Frugal Friday

It's been a quiet week, as we try to avoid spending money & work on other things. There was good "use it up" freezer progress, which is always nice. 

Saving on things we buy

• I've really tried to avoid spending lately, and I've largely stayed out of the stores. I did upload another gas reward to my credit card, and received $2 back from a gas stop Nick made.

Earning money

• Stopped by the bank to shuffle around a couple of CDs that were in their renewal period. I opted for a slightly lower rate, but a much longer term (10 months vs 4), as who knows what type of interest rate will be available in 4 months. Lots of volatility in all of the financial markets right now. 
• Cashed out some survey rewards & made a whopping $7
• Sold a pair of shoes on eBay & earned $10

Avoiding spending

• I reached out to the college about some fees on Sam's college bill that didn't make a lot of sense. I had to file an appeal, but we received the money back & saved $375. 

Eating what we have

• We've eaten a lot of leftovers this week! Kebabs & rice, with M making additional rice to round out the second meal of the kebabs. We finished off the last of a container of yogurt in the tzatziki sauce as well.
• We got home late from Nick's senior night, so I found a bag of coconut shrimp & a few spring rolls in the freezer. I baked those up & served with a salad for a quick meal.
• I also defrosted a container of carnitas. When I made these the first time, they weren't very popular, so putting them in the freezer probably wasn't going to improve their taste. ;-) I doctored them up with some additional seasoning this time around, and they were fine. Still not my favorite, but they were good enough to enjoy for dinner. Sam had his in tacos, using up additional cheese & salsa, plus the tortillas that need to be used. I had mine over a salad.
• M is not a carnitas fan, so he had the last of a kebab, plus a few leftover chicken wings. 
• We continue to use up lettuce & basil from the garden & lemons from our tree.

For others 

• Had a call with the student I'm mentoring
• Gave away some kitchen stuff on Buy Nothing

That's it from our side. What about you? Any wins to share?

Tuesday Things

Nick had his senior night for tennis yesterday, and it was so fun to see him with all of his friends. It was the opposite of soccer senior night, as it was really, really warm instead of super cold. I was wearing jeans and a top & I was *very* warm. He has a really lovely friend group, and they all showed up with signs, flowers & banners for all of the boys. I will miss seeing all of his friends at the house.

As for today, I'm not feeling like doing much, but things still need to get done! I am not going to my workout class, because I (possibly?) have an interview at 11. This hiring manager has been nothing but flaky for a month. It's so frustrating when someone doesn't confirm in advance, as of course, I adjust my schedule to accommodate his. That's no problem, but on the fourth reschedule, I'm less enthusiastic. 

Other things going on:

• Recruiter call
• Laundry
• Yard work
• Some sort of exercise, likely after my recruiter call
• Figure out toll bill payment
• Update budget
• Meditate

That's pretty much it. I will be thrilled if I can get myself together enough to accomplish this list! What's on your to do list today?

Fitness Monday

April is whizzing by! I find it so much easier to stay on track when I don't have travel planned. One of my goals is to figure out how to stay more on my plan when I do travel, because I love it, and I know that eventually when we are retired, I'll want to be traveling semi-regularly. But, I'll still need to stay on a healthy eating plan.

Weight: My weight is down 1.2 lbs from last week, which is up about .2lbs from my low of 2025. 

Calories: Yesterday was a day of eating chocolate cake, drinking mimosas & having a few pieces of Easter candy. Combined with a delicious Persian dinner. Otherwise, the week was really good on the calorie & nutrition front, and my average daily calories for the week was 1487. 

Steps: I'm doing a good job of getting in 12k steps/day, and the nice weather is always helpful on that front. My daily average for the week was 15,233, so well over my target. 

Workouts:

• 3 fitness classes
• 2 - 1 hour elliptical workouts (while I watched classes for my teaching)
• 1 - 3 mile walk

Overall nutrition: Other than yesterday, it was a pretty successful week. Lots of salads for lunches, stayed on track with eating & minimal snacking, etc. 

What about you? How was your health & fitness this week?

Menu Plan Sunday

Happy Easter, for anyone celebrating. We will be having our traditional egg hunt, plus mimosas on the patio. 

Here's what we're having for dinner this week:

• Friday - wings & pot stickers
• Saturday - one pan chicken teriyaki rice
• Sunday - kebabs & rice, plus cupcakes (Nick is having two bonus guests for dinner)
• Monday - leftover chicken teriyaki rice
• Tuesday - leftover kebabs & rice
• Wednesday - carnitas (in either tortillas, or over salads)
• Thursday - I have my class, so I'll have a snacky dinner, and everyone else will eat pizza
• Friday - TBD

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

Frugal Friday

 It's been another week, and we are looking forward to Easter this weekend. Nick is having a few friends over for dinner, where M will be making Persian kebabs & rice. I'm in charge of dessert, although I haven't figured out what I'm making yet. 

Saving on things we buy

• Picked up a few things we needed at the store (a family sized bag of Caesar salad, two containers of oat milk & the largest sized of unsweetened iced tea), and redeemed a $10 reward. I paid $7.67 out of pocket, and uploaded my receipt to Fetch. I also earned $.05 back on iBotta for the oat milk & found $.10 in the change return at the self check out. Making me rich! ;-) 
• Picked up plants for our garden boxes, and used a Home Depot gift card. I bought the Home Depot gift cards at our grocery store, as every $50 generated a $10 reward. 
• This doesn't really fit into any other category, but I filled out both boys taxes, & they are getting a small amount back ($80 & $140). I used two different tax software programs, as one didn't work for Nick. But, I paid $14.99 for Sam's state return, and figured out a way to do it differently next year & get it for free. Lesson learned. Nick's entire return was free. 
• Used a CVS Extra Care reward & a couple of coupons to pick up: two gift cards for the boys for their Easter baskets, some candy, and Advil. I also earned $2 back on iBotta, as well as 4% back on the full purchase from iBotta. I tried to choose candy that I won't eat before Easter, so wish me luck. 

Earning money

• Cashed out additional survey money ($15)
• Received a Costco executive rebate of $354. I minus out the cost of the membership, leaving us with $224 that I'll count towards our side hustle. 

Avoiding spending

• Nick went to Pinnacles National Park for a day trip on his spring break. He requested a park pass for his 18th birthday from my parents, so he was able to use his pass at the park, saving the admission fee.
• I also treated Nick for lunch on his spring break, and he requested Subway. Had enough on a gift card to get us both lunch (and, used a coupon for the second sandwich) for no out of pocket spending.  

Eating what we have

• Made an easy spaghetti & meatballs + garlic bread dinner, which we always have ingredients on hand for. I like this menu item, because we can customize the amount easily, and it doesn't require anything beyond what we keep in the pantry & freezer. (We use cheater frozen meatballs from Costco, which are really great.) 
• We splurged & allowed Nick to select takeout for dinner one night of spring break. He opted for Greek food. We had enough leftovers for 3 additional lunches. 
• Used the leftover mini containers of tzatziki sauce (from the Greek takeout meal) with grilled chicken.
• Finished off the leftover broccoli & beef one night, and the rest of the burgers as well. We are doing a good job of staying on top of our leftovers & keeping food waste to an absolute minimum. 
• Used garden lettuce, peppers & lemons in our salads.
• Had leftover burgers for another dinner. 

For others

• Found a lost phone at the grocery store. Went around to everyone nearby, and no one was missing it. Stood in line at the customer service desk to turn it in to the lost & found. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

A second class

One of my goals for 2025 was to try things that are "new & uncomfortable". I can definitely say that teaching my first class fell into that category!

While I wish I could say that it was the easiest thing I've ever done... it was most certainly not. It was a rocky start, as the calendar invite I received from my employer had the wrong Zoom link in it. By the time we got that straightened out, I was 5 minutes late for class. And then, the audio on my setup didn't work. I had practiced several times, but tech glitches... Ahhhh, so much fun! The actual class was okay, and I was happy to see the student surveys, as they were generally positive, with a couple of folks complaining about the same thing I dislike - we are required to use Zoom for the class (fine), but we run all of the in class engagement using Slack. It's clunky & requires a lot of switching back & forth, which is disruptive on all sides. Hopefully I'll get better at the switching, and/or the program will figure out a better option.

I spent about 15 hours over the last week getting ahead of my class prep, organizing all of the resources, watching recordings from other professors, and really getting into the modules. I will practice the tech prep again before class (the monitor, having three windows up, and the back & forth Slack engagement). Fingers crossed. 

My hourly rate for this class is quite low, as I like to be very prepared. If I end up teaching it again, I think it would get much easier on every session, as the first one is the one that requires all of the prep work. 

