Menu plan, week of 2/28/11

I've fallen off the wagon a little bit here with my exercising and my healthy eating so this week I want to step it up again.

I have a lot of veggies and some chicken here so I am hoping to have a lot of salads for both lunch and dinner.

For snacks I have homemade granola bars.

Breakfasts will be oatmeal and fruit.

2011 Personal Development Goals: February

One month of 2011 is already behind us! How is it possible for time to go so quickly?

So how did I do this month?

2011 Personal Development Goals:
- Read at least 3 books per month. Very close to accomplished!

Percy Jackson and The Olympians Book 5
Book 5: The Last Olympian

I am really happy to have finished this series. The author has written a number of other books that I've started reading!

The Red Pyramid I started reading another series by the same author. They are just so fun!

Clive Cussler book - 3/4 finished so I guess it doesn't count...

- Try 1 new recipe per month.
Yes! I made some wonderful bread in the bread machine. I am now obsessed with it :)


- Attempt 6 "Do it yourself" projects. Yes!
I feel so accomplished this month! I replaced 2 bathroom faucets this month. Even though this was not one of my home improvement goals, I am really happy that I did this!

- Volunteer somewhere at least once per month. Fail.

2011 Home Remodeling Goals: February

Despite doing a few home improvement project this month, I haven't actually crossed any goals off my list! But I learned some skills that will help me accomplish some other goals so it all works out.

2011 Home Remodeling Goals
- Tile Backsplash for Kitchen - not yet
- Paint rest of house (dining room, hallways, living room, master bedroom) - not yet
- Replace light fixture in dining room - not yet
- Replace kitchen faucet - not yet
- Replace towel racks in all bathrooms - one down, two to go!

Other:
- Replace master bathroom faucet - done!
- Replace 1/2 bathroom faucet - done!

What should I do next month?!?!

Menu plan, week of 2/21/11

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal, fruit

Lunches:
Peanut butter sandwiches, leftovers

Dinners:
2 dinners out plus 1 dinner at a friend's. Chicken and Dumplings

Snacks:
Cereal bars, string cheese, rice cakes

Wardrobe Challenge

I was really inspired by a recent guest post on MoneySavingMom's blog about simplifying your life. Although I am pretty good at getting rid of things, I still feel like I have too much stuff - especially when it comes to clothes. Part of this is left over from when I didn't have a washer and dryer and only did laundry once every few weeks. Back then I had to have enough clothes to get me through a few weeks. Plus, my job had a strict dress code so I had to be very dressed up everyday. As a result I ended up accumulating quite a large clothes collection. I've been good at getting rid of things here and there but when it comes to really giving my wardrobe a makeover, I really don't know where to start.

So, I've decided to see how I do with a limited wardrobe for the next 2 weeks. This is what I chose:

I have:
3 pairs of pants - 1 khaki, 1 black, and 1 jeans
2 cardigans - 1 purple, 1 brown
2 sweaters - 1 pink, 1 tan and black
2 button down shirts
1 long sleeved t-shirt
1 short sleeved t-shirt
This does not count workout clothes, pjs, etc.

So, this doesn't seem like very much but lets look at the combinations.

Pink sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)
White shirt & pink sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)
Tan/Black sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)
White shirt x (jeans, khaki, black)
White/blue shirt x (jeans, khaki)
White/blue shirt, purple sweater x (jeans, khaki)
White shirt, purple sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)
White shirt, brown sweater x (jeans, khaki)

For more casual:
White t-shirt x (jeans, khaki, black)
purple t-shirt x (jeans, khaki, black)
White and purple shirts x (jeans, khaki, black)
purple shirt, purple sweater x (jeans, khaki, black)

So all in all, with this combination of clothing items I can put together 33 potential combinations. THAT IS MORE THAN I NEED IN 1 MONTH!

Plus that doesn't count accessories. I don't have much but I do have a handful of necklaces that I can rotate in and out to change things up a little bit.

So I am going to see how this goes. I am actually pretty excited about it. I tend to wear the same things over and over again anyway so this won't be much of a stretch for me. I am thinking I will move everything in my closet that is not part of the challenge over to one side of my closet so it is clear what clothing items I have to choose from.

