I'm curious to know if anyone's tried to meal plan since my series of posts earlier this month? I'd like to know what you think and steal your tips and give them a try...
I came across this article about Meal Planning by Helen Jane on Offbeathome.com during my weekly catch-up-with-the-internet Friday afternoon session and thought I'd share. :)
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Friday, February 17, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Meal Planning - Inventory
The first step is to inventory everything you have in the house as far as food goes. You can probably list off the top of your head most things you already know you have but it’s crucial that you take a bit of time a pull everything from your pantry and list it all down to the last snack. Same goes for your fridge and freezer or anywhere else you store food.
Take this opportunity to check the expiry dates on everything and toss out old or expired items. At our house the salad dressings, jams and sauces tend to survive longer than they really should in our fridge so it’s nice to clear up the space and pick out new ones at the grocery store. This will also help you clear out some stuff from your freezer and pantry so you can keep a better pulse on what you have in stock and make planning easier down the road.
Just a note, if the process seems like it’s taking forever, don’t give up! The longer this part takes, the easier it will be for you to adapt. Also, don’t do this right before you go grocery shopping – do this on a day when you know you won’t need to go shopping for a few days. You might want to start planning on the day after you do your inventory or maybe wait for the next Monday or something – do what’s most logical for you and your family. Just make sure to cross off the things you’ll use from your inventory list until then.
You can find some “freezer inventory” or “pantry inventory” templates online for free – or some for purchase but don’t feel like you need to spend a lot of time picking out a template that would work for you. You’ll figure it out as you go – personally, I like to start with a blank page and then figure out what’s best for the second time around. All you need is a pen and paper. It doesn’t matter what you write it on as long as you can keep that info neat and tidy in a binder or a box for reference later.
Here’s what I came up with – if anyone’s interested, I can send you a copy for printing. They are in French though so if you need an English copy, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do. ;)
I keep a separate list for the pantry and for the freezer. The freezer being downstairs, this comes in handy when I don’t feel like running up and down to figure out my meal plan for the following week.
Freezer Inventory
On the top of your list, write today’s date. List all the items in your freezer along with quantity and the date (or approximate date) it was frozen. Put a star or an arrow or something next to the items that have been frozen the longest.
I like to divide my lists in categories: prepared meals, fruit and veggies, meats and seafood, snacks and misc. This makes it easier for me to plan meals and prioritise but you can do it however works best for you.
I like to put a star on the top 5 items that have been frozen the longest – later, I’ll be able to tell at a quick glance which items I need to use first.
Pantry Inventory
Same as for your freezer inventory, write down the date on top of your list. List everything you can get your hands on and make sure to look for expiry dates. Some stuff you wouldn’t even think expires like soups, cookies, crackers and cereal.
Put an arrow or a star by the products that expire first to help you prioritize what you need to use first and what you can keep longer.
Now that you have everything listed and you’ve already disposed of everything that’s freezer burnt or expired, you are looking at your “grocery store” for the next week.
If you have anything that’s huge like a turkey or a huge bag of potatoes, you might want to consider what would be the best way to go about using them up. If you’re going to be alone at home all weekend, please don’t make the entire turkey just because I suggested you use it first. Always look at the big picture and do what’s best for you and your family.
Make the most with what you’ve got and you’ll do just fine. Next step - the fun starts!
Take this opportunity to check the expiry dates on everything and toss out old or expired items. At our house the salad dressings, jams and sauces tend to survive longer than they really should in our fridge so it’s nice to clear up the space and pick out new ones at the grocery store. This will also help you clear out some stuff from your freezer and pantry so you can keep a better pulse on what you have in stock and make planning easier down the road.
Just a note, if the process seems like it’s taking forever, don’t give up! The longer this part takes, the easier it will be for you to adapt. Also, don’t do this right before you go grocery shopping – do this on a day when you know you won’t need to go shopping for a few days. You might want to start planning on the day after you do your inventory or maybe wait for the next Monday or something – do what’s most logical for you and your family. Just make sure to cross off the things you’ll use from your inventory list until then.
You can find some “freezer inventory” or “pantry inventory” templates online for free – or some for purchase but don’t feel like you need to spend a lot of time picking out a template that would work for you. You’ll figure it out as you go – personally, I like to start with a blank page and then figure out what’s best for the second time around. All you need is a pen and paper. It doesn’t matter what you write it on as long as you can keep that info neat and tidy in a binder or a box for reference later.