Fingers crossed that tonight's class goes smoothly!

Fitness Monday

It's been absolutely lovely spring weather, which has encouraged me to get outside more.

Weight: I finally weighed in, and I've gained 1.4 lbs since my last weigh in. Drat. I am doing better with watching my calories, so hopefully this will start dropping again. 

Calories: 1,548 - within four calories of the last time I posted my average ;-). Apparently, I'm pretty consistent. If I can drop this down by another 100 calories/day, I should be in the right spot for a slow & steady drop. 

Steps: 13,552 - my goal for the week was above 13,000, so this was a solid win. The nice weather definitely helps. 

Workouts:

• 4 workout classes (combo of strength, running & rowing)
• 1 running class
• 2 -1 hr elliptical workouts
• 1 - 2hr & 10 minute elliptical workout (I was watching a class training I need to take, & broke this up into two sessions). I prefer to learn while doing something easy, like being on the elliptical. 
• Some bonus walks, to increase my steps.

Overall nutrition:  I've been doing reasonably well getting back on the "No S" diet train, although I tend to have a glass of wine with dinner Friday-Sunday, which is not in the plan. I'm okay with that. M also asked me to sit outside & have a glass of wine with him on Tuesday, as he was reviewing various job stuff. It was lovely & we enjoyed our discussion. All that to say that I had three No S Days during the week. I'll keep working on improving this, although I'm definitely getting more No S days than I did in previous months, so progress is being made. 

What about you? Any health & fitness wins to share?

Menu Plan Sunday

 The schedules are heating up recently, with Nick working a few nights a week at a restaurant, me teaching a class one night a week, and this is Nick's spring break, so he may go skiing with friends. All that to say that this is a general menu plan, and things will almost certainly change. 

• Friday - we had spaghetti & meatballs + garlic bread
• Saturday - garlic beef & broccoli + pot stickers
• Sunday - M is grilling burgers
• Monday - creamy Dijon chicken
• Tuesday - leftover beef & broccoli
• Wednesday - leftover chicken
• Thursday - I have a snack earlier in the evening & then fast. I don't like to eat after my class. Everyone else will have leftovers. 
• Friday - TBD, but likely something easy, as Nick is working. Perhaps grilled fish & salads

What about you? What's on your menu plan this week? Any new recipes to share?

Frugal Friday

 There were a few wins here & there this week, although we were primarily focused on other things. 

Saving on things we buy

• I go through my credit card offers about every week or so, and click anything I think we might use. There's no harm in adding them, and they just expire if you don't use them. I ended up getting gas at a station we rarely use while out of town, so I earned an $.84 reward. Please don't be jealous of my big wins. ;-) That said, it's money I was spending anyway, and getting any amount was a nice bonus.

Earning money

• I taught my first class this week! I get paid at the end of the session (10 weeks), but it's my first time "working" in a while. 
• Worked on doing surveys (Prolific) here & there, making ~$25.
• Lots of interviews, interview prep & networking. 
• Received $40 as part of a settlement.

Avoiding spending

• Disputed a $14 charge, and got that refunded back.

Eating what we have

• We don't often have much bread at the house, but ended up with a bunch for various reasons. I've been making the teens sandwiches for lunches, and also froze some. We also keep baguettes in the freezer for making garlic bread. We cut it into 1/3 chunks when we buy it, and then wrap & store it. It's the perfect size for garlic bread making for 1-2 people, and that way you don't have a bunch of leftovers. 
• Blitzed some of the leftover bread to make bread crumbs for a delicious chicken parmesan
• Used up two frozen pizzas, which helped clear some space in our freezer!
• Picked a bunch of Meyer lemons off of our tree, as well as peppers & lettuce from our planters. 
• Cut back a bunch of herbs from our garden, and dried them 

For others

• Gave away additional fresh herbs to our neighbors.
• Filled out reports as part of my volunteering efforts. 

What about you? Any wins for the week?

Thursday Happenings

It's been a busy week, full of interviews, prep for interviews, & getting ready to teach my first class this evening. I'm excited/nervous, which I suppose is natural for doing something outside of your comfort zone. That said, I used to teach a class to 200 managers once a month at my last employer, and facilitate some really challenging discussions, so this will be a smaller group for sure. I'll be teaching a marketing class to mostly college students, but the course is also available as a certification for non-college students. Should be interesting!

I have a 9:00 call with a recruiter for a contract role. I need to start prepping for a full panel interview for another role. And, I'm supposed to hear back on two other positions in the next few days. A lot going on!

What else am I up to today?

• Figure out how to set up my presentation, so I can also access multiple screens. Maybe get a second laptop out, so I can see speaker notes & access Slack (for the class).
• Work out (after 9 am call)
• Go for a walk
• Laundry
• Talk to Nick about senior trip plans
• Menu plan for the week ahead
• Sort out spring break for Nick
• Help Nick buy prom tickets

I think that's it. What about you? What are the happenings around your house today?

Fitness Monday

This was a pretty decent fitness week, mostly because I do well with a routine & I had no out of town trips, house guests, or anything like that planned.

Weight: I still haven't weighed in. I don't know if this is because my brain is "helping" me by forgetting, but I do actually need to weigh in! I weigh in typically after a workout, so that's on the list for today. 

Calories: my daily average was 1,544. Still a little higher than ideal, but a drop from the previous week. 

Steps: my daily average for the week was 14,260, so over my 2025 goal of 12,000/day & the goal I set for the week of 13,000, to help increase my average. 

Workouts:

• 4 workout classes
• 1 yoga class
• an hour on the elliptical
• an 8 mile hike with a friend

Overall nutrition: I had four "No S" days (the No S plan is a pretty straightforward plan that I try to follow, because it takes the decision fatigue out of eating & keeps things really easy.) I did have one bigger eating day (homemade buttered popcorn!). 

I'll give myself a B- for the week, as it was a pretty good week with lots of produce & mostly healthy choices.

Goals for the week ahead:

• Weigh in
• 5 No S days
• Calories below 1,500 average for the week
• Steps above 13,000 average for the week

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

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's another week of menu planning!

We have salad with every meal, which I don't typically list, unless we've turned the salad into the dinner itself (salad with grilled chicken or salmon on top, etc). Just in case you think we're light on our veggies. ;-) 

• Friday - wings + pot stickers 
• Saturday - Date night for me + M, Nick & Sam on their own (frozen pizza)
• Sunday - Korean beef & rice
• Monday - chicken parmesan
• Tuesday - leftover Korean beef & rice
• Wednesday - leftover chicken parmesan
• Thursday - M is in charge (I have my class)
• Friday - TBD

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

Frugal Friday

 It's Friday again! Here's how we did.

Saving on things we buy

• I had to pick up a prescription at Rite Aid, and had $2 of rewards expiring. The store is pretty much empty, but I did find one of my preferred protein bars. It was $1.49 after rewards, but I also used an iBotta offer for $1.25, making the very expensive bar $.24. I'll take it! 
• I used CVS rewards, coupons & some iBotta offers to similarly pick up some treats to make Easter bags for the boys for $14 or so. 

Earning money

• Continued to apply for jobs
• Cashed in $20 of survey money

Avoiding spending

• I stocked up on lunch items, so I would avoid the temptation of eating out
• I cancelled Sam's gym membership, which was on a pause that was expiring
• In an attempt to avoid wasting the United credits, I pre-booked Nick's Thanksgiving & Christmas flights from college. While we may need to shift the dates/flights slightly, getting them on the books means I won't waste the credits. Flying home for Thanksgiving is eye wateringly expensive, so I'm glad to have the credits to use!

Eating what we have

• Finished off spaghetti & meatballs + garlic bread leftovers
• Used the last of the taco meat to make a taco salad
• Made chicken shawarma for dinner, which used up a lot of odds & ends, including a package of naan bread from the freezer

For others 

• Reached out to two friends who have suffered family losses recently
• Met with another student I'm mentoring

What about you? Any wins to share?

Things to do today

First up, thanks so much to everyone for sharing their non-linear college experience & feedback. As a parent, it's so hard to know exactly how to support your kids during this time of so much change and growth. It's two steps forward, a step back, and vice versa. 

I'm looking forward to getting outside & maybe getting some gardening in today. Inspired by Kim, I thought I'd share my to do list. 

