Saving Money

I feel as though losing weight and saving money are the top two resolutions people make every year. I mean, why not? There are only few and far between that don't need to save money or lose weight. It's only been a few weeks since the New Year began and I like to think I'm not spending my money frivolously, or like I was before. I'm doing a much better job of bringing lunch to work, lunch I actually look forward to. Instead of going out during lunch to shop, I've been enjoying it with the company of some of my colleagues in our large conference room watching The Chew.

Another way I'm saving money is by following this weekly money challenge. You start on the first Sunday of the year and add $1 to the envelope (or piggy bank). Each week you add a dollar more to the amount than the previous week.

So this Sunday I have to put in $3. At the end of the year you end up saving $1,378. A nice chunk of change! No clue what I'm going to do with it. Possibly pay off some my CC debt or put it towards some new clothes or put it in Abby's account. I'll make that decision then. There's still time to start this if you want. You only should have $3 away now, not too difficult!

Meal Planning

Following the New Year, a friend of mine had posted a link on Facebook with several meal planning guides to choose from to help plan your meals and grocery list for the week. You can find them here. I originally printed out one and made a few copies, but never filled it out. As you may remember one of my resolutions was to plan meals and do make ahead meals, which I have done.

Just the other day another friend posted a picture of her meal plan for the week and I realized I really needed to get with it. One of the things I noticed I do is spend way too much in the grocery store. (Another resolution is to save money.) It's just two of us. If you looked in our pantry and freezer, you'd think we're feeding a family of four or five. There is no reason for me to spend $100 or more every week. Yes, some trips will be more costly because meats & seafood are on sale and I buy to stock up, but I really should only be buying perishables - produce and milk - weekly.

Anyways, I went back to the link and printed out a few copies of a planner and started planning it out. I originally started planning next week since I already made my meals for this week. After writing it out I saw I didn't need to buy anything except shrimp, avocado, and pesto. (I might actually skip the avocado.) So in addition to the limited produce, milk and yogurt I'll be buying Sunday, I should be spending no more than another $20 for shrimp and pesto. That sounds so much better. I then decided to write out the meals for this week as well. Now, I'm not trying to figure out what to make with stuff this week. It's nice to see it on paper.

I'm definitely going to be keeping this up. I know it will help save so much money in the long run and that is my ultimate goal with this menu planner. I'm good at preparing foods on Sunday for the week, but this will help me not overspend on food that sometimes gets thrown out. Now, I just need to stick with it. Doesn't seem too hard! The recipes I keep on my Pinterest food board are very helpful too!

Slowing down is not an option

I think being a NYer I've always had the mentality to rush rush rush. I get annoyed when people walk slow in front of me, or drive slow, or take too long in general. It's really something I should not get annoyed about; it's just silly when you think about it. I do this when I travel out of state too. It's horrible!

Before I had the baby, I would be rushing to work, followed by rushing to the gym to make class, then rushing to catch the train. Then when I got home I would make dinner, clean up, get my stuff ready for work the next day, etc. I would finally sit down around 9:30pm. And now I'm in the same situation and I hate it. I get up earlier now with the baby. At least on Mondays and Wednesdays I can pass her off to my parents right away so I can finish getting ready for work - so I can hurry to catch the train. Tuesdays and Thursdays I rush (even with giving myself extra time in the morning!) because I have to drop her off at daycare then drive to the train station. I do my best to plan ahead so that I have time to sit down, but this planning takes time too. There has to be a better way for busy mom's. One very important thing for me is getting enough sleep. If I don't get enough sleep, I have a greater chance of getting sick, and I cannot get sick. I do know that sometimes you can't control it, but it is proven that sleep helps fight off illnesses.

Perhaps writing out my weekly schedule would work to see where I can make improvments. I'll start with Monday since my weekends kind of lump together.

Monday
6:30/6:45am - get up, get coffee, make baby's bottle, come back upstairs, plug in straightener and make the bed.
By 7am my parents arrive. I start to straighten my hair.
By 7:15am the baby is up. I change her diaper and bring her downstairs.
By 7:30am dressed and my hair is done.
My train is at 7:47am. Somehow between 7:35am and 7:44am it is taking me too long to get out of the house. All I'm doing is packing my lunch in a bag and putting on my coat. I literally have to race to the train station.
I get to work before 9am and don't leave until a few minutes after 5pm. My train home is out of Brooklyn at 5:35pm. It's 3 subway stops from my office. I typically get home around 6:15pm. I'm emptying my bags, heating up something to eat and making the baby's cereal.
By 6:45pm Ken is out the door to go to bowling. I feed the baby, eat dinner and play with her for a bit. I make her last bottle and feed her at 8pm. She is in bed by 8:30pm.
After 8:30pm I shower, prepare my lunch for the next day, get my stuff together, premake the baby's bottles for daycare, make sure her bag is packed, etc. I also do any stuff at home that I can't do at work. I don't get to sit down until 9:30/10pm. Around 10:30pm I go to bed, some nights it's 11pm.