Here’s what I came up with – if anyone’s interested, I can send you a copy for printing. They are in French though so if you need an English copy, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do. ;)
I keep a separate list for the pantry and for the freezer. The freezer being downstairs, this comes in handy when I don’t feel like running up and down to figure out my meal plan for the following week.
Freezer Inventory
On the top of your list, write today’s date. List all the items in your freezer along with quantity and the date (or approximate date) it was frozen. Put a star or an arrow or something next to the items that have been frozen the longest.
I like to divide my lists in categories: prepared meals, fruit and veggies, meats and seafood, snacks and misc. This makes it easier for me to plan meals and prioritise but you can do it however works best for you.
I like to put a star on the top 5 items that have been frozen the longest – later, I’ll be able to tell at a quick glance which items I need to use first.
Pantry Inventory
Same as for your freezer inventory, write down the date on top of your list. List everything you can get your hands on and make sure to look for expiry dates. Some stuff you wouldn’t even think expires like soups, cookies, crackers and cereal.
Put an arrow or a star by the products that expire first to help you prioritize what you need to use first and what you can keep longer.
Now that you have everything listed and you’ve already disposed of everything that’s freezer burnt or expired, you are looking at your “grocery store” for the next week.
If you have anything that’s huge like a turkey or a huge bag of potatoes, you might want to consider what would be the best way to go about using them up. If you’re going to be alone at home all weekend, please don’t make the entire turkey just because I suggested you use it first. Always look at the big picture and do what’s best for you and your family.
Make the most with what you’ve got and you’ll do just fine. Next step - the fun starts!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Meal Planning Awareness Exercise
In order to save yourself some precious time and money, you want to keep this simple principle in mind: Make the most with what you have.
If you’re able to stick to this idea, your meal planning will be successful and you will be amazed at home much money, time and energy you used to spend on something as simple as lunch and dinner.
The first awareness exercise I recommend on doing is figuring out how much time you currently spend on meal planning. Here is the conclusion we came to when we started looking at the numbers:
Every day, we spend at least 10 minutes in the morning to figure out what to bring for lunch. Then same for dinner so another 10 minutes there.
Week’s total: 140minutes
Twice a week, we need to run to the store because the sour cream isn’t “best before” anymore and because we ran out of eggs. 35 minute trip including round trip and shopping time only.
Week’s total: 210minutes
At least 4 times a week, we need to thaw some meat or fish which adds another 10 minutes to our prep time that could have been avoided if we’d planned our meal in advance.
Week’s total: 250minutes
So a total of 4 hours and 20 minutes a week of our time are invested in our current meal planning process. Note that I didn’t count in here the grocery shopping trip because this varies for everyone but you can definitely add it in there once you figure out how long it used to take you and how long it takes you with your meal planning list. If you already shop using a list, you can simply add this amount of time to your total – just remember to add in it again at the end of the process.
Big picture snap-shot: that’s 16 hours and 40 minutes a month, over 8 days a year – that’s more days than some people go on holiday each year.
We haven’t even begun talking about dollars and cents yet. Because money is a trickier and much more personal topic, we’re not going to dig right in there at this point but if you’d like to do the same exercise to figure out the extra money you are currently spending, here are a few things you can include:
• Cost of pre-packaged/frozen bought to save time.
• Gas for those last minute grocery store trips.
• Last minute fast-food meals.
• Food you toss out because you didn’t use before the expiry date or left too long on the bottom of your freezer.
Now that you have those magic numbers, keep them handy for the first weeks of your meal planning when it seems like such a pain... or every time you’re tempted to order take out. You can even write them on a sticky note and keep it on your fridge door as a friendly reminder of how much money and time you’ll save. Pick a goal – it can be anything from a new art class you want to take or a new purse you’ve been eyeing and figure out how long you need to meal plan to be able to attain this goal.
Next step, we are going to inventory everything you have in the house. Well... not everything... just food stuff.
If you’re able to stick to this idea, your meal planning will be successful and you will be amazed at home much money, time and energy you used to spend on something as simple as lunch and dinner.
