Friday Fiscal Wellness Check March 27, 2026
For my Friday posts, I copy the previous week, delete the old and update as I go along the week. This helps me add as the week goes on. Here's my recap of Friday, March 20 to Thursday, March 26. I just sort of list things as they come up, then edit before publishing.
- To the chicken below, immediately deboned for chicken salad and a second meal, and made more broth ( though have several containers in the freezer) for chicken and mushroom gravy.
- Coordinated weekend errands after bringing my MIL for breakfast and didn't use the car the rest of the weekend.
- Took advantage of a few clearance items including two flatbread pizzas, Italian sliced loaf, and a rotisserie chicken.
- Combined walking the big dog with getting a couple bills that still do not have an online payment option into the mailbox by the local grocery store.
Opportunities to add Funds/Windfalls
- Uploaded Fetch receipts and added to my MS Rewards points.
- Putting here but not an opportunity...until I get a handle on timing for pup, I can't take morning substitute teaching jobs, just 1/2 day afternoons. I put two back in the pool that were scheduled three weeks from now. I know there will be need for 1/2 day afternoons as the school year moves toward spring.
Non-Thrifty or Frugal
Then, there are often other things that impacted my check book that came up without much planning or notice, an extra optional expense, or an all-out splurge.
- Very expensive vet bill for pup followed by long term expense of insulin for him. We make commitments when we bring pets in to our lives for their health care, so just going to update my budget to reflect the new expense.
- And...I pulled the lever on getting a water softener and reversed osmosis water treatment system. I just do not trust the city water and peace of mind is worth the investment. Installation will be Tuesday so I have to get cupboards, appliances, and utility room cleaned out to make room. I had to juggle some money pots, but I'm deferring one major spend until fall, so a large chunk will be replaced with additional interest on a CD.
Fri - Had flatbreads with salad instead of going out for dinner or ordering pizza
Sat- Son made grilled cheese and tomato penne soup ( I ate popcorn)
Sun- Both baked chicken, rice, mushroom gravy and tuna hotdish as sent meal prep home with my daughter
Mon- Baked Ravioli
Tues- Mediterranean chicken and sausage pizza
Weds- Sweet and sour meatballs, rice pilaf, Asian green beans ( such a yummy meal)
Thurs- leftovers with a bagged salad
Between pups vet bills and meds, inflation impact on daily living, and the water treatment system, vacation and holiday spending will be light the rest of the year. I need to be able time wise to give him shots 12 hours apart. I experienced the peaks and valleys of travel and am physically and mentally a mix of elated and wore out. I'm going to embrace being rooted for a while. I have a big yard that needs a lot of TLC to make it fit for family, friends, and pets. The yard will be the recipient of my aches and pains. I would love to hear from others that will be homebound for a while, by choice, funds, or life circumstances on making the most of day trips and embracing your home life.
I'm glad to made a long term commitment to the pup, expensive vet bills and all. I always felt the same way about the dogs I've had over my lifetime. They were family.
ReplyDeleteHe's doing much better. Had one accident today but it's not even been a week on new meds
DeleteMy diabetic cat wore a human glucose monitor for about 6 months. Free Style Libre I think? Not cheap but it was worth it when adjusting her insulin dosage. It also warned us when her blood sugar was dangerously low.
ReplyDeleteI bring him for a blood check next week with the tech. I will ask about that
DeleteI had to fill my gas tank yesterday😡😡 $4.62/gallon. I hope not to drive until Monday!
ReplyDeleteWow! I don't think it's gone a ove $3.79 here and Im already thinking each trip.
DeleteI filled my tank a couple of days ago for $3.65/gal and have been mostly staying home. I was going to venture to Home Depot for mulch, then discovered on their website that it was on sale and they would deliver it for free! I won't be putting it down until after the oak trees stop dropping pollen, but I will be ready with mulch in hand, so to speak. Its been a good month financially but I am still reining in expenses. Been eating at home all week and borrowing from the library instead of purchasing the latest book club read. The big splurge this week was a pedicure which was wonderful. Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteOh, I will need mulch so will take a look. Delivery is great. The pedicure is self care.
