We've made good progress on our freezer stash, so I'm now working on building it back up, with a few of our favorite meals. I'm making a triple batch of taco meat tonight, 1/3 for dinners this week, and the rest for the freezer.
I was reasonably productive yesterday, and did a lot of driving around (for Nick). We are in the home stretch here, as Nick has his driving test in a few weeks. I typically spend Sundays preparing for the week ahead, and today will be filled with that, plus lots of soccer!
I also had the boys go through all of their shorts for Dubai. As expected, many are outgrown. The good news is that there was some sharing between the kids (Sam is taller than Nick). I'll pass on the outgrown shorts via Buy Nothing, and hopefully save another parent some money. I did place an order for a few additional pairs, and buy Nick tennis shorts. Shorts that fit the bill for his tennis matches are expensive & hard to find, so those are ordered.
To do list for today:
It's a non rainy Saturday, for the first time in a very long time! Nick won his (birthday) tennis match last night, we had takeout pizza, opened gifts, and had sparkler candles on ice cream cake. Everyone was so full from the pizza, I don't think anyone tried the ice cream cake. Maybe today. ;-)
Here's what we're up to today:
What about you? What are you up to today?
It was a really busy week at work, so not much time to put my list together.
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
I'm late to the party, but trying to catch up after a week of having a cold, a huge storm (we lost our internet, and had a huge mess in our yard to clean up) & a bunch of work drama.
Workouts for the week:
Highlights: I tracked my calories every day, which was a nice change, after falling off the wagon for a few days.
Lowlights: Not feeling great. I'm much better this week.
Areas of focus for the week ahead: Pushing through hunger, when I know there's a meal around the corner. For whatever reason, I have some sort of scarcity signal that goes off in my head, and when I get hungry, even if dinner is around the corner, I feel compelled to have a snack, instead of just waiting. It interferes with dinner, isn't a great example for the kids (I'm always telling them to stay out of the pantry ahead of meals) & adds unnecessary calories.
What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness?
It's another rainy week of March (seriously, so much rain). I'm grateful we're not in the flooding zone, but so many people are struggling with extreme weather right now - blizzards in northern & southern California, and lots of flooding.
We're also not barbecuing a lot, which is typically a staple for us. M doesn't enjoy being out at the barbecue in the rain. ;-)
Here's what's on our menu this week:
It's been another week!
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
I'm getting into a better rhythm, and my knee isn't bothering me much at all. I do have a cold this week, which slowed me down a bit. (Reflected in next week's post of workouts).
Workouts for the week
Highlights - back to spin class, after a long break for my knee!
Lowlights - I'm doing an okay job with snacking & overall calories, but I could definitely make improvements.
Areas of focus for the week ahead - I have a cold this week, and tend to eat comfort food when I don't feel well. I need to keep that in check, and get in workouts appropriate to my energy level.
What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness?
We have made our way through the vast majority of our freezer leftovers! This is a huge milestone, but also means that we need to get back to prepping more meals on weekends/during the week. Our schedule often makes that a challenge.
Here's what's on the menu for the week. It's apparently a very chicken heavy week. (We serve every dinner with a green salad.)
It's a pretty mellow Saturday for us, as club soccer games haven't started yet. Those will begin in a few weeks. We'll enjoy the quiet weekends until then. ;-)
Overall, it was a good week. I need to be more cautious about our menu planning, as we've done such a great job of eating all of our freezer leftovers, that there is minimal wiggle room for not having a meal at the ready. It was part of my plan for the winter to eat through our stash, but it does mean that I need to be more intentional about our cooking.
Here's what's on the to do list for today:
I've been continuing to look for deals, selling things here & there, & making progress on our freezer meals.
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
I'm looking forward to March! It's a reasonably quiet month (one birthday, no travel) before a very busy April (college trip to Colorado, & family trip to Dubai).
Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish this month.
Financial:
What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish in March? How does your month look?
