LivingAlmostLarge's Personal Finance Blog

It's hard to post your numbers on even a blog.  To post the failures and successes.  Even though we hide behind our screens there is still a feeling of awkwardness.  To have a feeling of embarrassement that you are spending so much.  Well at least to me.  It's probably why I hesitate to post certain things because I know I'm ridiculous.  But it's still way more than I would ever share IRL.

So anyway I started multiple "savings" accounts in Capital One.  Thought I'd give it a whirl.  I thought I'm going to do it. I'm going to try and save this year money.  Sounds ridiculous because we should be able to save.  But the truth is I don't know if we can.  We are going to struggle.  Living "austerely" to us when we haven't been on a spending "diet" or "budget" is hard.  We've gotten used to lifestyle inflation or creep.  It hasn't happened overnight.  It hasn't been drastic.  But it's happened.  How'd it happen?  Well our income went up and so did our lifestyle.  We hadn't changed some of our basic principals LBYM or pay yourself first.  But we "paid" ourselves first, maxed our 401k, maxed our Roth IRA, College, no bonuses for living but our income just went up and with it our lifestyle.  Last year I roughly calculated we saved 50% of our income.  But we had a lot of income.  We lived on about 25% of our income and 25% of our income went to taxes.  Sounds okay right?  Well now we're cutting back to that 25% and we need to save within it.  That's another post for another day. 

Anyway here's where we are and goals for 2021.  Who knew I'd have goals again so concrete?

Roth IRA/ESA $16k goal - $3k

Property Taxes  $12k goal - $1k ($6500 coming from bank) (4./30 and 11/1 due $5500, 8/30 Home insurance $1000)

Sink Funds $10k goal - $1k

That's all I got for now.  With an extra paycheck this month I'm planning on funding the property taxes and sink funds. I also have quite a bit of extra cash in our checking accounts so I'm going to try and move it into one of these savings accounts.  

Big picture goal is to save 20% of our income.  We have currently saved 20% this year of our income.  But 2022 we won't have a 401k to contribute just a Roth IRA and 2 ESA so $16k in tax deferred accounts.  That still leaves us short of that 20% salary goal, and I'm unsure if we can even hit that.  Though we've contributed to 2020 Roth IRA and ESAs, I'm trying to get the $16k cash for january 2022.  I'm also planning on shoveling into that savings account all exra money and seeing if I can get more after directly $1k and $800/monthly into Property taxes and Sink Funds.  This will be pretty tight to be honest.

Let's see what happens.  Next year DH's salary will be $180k flat.  20% is $36k.  $16k is earmarked to be saved.  $20k is what we need to save in order to hit 20%.  I guess that's another post about why I think it'll be hard.

So I think I posted about using my rebate rewards at costco.  And the suggestion was use it but account for it.  So I did.  Today I did a huge costco shopping trip and there is a lot to unpack on my trip.  First off until today I had spent $566.86 on groceries for the month with I will say a lot of meat in my freezer.  I probably could easily have made it without buying more meat but I bought some extra stuff.  Also DH bought another 1/6 keg, last time was 1/26/21 for $105 and this time it was $137.61 for the 1/6 of Elysian Space Dust IPA.  Should put that in as well.  I am tracking but I'll do a monthly roundup

3/20 Saturday FM = $12.11
Whole Chicken $4.36 (.77/lb)
Chicken Drumsticks $3.53 (.77/lb)
Chicken thighs $4.22 (.77/lb)

3/22 Grocery FM $42.89
Mac and Cheese .50 (10x) = $5
4 lbs sugar $1.89
Iodized salt $.49
Kosher salt BOGO $3.99 (2x)
Fritos $1.87 x 2
Cheetos $1.87
Doritos $1.87
Asparaus $1.99 (clearance)
Green beans $2.19 (1.99/lb)
Zucchini $3.39 (1.29/lb)
Clementines $3.99 (3 lbs)
Potatoes Gold $2.99 (5 lbs)
Broccoli $2.40 (1.29/lb)
Avocado $3.96 ($.99/each 4x)
Roma Tomatoes $.82 (.99/lb)
Bok Choy $3.31 ($1.39/lb)
=$42.89

Costco Food $112.65
Milk $9.99 (2 x 1.5G)
Ham and Cheese Croissant $7.99 (prepared breakfast I couldnt resist)
Probiotic Yogurt $7.99
1/2G Heavy Cream $7.39
Beechers Cheese $11.95
Butternut Squash $5.99 ($3/lb)
Nutella (2 pack) $12.39
Bacon $14.99 (4 x 1 lb packs)
Sweet Potatoes (6.5 lbs) $9.99 (1.53/lb)
Brussel Sprouts $4.99 (2.50/lb)
Cosmic Crisp apples $8.99 ($1.63/lb)
Garlic $13.49
=$112.65

Costco Other stuff
Paper Towels $14.79 (bought in January and not gone but bought since I"m using my rebate)
Toilet Paper $16.49 (January purchase)
Weather Tech Matss $23.99 (unsure if I'll keep)
Dentastix 65 pack $12.99 (regular $19.99 bought 5, will last 10 months haven't seen in months)
Dishwasher Pods $9.99 (115 pods)
Wiper Blades $5.99 (bought 4 unsure if needed)
Sonicare $49.99 (bought 2 different sets unsure which head we need, will return 1)
Bully Stick $32.99 (dog treat)
Clorox2Max $9.99 (bought spare for sale)
Gallon Bags(154 bags) $11.89
Palmolive $5.99 (0.057/oz)
KS fabric softener $6.99 (bought spare since sale)
All Laundry detergent $10.69 (bought spare since sale)
=$366.62 (total spent was $479.27)
-$293.77 rebate LAL and -$93.75 DH rebate check

I definitely bought "stockpile" if you mean buying a backup of stuff. I was not quite out of toilet paper or paper towels or cleaning supplies.  But I decided it was wise since I wanted to use my rebate checks to do it. I figure that I might as well buy backup of things we use regularly and consistently when they go on sale. I do that with most things.  The dog treats might be the only excessive thing but we give the dog 1x/day and I hated that we haven't been since Christmas and it hasn't been in stock and I prefer to buy it on sale.  Also I would argue that the toothbrush heads I maybe should wait and see if it goes on sale but DH didn't tell me early enough so we're on our last toothbrush heads.  

