I hope everyone had a great weekend! You can find my last update right here. Above are some of the things that I made the past week. I don’t follow my meal plan exactly, but I had all of the ingredients above already to make everything. I’m definitely improving, you all should be very proud of me!
I made pretty healthy stuff (healthy for us at least). The second picture is a snack that I love having, cheese and crackers, with strawberries and sugar. My BF thinks it’s disgusting that I pretty much coat my strawberries with sugar, is that weird? It just tastes so good to me! And I love having strawberries in my salad also, sorry if that’s disgusting to anyone.
And I actually made a pizza last week and it turned out great. The sauce was a tad too thick, but I messed up, now I’ll know for next time.
Stuff that I said I was going to do yesterday:
- Go to carpet places (doubt this will happen) – Did not happen. Hopefully next weekend.
- Homework – Did happen. I finished my homework for the whole week.
- Buy another textbook that I forgot about – Did this. With my swagbucks that I had saved, I only spent $13 on my textbook!
- Buy a bookshelf – Didn’t do this. We still have 2 shelves to build for my closet though.
- Look for a chair that I can attempt to reupholster for my closet – Didn’t do this.
- Deposit some checks that I got from secret shopping –Didn’t do this.
- I know I said I would stop shopping, but I am planning on going to JCrew today to look for a light blue or yellow button up for work. This will be the only thing that I buy. I’m kind of getting sick of only wearing black, gray and white to work. – Did this. Didn’t go to JCrew though, instead I went to the mall that’s right around the corner from my house, and they don’t have a JCrew. Instead just bought stuff from Forever21 and American Eagle. Only spent $32 though because I had some stuff to return to AE. Did pretty well!
School: Only 14 more weeks until the semester is over. Yes my countdown is a little ridiculous, but oh well. I’m trying to make sure that my homework is done at least a week ahead of time (if I know about what homework is due already), hopefully I keep doing this!
Extra Monthly Income: I’ve been making a little more in gift cards from Swagbucks though, mainly due to wonderful people like you giving me referral points, love you guys! I’ve also made a decent amount from advertising this past week, it’s really been great. Like I’ve said before, I didn’t get into blogging to make money, I blog to share stuff with you guys and improve myself. If you have any opinions on advertising, please let me know, I’m open to all opinions.
I finally started taking some pictures of the ebay items. Lets see how this goes! My sister is also selling stuff for me on Craigslist, but lets see if I actually get to see any of this money.
Family: My sister wants to move in. I told my sister I would charge her $200 a month, but my plan is to just keep all of this money saved in a separate account and then give it to her when she eventually moves out (if she ever even moves in) and then she will have a lot saved for her very own emergency fund. I definitely don’t want to make any money off my little sister, especially since she’s been through so much already.
Budget Cutting: Just like last week, I didn’t find too much that I could cut this week. We’ve definitely been saving money by not eating out and our lazy weekend helped us save money also.
Shopping: I went shopping (like I said above), but I didn’t spend a lot. After the return I had, I only spent $32. I bought a dress, a button up, a v-neck, some lady things and socks. Not bad, not bad. This is all I really plan on buying for awhile.
How’s everything going for you?
yum, the food looks wonderful! i like strawberries in my salad too, but what kind of dressing do you normally use that mixes with them? i have tried vinegar & oil.and yes, i do live in the st. louis area (:
I just use a balsamic dressing. It's tasty! In the above picture I used Italian though, and that's good too.
Sounds like you had a good week! That food made me drool.
I like how you followed up on your list and explained what you did and did not do. Oh, when I was in school, I use to count down the weeks of the semester too. 🙂
How is it that you are a secret shopping. That is something I have always wanted to do. I have been trying to save but so far it isn't going very well. xo
I use Bestmark.comCheck them out!
I'd love to hear how your eBay selling goes. I've sold some things in the past but not lately. There are several things that I need right now and I think selling some things I don't use would totally help make some money.
You are awesome! Doesn't it feel great to accomplish your mini goals?! Great work on the meals, they all look so delicious!Sam
good looking food!
I would do the same for my sister too. I really wish she was older so we could live together but she just turned 12. I wanted to start an investment account for her and also my little bro. It's something I wished my mom did for me.
My sister moved in with us the first year or so we were married. And she drove us crazy!!!!!
Good luck with your sister… That's a tough call, but I think obviously your mom has a lot of issues to work through. You're doing great this month! 🙂
All that food made me soo hungry! I have always wanted to do secret shopping, but never knew how to start. Do you have any advice?
come join the valentines swap
Great looking food, I have done a lot of upholstery work, but I found a really cute chair for the bedroom at Ross. It was cheaper and already done. So check there and also TJ Max. They have cute inexpensive furniture. It won't last forever, but this is for a closet? Dressing area? So it would take the heat so to speak.
I'm just looking for something really cheap for my closet.
I also love to dip strawberries in sugar! Though I am trying to wean myself from that. And even more–I love your idea about your sister. If she moves in, it would be great to get/keep her in the habit of paying rent; but to have that nest egg on moving out is priceless. My husband's family did that will all their kids–if they moved home after college, they had a nominal rent to pay and then got it all back as down payment or first/last month's rent when they left again. It was a huge help!
Your food looks delicious!! Yum! And I totally did weekly count until the end of a semester when my Hubby was still in school!
what a sweet idea for the rent from your sister. whatever you decide about her moving in, already sounds like she's lucky to have you!
Yuuummm 🙂