Friday Fiscal Wellness Check, July 31, 2026

                                        


         
     For my Friday posts, I copy a 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, July 24 to Thursday, July 30. I just sort of list things as they come up.

Use it Up/Avoid Waste 
  • To say I had leftovers from book club is an understatement. I sent leftovers of fresh things home with siblings, froze what I could, and brought care packages to son and youngest. I sealed up chips or brought to kids. Miscellaneous leftovers were my weekend meals at home.  
Avoiding Spending/Saving on needs 
  • Enjoyed leftover beer and canned cocktails with a couple neighbors Saturday night for a pleasant, if warm night. Free entertainment since drinks were already on hand.
  • I'll have a seperate post but trying to really hone my grocery and HH buying to needs, loss leaders, and basics on hand. I wanted to spend under $45 yesterday even though at the pricey neighborhood store and spent $41.94. That included a huge family pack of chicken thighs at $.99 a pound that I'll cook tomorrow, debone several to freeze for future meals and make broth for freezer. 
  • Part of the shop was two frozen pizzas, one to have with my sister and one to avert future temptation to order one as take out. These were on sale at $5.99 and are 22 and 26 ounces-huge. 
    Nothing very exciting but tops off 
    my refrigerator with fresh items. 

Opportunities to add Funds/Windfalls 

  • Entered receipts in Fetch, played MS Rewards. I did a couple of Saga surveys.
  • My cc month ends the 26th, so that's how I count my monthly budgets. If my rewards points are applied, (see below) my cruise booking costs are covered (including gratuity, taxes, wifi, and beverage package). I'll save to apply them when I need to support better cash flow, likely this fall when 2nd half of property taxes are due and before Christmas spending starts.

 Non-Thrifty or Frugal

  • I picked what I estimate based on Farmers Market $4 worth of the roma like tomatos in my two planters, 3xs -$66 is my garden ROI status. 

Then, there are often other things that impacted my check book that came up without much planning or notice, an extra optional or necessary expense, or an all-out splurge.

  • Since kids gave me the green light for pups care in March, I booked my airfare for a cruise with four sisters and three brother in laws. One sister and I are sharing a balcony cabin. Minneapolis to Fort Lauderdale airfare is atrocious in peak cruise season. I'll leverage miles for future travel to offset a fraction, but my jaw is still dropped.
  • Lunch out with my daughter was a splurge but I hadn't seen her in weeks. Plus, I wanted to treat her to celebrate her getting her new job.

  Daily Dinner Diary (Friday 7/24  to Thursday, 7/30). 

Fri -  Book Club, sandwich and salads and snacks 

Sat- leftover pasta salad and cheese/tomato sandwich on dinner roll, watermelon

Sun- leftover pasta salad and the rest of my chicken, spinach, berry and walnut salad from lunch

Mon- Au gratin vegetables and dinner roll

Tues-  leftover Au gratin vegetables and dinner roll ( finished the rolls!)

Weds- Zuchini fritter ( still on my quest for the perfect fritter! These were good though more pancake like than fried veggie) cottage cheese, watermelon 

Thur- Lottsa Mozza chicken bacon ranch pizza, watermelon, with my sister. She came over so we could get me added to the cabin reservation currently saved under her as a 1.5 guest. 

Wednesday dinner and
pretty much Thursday lunch

Leftovers Added to Freezer:

  • 1/2 salami tray
  • 1/2 pound deli ham
  • one of four chicken breasts cooked as there was already a lot for salad with three.
  • 2 large portions of au gratin vegetables

       The month is now wrapped up. After the World Cup and Wimbledon ended, it felt flat but I revved up more reading and fit in more mini efforts to pull weeds, tidy outdoor and indoor areas while falling very short on my July project list. I blame the formidable heat on that. How was your week? 

  

Comments

  1. AprilJuly 31, 2026 at 8:47 AM

    Your post today and your end paragraph reminds me of the saying "Keep on keeping on." That's the way my week felt!

    ReplyDelete
  2. BethC.July 31, 2026 at 10:03 AM

    We discovered a huge zucchini which had been hiding in the leaves. I made sautéed zucchini with fresh oregano garlic and lemon as a side. We got 3 meals out of it. Our garden production has been pitiful this year due to raids by aggressive chipmunks, so I was happy about the zucchini. We have 3 cukes which I will use for a cucumber salad and 1 lonely tomato. I have not been buying lettuce, but researched a brand called Little Leaf and learned that it is grown indoors using sterilized water. Braved it this week and had no issues, thankfully, That brand may be local to the Northeast and MidAtlantic. I submitted a receipt for yogurt via the Aisle app and was reimbursed for the purchase price, I also do surveys and cashed out $20 on Pulse, which is a survey app. I also do Survey Monkey, IQ and YouGov surveys, but am not familiar with Saga. How do you sign up, and are there lots of screeners? I won’t do surveys where I have to answer a bunch of questions and got screened out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 31, 2026 at 12:09 PM

    I make my zucchini fritters with gram/chickpea flour and a good combination of spices and some fresh herbs.

    ReplyDelete

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