Frugal Friday

 

Saving on things we buy

• Both kids were unexpectedly home for dinner last Friday, so I ran to the local store & picked up what we needed for a last minute taco dinner. I really considered doing takeout, but the ground beef in the fridge was a good reminder to not do that. Meat is so expensive these days! I had a $10/$50 purchase, so I also picked up a few other things off of the longer term shopping list, as well as a few spring break treats for the teens (ice cream & popcorn). We were supposed to have a popcorn/movie night, but couldn't get our DVD to work. M has since fixed that, so hopefully we will squeeze in the movie night another day. 
• Used $2 of expiring Rite Aid rewards to pick up a graduation card for Sam. 

Earning money

• I was part of a class action suit & received a settlement in 2022, I believe. After all of the settlements were distributed, there was additional funds left over, and those were then distributed to the remaining folks. I received $524 in this close out round of the settlement. I'm happy to receive this unexpected settlement, but the original reason I received money was because I was underpaid for years (hence the claim/settlement), so not exactly a net win.  
• I sold a jersey, sunglasses & a tennis skirt on eBay, making $116. 
• I redeemed Fetch points for a $10 Amazon gift card. I don't buy many brand name items, so this is a slow & steady process, but eventually adds up. 
• Sold a fan remote on eBay. This is a great example of something I couldn't give away on Buy Nothing, but with a bigger audience on eBay, someone needed exactly that item. I made just under $10, but more than that, I'm thrilled that the fan stayed out of the landfill. 
• Submitted my last two receipts for reimbursement from work (fitness class & pickleball lessons). We have a small personal lessons reimbursement for the year, and I'm hopeful these will get reimbursed before my last day. Fingers crossed. 
• I received my last paycheck today, and my vacation payout + another week of pay. It's hard to remember 10+ years ago, but I believe we are paid in arrears, so the timing of my hire date and our paychecks makes sense that I would have had another week in arrears coming to me. It was a nice surprise to see the size of my last paycheck. (I still haven't received my severance offer, but have a rough sense of how much that will be.)

Avoiding spending

• Nick was helping me with yard work, and I still hadn't purchased groceries post ski trip. I offered to order lunch, if he picked it up. I used a 20% off code, plus all of my gift cards (some had like $3 left on them) on an online order & had just enough to cover the cost plus tip. No money out of pocket.
• This one is a doozy. Remember when we planned to go to Turkey over spring break? When I cancelled those flights, I confirmed multiple times that our credit would be valid and needed to be rebooked by January of 2025. I was planning a trip to Costa Rica with M in November, and we opted to use those credits, to avoid them expiring. When I went to book online, my United app showed the January 2025 date, but upon trying to use them for purchase, it said they were expiring in July 2024. I spent almost an hour with United on the phone getting it resolved (and, the person helping me was absolutely incredible.) It turns out, when I booked the flights (and, this was over $10k for the four of us), I used a $75 credit leftover from something else. That credit expired in July of 2024, and made the expiration of the $10K reset to that, despite the app & my email having a different expiration date! Luckily, United was able to help out, but I'm so grateful that 1) I tried to book a flight ahead of that cancellation, and 2) the person I worked with was so helpful. 
• Speaking of Costa Rica, our all inclusive hotel is covered entirely with hotel points, and the flights are covered by our previously purchased Turkey flights. So, no new out of pocket spending!
• I'm flying my parents to our house to watch Nick when we go to Costa Rica (our final anniversary trip that they will need to supervise, as Nick will be in college next year!). I used Southwest gift cards to cover the cost of their flights. They prefer Alaska Airlines, but those flights were $300+ more expensive, unfortunately. On some routes, Alaska is just not competitive with Southwest. 

Eating what we have

• I had a defrosted Asian themed pasta dish (can't remember what it was originally) for lunch one day, as well as lasagna from the freezer. Being home for lunches means I can make good progress on the freezer leftovers. I sub in sandwiches when I get overly bored with the freezer leftovers.
• I turned leftover taco fixings into a second meal of tacos, and then quesadillas & a taco salad.
• I baked up the last 1/4 bag of pizza bites for Nick, on a day when he needed "dinner" at 3:30, before he left for an event. Don't worry, he also had a protein fruit smoothie & veggies.
• Used up overly ripe bananas from our road trip + freezer bananas to make a double batch of muffins.

For others

• On the above United fiasco, the agent was so helpful that I took the time to track down how to sent a compliment & provided her name & details about why she was so awesome. Her supervisor responded & asked if she could send my feedback more broadly. I agreed, &provided additional information & compliments. It was great. Good service deserves that kind of feedback. 
• Did some additional volunteer work for our soccer club senior night.

What about you? Any wins to share?

Thursday Happenings

 I've had a pretty productive week, and am feeling good about that. I wrapped up a couple of April goals (just in time) & am getting ready for my trip to Sedona on Sunday. The boys have tons of stuff going on, so plenty happening on that front. 

I also was able to access my (digital) pay stub for tomorrow, and see that I'm getting paid out my vacation, my standard last paycheck, and one week of additional pay. I believe that's because we're paid in arrears when you join the company. Anyway, it was more than expected, and I will likely tuck most of that into a CD, as we won't need it right away. It will be nice to earn some extra interest on that, until we're ready for it for college payments or other expenses. 

Our current college plans include paying for 1/2 of college for each teen with their 529, and then cash flowing the rest. I experimented with our 529 yesterday, and was able to set up our first withdrawal, to cover the tuition deposit I made. I don't need the money at the moment, but it was a small amount & I wanted to test out the withdrawal process. It was super simple, so that was a nice win.

Here's what I'm up to today:

• Running class
• Daily chores: Farsi lesson, meditate, journal
• Work in the yard. Probably weeding today.
• Review list of all final work tasks, & ensure they are complete. My last official day is tomorrow.
• Work on volunteer project
• Finalize details for M, for when I'm out of town
• Laundry
• Go to Nick's tennis finals
• Help Nick sort out his SAT challenges. The test has moved to digital & it requires some downloads that we can't get to work. 
• Register Nick for a college class in the fall. This is a partnership with his high school
• Get cash for trip
• Help both boys buy prom tickets (e.g I'll be the one paying for them) ;-)
• Talk to Nick about weekend schedule, because it's madness.

What about you? What are you up to today?

Spring break budget roundup

I've been paying a closer eye to the budget for our upcoming travel, as we have a bunch of expenses related to Sam's college (orientation, move in date, as well as just the cost of college itself), combined with me not working. I also have the flexibility to travel more myself (what a gift that is), but can only do that if I'm setting a budget & being more frugal than in previous years. 

The good news is that we have a lot of travel credits, points, miles, etc, so staying on top of those & using those first has been really helpful. Beyond that, we are also just evaluating the value of each trip & prioritizing how we want to spend our money. 

I set a goal for our spring break trip of $1500. Originally, we were going to do a road trip to Redwoods National Park, but opted to ski at the last minute, when the resorts were still open. Nick convinced us. ;-) We had a fabulous time. 

Here's how we spent our money:

• $3.76 - lunch for the teens on the way to Lake Tahoe
• $179.97 - dinner out our first night
• $37.87 - lunch for me + Sam on our last day
• $177.85 - lunches on the mountain, including bonus teen friend for one of the meals
• $380.66 - cost of the hotel (two rooms) + two dinners that we charged to the room
• $13.21 - coffee for MR each morning (he's not a Starbucks fan)
• $93.32 - gas
• $13.96 - snacks purchased at Trader Joes, to bring on the trip
• $80.33 - Breakfast for the boys + coffee for me each morning - Starbucks gift card, so technically not out of pocket, but including for completeness 
• Ski passes - free, as we had season passes

Total spent = $980.93, so well under budget. This was possible, as we used points at the hotel to offset much of the cost of the three nights rooms. The most outrageous cost was my coffee every morning, as they charged an extra $1.50 for oat milk, which is wild to me. They do have a coffee maker in the room, but we've tried the coffee before & it's pretty abysmal. I convince myself that, if I buy the Starbucks gift cards at a discount (often this is how I earn grocery store rewards), I'm saving a bit on that. I also try to use Starbucks rewards for at least one of the coffees while I'm there. 

Fancy/pricey oat milk lattes aside, I'm very pleased with the cost of the trip. Feeding two hungry teens is expensive at the best of times, and throw in additional appetite from skiing, and it's quite pricey. :-) 

I've set budgets for the upcoming Sedona trip with my mom, as well as my trip to Costa Rica with M, so I'll share the recaps on those trips, as they happen. 

Do you track spending for travel? Are you typically able to stay under budget? Any tips to share? 

Final hurrah of April - goal check in

 I'm trying to stay focused on what I still need to accomplish before the end of the month, particularly as I leave for Sedona on Sunday for a hiking trip with my mom.

