Beyond 30 - Books 31 and 33: Sherlock Style!

As I mentioned, I have been pretty excited about Sherlock Holmes lately. All thanks to the BBC Series, Sherlock, of course. Plus a little bit of CBS' Elementary.

So when I happened upon free versions of all of the stories and novels by Arthur Conan Doyle on the Kindle Free Classics from Amazon, I jumped right in. Nothing like a free e-book!

Initially, I wasn't reading them in order, so I started with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Mainly because I found it first. But also because it has some of the stories that the BBC series used as a foundation for their modern spinoff.

Each of the stories was pretty short, looking at a different case of Sherlock Holmes, as told from the eyes of Dr. John Watson, his dutiful sidekick. The first of the series is A Scandal in Bohemia, which is the readers only interaction with the infamous Irene Adler. Some of my other favorites from these stories included A Case of Identity, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, and The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor (I've heard they may use this one in the third installment of the Sherlock mini-series).

Then I decided to go back to the beginning, starting with the first novel, A Study in Scarlet. This is the initial story where Holmes and Watson first meet and become roommates. It is also the story of some mysterious murders, with a twist involving Mormonism. The Sherlock BBC series used this for their first episode, A Study in Pink, which used a very loose adaptation. Overall, a pretty good story.

Anyone else a fan of Sherlock Holmes? Which is your favorite movie/tv adaptation?

Thriving in 2013: Money Matters

Have you heard of The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin? I am reading it right now and it is pretty great. She took a year to focus on adding more happy into her life, keying in on a different area each month. I have taken so much from this book that relates to my theme for this year to thrive.

One of the areas that I seek to thrive in in 2013 (and beyond) is money. I have shared some of my financial woes before, and I am not afraid to be honest about my good decisions and my bad ones. Money is an area that is never really very happy, but a whole lot of stressful. I want to change that.

Last fall, I paid my last major tuition bill. I will still have fees to pay over the next few semesters until I finish my dissertation, but not like what I have had for a regular semester. While I rejoiced at that, it also brings the reality that I will have to begin paying back student loans very soon. And I have quite the pile of them between these last two degrees.

Rather than pretending it's not there and that it's not coming quickly, I am trying to get out ahead of my loans. First, by eliminating the last tiny bit of my credit card debt that I have been working vigorously to pay off, and which should be gone before spring hits. And then, by throwing as much money as I can at my loans now, to hopefully reduce some of the interest payments later, and my overall payoff amount. This is one dragon that I'd rather slay head on, rather than waiting for it to come find me. Because I won't truly be thriving financially until this dude stops breathing fire down my back. 

So my year of "thriving" might actually look a little bit like the opposite in terms of "stuff". Spending less now so that I have more to spend down the road. Not that making some changes, wouldn't be a good thing anyway. I have definitely made some progress in my spending and saving habits and thought I'd share a few of my strategies. 

1. Figure out those items that I'd just prefer not to spend money on. And cut 'em. 

There are things I just don't need, that I have eliminated already (for the most part). Cable. Manis/pedis. Magazine subscriptions.  

2. Creating and actually using a monthly budget.

This has been a hard task, but an important one. My "budgeting" technique in the past has been to open my account and make sure it still has money in it before spending. Not exactly the best technique. For the past couple of months, I am working on an actual written budget for each month, with regular tracking. It takes time, but it's worth it.

3. Asking for gifts based on need, rather than want. 
I shared my excitement for our washer/dryer, which has made a world of a difference in our lives, and has helped us to save some money already. I have typically been more inclined to ask for Christmas and birthday presents that meet a need. Whether it has been a new winter coat, or most recently, a pair of new suitcases, I always love receiving something that I need. Nothing too flashy. My grandma stocked me up this year with all of the black dress socks that I will need for work for the next several years! And I can't even remember the last time I have bought my own pajamas. Thanks Mom!

