I’m realizing that I talk about the weather a lot, but it really was perfect this week: high sixties to seventy and sunny during the day and fifty degrees at night. Of course, this means we’ve spent a good amount of time outside and I’ve gotten quite a bit of my fall garden prep done (more on that next month). The summer harvest may be just about over, but I should hopefully have something growing through the winter again like I did last year.
Work has continued on the crazy bent that’s been par for the course this month, but it’s been for mostly good reasons. Because of that, though, I had two extra early mornings this week and our schedule was thrown off a bit. It makes me extra appreciative that I don’t work this many hours all the time, but I am glad that our childcare situation is such that it can be adjusted a bit to adapt to the odd week.
And yes, I know I’m not at FinCon today like sooooo many others, which is a total bummer. Perhaps I’ll manage to get out there next year, but at least I’m saving quite a bit of money by skipping the conference. What I keep telling myself anyway, though really I just wish I was there. In case you missed it: Military Dollar’s genius print out that she brought to the conference:
Friday’s Frugal Five
1. I went through some more of the kiddo’s old clothes that he had outgrown and passed a bunch of them plus a few toys and books to a friend’s kid. He’s two years younger but built differently so he’s been the perfect candidate to pass things along to. And better yet, we see them often enough that it’s fun to get to see some of the clothes worn again. I also passed along a bag of disposable pull ups that we’d had to take to preschool, but now that we’re out of that stage, I had no use for them. Since the bag was already opened, they couldn’t be returned, so along they went with the clothes.
Before my friend left for the day, I mentioned to her a few wooden clothes hangers that were in a bag of giveaway stuff that had been sitting for far too long that I thought she might be interested in as they’d recently moved back to the area and have an apartment to fill. Not only did she take the hangers, but she said she’d look through the rest and then drop off the bag at the thrift store because she was already headed there with a few other things. Perhaps not as well done as Reaching For FI in making sure all of the items were off to great homes, but good enough for this time.
2. My father took the kiddo fishing for the first time on Sunday and we tagged along, my husband to fish as well, and me to be out on the water, since I have no interest in eating salmon. It was a gorgeous morning and a successful fishing trip, with a good sized fish headed home with us for dinner. While he didn’t get to keep the fish because it was too small, but he did get the chance to reel in a small fish all by himself, and he’s been talking about it every day since. Now that he’s been once, my dad had better be ready to take him out often, because he won’t forget it soon.
He was so proud of the fish he helped catch that he had us invite the neighbors for dinner, and between nine of them, the fish was devoured (along with pesto pasta our neighbor made with fresh grown basil).
3. I downloaded another $5 Amazon gift card from Bings rewards, which was then automatically applied to another purchase of pill pockets for our dogs meds. They aren’t the cheapest way to feed her the medication, but I haven’t found another good way to consistently get her to take them. She takes six pills in the morning and seven pills at night which fit into four pill pockets a day, which means we go through a lot of them in a month.
If you have a tip for me for a good alternative, I’m all ears. We’ve tried a number of different ways but she’s pretty good at spitting them out at this point now that we’ve been regularly medicating her for more than a year.
4. We made a double batch of a recipe for dinner earlier this week so we had two nights taken care of with one night of cooking. We tend not to like to do that often because we get bored of eating the same meal more than once a week, but this week the convenience of not having to cook outweighed the want of variety. We didn’t order out take out instead though, which is still a weakness of ours.
It helps that the meal we made (my Easy Beef and Pepper Skillet Recipe) is really quick to make and pretty dang delicious. Plus, I went down to our neighbor’s garden and supplemented the meal with a big bunch of Swiss chard, along with some of the last of our tomatoes and peppers and a bit of the (lots of) garlic we have drying inside. We won’t have a ton of variety to harvest soon enough, so it’s a bit bittersweet using up some of the last of the summer produce.
5. We had a flu shot clinic at work this week, complete with a breakfast buffet and a $50 gift card for each person who got a flu shot. I’ve gotten mine in previous years regardless because not having to find time for a separate appointment is awesome, but free food and a gift card made it extra awesome this year.