I have never had much space to stockpile so DH and I usually don't.  He prefers I just buy when needed but it annoys me to no end since I might miss a sale.  So I try to be judicious and stockpile just one back up so that I can try to ride out to the next sale.  Right now he is running on fumes of his "coke" stockpile. I usually buy him 12 packs for 4 for $11 or something like that. I haven't seen a sale in awhile.  He's got like 3 x 12 packs left.  I'm hoping it comes up soon because otherwise he's drinking 2L.  And yes I know it's bad. And yes I know I shouldn't indulge him.  But he won't drink water and only drinks coke zero.  If you met him you'd be horrified at the skinny fat guy he is and his eating habits. 

At the beginning of March I decided I was going to try and get out of escrowing our property taxes and home insurance.  The bank (JPMC) approved.  When we got our mortgage in 2017 we were required to escrow in order to get a better rate.  We currently have a 30 year fixed (26 years in) for 2.875% on a jumbo mortgage.  I logged into chase today and see that we are getting a disburment for $6488!  That money is going to my property taxes and my home insurance is due in August 2020.  Our property taxes are $5353.56 x 2 with the first payment due April 30th, 2021 and the second November 1st, 2021.  The extra will go into savings for our home insurance which was $909.70 in August 2020.  It actually is enough to cover us for our home insurance and first half year payment.   So my thought is $1000/month needs to go into a savings account to pay our property taxes.  When I get the check in the mail I will deposit it and move the funds into the savings account in capitol one.

I'm setting up now multiple savings accounts so I can see if we can actually stick to a budget and start saving.  I am a bit nervous but it's worth trying.  In our last house we used to pay our own escrow. It wasn't hard, but we had a little bit more flexiblity with our payments.  In the beginning it was hard and we needed to really stretch.  Then again we grew into our house. 

Now the opposite has happened.  But we are still going to try and make it.

So I guess tracking my spendy ways on groceries has made me more frugal overall.  My costco rebates last year are as follows $347 for 2% executive membership, $293.77 for my costco CC rebate (citi), DH's $93.76 for his costco CC rebate.  $734.53 for all our spending last year mostly at costco on groceries but also some gas $844.68 for me and $633.51 for DH for gas all year.  Yeah it's hard to justify buying an e car when we spend very little on gas = $1467.19 all year including a huge road trip in the summer which was $224 for that trip alone.  Plus earlier in the year all the skiing we did so that was a lot of miles.  So we average less than $100/month.

Grocery 3/16
Bread $2
Irish Soda Brea $2.99
Cabbage $1.49
3 Bell Peppers $3.00
Corned beedf $10.47 ($2.99/lb)
Popcorn $1.99
Nestle Chocolate chips 5 bags $1.99/bag = $9.95
Strawberry 1 lb $3.00
Marshmallows $1.49
Green Bell Pepper $.79
Tomataoes Roma $1.60 (.99/lb)
=$38.77
Costco 3/16
Milk $9.99
sour cream $3.99
peanut butter $9.99
Crescent rolls 7.89-3.40 =$4.49 (for 5)
Walnut Shrimp $12.99-4.00=$8.99
Brussel Sprouts $4.99 (2 lbs)
Bacon $14.99 (4 lbs)
Bananas $1.69
=$59.12
Costco dog dentastix $19.99-7 = 12.99+tax (i think I'm putting in pet category)

3/17 couple of items
Basil $3.49
Eggplant $2.97
=$6.46

Monthly Running Total $554.75, $22.53 Beer, $69.48 eating out

Eating out = $69.48
Living Social $24
Mcdonalds $10.99
Froyo $4.78
Costco pizza $21.93
coffee (DH) $3.25
Boba tea & waffles $4.53

I haven't been frugal in about 5 years since DH started working in 2016 after a year off.  During that year off I was super frugal and budget conscious.  Before then I was somewhat budget conscious but not terribly.  I was more of a pay yourself first.  After 2016 I was still a pay yourself first person but our budget was extremely generous even after paying ourselves first we had a lot of play money.   So I would not call myself frugal before or after.  

But being back on a budget we've spent $1891.78 this month on groceries, eating out, vet visits, $957 on hotels and camping reservations.  I'm hoping to stay under $3500 most months. I think if we keep traveling we won't be able to do it, but I might be switching the hotel stay to points.

Stopped at Asian market for sahimi for dinner Saturday. Spent $40.64.  

Black Cod $9.77b (16.99/lb) - miso butterfish i'm making

Hamachi $6.93 (29.99/lb)

King Salmon 6.61 ($30.99/lb)

Tuna $9.04 (26.99/lb)

Curry paste $4.99 and $3.29 = $40.63, running total $450.40 for the month

Well that explains how my grocery bills have been outrageous.  I'd say at least once a month we bought sashimi and prepped it at home if not every three weeks and usually I don't show such restraint. I usually buy way more and better quality. I picked the cheaper stuff.  I usually figure it's way less than what I spend on sushi even takeout.  Takeout sushi for us runs closer to $100 out.  More when we go out.  And I usually throw in a can of Asahi or two at the store.  

I need to go to Costco and get milk and bacon (plan on buying at least 3 packages and 2 packages of milk).  I'm also thinking of buying non-persishables but I have $375 executive check and my rebate check of $300+ to spend at costco.  So maybe I'll save it.

Question - do I consider it grocery budget if I buy it using my rebate check? Or is it free because I didn't pay for it? 

Yesterday I went shopping, cooked for dinner and bought 2 pizzas for the kids and friends from costco.  Costco Pizza was $21.93 for 2 whole pizzas.  I froze more than a pizza but I also thought the kids would eat more.  I also grocery shopped and spent $46.43.

Anchovy Paste $2.39
Cremini Mushroom @ $4.49 lb = $4.67
Parsley $0.99
Cilantro $.50
Salted Pork $4.49
Chuck Roast 2x (BOGO) $27.41
Potatoes Gold 5 lbs $3.99
frozen pearl onions $1.99
= $46.43

So now I'm set for a bit.  Last night I made butter chicken and Beef Keema curries with jasmine rice and roti I made.  I have enough leftovers for 2 more nights probably so excited at not cooking.  Plan for chuck roast is Beef Burgandy and japanese curry.

Sunday I think DH will smoke the chicken skin on drumbsticks for the week.  I was also thinking of the costco $5.99 rotisserie chicken this week. I do need to do a costco run for lactose free milk.  And another grocery run for veggies.  I might try some can veggies at some point but I still have brussel sprouts carrots and celery and zucchini.  But I wanted to make ratatouille with the zucchini and bell peppers, I just need eggplant.

Do you know what you spend on subscriptions either monthly or annually?  I have a lot of payments recently including our auto insurance every 6 months and annual Amazon prime.  When covid started my mom really wanted amazon prime again we'd been without for like 2 or 3 years and so I bought it and added her on.  