Financial:

• Pay federal & State taxes - done
• Sort out cash flow & remaining 2024 budget, post severance numbers - I still don't have my complete severance numbers, but have an estimate. And, now I have college numbers, which is helpful.
• Earn $300 in side hustle - $1261/300, helped by our Costco rebate, a settlement check & 11 eBay/FB Marketplace sales.
• Monthly freezer/pantry challenge: use up fish sticks, rotisserie chicken & pulled pork. - used up the pulled pork, the rotisserie chicken, a bag of pizza rolls, the shrimp scampi, 1/2 a bag of cranberries & the last can of green beans. The fish sticks remain, but definitely considering the progress a win. 

Family:

• Last college tour + confirm decision & begin college admission work - college selection is done, deposit is paid, first housing form is filled out. Still a ton to do!
• Help Nick with college tasks - we've made some progress
• Both boys - AP test prep - both boys are working on this, but lots of studying ahead
• Have a great & on budget spring break trip - done & done!
• Continue to plan Costa Rica trip for the fall - now that we know when parents weekend is for Sam's college, we know which dates to avoid for our anniversary trip. I've reached out to the concierge for the Hyatt to see if our proposed dates work. Once she confirms that, I'll work on flights. 
• One fun activity with the boys - skiing, dinners out & road trip to Tahoe :-) 

Fitness:

• 10 stretching workouts - 6/10
• Lose 3 lbs - 0/3, although continuing to be more toned & in better shape. I'm hoping my calories will be a bit more under control, now that the college decision is behind us & the stress is a bit less. I also lost 5 lbs last month. 
• 12 strength training workouts - 8/12
• Run 60 miles - x/60 miles - 44/60
• Follow the No S diet - I've been okay with this, but definitely more snacking than I'd like

Personal:

• Get together with friends -yep, I've met up with friends for coffee, hikes, walks, etc.
• Practice Farsi 20 times - 18/20
• Declutter 100 items from the house - 29/100. April has been a month of selling things vs giving away, which means much smaller numbers. The house decluttering is in very good shape, which means I just don't have the bigger numbers. I suppose that's a good problem to have!
• Meditate daily - I missed a couple of days while traveling, but otherwise yes
• Complete the Science of Well Being course - just have my final project left, but I'm very close
• 30 minutes of fiction writing - haven't started
• Work on volunteer soccer project - kicked off some work, but need to shift this into high gear

What about you? How are you doing with your goals for the month?

Menu Plan

 A slightly longer menu this week, as I'm heading out of town next Sunday & want to cover through then. 

• Friday -  tacos
• Saturday -  one pan Asian ground beef & rice dish (new recipe) grilled hot dogs & potato salad
• Sunday - grilled hot dogs & potato salad
• Monday -leftover tacos
• Tuesday - leftover one pot beef & rice
• Wednesday - leftover hot dogs & potato salad
• Thursday -  leftover one pot beef & rice 
• Friday - wings & spring rolls
• Saturday - creamy garlic chicken
• Sunday - I'm heading out on a hiking trip to Sedona with my mom, so M will be on his own for dinner with the boys. I'm assuming he will grill something. ;-) 

What about you? What is on your menu this week?

A decision has been made

 I'm so excited for Sam - he's officially decided on Oregon State University, which we visited a few weeks ago for admitted student day. He had a hard time deciding between that and another school that was near his girlfriend, but the academics for his major at OSU were outstanding. OSU is also pretty close to both my parents & my sister, which also made him happy. 

As for me, I'm thrilled to have a decision, so we can move onto all of the next steps of the process, including our schedule, getting orientation booked, housing, declining all of the other schools, travel plans, etc. 

Go, Beavers! 

Saturday Happenings

 Both boys were unexpectedly home for dinner last night, so I ran to the store to grab a few things to round out the ground beef I had in the fridge. We had ground beef tacos, which were delicious & came together quickly. 

Sam & I have been spending quite a bit of time the last few days discussing his college decisions. It's hard to be 18 & deciding your next step. I'm hopeful we'll have an answer by the end of the weekend. A lot of other decisions can then be made, paper work can begin, housing applications, deposits, enrollments, rejections of the other colleges, etc.... lots of carry on work from there.

I'm not going to my normal workout studio class this morning, as they are having a special event. Instead, I'm planning to go for a run in our neighborhood, and clock some additional miles for my 60 mile running goal for the month. Back to Sam's college decisions, I'm waiting to see if I'll be able to do the big relay this summer, but it will be dependent upon Sam's move in day.

Nick also has a soccer game I'd like to attend, & M & I have pickle ball lessons, so it should be a pretty busy day.

Here's the full list of to do's:

• Run
• Laundry
• Journal
• Farsi lesson
• Meditate
• Vacuum
• Nick's soccer game
• Pickle ball
• Sam's college discussion, part many
• Make dinner (new recipe for Asian beef rice skillet)
• Yard work
• Package & mail eBay sale
• Submit receipt for gym class via work portal

That's it from my side. What about you? What are you up to today? Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Frugal Friday

This week is a mix of travel & food related savings, with a few others sprinkled in. I'm particularly pleased about the low cost for the upcoming Sedona hiking trip I'm taking with my mom. 

Saving on things we buy

• M bought me a pair of wedge sandals for Mother's Day maybe 16 or so years ago. I love them, and wear them often. I've had them repaired in various forms 2x at a cobbler. I needed another repair, and found a cobbler close to my workout studio. He did a great job, and the full bill was only $18. I'd much rather keep these shoes in circulation (they still look great) vs buying something new. 
• Picked up $14 worth of snacks from Trader Joes. We will use these for our trip to Lake Tahoe, and avoid buying snacks when we are there, as the food is quite expensive in the hotel.
• We stopped for gas at Costco on our drive, and bought the boys lunch. Lunch for two under $4 is quite a deal. I ate a "brunch" before we left the house, and M doesn't typically eat lunch. 

Earning money

• I made a few sales ahead of leaving for our trip:
• A jacket for $20
• Sunglasses for $9
• Shoes for $30
• Received our Costco executive rebate, for $523, which we will use to offset grocery spending in the weeks ahead. 

Avoiding spending

• I was out running errands after a workout class, and was very tempted by the Mediterranean restaurant near me, but I reminded myself of all of the food in our house & came home for a free (or, perhaps, already paid for?) lunch of things we already had on hand. 
• Nick somehow used his debit card to pay for "free shipping" of a gift, which resulted in a $19/month "freeshipping.com" charge. As far as I can tell, this is a very shady site & makes it unclear to users that they will be charged $19/month forever (!) for one time "free" shipping. This is integrated into numerous websites, so buyer beware. Anyway, this had been going on for months, and I finally noticed & showed him how to 1) cancel the ongoing "subscription", and 2) get a refund. He was only able to get the most recent month refunded, so we discussed how to better stay on top of this moving forward, and track your accounts & purchases. 
• I canceled a travel reward card, as we have several, and won't be traveling enough to make it worthwhile in 2024. The annual fee was free last year, but I would have been charged this year, if we'd kept the card. 
• M needs to fly to LA for a funeral, and the last minute flights were eye wateringly high. We researched a variety of options, including driving, staying over night, etc, and the best option will be for him to fly in and out on the same day. We used a flight credit & a gift card to cover the cost. So, no out of pocket spending for the flights, although M will need to rent a car to get from the airport to the funeral service, and then to the luncheon the family is hosting, and then back to the airport. 
• I'm going to Sedona with my mom at the end of the month for a hiking trip. I'd booked three nights using Hyatt free night awards, and was planning to pay for the fourth night. I received another free night award (we have a Hyatt credit card) & was able to apply that to the last night, making the entire hotel cost free. (Total saved on the hotel = $1436). 

Eating what we have

• I defrosted more of the frozen lasagna (leftovers) for lunch one day
• I finally got the pulled pork out of the freezer (some sort of Blue Apron delivery snafu from way back, when we used the service) & made pulled pork sliders for Sam. Bonus: used up barbecue sauce lingering in the fridge.
• Continued to use lots of garden items: mint, garlic scapes & red lettuce
• My lunch on Sunday before our drive to Lake Tahoe consisted entirely of fridge leftovers I was trying to use up: the end of a bag of salad, some chicken I'd baked up for the teens, the last of a dressing, & two crispy wonton appetizers leftover from Friday's dinner. 
• Came home late from skiing (there was a rock slide on part of the drive) & made a very scrappy dinner for the two diners eating (me + M). I had a diced potato with an egg, M had garlic shrimp from the freezer + a salad. We were able to largely prep the meal while also unpacking. 

