Tag Archives: Lifestyle

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Don’t Get Stuck on R-R-Repeat

So last night I decided that I was going to do girly-girl things. It’s honestly not really in my nature, and when I was younger I was very disdainful of girls who were constantly concerned with how they looked and particular ways of dressing (read: wore lots of pink and purple). Looking back, it’s probably because I was horrendously unpopular and the best way to deal with people who don’t like you or want to ostracize you is to say “Screw ya! I’m good enough, smart enough, and doggone it people like me!”

But I’m getting off-topic. After giving my toes some attention, in light pink with a clear overcoat, I went on to my nails…which were suddenly  non-existant…

Back in August, I decided I would stop biting my nails. I thought it would be simple, since I actually remember the conscious decision I made to start, in Pre-K. I mean, all the cool kids were doing it right? But suddenly I was 23 and starting a new job for the government, so I figured “Biting my nails might not be the most professional or hygenic thing in the entire world.” So I did stop. I made it a habit to not. I constantly painted them and used fingernail polish remover (tastes awful). Then, about a month or two ago, I had a hang-nail and nothing in reach to clip it with. So I bit it. And then it was ragged, and uneven, so I bit some more. Then in a flash I was back to where I started, with barely any fingernails to paint :(

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Control your bad habits! (whomp whomp whomp)

But it got me to thinking, this is actually very similar to how my money habits and fitness habits went awry in March. I stopped logging my food because of an incredibly silly reason. MFP tracks your days, and every 5-10 days it proclaims to the world, “Suchandsuch has logged in for 55 days in a row!” I logged in after midnight on a day and reset my record, so I was back to 0 (from 55). The day I figured that out, I remember eating and thinking “I need to log that, but I’ll get around to it later.” That was the beginning of the end. Apathy. And then I gained 7 pounds that month because I got out of the habit of watching what I ate and out of the habit of exercising.

My money went the same way. I decided “I kind of want McDonald’s…” *checks bank account* “Ehhhh” *sneakily checks Discover balance* “Hmmmm”

And thus I started back down that spiral of considering my credit line to be my cash instead of money that I borrowed, that spiral of instant gratification! And so I ended the month with nothing in savings and not too too much to show for putting money on my credit card.

The Point

Alright, we get it, you suck. So what’s your point? The point, my dear friends, is that it’s so important to keep in mind that as we make our good habits to replace our bad habits, that they also prove that it is easy to fall back if we’re not vigilant or paying attention. I am certainly not saying that eating a slice of cake or buying a pair of shoes that probably shouldn’t cost that much means you’re an awful person who should be locked away, but I am saying that if that cake is followed by another slice, then a heavy breakfast, then second breakfast, then lunch, then a nap, then supper, and then dinner…that’s maybe not a good habit unless you’re a hobbit. And if you’re buying the shoes and then see the necklace that goes with them and then the dress that goes with those and then the jacket…that it’s easy to slip back and then in a month kick yourself in the butt!

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My new finance/fitness motto…thanks Moody (RIP)

 

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Cooking for One [2,3,...]

Many times, cooking for many is a great thing. You make more, the ingredients are cheaper (or you use all of them before they go bad), and you’ll probably have leftovers. You get great company, and then you can hang out and enjoy yourselves like you’re on a fast track to a laugh track.

If I'm lucky, I get to be Kramer.

So…I think this assumes that you and those you hang out with eat the same thing. No. That never happens. Ever. (okay sometimes, if you’re lucky) So here’s the rundown with my roommates/bf:

  • bf – Does not eat vegetables, Indian food, Greek food, onions, and doesn’t care for steak (& other red meat)
  • roommate #1 – eats everything in the world. twice.
  • roommate #2 – eats lunchables and Greek food
  • roommate #3 – won’t eat it unless it says organic or fat-free

Because the roommates have meal plans, I primarily stick with bf when it comes to meal planning. This is simple sometimes, like when we go to a restaurant or buy our own meals (Spaghetti-Os & Franks v. New England Clam Chowder), but other times…it’s hard. Especially the no onions/vegetables part. So is eating together even more expensive? Sometimes. But what it means is that over the course of the last four years, we’ve discovered some “No-Fail” couple dinners for picky eaters that are also frugal:

  1. Tacos- Super simple. 1lb of ground beef (or turkey if you’re into that). 1 pack of shells with seasoning. Cheese for him, tomatos/lettuce/onions for her, and Voila! It’s assemble your own to high heaven. Plus, you can totally put the leftovers away and have taco salad for lunch the next day!

    Unrelated, but I can't get over how gross this looks. Thoughts?

  2. Homemade Chicken Soup – made this recipe up yesterday (we’ve both been sick, so it seemed appropriate). I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him go back for thirds on anything I’ve cooked. Essentially: boiled 2 chicken thighs for an hour in water with garlic and hot sauce. Took ‘em out, deboned them. Added the meat and a container of 99% fat free chicken stock to the pot (after pouring out the water) and added fresh water (to kind of keep it from being too chicken-y). Brought to a boil. Added Tony’s, garlic powder, hot sauce, black pepper, salt, and 2 pats of butter. Poured in a ton of those No Yolk noodles (as long as they’re covered by stock/water, it doesn’t matter how many). Boiled it for 12 minutes and done! I cooked a container of onions/veggies separately to add to my bowl. It cost approximately $7 to make, and will last for at least 2 days for both of us ($2 noodles, $3 chicken, $2 chicken stock).
  3. Crack Dip – Okay, this one isn’t so frugal…rehab is getting expensive… :P Just kidding. It’s a recipe he found. Apparently it’s “crack dip” because it’s so addictive. It is a little more to make (honestly probably about $15 total), but it’ll last 2-3 days for ~3 people. It’s essentially buffalo chicken dip. I’d suggest going with the last update of the recipe and not even touching any sauce that isn’t buffalo (none of that hot barbecue sauce). Recipe.

    Yummy hands! I mean, dip! It's with crackers here, but I use tortilla chips (better).

  4. Croissant Sandwiches – There’s probably a better name for this, but I don’t know it. You basically take a can of croissants, a pack of lunch meat (preferably chicken – in case you can’t tell, we’re chicken people), and cheese (we like sliced & Swiss). You unwrap the croissants and rewrap them around the lunch meat and cheese, and then throw ‘em on a cookie sheet. Bake ‘em for the suggested amount of time on the croissants and then you have a bunch of “sandwiches.” They’re really good, but this, of all of them, will make you feel like your life may end soon if you eat too many. Cost: $2 croissants, $2 cheese (will have leftovers), $3 lunchmeat (will have leftovers). Total cost for this: $5 (not including what you have leftover of course!)

If you try any of these, let me know what you think! And feel free to share recipes that don’t require an arm, a leg, and a pound of truffles! This pretty much boils down to that when you spend a lot of time with people, you can gauge what they will and won’t eat, and from that you can come up with frugal, not so frugal, but always delicious recipes that will satiate both of you and answer that age-old question of “so what do you want to eat tonight?”