This Week...Beyond Money Summer Edition

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.

This summer has been insane. Weddings, babies, working with Clarisse, and a 75-hour workweek (including commute) has kept me quite busy. Here is what we have been up to for the last few months.

Gardening:
* We got lots of hot peppers and basil, some carrots and oregano. Not much else. I plan to start up microgreens for the season soon.

Cooking/Groceries:

Muddy paws = happy pup

* The Kroger near my job has fantastic manager's specials when I get out of work at 2 AM. One frequent find is stir-fry kits with fresh veg mix and sauce packet for $.50-2. We use those a lot for quick and healthy meals. It isn't perfect, but I don't have time for perfection anymore. We serve these with meat from the freezer (cooked and frozen in meal-sized portions) over rice or pasta. Once you add the starch, there isn't enough sauce, so we use the sauce from 2 kits, then save those veggies to add to soup or to saute in butter as a side dish for another meal. One kit, rice and meat is enough for 5 meals.

Fun:
* Given my work load, I have started prioritizing fun over being strict about frugality or duties. This job is a good thing in the long term, but the first two years will be brutal (I'm 14 months in so I'm getting there). I'm giving myself permission to do "not perfect, but good enough". One consideration is fun. All of the frugal things I enjoy doing happen while I am at work. It got really depressing to only work and do things around the house. Now I let myself spend more than I used to allow because I have to have some kind of pleasure to keep going. It isn't frugal to neglect self-care for 6 more months or so and have to leave a job that will give us incredible security. Also, since we are only going out once a week instead of a few times, even if I spend twice as much, we are coming out ahead.

Running...

* We went to the symphony for opening weekend. We got bad seats, so after fees it was only $30 total. They played music from Fantasia as well as music of Strauss, Bach and Wagner. The crowd had young people scattered throughout and I was overcome thinking of how the CSO makes music so accessible to all ages and expertise levels and how future musicians and aficionados were in the crowd that night. Totally worth the $30.
* We also took Clarisse to hear the symphony orchestra at the botanic gardens. They had a free outdoor performance. It was a magical night. She was incredibly happy listening to the music, cuddling with us and smelling the BBQ food truck.
*  We went to an opening reception at a local gallery. I can't go to the gallery hops anymore since I am working Saturdays now, but this was on a Sunday afternoon. It was a lovely, if short, excursion.
* We go out to eat every weekend. I don't have the energy to cook the types of meals I enjoy anymore, so getting a really nice meal once a week satiates the foodie in me to survive another week of stir-fry, pasta and sandwiches. We use a coupon from our Entertainment book and drink water, so even after tip we rarely spend over $25.

Nature:

Always running

* We have loved hitting the parks with the dog. We try to go out for an hour or two before work at least once and once or twice on the weekends.

House and Home:
* Trucker and my dad have started working on the house. We are insisting on paying Dad for his time as he is semi-retired/started a lawn-care and handy-man service and we are no longer in a position to not be able to pay him. He came over and they redid some plumbing, replaced a door frame and filed down a floor that was scraping on the raised tile flooring. Dad is getting a wage, Trucker is learning new skills and I am getting the house redone without having to hire someone at $200/hr or without spending any of my limited time.

Fur Babies:
* Trucker bought a long-tailed lizard. He has wanted one for a long time, but the cost of setup was prohibitive. He did a lot of research and started checking out yard sales. When we were at the World's Longest Yard Sales, he found a whole setup including tank, rocks, stands, feeder, water bowls and fake plants for $10 (there was a lot of other stuff too). It was the end of the last day so he asked if they would take $5 and they said yes! He had to buy a lamp and bulb ($18 and $7), substrate ($4 for a decent sized bag), crickets and the lizard herself ($7). Side note: I am just reporting what I've picked up and I'm sure I've missed some aspects of lizard keeping. I don't know a lot about reptiles, but he has thoroughly researched everything. Given that I brought in all of our other babies, I wanted him to be able to have a pet of his own. I vetoed a rat or snake, but otherwise wanted him to get whatever he wanted.
* Clarisse is amazing. She has increased in weight from 9 lb 5 oz when we got her to 10 lb 14 oz of solid muscle. She has an endurance in running that one would never guess from such a small dog, especially one without vision. She is healthy and happy.
* We have been going to a monthly poodle party (honorary poodle siblings are allowed) and she has made some good friends. She ran around the entire time with a giant smile on her face. I have never seen her as happy. She likes being around dogs, but until yesterday had no clue about playing with them and just stood around wagging her tail. Yesterday a mini poodle puppy wanted Clarisse to chase her. At first, Clarisse didn't understand her barks and jumps, but then she got it and started chasing! She was terrible at it but was trying! It was so encouraging.
* We bought a bed for Raycat at Menards. After rebate it was $2. It is a cave-like bed with a fuzzy interior and she loves it.
* The cat is starting to like the dog a little. They nap near each other and sometimes Ray will even hop on my lap when I'm holding the dog. She won't lay down with the dog, but I think is testing the waters. Fortunately, Clarisse is chill as can be, so she is proving to Ray that she is safe.

