Wednesday, February 17, 2016

This Week...Beyond Money 2/8 - 2/14

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 bought another bag of rabbit feed for $16, bringing my total cost for the rabbits to $212. I need to try to breed them again. Maybe in the next couple of weeks, as my schedule winds down a bit.
* Harvested 1 1/2 cups of greens from the indoor garden.

Cooking/Groceries:
* I came home from work one day and Trucker had made dinner. He made scrambled eggs with onions, black olives and peppers and we put them in wraps with strips of bacon. Delicious. So kind of him.
* Trucker had coffee ready for me every morning when I got up for work. Too sweet! He also made breakfast one day. Other days, I grabbed toast and Nutella or a protein bar.
* As I was gone most of the week, I didn't eat at home much. I'm not sure what Trucker ate while I was gone, but I know I keep a well-stocked pantry, so there were options.

Fun:
* We printed off coupons for Einstein Bros Bagels for a free breakfast sandwich with any purchase. We each got a small coffee (in our travel mugs to save the cup) and got our sandwiches. It was a lovely little date and the cost, including tip was $5.
* We went to our local discount theater's discount day. We don't mind watching movies long after their initial release, which works in our favor. We saw the Martian which we loved and it only cost $2.50 total! Great frugal date, and I was geeking hard the entire time.
* Trucker got a great Groupon for our Valentine's date (we went on Friday since I worked 11 hours on Valentine's day). He found a local pizzaria we wanted to try offering $13 for a large one item pizza, an order of garlic bread and two sodas. He used Honey when ordering to get another $2.50 off, so it was $10.50 before tip. Great cheap date and very fun. I love that we enjoy our cheap dates just fine and don't need to spend $100 to have a good time.
* My friend came over one evening. I made dinner of bacon, lettuce and avocado sandwiches. We spent some time drawing. I'm a little rusty as it's been awhile. However, it was really fun.
* That night, the three of us went to the opening of a movie we were excited about. First time we paid full price for a movie in a long time.
* This week appears more spend-thrifty entertainment wise than usual (Two theater movies and two restaurant meals???). However, our average week is much less.  Some weeks we only spend $3 on a single coffee date out and the rest of the time we're reading library books and hiking. It's all about balance really.

Frugality:
* Trucker got a free full-sized deodorant trial in the mail.
* I went through the closet to get rid of a few more items. I'll take them to a consignment store to try to make a few bucks.
* I took another box of items to Half Price Books.
Waste Reduction:
* we composted lots of random things.

Work:
* Worked a half hour overtime one day at the regular pt job.
* I brought food with me each day I worked at the regular job.
* Trucker ate for free at his job.
* I worked a lot this week. I worked Monday and Wednesday at the regular part time job, then Thursday through Sunday at the temp job (followed by Monday at the regular job). Including commute, it was 75-80 hours. Tiring, but I made some good money to put towards our goals.
* I enjoyed the temp job. It was physically exhausting at times (I worked a couple 11 hour shifts), but not bad. The manager supplied breakfast, coffee and Starbucks since we were all crazy busy. Very nice.

Future:
* We got our largest paycheck yet from the booth.
* I've been selling lots of cake pans online.
* Trucker was offered an acting gig, but wasn't able to drive across the state in time for it. Still exciting that he got the offer.

Health:
* I came down with a cold. Ugh. I rested a lot and took vitamin C like crazy. It broke after 4 days, just in time to start the new job. Phew.  I looked back over the last several years and realized something. I rarely get sick, but every time I do, it is when I get a new job. Every time.

Community:
* Trucker got some gifts for my dad at auction to help him start his business when he retires he is saving it for his birthday and plans to give them all to him at once.
* A friend gave me a couple of books that were falling apart for me to use in a craft project I want to do. I love books too much to tear apart a good book, but wanted to try some crafts with book pages.

How was your week?

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