Sunday Things

It was a very, very rainy day yesterday. We certainly need the rain, but I prefer not to be out in the downpour for hours, watching soccer. ;-) On the positive side, Nick's team shut out their opponents in an 8-0 win, with Nick scoring one. He's a defender, so this is unusual. He scored off a free kick, with a header, which has been his goal for the season. Who doesn't want a header goal, World Cup style? ;-) 

M treated me to a pomegranate martini when I got home, which was very appreciated. I fell asleep on the sofa, which is unusual for me, and slept for over ten hours last night! Apparently, I really needed the sleep.

As for today, I have a long list of to dos, but I think I'll push my holiday bread making to next weekend.

• Schedule for the week
• Workout schedule for the week
• Make a list of all remaining Christmas items to pick up, order, cards to write, etc
• Defrost dinner items for tomorrow
• Make tacos
• Laundry
• Pick up a few Buy Nothing items
• List more items for Buy Nothing
• Finish my wreath
• Workout class
• Investigate savings/retirement accounts for boys, with their 2022 earned income
• Call my parents
• Make crostini
• Calculus tutor at 4:00 (thankfully, not for me)

What about you? What are you up to today? I hope everyone has a lovely day!

Saturday Happenings

 M & I had a lovely dinner out last night, but our shopping trip was largely a fail, as the shops closed at 7. We were very surprised by the early close, particularly this close to the holidays. We did find a couple of items, but I was primarily looking for a pair of shoes. I prefer always to shop online, but it's hard to find shoes, when you don't quite know what you're looking for. I suppose I'll need to order a variety & then just return what doesn't work.

Here's what we're up to today:

• Take Nick to/from a reffing game
• Workout class this morning
• Take Nick & a friend to the school soccer game. That will be a big chunk of time, as they have to be there an hour early for warmups. 
• Make a shopping list
• Costco
• Grocery store
• Arrange calculus tutor for the boys
• M is making spaghetti & meatballs for dinner

What are you planning today?

December Goals

 It's the last year of the month, and the last opportunity to close out the goals for the year! 

Financial:

• Stick to our budget, including for Christmas
• Make $250, so I can complete our 2022 side hustle goal
• Continue post work plan & budget
• Go through ebay inventory
• Give away 10 things on Buy Nothing
• Use up 5 random freezer items

Family:

• One activity with the kids
• Help Nick learn to drive
• Two dates with M
• Connect with M's family
• Continue with 2023 travel planning & finalize ski week plans

Fitness/Health:

• Post weekly fitness summaries
• Match November's calories burned
• Close rings 28 days
• Take advantage of workout classes
• Meditate 5x
• Lose 2 lbs

Personal:

• Do something social with friends
• Continue to volunteer
• More thinking on "post career" plans

That's it for me! What are you hoping to accomplish this month?

Frugal Friday

The weeks are whizzing by, as we enter the home stretch to the end of the year. It felt like a solid frugal week, but maybe that's because I had to purchase a few things. Any time you're purchasing something, there's more of an opportunity to find it for less, or save a bit here & there. I also did so, so much better than previous years, on only buying things on the list! I avoided many impulse purchases, which I've struggled with in previous years. 

Saving on things we buy

• Bought a Starbucks card I needed on Black Friday, and earned a $5 bonus gift card
• I bought new running shoes a week or so ago, and noticed that Rakuten hadn't applied the cash back. I filled out a quick form, and earned $4.40 back. Sidenote: running shoes are expensive. I'm on a schedule of buying two pair/year, around the holidays & trying to make them last for at least 6 months. It's a bit hit or miss, whether they last that long.
• Uploaded a receipt I found in the car (maybe Nick's, or a friend, when they went to the movies) to Fetch, & saved a couple of bucks. 
• Bought two pair of Nick's tennis shoes, at a large BF discount. He is so hard on the shoes, and plays a lot of tennis, so I'm hoping these will last through the summer.
• Saved $540 by calling & asking for a price adjustment to our Christmas flights. They were on sale for Cyber Monday, and I was able to get the money added as a credit to our travel account. 

