This Week...Beyond Money 4/20 - 4/26

For me, a life beyond money is making choices so that you can live the best possible life, regardless of your income level. Obviously, you have to make a living, but there are many ways to improve your quality of life without increasing your income levels and correspondingly your expenses. This regular post will be some of the ways that we improve our quality of life beyond just trying to make more money.

Gardening:
* I repotted all of the tomato plants into larger containers.
* Harvested 3 cups of greens (kale and lettuce from the container garden) and wild flowers (grape hyacinths, violets and garlic mustard flower buds/flowers).
* Harvested green onions from the windowsill garden.

Cooking/Groceries:
* I got in and out of the grocery store for $12.50 (including a $3 gift for Trucker for our anniversary and his $2 lunch). I got good ice cream ($6/half gallon) on sale for $2.19.
* I made chicken burritos one day. I used some leftover chicken from the freezer, a can of refried beans, some dehydrated peppers and tomatoes, a small can of green enchilada sauce (to rehydrate the veggies) and the last of a jar of roasted peppers. I  had some corn tortillas that we got for $.10 at the salvage grocer but didn't like as a taco-wrapper (they broke open too easily). I cut them into wedges and fried them as the most incredible tortilla chips. In the future, I'll stock up on these when we find them at that price as one package makes the same amount as a regular bag of store-bought chip.
* I hard boiled a dozen eggs to use for snacks and lunches.
* I made a fantastic meat loaf one evening. I used a pound of ground sausage mixed with bread crumbs from bacon cheddar scones from Trucker's job, a whole onion and several heads of garlic (sauteed). I hid a hard boiled egg in the middle. This was enough for two meatloaves. We had one for dinner Sunday night with colcannon and steamed green beans.

Fun:
* Tuesday was our anniversary, so we decided to head out of town for the day. We went to a city about an hour and a half away. We went to this little castle that was built by one cool-as-heck man in the 1930s-1980s (I've shared some of my favorite photos in this post). Then we went to a large international grocery market, got chinese food and then went thrifting. At one store paperback books were priced at 10% of the cover price. Trucker found a few older ones that he wanted. The price was $.05-.10 each. However, they were also the sale-tag color, so they were $.02-.05. My big score was 19 pieces of Fiestaware. They were in my color and actually the same year as my set. 15 years ago, my parents had given me saucers, coffee mugs, tea pot, salt and pepper shakers and sugar and creamer set. A couple of the saucers, a couple coffee mugs, and the salt and pepper shakers had gotten broken over the years. The 19 pieces I got were 5 large dinner plates, 6 saucers, 6 coffee cups and salt and pepper shakers. This pretty much completed my set for a grand total of $25!
* We had a coffee date at our usual spot. We used our travel mugs and got a discount of $1 off a drink, so our entire date cost $2.18.

Nature:
* Worked out in the yard as often as possible.

Frugality:
* Line dried our clothes.
* Stayed at home and worked on projects instead of going out some days.
* I bought gas at my job as this is always $.20-40 cheaper than anywhere in the city. I only make the drive 2-3 days a week, so I make sure that before my weekend, I fill up.

Waste Reduction:
* I made stock out of leftover chicken bones and lots of veggie scraps.
* Composted as much as possible.

Work:
* Trucker forgot his lunch for work one day. I had to hit the grocery store on the way home from work. I considered driving home (past his job) to grab his lunch and bring it back to him, but it was going to cost me an extra $1.50 in gas. So while I was at the store, I stopped by the deli and bought two pieces of fried chicken for $1 each. It cost me $.50 more than going home for his lunch, but I will save that lunch for another day, so it will roughly even out. Tiny little detail, but a thousand of those end up being huge.
* I packed my lunch each day. I found a lunch box I bought a few years ago for road trips and started using it to carry my lunch.
* Worked the overtime on the two days that I was scheduled. There was no extra production day this week, so I wasn't able to pick up a shift.

Future:
* Worked more on the store. We also went out scouting for items.

Health:
* Focused on drinking plenty of water, especially as it starts to get warmer.
* Took a few walks around the neighborhood. Also went on a couple runs.
* Made more water kefir and drank it daily.

Setbacks:
* I'm still getting used to the new job physically. This week my right arm and hand were shot. I wasn't able to get much grip on anything. As a result, I ended up dropping an antique candy dish I'd been listing on the store and chipped it. It was frustrating. I rested it the rest of the weekend as much as I could.

 Community:
* Our new washer works great. My parents took back the old washing machine and were planning on scrapping it. Their friend said that his daughter was getting a house and needed a washing machine. He has repaired washing machines in the past, so they gave him this washer to repair. I love it when this all works out! Two households got a washing machine they needed, and an older woman was able to get rid of her old when without having to lift a finger. We're all happy!

* Steve worked til almost midnight the night before our anniversary. He came home with this beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card. :) Made my evening.

How was your week?