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

• Attend a morning yoga class. I realized that my yoga pass will expire soon, and I still have two sessions left. Wasting money is definitely not my goal, and my back has really been bothering me lately, so yoga it is!
• Seriously sort out the boys taxes. They received a link to their W2s (summer jobs), but no information on how to create an account or access the W2s via the link. 
• Prep content for week 2 of my class.
• Continue to apply for jobs. Specifically, send email to a friend who has offered to refer me, and prep details about role qualifications & some background about why I would be a good fit.
• Figure out what's for dinner. It was originally supposed to be leftovers, but I'm not totally convinced there are enough. If not, figure out what to add.
• Gardening
• Walk
• Hit up CVS & Rite Aid to use expiring rewards

What about you? What are you up to today? 

April Goals

 I'm hoping April is a better month for achieving my goals than March!

Here's what's on the list:

Financial:

• Pay our state & federal taxes
• Get a new job
• Prep for part-time job
• Earn $300 in side hustle
• Pantry/freezer challenge:
• 1 bottle of dressing
• 1 package of holiday cheese
• Soup from freezer

Family:

• Help Nick with college prep, spring break & senior trip planning
• Optimize points, perks & miles. Track value
• Date night with M

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• Strength train 15 days
• No S diet 15 days
• Average 13,000 steps/day
• Meditate 10 times
• Attend another tread class workout

Personal:

• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends 2x
• Play pickleball x1
• Help students (volunteer role) make college decisions
• Do something towards my "Try something new" and "Say yes to more adventures"
• Reduce screen time

What about you? What's on your list of goals for April?

March Goals Recap

March has been quite an adventure, and not always in the best way. But, I don't set these goals with the assumption I will always hit all of them, and having goals motivates me. Even when the results aren't so great. 

Here's how the month went (or, didn't go, might be more likely). 

Financial:

• Continue to pay for Sam's college expenses - yes, although Sam is rethinking how he wants the rest of college to go & if he wants to transfer, stay where he's at, or switch majors. 
• Get a new job - I've continued to interview & have 3 jobs in the hopper, but one may not get funded do to the economy. That's the one I was most excited about, so I'm pretty disappointed. I've invested a lot of time in it so far, but fingers crossed maybe it will still happen. 
• Prep for part-time job - I've prepped my content for week 1, and have set a goal to be 2 weeks ahead at all times, so I'll finish week 2 soon. 
• Earn $300 in side hustle - I only made $80 in March, all through Prolific user studies. 
• Pantry/freezer challenge:
• 1 bag of frozen fruit - yes, done
• 1 bottle of dressing - nope
• 1 package of holiday cheese - nope

Family:

• Help Nick with final college decision, including two tours - we did two tours, and Nick finalized his decision to go to Boulder! He's very excited. 
• Enjoy spring break with Sam. Help him finalize his summer plans - Sam & I spent a lot of time together over spring break, and as noted above, he's trying to sort out how he wants to handle the rest of college. It's a big change for young adults. 
• Optimize points, perks & miles. Track value. - I've saved $3,864 by using points through the following: 3 nights in Sedona on my girls trip, 3 nights at the Marriott in Corvallis, 2 nights in Boulder for an upcoming orientation for Nick, & a free night during skiing. 
• Finalize Spain trip details. - Spain was cancelled, so this definitely didn't happen. 
• Enjoy Nick's senior year. Attend soccer banquet & at least 3 tennis matches. -I attended the soccer banquet, but his matches have been rescheduled a lot due to weather & I haven't been. 

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs - I lost 1.3 lbs
• Strength train 15 days - 11/15
• No S diet 15 days -  6/15
• Average 13,000 steps/day - definitely not! I was at 11,600/day, which dropped my average for the year. 
• Meditate 10 times - 7/10 times & found an app to use (free with my credit card). Having access to the app is making this goal much easier. 
• Try a new workout - I tried out a new workout class format & really liked it. It's a much longer running class, so I'll be adding more of these into my workouts. 

Personal:

• Language lessons 15 times - I totally fell apart on this, particularly once I realized we weren't going to Spain. While I didn't track this, I'm also not sure I did any language lessons in March. 
• Declutter 50 items from the house - No progress this month!
• Get together with friends 2x - Yes! I went for three hikes, a girls hiking trip & met another friend for yoga & lunch. 
• Play pickleball x1 - nope
• Help students (volunteer role) make college decisions - Yes, I've continued to meet with my mentees. 
• Do something towards my goals of "Try something new & uncomfortable" and "Say yes to more adventures" - went on another girls trip (hiking to Sedona), which was a wonderful adventure. 
• Reduce screen time - I've made progress on this, and also spent time skiing & hiking, which is definitely good for reducing electronics time. 

All in all, it was a very "okay" month by objective measure, but I kept on & am more than ready for April! What about you? How did you do with your goals for the month?

Fitness Monday

 It's been a wild few weeks, and I'm having trouble keeping track of various things. Posting gives me accountability, and requires me to go back & tally everything up, which is always helpful.

I've had a bunch of *very* active days (hiking in Sedona) & a few road trip days where my steps were very low. I've also not tracked my calories particularly closely for a week or so, and used estimates. And, I haven't weighed in! I will get to that for next week.

Weight: I haven't weighed in since my last update. 

Calories: My calories trended up after my vacation (so much delicious Mexican food & all of the queso!) My new daily calorie average for 2025 is 1,576. My goal is around 1,400, so I have some work to do. 

Steps: I've had some really high step days, but also days where I was driving for the majority of the day & got less than 5,000 steps. That's really dragged my daily average down. I was previously at a daily average of 12,403 & I'm now at 12,081. That's a big drop! I'll have to focus on this in the coming weeks. Luckily, I have a bunch of active days planned, which will definitely help.

Workouts recently:

• 2 hiking days
• Several travel days (no workouts)
• A couple of elliptical workouts
• A long walk with a friend
• A yoga class
• Several days of my workout class

Overall nutrition: way too much eating out & snacky food. I need to focus on increasing my intake of fruits & vegetables & reduce carbs. 

I'm giving myself a "D" for the following few weeks, as my metrics really show a drop off in my 2025 progress. That's okay, the tracking helps me get back on track & understand where things aren't working.

Goals for the weeks ahead: 

• Weigh in 
• Consistently getting 12k+ steps/day
• Increasing fruit & veggie intakes
• Following the No S diet on week days

How are you doing with your health & fitness? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 

In addition to the dinners I have listed, I also need to find the time to make a few soups for the freezer, as they make great easy lunches. 

• Friday - grilled chicken & rice
• Saturday - out to eat
• Sunday - leftover chicken & rice
• Monday - chicken shawarma
• Tuesday - Korean beef
• Wednesday - leftover chicken shawarma
• Thursday - leftover Korean beef
• Friday - TBD, but likely gyozos & spring rolls, or something similar from the freezer

What about you? What's on your menu this week? I need to find a way to use a bunch of fresh herbs (doesn't have to be together), so if anyone has recommendations that use a lot of any of the following (mint, rosemary, thyme, tarragon), please let me know. I'm going to cut back a bunch next week for friends/neighbors, dry a bunch, and would also like to make a few recipes with the fresh ingredients.

Frugal Friday

 I've had a busy week, with lots of job applications, interview prep, and getting ready for the course I'm teaching. 

Saving on things we buy

• We largely avoided spending this week, so no savings on things we buy to report. 

Earning money

• Earned $20 taking surveys
• I worked quite a bit on the course I'm teaching. It's a 10 week module, and you get paid at the end. You are paid for the time spent teaching, and for prep work, so I'm technically working on the paid prep work now, although I won't be paid until June for the work, when the course is complete. I'm hopeful that this will be a side hustle that drops in time commitment (once you've taught the course & prepped the first time, I imagine it will be infinitely easier for each subsequent delivery). 

Avoiding spending

• I couldn't think of any good lunch options one day, but I avoided grabbing lunch out. Instead, I made a very eclectic lunch of a grilled cheese (on the last of a hamburger bun), edamame from the freezer, and an apple. 

Eating what we have

• Nick hosted an impromptu poker party on Sunday, as he really wanted Sam to be able to join one. I dug through the fridge & freezer & served up: burgers leftover from our dinner, chicken nuggets, and leftover ski snacks. It wasn't a very cohesive assortment, but everyone got fed, and the teens had a great time, which is all that matters. 
• Used the last of the sour cream to make blueberry muffins for M.
• Nick hosted a second event last night to talk about the senior road trip he's taking with his friends. He made a huge batch of popcorn for his friends, and served that.
• Defrosted some taco meat yesterday, and turned that into our dinner. Bonus points, grated the last of the cheese to go with it. We're running low on almost everything!
• Including the above, I made some very interesting lunches this week, and have basically cleared out all of the obvious lunch additions, as well as snacks. The teens are begging for some new additions. ;-) 
• We've also polished off almost all of the fresh fruit & veggies, so a stock up trip is definitely in order.
• Cut the first of some volunteer lettuce, and used that in M's salad.
• Our herbs are also going crazy (thyme, tarragon, mint & rosemary), so I need to cut those back & dry them, and offer fresh cuttings to our neighbors. 

