit of an anomaly, as I adjusted my days to accommodate a work event. This week I'm back to my working Monday-Wednesday, off on Thursday-Friday schedule. And, hurrah for that.

I officially have seven weeks of work left, or 21 working days! I'm pretty excited to be in the home stretch.

My doctor encouraged me to get the rest of my vaccines (I got the pneumonia vaccine when I was at my appointment, but that was the only one they had available). So, I have the flu & COVID vaccines scheduled for next week. 

I also have a dentist appointment & the mandatory eye doctor appointment required for the medicine I take. So, it will be a very health focused week ahead. 

It is absolutely gorgeous outside, with very crisp days, gorgeous leaves & plenty of sun. We are going to get some rain, so I'm hoping to get outside & soak in a bit of sunshine today.

Here's what else I'm hoping to accomplish:

• Workout class with a friend
• Call for umbrella insurance
• Trader Joes
• A short walk
• Prep dinner
• Work on decluttering

What about you? Hope you are enjoying the fall weather & being productive!

2026 Goal Check In

 The year is winding down, so I thought I'd take a look at my yearly goals & my progress so far: Overall, I'm pleased with my progress so far, but there's still plenty to do!

Financial:

• Continue to pay for both boys college expenses - on track
• Earn $2000 in side hustle - I'm at $2972 for the year, but I may remove the $700 or so from the credit card cash back, as I'm not sure that qualifies as a side hustle. Regardless, I've achieved the goal. 
• Stay on top of food waste with monthly pantry or freezer challenges - I've done well with this
• Make an anonymous & meaningful donation to someone in my community - I pivoted this & made a sizable donation (and got a company match) for Guardian Scholars, which is the program I've mentioned that helps foster students transitioning to college.
• Optimize points, perks & miles for travel. Track value - yes, I have a post ready to go for this & it's about $21k of value. 
• Set a savings goals & be more intentional about spending - yes, and pretty well on the second half of that
• Monitor credit card expenses to determine value - yes, I've been tracking this
• Find 3 expenses to optimize - yes, I've done really well at this. 
• I cancelled my Oura membership ($6/month)
• Cancelled Kindle Unlimited ($12/month)
• Had Nick switch his music subscription to a student account (saving $6/month)
• Adjusted our auto insurance to save about $600/year
• Moved money around to get the best savings rate
• Figure out when I'm going to leave work - YES!!! 

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - yes
• Monthly dates with M - yes!
• Travel:
• Plan & have two fantastic & reasonably on budget international trips - they were fantastic, but less budget than I would like! M & I went to New Zealand & I went to Greece
• Plan a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park - yes, although just a day trip
• Go on four local hiking trips - We did several day hiking trips & maybe 6-8 training hikes for New Zealand, so yes
• Continue bucket list travel planning - this is going pretty well, although we are on pause for our next "big" trip, while we wait to hear about lodging. 

Fitness:

• Lose 10 lbs - I've lost just under 20 lbs, and have been on a micro dose of a GLP-1 since mid-May.
• 125 days - strength train, No S, & meditate - 79 strength workouts, I'd guess maybe 100 days of No S, although it became not a focus with the GLP-1, 16 meditations
• Average 12,000 steps/day - 11,659, and it will take a lot to get this to 12k by the end of the year!
• Try a new workout- I tried a few new workouts when I joined the YMCA, but it was pretty pricey for my usage & I cancelled my membership. 
• Track protein, fruit & veggie intake - yes, I've been much better about this

Personal:

• 100 language lessons - definitely not, I abandoned this pretty early into the year
• Declutter 500 items from the house - I'm already at 724 for the year
• Take a class - no
• Get together with friends - yes, a girls trip to Greece, a trip to Las Vegas & Zion with other friends, lots of hiking, lunches & work outs, dinners, etc.
• Try something new & uncomfortable - I hiked part of Angels Landing & hiked through the Virgin River, went on a 5 day hiking tour of New Zealand, explored new countries, resigned from my job .  . . plenty of things getting me out of my comfort zone
• Say yes to adventures - yes! See above
• Host at least 4 events at our house - we've done zero!
• Master a complex cooking technique or one difficult recipe - nope
• Offer to have 2 networking chats with new grads - yes! 