So we now pay 
Amazon $119 annually for prime = $10/month

Amazon Kindle Unlimited - $140 / 24 months = $5.83/month

AAA just renewed $101 - I wonder if it's worth it?

Paramount Plus $50 annually - just bought from March 3rd 2021 to March 3 2022

Spotify - $10.85/month but it includes hulu $130.20

Sirius XM - $6/month  $72/year - this my DH just signed up for and I don't know what to say

He loves music and so he's enjoying the sirius online radio along with spotify. I don't know how to curb him.  I already am not fond of amazon but I keep that for my mom.

I am a little annoyed looing at stuff, but I guess if I get kindle unlimited with the kids he can have sirius and spotify?  I got paramount but we watch tv so littel I will likely cancel it next year.

How much do you spend on monthly subscriptions.  It's annoying that we're spending $45/month on subscriptions.  What do people have?  How much does it cost?

I shopped quite a bit and a little eating out.  Eating out easier so..

3/2 Living Social $24 (coupons for places)

3/3 Mcdonald's $10.99 - ended up with 2 free mcflurry coupons because they didn't make it shamrock and I didn't realized it we got home.

3/4 Froyo $4.78 (used $10 LS coupon)

Groceries
3/4 Grocery $5.79 2 lbs of strawberries

3/4 Grocery $5.10 for 5 lbs of Sumo mandarins. They mismarked it from $3.49/lb for $1/lb so win!

3/4 FM $44.34 total
Cream Cheese $1.99 for 2 pack (2x) (made cheesecake)
Yellow onions 6.2 lb @ .39/lb $2.41
Bell pepper 2 for $3 but discounts $2.64 (no idea why)
Spices $10
Dreyers 1/2 Gallon ice cream $1.99
Avocadoes @ $3/5 = $5.94
Baby Back ribs @ $2.47/lb = $8.80
Baby back ribs $8.58
= $44.34

3/6 FM $16.96 - $9.43 (priced wrong so returned me cash) = $7.53
cream cheese $1.99 x 2 (made cheesecake to give away)
Ribs $12.98
= $7.53

3/8 Safeway $65.21
Ground Beef 93% $13.45
Ground Beef 93% $13.45
Ground Sirloin 90% $13.57
Ground Sirloin 90% $13.57
Sumo Citrus 8.05 lbs @ 1.99/lb - $16.17
= $65.21

3/8 Safeway (forgot stuff) $13.94
Hasbrowns 2x $1.99 = $3.98
Frozen Pizza $2.99 x 2
Eggos 2 $1.99 = $3.98
= $13.94

So to sum up this month so far

Groceries $363.34
Alcohol $22.53
Eating out $39.77
= $425.64 total

I am a little nervous because my $850/month budget goal is about half way used up and we are only 9 days out of 31 in the month. That means i'm only a 1/3 of the way through the month and we are halfway through our budget.

Tomorrow we are having DH's cousin for dinner and I couldn't decide between eating out and cooking.  I know I should cook but I'm thinking a meal out.  We also are getting take out thursday for lunch probably.  Let's see what happens.

How do I get myself into these things? I agreed to do a juice cleanse from pressed juicery from Costco.  My neighbors whom I'm doing the whole 60 with and am now a little more than halfway through wanted to do this to bust through their plateau.  Couple of them started it.  But now they are doing two days of juicing.  

So the costco pressed juicery I bought was $54.99.  I started today. I am 4 bottles in and it's terrible.  All parts of the two juices I've had taste terrible. I haven't been hungry bu maybe the ginger is suppressing my appetite.  OMG.  I nearly spat out the roots with ginger.  OMG it was so gross. I can't believe I'm sucking this crap down and not eating. I don't exactly get what I'm supposed to feel.  I supposed I need to blog about this on Wednesday.  I will count this in my budget.  I was charged last month but I'm eating it now because I got it delivered last week and I'm "drinking" this now.

All these crazies I live near think it's great. I personally think if I wasn't in this collarborative weight loss thing I wouldn't do it.  But it does help accountability and weight loss.  Either which way I think my DH thinks I'm nuts.  My kids must think I'm nuts.  I think I'm nuts.  

Let's see what I feel in 36 hours...

I spent on Tuesday 3/2 $9.99 for 3 lbs of Candy grapes at costco.  They are nearly gone by today.  My kids and DH ate about 1/3 Tuesday night.  Last night they had dessert from McDonald's for shamrock shakes for $10.39.  

I went to Costco to get a prescription that wasn't in for the dog so I just did little notes on my new price book. It was what I had thought.  Chicken I can probably snag for $1.99/lb at the grocery store.  Fruits and veggies non-organic were definitely cheaper.  But meat and dairy at costco were by far a better deal.  Things like stew meat for $5.49/lb is cheaper than the store.  At BOGO it's a close call but not necessarily.  $3.99/lb for regular ground beef at 12% fat is better unless like this week there is a sale for 7% fat ground beef for $3.99.  Butter was $1.99 for a 1lb at the store but 4 pounds is $6.99 at costco.  When eggs are very expensive at costco at $9.99 for 60 eggs but walmart it was $6.21 for 60 eggs.  Things like that. 

I need to do more research but i'm starting to realize the price savings on stuff like zucchini.  Organic at costco I think 4 lbs for $6.99, but $.89/lb for zucchini.  Squash is $6.99 for 2 lbs but discounted at store for $1.99/lb (regular is $3.99 so it is more).  Apples are definitely cheaper at the regular grocery where I got honeycrisp and will be getting cosmic crisp today for $1.48/lb versus $3/lb.  Of course the costco apples are organic.  

Luncheon meat at regular grocery was running around $11.99/lb but at costco between $5.49-8.69/lb.  This is the stuff you buy in the deli freshly sliced not in packages.  Fish can be cheaper at the grocery I know I can get salmon for $7.99/lb on sale but costco regularly has it for $8.99 which is cheaper than normal at the grocery.  But if I time thing right.

Strangely this entire week we've been eating leftovers.  We had leftover taco meat from Saturday, Leftover pulled pork from Sunday, leftover butternut squash soup from Tuesday.  Tuesday we had shrimp scampi for dinner I made and last night butter chicken (not new chicken but my leftover).  So then tonight we are doing beef ribs.  And we are still finishing pulled pork and butternut squash soup. 

I'm thinking of making beef bone broth pho with the beef bones.  It is usually a PIA to make pho broth at least 24 hours but we'll see if I can make it happen. Usually we just buy it because it's a lot of work.   I suspect this month we will be spending a less on groceries. I have all the chicken and ground beef I bought still and I'm thinking of buying another 3 lbs of ground beef because it's 7% fat on sale.  Then all we need is some stew meat this month, sashimi one night, fish one night (i have some frozen salmon), and maybe a rotisserie chicken from costco?