Earning money

• Listed a few new items on eBay
• Finally earned enough points on Fetch to cash out a $5 reward. 
• Made $150 selling furniture we weren't using. I'd kept it for a few months, to make sure we wouldn't change our minds, and then listed it for sale. It sold very quickly, and I had MANY interested folks, so lesson learned for next time - I didn't have it priced quite right. ;-) 

Avoiding spending

• I picked up a large bag of apples from a neighbor. I'm pretty impressed they are growing apples in our area - we're more of a citrus fruit climate. 
• Picked up a bag of cranberries from another neighbor. I put it in the freezer for future cranberry muffins. 
• Used expiring Starbucks points to buy myself a latte, after a very early workout. 

Eating what we have

• I made a large crockpot of soup on Wednesday, knowing we'd be home late due to Nick's game. We had it for dinner one night, and I had three lunches, & then I froze the rest. 
• Made Philly cheesesteaks, out of things we had in the fridge/freezer, leftover from last time we made them. We're slowly but surely making freezer progress. 
• Made a squash soup out of a few different squash varieties we grew, roasted & then froze a few months ago. I added fresh herbs from the garden, and also some celery I had that needed to be used up. It turned out delicious. Froze a small portion for a future lunch. 
• I also used the last of some bread purchased on Wednesday to make a second batch of goat cheese crostini, which the boys adore. We had that as an appetizer, while decorating the tree. And, when I say "we", I mean, I had one piece, M had zero, & the boys ate the rest. ;-) 
• Ate the rest of a taco bake over mashed potatoes, for a lunch & a single serving dinner. 
• Made another loaf of foccacia bread, out of yeast that is not very active. Because the foccacia rises for so long, it still works reasonably well. The boys love it, so it's a win.
• We used/froze all of the dinner leftovers by Wednesday, which is an accomplishment. We cook on weekends, and then after we're out of prepped meals, we dig into the freezer. 

For others

• Gave stuff away on Buy Nothing
• Began what I assume to be the last of a mentoring project at work

What about you? Any wins to share?

November goals recap

 I enjoyed November a lot. It came on the heels of a fabulous anniversary vacation with M, but I also like our small Thanksgiving, the cooler weather & the feel of fall. 

Here's how we did with our goals!

Financial:

• Stick to our budget - we blew our budget out of the water by booking flights to Dubai, and planning a bunch of 2023 travel. But, we will adjust the rest of our travel accordingly to prioritize as much as possible. 
• Progress towards side hustle goals - I did well with my side hustle goals, & earned $304, through a combination of efforts.  
• Continue post work plan & budget - a little progress was made.
• Go through eBay inventory - Nope
• Give away 10 things on Buy Nothing - I think I gave away 20 items. 

Family:

• One activity with the kids - we went mini golfing
• Help Nick learn to drive - the practice driving continues
• Two dates with M - I don't think we had any dates this month, but we are going to dinner on Friday, and shopping for the last couple of Christmas gifts
• Connect with M's family - we sent pictures & videos
• Continue 2023 travel planning - we've made good progress, but a few things are dependent upon the boys schedules (camps, jobs, etc) that aren't finalized yet.
• Finalize holiday travel plans. - done!

Fitness/Health:

• Post weekly fitness summaries - done!
• Match September's calories burned - I increased it by a lot, & ended with 21,658
• Close rings 28 days - done!
• Take advantage of workout classes - yes, still taking classes regularly
• Meditate 5x - still no progress!
• Lose 2 lbs - I didn't lose (or gain) anything this month. 

Personal:

• Do something social with friends -  met a friend for a hike
• Continue to volunteer - volunteered at a food pantry
• More thinking on "post career" plans - continued small steps here

What about you? How did you do with your November goals? Any wins to share?

Workout Wednesday

 I had five hard workouts & one good run this week, besting my 5k time from last year, so I'll take it!

Workouts for the week:

• Monday - 45 minute elliptical workout
  
• Tuesday - Orange Theory workout class
• Wednesday - Orange Theory workout class
• Thursday - 5k run with the family
• Friday - Orange Theory workout class
• Saturday - Orange Theory workout class
• Sunday - Orange Theory workout class

Eating: Generally, there was a lot of eating & way more dessert than usual, thanks to the holiday & long weekend.