For others

• Had a call with one of my students I've been mentoring, and she got into so many good UCs, and they met all of her financial need! I'm thrilled for her. She's had a lot of challenges in her family & is a great & dedicated kid. It was so lovely to hear about her good news & help her navigate the decision of which college to attend. 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Menu Plan Sunday

 We're planning a few fun dinners (they will likely shift around), as Sam will be home for spring break. Hurrah!

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

• Friday - I made spaghetti & meatballs (freezer) + garlic bread 
• Saturday - orange chicken & cauliflower rice
• Sunday - M is grilling burgers
• Monday - grilled chicken & Persian rice
• Tuesday - leftover burgers
• Wednesday - leftover grilled chicken & rice
• Thursday - tacos
• Friday - Sam's choice

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

Frugal Saturday

I was traveling back from Sedona yesterday, so I didn't get this posted. We had such a fantastic trip, and really enjoyed the hiking & gorgeous location. Hiking trips are fabulous for chatting & catching up.

I went from a Lake Tahoe snowstorm & a dicey drive home (Monday), to a cold but sunny Sedona (Tuesday) in one day. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used $240 of dining vouchers during our trip to Lake Tahoe (we stay at a casino, so the rooms sometimes come with food offers.) We bought dinner for four teens one night, M & I had a dinner out, and then I picked up some breakfast items for the teens on our last morning. 
• Stopped by Costco for gas at the halfway point of our drive to Lake Tahoe, for the cheapest gas option. Did the same on the way home, and stopped in to feed all of the hungry teens. 

Earning money

• Cashed out $20 for research studies
• Earned $10 in Fetch rewards for a gift card
• M received his annual bonus (this is for 2024)

Avoiding spending

• I used points to cover the cost of our hotel in Sedona
• Used Starbucks points to pick up a breakfast for myself & M one morning in Lake Tahoe

Eating what we have

• While we ate out for two dinners in Sedona, we also bought groceries & turned that into our lunches & ate leftovers for dinner one night as well. We tried to keep things pretty reasonable. 

For others

• Helped my sister navigate some investment/retirement stuff while we were together. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Frugal Friday

 It's been a busy week!

Saving on things we buy

• Ordered Nick a birthday cake, and the bakery he loves isn't open on Sundays or Mondays. His birthday is a Sunday, so I found another highly reviewed place. It was 1/3 of the price. I could definitely have made this myself, but he's turning 18 and wanted a very specific cake. Done. 
• I used a $20 grocery store reward to buy items for the soccer banquet, and another $20 reward to buy drinks & snacks for the tennis match I was asked to cover. 
• Used a $10 CVS reward + another $4 reward to pick up some Advil. 

Earning money

• Continued filling out surveys
• Applied for more jobs
• Worked on prepping for my teaching class. Once I get this prepped, it should be much easier to teach future sessions. I'm paid out after the 10 week class is done, although it does include some prep time in the payout calculations. 

Avoiding spending

• I don't typically keep lunch meat on hand, but sometimes I'm craving a sandwich. I thought of buying one, but instead picked up sandwich fixings at the store, which was about the same price as a sandwich out, but will allow me to have 2-3 sandwiches, plus a few for Nick as well. 
• We cancelled our trip to Spain (it is right at the end of M's "job search window" through his current employer, so in addition to wanting to cut costs at the moment, it also gives him more flexibility to job search.
• We cancelled our train tickets (minus a small fee) & got a refund for those, which is awesome.
• I was able to get a large credit back from United, which we will likely use for a trip to Hawaii in October for our 20th anniversary, and to cover our flights to my parents house for Christmas.
• United is also supposed to be refunding us for one ticket, and $700 from the second ticket for our cancellation.
• I was able to cancel our hotel stays. While we were using free night awards x2, points for another hotel, we were paying out of pocket for another, so that was all cancelled. 
• I re-booked my parents flights (they were going to come to watch Nick while we were in Spain) to cover a visit for his graduation. They also received a $108 credit for a future flight.

Eating what we have

• Found two lonely hamburger buns in the freezer, so turned those into chicken patty sandwiches for a late dinner for Nick
• M bought two very large packages of Costco cauliflower rice when they went on huge sale, so I've been trying to incorporate those into the menu. We had orange chicken with cauliflower rice & edamame. All from the freezer.
• M has been laboring under the illusion that our Meyer lemons are oranges, and thus unwilling to use them on his salad. We finally went down a rabbit hole of Google images, and he's now convinced. ;-) This means the lemons will be quickly used up, as he makes his own dressing each day for the salad (not so much dressing as lemon juice, balsamic, and olive oil). 
• Made a large chicken stir fry for dinner, using up lots of veggies that were in the fridge, including the not super fresh carrots. 
• Picked up two oranges from our neighbor's "free" bin, which I will use in smoothies. 

For others

• Nick's soccer banquet was planned by a novice mom, who forgot some of the details (creating a spreadsheet for parents to indicate what they were bringing, so you don't end up with all of the same items, etc). I filled in the gaps for her, to make sure we had everything we needed. 
• We weren't going to use one of our free night awards (due to cancelled Spain trip) before it expired, so I offered it to an old coworker who long ago used his United upgrades for the boys when we flew to Dubai. 
• I also used a small amount of our United credit for my friend's flight next week, as I knew she was flying on United. She hosted us last weekend, so this felt like a nice way to thank her. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Fitness Updates

I'm a few days late getting this post up, so let's dive right in. I was in Colorado with Nick & definitely ate more calories than normal (restaurant meals), and then came home with some sort of bug. I feel like I've been fighting the same bug on & off for at least 8 weeks. I've tried harder to take it a bit easier on days I'm not feeling great. 

Weight: I've lost 1.1 lbs since my last weigh in, for a total of 5 lbs for the year

Steps per day: I was pretty inactive the days I was sick, so my daily average dropped a bit. I'm currently at 12,403 steps per day for the year. Still over my target of 12,000.  

Calories: my goal is to be around 1,400 calories/day. With being on vacation, that didn't happen. My new cumulative 2025 daily average is 1,552. I'll continue to work on this, because of course, calories in makes a big difference on weight! 

Workouts recently:

• Several no workout days
• Several hiking days
• Multiple hard workout classes 
• A few casual walks

Overall nutrition: this is going well. I've been doing a better job of increasing intake of fruit & veggies, and reducing carbs & snacks. I also have had a few "No S" diet days, which is always great. I'm trying to get back on track, because the no snacking in particular is a super helpful target for me. 

I'm giving myself a "C+" for the past few weeks. Low energy, eating out, etc so definitely room for improvement. But, a nice drop on the scale! According to my measurements, I've also lost a little bit of body fat, which is always a win. We are theoretically skiing this weekend, and then I'm heading out on a hiking trip. That will likely result in plenty of physical activity, but higher than average calories as we eat out. I'll work on making good decisions, and keeping to my No S plan.

What about you? How are things going with your health & fitness?

Menu Plan Sunday

 

• Friday - ate an eclectic meal at Nick's soccer banquet
• Saturday - quick chicken stir fry
• Sunday - M is grilling burgers
• Monday - mystery chicken dish from the freezer + spring rolls (I hope this combo goes together!)
• Tuesday - leftover burgers
• Wednesday - chicken fajitas
• Thursday - tacos
• Friday - leftover fajitas

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

Not much to report - Frugal Friday

 It's been a week! M got laid off a week or so ago, and we're still trying to figure that out. He has 8 weeks to job search internally, and if he doesn't find something within that time, he gets a severance. He would prefer to stay where he is, as he has quite a bit of stock still available to vest.

In the meantime, I've been much more aggressively job searching. Financially, we can weather quite a storm, but we absolutely need health insurance. I need to start considering doing regular infusions, and those are crazy pricey. So, that's been taking up the majority of my time.

Nick & I had a great trip to Colorado, and he absolutely loves Boulder. So, that remains a top choice, while we wait for the final schools to trickle in. He is likely to have a decision in the next few weeks, which will be really helpful as we lock in our college payment plans, as well as travel, schedule, calendars, orientation, etc.

