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Archive for March, 2018

Frugal Thoughts for Thursday

March 30th, 2018 at 03:50 am

Frugal Thoughts for Thursday:

- My good friend is moving out of state (neighboring state, but still - grrr!). I am very sad; she's like a sister to me! She's cleaning out all her stuff and is bringing over clothes for F that her daughter outgrew a long time ago (she's 21 now!). It's been a long time since we've gotten hand me down clothes - F and I are both excited!

- I am thinking of making this recipe for Spring Minestrone [url] https://www.purplecarrot.com/plant-based-recipes/spring-minestrone-with-crispy-mushrooms-and-garlic-toasts [url] which is a Purple Carrot recipe. Not sure if they have enoki mushrooms at Sprouts... they look good!

- I've been so busy at work that I don't have time to spend any money. But I did manage to get a few things for Easter for F.

- And I did stop by the dollar store to get 4 bins ($4!) to organize her soccer stuff. One bin is shorts, one jerseys, one socks and one is for her uniform. We also got rid of some training shirts from soccer camps that she doesn't wear.

- I saw an advertisement up at school today for a soccer camp run by a couple of seniors who are graduating. They are girls which is great for F, and I'm hoping that the price is good. It's 9 to 3 for five days.

- This is the month my husband gets 3 paychecks and my system is that we live on two each month, so we really need to decide what to do with the extra money.

Finally - Extra Money... Now What?

March 24th, 2018 at 03:01 am

After getting all of my spending categories positive, living on last month's income, maxing out our IRAs and having sinking funds for pretty much everything, we are not in the wonderful position of having extra money each month. This is weird. And great.

But I am not sure what to do with the extra money.

- Is it time to get a fee-only financial planner?
- Should we put more in F's 529 even though she may not go to college in the US?
- Should D save more in his 401K?
- Do we buy stocks or ETFs or mutual funds or ?

Argh!!!

This is a great problem to have.

In other news:
- We do not have enough girls to play soccer this weekend (injuries, holidays), so we had to forfeit, but the girls we do have will help two other teams be able to play (due to Spring Break they don't have enough girls either)
- We are trying to figure out when F can have allergy shots; it's just once a week, but impossible to mesh the Allergy office's schedule with hers!
- Working hard on learning Irish on duolingo (free app!)...not easy!!

Our Most Frugal Recipes

March 20th, 2018 at 12:48 am

Just a disclaimer: we don't eat beef or pork or lamb, but we do eat chicken, turkey and fish. A lot of our meals are vegetarian. Even when we are eating animal protein, we bulk it out with vegetables.

These are all on heavy rotation because they are inexpensive and really yummy:

Salmon cakes with leftover potato, a whole red pepper; made with canned salmon from Trader Joe's. Served with a big salad.

Frittata with spinach and cheese and onions

Crustless quiche - 10 eggs, 1 c milk, with cooked broccoli or other leftover vegetables, sundried tomatoes, leftover chicken or not, leftover potato or not, whatever we have on hand!

Mexican eggs - https://www.nigella.com/recipes/mexican-scrambled-eggs

Asian meatballs - https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-asian-meatballs/79c76dca-ff5a-4992-8386-fb5d259bfaf3 with rice (crockpot recipe!)

Easy chili with tortillas - 1 lb ground turkey, 1 can kidney beans, 1/2 onion diced fine, 2 cans (or 1 lg. can) diced tomatoes, 26 oz can tomato sauce, package Trader Joe's roasted frozen corn, some chili seasoning (another crockpot!)

Posole - 2 lb bag posole (hominy?), 13 oz tub New Mexico green chile, turkey thighs, 1 onion chopped fine, 1 can Mexican tomatoes, some oregano, water to cover and soak up posole (also crockpot!)

Aloo Gobi - Indian potatoes and cauliflower in the crockpot!

Vegetable Pad Thai

Asian Cauliflower Stirfry with Rice - I use more than one cauliflower! - https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-spicy-roasted-cauliflower-stir-fry-224291

Tostadas - corn tortillas, refried beans, lettuce, salsa, sour cream

Enchiladas - with refried black beans and roasted corn and green onion

Baked Polenta with red sauce and mushrooms, and a vegetable on the side

Polenta and Black Bean Casserole - https://www.purplecarrot.com/plant-based-recipes/black-bean-and-polenta-casserole-with-chile-butter - but double the recipe!

Bad Breath Pasta - with spinach, capers, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic and kalamata olives

Pasta Carbonara with a big salad or vegetable - weirdly Gwyneth Paltrow's is the best - https://www.popsugar.com/food/Gwyneth-Paltrow-Carbonara-Recipe-41083033

Pasta with zucchini and goat cheese - https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pasta-zucchini-goat-cheese

Frugal Things for Sunday

March 18th, 2018 at 10:02 pm

It is snowing outside which sort of wrecks our plan to play basketball today, but it's beautiful and we need the snow, so I'm happy! We did all of our grocery shopping this morning before it started snowing, and the house is 75% clean (still a couple of rooms to do).

I am sitting here with an extra pair of socks and a warm cat next to me. I was watching the latest episode of Timeless on nbc.com but decided to take a break.

So, frugal things:

1. Instead of going out to eat, we got salads from Trader Joe's; it's not making things from scratch, but it's not going out either. A compromise, but still a treat.