DeleteYou did a great job of stretching that chicken. I also have a lot of broth made from chicken bones in my freezer. My sister has one of those reverse osmosis water filter systems and they are so nice. We are homebound by choice for now as we conserve gasoline for the time being. There us plenty to do here too to keep me busy.
ReplyDeleteThe system was so expensive but our water is not drinkable right from the tap in my opinion abd the fridge filter doesn't get all the bad stuff.
DeleteI consider pets dependent family members. Like you, we bring them into the home with the understanding there may be unexpected and rather large costs. One year (when I was in fourth grade, maybe) a beautiful calico cat showed up at our house shortly before my birthday. After hemming and hawing my parents said we could keep her with a caveat: Getting her spayed and vaccinated would effectively mean they would not be able to swing much of a birthday for me beyond my choice of a dinner and cake, so it was up to me. It was an excellent lesson in choices, not just for me but my siblings too, (our choices can wind up effecting others, too) and of course, I chose the cat without a moment’s hesitation.
ReplyDeleteMy older sister, who had taken a cake decorating class, asked if she could decorate my cake for me that year. She wanted to do something special for me in return.
-Meg B.
That's a great story/memory. Your sister did good!
DeleteI've been increasingly unable to travel since covid... we had managed travel to Canada and Amsterdam using supplementary oxygen supplied by airline and taking a portable oxygen concentrator with us. In 2019 we went to Paris for a 1 week river cruise using Eurostar to avoid air travel, again taking a portable concentrator. Now I'm on 24/7 oxygen I'm limited to around 3 hours by car from where we live, and only 4 nights away staying in a ground floor holiday let. Thar takes a massive amount of planning; last time we had an oxygn equipment fail and just had to pack up and come home! So, days away is the simplest option from now on. We can splurge on them - so much cheaper!
ReplyDeleteI have a cousin who needs O2 tank. My sister likely will be there soon. We manage lots of fun outings in short durations with them both. I'd love e to read about some of your day trips. Do you do National Trust Properties?
DeleteYour pets are very fortunate to have you, Sam.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your question about being homebound temporarily - we are in a temporary holding pattern here due to needing to relocate a senior relative over the next few months. In order to continue to have things to look forward to, I schedule out even the small things, like 1) walks followed by a takeout lunch, sometimes with my spouse, sometimes with a friend, 2) visits to local museums, oftentimes free or free on certain days, 3) events advertised often on Facebook city pages that are almost always free or close to, such as a vintage VW show with onsite food truck that just popped up, 4) evenings planned in advance at home to watch a special movie that perhaps just dropped for streaming, and 5) really anything I spot that will get me/us out of the house.
All of the above leave me feeling like I did something out of the ordinary, with the good feeling chemicals that go along with, and that give me an uplift similar to when I/we travel. Just changing the ordinary, even In one's own territory, seems to accomplish a similar chemical uplift.
All good ideas to think about amusement while providing extra dog care. Of course, your needs supporting a person are much more complex Im sure. I'll start mocking up a calendar for possibilities.
DeleteI kept on thinking of that rubber chicken, you did such a good job of stretching it. I think that this could be the last year we actually travel anywhere but to visit with our sons.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Good thing it didn't taste like rubber. Today we just bought milk, a large baking potato for air fryer fries, hamburger buns, and tomatoes to round out hamburgers for supper. I'll resume some travel when pups timecreally comes, but he's my priority right now.
DeleteOther than a long prepaid trip to visit grandchildren ( which involves dealing with the Atlanta airport… ugh), and a preplanned weekend trip to drive to visit family in Tampa this fall, I will be staying at the house. I don’t even know if we are doing our work conference this year. Any activities will be at the free river park 20 miles from here, or at a state park where it costs me $2 to go swim. I am too stressed with keeping up with never ending family bills to worry about trips. I am going to sit in my front garden and enjoy the sunsets and birds! I pay for this joint with taxes and upkeep, I might as well enjoy it. Cindy in the South
ReplyDeleteThat's the right attitudeI want to embrace. Embrace the investment already made in my home. Of course, we can go to the lake for day with pup but can also stay over in the small cabin where he won't have steps to manage.