Mostly it's veggies, fruit, and eggs for the next week.

I said I wanted to spend $950 for the month on groceries.  After hearing from others I guess that $950 includes $100 for alcohol and $50 for cleaning.  So that would put us at $800/month for a family of 4.  That will be between thrifty $675 and low cost is $888/month.  If it includes alcohol and cleaning stuff like laundry, dish soap, paper towels etc, it will be tight.  I do have a costco rebate check of $300 and I'll use it but I'll pretend like it doesn't exist so I can see how much we really spend.  Last month we really didn't budget for alcohol because DH bought his first 1/6 of a keg for $155.  It's lasted but I am going to assume soon enough he'll be empty I am guessing this month.  

First shopping of March and I spent $63.58 Walmart and $87.02 Kroeger and $22.54 Beer at Walmart.  We are doing this shopping at least 1x/month target or the regular grocery store.

Walmart
Pepperoni $7.47 (2 lbs)
Milk $3.12
Sausage 2.93
Brussel Sprouds 2.24 x 2
Cucumbers 2.46 x 2
Broccoli 4.92 (1.48/lb)
Celery 1.28
Cantaloup 2.78
Carrots 3.54 (5 lbs)
Bag Spinach 2.98
Chicken Thighs 10.91 (1.99/lb)
Chicken breasts 9.07 (1.99 lb)
5 lbs Drumsticks 4.76
Green Bell Pepper .73
18 large eggs 1.89
= $63.38

Krogar
Turkey Ham Luncheon Meat $3.99x 2 (per 1 lb)
Bread (discounted) 0.99
Hawaiian buns $2.50
Squash (discounted) $1.99 x 2 - made butternut squash curried soup this morning because it was going bad
Lime 0.50
Beef Ribs 28.33 ($5.99 lb)
Yellow Bell Pepper 1.50 x 2
Shrimp $7.24 (6.99/lb)
Green Lettuce 1.99 head
Asaparagus 3.11 (.88/lb sale)
Plums .80 (1.49/lb)
Ground Beef 80%/20% 7.47 ($2.49/lb) this is more fatty than I buy from costco so I need to price shop more
Nectarines $1.07 (1.49/lb sale)
Zucchini 2.13 (.89/lb sale)
Honeycrisp apple $3.09 (1.48/lb sale)
Green onion .50
Clementines $3.99 Sale
Peach 1.04 (1.48/lb)
Sumo Mandarins 10.58 (2.99/lb)
=87.02

I am feeling very confident right now about hitting a budget of $800/month.  $150.40 spent in 1 trip but I have enough meat for 2 weeks.  Plus I still have some food from last month. I'm unsure if I can do $100 on toilet paper, paper towels, zip lock, bodywash, shampoo etc. I have a large stockpile of pretty much everything but when it hits what will it cost me?  

It would be amazing to be $675 of thrifty family of 4 according to USDA.  But I'm not sure I'm able to get that chep. I guess if I don't buy anything else but veggies and fruit the rest of the month I might be able to do it.  I figure if i spend $950 and save 10% and then work another 10% in April it would be a win.

Today I made roasted curried butternut squash soup tons of lunches  I am making Shrimp for dinner and Beef ribs are marinating tonight for Wednesday.  My thoughts are that I will have leftovers till Thursday and then Friday I'm thinking of hitting costco and buying a rotisserie chicken, berries, and beef stew meat (5.99.lb for prime stew meat)

I think costco is more expensive but the quality of fruit and veggies I think are better than the normal store.  But there isn't a variety like I could buy at a normal store.  I think the meat for sure if by far superior. I have started a price book and kroegar, safeway and walmart don't come close for quality for meat. I think chicken they win but beer or pork or bacon and maybe even luncheon meat is by far cheaper at costco.  

If anyone wants to do this food challenge with me and weigh in on pricing for their local stores that would be fun.  Maybe work on decreasing by 10%.  Most people are probably better than I am to begin with.

So I decided it was time for me to do a gift card roundup.  I have too many by accident.

Thai Restaurant $375 (bought at costco for 35% off $243.5)

Jamba Juice (gifts from my mom) - $50

CPK - $19.64

Justice - $4.14 - they shut down so a loss

Macys - it won't work online to figure out

Disney -$17.98

Local italian - $100 (bought at costco 20%)

Steakhouse - $200 (bought at costco 25% off)

Joann - unable to tell online

French Restaurant - $100 (bought 25% off at costco)

LL bean - $80.10

Cheesecake factory - $25

Panera Bread - $25.27 cents

Regal Cinemas - 2 tickets (gift from client)

AMC - $25 (gift from someone)

Fandango - $25 (gift from someone)

red robin - $25

Japanese Restaurant - $50 (also bought 25% off from costco)

This is a lot of gift cards. I can see in my future some eating out.  The real question is how to use it?  We've eaten out 3x (all three times in September 2020).  Once was shake shack, once a mexican restaurant outdoors, and once was at a beach with a takeout.  And we ate out in Hawaii.  We've done take out but actually going to a restaurant?  It's been a long.  The thai and japanese places we can probably do takeout.

I really need to burn these gift cards but when are we going to a movie again?

Well I made it to March 1st.  How it happened I have no idea. Turns out I had a lot more food than I planned. In fact I am so inspired that we are going to continue eating out of the freezer before I go on a really big shopping trip.  I do need to shop a little bit for fruits and veggies and milk,  but I am going to stretch this out so I am forced to eat what's in my freezer.  Here's what happened.

2/18 - leftovers dumplings

2/19 - bolognese/puttanesa 

2/20 - beef wellington 

2/21 - pulled pork

2/22 - sandwiches and pulled pork left over dinner

2/23 - lemongrass salmon soup

2/24-Dumplings and fried rice

2/25 - penne vodka sauce

2/26 - leftovers

2/27 - Tacos - ate outside with neighbors and smoked 4 lbs of ground beef and made a taco bar.  We fed 6 adults and 5 kids.  We still had leftovers.  Not doing too bad.  We still have fried rice, penne vodka sauce, and taco meat.

2/28 - smoked the other pork shoulder from costco.

The new plan?  Everyone is suggesting a walmart run. So the nearest walmart is 15 miles and 25 minutes away.  I'm going to try it.  I'm also going to try regular grocery stores but looking at flyers for deals. I always shop for coke in flyers and I used to wait for chicken to go on sale.  Now the same thing.  I'm going to do a costco run and price out common items i buy and sort of keep a price book.  