On the frugal side, I've been doing the basics:

• (Mostly) eating at home, although ate out with Nick in Colorado, and then again with a soccer mom group I put together a few weeks ago. 
• Eating from the freezer.
• Made smoothies a few days when lunch didn't sound great. I'm *still* getting over some sort of chest congestion thing, which seems like it's come & gone a few times. It's a very unwelcome guest at this point.
• M drove us to & from the airport, to save on transportation.
• I've done a few surveys here & there, to earn a little bit more.

That's pretty much it! We have Nick's soccer banquet tonight, which should be fun (we paid for it a month or so ago, and includes food, although they have definitely run out before, because... teen athletes). Otherwise, I need to keep working on prepping for the upcoming class I'm teaching.

What about you all? Any wins to share?

March Goals

 It's time for March goals - can you believe it?

Here's what I'd like to get done this month:

Financial:

• Continue to pay for Sam's college expenses
• Get a new job
• Prep for part-time job
• Earn $300 in side hustle
• Pantry/freezer challenge
• 1 bag of frozen fruit (smoothies?)
• 1 bottle of dressing
• 1 package of holiday cheese (sealed, so still fine to eat)

Family:

• Help Nick with final college decision, including two tours
• Enjoy spring break with Sam. Help him finalize his summer plans
• Optimize points, perks & miles. Track value.
• Finalize Spain trip details.
• Enjoy Nick's senior year. Attend soccer banquet and at least 3 tennis matches

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• Strength train 15 days
• No S diet 15 days
• Average 13,000 steps/day
• Meditate 10 times
• Try a new workout

Personal:

• Language lessons 15 times
• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Get together with friends 2x
• Play pickleball x1
• Help college students (volunteer role) make college decisions
• Do something towards my goals of, "Try something new & uncomfortable" and "Say yes to more adventures"
• Reduce screen time

What about you? What do you have planned for March?

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's definitely going to be a busy week, with Nick's soccer banquet, me shadowing a class I'll be teaching in April, a soccer mom get together, and Nick & I don't get back from Colorado until tomorrow!

Having a menu plan is a small step towards keeping me (mostly) sane during a busy week. When we are gone, M typically has fish & salad. He's a man of routine. ;-) 

• Friday - lounge food for me + Nick, followed by pizza at our friend's house. Mahi mahi for M
• Saturday - at a friend's house
• Sunday - at a friend's house
• Monday - Nick & I will eat at the lounge ahead of our flight home
• Tuesday - chicken satay + rice, after I finish my class
• Wednesday -  soccer mom get together. Fajita chicken (from the freezer for M + Nick)
• Thursday - leftover chicken satay
• Friday - all of us will be eating at the soccer banquet

What about you? Any wins to share? 

February goals recap

As always, the month flew by! Here's how I did with my February goals. 

Financial:

• Continue to pay for Sam's college expenses - yes
• Get a new job - I have a new part-time job that I start in April, but still looking for something else as well
• Earn $300 in side hustle - $1276, with a large part of this being our Costco rebate. Without that, I would have still been over $300
• Pantry/freezer challenge 
• 1/2 pizza - gone
• Bottle of dressing - no progress
• Rest of the holiday cheese - 1/2 gone
• Estimate taxes & figure out funding plan - one set of returns filed, one set estimated, and funding plan in place

Family:

• Continue to help Nick with final college decisions - yes, and we have two tours this weekend to hopefully finalize a decision. 
• Have a great visit with Sam - we had so much fun when I was in Corvallis
• Optimize points, perks & miles. Track value. - the failed ski trip included a free night awards & points, so at least the hotel was free? We saved $720 vs paying out of pocket.
• Finalize Spain trip details. - booked trains
• Enjoy Nick's senior year. Have a great visit with family when everyone visits for senior night. - my dad being sick made this challenging, but Nick had an incredible senior night. 

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs - I lost .8 lbs
• Strength train 15 days - 16/15
• No S diet 15 days - 5/15
• Average 12,000 steps/day - 12,554
• Meditate 10 times - 2/10
• Try a new workout - no 

Personal:

• Language lessons 15 times - 12/15
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 10/50
• Look into a college class - no progress
• Get together with friends 2x - met a friend for a hike, and a friend for coffee
• Play pickleball x1 - no
• Do something towards my goals of, "Try something new & uncomfortable" and "Say yes to more adventures" - no progress

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

Frugal Friday

 Saving on things we buy

• Bought a few travel gift cards that we will use, and earned $45 in grocery store gift cards. 
• I had expiring Target Circle rewards (I rarely go there), so I stopped in to use them up. I also noticed I had a birthday coupon & some sort of other 10% off a purchase offer, so stacked everything together. Picked up two bags of goldfish crackers for Nick, who likes easy snacks between school & practice. I paid $2. I remember when you could regularly buy goldfish for $1/bag on sale, so I guess I managed to get the price down to what I paid 15 or so years ago? ;-) It wasn't exactly a great bargain, but it was a little something. 

Earning money

• Cashed in $55 in user studies

Avoiding spending

• Received a refund from a shuttle for Sam. It's a long story, but the cancellation code I had wouldn't work, and they only had one seat left on the shuttle he needed. I'd tried to get a hold of them for weeks, so I booked out of pocket. They got back to me a week later, and even though it's not their policy to offer a refund (you just get a credit), they made an exception. Saved $60. 

Eating what we have:

• Used up overly ripe bananas to make banana muffins for M.
• Ate leftovers from the freezer (tacos & lemon chicken)
• Picked lemons from our tree for salad dressing & other things
• Used up the last of the sliced cheese purchased on sale (replaced with cheaper bricks of cheese for future sandwich making) to make a few grilled cheese sandwiches for Nick
• Used up remaining taco meat, tortillas & shredded cheese to make taco quesadillas for Nick
• We've cleaned out the fruit drawer this week, with the exception of a few oranges
• Finished off the garlic beef noodles, rounded out with some edamame, as we didn't quite have enough for a full meal. 
• Used the last of a bagged salad, edamame & chicken for a lunch

For others

• Sent a gift to a friend who lost her father
• Rounded up shopping carts blocking parking spots (WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS? It's my pet peeve.) & returned them all to the corrals. 
• Gifted a workout friend a Guest of Honor pass for a stay at the Hyatt in April. I get these with my status, and they are intended to be used if we are booking two rooms, and/or for gifting to others. She's going to Japan with her family, and is thrilled to have this. It will save them several hundred dollars, as well. 

Decidedly unfrugal: when we put our solar panels on, we increased the estimate from the solar company, to ensure we'd produce enough to offset the majority of our power bill. The cost of power has continued to rise, while production drops slightly over the lifetime of the panels. What does this mean? Once a year you get a "true up" power bill, and ours was over $1000 this year, which is both unexpected & not great. I need to start cleaning the panels at least once a month to increase production. I can't do much to change the cost of energy, but I can make sure our panels are producing as much as possible. Cleaning them is, as you can imagine, a PITA, but a task I can take on. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Crossing off the nagging to dos

 I made some good progress yesterday, particularly on chores that have been lingering forever:

• Finally resolved the error in my taxes that was blocking me from submitting federal & state returns. It had to do with a mismatch on a state code on a form from a bank, and was endlessly irritating. We owe a lot (severance pay is withheld at a lower rate than what we would normally have withheld), but at least I can mark this off of my to do list, and move on to DH's taxes, as well as helping the teens with their tax returns.
• Called our insurance company & had our policy match the name of our trust. Apparently, your homeowner's insurance can decline claims if there is a mismatch between the names on the policy, and the deed of your house. We have our house in a trust, but the policy was just in our names. That's now been addressed, and I verified our fire insurance, which has been on the to do list forever.
• My dad wants to create small investment account for his four grandsons. I needed to call & provide the company with some information. Finally got that squared away as well. 
• Made banana muffins out of all of the lingering bananas in the freezer. They turned out really well.
• Cleaned the house, minus the shower. That still needs to happen.

As for today:

• Work out. A hike, as my workout class timing isn't great today.
• Call with a recruiter.
• Apply for two jobs
• Appt with my rheumatologist
• Pay doctor's bills
• Work on DH's taxes
• Clean shower
• Shadow a class I'm teaching 
• Add all of Nick's tennis matches to our family calendar

Any nagging tasks on your to do list?

Fitness Monday

 The weekend felt like it went by very quickly at our house. With Nick's soccer game, a long hike with a friend yesterday & lots of time spent on taxes! Working on taxes is always so fun. ;-) 

Here's how things are going on the fitness side:

Weight: I've lost .1 lbs since my previous low, for a total of 3.7 lbs for the year.

