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Getting stuff done!

May 11th, 2009 at 12:51 am

Today I cleaned out my pantry and organized my spice cabinet. I also made a list of all the spices in my cabinet and taped it to the inside of the door. Now I don't have to search to see if I have something or not, and then miss it and buy a duplicate!

It felt so good to get these tasks done that I've decided to give myself a list of tasks to accomplish this week -- one per day. The goal will be to choose tasks that don't take a lot of time but that I tend to put off.

Here's my list for this week:

Sun: Clean pantry and organize spices -- DONE!
Mon: Clean microwave (It's gross Frown)
Tues: Return dress and capris to the store
Wed: Wash shower curtains
Thurs: Wash out fridge
Fri: Organize desk cabinet
Sat: Chore free!

As for my challenge, today we followed the meal plan and did not eat out, I went for a run (3 miles), and the Tigers won! So $3 more for the challenge.

Previous balance: $38
Current balance: $41

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Lunch Ideas?

April 10th, 2009 at 02:37 pm

So far we are doing pretty well with our goal to spend less money on eating out. We succumbed to temptation twice last weekend, but other than that we have stuck to our meal plan for dinner every night.

The one place where I am really having trouble is lunch. The problem is that I am not really a sandwich type of girl. I just don't like them. Actually, I do like them, but the ones that I like are the super-involved ones that take a lot of time (and are expensive) to make. Which means that even if I bring a sandwich to work, I am still pretty tempted to get a piece of pizza or a sandwich from the deli, or something else to eat.

(Yes, I will gobble up a sandwich from the deli, but my homemade sandwich isn't appealing to me.)

I wish I could be like my husband, who can eat PBJ for days on end. But I have accepted that that isn't going to work for me. What I'm looking for is lunch ideas that aren't sandwiches. I've had some luck taking in pasta salad or tabbouleh (a bulgar salad) or something like that. I am hoping you guys have some ideas along those lines that you'd be willing to share. Something that I can make a big batch of on Sunday afternoon and that's not too expensive.

Thanks in advance Smile

April Goals and Roth IRAs

April 4th, 2009 at 05:05 pm

I have two main goals for April:

(1) Set up an escrow account -- I opened this account yesterday morning and already transfered in the first contribution. (I love adding something to my to do list and then checking it off right away, so CHECK!)

(2) Get our restaurant spending under control. We started using the envelope system for groceries last month, and I was amazed at how much less we spent! But our eating out expenses are out of control! In fact, I am ashamed by the amount of money we have spent on dining the past few months. Last month we both did some traveling, which contributed, but we still spent *way* more than is necessary. So much that I am embarrassed to write down the actual number! Our goal for eating out this month is $200. (I would eventually like to get this lower, but baby steps...) The good news is that (with the exception of a business dinner for me), we have been able to keep to our meal plan this entire week. So we do have more self-control that I originally thought!

I have a lot of other goals I'd like to pursue, but I think I'll be better able to tackle them one at a time, so I will save them for another month.

In other news, my husband and I finished fully funding both of our 2008 Roths this morning, and it feels good to have that taken care of. It was sad to see the balance of our savings account decrease so substantially, but I know the money has moved on to a better place!