Frugal Friday

 As we push towards the last few weeks of school, there's plenty happening around our house! And, Tess asked a question last week about how I track my frugal activities. As soon as one week ends, I start a new Frugal Friday blog post, and just drop things in each day and/or whenever things come to me. I definitely wouldn't remember if I tried to write it all at one time. 

Saving on things we buy

• Made a run to the grocery store after I got back from my trip. I picked up gift cards & earned $30 of rewards for future groceries. I also earned a $1.50 reward for an item I purchased, picked up the Friday Freebie (pasta) & earned a $2 Catalina. I uploaded my receipts to Fetch as well. I guess it all adds up!

Earning money

• Helped the teens with their tax forms (job applications), so they can earn money this summer. 
• Filled out the form to get $100 reimbursed from our soccer club fee, as part of my volunteer hours. 
• Sold an outgrown teen hoodie on eBay. 

Avoiding spending

• I was tempted to pick up lunch for the teens one day, but there's been plenty of eating out, between Sedona & my lazy takeout on Thursday. It was easy enough to come home & make sandwiches for everyone. 
• I also wanted to order one more of my favorite workout shirts, but they were sold out in my size, so I suppose I avoided spending that way. 
• Sam needs to go to OSU for orientation in July. Serendipitously, I have an origins unknown United travel voucher expiring in August. I booked my ticket to use up more of the United voucher. I used some of the boys travel credits from Turkey to cover their flights. While we really want to do another international trip to see M's family, we don't want to be sitting on these large credits with an expiration, as there are so many moving parts to making that kind of a trip come together. We'd rather use the credits for upcoming travel, and pay out of pocket for the international trip when it does happen. Anyway, for the July orientation, we used up $600 of the boys Turkey credits, and $500 of my unknown origin United voucher. 
• Similarly, M & I are planning to swap out our late June birthday adventure trip from a nearby hotel here, and swap to a weekend in Las Vegas. The room will be free, but I used gift cards to cover the flights, using up $818 of Southwest cards. 
• Made a bunch of other elaborate travel swaps that I posted about here, using up more of the United credits before the expire, and getting instead $880 in Alaska credit that is much more flexible, easier for us to use, and can be used for our preferred airport. 

Eating what we have

• Heated up leftover Greek food, and had that as my lunch for two days. 
• Made sure to cut up the fresh fruit that we have, and serve that to the teens, so it doesn't go to waste. Our rough agreement is that I make breakfast if I'm home & you ask, and I make lunch if you are busy doing other things (studying, just quickly home between activities, etc). I made dinner every night for everyone who is around. Lately, everyone is studying so much that there are many more lunches prepped by me, which is fine.
• Sam ate the last of the fried rice I made on Friday. I started with the Trader Joes veggie fried rice, and added a package of edamame, as well as three eggs that I scrambled. That really helps to bulk out the rice, and since Sam loves it as a leftover, it's an easy win. 
• I finished the chicken leftovers from Friday, and had that for an easy dinner & lunch on Sunday. 
• Defrosted taco meat for a quick & easy dinner.
• Used garlic scapes, mint, basil & red lettuce from the garden for M's salads. 
• I've been eating a lot of sandwiches, as well as leftover proteins (from dinner) over salads for lunch. 

For others:

• Returned shopping carts
• Helped a woman at the store figure out how to download a coupon via her app.
• Continued working on my volunteer project for the soccer club.

And, a frugal fail. I was supposed to meet a friend one day this week for a hike at 6 am, which would still give me time to attend my regular workout class at 9:30. She actually made a typo in her text, and we met at 7 am instead, which wasn't enough time to get to my class. I paid a $14 late cancel fee, which I try really, really hard to avoid. But, time together was fabulous, so I'll treat it more as though we went out for breakfast, which $14 would be a reasonable price to pay for that. ;-) 

What about you? Any wins to share?

The great travel shuffle

This didn't start out as a financial optimization, but ended up being quite advantageous, so thought I'd share. 