Steps per day: Last week I averaged 13,181 steps per day, an my current daily average is 12,436. This is lower than where I was a few weeks ago, as I had a few long driving days to Tahoe, a few days where I wasn't feeling well, etc. Luckily, I had almost 24k steps yesterday, which is greatly helping my average!

Calories: It's my goal to be around 1400 calories/day range consistently. Last time I checked in I was at 1,528 as the cumulative average for 2025. My daily average last week was 1,503, so slightly below my previous cumulative average, although still up a bit from my goal. My new 2025 cumulative average is 1,533. 

Workouts for the past week:

• One day with no workout, when we drove back from Lake Tahoe
• One day with a 30 minute elliptical workout in the hotel gym
• 4 days of my 60 minute workout class
• One very hard & hilly 8 mile hike with a friend
• Plus, a couple of additional 2 mile strolls a few of the days

Overall nutrition: things weren't great while we were traveling, but now that I'm back home & in my routine, I've been doing really well. Of course, I leave on Friday for a trip to Colorado with Nick. Traveling always makes it challenging for me to stick to my goals, so I need to work on that. 

I'd give myself another "B". Goals for this week include: continue with planned workouts, ensure I get plenty of steps & workouts while traveling, keep my calories to 1300 on non-travel days, and 1500 on travel days. Increase fruit & veggie intake. 

How are you doing with your health & fitness?

Menu Plan Sunday

 It's not a very impressive menu planning week, but even putting the loosest plan together is very helpful for me, as I try to organize my life. 

• Friday - we had lemon chicken from the freezer
• Saturday - beef kebabs & rice
• Sunday - garlic noodles with beef & broccoli
• Monday - leftover lemon chicken & rice
• Tuesday - kebabs
• Wednesday - leftover garlic noodles with beef & broccoli
• Thursday - wrap up any leftovers, or spaghetti & meatballs
• Friday - DH will eat salmon, Nick & I will grab something at the airport lounge ahead of our flight to Colorado

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

Drumming up a small list for Frugal Friday

 Because, it wasn't the most frugal week!

1. Cashed out some survey money
2. Earned $970 through Costco rewards, and had that auto deposited to our savings account.
3. Other than pizza on senior night (when there was really no time to cook food), I made meals when we had all of our guests. Tacos on the first night, taco salads for lunch the following day. Cheater pad thai from Costco + spring rolls for dinner on Thursday. Lunch of salad, baguette, various cheese & fruit for dinner on Friday. Pizza on Friday. Easy breakfast options every day. It did keep the costs way down from dining out, although our grocery bill was noticeably larger.
4. Gave my dad a pair of shoes I bought for Sam & didn't fit properly (but, were beyond the return window). They fit him perfectly & he had just been discussing needing a new pair, which is what reminded me of these shoes.
5. Received two days of free breakfast vouchers at the hotel we were staying at, thanks to my hotel status. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Moving on

 The last week was a wild ride. We had a bunch of guests in town for Nick's senior night. My dad became very ill & we called an ambulance. He ended up being okay, but missed Nick's big event, which he was incredibly sad about. Nick's senior night was awesome, and I'm so grateful for our family & friends who helped us celebrate. On the flip side, I feel so lucky that my parents are both very healthy at 70+, and active grandparents. Very blessed that this was a minor issue. 

After everyone left, we headed out on a ski trip (Nick was planning to stay with a ton of friends/a few sets of parents) & M & I were going to have a belated mini Valentines trip at a hotel nearby. Nick ended up being really sick & staying with us in a hotel room designed for two. Heading home wasn't really an option, because sitting up in the car made him vomit. So, he slept in our room while we mostly hung out in the lobby. He's super devastated that he missed this final ski trip with his buddies. He's also recovering well. We also have ski passes we didn't use, and the money wasted burns a bit, but sometimes there's just not much you can do. 

I'm finding myself in a bit of a funk. I've been without a job for almost a year, and while that has been amazing in many ways, I need to develop better habits & routines. I'd like to find some sort of paid employment (my part-time job starts in April, which I think will be really helpful). I've lost some of my "mojo" & feel my motivation for many things waning a bit. 

Anyway, I think I'll give myself until the end of this week, because last week was A LOT, and then figure out what steps I want to put in place to "find" my motivation again.

Just wanted to check in, as it's been awhile. Hope everyone is doing well!

Frugal Friday

 Not much happening on the frugal front this week, but here's what's happening at our house. 

Saving on things we buy

• Nothing exciting to report this week. I continued to upload all of our receipts to Fetch, which (ever so slowly) adds up to a bit here & there.

Earning money

• Redeemed Swagbucks for a $25 Amazon gift card
• Sold some vitamins that Amazon accidentally delivered to me & didn't want back, making $30
• Redeemed survey money for $45

Avoiding spending

• Picked up a free drink at Starbucks on my birthday
• M picked me up from the airport on Sunday, which was in the middle of the Super Bowl. Luckily, he wasn't really into the game this year, and didn't mind. 

Eating what we have

• Ate leftover burgers for dinner
• Brought home leftovers from dinner out, and made that into lunch another day
• Made a big taco meal for Wednesday night, to avoid eating out when my parents are in town. We had plenty of leftovers for lunches, and I froze about half of the meat I prepped. 

For others

• Filled out monthly coach's reports for the students I'm mentoring, and had two mentoring calls this week

What about you? Any wins to share?

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm late to the party, as I was visiting Sam over the weekend. Always so nice to see my young adult! (I wanted to say baby, but we are long past that phase!)

Here's what's on the menu for the week (and, going through Sunday, as I need to get planned for a visit with family:

• Friday - I took Sam & his roommate out for dinner at a place near the hotel. I had a Cobb salad
• Saturday - Sam & I shared appetizers for dinner
• Sunday - M grilled burgers
• Monday - out to dinner for a birthday celebration
• Tuesday - leftover burgers
• Wednesday - my parents will be in town, but we will be getting home late from the game. I will have tacos prepped, so we can quickly eat. 
• Thursday - chicken pad Thai + spring rolls (both from Costco), as we will be having 5 extra people staying with us
• Friday - likely pizza, as we have Nick's senior night + a bunch of guests
• Saturday - any leftovers from the week
• Sunday - out, as we are going skiing

As you can see, it's a bit of a wild ride this week! What about you? What's on your menu this week? 

Frugal Friday

 Because I was sick for a lot of the week, we ate leftovers for multiple meals.  Not very exciting, but definitely saved some money. As a frugal fail, I did order a delivery meal. I used two promo coupons & it was still pricey. I was able to turn it into two meals for myself & one meal for Nick, so I suppose at least there's that. 

Saving on things we buy

• While I was doing my taxes (oh boy!), I found a $25 multi use gift card. I went online & redeemed it for a Panera gift card, which we will definitely use. 
• Used a $5/off a $25 purchase at CVS to buy some Valentine's & birthday items I needed. 
• Used a $2 Rite Aid reward & picked up a few Valentine's treats to add to the boys Valentine's bags.

Earning money

• I cashed out $40 from the survey site I use
• Completed a $150 user study on travel
• Sold a few items on eBay for ~$35 or so

Avoiding spending

• Really wanted to buy lunch out after running a bunch of errands, but reminded myself that I'll be eating out over the weekend with Sam, and we have plenty of food at the house.
• As the corollary to the above, used a Subway gift card to pick up food for myself & Nick on a busy day. No out of pocket spending. 
• M is taking me to the airport this morning for my trip to Corvallis, saving me the cost of an Uber. 

Eating what we have

• Used the lemons from our tree to make the delicious lemon pepper chicken earlier this week. Even my picky eater (Nick) ate it! Always a win when that happens. 
• Ate lots of leftovers (tacos, lemon chicken, etc). The tacos had the bonus of also using up shredded cheese & salsa in the fridge.
• Finished off a loaf of sourdough bread, making lots of sandwiches for Nick between soccer and tennis. 

For others

• Helped out at a soccer game with some volunteering

Frugal fail:

• I used Pirate Ship to mail a package to Sam, and it cut off the second line of his address (there is an extra line specifying his dorm), even though I added it. I didn't notice before I mailed it. It was never delivered & then three weeks later, made its way back to him. Wasted postage, and I guess I'll be bringing it to him myself this weekend. Bummer. Cautionary tale if you are using this service for less expensive postage. Now that I know, it looks like it's a common problem. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

February Goals

 The shortest month of the year is upon us! Time to get going on these goals. 

