Friday Fiscal Wellness Check June 27, 2025
I copy the previous week, delete the old and updated as I go along the week as a way even when busy and not in a blogging mindset I'm accountable to myself. Here's my recap of Friday, June 20 to Thursday, June 26.
Avoiding Spending/ Saving on Needs
- The heat and humidity was above normal over the weekend. I'm fortunate to have an energy efficient home so even with using AC it's been minimally as needed, and I even tweaked it up to 77 so it truly is warm before it kicks on.
- I used a lingering bottle, I think finally the last, of Angry Orchard from Christmas to make a beer bread. I used the minimum amount of sugar. It's an ok bread, toasted, tastes pretty good for peanut butter. There was still some by Wednesday, but getting dry, so I made a sort of French toast bake. I froze it for my youngest ( after tasting- not bad) as she absolutely loves French toast bakes. She can warm a chunk at a time before work.
- My niece has a sour cherry tree. I picked both Friday and then Sunday as more ripened. I'll make sure she gets her fill of jam and cherry crisp, her only request for payment. The pitting is a pain, but I treated myself to mindless YouTube while doing the job. I've enough for two batches of jam (prepped and measured in the freezer until I'm ready to make) and two bags for either very large or multiple small crisps, plus a couple smaller bags for muffins.
Spent Intentionally
- I bought my car tabs yesterday so that's done for another year.
Opportunities to add Funds/Windfalls
- Entered Fetch receipts and played MS Rewards.
- Scheduled a consultation meeting with a former colleague on an upcoming project. The meeting isn't until July 10, but it's on the calendar.
Miscellaneous things that don't quite fit in other categories
- My daughter had an aloe plant from her freshman year that didn't do well in her apartment and pretty much killed it. I had salvaged what I could to try and force new roots in water for a couple months. Fingers crossed my replanting works and she'll get a new aloe plant back. The pot was originally a thrift buy of my older daughters, then used by me. I just replanted a different plant to a bigger pot.
- I used $138 of my Gertens Greenhouse card and bought a rhubarb plant, two perennial pots of day lilies ( so many neighbors have and they're just gorgeous and seem no maintenance) , three hydrangeas for in front of my porch, and as luck would have it, two cheat tomato plants and two pepper plants- already with fruit starting. I had two massive plastic planters to use as container gardens for them. I'll save the rest of the card for next year. I don't know if the $3.99 per established plant will pay for itself in harvested fruit, but minimally I will enjoy them as outdoor seasonal plants.
Then, there are often other things that impacted my check book that came up without much planning or notice, or an all-out splurge.
- I had forgotten about a retirement lunch on the 24th for a colleague that moved her date up rather than the required return to office at least 50% time. I planned this in my gift budget, picking up her lunch plus a small gift bag with homemade jam and fancy crackers, chocolates, and local coffee, but wasn't on my radar until last Friday that it was this week. The restaurant she suggested was quite expensive too, but conveniently located, she didn't know I intended to pick up the tab. Regardless, it was a very lovely time.
- I had not seen or talked to my MIL for some time. As her schedule was just so full and she was so busy, yes you're hearing sarcasm, we met for lunch at a new restaurant in town. She had taken me out for my retirement in April so if course I was not letting her pay at all.
- Not going to say much as I'm completely overwhelmed but a pretty major problem was found with clearing out bedrooms to swap. It's getting remediated, but the stress and cost nearly did me or will before it's fully resolved.
Daily Dinner Diary (Friday 6/20 to Thursday, 6/26).
- Fri - Just me and there was leftovers that needed using.
- Sat- Grilled chicken, peas, rice, garlic bread. I ended up going to the lake for the afternoon and evening. As my son had already brought a lot of food ( he stays most weekends due to proximity to one of his jobs), I just brought along bread.
- Sun- I made a large tuna pasta salad, beer bread, watermelon, and spinach and strawberry salad, bringing half up to my daughter, who's finally feeling better. Son brought pizza home later and I may have had a slice.
- Mon- Cottage pie with hamburger, biscuits
- Tues- Son had leftovers before heading to a job. I was full from my lunch out, so just had strawberries and watermelon
- Weds-Spaghetti with Italian meatballs and vodka sauce.
- Thurs- Lo Mein with stir fry vegetables and spring rolls
Tonight will not be frugal but will be well spent as I both contribute to the "kitty" to cover tonight's 50th Anniversary dinner for my sister and husband, plus enough for them to have a solo outing, and my own dinner. The heats supposed to come back, but with the days now start getting shorter so I'm not going to complain about sun right now. How was your week?