Highlights/Lowlights: I'm still snacking too much, and am trying hard to get things back under control post Thanksgiving. 

Focus for the week ahead: my goal is to brush my teeth after dinner, to hopefully avoid evening munchies. 

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

Menu Plan Monday

We're working our way through some leftovers, and trying to ensure there's no food waste. I'm keeping the plan a bit loose this week, to ensure we don't have to toss any food. 

• Friday - various Thanksgiving leftovers
• Saturday - In & Out (not the plan, but we were running late from another activity)
• Sunday - Philly cheesesteaks
• Monday - chicken curry & rice
• Tuesday - grilled chicken + any leftovers, or over salads
• Wednesday -spaghetti & meatballs, or something easy, as I think Nick has a school game
• Thursday - leftovers?
• Friday - wings + spring rolls

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

Saturday Happenings

It's been a lovely long weekend so far (we've all been off work/school since Thursday), with plenty of relaxing. Nick went to a tennis clinic yesterday, & had a great time. 

I did some cooking, & made butternut squash soup, from squash we froze from the garden. It was delicious & I will definitely make it again. It was roughly based on a recipe, but I tweaked it quite a bit to get the flavor I was looking for. Yum!

I also made cranberry muffins, to use up some of the leftover cranberries. They are M's favorites, so he was thrilled to see those get added to the freezer.

As for today, here's what we're up to:

• Workout class in the morning
• Clean & wipe down the fridge
• Pick up books from a BN person
• Meet up with M's cousin's family for a mini golf outing
• Laundry
• Work on plans for the week ahead (calendar, workout classes, etc)
• Pay bills

What about you? What are you up to today?

Frugal Friday

It was a busy week, but we had some wins along the way. 

Saving on things we buy

• Used a $1 expiring Rite Aid reward, to buy the boys deodorant. They need... a lot of it!
• Used a coupon code & a reward to pick up a few Christmas gifts for the boys. The gifts are actually from my parents, but saving money is a win for everyone. 

Earning money

• Sold the last of M's jackets on eBay. As expected, it sold within a week of listing it. I only wish everything I listed sold as well. 
• Cashed out $20.75 via iBotta. We rarely buy anything that matches up with offers, so it's nice to get a bit out, even though it takes time.
• Sold a bunch of travel gift cards. Raise has been a hassle lately, but it's nice to have them gone, and the money back into the travel budget. This airline dropped a lot of routes during COVID, so the gift cards were near impossible for us to use. 
• Received a rebate from our mortgage company. They were auditing some paperwork, and realized they overcharged us for our appraisal. We bought the house in 2017, so I have no idea why this just popped. Anyway, received a check for just under $500. Unexpected money is always a fun surprise. 

Avoiding spending

• I've been trying hard to avoid random purchases. I'm doing pretty well. I did take the boys grocery shopping, and that played out as expected. ;-) 
• I didn't have any canned tomatoes (the recipe called for one with diced chiles), so I diced a few large tomatoes from the garden & added a jalapeno from the yard. It was a nice freebie replacement, although the tomatoes are really at the end of the season. 

Eating what we have

• Our meals have been the opposite of glamorous this week, but we've all been fed, and we've gotten a lot out of the freezer.
• Used all of the naan bread, in various dinners.
• Ate random leftovers for lunch, numerous times this week. I'm usually pretty hungry after a workout, so it's all good & as long as there is protein and some sort of produce with it, it all works out.  
• We managed to clean out the fridge by Friday night, which is rare! 
• Defrosted a small container of soup for an on the go lunch.
• Finished off the last of two packages of tortillas (one regular, one Keto friendly). We use shells regularly, but one of these was tucked in the back of the fridge & isn't a brand we buy. I think my parents bought them when they were here. I'm glad we discovered them before they went bad. 
• Finished off the last of a bag of pizza rolls, for a weekend teen boy lunch. 
• While doing a bit of freezer organization, discovered a few of the "eggwich" breakfast sandwiches in the freezer, and set one out for an easy breakfast.
• Defrosted an accidental package of chicken (it was attached to two packages I'd planned to defrost) & turned it into soup. The soup had the bonus points of using up the last of carrots, celery lingering in the fridge, potatoes we need to use, & two containers of chicken broth from the freezer. Wins!