What about you? How are you doing with your 2026 goals? Any last minute stretch goals you are hoping to complete? Let us know so we can cheer you on!

November Goals

 I'm really late this month, but as always, some effort is better than none!

Financial:

• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items -

• Continue to track net new savings for 2026 - 

• Make $100 in side hustle -

• Find one expense to optimize -

• Push hard to fund 2027 expenses without pulling from savings 

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - 

• Have a great trip Thanksgiving + time with Nick over break

• Finalize our NYE plans

• Have a family dinner with Sam's girlfriend 

• Continue planning for our next big trip (M's 60th) 

• Figure out when we can book meals & activities for our cruise

• Date with M

• Book flights for my dad's trip to Japan 

Fitness:

• Lose 3 lbs -

• 10 strength workouts - 

• Track nutrition -

• 14, 100 steps/day -

• Sort out medical appointments before EOY

Personal:

• Determine if I can adjust my last day to use PTO

• Create January schedule

• Declutter 50 items -

• Get together with friends 

• Say yes to adventures - 

• Get to know our neighbors -

• Host friends for dinner

• Try a new recipe -

What about you? Any goals for November? Let us know so we can cheer you on!

Fitness Monday

 I'm trying to get back into the swing of regular fitness updates. My steps, in particular, have been really low lately. When I was fighting off that lingering cold, I also didn't work out much. I'm feeling (mostly) back & ready to go.

Weight: 144.1 - down .1 lbs from my last weigh in. 

Calories: 1,442/day

Steps: 11,955/day

Workouts:

• 3 hard workout classes
• 1 - 7 mile hike
• 3 days without workouts (on my in office days with long commutes + evening social events)

Goals/other health tasks for the week:

• I'm meeting with my rheumatologist & getting lab work done today
• Get in 4 workout classes & 7 total workouts
• Increase my average steps per day!

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

Menu Plan Sunday

 I had a different work week this week (Tuesday-Thursday) to accommodate an in person office event, so I'll be happy to get back to my regular schedule. I'm also happy that are weekends are relatively quiet for a few weeks, with no traveling or big plans on the agenda! That sounds really great at the moment. 

With more time, comes more prepped meals, rather than the fly by the seat of our pants plans we've been on lately. Yeah for meal prepping!

• Friday - Southwest Chicken quinoa skillet
• Saturday - date night with M
• Sunday - steak with roasted vegies
• Monday - chili, prepped on the weekend
• Tuesday - leftover Southwest Chicken quinoa skillet
• Wednesday - leftover chili
• Thursday - cheesy chicken broccoli casserole
• Friday - TBD

What about you? What's on your menu for the week? All three of the above are new recipes, so fingers crossed that they are worth sharing. 

October Goals Recap

 Overall, it was a pretty good month, although busy with two fun long weekends in there. 

Financial:

• Stay on top of food waste by using up 3 pantry or freezer items - peppers, rotisserie chicken & chicken broth in a one pan skillet dish. Four cans of beans & more chicken broth in chicken sausage dish. 18 overly ripe bananas in muffins. Shelf stable oatmilk & two more containers of chicken broth all got used up. Knocked it out of the park on this one!
• Continue to track net new savings for 2026 - yes
• Make $100 in side hustle - $88.63, so close
• Find one expense to optimize - this is more of a revenue optimization, but shifted money around to find a better paying savings account
• Push hard to fund 2027 expenses without pulling from savings - overall going *okay*

Family:

• Continue to help the boys navigate college & life - yes, we've had discussions around majors, work & life, safety & recreational safety (my wild child who backpacks & climbs, etc). 
• Have a great trip to Boulder with M & both boys - it was fabulous
• Have a great trip to Palm Springs with my parents & sister, keep budget in check - yes!
• Have a family dinner with Sam's girlfriend - not this month. She's been super swamped with classes & work
• Continue planning for our next big trip (M's 60th) - this is on hold until we hear back about our hut reservations
• Plan for big international trip with my mom & sister - largely everything is booked. The fun planning part of activities remains
• Look into flights for my dad's trip to Japan - I have a few flights in mind, but need my nephew to confirm dates. 