February always flies by, with a short month & birthdays + ski week thrown in. Here's how I did with my goals this month.
Financial:
Nick's school soccer season is over, but club soccer has begun & he's also playing school tennis. ;-) It's still busy almost every week night, so we're relying on prepped freezer meals, & making meals as we can. Here's what's on our menu this week.
I spent yesterday catching up on work, and trying to get the house put back together after our trip. Because we brought our own food, there were lots of little pieces that needed to be put away, not to mention getting all of the ski stuff put back into bags for next time.
Here's what I'm hoping to get done today:
It was not a particularly frugal week, as we were out of town for most of it. We definitely made good tradeoffs (the cheaper condo with a kitchen/laundry, vs the much more convenient hotel), brought almost all of our own food, etc.
We did, however, have a few apres ski beers, while waiting for the teens to finish the last runs of the day. It was a nice balance between relaxing & enjoying, but saving on the majority of the cost.
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
It's another ski week menu plan! We will be feeding 5 for much of the week, as Nick's friend is joining us for our ski trip.
It's going to be a packed day, but we leave tomorrow for a ski trip, so I need to make the most of it!
Here's what I'll be up to today:
Our busy season at work & in our family life continues!
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
I'm overdue, and haven't been super motivated lately, with my knee challenges. However, I'm now back to harder workouts & enjoying myself!
Workouts for the week:
Highlights - getting cleared for harder workouts, just in time for ski week!
Lowlights - I've really struggled with snacking (this is an ongoing problem, clearly) & I've tried a variety of approaches, but so far, none have "stuck"
Focus for the week ahead - limiting calories, no after dinner snacking, and being seriously focused to lose a couple of pounds in the next few weeks. This will be especially important while we're skiing, as I tend to drink beer after a day on the slopes.
What about you? How are you doing with your workouts & overall health?
We have two birthdays within a week in our family, so you'll see more meals out than usual. As always, the birthday person picks dinner!
I'm back to regular workouts, as the MRI determined that it's a cyst behind my knee. While it can be painful, there's nothing structurally wrong with my knee, so I can resume my workouts. WOOHOO! I have really missed the endorphins. I went to a class yesterday, & a class today & enjoyed myself so much.
Nick's team finished the week with two more wins, and it was fun to see their soccer game yesterday afternoon, despite the rain. The final game of the season is on Wednesday, and then he immediately starts tennis.
Here's what else we have going on today:
With the cost of groceries, I've been paying more attention than ever to store offers, rewards, & the like. There have been a few wins in that regard lately, although it does require some time & attention.
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
We've been eating a lot of prepped (by me) freezer meals, which has been nice. It's a busy stretch, with Nick playing in two soccer games, practice three nights a week, Sam's job, & lots of other teen activities. It's so helpful to have backup meals at the ready.
The weather has been really erratic today - high wind & rain, followed by blue skies, then rinse & repeat. M's been attempting an outside chore, and every time he gathers what he needs & heads out, it rains again. ;-)
I took Nick & a couple of friends to a soccer team event, then hit the grocery store for a few sale items (18 chocolate chip cookies for $.49 from the bakery - I can't make them for that price). The boys were very excited to see them, of course.
I've also cleaned the house, worked out, washed all of the sheets & done the laundry. I need to motivate myself to keep going, but my book is calling to me. I have a few doctors appointments next week, and I know it's going to be a busy, busy week.
M is going to make smash burgers on our griddle tonight (due to the weather) & I'll add some roasted potatoes & a salad, to health up the dinner a bit.
What about you? What are you up to today? Hope you are all having a lovely & productive day.
It's the shortest month of the year! Let's get going & get a few things done, shall we?
Financial:
Fitness/Health
We had some good frugal wins this week, which was nice. We also came in under budget for our groceries in January, which was a nice surprise.