Running Update
I’m really enjoying fitting in weight training workouts again, and Monday was no exception. And I got to go up in weight a tiny bit, which makes me realize I’m finally going often enough once again to make a difference instead of just holding steady. I do love running best and will choose it if I don’t have time for multiple exercises, but I really love having time for both.
Tuesday I also fit in a short twenty minute run, but that’s all I had time for that day because I had to pick up the kiddo from preschool. My husband has been able to pick him up most often these days, and I’ve really enjoyed the extra time to work out. Work didn’t allow for that on Tuesday, so it was back to me. Amazing how much just a little bit of time for me makes such a difference. Wednesday was another morning run with a friend, and as the weather has been lovely lately, it was a great start to the day. Those first few runs in the rain and dark are going to be rough, but I’m certain they’re just around the corner.
Did you go to FinCon this week? I’m totally feeling like I missed the party! Perhaps next year.
Looks like a fun week – and the little guy looks so cute there out on the boat! I hope your Dad can keep up with all the future fishing requests coming his way.
My brother occasionally goes with his friends and they catch loads – he fills up my mums many freezers which keeps her happy!
And I also love Military Dollar’s stickers and business cards – she is a star – always promoting the team.
Unfortunately the season is over until January (I think?) so he will have to wait a little while, but he’s hooked! Ha. Bad pun.
we grew up in kind of a poor community and even though most of our stuff was new when we were kids it always got passed along to somebody in need. there was no formality it was just a common thing and i wonder where that got lost along the way? y’know, the community part?
i bought one of those huge pork shoulders and made pork 2 ways last sunday. the 1st was adobo, which is basically the nation filipino dish with vinegar, garlic and soy. i recommend looking that one up as pork shoulder is about a buck a pound. the other half i just roasted on a grill. we’ve been eating that in pasta, burritos, and with vegetables all week. last night mrs. me couldn’t take another bite of pork and made a burger. the rest is going into some red sauce so that shoulder is the gift that keeps giving. fresh/free salmon is an absolute victory for pocket and palate.
We have a bit of that community in our neighborhood and I’m so thankful for it 🙂 And mmmmmm chicken adobo. So good.
“Short” twenty minute run!?
That’s A LOT more than the majority do, and it’s just enough time to get a good run in:)
I actually just bought some new running shoes last week because my old shoes finally got completely destroyed on my last lake/trail run. Running outside has always been one of my favorite things to do for not only working out, but to alleviate stress.
I also couldn’t make it to FinCon this year, and I keep telling myself the same thing of “atleast I am saving money” but deep down, I wish I was there:/
Ha yes, my definition of long vs short run has definitely changed over the years. But my long runs are still “short” compared to long distance runners!
I’m thinking you meant fifty degrees at night, not fifteen?
I am also thankful for a few cooler sunny days to enjoy before winter comes!
Oops, yes, fifty degrees! It rarely gets down to fifteen around here.
That weather sounds perfect. I’m on my one-year anniversary trip in Greece and the weather has been dreadful. 40+ mph winds, 50 degree temperatures, and cloudy skies. Very uncharacteristic weather I’m told. Regardless, we’re making the most of it and rolling with the punches. Maybe you could send some of that perfect weather our way?
Also, sad I’m not at FinCon18 either. Lots of people were able to make it and I wish I could have been in that number. Still, no regrets on making it a year into my marriage and celebrating with a great trip. We’ll both be there next year, right?
Oh, happy anniversary to you! That’s one heck of a trip to celebrate! As someone who has yet to visit Greece, I’d take it, less ideal weather and all 😉
That’s so awesome your son caught a fish!! I don’t think I’ve ever caught a fish before!!
Also, $50 for a flu shot is a pretty good deal!!! Haha, can you imagine that as a Pinterest pin/ headline “How I made $50 in 2 seconds”
I had to give my dogs probiotics (actually am still giving it), thankfully they are capsules and I just open it into his food. I was giving him pills for a while and I just dumped it in his dog food and he often just ate it. On the occasion that he didn’t eat it, I would tuck it into a small mandarin orange slice, or roll it into some peanut butter. The peanut butter trick works the best for me. But that’s a lot of peanut butter, 6 pills!