Fitness:

• Lose 3 lbs - I lost 2.4 lbs
• 10 strength workouts - 12/10 strength workouts
• Track nutrition - yes, 1,351/day average calories
• 13,000 steps/day - nope, 10,202/day
• Sort out medical appointments before EOY - I have a doctor's appointment set up + a DEXA scan

Personal:

• Finish list of what I'd  like to do while part-time - sure, it's as much as I'm going to build on the list
• Create schedule for post December, when I'm not working - I've done a little thinking about this
• Declutter 50 items - 105 items out of the house in October
• Get together with friends - yes, hiking & dinner in Boulder
• Say yes to adventures - went to Rocky Mountain National Park, and Palm Springs with my parents
• Get to know our neighbors - caught up with our neighbor on a Sunday afternoon
• Try a new recipe - I think so, although I can't remember what it was?

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

Frugal Friday

Two weeks worth of Frugal Friday, as I was traveling last weekend. 

I felt like I had enough travel savings to split it out into its own category this week, vs mixing in with the smaller stuff. 

Travel savings

• I need to get my mom & sister to my house the night before our Europe trip in May. I noticed that Alaska Airlines had very low mileage redemption flights that fit the bill, but didn't have enough miles. Luckily, my dad did, and he offered me his miles to book the flights. I spent $55 for the taxes & seat selection, which was a great deal. The cruise itself is by far the biggest portion of cost, so it's been nice to find wins on some of the rest of the spending. 
• I was feeling happy last week that I received a Chase $250 "Edit" credit for one of the rooms that I booked for Venice, but in fact I received both $250 credits (for a total of $500), using up both of my credits for 2026. This is great news for a few reasons. I wasn't sure I'd have another use for this credit in 2026, it was a trip I had already planned, and the guidance made it sound as though you couldn't use two credits at the same hotel. But, maybe the two rooms are what triggered it. Regardless, I'm pleased. This drops the hotel cost for two rooms for two nights to a total of $230.52). We also get free breakfast & a $100 credit to use at the hotel. 
• I booked Nick's flight home for spring break in two chunks. For the outbound flight, I used Southwest points, and paid cash for the return flight. That saved $288 in cash. Let me be the first to say that flights are absolutely insanely expensive at this point! 
• I also booked Nick's flight home in May (one way) using his miles, and saved $215 by doing that. 
• Noticed our Southwest flights for NYE are slightly discounted (this trip is a maybe, if Lake Tahoe doesn't get snow, and/or if Nick decides to go to Park City to ski with his friend), but earned a $66 flight credit by rebooking for the cheaper fare. 

Saving on things we buy

• I uploaded a few receipts to iBotta & Fetch

Earning money

• Had a CD come due, and renegotiated the term for a better rate. This will put me at just the outset of when I need some of the money, but I will juggle a few things, as the rate difference is over 1% for the longer term, and worth it. 
• I also helped the boys sell more of their Magic the Gathering cards, making another $60 or so. 

Avoiding spending

• Opted not to buy our annual Turkey Trot run bibs this year, as last year we had to basically bribe the boys out of bed for the race. M loves it & plans to go, but I'll likely do an Orange Theory workout instead. It will save us about ~$120 to not all participate, which is a nice chunk of change. 

Eating what we have

• Brought home leftovers for our anniversary dinner, which Sam had for his dinner after work. Restaurant leftovers go over very well at our house. 
• Made a sheet pan bake out of chicken sausage (fridge, wanting to use up), orzo (pantry, use it up), chicken broth (freezer, use it up), which turned out great. I did buy a few ingredients to make this, but it was nice to make some progress elsewhere.
• I also asked M to make bacon, with the package we had leftover from the sheet pan salad recipe we made a while back, and folks have been adding that to breakfast, lunches, etc. Bacon is hard to resist. 