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
January was both slow & fast, at various times, but regardless, February is here! Let's see how I did with my goals for the month:
Financial:
It's not been a great week for my health & fitness, as I've been having knee problems. I have an MRI next week, and will likely begin PT (depending on what the MRI uncovers) at the end of the month. Getting medical appointments is quite difficult - there are very few providers these days, and long waits!
The lack of intense workouts impacts my mood & stress levels, and also makes it harder for me to maintain my weight. So, I need to find other low intensity ways to capture those same effects, and reduce my calorie intake. It's a work in progress!
Workouts for the week:
It was lovely to have the time with the boys on Friday - the days are going by too fast, and getting time alone with them is rare!
I was moderately productive yesterday, but somehow left the house cleaning for today. That's a common theme. If there is one thing I put off doing, it's definitely house cleaning!
I did give a bunch of stuff away via Buy Nothing, list a few things we're not using on Facebook Marketplace, made protein balls, etc which wasn't on my list. I love decluttering.
Here's what's on the list for today:
Unfortunately, there will be no workout classes for me today (or likely, for awhile) as my knee has been bothering me something fierce. I saw a doctor on Thursday, and need to go to PT, and get an MRI. Until the MRI, I need to take it easy. I can walk & do yoga, etc. I'm missing my harder workouts for sure! Those intense workouts are so good for my stress level, & I love the endorphins. I'm going to have to find other solutions.
It's a pretty quiet weekend (woohoo), so here's what we're up to today:
In non-frugal news, I had to bail on a scheduled workout at my gym due to a last minute true work emergency, which cost me $15. Work does reimburse me slightly for my gym membership, so I'm considering it a wash.
Here's what we've been up to this week:
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
It was a mixed week for workouts, and I finally have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to talk about my knee. Something is not right.
Workouts for the week:
Here's what's on the menu at our house this week.
There are several bloggers (& readers) struggling right now, with tragedy. Sending you all lots of love & good thoughts, as you process everything. No words are enough, but thinking of you all.
Yesterday was a long & not great work day, that involved a lot of drama. I didn't get a chance to work out, which always negatively impacts my stress level. I should have found time to at least meditate, but I didn't.
I've not felt great this week (mild fever, and some stomach issues), but I feel like I'm finally starting to turn the corner. There's been a lot of sleeping!
Last night was a gorgeous night on the soccer field. Nick's team tied their opponent, and it was a fun game to watch. It was also incredibly chilly!
It's been a very busy week, and we definitely had some wins.
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
Workout for the week
Highlights - I did really well with tracking my calories, avoiding sweets & alcohol, & I lost 1.5 lbs.
Lowlights - My knee has been bothering me a bit, so I ordered knee sleeves (like slide on braces) to help reduce pressure during my workouts. Fingers crossed.
How did you do with your health & fitness this week?
I didn't get everything done on my long weekend to do list, but I did get quite a bit accomplished. We'll ignore the clearing of the drains, bucket brigade, clearing the garage, etc. Let's hope that was a one time thing, although we will definitely be keeping that drain cleared moving forward.
I made the following, for food prep:
Personal:
There is quite a bit of cooking planned for the week ahead, thanks to the long weekend & time to prep.
Yesterday wasn't quite the day I expected. I was getting started with some kitchen prep, when I went to the garage to our outside fridge. And, noticed all of the shoes on the garage floor were floating. Our garage had flooded. It was early & I was confused, so I foolishly opened the door, which let in a bunch more water.
M & the boys left for skiing at 4:30, and somehow in three hours, the garage had flooded & our pool back patio had flooded. After several hours outside, I figured out what was happening (we had a large drain that was blocked, & looked like it hadn't been used in 10+ years). I dug that out by hand, scooped out buckets & buckets of water to the main drain on our street and got the garage drained. Then I moved on to the pool area, which was more difficult, as there wasn't an obvious way to fix it. It too involved carrying buckets of water to our drainage area, about 15 feet away. My back was killing me after all of this, so I was super grateful I'd planned to get a massage in the afternoon.
