Menu Planning

Roomie and I have decided that we need to start being super frugal - to this end, I have decided to try menu planning. I've tried it in the past where I wrote down a dinner idea on a calendar for the entire month but that usually went dreadfully astray at some point during the month (usually in the first few days) when I would inevitably decide that I did not feel like cooking and would send out for pizza or zip through the drive through.

This time around, I am only planning for a week at a time and only planning dinners. So, I will return on Monday, July 27th (am currently at my mom's house for the weekend) and thus will start next week's planning on Tuesday.

Tuesday - Salsa Chicken with rice
Wednesday - turkey burgers with tater tots and salad
Thursday - my birthday dinner - tbd later.
Friday - Chicken spinach mushroom pizza
Saturday - Rotisserie chicken w/rice a roni and salad

Just checked the weather report and the weather should cooperate with my menu planning - otherwise, would need to revise for menus that do not require turning on the oven and/or stove in a heat wave.

Thoughts on Life and Finances

I LOVE reading personal finance blogs - I'm not sure why but I just flat out adore reading about other people's money. They don't really even have to have any money - I like hearing about how they save the occasional nickel or how and why they decided to spend said nickel. I like reading about other people's frugality and little discoveries they make along their frugal and financial journeys. That said, I'm still not quite ready to make this a personal finance blog - I'm still not ready to bare my debt to all.

I will say that I need to be more in control of my finances and make smarter decisions. I will also say that I want to at least have the land I want to build my dream house on. I know that the house will have to come later but the land can be bought before I move back to North Carolina.

I also want to de-clutter my house more. I need to exercise more. Basically, I think I need to scrape up some self-discipline and commence to spreading it around the various areas of my life. We (Roomie and I) need to eat out less and eat at home a lot more often. And by eating at home, I mean preparing the damn meals at home, not zipping through a drive through and bringing it back to eat at home.

A gym near me is currently offering a summer special - there's another gym that has a better offer but they don't have a pool and I miss swimming. I'm going to have to investigate the gym with the pool. I don't think I could bear to be in a bathing suit in public right now, but at least it would be a goal to work towards.

I may start posting menu plans for the week in an effort to eat at home more. We'll see.

To Do List for 1st Week of March

I've decided it might help me if I had a To Do List to check off the things that need to be done:

1. Copy, sign and mail off tax returns (Completed)
   
2. Brief cases to prep for Contracts midterm (Not applicable)
   
3. Study for Contracts midterm (Completed)
   
4. Organize bedroom (Completed)
   
5. Clean upstairs bathroom
6. Research plane ticket to San Diego (Completed)
   
7. Work on cross-stitch project
8. Send Lori a thank you card (Completed)
   

Let's hope this helps - although I have the sneaking suspicion that I'm leaving something important out.