The first awareness exercise I recommend on doing is figuring out how much time you currently spend on meal planning. Here is the conclusion we came to when we started looking at the numbers:
Every day, we spend at least 10 minutes in the morning to figure out what to bring for lunch. Then same for dinner so another 10 minutes there.
Week’s total: 140minutes
Twice a week, we need to run to the store because the sour cream isn’t “best before” anymore and because we ran out of eggs. 35 minute trip including round trip and shopping time only.
Week’s total: 210minutes
At least 4 times a week, we need to thaw some meat or fish which adds another 10 minutes to our prep time that could have been avoided if we’d planned our meal in advance.
Week’s total: 250minutes
So a total of 4 hours and 20 minutes a week of our time are invested in our current meal planning process. Note that I didn’t count in here the grocery shopping trip because this varies for everyone but you can definitely add it in there once you figure out how long it used to take you and how long it takes you with your meal planning list. If you already shop using a list, you can simply add this amount of time to your total – just remember to add in it again at the end of the process.
Big picture snap-shot: that’s 16 hours and 40 minutes a month, over 8 days a year – that’s more days than some people go on holiday each year.
We haven’t even begun talking about dollars and cents yet. Because money is a trickier and much more personal topic, we’re not going to dig right in there at this point but if you’d like to do the same exercise to figure out the extra money you are currently spending, here are a few things you can include:
• Cost of pre-packaged/frozen bought to save time.
• Gas for those last minute grocery store trips.
• Last minute fast-food meals.
• Food you toss out because you didn’t use before the expiry date or left too long on the bottom of your freezer.
Now that you have those magic numbers, keep them handy for the first weeks of your meal planning when it seems like such a pain... or every time you’re tempted to order take out. You can even write them on a sticky note and keep it on your fridge door as a friendly reminder of how much money and time you’ll save. Pick a goal – it can be anything from a new art class you want to take or a new purse you’ve been eyeing and figure out how long you need to meal plan to be able to attain this goal.
Next step, we are going to inventory everything you have in the house. Well... not everything... just food stuff.
Meal Planning 101
As promised, a detailed step-by-step process of our meal planning initiative that’s absolutely exceeded all our expectations both financially and in saving our sanity.
First, here’s a bit of back story. We’re always trying to find ways to simplify our lifestyle I wasn’t entirely convinced that planning out our day-to-day meals would simplify anything. What if we’re in the mood for something else? What if we run out of something and have to run to the store? How about lunches and breakfasts and snacks, are we going to have to plan those also to make it worth our while? Js wasn’t too convinced either. He’s more of a “spur of the moment” and “steak and potatoes” kinda guy so I didn’t envision our meal planning endeavour to last us very long.
One faithful day, while we were out grocery shopping and talking about our finances, we realized we spend way too much money on groceries and time trying to figure out what we’re in the mood for. I took up the challenge to stretch out our current groceries until the end of the month as much as possible.
Meal planning was my only option to make sure we didn’t:
A) Run out of food.
B) Run out of money.
C) Run out of patience.
We’ve been meal planning now for about 3-4 weeks now and it looks like we’ve got a nice rhythm going so I’ve come up with these step-by-step instructions for those who’d like to give it a shot. To make it easier for everyone, I will be posting a series of entries for each step so that you can figure out what works best for you before moving on to the next step rather than giant post.
Here are the basic things you’ll need before you get started.
Pen and paper;
Calculator; and
A book, binder or box would work just fine.
Freezer bags are not necessary but nice to have handy if you normally use them.
First, here’s a bit of back story. We’re always trying to find ways to simplify our lifestyle I wasn’t entirely convinced that planning out our day-to-day meals would simplify anything. What if we’re in the mood for something else? What if we run out of something and have to run to the store? How about lunches and breakfasts and snacks, are we going to have to plan those also to make it worth our while? Js wasn’t too convinced either. He’s more of a “spur of the moment” and “steak and potatoes” kinda guy so I didn’t envision our meal planning endeavour to last us very long.
One faithful day, while we were out grocery shopping and talking about our finances, we realized we spend way too much money on groceries and time trying to figure out what we’re in the mood for. I took up the challenge to stretch out our current groceries until the end of the month as much as possible.
