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