Financial:

• Continue to pay for Sam's college expenses
• Get a new job
• Earn $300 in side hustle
• Pantry freezer challenge:
• 1/2 freezer pizza
• A bottle of dressing from the pantry
• The rest of the holiday cheese
• Estimate taxes & figure out a plan to pay for them

Family:

• Continue to help Nick with final college decisions
• Have a great visit with Sam
• Optimize points, perks & miles for travel. Track value
• Finalize Spain trip details
• Enjoy Nick's senior year. Have a great visit with family when everyone visits for senior night (this includes lots of meal planning, prep, entertaining, house cleaning, sign making & travel logistics).

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs
• Strength train 15 days
• No S diet 15 days
• Average 12,000 steps/day
• Meditate 10 times
• Try a new workout

Personal:

• Language lessons 15 times
• Declutter 50 items from the house
• Look into a college class
• Get together with friends x2
• Play pickleball x1 (weather permitting)
• Do something towards my goals of "Try something new & uncomfortable" & "Say yes to more adventures"

What are your goals for February? Let us know so we can cheer you on!

January Goals Recap

 January simultaneously felt like a very long month, and parts of it went by too quickly (like, the parts where I was supposed to be productive!) 

Financial:

• Continue to pay for Sam's college expenses - yes
• Work on finding a new job - I have a new part-time, side hustle job & am still looking for another job. Had an interview this week, and continue to apply.
• Earn $300 in side hustle - crushed this, with $760. 
• Monthly freezer/pantry challenge
• 1/2 of the freezer pizza - no progress
• 1 can of coconut milk - yes
• Figure out what to do with all of the red curry paste - yes, used up the remaining jar & opened the giant tub in the pantry & made a start on that.
• Make second property tax payment (majority from savings, cash flow $1500 of it) - yes

Family:

• Decide if we need to do any college tours for Nick - Nick got into Boulder (one of his top choices), so we will be heading to Colorado at the end of Feb to do a tour of both Boulder and Fort Collins. 
• Optimize points, perks & miles for travel. Track value - we used points for an expensive flight for Sam, I'm using points for my upcoming hotel stay while visiting Sam & we're using a free night award in a few weeks at Lake Tahoe. All told, $1355 of value. 
• Plan Spain trip details & start looking at Italy options - I booked the trains for Spain, but we are moving Italy out to 2026. It's our 20th anniversary, but with Spain already in the cards (and, we are tied to a very specific timeline for that trip, due to expiring travel credits), it feels like too much to have two international trips in one year. We will likely go to Hawaii for our anniversary. 
• Begin remodel discussions - no, and realistically this won't kick off until I get a job & we see what our income looks like. 
• One date night with M - we had dinner & drinks one night in Lake Tahoe, while the boys had pizza. ;-) 

Fitness:

• Lose 2 lbs - I lost 3.6 lbs
• Strength train 15 days - 17/15
• No S diet 15 days - 9/15
• Meditate 10 times - 5/10
• Try a new workout - nope

Personal:

• Language lessons 10 times - 19/10
• Declutter 50 items from the house - 34/50
• Look at college classes (for me) - nope
• Get together with friends x2 - several walks, coffee & hikes
• Play pickleball x1 - nope
• For my "Try something new & uncomfortable" & "Say yes to more adventures" goals, start looking at opportunities for these - I agreed to go on an all day hike with a new friend group, but that's not until March

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

(Not Much) Fitness Monday

I was sick for most of last week, and this cold is still lingering on! As a result, I've been much less active than usual, and have turned to easy & saltier food (why does salty food taste good when you're sick? I assume because your taste buds are kind of dulled, so therefore you need higher fat/salt food to really "taste" it, when you're not feeling well?) 

Anyway, for transparency (and, because it helps me as well), still posting about the previous week:

Weight: my weight stayed the same this week

Steps per day: I didn't do well on hitting my step goal this week, so my overall trend/cumulative average dropped. I'm now at 12,438 vs 13,019 as the average last week. That's a pretty big drop in just a week! Small steps really do add up, literally & figuratively. 

Calories: Last week my cumulative average for 2025 was 1,528. I'm at 1,509. My eating wasn't the best, but there were a few days I didn't eat much. 

Workouts for the past week:

• 4 workout classes
• 1 - 30 minute elliptical workout
• A couple of days with bonus 2 mile walks
• A couple of days where the only thing I did was walk ~1 mile

Overall nutrition: It was pretty poor this week. And, I tend to be a snacker when I'm stressed. I need to reduce my news consumption and focus on other ways to reduce stress. 

It was definitely a "C" type of week. Here's hoping this week is a week where I'm feeling better. 

Goals for the week:

• Eliminate stress snacking
• Eat more produce
• Keep calories in check overall
• Increase workouts back to previous level
• Hit 12k steps/day

How did you do with your health & fitness last week?

Menu Plan Sunday

 I didn't do much cooking last week, so you can see a few carryovers from our previous menu. 

• Friday: DH had the last of the chicken satay, & I had a bowl of popcorn. It was a rough week, with being sick!
• Saturday: beef tacos (I had mine over a salad)
• Sunday: garlic noodles with beef & broccoli (didn't get made last week)
• Monday: carnitas (from the freezer) over salad
• Tuesday: leftover tacos
• Wednesday: orange chicken + fried rice
• Thursday:lemon pepper chicken (the lemons on our tree are ready to be picked!) - also didn't get made last week
• Friday: I'm off to visit Sam, so Nick & M will be on their own. I'm guessing they will have pizza, if Nick is even around at all. 

I also need to menu plan for next week, when we will be having a houseful!

What's on your menu this week? Have you tried any new recipes lately? Share & inspire us!

Saturday Things

 I'm on the road to recovery, but still feeling pretty worn down, so today will be a taking it easy kind of day.

Here's what's on my list:

• Help Nick with a volunteering form he needs to complete
• Work on my taxes (what a treat that will be)
• Pick up the house
• Make tacos
• Get some exercise, even if it's light (walking on the treadmill, etc)
• Book Sam's return shuttle from the airport back to college for spring break
• Apply for two jobs
• Build a menu plan & shopping list

What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish today?

Frugal Friday

It's a pretty short list this week, as I've not been feeling well, & have that cough/cold/congestion thing that is going around.  

Saving on things we buy

• Nick has been sick, so I stopped by CVS & used my monthly ExtraCare reward to pick up a few things for him. I spent just under $10 after the discounts, and earned another $4 back between iBotta & Fetch. 

Earning money

• Earned $25 from a user study, and cashed out $20 from the survey site I use.
• Helped Nick sell an item on eBay. He made $185, and is saving up for his senior trip. (He wants to do a road trip to various national parks.)  

Avoiding spending

• Booked Sam's flight home for spring break & used a credit for the flight home (earned when I drove him to Sacramento at the end of winter break, and he caught a ride with his roommate). For the flight home, M used his Southwest points. The flight would have otherwise been $850!! We are very limited on time of day options, as he has finals, and then needs to coordinate around a shuttle that gets him from college to the airport. I've never seen flights to/from Portland that expensive. So glad that M had points. 

Eating what we have

• Made a delicious chicken satay dinner, which had the bonus of using up two of my January pantry challenge items (one can of coconut milk, the rest of a jar of red curry in the fridge & I started on the giant tub of red curry that was previously in the pantry). I also used some very wilty spinach in the recipe.  

For others

• Donated money to the fires

What about you? Any wins to share?

If you like Thai food

 try this recipe for slow cooker chicken satay! I had it on my menu plan for the week, and we ended up making it yesterday. It was absolutely fantastic! Highly recommend. 

A few tweaks:

• I added the spinach right before serving, to avoid it being super over cooked
• I'd also add the red peppers later in the cooking process, as they were overly cooked as well

The flavor was so great. We added additional lime juice & some sriracha. I might bump up the soy sauce as well. We topped ours with peanuts, and served over rice. It would also be great with chopped cilantro on top.

M basically dislikes anything cooked in a crockpot, but even he was a huge fan & asked for it to go into the menu rotation. 

Sharing as there were a few people interested in the recipe. As a bonus, it also helped me use up two of the ingredients on my January "use it up" pantry challenge - coconut milk & red curry paste. Winner. 

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Have you tried any great new recipes?

Fitness Monday

 It's been a bit up & down the past couple of weeks, as we skied & then I came back with a cold that's turned into some sort of respiratory thing. Nick has been sick for a week, poor guy. I'm slowly but surely getting back into my routine. 

Here's how I've been doing with my fitness over the past few weeks:

Weight: I'm down another 1.5 lbs, so a total of 3.6 lbs for the year. 

Steps per day: it's my goal to hit 12k steps per day in 2025. Skiing isn't much for steps, and we had two long driving days to get there & back. But, I'm still over my goal, with 13,019 steps/day (on average.) 