Meal planning was my only option to make sure we didn’t:
A) Run out of food.
B) Run out of money.
C) Run out of patience.
We’ve been meal planning now for about 3-4 weeks now and it looks like we’ve got a nice rhythm going so I’ve come up with these step-by-step instructions for those who’d like to give it a shot. To make it easier for everyone, I will be posting a series of entries for each step so that you can figure out what works best for you before moving on to the next step rather than giant post.
Here are the basic things you’ll need before you get started.
Pen and paper;
Calculator; and
A book, binder or box would work just fine.
Freezer bags are not necessary but nice to have handy if you normally use them.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Meal Planning
I'm working on a series of posts right now that'll be published soon, I hope. We've decided to give meal-planning a shot and so far, it's been absolutely awesome even if it was a bit hard to get used to at first. Once we get a better hang of things and we actually know what we're doing, I'll make sure to keep you all updated with info and tips if you want to give it a try. :)
Saturday, January 8, 2011
We bought a new ride! :)
Yup, just like that. :)
We've been looking to upgrade our VW Rabbit for quite some time now and we finally found something that would work for us. We wanted something more practical, easier for traveling and something to brave the Prairie winters.
We decided on a Santa Fe 2010 - it's indigo blue and it comes with all the fixins. Obviously, the picture is bellow isn't a photo of ours but it's what I could find on the net in a pinch.
We are SUPER excited to finally stop counting KMs (our Rabbit was on lease) and to be able to plan road trips without worrying about Nova's comfort. It's a pretty huge leap but I think it's well deserved.
With that, we're on another no-restaurants-month again to save some dough and to get back to regular (more reasonable) eating habits post Holidays.
We've been looking to upgrade our VW Rabbit for quite some time now and we finally found something that would work for us. We wanted something more practical, easier for traveling and something to brave the Prairie winters.
We decided on a Santa Fe 2010 - it's indigo blue and it comes with all the fixins. Obviously, the picture is bellow isn't a photo of ours but it's what I could find on the net in a pinch.
With that, we're on another no-restaurants-month again to save some dough and to get back to regular (more reasonable) eating habits post Holidays.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The heat is (back) on!
So, we're totally brilliant. Before we left for Ontario and sent all the deposits off for the wedding stuff, we figured we'd put a couple extra bucks towards our utility bills so that we wouldn't be stuck out of money when we came back and it would save us some stress. Wrong.
It appears that we (I) paid one bill twice instead of putting an even amount on both our power and gas bills. So we got back from the wedding and didn't really feel like going through the gigantic pile of mail that awaited. Plus, we have an equalized payment plan thing (or whatever it's called) so we know how much our bills will be and when they are due. No worries - la-dee-effing-dah.
Friday morning comes around - no hot water in the morning. My neighbor who's husband is away right now asked me to go over before going to work to watch her little baby while she showers. I figure I'll just go a bit early, shower there and ask Js to call CFHA this afternoon. It bugged me all day... what the shit could have possibly broken our hot water heater? It's really odd... Unless...? As soon as I get home, I rummage through the pile of mail and find three letters from the gas company notifying us that our account was past due. Damn it - damn it to hell!
Upon further online research, I find confirmation that :
A) I paid the wrong account.
B) They don't do reconnections over the weekend.
C) It's going to be minus one million degrees on Saturday night and Js is gone camping until Sunday.
Fail.
We got things figured out this morning and they were able to reconnect us on the same day. We're still out a couple hundred bucks but at least we won't have to worry about our electricity bill until next month. I think it's totally assbackwards NOT to call people or email or something. Please note I am aware that it's also assbackwards to pay the wrong bill. No need to rub it in.
We showered at our neighbor's house and wore hoodies feeling like total white trash all weekend. Ugh. Is that what they call married bliss?
PS: Also note that it's August 31st and yes, our heat is on.
It appears that we (I) paid one bill twice instead of putting an even amount on both our power and gas bills. So we got back from the wedding and didn't really feel like going through the gigantic pile of mail that awaited. Plus, we have an equalized payment plan thing (or whatever it's called) so we know how much our bills will be and when they are due. No worries - la-dee-effing-dah.
