Frugal Friday: Saving money when without home

Happy Frugal Friday! I am about to hit the hay because I have to wake up early for another traveling adventure. This time?

(source)

Boston!

I haven’t been there since I was 11 years old and can’t wait to experience it as an adult. I’m taking the train up there so I’m sure that will be an experience itself and am intrigued by the whole train business. I haven’t been on am Amtrak train since I was in fifth grade when we went up to DC for the safety patrol field trip. I can’t wait to people watch but don’t think there will be as many skeezers on it than a bus. Stayed tuned for tons of pics and blogger meetup details!

As many of you know, I’m still living the vagabond lifestyle and much to my surprise, I haven’t been spending a lot of money. We’ve been eating out but not as much as I thought we were going to. If not eating out, I’ve been having leftovers at home (AKA Neyals house) or eating meals at home. Neyal likes to go out to eat but she is all about saving money and calories as well so we have been doing one meal at home and then go out for one each day if we don’t eat both meals at home.

Leftover chicken verde stew

Ropa Vieja made in the crockpot

Neyal’s garden is sick. But in a good way! She has a ton of vegetables growing right there in her backyard which saves her money on produce, especially in the summertime. Right now she has tons of peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, basil, parsley and more.

Check out these zucchinis!

Matilda took a liking to the big zucchini right away

I stopped by Trader Joe’s the other day after reading about Stephanie’s love for Joe.

I tried the tortellini bowl for lunch the other day and it was wonderful! It is pretty much the same as Amy’s Pesto Bowl. I usually have to add protein or some kind of space to kick up a frozen meal but this didn’t need anything additional.

 

When we went to the thrift store the other day, they had a ridiculous music selection. Not just cd’s, they also has cassette tapes, records and I saw an eight track! They cd’s were only $1 each so I grabbed some for all the road trips ahead of me. Apparently  I was trying to go back to my college days.

And yes, I did buy the Baha Men cd. One can never get enough Who Let The Dogs Out. Plus, there could be other hidden gems on there!

We went to 7-11 on 7-11 for a free 7.11 oz slurpee.

I’ve collected a bunch of reusable shopping bags at different events throughout the years. Instead of using them for shopping only, I use them day to day as well.

My Vitamin Water bag doubles as both a gym bag and a beach bag for me . It smells really interesting.

And my Food Lion bag used to be used for grocery shopping but now it’s used strictly for groceries. I cleaned out my cupboards when I left my apartment in Charlotte and the remainder was snack foods so why not take it on the road with me?

Instead of going out for fro yo, we made spinach ice cream the other night. I’ve made spinach smoothies but never spinach ice cream so I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. Neyal got the recipe from Costco magazine, I couldn’t find it anywhere online but I found this recipe for it which uses the same ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We followed the directions to a T but it still came out more like a smoothie than ice cream. It was good though,thanks to the agave nectar.

Totally not Frugal Friday related but has anyone else heard about the new Style Network show Big Rich Texas???

It’s supposed to be like Real Housewives but only saucier and cattier—can’t wait!

How have you saved money this week?

Do you grow your own vegetables or herbs?

Did you get your free Slurpee on 7/11?

I ride solo

Today started out well despite it being 100% humidity outside. Don’t hold me to that though, I don’t know if that is a fact but it sure as hell feels like it. Scratch that, it just feels like hell but with humidity. Living in Phoenix was bad enough since in the summertime it felt like you were stepping into an oven anytime you walked outside. But at least there you didn’t sweat it out like you do in Charlotte. I give up doing my hair in the summer months and have been skimping on the makeup as well. I figure what’s the point? I’m going to sweat it off and I’m looking to meet a man in the next four days (because with my luck right when I’m moving I will meet the love of my life) so why not let my natural beauty glow? Or why don’t I just glow? Another thing that was great about Arizona with it’s lack of humidity was how my hair looked. And yes, vanity reasons are valid reasons when choosing a place to live. I grew up in Florida most of my youth so the frizzy mess that was my hair was the only way I knew it could be…..until Arizona. No frizzy, hot, wild mess. My curls would hold and wouldn’t fall flat after five minutes of being outside. Sigh, those were the days.

Oh yeah, back to today.

I ran a bunch of errands and hit up DD for breakfast.

Still not diggin the new flatbread and still haven’t wrote a letter stating my opinion. Maybe one of these days I will get to it.