We spent a grand total of $1056.29 for the month for groceries and $45.56 eating out for 1 costco hot dogs & fruit smoothies, kids had burgers 1x, and DH had 1 coffee out.   My goal for March 2021 is $950 or 90% of our February spending.  I also want to keep eating out to under $100.  I figure like dieting I should try small reductions until it hurts, which it hurt this month because of poor planning.

We still had a good month overall up $24k for the month.  Next month even better.   Fingers crossed. I'm debating adding in toiletries and non-perishables to my $950 budget at some point. I did not add in batteries and stuff to it.

I feel like we have a lot of stuff.  We don't have a huge house so it seems like we have more stuff than we really need because of it.  I have friends who say "oh they don't have much stuff." But when I point out that having a 4000-5000 sq ft house you probably have more stuff than our 2000 sq foot house it's hard to argue.  Mostly I argue this point with my mom, who has aforementioned 4000 sq ft house and 600 sq ft condo.

So there they are with two homes packed literally to the gills.  Stuff is in every cloest, every cabinet, everywhere.  There is no dealing with the amount of stuff.  Patient saver got me thinking as she managed to get her hands on her mother's art.  The sentimental value is astronomical.  That being said will her own children value it the same?  Or will they only focus on maybe 1 piece?

I was thinking about what it means to have all this stuff.  My neighbor I walk with is an only child.  Her dad passed 3 years ago and her mom is in a facility since January 2019.  This year around September she went to her parent's home and rented a uhaul and drove to a storage facility everything she thought was important and valued.  Everything else she left.  The interesting part is she hasn't done anything in the past 2 years.  Her mom moved into a facility with 4 suitcases 2 years ago and they "pretended" that she was just trying it out and my neighbor would take her back to clean her house.  It never happened.  I can't help but think that might be me.  Avoiding the experience of actually cleaning the house but rather instead just waiting until the person passes even if they don't live in the house to go through things. 

So here's an interesting tibit to chew on 8.5 years ago my grandmother moved out of her apartment and into my aunt's home because she couldn't live alone anymore.  But my mom and aunts instead of cleaning the apartment and throwing stuff out literally packed everything in boxes and put it in my aunt's garage.  They promised that one day they would go through it with her.  8.5 years later they haven't unpacked most of it.  Instead she lives in a tiny with only a few things and everything that was SOO important to throw away they just shoved into a box and went on living.

I know that's what my neighbor has done as well.  I wonder is that the fate of my parents things?  For me probably not.  By the time I have to deal with it, my dad will for sure be passed and my mom at 69 well I don't know.  My dad is 90 and when he passes can she really deal with it? I doubt it.  Will I do the same thing? I don't know.

But how do you actually get rid of all the stuff?  And how do you let go enough to give things to people? I'd love a few of my grandmother's art pieces she made (at least 1) but no one wants to give anything up...it might be valuable.  So instead it's hung onto. 

Ideally i think it'd be nice if parents would ask kids before they are forced to deal with it.  What to do?

So we are 23 days into the month and I'm determined to wait until next Monday March 1st to grocery shop again.  We've already spent this month $1056 on groceries.  UGH.  We have food we just have to eat it.  We have to eat what is in the pantry and freezer and then I can rejigger maybe what we have and rebalance and I'm not sure how we spent so much to not be shopping this last week.  But I did shop on 2/18 about $150 of mostly produce.

I'm thinking of trying the cook smart.  It meal plans for you and helps you with the meals. I also figured from annual Credit Card spends we spent around $13k last year on groceries. A lot less than I thought. I buy other things from costco so it inflates the spending.  But if I sit there and tease out the excel spreadsheet and take out tires, tv, 2 computers, vaccum cleaner, bidet, it then works out to something much more reasonable.  According to my credit cards we spent about $10k on eating out last year but looking again at it in detail a lot was spent in Jan-March, June (roadtrip), and December (hawaii).  So not as bad as I thought.  

Right now DH has started a new job.  I have no idea when we will get paid.  He basically got paid 2x last paycheck with all his vacation days.  So I left it in checking and we are paying all CC, etc and getting the shipped righted.

Right now we have $30k in stock account earmarked for EF, $40k EF, $60k in Ibonds.  I think we are okay.  I'm trying to carve down our spending so that we live on what he makes and instead save.

I spent $145.14 at costco last night.  Here's what I bought and the prices.  I'm not sure if it's because of where we live but I also did a FM grocery store. No there is not any aldi, winco, grocery outlets where we live.  YMMV. I'm not sure if this is expensive for the area.  

Lactose free milk 9.99

ghee 18.99

guava juice 5.79

jacks salsa 6.49

1/2 Gallon Cream 7.39

ground beef (not organic) 26.65

carrots 6 lbs 4.79

bella mushrooms 4.99

K/S butter 6.99

BTB Chicken bullion 5.99

parmigiano 15.99

smoked cheese 10.62

bok choy 6.99

cucumbers 3 pack 6.49

broccoli 6.99  = $145.14

I then spent $28.27 at FM 

Canned Tomatos 1.29x 5

Pasta $1 x 2

Anchovies $1.99 x 2

Nutmeg $5.49

reese peanut butter $1.89 x 2 =$28.27

So this is for the next week but I think I'm still missing buns for the pulled pork we're making on sunday that will help us eat for the week and that should pretty much round out the month.  

I froze the butter and 5 lbs of the ground beef.  Menu plan for week

Tonight/thursday - Salmon (from freezer), making dumplings as well

Friday - bolognese (making it)

Saturday - (pizza) cousin providing

sunday - pulled pork (need buns for family)

Monday - leftover

Tuesday Tacos from ground beef

wednesday - salmon from freezer

Thursday - dumplings

Friday - Chicken

Sat - leftovers?

My goal is to not shop for the next week. I think we're good on fresh veggies and fruits. I have apples from last week and a couple of pears and 6 - 1/2 of milk so I should be able to avoid a costco trip until the 1st of march. 

I'm embarrassed by our spending, but there is nothing to do but admit it.  We spend a lot of money.  I knew this after 2019.  It was bad then and it's still pretty ugly.  Our baseline budget is terrible because we have a large mortgage.  There is no way we can be that family or couple.  I guess I might as well write this today since DH is starting a new job today.  New job = new salary.  Lucky for us we're on savingadvice and can swing not getting paid.  But still our spending is ugly.  How ugly?  Let's go for a ride.