I just received the boys summer camp work schedule, and Sam is slated to work the day we fly out for his graduation party in June. We'd booked flights for myself & M using miles, and credits for the boys flights (they are staying longer) on Alaska. I needed a later flight departure, and Alaska didn't have any workable options out of San Jose. The San Jose airport is about 20 minutes from our house, and the SFO airport is easily double that, and much harder to navigate. Transportation options are also quite a bit more, so we fly out of SJC whenever possible.

I did, however, have that United credit that's been hanging over me, expiring in August & it just so happens that United has a flight that leaves later & works well for our schedule that day. I didn't want to pay out of pocket, and tickets can only use one type of credit, so I ended up booking the following:

• A one way ticket on United for myself, using my lingering & expiring credit. I'm flying first class & still not using it all, but the vast majority of it won't be wasted, which makes me happy. Out of pocket = $0.
• A one way ticket for M & the teens on the same flight, using a different credit with a later expiration. They are not in first class, as we want to save as much of that credit as possible & have more time to use it. I did, however, put them on the upgrade list using Plus Points, so maybe they will get upgraded. Out of pocket = $0.
• I then canceled the outbound portion of our flights for all four of us. M & I  had bought our flights using  miles, so I ended up getting a credit of 60,000 miles back to my account. 
• I also canceled the boys outbound portion of the flights, getting a $475 Alaska credit, which will be much easier to use & has an expiration of March, 2025. We go to Portland plenty, and the credit is much more flexible & can be used by any of us. (Unlike some of the United credits which can only be used by me.) Alaska also flies in & out of SJC, which will also make life easier, particularly if the teens are traveling on their own. 
• I rebooked the flights for myself & M for Sunday, and they were more expensive (mileage wise), so I paid 40,000 miles for those, but no out of pocket. I booked us flying back into SJC, to save on ride share costs (and, time). 
• I then remembered that I'd purchased a very expensive flight to Portland in August for the relay I'm participating in. Because of the 20,000 miles I had returned as part of all of the above shuffle, I had enough miles to cover that trip. I canceled the paid version & swapped to a mileage flight. I received a second credit for $406 that I can use by April of 2025, and also is flexible & can be used for any of us.

So, all told, I prevented the majority of the United credit from expiring, used up some of our harder to use United credits for M & the boys, and now have $880 or so in my Alaska wallet with a longer expiration & that can be used for any of us, including getting Sam to & from college over holidays. 

It took some creativity (and, ride shares to SFO for the outbound will cost about $40 more than going to SJC), but I'm pleased with the swaps! Keeping our travel costs in check & making the most of our travel credits has been a priority for 2024, and will continue to be important in the upcoming months, with lots of travel for Sam on the horizon.

What about you? Any creative travel wins to share? 

Menu Plan Monday

It's always hard to get back into the groove, post-vacation, but here we are! Creating a menu plan always makes life easier during the busy weeks ahead. We have lots of senior activities happening, school tennis wrapping up, club soccer, volunteering & lots of other projects at the moment. So, you'll see more convenience meals over the upcoming month or so.

• Friday - orange chicken & rice
• Saturday - spaghetti, meatballs & garlic bread
• Sunday - risotto & grilled chicken
• Monday - tacos
• Tuesday - chicken shawarma
• Wednesday - leftover tacos
• Thursday - leftover chicken shawarma
• Friday - wings & pot stickers

What about you? What's on your menu this week?

Sunday Happenings

I was pretty productive yesterday, although I also took a nap! This is unheard of for me, both because I'm typically unable to nap & it's just not something I try to do. The last time I napped was either when I had COVID, or coming back from an international work trip. Anyway, wow, a Saturday nap!

The boys were largely around the house, studying for upcoming AP tests, and Nick took the SATs in the morning. I had to be up bright & early to get him up & make breakfast, & I'm still catching up from Sedona. I shared a bed with my mom, and she's not a great sleeper, so neither of us slept as much as we would have liked on our trip.

I cleaned the house, worked on my soccer volunteer project, got some calendaring tasks done, helped Nick with his summer job work permit, and went to a workout class.