When I got home, I went to town on my kitchen. I cleaned the oven as well as I could but there is still some grit showing in it and on the burners. I cleaned it yesterday as well and thought I would try again but didn’t make much progress. I cleaned my fridge and bathroom as well. I picked up some Mr. Clean Magic Erase things at Target this morning and got some scuffs off the walls. I wish Mr. Clean were a babe, he is hot and he is a man of his word—the magic erase worked!

I had a Groupon for Luna’s Living Kitchen to burn through. I’ve only been there once before and that was for breakfast so I was interested to see if their lunch would be better.

Since the Groupon was for $10, I looked at their menu ahead of time and had the game plan of getting the hummus plate and a smoothie. They have an awesome, unique selection of raw, organic and locally grown food that you won’t find at many other establishments in Charlotte. I love that. What I don’t love is the pricetag it comes with. Some of their lunch items are $11 or $12 and that just doesn’t work for a girl on a budget. Thank you Groupon for making it happen.

I sat outside and the server asked if I had been there since they changed their menu. I don’t know when that was so I told her no and she mentioned they added some quinoa burgers to the menu. Hmmm, I like quinoa. I like burgers. And god knows a hummus plate probably wouldn’t hold me over until dinner. I ordered the Fire & Brimstone Quinoa Burger topped with chipotle hummus, salsa verde, veggies and hot sauce.

Not gonna lie, I didn’t want to bite into it because it was so beautiful. A+ for presentation. I love pretty foods and appreciate when restaurants take time to work on presentation but taste is definitely more important. The burger didn’t’;t hold too well together and the salsa verde didn’t appear or taste to be salsa verde at all, it was more guacamole like. Nothing wrong with that!

I ate every last bite of it and even though I am a frugal girl, I would go back here again for this burger alone. If you are in Charlotte or ever in Charlotte, I definitely suggest this place. And the patio is dog friendly as well!

I had to get back home soon after since Salvation Army was coming over to pick up the last of my things. I went from this

to this

It’s very depressing and the only piece of furniture in my house is my mattress. I tried to donate it but they won’t take used mattresses. I tried to plea with them that it hasn’t sewen a lot of action and is in great shape but no dice. I guess it’s against the law to sell used beds in North Carolina?

Once they were gone, I packed my packs and went to the Y. I really wasn’t in the mood to workout. My legs were still a little sore from yesterday and just felt blah and icky from the heat. I did 8 minutes on the elliptical then got restless. I found a recumbent bike with a working tv and what do you know, Sex and The City was just starting so that’s how I killed 30 minutes of cardio.

Knocking that out plus watching a great episode, the one where Carrie and Aidan meet, left me in a good mood.

(source)

I just love them together. I wish SATC could be on forever and ever! Which reminds me, I need to backup my computer!

I brought my bathing suit with me and went into the whirlpool. And that’s when the weird stuff happened. I was the only one in there but it felt so good to stretch out and soak, I was moaning and may have screamed out “dirty bitches”  a few times because I was in seventh heaven. Mind you, I don’t have a bathtub just a standup shower so now when I get into a tub or whirlpool, it feels crazy good. I wasn’t being dirty or anything but 31 years is starting to take a toll on my muscles and it felt wonderful to ease the pain away. I was totally that girl in the whirlpool.

I showered, changed and then plopped down with a diet coke and some crackers and enjoyed the free wifi the YMCA offers to members.

Seriously, check out this lounge area, it reminds me of a cruise ship All they need is Isaac in the corner to make some umbrella clad drinks! I miss you, Love Boat.

I stayed there for a couple of hours then I went to Just Fresh since I had a coupon for a free sandwich or salad.

I definitely wanted to use this up before I left since it’s free. The best part is I didn’t even have to purchase the sandwiches or salads to get this car—my old neighbor left it in my mailbox when she was moving out!

I ordered the Mozzabella Salad-mixed greens, fresh mozzarella cheese, roasted portabellas, red peppers, tomatoes, pecans and balsamic vinegar dressing. The salad hit the spot-my only complaint was that it was drenched in dressing. I would order on the side next time.

Since I’m officially a country song-I have no job, no dog and no furniture, I may as well spent the rest of the night at the YMCA hanging out and maybe working out again, yes?