Sorry to hear about your house problem but it seems that otherwise you had a good week. We went out for a lunch and a dinner this past week which is unusual but otherwise it was just the usual spending.
ReplyDelete77 degrees is about where I would turn the air on for a bit too. I used to be hot natured, but not these days, so this works. Such a good amount of the sour cherries. That is what I would do too, watch YouTube while doing the task. I do that with other tasks in the kitchen. Your tomato and pepper plants look good in their pots. I’m sorry you found a major problem in one of the bedrooms. I hope you get it resolved quickly and it doesn’t cost you too much to fix the issue. I’m glad your daughter is feeling better too.
ReplyDeleteI love daylilies and they bloom all summer and the only maintenance I do on mine, is after the snow melts and just as new growth is starting the next spring, I just pull out all the old dead leaves and they pull out of the ground really easy.
ReplyDeleteThe good thing about owning a house is having one. The bad thing is that it feels like something always needs to be repaired. Fingers crossed your bedroom issue is resolved quickly without unnecessary financial pain. ( Or at least no more than you expect right now)
ReplyDeleteWe are hemorrhaging money this week with Son1 and Pip here, along with Son2 and DIL2 coming over for dinners to visit with them. I would not have it any other way and thankfully it was planned expenses, but the next few weeks will see some extreme belt tightening here.
Oh my, those cherries look amazing! I do understand that relationships can come with challenges, but from where I stand, you appear to be so blessed with family around you, and I"m so happy for you that that is the case.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your current pleasant weather for as long as it lasts. Over here we are still in our coastal grey season, but are beginning to see the sun a bit earlier each day. No air conditioner needed yet, so we'll enjoy our current cool temps for as long as they last.
So sorry you found a problem in the bedroom(s). Hope the fix is easier than expected. I was planning to take a friend out for lunch (she provided references for the job I'm starting), but she suggested that I meet her at work (my old employer as well), which provides free lunch.
ReplyDeleteWe've been eating a lot of lettuce from the garden this year, but we can never really get our peppers to get very big. Which is strange, because we get plenty of sun. - Hawaii Planner
You made me laugh, and here’s why: I see on the news where it’s been very hot in most of the country, including your part, so you better get those cherries out of the freezer and get started on that jam! It’s a PNW truism that jam tastes best if you have to make it on the hottest days of summer. And when your jars are cooling, stack firewood because we all know it heats better if you stack it on the hottest days.
ReplyDeleteBACKSTORY: In mid-July, about 3 years after we bought our farm, DH was out of town. We were in the midst of an unusual week’s worth of 80 degrees heat, which coincided with our plum trees all but falling over with fruit. I sent the kids out with boxes one morning to pick the plums, and they denuded those trees within minutes. For the next five or so hours I was in the kitchen boiling first the plums(have to cook them before you make jam) then the jam, then the canner, while the kids played in a sprinkler! That evening when we were on a walk, the neighbor on the next farm mentioned she laughed at how precious the two younger ones looked holding either side of a box of plums so the could carry it in, and then said the jam would taste all the sweeter for as hot as it was in my kitchen. Well, wouldn’t you know the next afternoon the truck carrying our year’s worth of firewood pulled up and dumped the load in our driveway, where DH was to park why he came back from the airport that night, requiring us to spend the rest of the day loading as much as we could fit in the wood box in the garage and stacking the rest as best as we could in the woodpile. Man, it was hot work, and I thought about that every evening that fall that I enjoyed the woodstove or spread the jam on toast.
-Meg B.
I'm sorry to read about the bedroom problem. I really hope it can be resolved with less stress than first thought. I need to get a workman back to the very expensive exterior render we had done a few years ago. At the time he said he'd never had to go back to a job in 30 years, so it's typical that mine's the one. It's just another thing to add to the overwhelming weight on my shoulders.
ReplyDeleteAC is set at 78, We turn it off and wait for it to get up to 82. I slept on couch for 2 yrs after I was a widow. Gave the bedroom to the youngest. Just couldn't even handle going for my clothes She had to have older child's boyfriend fix the closet.
ReplyDeleteMy daylillies are doing good in the heart garden but not as well out by the mailbox. The tiger lilies are on the north side and getting ready to bloom.
Trying to think through loss of income when Social Security drops in 2033 and getting truck (just bought) and mortgage paid off at least 10 yrs early at same time.
Blessed be
Hot here - we did get some rain this afternoon and it cooled for a while. Hot again.
ReplyDeleteYour meals sound good. Have a good time at the anniversary event.