I think it going to make getting ready in the morning A LOT easier too! One caveat - I am allowing myself some leeway based on the weather. Since it has been a bit variable here recently I may need to swap in some warmer options. :)

Nothing to say...

It was bound to happen, blog world. After a good month and a half of almost daily posts, I find myself with nothing to say. I have no shopping trips to tell you about. I haven't done any recent home improvement projects. I have no motivating quotes. In short, I got nuttin!

I know you are probably feeling very sad and alone right now. But don't worry, I am sure I will do something blog worthy soon. :)

Grocery store deals without a coupon

Want to save money on groceries but don't want to bother with coupons? No problem! Check out the great deals I got on these products without handing over a single coupon.


How did I do this? Check the markdown section! My Kroger has a few bins in the back where they keep marked down items. Sometimes you get lucky and get there right after they fill it up.

The total list price for all of these items would have been $21.34. I paid $10.12. That is a savings of >50% and I didn't use a single coupon!

I always recommend checking out the markdown section just to see what is there. Often there won't be anything interesting, but every once in a while there are some great deals!

February Grocery Budget Challenge: Update

So it has been 2 weeks since I started my $20/person/week healthy eating challenge. So how is it going?

Well to be honest, not great. I think it is probably possible for me to spend only $80 for the entire month, but it would require me to cut back on my grocery shopping. Since I am trying to be realistic and spend as I normally would, I don't think it is realistic in the long run for me to stick with the $20/person/week budget.

I am going to continue with the challenge to see how far I get. I'll post another update at the end of the month!

Menu plan, week of 2/14/11

So what am I going to eat this week? Well that is an excellent question. I am getting low on some pre-made goodies so I might need to schedule a freezer cooking session sometime in the near future. Perhaps on Sunday?

Breakfasts
Oatmeal, fruit

Lunches:
Peanut butter sandwiches, leftovers

Dinners:
Chicken with steamed veggies, cous cous
Pasta with meat sauce and salad

Milestones

Ok yes I took a picture (but don't worry, I didn't take it while driving!)

My car hit a major milestone this week - 100,000 miles! Can you believe it?!? I got the car new in June 2003 so all of these miles were with me in the car. We've had some good times!

This is another example of how little steps can lead to something larger. Individual miles aren't much on their own but take 7 1/2 years worth of miles and you have 100,000. The same applies to nearly everything. Saving a few pennies here and there doesn't seem like much, but look at that savings over the course of a year - or even a decade - and it adds up to a significant amount. If you would have asked me 7 1/2 years ago where I would be at 100,000 miles I can guarantee you that I would not give you the answer that is my reality right now.

Anyway this got me thinking. For some reason, I am often asked when I plan on getting a new car. Because I can 'afford' to get a new car and 'afford' to have a car payment, it is assumed that I would want to do that. The thing is - I don't. My car is paid for. My car works just fine. I like my car. Why would I trade that for a monthly payment when I don't have to? I plan on getting a new car when this one stops working and I am hoping that won't be for a very long time! :)

Frugal Tip: Car Maintenance

I pretend to be 'handy' around the house but when it comes to cars, I can't even fake it. So I leave all major car maintenance concerns to the professionals at my friendly local Honda dealership. Because it is important to me to keep my car running in tip top shape, I consider this money well spent.

So how do you save money on car maintenance when you know NOTHING about cars? Easy - do the things you know you can do.

I can't change my oil, rotate my tires, or do any of the standard vehicle maintenance things that are necessary to keep my car running. But, I can top off the fluids, change the windshield wipers, and keep the car clean and vacuumed. All of these are very simple and require very little skill. And by doing these myself I save $$!

Small organizational project

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I always seem to be on the lookout for ways to organize and streamline my life. It is amazing how much of a difference a small change can make.

Recently I installed some hooks in my closet to hold belts. I initially purchased this set of hooks as a key hook but I ended up using something else to keep my keys organized.

I only have 2 belts - one black and one brown - but it is amazing how easily I can misplace them! Prior to installing these hooks I'd just keep my belts sitting on the top shelf in my closet. I can't reach things up there very well so it wasn't a great storage place for them.

So now they are easily accessible right inside the closet door.

Why I make my bed

I had an interesting conversation with a friend recently about motivation and why people are motivated by different things. It really got me thinking about why I do the things that I do.

