Weekly Meal Plan for September 25th + October 2nd + Food and Fitness Goals

I didn't post last week's meal plan because I lost track of time. My son and I were decorating planners and papers, and I broke out some washi tape for the first time. He absolutely loved that stuff. Then Monday came, and I didn't want two posts published on the same day. Then I felt awkward and decided to post it late with this week's meal plan.

The only reason why we ate out on Tuesday was because I was attending a two hour class at the library right after work.

Meal plan for the week of October 2nd:

Breakfasts- yogurt, breakfast cookies, and/or strawberry fig bars.


Lunches - peanut butter sandwiches and the ranch veggie chips my son won't eat, oatmeal, and leftovers.


Food and Fitness Goals:

1. I want to start tracking water and food intake. (see pic below.)
2. I want to limit sugar. It's that time of year where the big tin of butter cookies is available at Costco, where my mom bakes a lot of treats, and where coworkers bring in yummy things.
3. I want to start thinking about ideas to make food easier. I read the other day that someone picks one meal for lunch and eats the same thing all week. Other people prep jars of salad to take all week. One reason why I struggle with meal prep is because it seems a lot of people use plastic bags and disposable meal prep containers. On one hand these items make it super easy to meal prep, but on the other hand there is so much waste involved. I could, for example, buy five reusable sandwich containers, but that doesn't quite feel right either. I really need to ponder this for awhile. Unfortunately as a busy working mom I have to cut corners sometimes and do what's best for my sanity and health.

I've started getting into using my planner "for real" and part of that is tracking my water intake. This next week I'm going to start writing down what I actually end up eating for each meal. This is for health and to gather data about eating habits. The shoe up there is to write in the amount of steps I take each day.

In case you're curious, this is the meal plan white board I use. This is the planner I currently use. I am getting a Bloom planner for 2018. It includes a water intake tracker on each day of the weekly spreads. (a feature I'm very excited about! My water drop drawings aren't very good hence using the triangles instead.)

What's on your menu this week? Do you have any food or fitness goals?


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With a New Year Comes New Goals...

I was trying to do too much. Online school full time. Full time job. Taking care of the house and toddler. Trying to find time for me. Trying to be thoughtful for Christmas without going overboard.

I have a renewed sense of motivation and inclination to be accomplished.

Below are my personal goals in no particular order:

1. Declutter at least 2,017 items this year.
2. Use my planner daily to stay focused.
3. Eat down the pantry.
4. Make it a habit to clean the kitchen every night before bedtime.
5. Earn A's in all my classes this year.
6. Make all cards instead of buying them (and use up the cards I already have on hand).
7. Continue learning how to slow down my lifestyle.
8. Read more.
9. Color more.
10. Create more.

Below are my financial goals:

1. Pay off medical bills.
2. Continue contributing 25% to my 401k.
3. Build up emergency fund.
4. Use reward sites like Swagbucks and Bing to purchase wants and items needed to make gifts.

Below are my blog goals in no particular order:

1. Post frugal efforts every Monday to encourage and motivate.
2. Post Thankful Thursday posts to declare gratitude for the little things.
3. Post monthly declutter lists and accomplishments.
4. Post occasional recipes and projects.
5. Post moments of pause weekly to not forget the little things.
6. Post more. Write more.

What are your goals for the new year?

July Goals

June was pretty busy for me. My classes this quarter are very reading intense so I have had little free time since I work full time out of the home as well. But then I find myself outside with the toddler doing spontaneous yard work. I didn't accomplish most of my June goals, and I don't want to get disappointed by not completing another big list so below is all I'm requiring myself to accomplish for July:

1. Complete all homework on time and to the best of my ability.
2. Get ahead on all the reading assignments.
3. Keep track of meals eaten and try to plan weekly dinners at the very least.
4. Declutter when possible.
5. Try to strike the perfect balance of homework, housework, and quality time with the toddler and husband.
6. Focus on the little frugal efforts.

If anything I'll keep a list of the things that I happened to accomplish. I read somewhere that it was pretty motivational to have a list of completed tasks vs. a list of uncompleted items.

What are your goals for July?

June Goals

The year is half over already! Christmas is six months away. Time just keeps going so fast even though it seems to slowly creep along during the worst moments. I completed most of my May goals, and I got my blogging "oomph" back so I consider that a success. Here are my goals for the month of June:

Cleaning/Organizing:

• Move sandbox.
• Clean outdoor wicker chairs.
• Declutter at least 100 items.
• Claim a dedicated area for schoolwork and blogging.

Crafting/Creating:

• Make anniversary card.
• Make birdseed wreaths for our yard.

Blogging:

• Keep up with current types of posts.
• Comment more on other blogs.

Meal Planning:

• Continue planning weekly dinners.
• Eat down pantry and freezers.
• Make extra waffles to freeze.
• Make extra standard sized muffins to freeze.

Miscellaneous:

• Start journaling again.
• Clean out the armoire drawers! (this didn't happen in May)
• Try selling things on Ebay.
• Order a photo card for Father's day and some prints to decorate my work desk.