As for today, here's my plan:

• Sweep the back patio. Yesterday was really rainy & windy, so I need to get some leaves & other debris swept up before they make their way into the pool.
• Clean the fridge
• Vacuum
• Laundry
• Nick's soccer game
• Pick up M at the airport
• Workout class
• List at least 1 item on eBay
• Farsi lesson
• Journal
• Meditate

What about you? What's on your list for the day? Anyone have any fun plans?

Sedona budget recap

My mom & I had a fabulous trip to Sedona. It originally came about as I had Hyatt free night awards that needed to be used up before they expired. I researched a few options, and have always wanted to go out Sedona. It was a perfect pre-Mother's Day gift for my mom, and a great experience all around. I loved Sedona & definitely want to go back.

I set a budget of $1500 for the trip, and here's what I spent:

• Flights - $80. I used Southwest points & gift cards for the rest
• Hotel - $0. I used Hyatt free night awards for all four nights
• Car rental - $190.37
• Parking at a hiking location - $5
• Gas for the rental car - $45.45
• Food = $339.84
• Parking at our local airport, as M & I did a car swap (he was flying out the same day I was landing) - $18

Total spent = $678.66. (Note that my mom also picked up a couple of meals.)

We tried to keep the cost really in check, and I think we did well. One of the meals was much more expensive than we would have wanted, and it was our least favorite. But, what can you do. Our morning coffees were also a splurge, but we skipped breakfast, shared a burrito bowl at Chipotle for another inexpensive lunch, had leftovers one day, and picked up sandwiches at Safeway another day. All in all, it was a really reasonably priced trip, particularly thanks to the free hotel & inexpensive flights.

If you ever get a chance to go to Sedona, highly recommend!

Frugal Friday

I was with my mom for most of the week, and we were taking advantage of the free hotel I was able to book for four nights. 

Saving on things we buy

• I used a $2 Catalina coupon at the store, and downloaded a digital coupon for my purchase. I picked up 6 pounds of apples, a bagged salad & four packages of pasta for $17, which was a decent deal, I suppose. I also earned $2 in grocery store rewards from some sort of instant win promotion the store is running. 
• Went to the store to pick up two Friday freebies, one of which was a box of chamomile tea (I typically have this every evening in the fall/winter, so it will definitely be used) & the other was the Gatorade zero hydration tablets. Nick or I will use these. I also earned another $.75 in store rewards. 
• I picked up a few other things at the store, and earned $6 in Fetch points, and another $3.75 in grocery store rewards. 
• For meals on our trip, we've tried to keep things pretty reasonable. For lunches, one day we split a Chipotle burrito bowl, another day we picked up sandwiches at Safeway, and the last full day we ate some meat, cheese & crackers we brought with us. 
• My mom also brought two bottles of wine in her bag, which allowed us to relax on our patio ahead of dinners out, and save some money that way as well.
• M & I had overlapping flights, so he parked the car at the airport & I took the spare key when I left for my trip. I picked up the car shortly after he left, when my flight arrived. Altogether, a few minutes of planning saved us about $40 between a couple of ride shares, minus the parking. 

Earning money

• I received my severance offer (not payout, as I think that can take upwards of six weeks) from my employer, and it was much more generous than expected.

Avoiding spending

• Neither my mom or I eat breakfast, but we've been walking to a coffee shop each morning & getting coffee ahead of our hikes. 

Eating what we have

• Ate lots & lots of leftovers ahead of my trip. Sam ate everything I didn't eat, so the fridge was basically empty before M's trip to the store. 
• Because of the lack of leftovers, I really scrounged for a lunch one day, and used two heels of bread, the last can of tuna from the pantry & made a tuna melt. It was great. 
• Sam mentioned he'd be home for dinner one night on the weekend, so I thought it would be a good time to try & use up some of those lingering fish sticks no one seems to want. I made those + spring rolls (also from the freezer) & then of course, his plans changed. Leaving just me with the fish sticks. Karma, I suppose. ;-) 

For others

• Helped hikers avoid a snafu we had, which was a looped trail that finished in one parking lot, but not the other two. As a result, our hike was *MUCH* longer than expected, but we finished & were just about out of water when we got to the car. I always pack twice as much as we need. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Goals for May

 I'm guessing that May through June will be an adventure, with many end of school activities, as well as Sam's graduation! Can't believe we're here.

