It’s rained quite a bit lately, with a few breaks for the sun, but the weather has warmed up enough that it feels like spring. And really, it’s the mild rain that makes it most feel like spring, more than the sun, because that and the gray is what we tend to see most up until June or July around here, though summer seems to keep showing up earlier each year. And as much as I love the extra sunshine, the knowledge that the climate is changing isn’t always welcome.
In other news, I attended a retirement dinner earlier this week for someone on the volunteer board I serve on. He’s become a good friend from our evenings together and I am absolutely going to miss seeing him on those nights. Unrelated to personal finance and this blog, perhaps, but I wouldn’t have time for that board if I hadn’t first cut my hours at work. My goal is to have a whole life that I’m proud of, not just one piece of it. And I’ve sure appreciated my time with him there.
If you’re reading this, friend, I’m glad to have spent so many hours with you over the past year. Let’s be sure to grab lunch now and again and I’m sure I’ll see you around otherwise.
Friday’s Frugal Five
1. One day I ended work one town over and didn’t have time to head back to the office before being back home for the kiddo, but instead of going to a coffee shop and spending money to hang out there and finish up the bit of work I had left, I headed straight home and worked from there. My son is now old enough that I can more easily get a bit of work done around him, though I try not to do too much of that. What I had left was short though, and it worked out well to do it from home.
Instead of just patting myself on the back about saving the money from the coffee shop like I would usually do, I finally opened up a “found money” savings account and deposited the ten dollars I would have spent at the coffee shop. This was an idea I first read about from Erin a good year ago, and I’m finally putting it into practice. It will be interesting to see how much money is in there a year from now.
2. My son and I finally planted the rest of the potatoes. While I wanted to wait a bit past the typical Saint Patrick’s Day weekend to plant them because of our extended cold weather, I definitely pushed the limit on how late I actually did plant them. They had sprouted well, and now I have to hope I still get a good harvest from them even though I planted them a couple weeks later than I meant to.
Like I said at the start of this post, it is finally feeling like it’s really spring around here, and besides the rain, it’s obvious with how different our front yard garden looks these days. If you’re a garden voyeur, I’ll have a garden update out this coming Monday, though it will look much more like last March than April.
3. I decided that I would have yet another vegetarian day on Monday in honor of Earth Day, which would mark three of them in the course of just over a week, which is a lot more than normal. Really, that’s more than I have in a typical month. Perhaps as I pay attention I’m getting better at choosing to leave the meat out.
Monday night was that retirement dinner party though at an Italian restaurant I had never been to before, and I was so tempted by so many of the dishes on the menu. I ended up picking a spinach lasagna though in order to stick to my veggie day, and it was totally awesome. Once I started eating the meal I stopped thinking about the alternative dishes. Perhaps I just need to force myself to think this way more often, because I don’t feel like I missed out at all.
4. I managed another commute day where I didn’t do any driving, but this week I ended up taking the bus part of the way instead of walking the three miles from my son’s preschool to my office. My foot is still not back to one hundred percent after I injured it last week, so I decided I should stay off it a bit longer, even if my step count has been pretty sad this week.
5. The regular pen I use at work ran out of ink, so I dug out another refill and replaced just the cartridge, keeping the outside of the pen itself out of the landfill. While this doesn’t technically save me money personally since it is a work supply, it does save waste and saves the company money as well. I wrote a post last year about ways to make your office more sustainable, and this was one of them; so easy, but it does make a bit of an impact without actually changing the way you work at all.
Exercise Update
My exercise this week has been quite a bit subdued thanks to my foot injury, but it appears staying off it some has helped it get back to normal reasonably quickly. That said, Friday was a “very low” step count day for me at just over 8,000 steps, so I probably could have healed faster had I actually stayed off of it.
Saturday was then a lot of time working out in the garden, but a lot of that was sitting and pulling weeds. Sunday was a walk to the park after Easter dinner, but still just a slow 12,000 steps for the day. By Monday, I realized I had to do a better job of actually letting my foot rest and ended the day with barely 6,000, but *surprise* my foot felt 90% better after a real rest day.
Tuesday I continued to be good and worked out on the stationary bike and then lifted some weights since I decided my wrist was finally back to 100% after slipping on the ice a few months ago. I ended up being pretty sore on Wednesday because of it, which felt awesome because it had been quite some time since I had been work out sore.
I went for a very short run then on Wednesday, but kept it slow and mostly to a walk. Fingers crossed when I write this update next week it will be to say I’m totally back to normal. It’s been a rough few months as far as minor injuries are concerned.