I have a week off between classes this month. I'm going to enjoy going to bed earlier and being able to read what I want to on breaks at work...maybe even do some coloring. I do plan on finally playing some of my video games that I haven't touched since this quarter began. I hope to spend some time decluttering my closet; I just haven't had the time nor energy to do so.

What are your goals this month?

May Goals

I have a good feeling. I have a handle on my current school workload. I unsubscribed my time from things that are not important to me right now. It might be the fresh air getting to me! I am learning to manage my time well. I should start small so I don't overwhelm myself, but I have a good feeling, and I want to run with it. Here are my goals for the month of May:

Cleaning/Organizing:

• Take down the toddler fort.
• Find and recycle toddler's paperwork and coupons he occasionally plays with.
• Put all toys in the right places. (I'm looking at you play food in the backpack)
• Go through both drawers of my armoire.
• Figure out a set cleaning schedule.
• Make using my planner a habit. (to do list, meal planning, bills, etc.)
• Declutter at least 100 items.
• Go through my coupon stash.

Crafting/Creating:

• Make two Mother's Day cards.
• Make two birdseed wreaths.

Blogging:

• Weekly Frugal Effort posts.
• Weekly Moment of Pause posts.
• More posts in general.

Meal Planning:

• Continue writing dinners down on the kitchen calendar.
• Eat down the pantry and freezers.

Miscellaneous:

• Order prints of son and husband to decorate my new work desk. I'll be taking the old ones home to put on the wall.
• Go outside at least once on each day off.
• Start journaling again.

What are your goals for this new month?

March Goals and Beyond.

It's a new month! I took some time to "brain dump" some ideas on where I want to take this blog, and if I wanted to continue. The consensus: Yes! I want to take this blog and make it my home, my creative outlet. I want to take my readers on my journey to simple living, financial freedom, and a healthy-ish lifestyle.

It's easy to get lost in the busyness of life and lose sight of what is important. So I wrote out a list of topics I want to cover, and the list keeps growing. Some of the things you can soon look forward to:

• Frugal efforts. I enjoy sharing the ways I try to save money. I also spend a lot of time on the internet reading ideas from other people. I'd love to do it weekly and have readers comfortable enough to share their ideas too.
• Frugal fails. I'm not perfect. I think it's important to show that sometimes things do go wrong. It's okay to laugh and to learn from mistakes.
• Meal planning. It's still a struggle. I think part of the issue is that I haven't found a system that works for me. 
• Decluttering efforts. I wish I could say my home is completely minimized down to essentials, but it's not. I'm a full time working mom of a toddler and a full time college student so I have to take it slow or it won't get done at all. I'll post my small decluttering wins.
• Money saving tips. I love reading personal finance blogs and forums. I love saving money. I want to share some of the best tips I stumble across with you.
• Streamlining. I want to make my family's lives and my life as simple and easy as possible to manage...and live, so I'll share tips that work for me.
• Minimal celebrations. It would be exhausting to go all Pinterest for every birthday, holiday, and special occasion. So I'd like to share some special ways to celebrate without spending a lot of time and focusing on stuff. I'd rather have memories than stuff, you know?
• Simple living tips. This goes along with streamlining, but I'd like to share some tips that will help slow down your life so you can spend your time doing what you want to do.
• Low cost stress relief. I'll share ways to relieve stress that are free or low cost. And fun.
• Moments of pause. I'll share pictures I've taken as I go about life. It's important to slow down and really see and admire the world around you.

I look forward to an inspirational year of blogging and a slower lifestyle. Thank you for reading!

What are your goals for March?

My Financial Goals for 2015

My husband and I are not high earners so my goals might not seem like a big deal to you. We are both searching for better jobs, but in the meantime my goals are based off of what we currently make.

1. Save 3 months worth of expenses. We already have 1 1/2 months saved.
2. Pay off 3k medical bill. (on an interest free payment plan)
3. Pay off $1,100 home maintenance bill. (on an interest free payment plan)
4. Buy a new used car. (with the help of trading in our current 1995 car and selling our old dead car probably for scrap)
5. Open Roth IRAs for both of us. If not both than just my husband, and I'll bump up my currently 4% 401k contribution.
   

We don't have student loans or credit card debt. We don't have cable. We have one 1995 car (bought with cash) that's seen better days. I just started my 401k at the end of December. I immediately signed up for the 4% because that's what the company match is. Once some of the above goals are reached I'll bump it up.

We will be getting a tax refund this year. I'm hoping it makes a big dent in my goals. I'm researching some side hustles to enable more cash flow as well as ways to lower our expenses further. On the list so far is:

• Republic Wireless. We're deciding on a phone (buying used on Ebay) to try the service out. If we both like it we will switch, potentially saving ~$48 a month.
• Getting a different car that gets better gas mileage and doesn't require premium fuel.
• Preparing meals in advance to hopefully stop my husband from buying as much takeout and convenience food.
• Lowering the thermostat and using a space heater in the bedroom with the baby.
• Eating out of our pantry and freezer.
• Look into being a virtual assistant.

So this will be an exciting and fulfilling year.