For others

• My sister & I have continued on with our help for my special needs aunt. This week was sorting out some cash flow issues, and paying her property taxes. Next up will be researching a switch in cable companies, which I'm really dreading but know needs to be done. Since we've taken over (maybe ~2 months), we've managed to turn things around from a negative monthly cash flow to having $1k in her account after paying off all the bills! This has been from a variety of sources: calling to negotiate lower rates, signing her up for a few low income discounts she wasn't previously using, cancelling things she didn't need, and helping her better manage the rest of her spending (groceries, gas, etc). It's been slow to see progress, but it definitely feels like we are now more in a steady state, which has been helpful. 
• Provided some coaching to a (previous) colleague who needed guidance.

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Spring break skiing

 We've had an absolutely fabulous time on our spring break ski trip. 

The drive to Tahoe was very easy on Tuesday. We got here, unpacked & went to dinner at a pub across the street. They have my favorite potato & cabbage soup - yum!

On Monday, we skied at Heavenly, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. The resort had about 1/3 of the lifts open, and there was definitely some exposure on the runs, but no lines made it one of my favorite ski days ever. We got back to the hotel, cleaned up & went to an Italian restaurant, which we all loved. The boys met up with a friend to go to the arcade & get ice cream, while M & I had a glass of wine & chatted. 

Tuesday we drove to Kirkwood, as we heard they had more runs open. The entire mountain was pretty much running, which was awesome. We also brought Nick's friend with us, as he skis similar runs to him, and they had a fabulous time together. It was so warm that I skied in a long sleeved t-shirt & no gloves. I've definitely never done that before! I forgot to put sunblock on my hands (since I'm normally wearing gloves) & the tops of my hands burnt. Drat. I skied a moderate blue chair most of the day, and it was absolutely the most peaceful and fabulous ski days I've ever had. Yes, conditions at the end of the day were a bit slushy, but I would totally take that tradeoff for a day with no lines & stunning weather.

We're likely skiing a half day at Heavenly today, and then will head home. I'm so glad we opted for this trip!

And, a picture of the very minimal ski wear ;-) 

Sunday Happenings

 Yesterday was a very cold spring day for our area. I was at Nick's soccer game, and it was 45 degrees & super windy. Supposedly, it will be 80 by next week. We shall see!

We are off soon to head out for our revised spring break trip. Nick talked everyone into trying spring skiing. We were hoping to meet up with one of his friends, but his family is skiing another mountain, so it doesn't look like that will happen. Fingers crossed that the conditions are good.

I picked up a bunch of snacks to keep in the room, as the boys are usually famished post skiing. Hopefully this will cut back on the costs of random snacks at the hotel. I also remembered to pack bananas, as that's always something Nick wants for breakfast, to avoid cramping. 

We did manage to have our pickle ball lessons yesterday, but it was very chilly & windy on the court! We're finally to the place where we can play a game, which is fun. I'll definitely be signing up for more lessons.

As for today, here's what I'm up to:

• Journal
• Meditate
• Farsi practice
• Workout class
• Finish packing
• Quick lunch for myself & the teens before we take off
• I'm hoping to use part of the car ride to chat with Sam about the various pros & cons of the colleges he's considering. Fingers crossed.

What about you? What are you up to today? 

April Goal Check In

April is whizzing by, and we'll be (hopefully) skiing next week, so a slightly earlier than mid-month goal check in for the month. 

Nick has a soccer game today, and it's pouring buckets. We also have pickle ball lessons, but given the weather, those seem unlikely. I'm hoping the rain lightens up a bit before the game!

April Goals:

Financial:

• Pay federal & state taxes - done
• Sort out cash flow & remaining 2024 budget, post severance numbers - I still don't have my complete severance numbers, but have built a plan based on an estimate
• Earn $300 in side hustle - I've made $100/$300
• Monthly freezer challenge: use up fish sticks, rotisserie chicken & pulled pork- used the pulled pork, the rotisserie chicken, a bag of pizza rolls & 1/2 a bag of cranberries

Family:

• Last college tour + confirm decision & begin college admission work  - college is tour is done, waiting on final decision from Sam
• Help Nick with college tasks - we've made some progress
• Both boys - AP test prep - both boys are working on this, but have a lot of studying to do next week
• Have a great & on budget spring break trip - coming up this week!
• Continue to plan Costa Rica trip for the fall - waiting for Sam's college decision, as several of the schools have parents weekends near our anniversary. 
• Plan one fun activity with the boys - spring break!

Fitness:

• 10 stretching workouts - 5/10
• Lose 3 lbs - 0/3, although I can definitely tell that I'm more toned & in better shape than I was a month ago
• 12 strength training workouts - 6/12 so far
• Run 60 miles - 30/60 miles
• Follow the No S diet - I've been okay at this. I've been having peanuts as a pre-dinner snack, as our dinner time has varied lately due to teen activities. 

Personal:

• Get together with friends - yep, I've met up with friends for coffee, hikes, walks, etc. 
• Practice Farsi 20 times - 10/20
• Declutter 100 items from the house - 25/100
• Meditate daily - I missed a couple of days while traveling, but otherwise yes
• Complete the Science of Well Being course - almost done!
• Complete resume revamp - yes, draft one is complete
• 30 minutes of fiction writing - haven't started
• Work on volunteer soccer project - kicked off some work for this, but need to shift this into high gear next week

What about you? How are you doing with your April goals? Any wins to share, so we can cheer you on?

Frugal Friday

 We were out of town over the weekend, so a few frugal wins from the trip as well as our regular life.

Saving on things we buy

• I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with the doctor's clinic I go to, over a "late" bill... one I paid several months ago & I could see had already cleared their system. There was a second bill where we were showing very different numbers, so hopefully in a few days, I can check the system & ensure everything was resolved appropriately. 

Earning money

• Sold a pair of sandals on eBay
• I mentioned in a previous post that a coworker advised me that our reimbursement portal was still open, through the end of my employment. I was able to fill out reimbursement for my workout classes, and am getting ~$40 for last month, and have a couple more that will also hopefully go through. 

Avoiding spending

• Sam & I stopped by the lounge (free, with one of our credit cards) on our way to the gate. He filled up on some (free) food, and we avoided buying any food or drinks at the airport.
• I had a free glass of wine on both the flight out & return flight (thanks to my status) & on the return flight, I was also offered a free snack box & chocolate bar. The boys were pleased.
• I considered getting a hotel for Friday night, as we needed to be at the college pretty early. However, there was a half marathon happening that morning, and all of the hotels were either sold out, or very pricey. Instead, we stayed with my sister & got up super early. She was very sweet, and had breakfast ready for the teens, and coffee for me. Similarly, she let me use her car as well, so we avoided needing a rental car. My parents also hosted a dinner at my sister's house on Saturday & brought lots of delicious food. 
• We filled up our water bottles at the airport, avoiding the need for any drinks.

Eating what we have

• I made Nick a late lunch on Friday, ahead of our flight 
• Sam & I had cauliflower taco rice (turned into burritos) for dinner on Monday. I had leftovers for lunch on Tuesday, but opted to skip the tortilla, and instead turn a potato into wedges, pan fry those & add the cauliflower taco dish over it, sprinkled with a bit of cheese. It was fantastic & I definitely preferred it over the burrito. 
• Used up the last of the hamburger buns from the freezer

For others

• I'm still able to request a match for my volunteer time, so I went ahead and added some volunteer hours for the soccer club project I'm working on. It generates a $10/hour donation to the club, which is cool. 
• Met with a friend to get the download on my soccer club project, and started working on it again. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Wednesday Happenings

It's a pretty quiet week around here, after a wonderful college tour weekend. I'm really, really hoping Sam makes his decision soon, because we're very much in limbo right now. We loved our last tour (Oregon State) & had a fantastic experience. It's currently my top choice for him, but we shall see where he nets out. Nick was also super impressed with their engineering programs, so OSU has also made it onto his list for applications. 

There are a bunch of next steps that can't happen until Sam finalizes his decision, including: college start/end dates, travel plans, participation in a few events that conflict with one of his (potential) college start dates, housing forms, budgeting (all of the colleges are very different price points), etc, etc. I'm very much a person who wants to have a plan, as quickly as possible, so this process has been a great practice in patience for me. ;-) 

Sam had his first final this week, which I admittedly don't understand, since we aren't even to spring break yet. We're still waiting for Nick's SAT scores, high school tennis carries on, and we *think* we have a plan for spring break, but it's weather dependent. Oh, and I'm not sure what type of future job I'd like. 

I promised myself when I was laid off that I would not jump into the next thing. I would take the time to really give thought to what I want to do next, to allow myself to get bored (from a non-working perspective) & to be open ended on my thinking about next steps. 

There's been so many opportunities for me to work on my patience lately. These feel like important steps for me, but I do wish they weren't all coming at once. ;-) 

I have built some good habits lately, and have enjoyed the extra time to garden. Our yard needs so much time. I'm also looking forward to our spring break trip (whatever shape that takes at this point), as well as a hiking trip to Sedona with my mom at the end of the month. 