Friday morning comes around - no hot water in the morning. My neighbor who's husband is away right now asked me to go over before going to work to watch her little baby while she showers. I figure I'll just go a bit early, shower there and ask Js to call CFHA this afternoon. It bugged me all day... what the shit could have possibly broken our hot water heater? It's really odd... Unless...? As soon as I get home, I rummage through the pile of mail and find three letters from the gas company notifying us that our account was past due. Damn it - damn it to hell!
Upon further online research, I find confirmation that :
A) I paid the wrong account.
B) They don't do reconnections over the weekend.
C) It's going to be minus one million degrees on Saturday night and Js is gone camping until Sunday.
Fail.
We got things figured out this morning and they were able to reconnect us on the same day. We're still out a couple hundred bucks but at least we won't have to worry about our electricity bill until next month. I think it's totally assbackwards NOT to call people or email or something. Please note I am aware that it's also assbackwards to pay the wrong bill. No need to rub it in.
We showered at our neighbor's house and wore hoodies feeling like total white trash all weekend. Ugh. Is that what they call married bliss?
PS: Also note that it's August 31st and yes, our heat is on.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Pay up
I know it's really bad to blog about financial things and you really shouldn't publicly write for the world to see about your financial situation but this is just too funny to pass up. Plus, it's not even a "situation" or "problem" that reaches farther than my forgetfulness.
Considering that I'm still waiting for compensation for my last MONTH of sick leave benefits and it's been over a month since I have submitted all the documentation required the insurance company gets a gets a weekly screamy call. Last month was a little snugger than usual financially for us. Wedding coming up and all does not help to alleviate the financial stressors.
It seems I totally forgot to pay my Best Buy credit card - oops! It's due on the 3rd (or is it 5th?) of every month so I'm normally pretty good at using the last paycheck of the month to pay at least double the minimum payment. There isn't much on it so the payments are quite small.
So today I get a letter in the mail from somewhere in Quebec. Intrigued, I rush to open it :
For shits and giggles, let's see what's going for $11 on eBay right now...
1953 Magnus Harmonica Corp Student Accordion With Box for $10.49 US
2 Original cardio workout cassettes New and Sealed !!! for $10.40 CA
Sexy Pirate original art by Paradis for $10.40 CA
So many options, it's hard to choose!! :) $11 goes a long way these days it seems... I am going to send them a payment of $11.57 to help them cover the cost of the stamp. If they need the $11 so bad, I'm sure they'll appreciate the special attention.
Considering that I'm still waiting for compensation for my last MONTH of sick leave benefits and it's been over a month since I have submitted all the documentation required the insurance company gets a gets a weekly screamy call. Last month was a little snugger than usual financially for us. Wedding coming up and all does not help to alleviate the financial stressors.
It seems I totally forgot to pay my Best Buy credit card - oops! It's due on the 3rd (or is it 5th?) of every month so I'm normally pretty good at using the last paycheck of the month to pay at least double the minimum payment. There isn't much on it so the payments are quite small.
So today I get a letter in the mail from somewhere in Quebec. Intrigued, I rush to open it :
We wish to inform you that your account is $11 overdue as of some-date.Are you effing kidding me?! You sent me a letter, 10ish days after the payment date to inform me that I owe you... how much? $11 dollars.
For shits and giggles, let's see what's going for $11 on eBay right now...
1953 Magnus Harmonica Corp Student Accordion With Box for $10.49 US
2 Original cardio workout cassettes New and Sealed !!! for $10.40 CA
Sexy Pirate original art by Paradis for $10.40 CA
So many options, it's hard to choose!! :) $11 goes a long way these days it seems... I am going to send them a payment of $11.57 to help them cover the cost of the stamp. If they need the $11 so bad, I'm sure they'll appreciate the special attention.
Monday, May 31, 2010
No-Eating-Out Dealio - WE DID IT!
Woohoo! We did it - a whole month of no-restaurant!! It wasn't always easy but we stuck to it.
We had to get pretty creative at times :
...but we managed to learn a couple lessons along the way :
Moving forward, we've decided to limit our restaurant outings to twice a month. Once from the 1st to the 15th and then one more time from the 15th until the end of the month. We definitely will be doing the no-eating-out dealio again - it won't have as much of a huge impact but maybe we can cut back on coffee purchases or something like that again next time.
