Meal Planning and Groceries

           Yesterday G & I both went thru and organized our deep freezer. We did this last year and made a list of everything that was in there to hang up right next to the freezer but it desperately needed updating. So we pulled everything out, organizing by type of food (i.e. Breads, Meats, Veggies, etc) and I wrote it all down. We also made sure when we were putting everything back we kept everything organized by type. We got some boxes for the food on the top so it can easily be removed to access food at the bottom.

            While doing this, we also meal planned for the week. The only things I will need to purchase is milk and fresh vegetables for salads and wraps, we had everything else! I made a loaf of bread yesterday so that should keep us for the week and I found a package of bagels for breakfasts.

            June is going to be a little bit different for our groceries budget not only because we are going to make a point of using what we have but G will be gone for two weeks out of the month for training. Although I miss him like crazy while he’s gone I do enjoy getting a bit more creative using up what we have. We found a few bags of shredded chicken I have plans for! J

            The mini-goal for this month is to cut our grocery bill in half and only spend $250. I definitely think this is achievable and G is on board 100%. I guess we will see!

            - M

End of the Month & Retropay Status: Pending

            I love weekend mornings because I make myself a tea, sit down at the computer by myself and catch up our excel spreadsheet, balance our chequing account and look a head at the coming week. The end of the month is always my favorite, because I see how much we can throw at the LOC – this is always the last bill we pay and definitely the best feeling!

            We did an awesome job budgeting this month, and although I know there’s still time for things to happen, I’m pretty confident we will be able to throw another $2000 plus the interest at the LOC bringing the balance down to $12,000. We will also be able to deposit $500 into our vacation savings account. This will still leave us a buffer of about $1300 in our chequing account going into next month.

            This puts us in a very good position for June because G, after 8 months, is finally getting his retropay from his raise back in October. Yayyyyyyyyy! The totals for just the retro pay portion are $3853.01. Now we aren’t sure how much is actually going to be deposited (lol taxes) but that’s okay. We are just going to treat this as a ‘regular’ pay and anything up and above his salary we will transfer to the LOC. I’m hoping they also pay out the current overtime he has submitted – which is at around $3400. But I’m not holding my breath, I know that money will come sometime but it would be awesome to do one big lump sum extra payment. 

            June can’t get here fast enough!

            - M

796 Items

           That is how much stuff I’ve been able to get rid of so far this year. That’s a lot of stuff and there’s still a lot more…

            One of my personal goals this year is to go thru the items we have and get rid of anything not adding value. I found a little notebook (why do I have so many notebooks?) to start writing down and tallying how much I’ve been able to sell, donate, give to friends and throw away.

            It’s been an on going process, and I believe it always will be an on going process, but each time I felt up to it I would tackle a small area at a time; one bookshelf, one set of drawers, bed side table, etc. And days when G was working nights or I had the weekend by myself I would tackle larger areas like my closet.

            This weekend we got some boxes and I was able to pack up all of the items that were in my donate pile, which was actually more like a room because our entire spare bedroom was filled with Rubbermaids and other boxes waiting to be packed. I’m going to give myself until the end of June and then call for a pick up from the Canadian Diabetes. G is gone for two weeks of training so I know the organizing bug is going to bite me hard to keep the boredom at bay.

            Also a friend of mine just came over and picked up a recliner and two DVD stands. It matches the couch we had given to her late last year when we got our new couch delivered. I didn’t ask anything for these pieces (both the couch and the chair) because they were hand-me-downs from my parents when we first moved out and I didn’t feel right asking for something. I’m just glad she could use them and I didn’t have to haul them to the dump, lol.

            The thing that surprised me the most was how many boxes of items were still packed from when we moved over 2 years ago. That stuff was easy to say goodbye too since we had clearly forgotten about it.

            The only other area I still need to really work on is the basement. Most of the other areas in the house are finished or aren’t as big of a project as the basement is going to be. Slowly but surely it’ll get done.

Anyone else been organizing or Spring cleaning?

            - M

City Weekend

            Last weekend G and I had a rare weekend away from home to celebrate our anniversary. We had close friends watch our dog and left right after I was done work Friday afternoon.

            We had an amazing time and completely spoiled ourselves with awesome food. All you can eat sushi? Denny’s for breakfast?! Costco icecream cones! We are easy to please lol

            Saturday evening we had our big date, which included tickets to see the Regina Symphony perform Carmina Burana. And let me tell you: Saskatchewan can bring it. They had a choir of over 350 accompanying the orchestra, and when the opened up with O Fortuna, I was completely blown away. By the ending reprise I was in tears, it was so beautiful. G and I have always enjoyed going symphonies so I was really happy the timing worked out for us to be able to go when we were in the city.

            Sunday we were able to take our time getting ready in the morning and after checking out we did our grocery shopping before heading back home. I was able to redeem $120 worth of PC points and only had to spend a little over $9.00 on groceries at the Superstore. Woohoo! Sadly though we spent pretty much that same amount (the $120 not $9 haha) stocking up on meat at Costco. But I guess it’s grilling season and even though it cost a lot all at once it’s a hell of a lot cheaper that purchasing it at the grocery store here. So at least we are stocked for a long while.

            Overall it was really lovely to get away, even if it was for the weekend. It was nice to get all ready and excited for our date. That sounds so lame but I’m glad I still have these feelings after 8 years of being together J

            - M

Officially Employed

            My manager pulled me into her office on Monday to let me know I have officially passed my probationary period and to extend the offer of permanent employment with them. This offer also came with a nice pay increase.

            I signed away on the dotted line and am never looking back to my banking job again, haha. I’m so much happier now at the Credit Union and am learning so much more. I enjoy going to work and definitely feel more apart of a team AND the community – which is something I love not being from here originally.

            So doing a bit of calculation -pushes up glasses- I have increased my salary now by 92% taking this new job!! Talk about an improvement! :D  This is not only in pay increase but number of hours I’m working aswell (38 hours/week now verse 24 hours/week with my old job). It was an improvement before this new pay bump, but it keeps getting better lol.

            I’m definitely proud of myself and G for not allowing lifestyle creep to set in and staying focused on paying off the remainder of our car loan while still savings for retirement, paying off our mortgage and having a bit fun. I keep thinking back to how far we have come since I first started this blog and even further back when we were at our rock bottom financially. A lot can happen in a few years.

            - M