There's ambiguity in the longer term plans, but I can at least have a plan for today. So, here goes:

• Morning workout class
• Meditate
• Journal
• Farsi lesson
• Yard work (tree trimming today)
• Work on senior night stuff for soccer club
• Attend Nick's tennis match
• Marinate chicken shawarma this morning & then prep all sides + make dinner
• Drop off donations at the Goodwill
• List 3 more items on eBay
• Stretch
• Make another new Buy Nothing post
• Read my book by the pool for at least 30 minutes
• Vacuum

How do you handle ambiguity? Are you a patient person? What are you up to today?

Menu Plan Monday

 The boys & I are out of town over the weekend, so M will be largely on his own. Hopefully eating the rotisserie chicken I left out for him. ;-) 

• Friday - eating with my sister when we arrive in Portland
• Saturday - my mom is hosting a dinner at my sister's house, after our college tour. I believe the menu is lasagna
• Sunday - M is grilling for us
• Monday - chicken curry
• Tuesday - grilled chicken (f)
• Wednesday - leftover chicken curry
• Thursday - cauliflower taco rice (f)
• Friday - wings & potstickers

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

Frugal Friday

 A few frugal wins to report this week, but overall it's been pretty quiet. 

Saving on things we buy

• I've had a corporate paid for phone plan for ...ever, so I needed to get on my own plan. I found a family plan that allowed me + Nick + Sam to join for $10/month less than what I was paying just for the two of them. Definitely happy to save $10/month, and not have to pay more for my service. What a deal!
• Stopped by the store on Monday to pick up "April Fools" deals, which were loaves of the boys favorite bread for $1.99 (x2), 1 lb container of strawberries for $.99 (x2) & a cantaloupe at $1.99. All great deals!

Earning money

•  I had a few eBay sales this week:
• Sold clothes on eBay that Sam outgrew before he could wear (his chest has grown tremendously in the past few months, and he's also added a few inches). Made $14.
• I also sold a running belt & reffing socks that I tried to give away on Buy Nothing, but had no takers. Made $12, so not exactly getting rich, but two items out of the house, and into the hands of people who want them. 
• Also sold a sample makeup item, earning $9. 

Avoiding spending

• Nothing specific, although we've done a great job of avoiding restaurants, takeout, etc. 

Eating what we have

• Nick is currently playing club soccer & school tennis, and he has a voracious & unpredictable appetite. He missed dinner one night, and came home from school and ate six "mini" grilled cheese sandwiches. The bread was very small, so I'd say the equivalent of three normal grilled cheese sandwiches. We don't keep bread on hand very often, so he was pleased. 
• Had a "use it up" dinner on Friday. M had chicken wings that needed to go, Nick had pizza that had been in the freezer forever, and I had a chicken patty on top of a salad that needed to be used up. I had a glass of wine from an open bottle (I'm all about using it up. ;-)), as well. It was a quick & easy dinner. 
• Made cranberry muffins, and used orange juice lingering in the fridge, cranberries from the freezer, and the last of some sour cream/yogurt in the batch. They turned out great, and we now have muffins ready to go for quick snacks. 

For others

• Made a donation for the tennis coach
• Gave away a bunch on Buy Nothing
• Picked up trash at a tennis match + returned shopping carts at the grocery store

What about you? Any wins to share?

April Goals

 

My goals are largely the same in April, but I'm dialing a few of them up, to reflect the fact that I'm currently not working.

Financial:

• Pay federal & state taxes
• Sort out cash flow & remaining 2024 budget, post severance numbers
• Earn $300 in side hustle
• Monthly freezer challenge: use up fish sticks, rotisserie chicken & pulled pork

Family:

• Last college tour + confirm decision & begin college admission process (housing, forms, etc)
• Help Nick with college tasks (HS requirements)
• Both boys AP test prep
• Have a great & on budget spring break trip
• Continue to plan Costa Rica trip for the fall
• Plan one fun activity with the boys

Fitness:

• 10 stretching workouts
• Lose 3 lbs
• 12 strength training workouts
• Follow the No S diet

Personal:

• Get together with friends
• Practice Farsi 20 times
• Declutter 100 items from the house
• Meditate daily
• Complete The Science of Well Being course
• Complete resume revamp

That's it from my side. What about you? Any goals for April? Let us know, so we can cheer you on!

March Goal Recap

 March was a month where I crushed it, mostly because I had much more schedule flexibility & time than I expected to have. And, what a difference that makes! I also didn't have an international work trip, a four day conference in the city, and a typical work schedule. Lots of resulting wins.

Financial: (March is the month M & I received our annual bonuses. This will be our last big income surge, minus my severance pay out, as we will then move to a much leaner budget, with just M's salary.)

• Max Nick's 529 = done, although we opted for a CD instead. 
• Max our 401Ks (standard + catch up for M) = done, using bonuses
• Save the remainder of Sam's college expenses = done, using bonuses
• Put aside money for taxes = done. Yay for taxes. ;-) 

Family:

• Earn $300 in side hustle = $120/300
• Complete pantry challenge: = crushed it
• 2 cans of green beans
• 2 cans of coconut milk
• one bag of shrimp scampi
• corn dogs
• cauliflower rice
• pureed bananas
• lasagna noodles
• Top Ramen
• Help Sam finalize his decision = 15/17 acceptances, and last tour next weekend. Almost there!
• Get Nick started on the application process + SATs & AP tests for both boys = Nick finalized his list of schools, took the SATs, and both boys are beginning AP test prep
• Optimize points, perks, miles to keep travel costs in check while enjoying travel = crushed it
• Used Alaska credits/miles for Sam's graduation trip to my parents = saved $872 for miles + $565 of flight credit
• Used three free hotel nights for Sedona hiking trip = saved $977
• Used a gift card for my very cheap flight = saved $118
• Used Southwest points to book my mom's flight = saved $359
• Used points to book a two night stay for M's birthday & redeemed a room upgrade. Room cost = $1850 for two nights (although, we wouldn't pay that out of pocket!)
• Plan one fun activity per month with the boys = Easter egg hunt!

Fitness:

• Run a half marathon = Napa Half was very rainy & cold, but we did it!
• 8 stretching workouts = 10/8
• Lose 3 lbs = I lost 5 lbs!
• 10 strength training workouts = 19/10
• Follow the No S diet = doing really well with this

Personal:

• Get together with friends = so many get togethers! Hikes, walks, coffee, & lunches galore!
• Practice Farsi 10 times = 26/10
• Declutter 50 items from the house = 163/50
• Start pickle ball lessons = yes, 2 lessons so far

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

Menu Plan Monday

 Can't believe we're into April! Wow. Let's hope it eventually stops raining here, and I can get M to grill again. It's no fun to grill in the rain. ;-) 

• Friday - baked shrimp (f) + mystery Trader Joes appetizer (f) (leftover from the Super Bowl)
• Saturday - tacos
• Sunday - steak & mashed potatoes
• Monday - leftover tacos
• Tuesday - lasagna (f)
• Wednesday - any leftovers, or pizza
• Thursday - cauliflower taco rice (f)
• Friday - out of town for college tour

That's it from our side. What about you? What are you planning to eat this week? 

Grocery receipt & other Saturday stuff

 I got up this morning & went to my workout class, and came home & am making lunch for the teens. I have a bunch of stuff to do today, so M went to Costco while I was working out. 

Here's what we spent this week/what we bought:

• Milk - $6.19
• Grapes - $7.99
• Tomatoes - $7.99
• Pineapple - $3.99
• Bagels - $7.99
• Cauliflower - $6.49
• Bananas - $2.49
• Pears - $5.99
• Steak - $44.42 (Easter splurge dinner)
• Edamame - $5.39
• Broccoli - $4.99
• Apples - $5.99
• Strawberries - $4.99
• Cucumber - $5.99
• Ground beef - $31.59

Total = $152.57 - Slightly less than last week, but we needed fewer staples, and bought more expensive meat for Easter.

Remainder of the day:

• Run to the store for tortillas
• Make tacos (dinner)
• Pickle ball lessons with M (although, it's supposed to be rainy this afternoon, so we'll see)
• Vacuum
• Help boys with scholarship essays
• List a few things on eBay
• Arrange additional tutoring sessions
• Trim our hedge
• Create new Buy Nothing listing
• Sort out our phone plan

What about you? What are you up to today? Any fun dinner plans for tomorrow?

Frugal Friday

 Can't believe we're almost to April! Here are a few wins for the week, frugal & otherwise.  