It is no secret that I am motivated by setting goals and making lists. I am much more likely to do something if it is written out in front of me. Accountability is also important to me, but I don't need it for everything. For financial goals I like to have an accountability partner (thanks Jack's mom!) to keep me on track. But for cleaning, I am fine being accountable to myself.

It seems that I am in the minority for my love of having a clean and tidy house. It is not difficult for me to keep up my motivation for this.

My friend asked me why I make my bed every day. I took a little while to think about this and the best answer I could come up with is that it makes me happy and starts my day off right. Yes, I could absolutely survive without making my bed every morning. However, I find that when I start my day with an act of organization such as making my bed, I am committing to continue my day in an organized and purposeful way.

You may remember what happens when I don't follow my schedule. It is bad. Could I get through life with a messy house and disorganized life? Absolutely. But I would probably end up wasting money, wasting time, and in general not having as much fun.

To some it may seem silly that the simple act of making my bed can make all the difference in how my day goes, but for me it makes perfect sense. Maybe I'm in the minority on this one but it works for me and that's all that matters!

Organizational System Update

So I've been using my new organizational system for about a month now and I am LOVING it! Seriously, why didn't I do this before? I love seeing exactly which chores I still need to do. Also, knowing that I can pick and choose chores depending on my schedule/mood that week really helps to keep my motivation up.

Anyway, since I do most of those chores once every 2 weeks, I have found that I am starting realize it would be nice to know how long it has been since I last did something. From my list I can easily see that I've accomplished it during my 2 week period but I don't remember exactly when I did it.

So I have tweaked my system. Instead of just putting a mark to indicate that I've finished something, I am now putting the date.


I think this will really help me stay on top of things a lot better.

I've also realized that it is important to allow myself the ability to change things. What works for me now might not work for me next year. Similarly, what works for you might not work for me. Being efficient is all about figuring out the best system for you at this moment.

CVS Trip

I am really trying hard to maximize my grocery dollars this month to see if spending $20/person/week is a realistic goal for me. One way to do this is to play the drug store game. I tend to focus on CVS because it is the closest store to me and it is much easier to pay attention to only 1 store at a time. There are only so many hours in a day, you know!

This challenge is different than a typical "eating from the pantry challenge." I am not trying to minimize my spending. I am still shopping as I typically would and when possible I am building my stockpile so that I don't pay full price for items in the future.

So, with $3.50 in ECBs and a $3/$15 coupon burning a hole in my pocket, I headed to CVS with the goal of adding to my stockpile.

This is what I got:


Grand total: Around $7 including tax plus I earned $2 ECBs back that I will roll into another deal. Not bad considering each laundry detergent retails for $7.

I haven't bought laundry detergent in over a year and these bottles combined with what I still have left will probably last me close to that long again. So cross laundry detergent off the list of things to buy in 2011 :)

Menu plan, week of 1/7/11

I am sticking with my "veggies, veggies, veggies" deal this week. Especially since I still have some veggies to get through so they don't go to waste!

So what am I eating this week?

Breakfast:
Cereal bars, oatmeal, fruit

Lunch:
Salads, chicken sandwich, leftovers

Dinner:
Baked chicken with cous cous and steamed veggies
Curry Chicken with steamed veggies and naan bread

Snacks:
String cheese, apples, skim milk chocolate pudding

Sounds good right?

Two important lessons

I had 2 really important lessons reinforced for me this weekend as I cleaned out my car for the first time in a ::ahem:: really long time.

You'll never believe what I found in my trunk - treasure!! Seriously! I found 2 tins full of coins. I vaguely remember packing these up at some point but obviously I had completely forgotten about them.


Finding these coins gave me some motivation to head to my nearest CoinStar machine to see how much this treasure was worth.

Ready for it? $80. I had $80 in coins sitting in my car and I had no idea. WOW!



This really reinforced to me how easily little things can make a difference. The majority of those coins were pennies. Do you know how many pennies it takes to make $80? A LOT! Individually they aren't worth much but together you can end up with a lot more than you expected.

This is a great reminder to keep on top of the cleaning and to limit the clutter. When things are cluttered, important things (like $80!) get lost.

Home Remodeling: Faucets, part 2

On the heels of my successful master bathroom faucet project, I decided to tackle the half bathroom. This bathroom has a pedestal sink and started with a chrome faucet and chrome drain.