Work:
* I work. A lot. 12-13 hr days, 6 days a week (most weeks), including commute. I went through a very difficult time, but am doing better. For the first two years, I don't get very many call-in days, and with my long commute, the chance of issues is high. It is quite stressful. However, the pay is decent now and will be good in a couple years. The benefits are amazing, so it is worth sticking out for the time being. I still hope to retire early, but we will see what life holds.
* Next month I get a 4-day weekend. I can't wait.

Future:
* We made paw balm and are in trials now. Once we get feedback, we are going to do a soft launch of our paw and nose balms and then over my holiday shutdown will work on other products to increase our offerings.

Health:
* We finally got in to a dentist. It had been far too long since we had had dental care, so some work needs to be done. However, it wasn't as bad as I expected. I paid extra to get the nicer dental insurance through my job. I pay an extra $60/year total for the two of us (Basic plan is free through the job), but it saves us from each having a $25 deductible and gets us $2000 in benefits instead of $1500 each. I maxed out my benefit for the year and Trucker's benefit has already exceeded $1000. So that extra premier has already saved us about $750.

Community:
* We participated in a 5k Walk/Run to support a local dog rescue that works with blind and deaf dogs, mainly puppy mill rescues. The event was free with donations. We donated dog food and some types of toys Clarisse didn't dig. When we decided to get her, we bought a ton of stuff, but it turns out she doesn't like squeak toys (she is terrified of them), doesn't like "scented" toys (She would much rather chew on a trachea) and only likes a few stuffed animals. I left the opened toys in the toy chest just in case she changes her mind with time, but the rest went to the rescues. Given that she was one of the lucky ones, we wanted to give back to help other dogs like her find homes like ours.

How was your week?

Always stop to smell the flowers

This Week...Beyond Money 6/4 - 6/29

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.

Note: I wrote this blog post and then entered an insanely busy period. I meant to come back, add photos and publish, but forgot. Oops.

Gardening:
* Trucker is amazing and one morning before I woke up, he bundled up, went outside and pulled up a bunch of poison ivy. I am doing my best to get it under control, but with how badly I react, it is hard. So thankful for a partner who will do that for me.
* I went out a couple weeks later and sprayed more than had sprouted up. However, some previously very established plots were looking pretty weak. Here's hoping that we are on the right side of this invasion. I am pretty sure that should we ever experience nuclear war, cockroaches and poison ivy will be the lone survivors.
* I harvested some peppers from the garden.
* Whatever ate my tomato plants is coming for my peppers now. The horror!
* I harvested herbs to use fresh in cooking. I may soon have enough to dehydrate some.

Clarisse enjoys the smells at her favorite park

Cooking/Groceries:
* I made a big batch of taco soup using the homemade stock made from the turkey carcass. It was a little on the thin side so I added TVP and dehydrated peppers to soak up some of the liquid.
* We had baked potatoes one evening, with all the trimmings.
* We had lobster cakes one day. I got them for $3 for 4 on manager's special at Kroger.
* We snacked on popcorn a lot.

Food Preservation:
* I froze some more meat leftover from other meals for the future.

Fun:
* We went to an arts festival with a friend from work.
* We enjoyed the farm bureau breakfast. It is one of my favorite events of the year. The bureau puts on a breakfast with a made-to-order omelet, sausage, biscuits, orange juice, milk and coffee. Afterwards, we explored the displays and exhibits. Everyone is there, from the beekeepers association, to the pork association, to the extension office. There is information about getting free rain barrels and composters and one community garden booth gave out free seeds (I got turnip, watermelon radish and pepper seeds). We ended the morning with a tractor trailer ride around the Beck's trial fields. It was very informative and fun.
* Trucker bought concert tickets to my favorite musician for our anniversary. We try to see him perform at least once a year, but since going to second shift, I haven't been able to see him (he always comes to one club on Wednesday nights, so it would require burning a vacation day that I'm borrowing from next year). Well, he came to a little venue out in the country on a Sunday night, so we were able to go. It was a magical evening.
* We went out to a movie we were really excited about. Since we got in before 1 PM, it was only $5 each.

