Friday Fiscal Wellness Check, July 31, 2026
- 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.
- 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.
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.
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| 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?
Your post today and your end paragraph reminds me of the saying "Keep on keeping on." That's the way my week felt!
ReplyDeleteIt's an appropriate saying isn't it? The alternative is to just rollover, admit defeat. I just push unfinished business to a new month.
DeleteWe 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.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine slices those biggies about 3/4 inch thick and pretends they are a pizza crust. Roast assembled pizzas in the oven or grill them outside!
DeleteThat's a good idea Elle. I like grilled veg and pizza. To Beth, I'll look forvthat variety. Im sorry your garden efforts have been taken over by the wild.
DeleteI make my zucchini fritters with gram/chickpea flour and a good combination of spices and some fresh herbs.
ReplyDeleteI was going to comment on using gram flour for the fritters and that sometimes I add sweet corn to the zucchini.
DeleteI'll buy some and give it a try. These were good, but very pancake like.
DeleteSounds like a good week to me. That is a good amount of food to add to the freezer from leftovers.
ReplyDeleteNow, to remember to eat or pass on.
DeleteI have never used MS rewards. I will have to look into that one
ReplyDeleteIt's slow going and consistency is my iribkem. I like the trivia aspect of it.
DeleteSounds like a good week!
ReplyDeleteThe cruise sounds like you will have a good time. It's a great reason to stick to a budget and save so you can have a really great time! I've done really well this week. I've done a drastic cut back to spending. I do have to work on the food budget, but right now it's so tough with the prices what they are.
The cost is creeping up. Im saving for Scotland too, but probably pushing that out until 2028. Im reducing things to treat categories lije diet Coke. So expensive now.
DeleteSounds like your freezer is all set for some creative summer meals!
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit of chaos though. Im hirriblabout labeling. No cooking today. Lunch and supper will be from freezer, or leftover from my use it Up Quesadille I made yesterday.
DeleteWe need to start eating out of our freezer, I've been adding so much fresh cooked produce to it lately that it's stuffed!
ReplyDeleteI hope you're better at labeling than I am!
DeleteThis made me smile and recall a line from a play where I woman says I wish he (the guest) had stayed for the simple supper. Her spouse replies yes we are going to be eating off that simple supper of yours for a fortnight.
ReplyDeleteOh, not quite that long, but it feels like it's weeks of leftovers ahead.
DeleteI look forward to hearing more about your upcoming cruise! We left on a cruise out of Ft Lauderdale earlier this year, and enjoyed our pre-cruise time in that city so much. I actually had no idea how many things there are to do and enjoy in Ft Lauderdale.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this is at all helpful to you, but I keep a Sharpie in my kitchen for easy labeling on gallon sized ziplock bags as I prep proteins and other items for my freezer.
I've been in several out of Ft Lauderdale. We'll just have the evening before as flights get in about 5:30. Yes, I have a sharpie, several, but just forget to label thinking Ill remember. Haha-what a silly thought. Im goingvto try very hard to take off this excess weight, or at least enough to feel more comfortable. While the cruise isn't the motivation, it's a nice time line to add to targets. Im trying girca health style change, not just weight focused.
DeleteI've been reading a lot this summer too. Where will you all be going on your cruise?
ReplyDeleteEastern Caribbean- not my dream vacation, but a "lazy" vacation with no thinking. I think ports are Dominican Republic, Grand Turks, and the Bahamas.
Delete