Calories: it's my goal to be around the 1400 calories/day range consistently. Last time I checked in I was at 1,594. My current cumulative average for 2025 is 1,528, so I've made a bit of progress dropping it down. Still more work to do here.

Workouts for the past few weeks: 

• 9 workout classes (including a bonus 90 minute class that was a wildfire fundraiser)
• 2 days of skiing
• 2 days with 4 mile hikes
• 1 day of walking for an hour on the treadmill
• Assorted other walks
• One day where I did nothing, other than pack & load the car, corral up 5 teens, pick up their room & do an untold amount of laundry

Overall nutrition:  I want to increase my fruit & veggie intake. I do pretty well on this, but there's always room for more veggies! I'm also still pretty snacky, and want to reduce snacks. 

I'm giving myself another "B" for the past couple of weeks. Still plenty of work to do cleaning up my diet, but fitness has been good generally. Goals for this last week of January: stay the course on working out (adjust as needed based on how I'm feeling), reduce overall calories & increase fruit & veggie intake. 

How are you all doing with your health & fitness?

Menu Plan Sunday

 I really phoned it in last week, and we mostly ate from the freezer. I'm trying to do better this week!

Here's what's on our menu:

• Friday - Nick had a late game, so I skipped dinner
• Saturday - chicken & dumplings (freezer)
• Sunday - slow cooker chicken satay 
• Monday - garlic noodles with beef & broccoli
• Tuesday - leftover chicken satay
• Wednesday - leftover garlic noodles
• Thursday - lemon pepper chicken (the lemons on our tree are ready to be picked!)
• Friday - leftovers

What about you? Are you trying any new recipes this week?

Frugal Friday

 

Saving on things we buy

• Stopped at Costco for some inexpensive gas & lunch for five on our way home. 

Earning money

• Made $20 doing a focus group on honey, of all things.
• Cashed out $32 from the survey site I use
• Got an offer for a side hustle/part time job. I'm still looking for a full-time option, but this part-time one would be fun, and is something I'm interested in doing full-time in the future. I would start in April. 

Avoiding spending

• Went through the boys room (the teens had an adjoining room to us) after they left for skiing. Gathered up the garbage scattered throughout to make things easier for the cleaning lady (and, of course left a tip!) & found: a few snacks, two sealed drinks still in the fridge, a glove (will try to pair this up with someone's lost glove) & an unopened container of toothpaste. Brought it all home with us, minus a few of the snacks & drinks that the teens were thrilled to see on the car ride home.
• Booked a flight to visit Sam using an airline gift card (bought at a discount at Costco around the holidays) + two nights of a hotel stay, using hotel points. 
• Booked a college tour trip with Nick. Staying with a friend, and used Southwest gift cards (bought at a discount at Costco as well), and a small travel voucher that Nick had. 

Eating what we have:

• Got home after a relatively long drive from Lake Tahoe, and then unpacked the car. No one was particularly in the mood to make dinner, but I threw together a quick salad, baked some coconut shrimp, and heated up edamame (my favorite way is with a little sesame oil & kosher salt.) 
• I've been phoning it in with menu planning, so we've been eating a lot from the freezer. We had chicken teriyaki one night (freezer leftovers), as well as grilled burgers (from the freezer as well). We had the burgers over salads.
• For lunches, I've also been taking advantage of the soups I made & froze earlier in the month.
• I used overly ripe bananas to make banana bread for an event Nick is going to, and also banana muffins for our freezer. 

For others

• Planned and coordinated a social event for the soccer team. Nick is the captain, so some of this fun work falls to me. ;-) 

What about you? Any wins to share? 

Travel planning

Lots going on around here, with Nick in the middle of the school soccer season. Once that ends, we will move on to school tennis, most likely. I'm also talking to a lot of people about various jobs. Networking and applications and interview prep/research is a lot of time!

I also just planned two trips over the last week. One is a trip to visit Sam at college for his birthday, and the second is to take Nick on two admitted students visits in Colorado. Luckily, we can combine Fort Collins and Boulder.

With a look at financial optimization, here's what I'm doing to keep the costs under control:

• Used points to book the two nights at a hotel in Corvallis (Sam's visit)
• Used a gift card (purchased on sale at Costco over the holidays) to book the flight to Portland
• Staying with a friend for the Colorado visit
• Used a small Southwest voucher ($50) + Southwest gift cards (also purchased on sale at Costco over the holidays) for the flights to Denver.

I'll need to rent a car for both trips, so that will add to the cost, in addition to food, etc.

What is everyone else up to? Any fun projects you are working on? 

Favorite hummus recipe

 I'm behind on comments, but wanted to answer the request from Marcia, who asked for my preferred hummus recipe. This is the one we use. 

It's quick & easy, and I've been making it for years. Hope you enjoy! 

Also, a photo from a gorgeous run at Heavenly.

Frugal Friday

 We are once again heading skiing for the long weekend, along with a few bonus teens! Here are a few frugal wins along the way. 

Saving on things we buy

• Picked up the Friday Freebie (an energy drink, which no one here drinks, but will inevitably get used up during one of our many hosting activities), and also used a $5 off coupon at the store. Bought some cheese on sale, uploaded my receipt to Fetch (earning $2) & bought 2 Home Depot gift cards, earning $20 in future store rewards. 
• I noticed that I hadn't earned credit on our second room during our ski trip reservations, so I reached out to Hyatt to ask them to look at it. I was correct, and they retroactively added credit. Because I was close to a milestone of nights stayed, the difference was worth 10,000 points, or approximately $230 of value. We will definitely use those points to book future travel. 

Earning money

• Gave away the last of my expiring United plus points to one of M's coworkers, and the upgrade cleared. He was thrilled, as it was a long flight, & thanked us with a $150 gift card.
• Redeemed $25 of survey cashout from the site I use (Prolific). These are actually rarely surveys, and typically instead research studies from universities. 

Avoiding spending

• Nick asked for takeout after a late soccer game. I knew I had a Panera gift card, but not enough for both of us. I ordered him a pickup meal, and made myself soup & fruit. While not "perfect", it was better than both of us eating out. Mine was a little more nutritionally motivated, as I'm obsessed with Panera's frosted sugar cookies & they are extremely high in calories. ;-) I hadn't just played 2.5 hours of soccer, so I had less wiggle room with my calories. 
• Made a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies & a large loaf of banana bread for our upcoming ski trip, to save a bit of money on snacks. 

Eating what we have

• Made a delicious zuppa toscano soup to use up some really old potatoes, as well as some sausage from the freezer. Had everything on hand for the recipe, minus the spinach (subbed for kale). This made a ton, which will keep me in lunch leftovers for quite a while. I also avoided by the cream & subbed in whole milk yogurt (leftover from our shawarma dinner), plus some milk & butter. It was absolutely fantastic, even with the subs. I also skipped the bacon, as I didn't have that. 
• Made another batch of hummus, as Nick loved the first batch so much, and requested that + veggies with every meal. Who am I to say no to a kid who wants veggies & hummus? I often have it on salads. And, our lemon tree is about to be ripe, which means one of the ingredients we buy for this recipe will be "free" to us for a while. Yay!
• Made the Frugal Girl French bread recipe for Nick, as he's hard to keep fed these days. I had an extra envelope of yeast left over from my holiday bread, so I wanted to use it before it expired.
• Ate lots of fresh fruits & veggies we had on hand, and topped my salads with feta leftover from our chicken shawarma dinner
• Nick hosted another impromptu poker night with 10+ teens on Saturday, so I looked around the house to see what we had available. I baked up a large bag of mozzarella sticks (this is the reason we have random snack food on hand) & set out the last of our Trader Joes cookies, purchased for the ski trip. We also had lots of drinks, and I continued to use the large pack of paper products I purchased for teen parties. 
• Used up some celery that was very close to needing to be tossed & made crockpot chicken & dumplings. This is one of my favorite soup recipes to keep in the freezer for easy lunches on chilly days. 
• The chocolate chip cookies & banana bread for the ski trip used up: the last of a bag of chocolate chips my mom bought while she was here, and some bananas from the freezer. Bonus, M makes Nick a bowl of fruit each day for "dessert". Nick ended up being out late at the climbing gym, and won't eat brown bananas. I pulled out the bananas from his fruit bowl & used those in the bread as well. I ate the rest of the fruit as my lunch, as moms often do. ;-) 

For others

• One of my parents friends are struggling financially, after a long history of living well beyond their means. I've provided a few suggestions upon request about options to clean things up as best they can, while increasing their income a bit. 
• Helped a friend with a job search. 
• Continued my volunteer work

What about you? Any wins to share?