DeleteWe just got back from a 2 week trip where we traveled to 4 different places in the Southwest. It was the first time we took a big trip in a long time due to financial and work obligations. It was wonderful but now I am embracing and enjoying being home. I will probably get the "itch" to take another trip in about a year but for now we will just be enjoying local spots in New England.
ReplyDeleteI know theres a big wonderful world out there, but also wonderful outside my door step. Im glad you had a good trip.
DeleteForgive late comment on being homebound, but, as a homebody, I wanted to think about my response. My husband and I traveled frequently before, and shortly after we were married. As much fun as it was, after we had kids, I came home exhausted, less so when we had our Panhandle house, but it was still always an ordeal. To that end, I decided that the money in travel would be better spent maintaining our home to a level of comfort that I felt I never wanted to leave. (Maybe I overcorrected because some of my kids feel that way too.) I take great pleasure in “all things domestic.” I felt a great sense of accomplishment and peace when my husband and I would sit on, say, a Friday evening, with a glass of wine, and admiring the things like the firewood we had stacked, the furniture I had polished, the garden he had tilled, the quilt I had completed that day, etc. I believe Amy Dacyczyn wrote an article called”A Proclivity for Productivity “ which explains it better than I ever could.
ReplyDeleteNow, that’s not to say I am utterly reclusive. As you know, I donate loads of time to a local organization. I also meet regularly with friends (I do have them)!to go on walks (we have BEAUTIFUL hiking trails), attend local board meetings etc. I also keep my eye on the library website, as I can’t even begin to list the types of programs they offer, from crafts to coin collecting! My youngest and I attended a coin club meeting on a whim at the library once, which led to us attending for years when he was younger. He still passionately enjoys that hobby.
And, laugh if you must, but it’s not uncommon for a few of my friends to get together to make a Costco run, (the nearest is 25 miles away) and make a day of that. We figure we save gas by carpooling and if we only get one cart between us we wind up buying less unnecessary stuff!
-Meg B
I love the group shopping idea, especially to a Sams or Costco. I can see an IKEA wander too, lol, with a freebie coffee for being "members." You describe what I'd like in my house and feeling like every day is an event.
DeleteOther than heading to Mayo-land in late May (your part of the world, Sam!), traveling this year will likely be very light. Elderly father is one big reason.
ReplyDeleteAs for rising costs, especially in the grocery arena, ouch. Milk at Kroger went up 20 cents from a gallon just from last week. I made out well despite that this morning: there was a gallon of skim marked down to $1.30, not because the pull date was about to run, but because clearly somewhere in the work area, a container of chocolate milk had spilled down on it. Hey, I can clean off a gallon jug of milk (it had not been damaged; the lid was sealed). I had a coupon for 65 cents off, so final cost of the gallon of milk? A whopping 65 cents. I am still smiling.
Oh, and a delicious cup of hot chocolate sounds wonderful today...cold again! I know your Mayo trips are not social, but if you have time, there's a winery-cudery-bourban place outside Rochester called Four Daughters which is a nice diversion. There's food and a gift shop. It'll probably be a day trip for us.
DeleteNot a bad week it sounds like. You always do so well with balancing.
ReplyDeletePets are part of the family, so those expenses have to be calculated in with the budget. I think that's part of the reason we opted not to get any more. We like having the freedom to leave when we want to go away. I always felt horribly guilty about leaving the pets (even though they were with trusted family members) and after years of taking care of pets and little people, I'm finally glad to be able not to have little ones (four-legged or two-legged) to count on me.
With pups age now and health issues, I won't be leaving him again except for maybe an overnight if necessary. He'll be my last pet though and then I will just be a pet grandparent and help as needed without the everyday responsibility.
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