Saving on things we buy

• I combined a Safeway coupon for grapes with a $1 off produce coupon, and bought 2+ lbs of grapes for $2, which was a reasonable deal. I used a gift card for that + on sale pretzels (snack of the week), spending $0 out of pocket. However, my Safeway gift card is down to $.93, so almost out!
• I converted some spare change that was rattling around in my bags to a $9 Starbucks voucher. Given I've been doing coffee meet ups & networking, happy to have the extra coffee money on hand. 
• Redeemed the last $20 of my grocery store rewards to pick up 5 cases of sparkling water (it was on sale) + a few other things we needed. All told, I spent $9.60 after my reward.

Earning money

• M & I received our annual bonuses. I tucked most of the money into a couple of CDs, each ear marked for the boys college expenses. Because we need the money over a short time horizon, investments don't make sense. Luckily, CDs are paying very good rates at the moment. We also maxed out our 401Ks, which is great news for me, as I was able to secure the full company 2024 match ahead of my layoff. 
• Sold a heart rate monitor on eBay, and made $20, and also sold a poster I received in Japan, earning $16.

Avoiding spending

• One of my neighbors had free tangerines from their tree out & available for taking, so I picked up four.

Eating what we have

• Met a coworker for lunch, and she bought me lunch as a "goodbye". There were enough leftovers that I also had a large salad for dinner. 
• Had a "use it up" smorgasbord lunch on Saturday, mixing several small portions of leftovers for myself, and the boys. It was nice to empty the fridge of lots of little options.
• Made the boys the last of the corn dogs! One more item checked off of my freezer/pantry clean out.
• Picked fresh thyme, rosemary & oregano for M's grilled chicken recipe. 
• Our very lovely neighbor brought over a gift for us, as a thank you to M for all of his work on her car. Totally unnecessary, but she always wants to make sure she thanks us. She purchased a Hickory Farms pack. I've put aside some of the shelf stable meat & cheese, and will take it to Sedona for my hiking trip with my mom. It will make a nice treat to have in the room. 
• On Monday, I saw we had leftover rice from Sunday's dinner, so I changed up our plan a bit. I took out the Korean beef (freezer) & we had that over rice. For M, I sauteed cabbage & onions in sesame oil, and he had his beef over that.
• I made Nick pizza rolls for a quick meal before a tennis match, and now am down to just one bag of pizza rolls. Hurrah. 
• Met another friend for lunch, and took half of my sandwich home. Sam ate that as a quick bite ahead of leaving for a school event.
• And, I used the last two cans of green beans! This have been on my pantry target list forever. 
• Had the remainder of the Korean beef over salad greens for lunch one day.

For others

• Put grocery carts back, picked up trash at the school tennis match, & started on my volunteer project for Nick's soccer club

What about you? Any wins to share? 

New routine

It's been four weeks since I've been "funemployed", and I've been trying out a new routine. I'm a big fan of structure & I knew that the sudden change from an overly structured day (way too much to do) to my new normal would be a big adjustment. I've had a list of things I want to do daily, some of which I've been doing for a long time, others I added in during COVID WFH, and still others that I've always wanted to consistently practice, but have come & gone based on my schedule.

My current daily routine is as follows:

• Coffee + catching up on blogs, bills, etc
• Journaling + 3 things I'm grateful for
• Farsi lesson (I use an app for this)
• Meditation
• Working out (I prefer a class, as it's at a set time & a harder workout than I'd normally do on my own.) 
• At least one house "chore"
• Yard work, if it's not raining
• Career type stuff (working on resume or LinkedIn, sending follow up notes to people who have reached out, researching potential future jobs)
• Meal prep

Aside from that, other days have other tasks (decluttering, listing things on eBay, etc). 

I find that the journaling is helpful for two reasons. 1) it helps me remember how I felt at any given point. My journal from the first few weeks of COVID lock downs is fascinating! 2) it's a reminder to write down three things I'm grateful for, every day. I'm pretty consistent with it, and feel like it's a good time to remember that there are always things to be happy about, even when things are not going how you'd hoped or anticipated. 

I'm taking Farsi lessons so I can better communicate with M's family. It was really hard to find a good app for learning (many of the more common apps don't offer it as an option), but now that I've found one, I'm in a good groove and feel like I really am picking up more words, which is rewarding. M does still chuckle at my pronunciation. ;-) 

As for the meditation, I attended a class way back through work (maybe 7 years ago) & they shared a lot of the benefits of meditation. I gave it a try & it does help me manage stress. I've been pretty sporadic with it until recently. I've also been taking a free online class via Yale (The Science of Well Being), which I highly recommend, and the class talks about how helpful meditation is, both in the moment, and in the longer term. I've added it consistently back to my routine. I'm currently doing a five minute guided meditation via Headspace (an app), because it's such a low barrier to entry. But, I do want to do longer meditations, as you get additional benefits for a slightly longer time period. But, five minutes is still great, and I'm trying to build the habit. There is plenty of research out there about what happens to your brain when you meditate, but for me personally, it gives me more patience, and helps me live more in the moment. Both of which are things I'm working on. 

Working out has been a sanity saver for me at many points in my life, but particularly now. It really helps me manage my stress level, and I also really like the structure & the routine of a class schedule, a commitment, & getting out to see other people. It's good for your health, of course, but for me, it's really good for my mental health. As with everything, people have to experiment to see what works for them (physically), and what they enjoy the most, because sticking with a workout routine isn't going to happen unless you like the activity. 

I both love & hate yard work. Our yard has many, many types of plants from the former owners. Because there are so many varieties, it's a never ending task of weeding, picking up leaves, trimming, etc. It's much more high maintenance than I would ever choose in a million years. But, I do enjoy being outside & getting into the flow, so to speak. M & I have discussed many times, and we could each spend an hour outside working in the yard every day, and it would never be "done". Always too much to do!

Hope that was helpful, and I'd love to hear more about your daily habits!

Planning an inexpensive bucket list trip

I'm working on planning a bucket list trip to Costa Rica for me + M (our anniversary, this fall), while trying to keep it as inexpensive as possible. 

We have a lot of "assets/perks" available in 2024 that will be expiring, so we want to maximize the travel perks before they disappear or expire in 2025. 

Here's what we're thinking so far:

• Flights for 2 to Costa Rica - use travel credits (no out of pocket)
• Use Hyatt points for a week at an all inclusive, adult only hotel, and use a guaranteed suite upgrade - no out of pocket. Given hotel status & the upgrade, we would get a bunch of other perks included. 
• We will need to pay for transportation to/from the hotel & the airport locally, as well as any activities not included in the all inclusive. 
• We will fly my parents in to take care of (just!) Nick, as we typically do
• We will also leave cash for my parents for the week, when they are at our house

All told, we'd love to do the trip for $1500 or so, which seems quite realistic given our options. If I can pull this out, it would be a big frugal win! We need to wait to see where Sam will be going to college before we can book, as many colleges have parents weekend around our anniversary, and will need to adjust the timing accordingly.

What about you? Any bucket list trips you've done/are planning, and tips for how you kept the cost down? Any major travel wins scored with points, miles, perks, etc? Please share! 

As for today, I finally made progress on my resume, & handed it off to the resume service. Hurrah for progress!

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

• Workout class (this one is a running only class, which will gives my arms a bit of a break, after a lot of strength training)
• Stretching
• Lunch catch up with a friend
• Start on my volunteer project for the soccer club
• Attend Nick's tennis match
• Journal
• Meditate
• Farsi lesson
• Find 5 items to declutter
• List 2 items on eBay
• Spot clean one area of the house

Menu Plan Monday

I'm working on building at longer range meal plans, that take into account what's in our freezer & needs to be used up. So far, it's helping me remember to mix in freezer prepped meals with other dinners, so let's hope I can keep it up. The (f)s are something from the freezer

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

• Friday - appetizer style meal, including the Trader Joes appetizer purchased for the Super Bowl (f). Likely with chicken wings (f)
• Saturday - Philly cheese steaks (f)
• Sunday - grilled chicken & rice
• Monday - pulled pork (f) on buns
• Tuesday - spaghetti & meatballs (f) + garlic bread (f)
• Wednesday - leftover chicken & rice
• Thursday - leftover spaghetti & meatballs + garlic bread (f)
• Friday - breaded shrimp (f) + salad

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

A grocery stop & Sunday happenings

I've been keeping a close eye on our grocery spending lately. M prefers doing the Costco run, & I go to every other store we might need (typically one of either the store down the block, or Trader Joes, occasionally Safeway on my way back from the gym). 

