So. My husband stopped by a restaurant last night on the way back from the airport to pick up some grub. He called and asked me to put in tater tots.

I thought to myself, this won't be too bad. He's getting some bar-b-que and we are doing some sides at home - no biggie.

Then I check the bank account and realize that this man spent $118 dollars at the restaurant.

Now, you might be thinking, "yeah, but that is for 9 people - not too bad" - except it was $118 for ONE BRISKET (And I don't even eat Brisket!)

I am sitting here thinking WFT - WE AGREED WE WEREN'T GOING TO DO THAT!

Ugh. I just want to punch him in the face. Is that legal? I mean, I know it may not be moral or ethical, but can I legally punch him in the face for spending $118 on ONE brisket that *I* won't even eat? (I am really kidding about punching him in the face - sorta :P)

On Wednesday my Brother in Law, his wife, and another couple we are friends with are coming into town to visit.

Well, specifically, they are coming into town for a wedding, and we are being used as a free place to stay (in 9 years we have lived here, none of them have come to visit).

I feel a certain kind of way about this and told my husband that while I am happy to see them, we are NOT spending hundreds of dollars on entertaining "guests". Food being the primary source of expenditure (even when we go back home to visit - which has been 8 times in 9 years - we end up feeding them because we either have stayed with them and bought groceries for our visit or we have rented a cabin and they have come over everyday to eat).

Husband agrees so we are looking at low cost meals for our family of 5 and the 4 of them.

So far I am planning on red beans and rice, chicken stew, and spaghetti. The couple has said they are going to bring steaks for the first night, so that is very nice. I will make potato salad and some baked beans to go with the steaks.

Any suggestions on low cost meals to feed 9 people?

We are now in a transitional time in life... we have three children - 21, 19 and 17.

Sometimes they are home for dinner. Sometimes not.
Depends on their work schedule and their social schedules.

However, I keep buying food like we are all there, all the time. (Well, I have gotten a little better).

We end up throwing so much away. It is hurtful. And drives my husband bananas.

Last Sunday, I made a roast and some beef stew to just have made for the week (plus we had chicken stew from Saturday night - so since Roasts don't last more than 15 minutes in my house, we basically had chicken stew and beef stew as options for dinner/lunches whatever)

As of last night, we still have too much chicken and beef stew left. I think my husband is going to toss it when he gets home. Question though - even if it has been in the fridge for a few days - can I just freeze it now or is it too late, I wonder?

I really need to just separate when I cook for fridge use and straight to freezer use. It will help cut down on food waste (which will make my husband happier than my wallet) and also allows for less "cooking" nights.

I used to meal plan real hard. As the kids starting aging up, I meal planned less and less. And it is still hard to do because I NEVER know if they are going to be home or not for dinner.

I really need to either get them to let me know when I should plan for them to be home to eat OR I should meal plan based on just my husband, my 17 year old and myself (because even if she is at work, I am still responsible for feeding her, lol)

The interest rate on my husband’s truck loan is 3%. I think that is low (not as low as mine though – 0%  ) – but we are at a point now where the pay-off amount is something we could really get aggressive on and pay it off within 12 months.

We owe $10,336 on the truck. Currently his monthly payment is $608.44.

If we upped the amount paid each month to $1,000 ($391.56 more than what we currently pay), we could have this truck paid off in 10 months.

We will be keeping this vehicle for a very long time Husband has a 10 minute commute to work and everywhere we go in the truck is within a 15 mile radius – not to mention we usually take my car – he has extremely low mileage. Plus, we want the experience of not having a vehicle payment for a long time again (we kept his last truck until it was approaching 200k miles and had been paid off for 5 years).

I need a tangible goal right now. Something I can really focus on. Tangible goals have been missing in my life for a bit – it happens, right?

So – my goal is to get this truck paid off within 10 months – striving for 8 months.

This will make me actually look at my other expenses and make some cuts to make this a reality.

I already cancelled my ancestry membership. I know that’s only $240 a year – but its $240 I can put towards that truck!

My statement for charges in September 2019 has posted - I am trying to use this credit card for as much as possible for the travel rewards (Husband and I want to start traveling more - and if we are going to be spending the money anyway - might as well get some rewards back - of course we pay the balance every month).

In September, my husband and I took a trip to Hawaii. While the majority of the trip was paid for well in advance (flights, hotel, activities) - incidentals and food weren't. So September numbers are skewed higher in certain categories. (The money was already saved in the travel account so no worries about paying for them)

Here are the categories/amounts for September (which are discretionary categories):

Eating Out: $735.73

Entertainment: $314.92

Gasoline: $122.01 (Category is lower as we were out of town)

Gifts: $724.38 (this includes my anniversary/birthday gift from my husband)

Groceries: $340.35 (Category is lower as we were out of town)

Hair: $160 (I don't age gracefully, it appears)

Misc: $276.47 (I know what these charges are for - they don't just neatly fit in another category as they are a mixture of purchases)

United Airlines: $590 (Roundtrip ticket for me to go see my parents at Thanksgiving)

Since I just got back to blogging, I am interested to see how these categories move going forward - I just can't use the month of September as a basis as we were actively on vacation for 2 weeks of the month.

I just noticed that my last few blog entries are missing? Darnit. I had just started getting back into blogging here!

Well, I guess it is time to start again, again.

Last week I was on Jury Duty... I got selected for a trial. It was an interesting and rewarding experience for me - I do believe in the constitution, after all.

After all the testimony we went to deliberate and 7 of the jurors voted not guilty and 1 juror voted guilty. After about 3 hours of discussion, it was evident that no one was going to change the 1 jurors mind and 7 other jurors were not going to change theirs - so we ended up as a hung jury.

Luckily, I get paid from work even if I am out on Jury duty, so it didn't affect my finances in that matter.

It did, however, reinforce the decision that no matter what amount of money is offered - I will NOT work downtown. The 1.5-2 hour commute EACH way was intolerable. Time is money, after all. thats a minimum of 3 hours a day I wouldn't get to do other things with - things that I enjoy.

I appreciate that kick in the head because I was toying with the idea of starting to look at other employers (due to some things at work - which aren't deal breakers - just not my cup of tea).

So. We might have been a hung jury, but the evidence presented in that commute proved to me that I would be a horrible commuter and that I don't care what they offer (we are keeping this within reason - no one is going to be offering me more than what I would accept to commute - its just the way it is) - I am not working down there.