Since the pedestal sink has very limited access to the plumbing components, I decided to go with a new chrome faucet so that I wouldn't have to touch the drain. I am very glad I decided to do this because it was definitely challenging to access everything.

Anyway, here is the finished product! I love how it turned out. I am not generally a huge fan of the chrome finish but in the half bath I think it works really well. I still need to replace the toilet paper and hand towel holders so I am thinking I will choose something with a chrome finish to compliment my new faucet!

Home Remodeling: Faucets, part 1

As you might recall, I've set some home remodeling goals. This is not one of them. One of my goals is to replace the kitchen faucet, but seeing as how I haven't done much plumbing, I decided to first work on the bathroom faucets. I have 3 bathrooms. If something went horribly wrong in one of them, at least I have a few spares to work with. If I messed up the kitchen faucet I'd be washing dishes in the bathtub...and that doesn't sound too appealing.

Anyway, so on with it!

I thought about showing a step by step process but it was just too difficult to get good photos. Plus it was a decent amount of work so I'll just show you the before and after.

Here is my master bathroom faucet before. Note that I had already started taking things apart which is why there is some junk in the sink. Anyway, the faucet was totally functional but not at all attractive. Also, I am not a huge fan of chrome. So for this sink I replaced both the drain and the faucet.


And here is the finished product! I like the brushed nickel A LOT more than the cheap chrome one. I think it looks a lot more finished and gives it a more complete finish to the whole bathroom.


This is the first time I have ever done something like this, which satisfies one of my other goals. This was a great learning experience. Replacing the actual faucet part wasn't a huge deal but replacing the drain was A PAIN! I learned a very valuable home improvement lesson. No matter how many times you check to make sure you have everything you need, you're wrong. You absolutely will need to make at least 1 additional trip to the hardware store for something. In my case, it was a wrench big enough to loosen the drain.

In the end, it all worked out. I love my new faucet and I am feeling confident about attempting more home improvement projects!

2011 Home Remodeling Goals: January

I am loving all these goal lists. It keeps me so motivated!!

So how did I do on my home remodeling goals this month?

2011 Home Remodeling Goals
- Tile Backsplash for Kitchen - not yet
- Paint rest of house (dining room, hallways, living room, master bedroom) - not yet
- Replace light fixture in dining room - not yet
- Replace kitchen faucet - not yet
- Replace towel racks in all bathrooms - one down, two to go!

I am pretty pleased with what I accomplished this month. In addition to replacing one towel rack, I also started putting money away to pay cash for some of these bigger goals!!

February Grocery Budget Challenge

Crystal has been talking recently about how to maximize your grocery spending and ultimately how to reduce your grocery budget. She recommended starting with $20/person/week and this got a lot of people talking about how this was an unreasonably low amount and how it was impossible to eat healthfully while still maintaining this budget.

Well, that got me thinking. Could I do it? There is only 1 person in my household so this would be a total budget of $80 for the month. That is less than I currently spend.

Obviously I have some items in my pantry so I wouldn't have to purchase every single item that I eat, but I also don't want to survive on pasta and peanut butter sandwiches either (this is not a great way to Fight the Fat).

So here is what I am thinking. My goal is to not only limit myself to $80 for the month but also to eat healthfully throughout the entire month. This mean - plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, limited processed foods, and overall good choices.

Is it possible? Do you think I can eat healthy meals all month for only $80? We are going to see! And to prove that I'm not eating junk - here is a picture of my lunch:



Doesn't it looks great on that blue plate?!? How pretty (and tasty!).

So, I'm off. As added incentive, I've put aside $80 in cash as my grocery money and put the extra (that I typically spend in a month) aside for my home improvement fund. If I need it, I'll take it back but I am hoping that not having it in front of me will encourage me to stick with my goals!

Financial Goal Update: January

Without further ado, here are my 2011 Financial Goals.

- Pay cash for all home remodeling goals so far so good
- Make an extra principal payment each month yes
- Pay off 5% of my mortgage this year. I have paid off 0.25% so far this year.
- Up my retirement savings by maxing out my Roth IRA. Not maxed out yet, but contributing!
- Continue saving for a new car. Yes
- Pay for all travel in cash Saving for summer travel
- Pay for Christmas gifts in cash Saving for this goal