Frugal Things I've Done This Week

1. Used every part of the ham I purchased during the holiday sales. I still have some of the hamhock and drippings in our freezer to use for future meals.

2. Was able to gift a friend  a few small items from my pantry to round out her Thanksgiving meal. The items only cost me $2.50, and in exchange she is saving me her turkey carcass that I can turn into broth.

3. Cashed in some giftcards I've earned from Swagbucks and Screenwise Trends Panel to buy some free Christmas presents for my Other Half and friends.

4. Shut off the TV and played with my beautiful baby girl. Sometimes even for me it's easy to kind of zone out and forget what's going on around me, making the conscious effort to go dark and enjoy that one on one time is free and wonderful.

What have you done this week to save money?

*The swagbucks code contains a referral link which allows me to earn 10% of any swagbucks you earn if you sign up. The Screenwise Trends Panel link does not, both I highly suggest as easy and passive ways to earn extra money.

Boredom in Saving Money

This past weekend I thought we had gotten our challenge off to a strong start. I cooked a whole ham and sorted parts for sandwiches, dinners, and soup. I saved the drippings for ham gravy and the bones for soup. I made a bulk batch of delicious and hearty split pea soup, cooked a whole chicken, did the laundry, hung all the laundry to dry and caught up on the constant growing pile of dishes

Sunday afternoon while I contemplated whether I should bake some bread or cook some chickpeas I saw my other half staring off in the distance with our baby in his arms.

"I'm bored, let's do something."

Ah yes, something. Something always leads to something doesn't it? The ambiguous something, no definition, just something that is not this thing right now. We had some bills to pay so I suggested we take a trip to the mall and use any leftovers to split a fast food meal.

My other half loves fast food. He laments frequently the loss of the ability to spend freely. As we munched away on our little treat, I realized that wiggle room needs to be budgeted. Too many moments like this would cut away at our budget leaving us in the paycheck to paycheck rut we are already in. A small portion set aside each month to be spent however Other Half chooses will be better for both his well being and our financial goals.

Finding the middle ground will be difficult but I hope this will help us continue this path to financial peace.

$100 of Food in 40 Days

As we've been catching up on bills and figuring out just what it is that we want to do with our time and money I've noticed that time passed us by at an unexpected rate. Suddenly, it is the week before Thanksgiving and a month before Christmas. We are still living mostly paycheck to paycheck and although we made a budget our money is leaking away in small but noticeable ways.

Food is likely our biggest budget buster. I say likely when I mean that it drains away our money takeout food by fancy coffee drink until we are suddenly without once again. I know how to cook, one of the major reasons behind me working from home was the ability to help us save more money. Working from home means no work wardrobe, less gas and wear on the car and no commute time. Best of all, no daycare costs. I get to spend time doing the things I love with the people I love. Living on a budget is hard, even when we have dreams that motivate us the day to day motivation is difficult.

With the holidays just a deep breathe away I have committed the next month to a strict food budget. An effort to give us the chance to save while also giving us that chance to get ahead of our bills and closer to living outside of the check-to-check slump.

While the holidays bring many great deals, the food sales are hard to beat. I used this opportunity to stock

up on ham, turkey, flour, sugar, potatoes and an abundance of canned goods. Carrots, celery, broccoli, apples and onion help round it out with something fresh. Dairy goods like sour cream, real butter, cream cheese and milk will also help me stretch meals with extra protein and flavor.

In addition to this shopping trip with a mission, I have my pantry stocked with diced tomatoes, corn, tuna and baking essentials.

With Pinterest by my side, I developed a 40 day meal plan that will get us through the end of the year all while eating delicious meals and even some desserts. I will be using whole parts of the meat I have purchased and documenting my challenge via this blog. 

Project Happy.

I would like to think that we, as humans, are capable of so many glorious things. Our ability to adapt, overcome and survive is a truly beautiful site to behold. Suddenly a plague is upon us, a plague of status quo. So many of us are working jobs we hate, paying for stuff that we don't really want and paying off stuff that didn't really make us happy. Our homes are filled with stuff, and when it fills up we decide we need bigger homes with bigger closets.

Why? Why are we fighting so hard for things that don't matter? Why are we working more and spending less time with our friends and families? Why aren't we happy? Most importantly, what is happy?

I signed up for a work-at-home job opportunity that begins with an extensive email course. I expected information about the company and instructions, instead I received emails that challenged me to question who I am and where I want to be. One of my first tasks was to write three goals I want to accomplish in a year. I could not think of a single one. I stared at the screen for an hour typing and retyping ideas but they looked like regurgitated nonsense. All the things society expects a 27 year old to desire, none of the things that would really make me happy.

So that was where I started. Goal number 1: I want to be happy. Not superficially, not laughing at a Buzzfeed compiled article on drunk looking babies. Genuinely happy. The warm happiness that feel like springtime sunshine. That feeling where even if something terrible happens you are still certain of who you are.

That brings me to goal number 2: I want to be certain. I don't think I've been certain of myself since the day I started school. I walked in with my canvas Sesame Street tote and my purple dress that reminded me of Donatello and my long, ass-length hair and was greeted by frilly dresses, plastic back packs and peers who mocked the very essence of my being. I didn't have the confidence then to be proud of who I was, I'm not sure I have the confidence now. I want to be certain in who I am, unhindered by social networks and status.

In a way that leads to goal number 3: I want to be Erica. No longer will I define myself with things, as I so often do. Every social profile I encounter is filled with things like, "I am a Whovian who has read every Star Wars EU book," or "I am a mother to one beautiful daughter " Those things are true, but they are not me. They are things that can change, they are things I enjoy but they are not WHO I am. I want to be free to be myself and examine who and what that means.