Frugality:
* We took Trucker's car to my cousin (who has started working on cars again). He did the bearings and rotors in the back, fixed the door lock in both back doors and replaced a door handle on one, fixed the headlights that were pointed off, and fixed a leaky sunroof  (as well as a few other small fixes that I don't remember since it was Trucker's car) for $350. We gave him a nice tip and are super thankful for his help.

Fur Babies:
* We took Clarisse with us on an overnight trip when Trucker had filming. She and I enjoyed a day of hiking and stopping off at DQ for a slushie (for me, she just enjoyed the treats I'd brought). It is astonishing how well she adjusts to everything life throws at her. Within a half hour she had mapped the hotel room and was good to go. We returned to a park I'd taken her to a couple months before when we went with Trucker for filming. She returned to each place she had stopped and/or peed at the previous visit. It is amazing, but also disgusting. Does everything stink of urine forever and our noses just aren't keen enough to tell?
* Raycat has lost some weight since we got the dog. She had previously been a little chunky, so she is still in a healthy range, albeit on the lower side of healthy. I have been giving her treats a bit more frequently, usually while petting her hoping she will stop thinking of me as a traitor. I am rearranging the kitchen to find a place to put the cat food higher so the dog stops eating it. Ray likes to nibble and return, but that doesn't work with the little curly thief in the house.
* I make Clarisse a slushie every other day. I thaw several ice cubes of homemade bone broth for 30 seconds in the microwave until it is only half melted. I mash the rest up with a fork. She loves it. I offer some to Raycat, but she doesn't care for it. This is practically free and full of nutrients.

Work:
* I am working the normal schedule again (12 hour days including commute...yay). We have a break coming up for a couple weeks, then I'll likely be working even more. It's worth it, even if it isn't easy every day. Thankfully I have a great team that I get along with, including on particularly lovely person that I consider a friend.

Future:
* We have started a Zazzle store to add an income stream. I doubt it will bring in much money, but we definitely want to diversify as much as possible.
* Trucker finished filming on his TV show. It is super exciting to see him tackle new challenges and see how far he can take this.

Health:
* My blood pressure in fantastic and my heart rate is starting to slow.

Community:
* I went to my cousin's and my sister's baby showers. I gave my sister a ton of stuff before the shower that I bought at thrift stores: clothes, socks, blankets, burp clothes, and new bottles/nipples in the packaging. At the shower, I gave her a bath set (lotion, shampoo, etc) and a towel set (towels and washcloths). For my cousin, I gave her pacifier set, bibs, socks and a vintage pin in an elephant theme since that is how she is decorating the room.
* For my dad's birthday and father's day, we bought him some new clothes. Being extremely frugal, he tends to not buy new clothes until he has to. As it was, he had one outfit that was nice enough to wear out other than church wear. We got his sizes, then hit the thrift store. We found lots of nice items and narrowed it down first by what we thought he would like best, second by what I thought was the nicest (I have better fashion sense than him) and finally by sales tag color to maximize the number of items we could get. We got him 6 polos, 3 button ups and a pair of really nice like-new jeans for $25.
* My dad had a near death experience (the 4th in as many months since retiring).
* My sister got married to a wonderful guy. I am so happy to see them start their life together. I took her out the day before to get her nails done, helped her move the rest of her stuff into the house and then took her, her BBF and her sis-in-law out for a bachelorette party (Our other two sisters had to work). We went out to Applebees early enough to get the lunch specials-$8 each. Afterwards, we went to Dave & Busters. I had a coupon to get $40 worth of game play for $20. We shared the card and had a lot of fun. Then we went to the church for the rehearsal and back to their house for the rehearsal dinner. Clarisse stayed at their house while we did the party and rehearsal and enjoyed socializing at the dinner. The wedding was beautiful. My mom and her friends did a fantastic job. My job for the day, in addition to being matron of honor, was to keep everyone from being stressed. I got a lot of running in (good thing I decided on the flats instead of the 3-inch heels) taking care of things. Before the wedding, I got the bride and all the bridesmaids taking goofy pictures and laughing. In addition to being effective stress relief, it made for some pictures she will treasure. One of my favorites is of her dancing in her dress minutes before we went upstairs for the wedding. We helped them plan their honeymoon (they are going to the same city we are for vacation, so I knew all of the frugal places to hit). During the speeches, her husband said that Trucker and I meant a lot to them, they love the fun times we all have when they come to the city and that we have shown them what a good couple is. I knew I liked that guy.
 

How was your week?