I definitely recommend giving this a try to anyone who's trying to save a bit of money, anyone who wants to get some good eating habits back on track or anyone who simply wonders if they could do it.
We had to get pretty creative at times :
- Pack a lunch - save time and money! If we had to go to Regina to run errands all day, instead of having lunch when we got there we packed a lunch and ate it on the drive there. We made it back home in time for dinner where our BBQ patiently awaited. Normally, we'd leave home around 11am and come back around 6 or 7pm. This time around, we left home at 12noon and we were back here by 5h30pm but we somehow accomplished more while we were there.
- Make plans that work. We would plan our entire day around having to be home for mealtimes and quite frankly, our days turned out way more productive and fun. We had more of a schedule than we normally do and it forced up to get up earlier and to limit our errand trips. We saved a ton on gas and on random spending money or impulse buys.
- Friends don't let friends eat out. Our friends were well aware of our challenge and quite understanding. They didn't ask us to meet them for dinner somewhere, they didn't tempt us with some take-out while we were at their house and they encouraged us to stick to it! I think it's important, when you attempt something like this to let your friends know so they don't lead you to your demise. We'd eat home and then meet them later for drinks or simply bring something we made at home as our contribution to the take-out food.
- Free food is good food. Let's face it now, this whole challenge had some health benefits but the main thing was financial. Free donuts at a little work party - BRING IT! We satisfied our cravings with food we got for free. We didn't crash any wedding buffets or anything but it made us enjoy the free-ness even more. Not only was it free but it was also a thousand times more delicious to us than it really was!
...but we managed to learn a couple lessons along the way :
- Eating out costs a shwack load of money!!
Well, I think we already knew that but we never really stopped to figure out exactly how much money it cost! ...and it's not always worth it. I haven't received any income or compensation (arg! but that's for another post) over the last month and a bit yet we were still able to save up as we normally do and haven't dug into our savings nearly as much as we anticipated. We're counting on some sick leave benefits to come in soon so it'll put our savings account right back on track for wedding expenses. - Eating at home is just as fun!
We realized that eating out had become a hobby for us. Therefore, it's not a necessity - we have a ton more hobbies to choose from to occupy our Saturday nights. Yes, it might be a bit lame to play Scrabble but have you met us!? We thrive on lame. It's also inspired me to try new recipes and stock up on frozen-left-overs. So in the long run our efforts will keep saving us even more money - who doesn't like that?! - Doing something together!
Yes, it was fun cooking together more and spending more time at home together. Most fun though was actually doing a challenge together. Working at something, putting our heads together to come up with solutions or ideas and accomplishing something together. Hurray!! - Good health starts at home.
It's insane how large restaurant portions are and I don't think we notice exactly how that affects our food intake in a week. I feel super healthy and I have much better portion-control-skills now than I've ever had my entire life. Eating only at home helped me kick the habit of stuffing my face until I explode. We also normally buy the "light" version of things when available and not disgusting (aka PC Blue Menu Butter Chicken Sauce *vom*) so we cut back on lots of calories, sugar, fat and a ton of that kind of stuff.
Moving forward, we've decided to limit our restaurant outings to twice a month. Once from the 1st to the 15th and then one more time from the 15th until the end of the month. We definitely will be doing the no-eating-out dealio again - it won't have as much of a huge impact but maybe we can cut back on coffee purchases or something like that again next time.
I definitely recommend giving this a try to anyone who's trying to save a bit of money, anyone who wants to get some good eating habits back on track or anyone who simply wonders if they could do it.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
No-Eating-Out Dealio - Week 1 down!
It wasn't easy to kick the habit of eating out but we're 1/4 of the way to our goal. Oh man!
This week was good because I was able to make a ton of food - I made a huge lasagna (even made a smaller batch for friends), banana bread with chocolate chunks, chicken fajitas and a whole ton of delicious stuff. Luckily, I'm off work right now so I had plenty of time to figure out meals and actually prepare them. I enjoy cooking and baking so I didn't have a problem with that.
Today it's the weekend and there isn't much to do. Js is a tad hungover, he had drinks with friends last night so he doesn't want to go anywhere. I'm itching to get out of the house though so we're trying to find inexpensive things to do in town. Normally, on a day like today, we'd do stuff around the house or take the dog to the park and then go somewhere for a nice dinner. No dice. Not this weekend - and not for the rest of the month. It's not going to be easy!