For others:

• I worked a four hour shift at a food pantry, and then matched my time with work (earning them an in kind cash match).
• I also helped the food bank supervisor set up a cell phone for the volunteers
• Gave away lots of pomegranate & herbs to friends & neighbors
• Gave away a gift card to the local soccer store. I've had it in my purse for at least two years, and just never go there. I think it has around $20, and a neighbor on BN is buying a Christmas gift from the same shop. Out of my wallet, into the hands of a neighbor who will use it. Win/win. 
• Purchased an Amazon wish list via a friend, to help out a neighborhood family who is struggling right now. The wish list was a mix of basics (deodorant, toothpaste, soap, etc) & some clothing items. 
• Donated to the high school soccer team for Nick, and submitted a request for a match, thus doubling my donation.
• Gave away a bunch of other items (including in demand ski pants) on BN. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Happy Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the US! I hope it's a lovely & relaxing day, filled with family & fun. 

We rallied the troops out of bed this morning, for our traditional turkey trot. It's at a local high school, and all of the money benefits the school. 

Nick blew us all away, with a very fast finish. Sam was right behind him, M a little further back, & while I was last in my group, I finished faster than last year. The workout class I go to does at least some running at the start of each class, which I could tell helped. I'm happy with faster than last year. ;-) 

The boys are now heading to the gym. I'm going to get started on the cake. 

Have a fabulous day, everyone!

Workout Wednesday

I had a consistent set of workouts this week, and am still really enjoying Orange Theory. I was happy I found time to go, even during a really busy work week. 

Workouts for the week:

• Monday - Orange Theory workout class
• Tuesday - 90 minutes of elliptical
• Wednesday - 45 minute spin class + 1.5 mile walk on the treadmill
• Thursday - 90 minutes of elliptical
• Friday - Orange Theory workout class
• Saturday - Orange Theory workout class
• Sunday - Orange Theory workout class

Eating: I did pretty well with eating last week, but definitely still snacked during intense days.

Highlights/Lowlights: Great workouts were the highlights, snacking was the lowlight. 

Focus for the week ahead: track my calories, which I didn't do last week

How about you? How did you do with your health & fitness?

Menu Plan Monday

 I'm hoping this week will be much less stressful than last week. A girl can dream, right? I have Thursday & Friday off of work, which I'm really looking forward to. 

• Friday - wings & gyozos
• Saturday - sesame chicken + rice (really liked this recipe, and it will go into the rotation).
• Sunday - taco skillet (made into burritos for the teen). Eh, thought it needed more seasoning, & it was just "okay". Will likely not make again.  
• Monday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Tuesday - sesame chicken
• Wednesday - butternut squash soup & either baguette or homemade foccacia
• Thursday - Thanksgiving! We'll be having:
• Pomegranate martinis/cider + goat cheese crostini (happy hour)
• Steak
• Mashed potatoes
• Roasted acorn squash
• Green beans
• Chocolate cake/pumpkin pie. Nick & I are not pumpkin pie fans, and he's voted for the cake. M & Sam will have the traditional pie, with ice cream. 
• Friday - Thanksgiving leftovers (minus the steak) + chicken for protein

What about you? What are you having this week?

All of the pomegranates

 M planted a pomegranate tree when we moved in, and it's an amazing producer, now that we're on year 4+. Unfortunately, we got a lot of rain this year (well, it was super fortunate for the drought, but pomegranates do not like big swings in moisture), and many of them started to crack. 

I've picked about 4 Home Depot sized buckets of pomegranates this week. One bucket needed to be tossed, as they were split far enough that they couldn't be used. Others had just minor cracks, and the seeds inside were still protected. 

We've given lots away to friends & neighbors, and M has been busy deseeding them each evening. We all love the arils, so they've been a big hit. The tree runs off of a drip irrigation system, so it's very inexpensive & a very high ROI plant.

We'll see how far M gets into this pile tonight. We have pomegranate martinis every year on Thanksgiving, so the timing is perfect!