We are well under our grocery budget for the year, which makes me happy. I thought I'd share what we bought on a recent Costco trip & their prices, as I always enjoy a peek into what others purchase:

• Milk - $6.19
• Sparkling water - $8.99 + $1.20 state tax (this is a splurge for sure)
• Garbanzo beans (canned) for hummus - $8.79
• Salmon - $15.88
• Chicken wings - $15.99
• 3 pack of cucumber - $5.99
• Plums - $5.99
• Bananas - $2.49
• Two bags of salad - $8.99
• Cauliflower - $6.49
• Strawberries - $4.99
• Feta - $5.99
• 4 lbs of apples - $5.99
• Pears - $5.99
• Butter - $13.99
• Olive oil - $14.49
• 3 lbs of limes - $6.99
• Shishito peppers - $5.99
• Peanuts - $7.99

Total = $159.40

We have a few things that will last for longer than a week (garbanzo beans, butter, wings, olive oil, peanuts & limes) but the rest will be largely eaten in a week. Our grocery stops are typically like this: majority of items we will consume in a week, but always a few things that will last much longer. As you can see, we buy a lot of produce. We don't keep treats in the house, and the teens eat a bowl of fruit every evening after dinner. We also have a salad with dinner, and I tend to have a salad for lunch. The chicken wings will make several Friday "appetizer style" dinners. M loves salmon, and will likely have that for 3+ dinners. On a week when he buys salmon, I tend to serve more carb focused meals, which the teens enjoy, but M can't eat. 

What else am I up to today? M is in charge of dinner again (woohoo!), grilled chicken & rice. Hopefully it stops raining. 

• Clean the kitchen
• Work on my resume
• Farsi lesson
• Journal
• Meditate
• Workout class
• Stretch
• Pay calculus tutor
• Help Sam with essay
• Corral teens into their bathroom chores
• Package & mail eBay sale
• Make schedule for next week

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Saturday Happenings

I was up bright & early this morning, and got a few things done before I went to my gym class (Farsi practice, journal, meditation), worked a bit on my resume, & also kicked started a toiletry clean out project. Yikes. There's stuff all over the counters! I guess I've been collecting things on all of my travels, and definitely don't need it all. Time to get organized & pass things on to folks who will use them, and declutter what I have.

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

• Attend Nick's first soccer game
• Wash Nick's soccer uniform
• Declutter/organize toiletries
• Clean out bathroom cabinet
• Work on resume (drat. I have such writer's block on this at the moment)
• Create a big Buy Nothing listing
• Pickle ball lessons (assuming it stops raining)

That's pretty much it on my side. M is making Philly Cheese steaks for dinner tonight. Yum! What are you up to today?

Frugal Friday

 It's been another good week for making smart money decisions, reducing waste & generally trying to be good stewards of our resources. Having more time to think about these things certainly helps. 

Saving on things we buy

• As I mentioned in my travel post, I'm working hard to plan a few trips, and keep costs down as much as possible. I have a few nice wins, using miles/points/credits/etc, which also aligns well with my 2024 goal of spending down all of these credits, and not letting things go to waste. Here's how we saved on travel planning:
• Used three free hotel nights for the Sedona hiking trip with my mom, saving $977
• Used a gift card for my very cheap flight - saving $118
• Used Southwest points to book my mom's flight, saving $359
• Used points to book a two night stay for M's birthday, saving $1500. I also redeemed a free room upgrade, resulting in a suite. We wouldn't pay out of pocket for that cost, but that room runs closer to $1850 for two nights (nuts!)
• Used grocery store rewards to pick up things we need for dinners this week, as well as a few birthday treats for Nick. 

Earning money

• Listed a couple of items on eBay. One of my items sold, yielding $8. 
• My coworker mentioned that our work reimbursement site still works (there was conflicting guidance on this) until our employment actually ends. It happens that I have three items for reimbursement (we have a small stipend for personal development). I've submitted two of them, and will add receipts once the classes are over (a requirement). I'll earn ~$100 or so after taxes, thanks to this. 

Avoiding spending

• Picked up a couple of dinner items at Safeway, and used my gift card, spending $0 out of pocket.
• I'm doing a lot of networking/casual meet ups with people, and I always offer coffee or a walk for our meet up option. About half choose the walk, which I always prefer, which definitely keeps the cost down. Coffee is an inexpensive option compared to lunch or dinner, however. 

Eating what we have

• Packed a sandwich & fruit to eat at Nick's soccer game, on a very busy Saturday. 
• *Finally* used a package of Top Ramen that has been in the pantry for almost forever, in chicken yakisoba
• Made homemade hummus out of the two lonely cans of chickpeas that had been in the pantry forever, and the just expired jar of tahini sauce. It's always a hit in our family, so I need to make it more often. 
• Used the second half of a box of lasagna noodles (left over from whenever my parents were last visiting) to make ...you guessed it, lasagna for dinner. Bonus, I served it with garlic bread, and the baguette for that came from the freezer. 
• Made progress on the shrimp scampi that was in the freezer, by adding it to the cheater pad thai dish we picked up at Costco. It was a delicious add on, and bulked out the meal quite a bit more. 

For others

• Picked up trash on the soccer field, on my way to & from Nick's game (and, found a dime next to the trash)
• Our neighbor had somehow gotten her car wedged against the wall of her garage (damaging the side panel of her car.) She came and asked M to help her get it out with the least amount of additional damage. I assisted, but he did most of the work & did an amazing job getting it out with no additional scrapes. He also spent a few hours on Sunday buffing the car out, getting basically all of the paint transfer off. He saved her at least $1500 of body work, and I worked in the yard & we chatted while he was working. I admire his patience, because it was very, very tedious work. 
• Found myself volunteering for yet another senior night event - this one for club soccer's senior night. My friend promises me that this one is much less work. We shall see ;-) 

What about you? Any wins to share?

How do you menu plan?

 I menu plan weekly, and have tried a variety of options. I'm considering building out more of a monthly view, so I can plug in prepped dinners (from the freezer - leftovers I've frozen) & other "need to use them up" items. I'm hoping it also helps give me a better view of weeks where we need easier options (e.g. returning from travel), or weeks where we will be gone (spring break, etc). Do you do anything like this? If so, please share tips & your planning process!

In the next couple of months, we have a few things going on: 1) final college tour + bonus visit to see my family (they are close by) 2) spring break road trip 3) Sedona with my mom. Looking forward to all three, and it's nice not to worry about taking time off, catching up with work after time off, working on a coverage plan, and catching up on "life" when I get back. Discounting our race weekend in Napa, this will be the first time I've ever traveled without worrying about all of those things, & I'm looking forward to it.

Things that I'm up to today:

• Going to a workout class
• Meeting up with a friend of a friend who is a professor, and chatting with her about what that's like
• Helping both boys with scholarship applications
• Work on Nick's college application work back schedule
• Clean the bathrooms
• Work on my resume
• Add a few things to the calendar
• We receive our annual bonuses tomorrow, & I now know how much they will be exactly for, so doing some financial planning
• Watch Nick's tennis match
• Leftovers for dinner

Things that I try to do every day:

• Journal
• Farsi lessons
• Meditate
• 20 minutes of yard work (or, more). Usually more

Would love to hear more about how you meal plan & what works for you. Or, what you're up to today!

Decluttering

Tess asked a question in my last post about how I declutter. I thought it might be helpful to share the process I used, and would love to hear from anyone else how they approach this.

I don't have a formal "process", but here's how I generally approach it.

How to find things to get rid of:

1) For "hot" areas of the house, I go through them regularly. An example of this would be a three tiered tray where we keep paperwork, checks, to do items, etc. Because that tray is constantly in flux, it needs a regular review, where I pull out things that I've dealt with, reminds me of any tasks that still need to be handled, and I shred/recycle everything else.

2) I go through my closet after a season. If I didn't wear something after the appropriate season, I ask myself why I'm hanging on to the item. Sometimes there's a reasonable answer, but most of the time, it means I can let the item go. I try to stick to a one in one out rule, if I'm replacing something. But, I also have more than enough, so try to go beyond that as well.

3) The boys stuff is trickier. They are growing, so their clothes needs a different approach. I "force" them to sit with me every six months or so, they try on any items that they aren't wearing regularly, and we cull what doesn't fit. Similarly, they have hobbies that they don't participate in, or old mementos, and I do pull things aside & talk to them about whether they still want/need the items. But, this is their choice, of course. I don't get rid of stuff without their permission, but try to help them along.

4) I also look for areas of the house that aren't frequently touched (ski bags get reviewed at the end of each season - do we have enough ski socks? Is anything missing? Can anything be removed?) Same with closets, drawers, etc. 

5) I try to go through every area of the house, but in phases. Some things need infrequent intervention (the kitchen doesn't change much, for example), but the hall closet... that place just collects random things & I feel like every time I look in there, it's ready for another decluttering & organizing session.

Now, moving on to what I do with all of the items I find:

1) If it's new, worth more than $15 or so, I try to sell it. I prefer Facebook Marketplace, as there are no fees, and it's just generally easier.

2) I use eBay if Facebook Marketplace isn't an option (too niche, light weight/easy to ship, more valuable) & I need a broader group of buyers.