I would kill for lemon grass chicken vermicelli right now. Kill.
To top it all, our worst fear and biggest challenge we'd envisioned came true. Last year, we were ADDICTED to the Angry Whopper from Burker King. It's a limited time thing and they normally only have it during the summer. As we predicted, it's back this summer and we have to wait a WHOLE month to get one. Oh hell.
You'll know where to find us at 12:01am on June 1st. ;)
This week was good because I was able to make a ton of food - I made a huge lasagna (even made a smaller batch for friends), banana bread with chocolate chunks, chicken fajitas and a whole ton of delicious stuff. Luckily, I'm off work right now so I had plenty of time to figure out meals and actually prepare them. I enjoy cooking and baking so I didn't have a problem with that.
Today it's the weekend and there isn't much to do. Js is a tad hungover, he had drinks with friends last night so he doesn't want to go anywhere. I'm itching to get out of the house though so we're trying to find inexpensive things to do in town. Normally, on a day like today, we'd do stuff around the house or take the dog to the park and then go somewhere for a nice dinner. No dice. Not this weekend - and not for the rest of the month. It's not going to be easy!
I would kill for lemon grass chicken vermicelli right now. Kill.
To top it all, our worst fear and biggest challenge we'd envisioned came true. Last year, we were ADDICTED to the Angry Whopper from Burker King. It's a limited time thing and they normally only have it during the summer. As we predicted, it's back this summer and we have to wait a WHOLE month to get one. Oh hell.You'll know where to find us at 12:01am on June 1st. ;)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
No-Eating-Out Dealio
In our efforts to save some money considering the upcoming wedding and my non-working for a month, we have made a deal with ourselves not to eat out at the restaurant at all for the whole month of May. Oh my, it won't be easy.
We're on day 5 now and so far things are going good. We're trying to stay positive and here's what we're doing to keep sane :
- We're keeping our weekly junk food nights but having frozen pizza or Qing up some burgers. This way, we're not craving junk food as we normally would if we cut it all out of our meal planning.
- Bringing some variety to the mix. Trying new recipes is *almost* as exciting as eating out.
- Making huge batches of freezer friendly foods for the lazy nights.
- Inviting friends over instead of meeting them at the restaurant.
With our action plan in mind, I'm sure we'll be able to stick to it. :)
We're on day 5 now and so far things are going good. We're trying to stay positive and here's what we're doing to keep sane :
- We're keeping our weekly junk food nights but having frozen pizza or Qing up some burgers. This way, we're not craving junk food as we normally would if we cut it all out of our meal planning.
- Bringing some variety to the mix. Trying new recipes is *almost* as exciting as eating out.
- Making huge batches of freezer friendly foods for the lazy nights.
- Inviting friends over instead of meeting them at the restaurant.
With our action plan in mind, I'm sure we'll be able to stick to it. :)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The tax man cometh... and we payeth.
Well, I'm actually getting a refund but after all's said and done and we put both our tax reports together, we only get about half of what we were expecting so it kinda sucks but it's better than a kick in the head, I say.
It's the first time we've ever filed our taxes together since last year, we weren't Common Law for the entire year and we decided to file them separately instead. My income was significantly higher last year too so it would have taken us in another tax bracket or something like that and it we would have had to pay more. I'm not quite sure and put all my trust in the hands of professionals just because I can't be bothered to remember this stuff from year to year.
I nearly died when I saw my net income from last year. Like I said, I took a massive income drop last year after leaving my job at TBS, being unemployed for 3 months and then making a lot less at my new job out here in Saskatchewan. I know it's all part of the deal and it kinda comes with the lifestyle - I have no job security but he's got the ultimate job security so it sorta compensates.
It's just a slight punch in the sides to see how little I've been able to contribute to our financial situation. I have to suck it up, get used to it and I promise I'll get over it but for now, I'll keep playing my teeny violin.
It's the first time we've ever filed our taxes together since last year, we weren't Common Law for the entire year and we decided to file them separately instead. My income was significantly higher last year too so it would have taken us in another tax bracket or something like that and it we would have had to pay more. I'm not quite sure and put all my trust in the hands of professionals just because I can't be bothered to remember this stuff from year to year.