For others

• Gave away two Hyatt awards at M's work
• And, gave away a free night award to a friend who is taking her daughter to Disneyland to see the Christmas decorations & characters (her daughter is three). 
• Volunteered at a non-profit that helps food insecure people. Packaged food, loaded cars, etc. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Menu Plan Sunday

I was out of town with the family, so this is late, but better than never. It also helps me get organized.

• Friday & Saturday - ate out with the family
• Sunday - had a piece of cheese & fruit when I got home late from a delayed flight
• Monday - I didn't make sloppy joes last week, so they shifted to this week. 
• Tuesday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Wednesday - leftovers sloppy joes
• Thursday - grilled shrimp + salad
• Friday - Buffalo chicken sheet pan

What about you? Any good recipes to share?

Cost for the Palm Springs family trip

My dad brought up the idea of coming to my house & having a trip with the four of us (myself, my sister & parents) for a concert. The concert tickets ended up being $800/per person (!!!!), so we skipped that idea. We proposed doing something else as the four of us, which I don't think we've done since everyone got married. I know M could absolutely come if he wanted to, but he has plenty of his own commitments on lately. 

In the end, we spent Thursday-Sunday in Palm Springs, which none of us had ever been to. My mom came down with a 24 hour bug and wasn't feeling well on Friday, but the rest of the trip was fantastic. It's hard to watch your parents age, at that phase where there are noticeable changes in their health between time you see them. Which reinforces & underscores my decision to get together. It was well worth the time, money & effort. We had a great time. For me, aside from the time together, taking the aerial tram to the state park was fantastic, as was Joshua Tree. We also got pretty lucky with the weather (it rained a bit on Saturday & Sunday, but overall it was cool & lovely) & enjoyed some sunshine. 

Flights - I'm counting the parts I paid for only, but you can see full costs below. $632.40

• The flights were an absolute adventure to book, & I'm the designated travel planner of the group. My dad wanted to use his Alaska miles to book the flights for my parents & help my sister. Unfortunately, he had forgotten he'd used the majority of his miles as a gift for my sister's trip to Iceland (family wedding). So, he & my mom both had much smaller amounts of miles in their account, neither with enough to cover a single trip. The outbound flights were much fewer points, however, so I got creative. I booked two one ways out of my mom's account on miles, and one one way out of my dad's account for my sister. I then went back into my dad's account & paid cash for the three one way return flights, as his account gives slightly better seats, that everyone could book for free. 
• In total, the three return flights cost a total of $1150.38. My sister paid $300, I paid $300 (gift for my dad for his birthday & just helping out in general). My parents paid the remaining amount.
• For my flights, I also got creative. I had a $70 Southwest credit with my Chase card, so I booked a one way using that. Out of pocket was $67.40
• On the return flight for me, the best time that matched up with my family's flight to Portland was a United flight into SFO. I booked that out of pocket for $267.70

Transit - $72.20

• My sister covered the car rental, and my dad filled up the car with gas before we dropped it back off at the airport.
• Sam was able to drop me off at the airport on Thursday, saving me the cost of a ride share
• Unfortunately for Sunday, I didn't have a ride home, & was coming from SFO, which is always more expensive - $72.20
• Valet parking at the hotel was covered with my free Hyatt points stay. 

Food - $363.06

• We all paid for various meals, and I covered dinner the first night & the remainder of brunch not covered by my Hyatt Globalist free breakfast for two. - $363.06

Lodging - $0

• In a very strategically timed move (I spent a lot of time lining the dates up to make this work), I was able to book two separate rooms on points for three nights each, and used two Suite Upgrade Awards, all from the Hyatt. These rooms were ~$800/night each, so a huge value to book using points. 