The massage was incredible and relieved my pain, but I'm still having a terrible time sleeping at night due to back pain, & really need to go back to see the doctor to understand what my options are.
I didn't get a chance to go to my workout class, but I did end up making the soup & homemade bread. I had the split pea & ham soup for dinner, & it was fabulous. I also signed up for a free month of Amazon Prime, and watched some shows. I have it on my calendar to cancel before it charges me for any future months.
M & the boys had a rough time skiing, as Tahoe received a ton more snow, and visibility was very poor & many runs weren't open. Here's hoping today will be a better day, but it seems like it may be more of the same. They woke up to another foot of snow.
Here's what I have planned for today:
It's a super stormy day here - very, very rainy & windy. The boys are off for a ski trip to Tahoe, so fingers crossed all goes well there. I woke up briefly when they left at 4:30, but then managed to fall back to sleep an hour or so later.
I have a huge list of things I want to accomplish while they are gone. The list is too long to write down, but the rough categories are:
Here's what we've been up to over the past week. The holidays are always expensive, and we try to use January to buckle down, where possible.
Saving on things we buy
Earning money
Avoiding spending
Eating what we have
For others
I'm back to a normal routine & working hard to control my calories, which means tracking my eating more diligently than in the past few months.
Workouts for the week:
Highlights - getting back to calorie tracking, doing a much better job of avoiding evening snacks.
Lowlight - I've been pretty hungry, as my stomach adjusts to the changes, and recovers from the holidays. ;-)
What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness?
We're back in action, & meal planning again. Our vacation was lovely, but it's always nice to be home & cooking again. As we all know, eating out is incredibly expensive!
I feel like tomorrow is lining up to be the Monday of all Mondays. Returning back from long breaks is hard. It's also a super busy time at work for me + M, the boys are kicking off school, Nick has school soccer, and Sam is starting his coaching job. It's a season of business, for sure.
I'm trying to be productive today, so we'll see how that plays out for me:
I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never. Here's how I did with my December goals.
Financial:
Let's just say that we spent more than planned on our ski trip, due to the weather & switching to the hotel located in the resort area a day earlier than planned. That threw our budget *way* off for the trip, but I'm happy with the decision, given the weather & difficulty driving.
Rather than my normal format, here's a more consolidated list of frugal wins, rare though they were this week. ;-)
It's been a wild few days on our ski trip. The resort we're skiing at received their 24 hour historical record of snow (34") & 7" in an hour! On NYE, we were there for three hours before they closed, and we had to shovel the car out, as it had snowed 9" during that time.
We made it back to the condo we were staying at, but only after a super dicey drive. We made the decision to move to the ski in/out hotel earlier than planned, because more snow was expected, and the drive was super dangerous & long from the condo. We woke up on the morning of the 1st, and the car was absolutely buried in snow. We couldn't get into the condo parking lot (too much snow, unplowed), so we carried all of our gear out & up a hill 1/4 of a mile. I've had more fun. ;-) But, we all worked together to get the car dug out, and the gear packed up. Switching from the condo to the hotel was pricey (we forfeited the night in the condo, and paid for an extra night at the hotel), but we have no regrets, as even more snow fell. It's been so nice to be at the hotel & not worry about driving.
It's snowing again today, and expected to snow through our departure tomorrow. I'm at the hotel catching up on a bit of work today, but will likely join the boys for a few runs this afternoon, if the weather cooperates & the lift outside of our hotel continues to stay open. Despite all of the craziness, we've had so much fun together!
The end of my favorite run (I don't take photos on the run, but the entire thing is stunning):
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We drive home tomorrow, and I'll be back to regularly posting & commenting then. Hope everyone is staying warm & safe!
The ski trip edition! Here's what we'll be eating this week, while we're in Lake Tahoe.
It's a new year, with fresh new goals! Here's what I'm planning to get done this month.
Financial:
Personal/creative
What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish in January?