Tuesday
6:30am - get up, get coffee, make all bottles for daycare, pack bag
6:45am - make bed, get dressed, make sure the baby starts waking up
7:00am - get the baby ready for daycare
7:15am - leave the house and bring her to daycare
7:47am - on the train to work
Pick up where we left off after work and that's my night, but also add in a bath for the baby.

Repeat Monday and Tuesday for Wednesday (minus bowling for Ken) and Thursday.

Friday - I work from home so we sleep a little later. The baby takes a morning nap and I get a lot done. I throw food in the crockpot at lunch time so it's ready for dinner. We're not rushing so much this day

Saturday - errands - food shopping, cleaning the house and any other stores
Sunday - make 3 make ahead meals for the week.

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! Come summer my days are going to be busier. My parents won't be around to watch the baby so she will be in daycare 4 days a week. Ken will also be busier with his side work so that will leave a lot of the home care to me. I need help!

Random thoughts

Ever notice how most folks that blog (and I mean truly blog) have some sort of theme? I just can't create one for me. I'm not an avid cook (I enjoy it and do it most nights) but I don't want a blog dedicated to food. I don't want one dedicated to my weightloss. I just feel as though this blog is just a bunch of stuff happening in my life, but how is that interesting to other people? Granted I'm not looking for hundreds of followers. I guess I can considerate this to be a diary of sorts, but I'll leave out juicy details since we all know what is put on the internet never, ever leaves. (And if you think it does once you delete something, think again. It is forever there.)

Anywho, my week has been somewhat exciting for me. My daughter had her 4 month check up and she's up to 14 lbs and 10 oz! Can't believe she grew so much in a month! We started her on some cereal last night and it was so fun! She gobbled it up. The first bite was hysterical! We have video, but the copy I have isn't very good quality. I need to get if off my husband's phone so I can post the good quality one! And naturally blogger is acting up so I can't even post the picture we have of her all finished!

Friend Makin' Mondays

Simple Questions

1. Outside my window I see…the Freedom Tower among tons of other NYC high rises here in downtown Manhattan.

2. My kitchen counters are…beautiful! They are an ivory granite with swirls of brown and black specks.

3. Yesterday I drank…2 mimosas at a party, diet ginger ale and water.

4. My cell phone is…a white iphone with a purple case.

5. My computer is…on my desk.

6. My favorite reality show is…RHONJ, RHOC, and RHOBH. Not really a fan of NYC, Miami or Atlanta.

7. My workouts are…nonexsistent. This is my first full week of back to work and having my parents watch the baby 2 days a week and bringing her to daycare 2 days a week. Once I get into my groove I am hoping to get things going again.

8. The last book I read is…a freebie from B&N called Double Trouble. I love free or cheap books. I don't really read books that take a lot of focus. I do my reading during my commute so I need something to wind me down from my day at work.

9. My week will be….hectic. Last week was a short week with the holiday so I don't really have a groove. I'm hoping to get one going after I see how things go this week.

10. So far 2013 has been…a a pretty good year. My daughter turned 4 months, we paid off a big debt and my cooking regime has been pretty good since I started it before the New Year.

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions. Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments! Happy Monday, friends!

New Year's Resolutions

I know many people make resolutions at the beginning of the New Year to get off on the right foot. I feel like the majority of people put losing weight as their top resolution. Sure for me that is key, as I'm trying to shed the last of the baby weight, but I've actually come up with a list that I think is good for me. I don't see me failing too easily either, which is a good thing. You never want to set yourself up for failure. I don't have a magic number of 5 or 10, just somethings I thought of that I think will not only keep me happy, but sane for the year.