Personal Capital which is having problems with our credit card updates says we spent $22,847 on travel last year.  Totally possibly more. I wish they could tailor credit cards better and update it using algorithyms to learn how you classify things.  We spent $22804 on home improvement.  Probably more because a there was a big chunk of miscellanous general purchases.  We spent $15727 on Groceries, $6965 on pets, and $6021 on eating out.   We also spent $1773 on Fuel, $2927 gifts, $3986 on utilities, and $13048 on crap with $4000 on amazon.  A lot of amazon was for the shed building.  Either which way we spent a lot. 

This year our overall spending is down probably because I'm trying to be better.  But this month alone I've spent $863 on groceries and the month is only half done.  UGH.  But we've also spent $30 on hot dogs and drinks at costco for our only meal out.  So I guess it evens out.  More cooking = less eating out.  But I'm sitting here going how much more am i going to blow the rest of the month on groceries?  This year alone we've spent $3724 on our dog for 2 surgeries (joint flush and stitching up lesions).  What can I say?  It's not pretty.  Technically we've spent more on him than anything else.  Hopefully it'll ease up soon.

Right now with the new job and less money coming in we need to contemplate everything. 

Did I mention DH built his own office shed?  Did I ever post?  So he started it August 5th by cutting a tree down.  This is on top of working full time from home at a crazy job that is not in any sort of labor.  Yes he very handy compared to many.  He didn't think so until he did this.  I have to say I have no idea if this was going to work.  DH did this because when I told him the price like $30k of having it built he said "i can do it for less".  It still cost us probably $20k but it was 12 x 16 instead of 8 x 10, and much nicer than what priced out. I guess we're more mustachian than we thought.  I should have posted along he way.  I will dig up the costs later.

August 5th - cut down tree.  He rented a chainsaw.  I thought he'd cut his leg.

Poured piers with friend

This was the hardest step and also the most risk to make sure he calculated the piers correctly

Here's the floor

This was back Sept 3rd.  Lots of progress fast

November 6th Exterior and roof done before the winter set in

I have to go scare up an interior shot but he basically finished 12/20 and is still working on perfecting it because that's how he is.

He even joined a group on FB called pubs in backyard.   Yeah he built it to work but it's really a man cave.  I mean 65" tv, beverage fridge, kegerator and 35" and 30" monitors for work.  He's set to hide like a boss!

Do you ever go back and read your old entries? I am surprised by how much has changed since 2014 when I started the blog here at SA.  7 years ago I was unhappy where we lived so we changed that.  We had been planning on staying and buying a different house.  Turns out we did buy a home instead of our townhouse.  But it's a completely different town and we paid a lot more than we had expected to at that time and got still a small house.  BUT I love it.  I love where we've been since 2015 so no regrets.  I'm happier now in the middle of winter than ever.

We didn't have that third kid because we ended up moving without jobs.  We ended up better financially surprisingly.  Here's an interesting take.

July 2014 NW $963k  /  January 2021 $2.3m (6.5 years later, so by rule of 72 it should have doubled...)

Retirement - $505,286  / $1.37m
Taxable Investment - $160,881  /  $710k
DD1 College - $12,118 / $85k ($42k ESA)
DD2 College - $6,758 / $75k ($32k ESA)
Cash - $64,540 / $45k - might be going up soon and debting investing more
Checking - $5k, one month float sameish

We definitely doubled our money.  The kids savings happened because we stashed quite a bit into their accounts.  But the ESA I started when they were born and am limited to $2k year.  DK 1 is 11 (2010) and DK 2 is 8 (2012).  So heavy liftying was done by the stock market.   Both net worth only account for home equity paydown not what I guess to be the homes are worth.

Here's a funny thing we are back to our old buget of $5k/month.  Seems like no matter how I try I have trouble getting away from that number.  We had it back when we were more frugal and we are back again.  I'm unsure how to save coming up.  I think i need about 3 month to figure out new income and budget.

Who'd have guessed our finances would change so much for the better in 7 years.  Have you looked back at all?

A lot of people on SA want to work to keep busy.  They are fiscally responsible and enjoy it.  But I'm the one planning on retiring early and want to be done.  My DH I can tell will not want to quit. But here is my perspective and take.

I don't know what the future holds and I believe the One More Year (OMY) syndrome could easily happen to myself and DH.  We could be easily able to retire in 10 years or less.  But will we? I don't know.  I mean postulating, running the excel spreadsheets, using firecalc it's all awesome and nerdy and fun to do. It's super fun to imagine not having to work. It's super fun to imagine being answerable to no one.  Having no debt.  Just able to live.

But when the reality hits will we pull the trigger?  Would we says "sure let's walk away from DH's cushy job earning $XXX" and we're cruising along?  Will we be just risk averse because our kids are in college?  I don't know how we will feel at that time.  I think you have to be standing at the precipice of retirement to make that call.  All the planning is great but if you aren't ready it's not going to happen.

Or what if you we are forced into early retirement because of your health?  Or if you just can't mentally take it anymore?  Or you are 50 and downsized and can't get another job?  Do you get something paying less you like less?  Get retrained? Or do you call it a day?

I think that you should make a plan but like all plans be willing to adapt it based on new information that arises.  What if we buy a newer more expensive home?  What if we decide we can't live where we live?  The what ifs.

For those of you retired, did you make a plan and stick with it?  Did it happen accordingly or did you change it on the fly? Or did your retirement plans change ahead of time and you know it?

We have a lot of people pondering retirement and what you really need?  The answer?  It's really self dependent.   You can say you need 33x your expenses.  Sounds good.  But here are some questions that influence that.  

1. How old are you when you retire?  

2. Will you take SS and when will you take it?

3. Do you have a pension?

4. Are you retiring early and need to pay for medical insurance?

5. Will you be retiring with a mortgage or without?

6. Do you plan on moving or will be tapping into your home equity?

These few questions alone influence what you need to retire.  I always point out my mom retired at 55 with $200k in her 401k and Roth IRA.  That's it.  Yep not much.  BUT she retired with a COLA pension, which she's not even sure what she makes but it's around $4k/month after withholdings.  Yes my mom doesn't know what she makes but that's a different argument.

They did not have a $1M in savings.  I believe my dad probably had $400k but he was already 75+ and drawing SS.  My parents had medical through the state so my mom at 65 got dual coverage but for years 55-65 she had BCBS from the state employer paid 100%.  My dad already had medicare so he was fully covered.

So there my parents are with $4k pension, $3k SS Dad, RMD of $1500/month, no medical expenses, 2 paid for homes and cars.  What savings did they need?  According to rule of thumb they should have at least $1m saved.  Truth?  NOT even close.

Their monthly haul was close to $8500/month after taxes withheld!  So I think $10k/month pretax not unreasonable or unlikely.  My parents were bringing in $120k/year without touching their savings and they were still earning income.  So the $200k is gravy.  They don't spend close to that a year and have kept on saving.

