Quote of the Week

 

This week I have started working on enjoying my own company.  I have gotten myself out of the house on my own and done things by myself just for fun.  And I have really enjoyed it.  It's not like I would not love to do things with people, but I need to be able to enjoy life with only myself as well. 

Starting to budget more

I will be the first to admit that I have never been good at budgeting my money.  There are many reasons for this, but I am not going to talk about them right now.  Those reasons are all in the past and I cannot go back and change any of them so why dwell on them?  All I can do is move forward and so that is what I intend on doing.

Beginning with this paycheck, I am going to work on budgeting my funds.  I have already started to work on saving more and I know that sticking to a budget will help me increase my savings.  I am such a list person that I don't know why adhering to a budget is so hard for me.  And yes, I know I have my eBay and antiques and thrift store habits, but I am hoping to keep those under control with the use of a budget. 

First, I need to look at where my money goes and prioritize.  Rent, bills, food, etc.  Lay out all of the categories where my money is spent and look at the numbers.  I need to think about my financial goals, short, medium and long term. Sadly, retirement is not one of those goals.  Ah, well.  It is a lot for me to process but I think I can do it.  I know that most people budget by the month but right now I am going to start with budgeting by the paycheck.  I think I will be more successful to start out with that way.

I don't know how this is going to go yet but at least I am trying.  I will keep you updated!

Today's Moment of Mindfulness

Appreciate the abundance of wonderful things in your life and give them your attention.  Keep a little notebook especially for jotting down memories worth saving, surprises and things you are thankful for. 

 

Grocery shopping at home

 

As you all know, I love to go grocery shopping.  The grocery store is one of my happy places.  I am there at least once a week if not more.  Normally I go to the Food Lion that's not far from my house.  That is where I'll do my bulk shopping.  If I just need one or two things, I will go the Bestway, the neighborhood grocery store around the corner.  It's a little more expensive depending on what you're buying but I save on gas, so it evens out. 

Something I have started to do first, before I even step foot into the grocery store, is shop at home.  That may sound like a no brainer to some people but not everyone does that.  I am guilty of that.  Not that shopping at home is required but I often find myself having duplicate items when I only really need one.  Why?  Because I did not shop at home first.  

Shopping at home first has made me start to really pay attention to what I have in stock. I have a great set of pantry shelves in my laundry room which has given me the option to stock, and sometimes overstock, things that I use in cooking.  That plus the kitchen cabinets and the chest freezer equals a lot of food available to me.  But I had not been paying attention to what I already had before making my grocery list. Thus, I have 6 cans of Rotel LOL

I have been watching a series of videos on YouTube about ways to save money.  I know that's something that we all want to do.  One of the videos said that you should always shop at home first before you go out and buy something.  This did not just apply to groceries but to everything.  Check your cabinets to see if you already have what you need before spending money unnecessarily. So that is what I did.  

My neighbor Lois was coming over on the 4th for lunch.  I wrote out the menu and then wrote down everything that I would need to make the dishes.  Then I went shopping in my house. There were some ingredients that I knew that I already had like onions and butter.  Pantry staples.  But after doing my first round of shopping at the house, I managed to take a two-page grocery list and shave it down to about 10 items.  That was it.  Whew!! It truly saved me money by paying attention to what I already had on hand.  

From now on, I am shopping at home first for everything.  I never know what I'm going to find!

Avocado Egg Salad

 I love some egg salad.  Grandmother showed me how to make it when I was a child, and I have been making it ever since. And as much as I love traditional egg salad, and always will, I do like to branch out and try new versions of it.  One day I was looking on the internet for a heart healthy egg salad and this recipe popped up.  I have only made it once, but it was very good and I will make it again soon. I will say this, though, about it.  If you are going to serve it to others, make it right before you do.  Otherwise, it will turn that brownish color that avocado likes to do.  It will still taste great; it just does not look very good haha. Enjoy!

Avocado Egg Salad

6 hardboiled eggs

2 avocados - peeled, pitted and cubed

1/2 cup minced red onion

1/3 cup mayo

3 Tbsp chopped sweet pickles

1 Tbsp yellow mustard

S&P to taste

Mash eggs lightly in a bowl with a fork.  Add all other ingredients and combine well. S&P to taste.  Chill in fridge.  Serve with crackers on a bed of greens.  

Organizing the Garage

 I have picked one of the hottest times of the year to try and get my garage organized.  This is going to be my daily challenge for July.  Now that Michael has gotten most of his stuff out of the garage, I have lots more shelf space to put boxes and containers that have been on the floor for a long time.  Jason and Marc still have a good bit of stuff out there but that will not stay forever either. I have been trying to go through the boxes out there and sort things.  That has been pretty productive, and I have been able to get rid of things and condense boxes.

I want my garage to be more of a functional space than just storage.  Not that there's anything wrong with having storage!  But I want to have my heavy bag available for workouts.  And if I need to do any kind of woodwork or whatever, I'll have a place for that.  I also have realized now that I have almost no tools LOL  I will need to invest in some of my own.  But I will build that up slowly.  

So that's my challenge for this month.  I hope I can get some things done each day despite the heat.  We shall see!!

Quote of the Week

 

This is something that I have been working on lately.  Letting go of the things that I have dreamt about my whole life is hard because I have not found any dreams to replace them.  I am working on that and will find something else to embrace and pursue.