4. Cutting food costs. 

Since I started the monthly meal planning, we have definitely gone out to dinner a lot less. Not only have we done less "lazy" eating out - those nights where it is unplanned, that you just don't feel like cooking dinner, but I have also been much better about taking my lunch. I can still reign in our grocery budget a bit by being more mindful about our grocery planning and using coupons.

Things that I still need to work on:

1. Cutting the coffee.

I have done much better with this during January and February. Even though I typically buy regular coffee rather than fancy lattes, it still adds up to get one every day. For awhile, I was trying to bring in my coffee from home, but I then developed a collection of travel mugs at the office that never made it home. So instead, I bought a coffee pot to keep in our office at work, and will make coffee there in the mornings. 

2. Accounting for non-monthly expenses in said budget. 

You know those things like car repairs, airline tickets for vacation, Christmas presents, etc. I often let those sneak up on me. And it would be a whole lot easier to put aside $10-50 a month, than have to pull them all out in the same month. So starting in February, they are being included in my monthly budget, and taken out on pay day to be put in a separate account. So I don't "accidentally" spend it. Better to have a more realistic plan at the beginning of the month.

3. Not buying on impulse, but allowing myself to spend. 
This will always be a hard one. I have a track record of being good about not spending any money for awhile, and then splurging all at once. Not a good habit. I think I will actually be much better off if I allow myself to spend more normally.

So that's the plan! I'll keep you posted. And stay tuned for more on The Happiness Project. Hoping to finish it this week!

    

February Food

So January is over, huh! It's been a whirlwind. And quite the cold one, brr. Hot chocolate = best friend.

I think I made about half of the meals I planned, which is honestly better than some past months. We actually didn't eat out that much, but some nights just found something we had at home. I still believe that a bowl of cereal is a fantastic dinner.

My reviews: The jambalaya, risotto, pulled pork, red beans & rice, and chili were all delicious! If you try to make a marinated chicken - don't use a George Foreman grill. Major mess to clean up. Not fun. 

This month I learned something big:

Planning a meal for every day is too many. With only two of us, we sometimes end up with more leftovers than we want to eat. Which means more waste than I'd like. And planning one for every day can get costly, especially if they involve meat. I found that I blew through our grocery budget within the first few weeks, then threw together meals off the plan towards the end, which meant lots of spaghetti/sauce and frozen pizza, and pulling old stuff out of the freezer (which is definitely not a bad thing). I don't always stick exactly to the plan anyway, but definitely want to spread out the good ones. And honestly, as a working professional, I am finding it is a little too ambitious to try to cook every night. I just don't want to. I want some tv time too.

So for this month, I am only going to plan 3-4 meals a week, and allow for more flexibility. On those days that we don't cook something off the list, we will have some built in standbys, either in the freezer or easy to throw together. And I will probably plan for a few less meals with meat each week, maybe one beef, one chicken, one pasta, and one wild card. If one can be a slow cooker meal, that will save some time too. It also leaves room to put in Family Dinners (which we do some weeks and not others), and a meal out every once in awhile. 

So here is the modified plan for February:

Week One
Pioneer Woman's Sunday Night Stew
Gnocchi in a Tomato Broth (I'll use gnocchi we have on hand...not making from scratch)
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken

Week Two
Pioneer Woman's Perfect Potato Soup (without the bacon, of course)
Swedish Meatballs
Hummus Crusted Chicken Breast
Slow Cooker Brats

Week Three
Pioneer Woman's Baked Ziti

Chicken and Lime Soup
Cheesy Quinoa Mac and Cheese

Week Four
Maid Rites (Iowa loose meat sandwiches) - I've missed these!
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Salad

It will be nice to try this out with a short month! To prep, I am also thinking we can do the following:

• Cook and freeze taco meat into two-serving portions.
• Bake lasagna in bread loaf pans and freeze.
• Keep baked potatoes on hand, with some possible toppings.

Have you cooked anything delicious lately?