Do you do things solo? As you can see I have no issue going to eat by myself, go to bars by myself and have traveled to Vegas by myself among other cities. Last night when I was complaining to my friend about how bored I was, she suggested going to a movie. I’ve never been to a movie by myself before and it just seems weird to go alone, even though you won’t be talking to anyone. Who knows.

 

PS-And thanks to everyone for dealing with my incessant I-miss-Lincoln ramblings, I haven’t been myself the past few days and it’s all because of his absence. I can’t wait to see him next month!

Case of The Ex

I really don’t check Facebook too often anymore. However last night, I was on there checking some messages that I missed from friends in Florida about hanging out this past weekend. Luckily, no one could make it out on any of the nights someone else was free so I don’t feel too bad about not being able to get together since I was being all emo this weekend. But when responding to a message, I saw the little friend suggestion tab to the right suggesting friends for me. I looked at a few of the names and had no clue who they were (why do you do this to me Facebook??) But then I saw a name I did recognize…..my ex boyfriend from college.

Naturally, I had to look at his page. He was always one of those ones that I would think about every now and then and wonder what ever happened to him. I looked him up on Facebook a few times but from what it looks like, he just joined.

And you know what?

Homeboy slice looks goooooood!

and

He’s a chef!

Hello dream man!

I tried to stalk his facebook page as much as I could but it wouldn’t let me see any other pictures of him and no info if he is married or not. Usually, I would call a friend and freak out over this like I am 16 years old and contemplate if I should request his friendship or not. But being 11:30 pm and all, it wasn’t too feasible. So I directed my mouse over to the box to request as a friend, closed my eyes and clicked. The worst he can do is deny my friendship, yes?

But then I started thinking about why we broke up and remembered some not so good stuff. Like Valentine’s Day 2002 I believe. We had plans to go out so I got ready and waited. I watched all of my sorority sisters getting picked up my their boyfriends while sitting on the couch. So I waited…..and waited….and waited. And nothing. I remember watching some teenage flick like 10 Things I Hate About You. Then one of my sorority sisters found a Popple he gave to me as a Christmas gift —you guys remember the Popples or am I the only child of the 80’s?

And this is what we did with said Popple.

We hung it from my window with a sign that said “Die Bitch Die” (I used to be a tad bitchier and bitter towards the world, you know since I was a 22-year-old sorority girl with so many issues) and then we opened the drapes of my window which faced towards campus so anyone who passed the house could see it.

Girl Power!

Other than that, today was a lax day. All because I didn’t go to work. I am going to be honest, I just didn’t have it in me. I have sick days that don’t roll over each year so I figure why not take one today, go in tomorrow and catch up, then have Friday off then start anew next week/year all refreshed and all that happy BS? Fear not, I didn’t just sit around and cuddle with the pup. I took a shower, packed up my car with stuff I’m donating to Salvation Army that I need to drop off by 12/31 so I could write it off and then headed to Panera.

I had a free birthday coupon treat from Panera’s My Panera Rewards Club. It said it was for any sweet or pastry but I am *trying* to be more mindful about what’s going in my bod so I asked the cashier if I could get one of their souffle’s and she said it didn’t count. I asked her if they could take off some and I could pay the difference because even though something is free and I wanted to redeem it, I shouldn’t feel forced to order something that is loaded with sugar (yes, I am that girl who will justify my reasonings to the cashier) and she whispered “I agree with you, we’ll get you the souffle for free”. It never hurts to ask or speak up!

I was going to order the spinach and bacon souffle but after reading Nic’s piggy post, which made me cry, I opted for the spinach and artichoke souffle.

I would have never thought to order a souffle before, it really doesn’t sound too appealing to me. But this? Effin fantastic! I know I shouldn’t use the effin to describe something but it had a soft and gooey center that just melted in my mouth. I got a large coffee with that and parked my butt at Panera for four hours, took advantage of their free Wi-fi (until my fully charged computer was dead thank you), people watched, applied for jobs, caught up on blogs, etc. I think by the time I was out the door, I applied for 31 jobs in the Charlotte area ranging from marketing positions (many which seemed to be dressing up as Lady Liberty or Uncle Sam for tax companies) to non-profit organizations (what my degree in Journalism/ Public Relations was focused on).  It was a perfect morning.

