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Archive for August, 2018

Looking Back at August

August 30th, 2018 at 12:59 am

Almost the end of the month...

- We almost made it to the end of the month within our food budget; we're about $8 short. That can be made up with other categories.

- F has a class trip coming up. She is celiac, and there is a meeting tomorrow with her and her adviser (also celiac! Isn't that cool?) and some other administrators to figure out the meal plan while she's away. I will have to pack food for her, but they are going to figure out what I pack so that she can eat as much like the other kids as possible. She's in middle school now, so these are things she takes care of (I am not involved in the discussion), which is really great!

- I didn't realize that one of the 20s in my pay envelope from the gym was actually a 50! So I made $82 rather than $52.

- I need to increase the amount we put in the Pets category. Our dog is old and wonderful and needs three kinds of medicine daily.

- I made $131 on credit card rewards this month. This is from my new Chase Business Unlimited card which is no fee and is 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

- The meal plan this week is frugal:
S - crustless quiche
M- chicken piccata with rice, broccoli
T - red peppers
W - risotto
T - salmon cakes with peas
F - black bean spinach casserole
S - not sure; maybe big salad?

- I get to eat something tonight that I don't have to cook! Woohoo! Risotto is one of Ds dinners. Every once in a while it's nice not to have to cook.

- F is doing really well on varsity soccer! She is having fun, and started the last game, was played more than 3/4 of the game. And school soccer is free! Well not completely free. I have to pay to get in some games (not at our school) and I will probably join the booster club ($50) and buy a shirt to wear to games. But it's a LOT less than the $465 per season we pay to her club team. And we don't need to buy uniforms.

Lots Going On

August 25th, 2018 at 02:09 am

I've been working so hard for the past week; it was probably ok that I wasn't able to post until now.

Here's what's been going on (some financial, some not so financial):

- F made it onto the varsity soccer team as an 8th grader! They played their first game last night and won! She played most of the game, and did really well. So we're proud!

- There has been a lot of spending associated with the soccer team (a lunch after a scrimmage, money for a tshirt to tie-dye, entry fees for D and I to the game last night, $20 for the retreat). I am taking the money from the same place we take the fees for her club team since we don't need to pay for club this fall. In the end, school soccer is A LOT less costly even with all those miscellaneous costs.

- F lent money to two friends for the lunch after the scrimmage and only one paid her back. This is her spending money, so it's in her interest to follow up.

- I have $101 left in the grocery budget for the month, which is tight. I'll shop on the 26th. I need to be careful about meal planning! Eat out of the pantry and freezer and add fresh veggies and fruit.

- Our pet debt is up to about $300... old dogs are expensive, but worth it. I need to put money in there from another category.

- We got a massive deal on our 2017 photo book (Shutterfly). I saw they had unlimited pages and 40% off, so I finally printed 2017. Total was $42 including tax and shipping. It's a BIG book. I will start entering 2018 photos so we can have a book in place when the next big deal comes around.

- Got $131 in Chase cash back; this goes into the vacation rewards fund which is up to $1500 now.

- We bought a wedding gift for my niece. We got an item on their registry that was $150. When I put it in the cart, Honey searched for coupons, and by the time we were done, it was $134... so now I feel bad because I intended to spend $150... But we are spending a lot to go out to California to attend the wedding...

- I bought F a winter puffy jacket on sale.

- Total for gym payments this month was $171. That's pretty good! This was partly offset by the $35 I had to pay for the next release. But teaching is more than paying for the releases.

- Now that F is in school and soccer I have a ton of time to work, but I need to learn how to work at a slower pace! I'm so used to having limited work time, that I work with ferocious intensity, and I can't keep that up for 10 hours! I have one more deadline in the near future, and after that I promise I will relax a little.

Busy Week, Meal Plan

August 14th, 2018 at 01:56 am

It's a big week this week! Two-a-day soccer practices, soccer retreat on Thursday, a training session and scrimmage on Saturday. F is over the moon! They are making friendship bracelets after morning practice tomorrow. And there's a parent meeting tomorrow night.