Activities - $139.80

• I used my National Park Pass to get us all into Joshua Tree National Park for free. We brought sandwiches, water & snacks, which worked out well & kept costs to just the food (above). 
• I paid for tickets for the Palm Springs Aerial Tram, which was really cool & brought you up to high above the Coachella Valley. Once you were on top at Mt Jacinto State Park, you could hike around & explore the really lovely park. It was gorgeous. The four tickets were $139.80. 

Total spent for the trip = $1207.46

Fear for your kids

There is nothing worse than fearing for the safety of your kids. There was a shooting in Boulder on Halloween, and a 19 year old was killed at a house party. He was a student at the school with Nick, and the shooting took place a block from where Nick was at the time. It's absolutely horrifying. I spent Sunday morning trying to get a hold of him & it's just so heartbreaking for the parents. This kid was the same age - enjoying his weekend with friends & spending time together on Halloween. Another student is in critical condition. What an absolutely senseless & horrific situation. I have not been able to stop thinking about the parents & family of these kids, as well as the other kids who witnessed this situation. 

There have been a lot of tears. You send your kids out in the world & just hope for their safety. 

Feeling a bit better

I do still have a bit of a runny nose in the morning, but otherwise feel like I've really turned the corner & am feeling much better. Hurrah! This is important, as I leave for Palm Springs tomorrow, to join my sister & parents.

It only rains an average of 1-2 weeks/year in Palm Springs, but it's supposed to rain two of the days we are there. Bummer! One of the reasons we chose this as a location is we hoped for good weather in late October. Oh well, we will still make the most of it.

I don't think we've done a trip with the four of us since my sister got married (which was, quite a long time ago!), and my parents are very excited for a trip with us. They of course also love spending time with the kids & our partners, but as a mom, I can see the fun of it feeling like a throwback trip. 

Things I've been up to:

• Researching flights for my dad's trip Tokyo. As someone who has purchased a lot of business class flights to Japan, the prices right now are staggering. Like, $2500 more than I've ever seen before. We may be looking at Premium Economy, or a combo, and even that is outlandish. 
• I've also been tracking various flight credits, expiration & miles. M has a bunch of old BA points that need to be used before they expire. 
• Booking travel for Nick for spring break. Again, flights are so insane right now. I've been juggling a few miles & rewards programs to find the absolute best deal.
• Working a lot. When you are only working 3 days/week, those days get pretty crazy. I like the dedicated 2 days off/week, but I'm not sure I'm working substantially less over the full week, but I am being paid less. So, that's not a great tradeoff. Sleeping in on Thursdays & Fridays & having more schedule flexibility on those days has been a great gift, however.
• Thinking about what comes in January/after I'm done with work. I'm tossing around a lot of ideas (classes, volunteering, etc) & enjoying the planning process. 

What about you? What are you up to today? And, this might be the day I cave & turn the heat on for the first time this season! Since I work from home, it's much more noticeable how cold it is in the house to me than M. It was 62 inside when I woke up! BRRRRRR.

Not Much Working Out Monday

 Ooof, it's no fun to be sick. M & I got (what I assume was) the same cold coming back from Boulder. He felt great after a couple of days. I'm taking an immunosuppressant, so I'm still on the struggle bus, and also not trying to push myself. I know I need to recover & time, rest, etc. I'll cover two weeks for this update, since I didn't post last Monday.

Here's a recap of workouts for the last two weeks:

• 5 mile walk in Boulder
• 50 minutes of an hour workout class. Kept it dialed way back, and left when I was tired.
• 3 hour hike in Rocky Mountain National Park
• 2 hard workout classes (before I got sick)
• 2 elliptical workouts (45 minutes & 1 hour)

Steps: 10,728/day. I've had some very low days & a few high days, thanks to lots of walking in Boulder + a hiking day

Weight = 144.1, down .1 lbs in two weeks. 

Average calories = 1,338/day

Goals for the week:

• Get in more steps
• Get plenty of rest & recover
• Make nutritious food choices - I've really just been eating a very basic diet (soup, crackers, toast, etc)

What about you? How have you been doing with your health & fitness lately?