1. Continue with my weight loss that has been going well since before Christmas. I decided when I went back to work in December I really need to get back to my feel good size. I started weight watchers and lost 8.8 lbs in less than 3 weeks. Unfortunately the week between Christmas and New Year's I went back to a lot of my old habits so I gained 3 lbs back. Not exactly how I wanted to start off the New Year, but after New Year's Day, I got back on track and have been there since. Hopefully I drop those pesky 3 lbs when I weigh myself Friday morning.
2. Dress up a little more for work. I mostly dressed very down, but don’t want to look like a schmo anymore. I don't feel like a slob, but I don't feel professional. I know a lot of this has to do with my weight too. I have nicer shirts I want to wear but need to lose a few more pounds for them to fit me nicely. I'd also like to wear my boots that I bought last year.
3. Pay off debt. We did a lot to our house in 2012 and that limited what we could pay off in debt so that’s a top goal. We've knocked out one major bill so far and are continuing to work on other things. We're hoping to knock off another 2 major ones by the end of March. We are hoping to knock out most debt by the end of the year. We know it very possible to do, so I'm confident we will.
4. Save money. I need to get into the habit of saving more money. I don't save enough. I found this weekly money saving idea and think I'm going to give it a whirl. Starting the first Sunday of the year, you put away a dollar. The second Sunday you put away $2. Third Sunday, you put away $3 and so forth. The last Sunday of the year you put away $52. In total it's over $1300 that you've saved. At the end of the year I'll decide what I want to do with my money. Nice chunk of easy savings!
5. Cook, a lot! I did this well in 2012 and tried to make new recipes, but I found either not having the ingredients in the house to make it. This partially goes along with my next resolution. I definitely want to try new recipes this year because I get bored with the same old stuff. Plus making tasty recipes will help with my weight loss goals.
6. Plan meals better, so I can spend time with my family. Commuting to work limits the time I get to spend with my daughter so I need to plan things out a lot more. She is in bed by 8:30pm. Since I get home around 6:15pm, it's really limited time with her, but I try to make the most of it. It's hard when I'm trying to get dinner ready. So far some of my plans for this year include doing make ahead meals for the week. On Sunday I will make 3 items that can easily be heated up when I get home from work. Those foods will be for Tuesday-Thursday nights. On Monday night, my husband is bowling so I can make something very quickly for myself, whether it's a lean cuisine or just an English muffin pizza. Fridays I'm dedicating to the crockpot, but I'll explain that in my next resolution.
7. Use the Crockpot every Friday. My job is very flexible and I'm telecommuting on Fridays now. I'm a big fan of the Crockpot and have always said I wanted to make more stuff in it. Since I'm home Fridays I can always just throw the stuff in it during my "lunch break" and it will be ready for dinner. Last week I made shredded BBQ chicken which can be used for sandwiches or what I easily made were bbq chicken quesadillas. My husband loved them so I know this will be a meal I make again. This week I'm planning to make chicken fajitas. I'm looking forward to these easy Friday night dinners!

Happy New Year!

I cannot believe I haven't posted in over 2 years! I know, life got busy, and I got lazy, but I'd like to think that I'm back for the long haul. I don't like to think that I will be blogging about one particular subject. I don't feel like I'm an expert in one thing and while I have a passion for many things, they aren't something I necessarily want to talk about all the time. So as I continue my blog, you will be sure to read things such as home improvements, my family, my food, and just life events in general. In the meantime, I'll catch you up on some of the things that has happened over the last two years.

In 2011, we did a lot of house renovations, inside and out. I painted the front door a bright red and we installed a new stormdoor. We redid the entire backyard - removed trees, new sod, patio pavers, new sliding glass doors, the works! It came out fabulous.

 

 

 

 

After Thanksgiving we redid and expanded our upstairs bathroom. It came out great!

 



(New shower tile during construction)

 

(New vanity, mirror, and storage)

 

In January 2012 we started work on the downstairs - knocked the walls down between the dining room and living room and opened up the walls from the dining room into the kitchen. After that we ripped up all the carpet everywhere and refinished the hardwood floors (they look fabulous, by the way) and then started renovations in our kitchen. A lot of work was done there and we couldn't be happier with how it came out.

(Living room before)

(Living room/dining room after)

 

 

 

(Upstairs, no more carpet, newly stained floors!)

 

(New railing and finished floors)                 

(Kitchen before - this was modified about a year earlier, see previous post)

(New cabinets, floor, countertops, appliances, window)

 

 

 

Fast forward to September, our little girl arrived. She really is the joy of our lives. We recently celebrated her first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's! She'll be 4 months on Saturday. Crazy how time flies!