So I am scheduling my work during soccer practices and trying to be efficient. The retreat and scrimmage will give me a lot of time to work, which is good because I am going to miss F so much now that school is starting!

Here's the meal plan for this week (with lots of good snacks like hardboiled eggs, nuts, string cheese and dried fruit as well as Larabars and Kind bars).

S - big salad with cheddar bay biscuits (salad had turkey, cucumber, sunflower seeds, carrots, homemade dressing)
M- artichoke pasta (easy - 12 mins. total)
T - beet burgers (beets, beans, oats, onions, spices) with green chile/avocado/cheese with corn on the cobb (not easy, but filling and we can freeze the extras)
W - chicken queso casserole (make ahead and pop in oven)
Th - stuffed red pepper with quinoa and black beans (crockpot!!)
F - baked potatoes with broccoli (and cheese!) - oven timer for the potatoes and then just 10 mins for broccoli
S - scrimmage - they are going out for pizza; may have to send F with pizza because not sure about gf options for her

And now I'm going to sit down with my library book and listen to the rain dripping off the canales!

This Weekend and Home Inventory Project

August 10th, 2018 at 11:19 pm

It's rainy outside so we couldn't go to the pool. But they have barbeques there, so we went for lunch, and ate under the patio cover. We were the only ones there!

Then we went for F's allergy shots (which are free because of D's good work insurance). She hates them, but I'm hoping when she's reached maintenance in 6 months to wean her off zyrtec. Without the zyrtec she gets hives.

Tonight's dinner is a frugal cauliflower cheese (yum) made with two cauliflowers because we're hungry!

On Sunday I am going to brunch so that we can discuss Parent Association stuff. I am the Secretary of the PA this year, and the brunch is at the PA President's house; I asked what I could bring figuring would be potluck, and she said "nothing!" - she's making brunch! She's very sweet; I'm slightly intimidated because while I'm probably the friendliest person ever (probably why I was asked to be secretary), I am also super sarcastic.

While I am at brunch at C's house, F has a brunch with the school soccer team. She's been asked to be on Varsity Soccer and Varsity X-Country, so this brunch is with girls of all ages. I'm glad that she's got some girls watching out for her who are in other grades. One of the mom's of a senior said her daughter loves F, and the feeling is totally mutual! Like a big sister. The older girls offered to drive the younger girls, but D will probably just drop her off.

Anyway, because she's F, she informed me that she has already looked at the menu online and decided what to order. I have cash from the gym to give her.

Tomorrow will be a quiet day. D is videotaping a talk that a local permaculturist is giving to our neighborhood landcape committee. They're paying him to do it! (I think he would have done it for free, but that's nice; it does take a lot of preparation and editing). We will go up with him because our neighbor will be there, and tomorrow is her 80th birthday! We got her a pretty cactus and some chocolates. We love her!

And, finally, I have started my decluttering/home inventory project. The idea is to declutter a room then take photos of every wall and every drawer. I have finished our bathroom! The easiest room, but still - it's a start! I was inspired by the fires in CA - scares me so much... Do you have a home inventory?



School Money and an Extra Paycheck

August 5th, 2018 at 04:19 pm

I did this complicated excel spreadsheet to figure out if we can pay for 9th grade in two installments rather than monthly (which saves the cost of the installment plan). I've only been putting 230 a month rather than 500 into the school savings fund. According to my spreadsheet, this will actually work; I can even stop putting the extra $230 aside and save that in another way. I'm pretty excited. When F graduates, we'll have $20k to add to the college fund approximately (depending on rise in tuition costs).

That's one money thing.

Here's another: this is D's month with three paychecks. We live off 24 paychecks a year but he gets 26. Our plan is:
- 150 wedding gift
- pay ourselves back for auto repair and medical expenses 1251
- 200 to the 529
- 397 leftover (not sure what to do with this, but maybe use part for my 52nd birthday party - I never had a 50th)

That's it for now... I am coming up with a "things we need around the house that I'm avoiding" list... will post later.