I nearly died when I saw my net income from last year. Like I said, I took a massive income drop last year after leaving my job at TBS, being unemployed for 3 months and then making a lot less at my new job out here in Saskatchewan. I know it's all part of the deal and it kinda comes with the lifestyle - I have no job security but he's got the ultimate job security so it sorta compensates.
It's just a slight punch in the sides to see how little I've been able to contribute to our financial situation. I have to suck it up, get used to it and I promise I'll get over it but for now, I'll keep playing my teeny violin.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Excuse me, Bank, would you be so kind as to tell me where's my money?
I am so upset right now, I could cry. I don't know what upsets me more... the fact that my money has gone missing or that I lost the teeny bit of trust I still had in my bank. If my mother were here, I'd be attending the dress rehersal of : "I told you so! - The musical"
Allow me to explain. I'm really all over the map tonight so this may take a while...
I was doing some financial observation to try to find out where the crap all my money went... Holiday shopping? A couple of setbacks and extra bills I had to pay? Some pretty valid reasons and I was expecting to be a bit tighter at the end of this month, but who isn't!? I kept trying to figure it out and things just didn't add up... I was short by $50 just about...
I looked over all my bills and online account info and everything seemed clear. I decided, for shits and giggles, to take a look at my November statement-AHA! Now, I won't go into huge detail about this just yet because I still haven't contacted my bank to give them a chance to explain them selves. Clearly, they don't stay open until 11h30pm on Mondays. I can assure you that I am contacting them first thing in the morning and they will have a lot of convincing to do to get my trust back ...
Long story short : There was a random withdrawl of a random amount of money taken from my account. I called the 24h support line thingy, they assured me that the money was taken by the bank but they (the bank) didn't specify what for. After looking it over with the nice lady on the phone, we assumed it was for a pre-authorized payment that was processed 2 days late. The withdrawl dosen't specify that the money was taken to pay my car loan as usual and isn't the right amount.
Typo? New staff? Regardless : I have unjustified, unapproved withdrawls and abosultely no proof that the money is going in the right place! Am I over reacting!? I think not. I'm not comfortable with this bank anymore and they've lost all my trust. I'm sure there is a good reason and hope they have a good explination tomorrow.
I feel cheated. I don't feel comfortable with this at all. I'll wait until I get to talk to them, but if their answer dosen't justify these actions enough for me, I'll have to review all my account statements since there's no way of telling how many times this happened before. Then what?
I want to be just and give them a chance to explain before I implode with rage.
Stay tuned!
Allow me to explain. I'm really all over the map tonight so this may take a while...
I was doing some financial observation to try to find out where the crap all my money went... Holiday shopping? A couple of setbacks and extra bills I had to pay? Some pretty valid reasons and I was expecting to be a bit tighter at the end of this month, but who isn't!? I kept trying to figure it out and things just didn't add up... I was short by $50 just about...
I looked over all my bills and online account info and everything seemed clear. I decided, for shits and giggles, to take a look at my November statement-AHA! Now, I won't go into huge detail about this just yet because I still haven't contacted my bank to give them a chance to explain them selves. Clearly, they don't stay open until 11h30pm on Mondays. I can assure you that I am contacting them first thing in the morning and they will have a lot of convincing to do to get my trust back ...
Long story short : There was a random withdrawl of a random amount of money taken from my account. I called the 24h support line thingy, they assured me that the money was taken by the bank but they (the bank) didn't specify what for. After looking it over with the nice lady on the phone, we assumed it was for a pre-authorized payment that was processed 2 days late. The withdrawl dosen't specify that the money was taken to pay my car loan as usual and isn't the right amount.
Typo? New staff? Regardless : I have unjustified, unapproved withdrawls and abosultely no proof that the money is going in the right place! Am I over reacting!? I think not. I'm not comfortable with this bank anymore and they've lost all my trust. I'm sure there is a good reason and hope they have a good explination tomorrow.
I feel cheated. I don't feel comfortable with this at all. I'll wait until I get to talk to them, but if their answer dosen't justify these actions enough for me, I'll have to review all my account statements since there's no way of telling how many times this happened before. Then what?
I want to be just and give them a chance to explain before I implode with rage.
Stay tuned!
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