3) 90% of things that are used, I give away, unless they are very niche. I choose to try & sell niche items, because they are much more likely to get purchased vs the smaller group of BN people I have available to review my items. My first place I offer things is Buy Nothing. I probably post 10 items per week, & have great success giving things away. I have a good sense of what people are interested in. Teen clothes are very, very popular, as are kitchen items, anything ski/winter related, etc. 

4) If the item doesn't move on BN, I move on to a more traditional donation - Goodwill. I try to start with BN, because it's much more likely the item won't be tossed if it goes to someone who intentionally sought it out. But, Goodwill works in a pinch. I try to really ask myself if the item still holds value. If it does, great, I will donate it.

5) For paper work or anything that can be recycled, I do that. We have a local sports store that recycles old sneakers, so I always have a collection of those going as well, waiting to be dropped off.

6) Finally, there are some things that need to be tossed. I try to keep this to the smallest amount possible, as putting things in the landfill makes me sad and is the opposite of my goal to reduce, reuse, pass things on, etc. 

Hope that was helpful! I love decluttering, and am happy to share other thoughts, if you have questions! What about you? How do you declutter your house?

Mid month goal check in

 March is whizzing by! It's been a very different month for me, as I'm not working. I have been spending quite a bit of time "browsing" jobs, having meetings with various folks, doing some networking, etc. But, still lots of time for productivity and goals. 

Financial:

• Set new goals & come up with revised budget, post layoff - I've made good progress on this, and have decided to buy CDs for the remaining college expenses, so the money is tucked away. 
• Max Nick's 529 - haven't received our bonuses yet
• Max our 401Ks - haven't received our bonuses yet
• Put aside money for taxes - same as above, waiting on bonuses
• Save any remaining bonus money for Sam's college expenses - ditto above
• Earn $300 in side hustle - made $75.50
• Pantry/freezer challenge (green beans, coconut milk, shrimp scampi, corn dogs, fish sticks). - I've made progress on some of this (used up 4 more corn dogs & 1/2 a bag of shrimp scampi), but I've also used up a lot of other items: a very old bag of cauliflower rice, the end of a bag of corn, a bag of frozen pureed bananas, gave away a can of peaches, tossed pantry expired food, made yakisoba out of an ancient package of Top Ramen, made hummus out of soon to expire garbanzo beans/tahini, & made lasagna out of a package of noodles that had been in the pantry forever. So, feeling really good about progress on this one. 

Family:

• Help Sam finalize college decisions - final college tour in April
• Get Nick started on the college process - a little progress, but SATs are scheduled
• Optimize points, perks, miles - lots of progress here:
• Used points to cover two nights at a fancy hotel in Napa
• Used Southwest miles to cover my mom's flight to Sedona
• Used Hyatt free night awards to cover 3 of 4 nights in Sedona
• My Sedona flight was very inexpensive ($118), but used a gift card to cover that
• Used Hyatt points to cover two nights at a hotel in Carmel for M's birthday. Bonus, used a suite upgrade award to upgrade the room for free. 
• Found an old Safeway gift card, and have been picking up meal planning items with that.
• Used a CVS gift card to buy Easter items
• Plan one fun activity with the boys - we are planning a spring break trip

Fitness:

• Run a half marathon - done!
• 8 stretching workouts - 5/10 so far
• Lose 3 lbs - yes, I've lost 3 lbs!
• 10 strength training workouts - 9/10 so far
• Follow the No S diet - really doing well with this. My new schedule works so that I fast in the morning, and I have much fewer snack temptations at home. Bonus that I'm not stressed out about work & mindlessly stress eating. 

Personal: 

• Get together with friends. - I suddenly have much more free time. Met a friend for a workout + coffee, another friend for a wine + chat, and had the long weekend with my mom & sister in Napa. Also, met two coworkers for a walk, one friend for an early morning hike, and another coworker for a lunch. 
• Practice Farsi 10 times - 11/10 so far
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 54/50
• Start pickle ball lessons with M - yes, we started last weekend & we had a great time!

What about you? How are you doing with your March goals?

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm working hard on cleaning out lingering pantry & freezer items, and I'll try & make better notes on my menu of when I'm using things up. It's helpful for myself & maybe it will inspire others. :-) 

• Friday - an appetizer style meal: coconut shrimp, gyozas, edamame
• Saturday - lasagna & garlic bread (using up lasagna noodles from my parents last visit + tomato paste that has been sitting around forever + baguette from the freezer)
• Sunday - pizza
• Monday - grilled burgers & oven baked fries (using up a very old bag of fries)
• Tuesday - chicken yakisoba (using up an old package of Top Ramen noodles, from the pantry)
• Wednesday - lasagna 
• Thursday - yakisoba
• Friday - probably another appetizer style meal. 

What about you? What's on your menu for the week?

Sunday Things

It's another busy day, but I find that I don't mind busy weekends now that I have the rest of the week to catch up, and I'm not trying to use weekends to prep for the work week ahead. I still try to be productive, but the pressure is off.

Yesterday was Nick's first spring club soccer game. Knowing the end is in sight, and how quickly it goes, I try to make it to as many matches as possible. The keeper went out with a head injury (he's okay, but they are very cautious with head injuries in soccer, as they should be), so Nick went in as goalie. He hasn't played that position in five or so years, and had one play where he dove to save a shot & slid across the turf on his face. He missed the shot as well. It don't think it was his favorite game, but was a good teammate & filled in. I'm glad I was there to support him, and also bring him water, because... despite being 17, sometimes you forget your water bottle. ;-)

M & I had pickle ball lessons, which were so much fun. I love learning something new together. We came home & I made chicken yakisoba for the two of us, while the teens were out with friends.

As for today, it should be a fun day. Here's what we're up to:

• Workout class this morning
• Nick has calculus tutoring
• I'm meeting up with a friend for a walk
• We're having takeout birthday pizza for dinner
• Washing the sheets
• Drying all of the rugs I washed
• Gift opening
• I'd like to make hummus
• Scroll through LinkedIn & see if there's anything interesting
• Read my book in the sunshine by the pool 

That's it for us. What about you? 

Saturday Happenings

It appears that I now can comment on my own blog again, but my comments need approval. From myself. 😂 Anyway, I'll give that a try, & also test out comments on a few other blogs. 

Here's what I'm up to today:

• Workout class this morning
• From there, I head straight to Nick's soccer game
• As soon as I get back from soccer, I'll head home to grab lunch & then go to my first pickle ball lesson with M. It's been on our list to sign up for pickle ball lessons since we tried it in October on vacation. Glad we finally made it happen!
• Making chicken yakisoba for dinner
• Yard work
• Laundry
• Stop by the store
• Work on our spring break plans

That's it! I also have a new laptop, and need to get everything transferred over, which is always a real treat.

What about you? What are you up to today? 

Frugal Friday

This week is really about using things up (rewards, gift cards, travel credits, food, etc), so that will be the theme of today's post. ;-) Having more time to work through all of these things is definitely useful, so I'll count that as a win.

Saving on things we buy:

• Used two $20 grocery store rewards. On the first trip, I picked up items I needed for dinners this week, plus a few sale items ($.99 sourdough bakery bread, grapes, & cheese). I was on my way home when Sam (home sick with the flu) asked for a variety of drink options (Gatorade, ginger ale, etc). I used another $20 grocery store reward, and combined my purchase with the drinks I needed to pick up for Nick's soccer event, to use up another $20 reward. 
• Went through all of my Fetch gift cards, and verified the balances, marked the used ones so they would no longer appear, and found two gift cards that were still available, with a combined $35 balance. One is for Safeway, which I'll use once I'm done with the current gift card, and the other is for Nike, which I'll use the next time I need to order Nick new tennis shoes. 

Earning money:

• In a real frugal fail, I was reviewing an offer from a buyer on eBay who was driving me crazy offering way under listing, then when I'd counter, he'd raise his offer by $.50 at a time. I kept declining, but eventually was at the store, and hit accept on his last offer. I failed to review my own listing, which apparently included free shipping. I was already selling it way under my original price, so I made a grand total of $.50. Don't be like me. 
• A coworker sent me a small bonus ($75) for a project I'd finished just before the layoffs. 

Avoiding spending:

• It's one of our 2024 goals to reduce travel costs by using points, miles, credits, etc. We are going to Portland in June for Sam's graduation party, plus a 70th birthday biking event for my uncle. Flights for four are super pricey! I was able to book my flights + M's flight using miles (saving $872), and used a flight credit for the boys flights, saving $565. Our out of pocket was $307, vs the standard $1744, so a big win. 
• Used a gift card to make a purchase at Safeway. I've been keeping a closer eye on the ads, and picked up cheese, Goldfish crackers (I swap through a variety of snacks, as we try to keep only 1 available at any time. These made the rotation for the month, given price!), & apples. Used $23 of a gift card, and spent $0 out of pocket. 
• When Safeway swapped their ads, I went another day to pick up couple of other items I need for meals next week, including cabbage at $.37/lb. I used my gift card again, so no out of pocket spent. There is a Safeway in the parking lot of my gym, so it's now super convenient to stop & pick things up when I'm done working out. 
• Disputed a charge for something Amazon couldn't explain, didn't know what it was, and I didn't order, saving $16.