Other than my Sedona trip, I will be home for the rest of May, so I've factored that in accordingly.

Financial:

• Sort out cash flow & remaining 2024 budget, post severance numbers
• Earn $300 in side hustle
• Monthly pantry/freezer challenge: use up fish sticks, pureed bananas & the rest of a bag of cranberries
• Figure out how to maximize expiring travel rewards

Family:

• Get Sam registered for orientation, & finalize housing contract
• Help Nick with college tasks & finalize work back schedule
• AP test prep (both) & SAT prep (Nick)
• Have a great & on budget trip to Sedona with my mom
• Finalize the rest of our summer plans
• Plan one fun activity with the boys

Fitness:

• 10 stretching workouts
• Lose 3 lbs
• 12 strength training workouts
• Follow the No S diet
• Run 70 miles

Personal:

• Get together with friends
• Practice Farsi 20 times
• Declutter 100 items
• Meditate daily
• Continue exploring various jobs
• Finish soccer volunteering project

That's it for me. What about you? Any goals to share for May, so we can cheer you on?

Checking in from gorgeous Sedona

 We are having an absolutely fabulous time - lots of hiking, chatting, & relaxing. I received my severance package yesterday, & it's significantly more generous than I expected. What a lovely gift during our trip.

I'm so glad I chose this stunning destination to use up some of my free Hyatt night awards. We've loved the location of our hotel, and how close it is to restaurants, a coffee place, etc. 

We'd planned for a 7 mile hike today, but due to a poorly marked trail, we ended up doing 13 miles. Good thing my mom & I are both in quite reasonable shape. ;-) 

Hope everyone is having a great week!

April Goals Recap

 April was a really good month, with a fun family spring break trip, Sam finalizing his college decision, and the final day of my employment. (Still waiting to get details on my severance package - so surprised it's taken this long). Thanks to not having to work, I was really quite productive this month. I've been very focused on my overall fitness, as well as getting things done around the house & with the teens.

Here's how I did!

Financial:

• Pay federal & State taxes - done
• Sort out cash flow & remaining 2024 budget, post severance numbers - I did what I could with this, but still don't have final severance numbers. I did get my final paycheck + vacation payout, and have college numbers, which is all helpful.
• Earn $300 in side hustle - I made $1271/300, helped by our Costco rebate, a settlement check & 12 eBay/FB Marketplace sales.
• Monthly freezer/pantry challenges: use up fish sticks, rotisserie chicken & pulled pork. - Used up the pulled pork, rotisserie chicken, 1/2 the fish sticks, a bag of pizza rolls, the shrimp scampi, 1/2 a bag of cranberries & the last can of green beans. Definitely consider the progress a win.

Family:

• Last college tour + confirm decision & begin college admission work - college selection is done, deposit is paid, first housing form is filled out. Still a ton to do!
• Help Nick with college tasks - we've made some progress
• Both boys - AP test prep - both boys are working on this, but lots of studying ahead
• Have a great & on budget spring break trip - done & done!
• Plan Costa Rica trip for the fall - flights & hotel are booked, as well as flights for my parents to fly in to watch Nick!
• One fun activity with the boys - skiing, dinners out & road trip to Tahoe

Fitness:

• 10 stretching workouts - 10/10
• Lose 3 lbs - 0/3 lbs, although I can definitely tell that I'm in better shape & my clothes are fitting better.
• 12 strength training workouts - 12/12
• Run 60 miles - 66/60 miles
• Follow the No S diet - I did okay with this. I'm trying to figure out how to accommodate flexible dinner times, and avoid snacking, which can be hard when there's an unexpectedly large gap between lunches & dinners & I'm overall keeping my calories low. 