So the rules of thumb are a bit ridiculous. It also explains how so many people are able to retire without saving more than $100k in 401k.  They have pensions and ss which pay for the bullk of their needs.

Is that a reality for people who are 41 like me?  Nope.  DH and I have no pension.  We'd have to have $1.5M saved to generate the $60k/year my mom gets from a pension.  We might get SS and but then we have to save more in our IRA in order get more RMDs.

I think you have a lot to look at when you retire and a lot of consider individually.  Saying you need a $1m to retire is not realistic.  Maybe the truth is you've never earned a lot, never spent a lot, and have a pension.  So the reality is even $50k is enough to make it.

Since covid I'm sure as many others I have been cooking more.  I have to say my cooking skills in 1 year have greatly improved.  A lot of it stems from just cooking pretty much daily and often time 2x/day.  But with a new year and my DK1 turning 11 (I have a tween! WTH)  I realized that 11 years ago after first having my new baby I was an okay cook.  Let me explain.

When I left for college my mom was a terrible cook and still is.  Cooking was not a big thing in my family.  As I've mentioned my mom would cook a huge pot of spaghetti and we'd eat for the week.  Variety was not important in our family.  We often ate the same things over and over.  So I went to college not really knowing how to cook. I ate a lot of spam, canned tuna, and rice.  So to say my cooking skills were limited is an understatement. 

I met DH right after college and he was definitely a better cook than me.  Great?  No but for someone right out of college I would say a solid cook.  He could do eggs, steaks, pasta with tomato sauce and ground beef (this turned into our staple meal weekly since it was cheap).  For most of our 20s I would say we were so busy working that we barely cooked and ate a lot of the same food.  Our variety often came in the prepackaged meals from costco.  Sandwiches was our daily staple for work to save money.  A lot of what we did was to save money, but also we had no idea how to really cook.  We also ate out quite a bit being busy DINKS and more dispoable income than we probably knew what to do with.

Then we had our DK1 in 2010 and going out was tiring but we also went down to 1 income and I was looking to make money stretch more.  Our income was better than ever but we wanted a second kid and it was tiring to go out.  So I started to learn how to cook. 

I believe on this blog I asked was it cooking if i used prepackaged meals from costco or trader joes?  Most said yes. But they also agreed it was cheaper than going out to eat and better than just takeout fastfood or restaurants.  So I figured it still was better than eating out even though it was expensive.  But during this time I began to develop a few lazy meals.  DH and I decided we would learn say 10-15 meals and it would be in our rotation. We did this.  We began to cook more and learned to make about 10-15 recipes we always had on hand.  Solid recipes that were tasty and easy to make.  So from 2010-2019 we probably ate the same 20 meals and added one here and there if we found something easy.  I would say these years were my "development" years. It's where I learned to cook and just improve as a cook overall.  Nothing fancy but cutting became faster, baking stuff, experimenting a little.  Just overall more comfortable in the kitchen.

Then covid hit last year and we found ourselves unable to go out and while we could spend more on take out, I found myself wanting to lose weight and hesistant to go out.  So the cooking began.  I also had more time without all the kid activities and working as much to actually meal plan and experiement.  So this year I would say covid has really developed my cooking skills and I would say than I'm definitely in the upper 25% of people out there.  Before I would say I was at the 50% of cooking skill.  Not a fabulous cook but someone solid.

Now my family has a much broader range of foods I make with a wider rotation.  I also do more than just an entree, I have expanded into different appetizers, I do desserts, etc. Things I've done recently is I've done an amazing cheesecake.  I also this week made malaysian chicken satay (more moist than thai), making beef rendang tonight, and leftover beef stew meat I'll make guiness beef stew tomorrow.  I make a ton of different curries now from indian, thai, malaysian, japanese. I am working on stir fry noodle dishes next.  I also made homemade puttanesca and bolognese sauces last weekend for friends.  I think I've got the hang of sourdough bread.   I make cornbread in a cast iron skillet.  Last week was japanese lamb curry and lamb shish kebabs (both dishes i made from around 15 years ago and something I learned way before kids).  But I've improved it. 

Maybe it's the fact that recipes are everywhere.  Maybe it's the time but covid has been good for improving my cooking skills.  Now I find myself just looking over recipes and thinking I can do that and weirdly I have all the ingrediants on hand because I cook so much.  Since I cook so much I have a ton more spices, cream, stuff on hand to cook at any given time.

How did you learn to cook? Do you think you're a good cook and how did you improve? 

NW up $110k.  $1.371M retirement and $706k taxable.  Because DH is leaving his job we are trying to max out his 401k for the year and have contributed $13k thus far I think we should be able to max it out next paycheck.

So we obviously flew to hawaii for Christmas.  We spent 3 weeks and when we went we tested 72 hours before for a negative test.  It was good we got our results back 24 hours after our test.  Anyway we flew out and the airport was empty.  It took us about 15 minutes from car to gate.  We arrived at the airport 1:45 minutes before our flight.  We arrived at the gate 1:30 minutes before the flight.  We then took 20 minutes standing in line at the gate to get our pre-clear bracelets from alaska.  This was to allow us the opportunity to bypass the forms in hawaii.  We wore kn95 masks and disposable kid masks, face shields, and gloves.  We then sat down, I bought a water and we went to the bathroom.  We were on a 5 pm flight PST arriving in hawaii 9 pm HST.  It was a total of 6 hours on the plan and 2.5 hours extra in airport.

So the airport wasn't busy.  But airlines started boarding 1 hour before departure.  They were supposed to board 40 minutes but they started early because they were boarding by rows.  Also the middle seats weren't sold so there should have been less people.  Actually this wasn't true. If you had bought your tickets early you were able to keep the middle if you rebooked your ticket from March-May.  

So the boarding should have been smooth but instead people were rushing.  They were called and they got up and rushed to board.  I think what happened is people were standing in line and then missed their boarding then felt pressured and naturally rushed to board.  UGH.  We were at the front having paid for the premium seats row 7.  So we waited till the very end.  Plus I was nervous about sitting on board just waiting. 

Overall it was good.  I was surprised how many people decided to use the bathroom on the plane.  The airlines handed out single packages of chex mix and one can of soda mini.  I didn't drink my drink or eat anything.  My kids only drank the soda with a straw.  We wiped down the seats, trays, seatbelts, etc.  I did test after flying and was found to be negative. I am also testing now after flying back last week. None of us have symptoms so it should be negative again.

