This Week...Beyond Money 1/4 - 1/10

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:
* The lettuce is growing nicely. I'll harvest some soon.
* One of the pepper plants put on a fresh batch of flowers. I plucked them all off so it put it's energy into growing a strong plant instead of peppers for now.


Cooking/Groceries:
* We had spaghetti for dinner one night. The next night, I baked the leftovers with more sauce, vegetables, spices and a cheese/bread crumb topping til it was warmed through and the cheese melted. It isn't the most fabulous meal ever, but it was an easy way to use up a lot of leftovers or items that would otherwise go to waste.
* Ate more chicken noodle soup (leftovers).
* I ate peanut butter and toast for breakfast most mornings.
* We snacked on stovetop popcorn.

Fun:
* My friend and I went out for coffee and chatting one evening.
* Trucker and I went on a few coffee dates ($3.18).
* I took my sister out for dinner after work one day for a belated birthday present. We had a great time talking and catching up.
* My mom came over for lunch/dinner (linner?) with Trucker and I one day after driving my sister and dad to the airport. We decided to order Chinese food. We ordered it at 2:45, just making it to get the lunch special price. We got two entrees and split them between the three of us. Total cost: $11.
* Trucker took me on a date to a Cajun restaurant for blackended chicken. Delicious! I brought enough chicken and fries home for another meal.

Frugality:
* I got gas at work to save ~$.10/gallon.
* I avoided going into stores so I couldn't spend money at them.
* Trucker hung up plastic to all of the windows/vents to the outdoors to keep the warm air in. It made a noticeable difference immediately.

Waste Reduction:
* I composted lots of weird things.

Work:
* Trucker brought home a free pizza from his job that hadn't been picked up.
* Trucker ate for free at his job. I packed lunch each day I worked.
* I picked up 2 extra days at my regular job.

Future:
* We took more items up to the booth.
* Since we rearranged the booth, we've started making many more sales. We will try to be more proactive about freshening the layout and rotating stock.
* Trucker has another audiobook in production.
* Trucker got a few more articles published.
* I worked on Etsy listings. It has been doing great for me lately. I'm trying out some new types of items to see if I can branch out a bit.

Health:
* We went for a few longer walks around the neighborhood.
* I went for 2 short runs.
* I'm being better about eating less and I'm drinking water.

Community:
* I spent the evening/night in the hospital with my mom when my sister got sick. They drove an hour to the city where I live since it's a better hospital. I brought snacks and coffee for Mom since we didn't know how long we'd be there and if Mom had to drive home that night (which she did at 5:30 in the morning!) I wanted her to be caffeinated.
* I bought Trucker a couple of gifts at a thrift store. One was a silly board game gag gift. The other was a like new coffee travel mug. His good one broke and he's been stuck using the backup mug that doesn't work as well. He really wanted another, but we didn't want to spend $20+ to buy one that would break just as quickly as a thrift store one. This one was a porcelain cup with silicone lid and a beautiful wooden handle. It had the label on the bottom still. Cost: $.90
* Trucker gave me what very well may be the sweetest gift anyone has ever given me. He ordered a box of 32 kid's Valentine's Day cards featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (my very favorite comic book characters). On each card he wrote one reason that he loves me. He then hid them around the house for me to find. So far I've found about half. Best gift ever.

How was your week?

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