Personal:

• Get together with friends - yep, I've met up with friends for coffee, hikes, walks, etc.
• Practice Farsi 20 times - 24/20 times
• Declutter 100 items from the house - 69/100. April has been a month of selling things vs decluttering, which means smaller numbers. The house decluttering is in very good shape, which is a good problem to have!
• Meditate daily - I missed a couple of days while traveling, but otherwise yes.
• Complete the Science of Well Being course - yes, and I loved it!
• 30 minutes of fiction writing - done!
• Work on volunteer project - yes, working on it. It will be done in May. 

That's it from my side. How did you do with your April goals? Any goals carrying over to May?

Frugal Friday

 

Saving on things we buy

• Both kids were unexpectedly home for dinner last Friday, so I ran to the local store & picked up what we needed for a last minute taco dinner. I really considered doing takeout, but the ground beef in the fridge was a good reminder to not do that. Meat is so expensive these days! I had a $10/$50 purchase, so I also picked up a few other things off of the longer term shopping list, as well as a few spring break treats for the teens (ice cream & popcorn). We were supposed to have a popcorn/movie night, but couldn't get our DVD to work. M has since fixed that, so hopefully we will squeeze in the movie night another day. 
• Used $2 of expiring Rite Aid rewards to pick up a graduation card for Sam. 

Earning money

• I was part of a class action suit & received a settlement in 2022, I believe. After all of the settlements were distributed, there was additional funds left over, and those were then distributed to the remaining folks. I received $524 in this close out round of the settlement. I'm happy to receive this unexpected settlement, but the original reason I received money was because I was underpaid for years (hence the claim/settlement), so not exactly a net win.  
• I sold a jersey, sunglasses & a tennis skirt on eBay, making $116. 
• I redeemed Fetch points for a $10 Amazon gift card. I don't buy many brand name items, so this is a slow & steady process, but eventually adds up. 
• Sold a fan remote on eBay. This is a great example of something I couldn't give away on Buy Nothing, but with a bigger audience on eBay, someone needed exactly that item. I made just under $10, but more than that, I'm thrilled that the fan stayed out of the landfill. 
• Submitted my last two receipts for reimbursement from work (fitness class & pickleball lessons). We have a small personal lessons reimbursement for the year, and I'm hopeful these will get reimbursed before my last day. Fingers crossed. 
• I received my last paycheck today, and my vacation payout + another week of pay. It's hard to remember 10+ years ago, but I believe we are paid in arrears, so the timing of my hire date and our paychecks makes sense that I would have had another week in arrears coming to me. It was a nice surprise to see the size of my last paycheck. (I still haven't received my severance offer, but have a rough sense of how much that will be.)

Avoiding spending

• Nick was helping me with yard work, and I still hadn't purchased groceries post ski trip. I offered to order lunch, if he picked it up. I used a 20% off code, plus all of my gift cards (some had like $3 left on them) on an online order & had just enough to cover the cost plus tip. No money out of pocket.
• This one is a doozy. Remember when we planned to go to Turkey over spring break? When I cancelled those flights, I confirmed multiple times that our credit would be valid and needed to be rebooked by January of 2025. I was planning a trip to Costa Rica with M in November, and we opted to use those credits, to avoid them expiring. When I went to book online, my United app showed the January 2025 date, but upon trying to use them for purchase, it said they were expiring in July 2024. I spent almost an hour with United on the phone getting it resolved (and, the person helping me was absolutely incredible.) It turns out, when I booked the flights (and, this was over $10k for the four of us), I used a $75 credit leftover from something else. That credit expired in July of 2024, and made the expiration of the $10K reset to that, despite the app & my email having a different expiration date! Luckily, United was able to help out, but I'm so grateful that 1) I tried to book a flight ahead of that cancellation, and 2) the person I worked with was so helpful. 
• Speaking of Costa Rica, our all inclusive hotel is covered entirely with hotel points, and the flights are covered by our previously purchased Turkey flights. So, no new out of pocket spending!
• I'm flying my parents to our house to watch Nick when we go to Costa Rica (our final anniversary trip that they will need to supervise, as Nick will be in college next year!). I used Southwest gift cards to cover the cost of their flights. They prefer Alaska Airlines, but those flights were $300+ more expensive, unfortunately. On some routes, Alaska is just not competitive with Southwest. 

