Wasn’t sure where else to post this. Definitely some judgey tone at various parts, but I still found it an interesting/worthwhile read. Curious what other people think.
10 Likes
Not gonna lie, for a variety of reasons up to and including supply chain stress, I’m seriously considering a no-presents Christmas this year. This article is giving me more to chew on about that.
9 Likes
yeah, a bit odd tone. Like it couldn’t decide if it actually wanted to give a call to action or not. In the end it was ‘just don’t buy stuff you don’t really need’ - but in the moment humans are really good at justifying that this is a very valid purchase.
And I hear widely varied comments about what is reasonable for presents at the holidays. As someone who usually had one ‘big gift’, a book, a Hummel ornament from my grandmother, a piece of clothing, stocking stuffers (lip balm/magazine for a subscription/chocolate bar/handful of pennies!), and then the siblings giving presents to each other, other families seem very high. But my parents were early environmentalists (e.g. went to the first Earth Day event), and that has skewed my defaults.
11 Likes
This is astonishing.
6 Likes
Just finished meal planning. I didn’t go through half my recipes from last week because…I’m not sure? I guess we didn’t eat as much as usual? Anyway here is this week’s meal plan, we will only have to purchase produce so it should be inexpensive.
Breakfast: Bacon, Egg, Cheddar Sandwiches
Lunch #1: Vegetarian Burritos (w/ field roast sausage, beans, rice, peppers, tomato)
Lunch #2: BBQ Cauliflower + Sweet Potato Fries + Garden Salad
Dinner #1: Homemade Acorn Squash Ravioli (w/ goat cheese and walnuts) + Garden Salad
Dinner #2: Chicken Vegetable Soup (w/carrot, celery, potato) + Homemade Bread & Butter
Dessert: Pumpkin Pie + Whipped Cream
In non-meal planning frugal news I think I will try a different approach this month. When the thread started by method was to be more meticulous about spending, but this last month I’ve been terribly lax and…I’ve had positive results. This might be an instance where I’m devoting more time than is necessary to doing something and I am all about conservation of effort. I will try just working off instinct for the next two months to see what the results are. I’ll know if I’m failing pretty quickly because I will have to either pull money from savings to pay our bills or I’ll simply not have any increase in cash savings over the next two months. If I’m able to save some with no effort of tracking at all, then I’m going to keep doing that. If I am not increasing savings at all I’ll think of another strategy for more hands-on frugal living.
11 Likes
Today I used the last quarter cup of buttermilk to start a new batch! I’ve been fermenting yogurt off and on for years and it literally never occurred to me that I could do the same with cultured buttermilk, until I saw this video.
Usually when recipes call for buttermilk I put lemon juice in regular milk and let it curdle, but I’m always down for more fermentation in my life. We’ll see tomorrow how it turns out!
13 Likes
I will have to lean heavily on my husband for food prep this week so I kept things very simple.
Dinner tonight/weekend leftovers- Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Rice, Cauliflower, Salad
Breakfast- Bagels and cream cheese/Frittata
Lunch- Italian Sausage Corn Chowder + Crackers + Rolls
Dinner #1 - Pork Medallions and Mushrooms with Peas + Baked Cheese Penne + Side of Broccoli (air fry from frozen)
Dinner #2 - Hot Dogs + Side Cauliflower (air fry)
We’ve been talking a lot about what we’ll do when our lease is up and we’re pretty sure we’re going to move neighborhoods (in the same city). We’re going to start really exploring a few of our top places to narrow it down and then we want to buy a place! We decided instead of buying a forever home (too much pressure and too little money) we’re going to buy a place to live in for the next 6 years, which feels far more doable and makes a lot of sense financially. The areas we’re looking at will be excellent from an investment perspective and our monthly costs will be lower than renting. We’ll also be nearer to friends and amenities.
There will be compromises, obv, one of which is that I really need to up our cash starting now. I’ve dropped husband’s 401(k) down to the match so his paychecks will be bigger. That will help. He usually gets a small bonus in December so that will be good too. I also need to look up our lease info because I can’t figure out if I signed through 22 or 23, I think 23 so that will give us more time to save? We’ll probably use an FHA and put only 4% or so down because that makes sense for us, but I’d still like to start saving ASAP even if we have the extra time, since that might allow us to get a slightly nicer place.
I’m excited! 
14 Likes
I’ve spent a lot to save money recently
Diaper disposable liners and a diaper sprayer - to handle the disgusting toddler poop without switching to disposables. Those of you with once a day poopers don’t know what you’re missing with 6 a day
Groceries are waaaay up. Husboo is no longer doing takeout.