I got home and hung out with this one for the rest of the afternoon, cleaned and just tried to get back into the swing of things

“What’s Lincoln looking at?” you ask (without the preposition at the end of the sentence of course, I am just too lazy to change it)

He was watching the ASPCA commercial with them playing Willie Nelson “You were always on my mind” I shit you not. While watching him, I told he is a lucky dog since he isn’t one of those abandoned or abused animals. Those commercials seriously break my heart….especially the newer ones with no music but they tell you the animal’s name with depressing captions such as “Left to die and dying of a broken heart”. Makes me cry, every single time.

As for the ex-he accepted my friend request. Now I feel like a creeper, I don’t even want to look at his fb page because I feel like if I do, he can actually see me or something. So I’m crouching my shoulders down and wincing when I look at his page to see what the deal is with him. Hello, I am 16 again………..

I Deserve It

 So, it’s October. And I somehow forgot what happens to me every October: I get sick. For the past four or five years, I’ve either had strep, bronchitis, the flu, swine flu (last year which was so much fun) and this year who knows. I’ve had a terrible headache since Monday and just felt bleh. Today was no exception so let’s hope this is a quick, passing thing so I can be on my A game next week.

Even though I was feeling crappy, my appetite was still in check this morning. I had a little extra time to get ready since I was dropping Lincoln off to get groomed and go to doggie daycare. I toyed with the idea of making an omelet but that hasn’t turned out well the past few times I’ve attempted. All the scrambled eggs you’ve been seeing lately? Yeah, originally were to be omelets but the pan gods had other plans. I went with making a scrambled egg wrap with mushrooms, green onions with  a Laughing Cow Sun Dried Tomato wedge on a whole wheat wrap.

When I got into work, one of my coworkers saw I was looking a bit rough and handed me a Venti Chai Skim Latte. She ordered one at the Bucks downstairs but they got her order wrong so she took the messed up one as well. It was fabulous. I’ve only had a chai latte once and wasn’t too impressed. But this bad boy was good…..and there was no sweetener in it but it was almost too sweet for me. That didn’t stop me from gulping it down though. You hand me a free $4 drink and I will down it no matter what it is (Jager excluded, this girl had too much of that in college)

I brought lunch with me but was really in the mood for soup. When I’m sick, my comfort food is wontons and hot and sour soup. I really don’t need wontons and wasn’t too hungry so I walked to the Chinese restaurant downstairs to pick up some soup. It was only $2.40 for a to go bowl and that means free containers for later use.

AND I got a rockin’ fortune–that never happens!

I do deserve it.  I deserve a lot. I work my butt off each week and a good person. I think this is total justification to go shopping this weekend for clothes for my new job, yes?

I wanted to share some link love with you all…..

Has anyone seen that Jillian Michaels is putting out a Kettlebell DVD? I love my kettlebell and can’t recommend it enough but if you read the LA Times article you will see all that is wrong with this. And if you check out this post on Girl Heroes, you will see even more what’s wrong with it including a clip of the dvd with bad form (and Jenn is RKC certified so she knows a little something about kettlebell form)
  
 In news of the obvious, USA Today reports that if you eat less, move more and lift weights, you can beat obesity! Can I get a duh?
 
 If you’re curious, as to 5 Greatest Cosby Sweaters of All Time are, click here The WTF? is my favorite.

By the time I got home, I was famished. I made chicken and mushroom quesadillas on a spinach wrap and quinoa salad with zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, green onion with a Laughing Cow wedge

And Lincoln? Well, Lincoln looks adorable.I wish he would lift his head up so I could take a proper picture of him while he sports his colorful scarf. He is absolutely exhausted from getting groomed then being at doggie daycare all day and I love it. He is usually right by my side and often tried to blog and leave comments so it’s a welcome break being able to type with two hands as opposed to one (while the other rubs his belly)

And he has no tail anymore 😦 His tail usually looks like a fan and I think it gave him personality but now we have to work with this little thing

He looks so cute, I think I shall go snuggle with him.

On an end note, thanks everyone for your kind words on my last post and the way I’m feeling. It felt so good to ponder the subject, write it down and put it out there. I am going to change the way things have been and I will get back to my normal self. Once again, I deserve it. It’s nice to have a self support system like you ladies (especially when some of you all know where I’m coming from) and I truly appreciate each and every comment. Hope y’all are getting your hump on!!! Cmon, I couldn’t keep it too sentimental for too long, that’s just not my style! 🙂