Eating what we have:

• Turned the $.99 sourdough bread into grilled cheese sandwiches for the teens. Minus a huge chunk someone tore off the bread before I could rescue it. 
• Used up extra cilantro, avocado & sour cream in chicken fajitas. They were leftover from the cauliflower taco rice. I remembered to plan another dish that would use up the leftovers, which was a win!
• Ate lots of leftovers for lunches this week, and used up all of the Mexican themed sides (cilantro, avocado & sour cream) for various dishes.
• Used lots of fresh mint (from the garden) in M's salads, per his request. He loves fresh mint. 
• Planned meals for next week around what we have in the pantry & need to use up.
• Made corn dogs for Nick one night, when he missed dinner (again) due to a late tennis match. The corn dogs have been on my "use it up" list for a while. 

For others:

• This is silly, but there was a cart blocking not one but two parking spots at the grocery store near my house. It has a small lot to start with. I parked my car pretty far out, and then stopped & picked up the cart on my way, freeing up the spots for others.
• Shared some resources with my coworker, who was also laid off. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Some travel planning

It's strange to not be worrying about vacation day/time off requests right now! 

M & I are planning a last minute spring break trip with the kids, and have largely aligned on a road trip to Redwoods National Park, with a one day detour to Lassen National Park. I have free Hyatt nights I'd hoped to use, as they are expiring soon, but unfortunately, there are no Hyatts near either national park. Instead, we opted for inexpensive lodging nearby. I've set a target budget for the trip, to include gas, lodging & food. Let's see how we do. This will be the last spring break where both boys are available (college & high school spring breaks don't overlap), so we wanted to take advantage. 

As for the free Hyatt nights, I've been wanting to do a hiking trip to Sedona, so I'm in the process of seeing if I can book a few nights there at the end of April. My mom will likely join, as we travel well together, and she's retired. ;-) I have two free nights, and the hotel is reasonable for the other three nights. I have flight credits for myself & to cover my mom, so that just leaves us with three nights at the hotel, plus food. Our activities will largely be hiking, and relaxing at the hotel. Similar to the above, I've set a target budget for the trip, and am hoping to keep things in check.

And finally, I have one free Hyatt night for a much higher end property, so I've reached out to see if I can book Carmel Valley Ranch (so nice!) at the end of June, for M's birthday. I would use the free night voucher, plus points for a second night. CVR is in driving distance to our house, so it would just be food for that trip. 

I'm happy I finally went through & came up with some options to use our free nights. Originally, we were planning to use all of our hotel perks/status/points for our Turkey trip. With that canceled, and our benefits expiring before that trip will happen, we need to find creative options. But, we need to do that with budget in mind. 

What, if any, travel is top of mind for you at the moment? 

Ongoing blogger problems & other things

First off, apologies that I cannot comment on your blogs. In fact, I can't even reply to comments on my own blog. Something is really not working & I need to figure out why I can log in to publish posts, but am then logged out to comment. So irritating. Please know that I do read & appreciate each of your comments, even if I can't reply right now.

For SAM, here are the kind of kebabs my husband makes. He uses his dad's recipe, but this is the general idea. We serve our with tadiq (Persian rice), grilled tomatoes, & maast o khiar (yogurt dipping sauce). 

In no particular order, random thoughts for the day:

• I've been up since 4:45. I was having work anxiety dreams, so I figured it was better just to get up.
• For my birthday, M bought me a total indulgence milk frother. It has upleveled my coffee so much. Every morning when I drink my one latte, I get a kick out of it. I tried it at a friend's house, wrote it off as a huge indulgence after pricing it, and was so pleased when M got it for me. 
• I've made enough progress cleaning out the freezer that I could wipe part of the interior this weekend. Woohoo!
• I've lost 2.5 lbs in the last couple of weeks. A few things that have helped: 
• lots of exercise & consistency
• no work snacks/meals (my meals are probably better calorie controlled)
• my workout classes are later than I normally go, & I don't like to eat ahead of such a hard workout. Therefore, no breakfast & I fast until after my workout class
• stress, which I don't recommend ;-) 
• Still trying to figure out a spring break option with the teens. They are very, very different people, so finding a mutually agreeable option has been a challenge! We're leaning towards a road trip to Redwoods National Park, which none of us have ever been to. 
• I have a couple of work calls today. The first one is with my boss's boss's boss, and I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to say. I hope it's not awkward. I appreciate him wanting to check in post-layoff, but again... has the potential to be awkward. The second call is with an internal recruiter. Not only are there no jobs open, but I'd really have to be excited about a role at this point to consider it. But, my laid off coworker found the call helpful, so I figure it's a small time investment.
• I'm taking the free Coursera course "The Science of Well Being", and love it! Many of the things I already do, but it's super useful to here the "why" behind each of those, and I'm learning new things along the way. 

Have a great day, everyone!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm experimenting with what works best for us menu & food prep wise, while I'm in this new phase of life. I'll likely continue to do leftovers, but add in another "new" recipe during the week, which I wouldn't have tried before, given my schedule. 

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

• Friday - garlic shrimp
• Saturday - chicken fajitas
• Sunday - kebabs & rice
• Monday - leftover fajitas
• Tuesday - leftover kebabs & rice
• Wednesday - beef and cauliflower taco skillet
• Thursday - any remaining leftovers
• Friday - gyozos & wings

What about you? Any new recipes to share? I tried the peanut chicken noodle recipe, and we loved it! We doubled it, and have enough for two dinners. We served ours with the chopped peanuts, and squeezed some fresh lime on top, and added a bit of sriracha on top for a bit more spice. 

March goals check in

 March has been quite a ride so far! I was supposed to be leaving for Tokyo this morning, made even more "fun" by daylight savings. I'm grateful to not be on that flight.

Financial:

• Set new goals & come up with revised budget, post layoff - I've made good progress on this
• Max Nick's 529 - haven't received our bonuses yet
• Max our 401Ks- haven't received our bonuses yet
• Put aside money for taxes- haven't received our bonuses yet
• Save any remaining bonus money for Sam's college expenses- haven't received our bonuses yet
• Earn $300 in side hustle - no progress on this
• Pantry/freezer challenge: use up:. I made progress, but mostly not on these items (used 1/2 a bag of the shrimp scampi.) I did use up a very old bag of cauliflower rice & the end of a bag of corn, made muffins out of a bag of pureed bananas, gave away a can of peaches & tossed some expired food. So, overall good progress, just not much on these items. 
• 2 cans of green beans
• 2 cans of coconut milk
• one bag of shrimp scampi
• the rest of the corn dogs
• almost full bag of fish sticks

Family:

• Help Sam finalize his decisions - final college tour in April
• Get Nick started on the college process - minimal progress
• Optimize points, perks, miles. - Used points to cover two nights at a very fancy hotel in Napa
• Plan one fun activity with the boys - planning a spring break trip for April

Fitness:

• Run a half marathon - done!
• 8 stretching workouts - 3/10 so far
• Lose 3 lbs - 1.5 lbs lost
• 10 strength training workouts - 3/10 so far
• Follow the No S diet - yes, my new schedule works well with this, and much fewer snack temptations at home

Personal:

• Get together with friends. - I suddenly have more free time. Met a friend for a workout + coffee, another friend for wine + chat, and had the long weekend with my mom & sister in Napa. 
• Practice Farsi 10 times - 5/10
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 12/50
• Start pickle ball lessons - they start next weekend!

What about you? How are you doing with your March goals?

Saturday Happenings

I'm finding "the weekend" to be a strange concept, when I'm not working. I'm so used to rushing, & trying to carve out a small window of relaxation among the need to be productive on weekends. It's very different to feel like it's a regular day, where I can get things done, but not be stressed. 

Sam had the flu yesterday, and it was also strange to be able to run around & pick up drinks for him, check on him every hour, clean up vomit & not be worried about work. Having the flexibility to take care of him felt like a real luxury. I'm so, so lucky in that I think he's missed a total of 3 days of school since we moved to California, so staying home sick isn't something he's done much of. 

As for today, here's what I'm currently planning to do today:

• Workout class
• Make muffins
• Farsi lesson
• Journal
• Yard work
• Clean out the freezer, and reorganize a few things
• Organize pantry
• List a few things on Buy Nothing
• Wrap Nick's birthday gifts

What are you up to today? Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!