Eating what we have

• I had a defrosted Asian themed pasta dish (can't remember what it was originally) for lunch one day, as well as lasagna from the freezer. Being home for lunches means I can make good progress on the freezer leftovers. I sub in sandwiches when I get overly bored with the freezer leftovers.
• I turned leftover taco fixings into a second meal of tacos, and then quesadillas & a taco salad.
• I baked up the last 1/4 bag of pizza bites for Nick, on a day when he needed "dinner" at 3:30, before he left for an event. Don't worry, he also had a protein fruit smoothie & veggies.
• Used up overly ripe bananas from our road trip + freezer bananas to make a double batch of muffins.

For others

• On the above United fiasco, the agent was so helpful that I took the time to track down how to sent a compliment & provided her name & details about why she was so awesome. Her supervisor responded & asked if she could send my feedback more broadly. I agreed, &provided additional information & compliments. It was great. Good service deserves that kind of feedback. 
• Did some additional volunteer work for our soccer club senior night.

What about you? Any wins to share?

Thursday Happenings

 I've had a pretty productive week, and am feeling good about that. I wrapped up a couple of April goals (just in time) & am getting ready for my trip to Sedona on Sunday. The boys have tons of stuff going on, so plenty happening on that front. 

I also was able to access my (digital) pay stub for tomorrow, and see that I'm getting paid out my vacation, my standard last paycheck, and one week of additional pay. I believe that's because we're paid in arrears when you join the company. Anyway, it was more than expected, and I will likely tuck most of that into a CD, as we won't need it right away. It will be nice to earn some extra interest on that, until we're ready for it for college payments or other expenses. 

Our current college plans include paying for 1/2 of college for each teen with their 529, and then cash flowing the rest. I experimented with our 529 yesterday, and was able to set up our first withdrawal, to cover the tuition deposit I made. I don't need the money at the moment, but it was a small amount & I wanted to test out the withdrawal process. It was super simple, so that was a nice win.

Here's what I'm up to today:

• Running class
• Daily chores: Farsi lesson, meditate, journal
• Work in the yard. Probably weeding today.
• Review list of all final work tasks, & ensure they are complete. My last official day is tomorrow.
• Work on volunteer project
• Finalize details for M, for when I'm out of town
• Laundry
• Go to Nick's tennis finals
• Help Nick sort out his SAT challenges. The test has moved to digital & it requires some downloads that we can't get to work. 
• Register Nick for a college class in the fall. This is a partnership with his high school
• Get cash for trip
• Help both boys buy prom tickets (e.g I'll be the one paying for them) ;-)
• Talk to Nick about weekend schedule, because it's madness.

What about you? What are you up to today?

Spring break budget roundup

I've been paying a closer eye to the budget for our upcoming travel, as we have a bunch of expenses related to Sam's college (orientation, move in date, as well as just the cost of college itself), combined with me not working. I also have the flexibility to travel more myself (what a gift that is), but can only do that if I'm setting a budget & being more frugal than in previous years. 

The good news is that we have a lot of travel credits, points, miles, etc, so staying on top of those & using those first has been really helpful. Beyond that, we are also just evaluating the value of each trip & prioritizing how we want to spend our money. 

I set a goal for our spring break trip of $1500. Originally, we were going to do a road trip to Redwoods National Park, but opted to ski at the last minute, when the resorts were still open. Nick convinced us. ;-) We had a fabulous time. 