2. Watching Timeless on nbc. com (we don't have cable or a netflix subscription which saves a lot). We watch very little tv.

3. Found an old pair of fingerless gloves that I knitted a long time ago and gave them to F who loves them. They are super soft. Glad someone will get wear out of them!

4. Dinner tonight is what we call French Dinner! Olives, cheese, crackers and a vegetable (asparagus tonight). Frugal and yummy and reminds us of when we were in France.

Because we did not go anywhere for Spring Break...

March 16th, 2018 at 09:31 pm

Because we did not go anywhere for Spring Break...

1. We saved a lot of money! So...

2. We are able to go to Europe this summer! (OK, this obviously WHY we are not going anywhere for Spring Break, but I keep reminding all of us that we have a super-great trip planned for June).

3. F had a friend over who also stayed in town during the break, too, and I got to hang out with the mom for a little bit and get to know her better (this is harder when your child is in middle school; it was much easier in elementary). She is super nice! (As is her daughter).

4. I was able to splurge for a few things: took F out to lunch one day, another day bought her that overpriced "thinking putty" and today took her to Meow Wolf (hard to explain - you need to look it up).

5. I am making money teaching at the gym rather than scrambling for subs.

6. We are going to visit D at his office next week (he works a 40 min drive away); F has never seen his office, and D's coworkers REALLY want to meet her! We will visit the museum up there, too.

7. F is here for every soccer practice and game and the coaches are very appreciative because a lot of girls are out of town. We have to borrow girls for tomorrow because we only have 9 players!

8. We will have a fun Albuquerque day next week with Vietnamese food. I can buy F a few new things at Old Navy - she has grown so tall!

Five Frugal Things for Spring Break

March 13th, 2018 at 02:52 am

F is off for two weeks (Spring Break!) and we are not going anywhere, so having fun at home...

Five Frugal things:

- F and I went to the gym to attend my friend L's class (she teaches the same class I do, but on Mondays). Because I teach there, I am free and my immediate family is free!

- F and I went to the library today and she got four books; we don't buy books. This should last through the week I hope. But if we need to go back, we can...

- Dinner tonight was tostadas, my most frugal dinner. A $1 package of corn tortillas, $1 can of refried beans, a little sour cream, a little salsa and some lettuce. D uses a little bit of grated cheese, too.

- F went to Karate this afternoon; we pay monthly, so the more she goes, the less expensive it is. She can go 3x/week.

- Tomorrow is D's birthday! We are having a nice dinner at home (because we're all getting home really late!) and flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream (yes, homemade! - way less expensive. F made him a card, and we got him a breakfast burrito from the best place in town for his breakfast. I hope it's a good day even though he has to work!

oh - and #6 - we are not going anywhere for Spring Break!

Thoughts on Personal Purchases

March 11th, 2018 at 11:11 pm

I am sitting here happily watching the snow fall outside... I know the East Coast is getting hammered, but we're very happy to have this snow. We've had a below-normal year here at the tail-end of the Rocky Mountains. So we don't need to water out trees today - hooray! Probably a savings of about $1, but still...

So, about 2 months into the year, and I've done well with my plan to minimize buying things for myself. I am not talking about experiences or consumables. The only thing I've bought this year is a new pair of trainers. My other pair were pretty broken down, and since I teach a fitness class, it's not good for my feet, legs, back... The money came out of the fitness budget, which I track separately, deducting from the money I make from the gym. I will keep the receipt for next year's taxes.

There are things I'd like to buy but haven't. First on that list is a new pillow. My pillow is great, but it's feather, and I have allergies. I do better with a foam pillow, but I like the feel of feathers. Maybe Mother's Day...

Other than that, there is nothing that I need and very little that I want very much.

So the personal spending is very low.

We spent the day yesterday at F's soccer game. We brought packed lunches for after the game. We ate brunch at home because F couldn't eat lunch before (game started at noon and they warm up at 11:15). This eliminated the cost of eating out afterward, and she was able to eat right away (she was so hungry! She is a left-winger and was not subbed the entire time!). Not sure if everyone thinks that watching U14 soccer is a great Saturday, but we do!

Today, F had her Karate belt test. She missed the class test yesterday because of soccer, so we had to do a private test (cost is $70). The private cost is for an hour, and the test only took 15 minutes, so she had a private lesson for the rest of the time which was great! She had fun, we had fun watching.

Spent the rest of today reading a book on my phone (free on Hoopla), drinking tea and going to the grocery store. We spent $121. My friend whose daughter plays soccer with F said that he never spends less than $200. It's all relative.

This week's menu is:
S - cauliflower stirfry (Vegetarian)
M - tostadas (Vegetarian)
T - baked penne with turkey (D's birthday dinner! It will be post-soccer practice so late, but he has a work thing until 6:45 anyway)
W - baked potato bar with chili, cheese, sour cream, green onions (Vegetarian) - friends coming over for dinner and he can't eat cheese, so we go with a baked potato bar approach and a side salad. I will make the chili without any turkey burger in it because we'll have had turkey the night before.
Th - salmon souvlaki with rice, cucumber, feta, greek olives and raita (I love raita! I got Greek yoghurt and F can have yoghurt with berries for breakfast one morning, too)
F - fennel salad and black bean taquitos (Vegetarian)