Hahahaha best clickbait title ever. And our dog isn’t very food motivated, so that’s what makes it extra hard. She doesn’t always even eat her food, so that wouldn’t work very well. Ha
Also, PS, PNW’ers LOVE talking about the weather. It was SOO Perfect this week!
And now it’s raining again 🙁
Yes we do! I’d say we’re a bit obsessed with it. Not seeing the sun for months on end will do that to you I guess lol
A twenty minutes run is short to you? Are you an athlete? Awesome cardio you got there.
Softball player through college, but I didn’t actually start to enjoy running until after I graduated and gave myself a short break from “required” running 😉
It is so exciting for me to hear about your running. I have the bug, and after 5 months of no exercise due to my last running injury, I am cleared to exercise again. I was able to move about 800 pounds of stone yesterday, purchased from Home Depot, to repair storm damage to my yard. We had a intense rain last week, that caused some serious erosion. I will have to buy a few cubic yards of stone from a traditional stone supplier, but that is for another time. This job was just a band-aid to stop the worst of the erosion, and to see if the doctor was correct in giving me the all clear. I will start by swimming, as they want me to spend another 6 months building back up, but a return to running is coming. Side note, this intense rain washed away the grass and leaf litter that I was using to protect the hillside, and was enough for the last 6 years. This one storm just dropped like 1-2 inches of rain in like 1 hour on fully soggy ground. I just all ran down the hillside.
The clothes thing is a great one. We are lucky to have friends and family with children a bit older and larger than my son, so we are saving a ton with getting their hand offs, and of course keeping the circle going. Sadly, pants are not something that survives my son’s love of sliding on his knees. Pretty much all of his pants have iron on patches that my mother taught me to reinforce with a bit of thread. That works proving that mom knows her stuff!
Ouch, five months off??? That would be SO hard. And I thought 1.5 week’s pre baby + 6 weeks post c section were bad enough! Bet that first run felt INCREDIBLE.
It was short, as the bones and tendons are still healing. I have 6 months of take it slow. But, sorry, giving birth is harder. I saw what my wife did. I will take the broken foot!
You might say that, but I was back running after six weeks! Though there was the waddle runs up to that point… got my reverse PR for a one mile run in those last few weeks of pregnancy 😂
That is so awesome. I love stories like this, they are very motivating!
Ran up until 10 days before I gave birth. Then again, it was the only thing that made me feel halfway human lol
I totally get that. I started running seriously when I was in 7th grade and it’s been a constant activity of mine regardless of where life is taking me. Running is my escape. It’s the primary way by which I restore myself. The injuries I’ve had over the years that keep me from running for 6 months to a year at a time are some of the hardest things that I deal with. This is not the first time I’ve broken a foot nor a tendon in a foot or in other places that have prevented me from running. That’s actually the part that makes it easier for me I’ve been around this track before. The first time I actually busted my foot bad was when I was 16 where I did a similar injury. I’m so very glad I’m now finally again on the mend. This time my wife and I plan on swimming together as she does until my foot feel strong enough to put some real mileage on it. We’re lucky enough to have an inexpensive gym near our home that has a large pool.
Hi Angela, I have mixed feelings about FinCon, I really want to go but i feel I don’t really belong there:( we will see for next year:)
Why do you feel you don’t belong there??? You absolutely do!!
Have you tried DIY pill pockets? https://www.365daysofbakingandmore.com/homemade-dog-pill-pockets/
Ooh I haven’t! Thanks for the link. I may need to try this at least once.
A $50 gift card for getting the flu shot is awesome! I was all excited about the $5 Target gift cards we each got for getting our shots there.
I just booked our tickets to FinCon for next year. We have several friends in DC, so it made it much easier to go there.
-DGuy
Yep, they upped the ante to get almost a 100% success rate. Totally makes sense IMO. One less flu that goes around and all that money is made back at once.
I need to get my flu shot, and now I wish I were getting a $50 gift card when I do it haha.
PS thanks for the backlink while I was too distracted at FinCon to notice you’d done that! 😂
Ha yeah, having the flu shot clinic at work is awesome enough as it is. Getting money on top of it is just even better.