Here's how we spent our money:

• $3.76 - lunch for the teens on the way to Lake Tahoe
• $179.97 - dinner out our first night
• $37.87 - lunch for me + Sam on our last day
• $177.85 - lunches on the mountain, including bonus teen friend for one of the meals
• $380.66 - cost of the hotel (two rooms) + two dinners that we charged to the room
• $13.21 - coffee for MR each morning (he's not a Starbucks fan)
• $93.32 - gas
• $13.96 - snacks purchased at Trader Joes, to bring on the trip
• $80.33 - Breakfast for the boys + coffee for me each morning - Starbucks gift card, so technically not out of pocket, but including for completeness 
• Ski passes - free, as we had season passes

Total spent = $980.93, so well under budget. This was possible, as we used points at the hotel to offset much of the cost of the three nights rooms. The most outrageous cost was my coffee every morning, as they charged an extra $1.50 for oat milk, which is wild to me. They do have a coffee maker in the room, but we've tried the coffee before & it's pretty abysmal. I convince myself that, if I buy the Starbucks gift cards at a discount (often this is how I earn grocery store rewards), I'm saving a bit on that. I also try to use Starbucks rewards for at least one of the coffees while I'm there. 

Fancy/pricey oat milk lattes aside, I'm very pleased with the cost of the trip. Feeding two hungry teens is expensive at the best of times, and throw in additional appetite from skiing, and it's quite pricey. :-) 

I've set budgets for the upcoming Sedona trip with my mom, as well as my trip to Costa Rica with M, so I'll share the recaps on those trips, as they happen. 

Do you track spending for travel? Are you typically able to stay under budget? Any tips to share? 

Final hurrah of April - goal check in

 I'm trying to stay focused on what I still need to accomplish before the end of the month, particularly as I leave for Sedona on Sunday for a hiking trip with my mom.

Financial:

• Pay federal & State taxes - done
• Sort out cash flow & remaining 2024 budget, post severance numbers - I still don't have my complete severance numbers, but have an estimate. And, now I have college numbers, which is helpful.
• Earn $300 in side hustle - $1261/300, helped by our Costco rebate, a settlement check & 11 eBay/FB Marketplace sales.
• Monthly freezer/pantry challenge: use up fish sticks, rotisserie chicken & pulled pork. - used up the pulled pork, the rotisserie chicken, a bag of pizza rolls, the shrimp scampi, 1/2 a bag of cranberries & the last can of green beans. The fish sticks remain, but definitely considering the progress a win. 

Family:

• Last college tour + confirm decision & begin college admission work - college selection is done, deposit is paid, first housing form is filled out. Still a ton to do!
• Help Nick with college tasks - we've made some progress
• Both boys - AP test prep - both boys are working on this, but lots of studying ahead
• Have a great & on budget spring break trip - done & done!
• Continue to plan Costa Rica trip for the fall - now that we know when parents weekend is for Sam's college, we know which dates to avoid for our anniversary trip. I've reached out to the concierge for the Hyatt to see if our proposed dates work. Once she confirms that, I'll work on flights. 
• One fun activity with the boys - skiing, dinners out & road trip to Tahoe :-) 

Fitness:

• 10 stretching workouts - 6/10
• Lose 3 lbs - 0/3, although continuing to be more toned & in better shape. I'm hoping my calories will be a bit more under control, now that the college decision is behind us & the stress is a bit less. I also lost 5 lbs last month. 
• 12 strength training workouts - 8/12
• Run 60 miles - x/60 miles - 44/60
• Follow the No S diet - I've been okay with this, but definitely more snacking than I'd like

Personal:

• Get together with friends -yep, I've met up with friends for coffee, hikes, walks, etc.
• Practice Farsi 20 times - 18/20
• Declutter 100 items from the house - 29/100. April has been a month of selling things vs giving away, which means much smaller numbers. The house decluttering is in very good shape, which means I just don't have the bigger numbers. I suppose that's a good problem to have!
• Meditate daily - I missed a couple of days while traveling, but otherwise yes
• Complete the Science of Well Being course - just have my final project left, but I'm very close
• 30 minutes of fiction writing - haven't started
• Work on volunteer soccer project - kicked off some work, but need to shift this into high gear

What about you? How are you doing with your goals for the month?