I would not travel with children younger than my 8 and 10 year old. I think it's hard to sit there with a mask and faceshields and not eating or drinking. I think that it's hard to sit with masks and not eat or drink. I told my mom I was glad we made it but it was not an easy flight.  

I'm glad we went. My parents needed to see us.  They have been struggling so islolated and zoom is not the same.  They were so happy to see us and feel the social interactions they have been missing.  Besides the fact that my mom is used to seeing us every 6-12 weeks.  To go since Feb 2020 and no see us for 10 months was hard.  Typically she would come december, january, april, june, and october.  And we would typically go back Feb and August to see them or travel with them. So she was used to being able to be part of our lives.  It was just magnified that they were also unable to see their friends or other family. 

Hence why we decided it was worth it.  I will also say that hawaii had so many less covid cases and was mostly open that made us feel safer.  My kids loved swimming for hours a day.  They came back super tan.  We went out to eat both outdoors and indoor.  It was just felt so much more normal.  Anyway I'm hopeful that we might go back in April.

I'll write about hotels and activities later.

I am thankful that 2020 is over.  I am thankful that everyone I know is still alive and kicking and healthy.  I am happy that everyone I knew who got covid recovered and are doing better. I am just thankful that 2020 is over.  It was not an easy year but there is SO MUCH to be thankful.  I drank a big drink and cheered with DH. I am thankful I saw my parents. I am thankful they made it out alive. I am just glad everything so far knock on wood has been good.

Retirement up $252k (saved $78.5K)

Taxable up $278k (saved no idea) mostly because I moved money into different accounts and stocks.  I definitely saved money at least I can track saving $100k but maybe more.  

Paid off $33k between $12k car and $21k mortgage.  Cars drive better when paid off.  

We won't be saving much in 2021. I already put in our Roth IRA and kids $2k into ESA just today But I'm not sure how much more since DH is taking a large paycut. I am maxing out the 401k for the year in a couple of paychecks so we have to live off savings then getting paid the new amount so the next two months is a little sketchy.  I probably need a bit more cash for our EF.  We have 6 months TIPS and 4.5 months in EF.  I think I need 6 months in EF ( so a little more cash, then invest the rest).  I'm hoping to ride out 2021 without touching our savings.

It's been a very good year for us.  Our retirement is up to $1.24m.  We have $680k in taxable accounts.   Our debt is down $29k.  Our nw went up $506k for the year.  Fingers crossed that we end up doing just as well next year.  

I also made a large payment to the IRS today and we paid off a bunch of credit cards because we've been building a shed and stuff.  Yuck. 

It's thanksgiving and it's time to be thankful for everything we have.  Yes I am frustrated with my parents.  I'm frustrated on so many levels but I decided I have to let it go. I can't stop them from going out. I can't stop them from getting on a plane and going back and forth between islands of hawaii. I can't stop them from riding the bus.  I can only say it is what it is and hope we make it out alive. I mean it makes me angry for my mom to say things like we'll "we're 90 and 69 year olds.  We've lived a good life so if we are meant to die, we die."  That's not the most positive thing I want to hear or think about but it's not worth arguing.  Nor is it worth arguing about fake news.  

I decided that I am pissed over my mom joining what I feel is a cult.  That I'm perfectly fine with legitimate values different from myself.  But watching fox news and spewing things that are completely fake news drives me crazy.  I have a lot of friends who are "republicans" and don't watch fox news and can tell me the values they have.  My mom - republican values of personal responsibility and the government doesn't get to tell me what to do.  And of course the fake news of everything else.  If she doesn't like it she pretends it's not real.  Sigh.  Again I have to "let it go."  Sometimes you can't argue with crazy.  For awhile there my mom told me that she heard covid wasn't real.  Yeah I know.  I don't know when this whole fake news will even if ever.

But I decided I need to bite my tongue and be thankful that they are healthy, we are healthy, and we stay that way.  I had a mammogram last week my first.  I was called on monday that I needed to come in for further testing. I had another mammogram and ultrasound on tuesday and luckily it's a benign cysts. I'm grateful they could fit me in the next day.  I'm glad I'm healthy. I can definitely feel the lump they are talking about and I had been panicking.  So it put into perspective. I can stay mad at my parents and think they are ridiculous.  Or I can say it is what it is.  At least they are healthy.  At least my family is healthy.

And I'm thankful that we've made it through this year and i hope to get older each and every year.  It certainly makes you appreciate everything you have.  But it also makes you appreciate how slow life has gotten with covid.  It makes you appreciate the idea that there is life outside of work.  I know the worry of the lump made my DH realize he has to slow down and stop pedal to the metal. I don't believe he works so hard because of $$.   The money he makes is a effect of him loving what he does.  But he works that hard because I think he likes the accolades and accomplishment.  That is a post for another day.

But face with our mortality?  Faced with the idea of us not being perfect?  It's hard.  It is real.  But I'm still thankful for everything I have.  Now we have to make it through thanksgiving.  DH's brother is visiting us and I'm nervous.  I'm also flying to hawaii for Christmas and nervous.  We'll see how that all goes.

Covid has definitely changed my habits.  We will not be going back to eating out all the time both take out and out once this is all over. I can definitely see myself not going back to quick prep meals either.   As the months drag on I will not say that I am in love with cooking but my skills have greatly improved. I have found many recipes now and I'm doing things my family enjoys.

I was never a terrible cook nor did I not cook.  But I was very limited in my cooking and I cooked the same thing over and over.  So my family I think liked take out because it gave them more variety than I would cook.  But now I feel like my I can make a lot of different foods at a much higher quality than before.  Entire meals are from scratch.

I've started to make yogurt from scratch and the kiddos prefer it. I use it as a base for smoothies/lassi and lots of cooking.  This week I made chicken coconut curry, chicken biriyani, and pork tenderloin.  This weekend I'm making pork belly and korean bbq short ribs.  I can tell my family is loving it. My kids still love the older recipes but it's a big deal that I don't feel so boring.

Also we're more likely to just enjoy staying home.  We've been really working on making our home more comfortable.  We're reorganizing the kitchen, bathrooms, closets, garage, and building a new shed.  

Actually this photo is probably a week old and DH is finishing the interior insulation right now and he will hang drywall this weekend.  I am guessing by the end of the year he will be done.  He started first week in august while working full time and he did everything.  Right now I'm guessing we are running around $15k but it's a large office with electric which was $3000 for electric alone.   So we really have been spending a lot of time just investing in our house.

Because of DH's job change we plan on staying in our place for another 3 years until spring 2023 at minimum.  Hopefully the job will work out and we can afford to move.  But if not then everything we are doing is making our house more comfortable and workable for us. 

Have you changed during covid?  Do you see any habit sticking?