Are you good about resting and taking care of injuries when they happen? Or are you more like me and end up stretching them out because you can’t slow down and just let them heal?
About #5: I care about little things like this too! Glad I’m not the only one who does. Also, Staples (at least in Vancouver) accepts writing implements (like pens, markers, and mechanical pencils) for recycling.
I haven’t yet looked into how responsible they actually are with what they collect, but I suppose it’s giving the old pen a slightly better option than going right to the landfill!
Nice to know Staples does that. I’ve never heard of that before.
Hmmm, I think the only collection I’m aware of at our Staples is for ink and batteries. Now I want to look into this!
My office has a pen recycling collection point. It’s one of the many things I love about where I work! 🙂
Very cool!!
Yum, the spinach lasagna sounds good.
Resting while injured can be a challenge. I love to move, it helps my brain relax…so totally understand how hard it can be. I’m no good at being patient.
Sounds like you are recovering and hopefully will be able to enjoy the nicer weather.
Have a good week!
It was so good! Now if only my husband liked pasta more…
We have a lot of rain around here, too, mostly constant misting throughout the day. I love it, because it seems like every time I turn around something sprouts. I basically can’t be taken out in public during this time of the year because no matter what anybody says, I always bring it back around to gardening!
i usually stop the offending activity and let those little injuries heal. i think the right move was the stationary bike at least to get the heart going and break a sweat. i can’t believe nothing has started hurting on this old temple as i start running faster and faster. something should have given up the ghost by now!?
Maybe actually treating those small injuries with respect is exactly why your body is still cooperating 😉
Hope your foot is better soon! I’m usually pretty good about not pushing myself if I’m injured but as I’ve gotten older, I have to be aware of it earlier. (Not waiting for full on pain to stop.)
Looking forward to a garden update. We have major work to do on ours this weekend. Hope the weather cooperates!
It’s mostly better now, but frustratingly still doesn’t feel like 100%.
Be ready for the garden post tomorrow! I included a bunch of pictures too 🙂
I’ve learnt the hard way to rest injuries , let’s just say it doesn’t come naturally (I’m not very good at listening to my body and resting if left to my own devices). Come to think of it, I haven’t really learnt, it’s an ongoing process!
Your spinach lasagne put me in mind of aubergine parmigiana, which I looove and will happily eat as a main.
If I’m eating alone I find myself eating meat 1-2 times a week, fish 2-3 times, and the rest involves eggs and cheese. Couldn’t live without eggs and cheese!
Since I don’t live alone and my boyfriend is more
carnivorous than me, we compromise and eat meat maybe 3-4 nights a week. Lunchtimes we are at work and I’m pretty sure he eats meat most days!
Hmmm okay now I need to look up a recipe for that. I’m with you – eating vegetarian meals would be a lot easier if I lived alone.
I rolled my ankle plenty of times while playing basketball to the point it was really swollen a few times. I know it’s tough not to be active but giving your injury some rest will make it heal faster. Hopefully your foot will get better soon! Low risk exercises like the stationary bike is the way to go!
Soooo hard not to be active. The stationary bike isn’t my favorite but it’s definitely better than nothing.
I’m too old to push through injuries anymore. Rest it is 🙂
I’m slowly learning to do that 🙂
The last of our snow banks here in the mountains are just about melted! I like the “found money” account idea! I have an employee I heckle (in good fun) about a daily coffee on her desk (with the price on it!) and how much money she could be saving. I even offered to put a jar on her desk that she could put the money in on the days she goes without. Maybe I will call it the ‘found money jar’ if I ever get the guts to actually do it! Cheers!
That’s the thing – unless you’re actually saving the money you would have spent on something, changes are, you’re just spending it somewhere else!
I notice I use to heal much quicker in my teens and early 20s. Now it’s not like that and I’m shocked, guess I am human! Let it rest deary. (I sound like I’m going on 59 haha)
I thought we had at least a bit longer, but apparently not 😉
I’m exactly the same with food – I have also recently gone vegetarian and I struggle when choosing dishes at restaurants. However, when the food arrives, it is just too tasty and I feel none of the FOMO that I had when I was ordering!
Good to hear that can be a regular experience then! I’m definitely going to try for this more often.
Nothing like a week late to read this one, now to check my inbox for this weeks frugal five LOL
Cheers to another productive week on your part and also paying attention to all those little details in your life that add up to big wins.
Ha! You know, it IS okay if you miss one of my posts. I will forgive you 😉