We made some decisions about a few more furniture pieces.
I’m looking forward to the week ending
Meals
Eggbakes
Hot dogs
Oatmeal
Kraft dinner
Mini lasagna?
Canned chili
Nachos
Salad
Tandoori fish
Curry chicken
Jerk fried rice.
Jerk chicken
Curry noodles
.all subject to change
9 Likes
I like that the money saving journal is half money and philosophy, half meal planning.
I am quitting daycare in 3 weeks. I’m really fucking excited. Related, I need to work out some lunchboxes (both the container and the contents) because 3 weeks from now on we’ll be making everyone’s lunch and snacks at breakfast time. I’m going to use existing containers and then work out which stainless steel etc fancy ones we’d like to purchase.
Sandwiches and wraps are good. Salads yes for the adults. Hommus and dips yes for everyone. I need to do some brainstorming on paper.
Money saving stuff: I have been eyeing a LOT of fancy toys. Turns out our local Toy library has a lot of them. So we’re going to go once a fortnight and get out any toys that I want to trial for our home collection, and also get out at least 1 item that lives in Ducklings room as his quiet/ Pumpkin naptime toy, to reduce our screentime.
16 Likes
Oooohhh very fun!!! Excited to follow along with your home buying journey!
2 Likes
Thanks, I’m excited! People here know I’ve been waffling on house buying for literally years but all the sudden it feels right. I’m not nervous or anxious and neither is he so I think that means it’s time. We will probably get a small brick row house, two bedroom, maybe with a tiny outdoor space but maybe not, we’ll see! I stripped down my needs and really #1 for me is just a good sized kitchen. I don’t mind old or broken up layout as long as I can have real counter and storage space. DH said his is natural light. His bonus feature would be a basement and/or yard and my bonus feature would be an open layout and an extra bathroom. We’re keeping a really open mind which is much easier now that we’re not thinking of living somewhere forever. I think especially because we both grew up moving and have moved a lot as adults the idea of one last move is kind of bizarre and terrifying, lol. I think it makes us feel like we must find something perfect in every single way. Framing it like a smart decision for our future makes it much simpler. DH has also become much more flexible with commute time and he’s willing to street park, so that opens up a lot of possibilities that were closed before.
20 Likes
I am absolutely loving reading how you’re going about this.
6 Likes
I’m really excited to follow your home buying journey!! It sounds like you both have a level head about needs vs. wants and I’m sure you will find the perfect mix of both
7 Likes
I absolutely didn’t want to cook dinner tonight
I wanted takeout pizza or sushi
So we’re having tuna melts
10 Likes
Nice job! I had a really hard time cooking today but I took my time and did it little by little and made a mushroom pasta bake. Success is ours!
6 Likes
House hunting things! We have a lease through 6.23 which I know is far away but I’m grateful for the time. My main goal now needs to be socking away cash and not worrying so much about net worth or retirement savings for the next 12 months. So I have 12 saving opportunities and then we’ll probably begin house hunting in earnest, which gives us 6 months to find a place and do all the stuff needed for that.
14 Likes
I actually meal prepped this Sunday and I’m so grateful I did. Soup and casserole, just here, delicious, in my belly.
13 Likes
Same here!! Thank u AllHat for sharing it!
3 Likes
bell peppers are in the freezer (should have done it yesterday, and I had time and energy but no caring), and I’m trying to decide if the liquid from putting the hot roasted peppers with skins on into a plastic container will go into a shashukka tonight with the roasted eggplant from the weekend or to defrost another butter chicken instead and put the liquid in with that.
ETA: shadowy one is pro-shashukka. I should also put in the cilantro that is getting wilty. And then figure out a meal for the tortillas tomorrow because they need to be used up very soon.
9 Likes
peppers are off of the freezing tray and into the ziploc bag with the other peppers I’ve prepped this fall
I looked at the fridge and realized there isn’t really a lunch there, so I have lentils simmering on the stove and that will be combined with some of the roasted eggplant (from this weekend) and the tahini dressing I’ve been working through, and I guess a couple of bocconcini balls and some roasted tomato. If I’m feeling the energy I will fry up an onion or a shallot.
Tortillas still need a use
And coffee is on sale this week, so I’m bulking up. I really hated being down to one container in the pantry.
It is a very virtuous feeling at 830am to have made lentils.
7 Likes