happy august! i know we are a couple of days in, but i wanted to share some of what i want to accomplish for august. i have only a few intentions this month, but they are pretty lofty, so i am using this space to hold myself accountable. the underlying theme to all of these intentions for august is that i’d like to get a little crisper on my finances, since i now have two babes in daycare and am back to work [think: parking + driving expenses], so you’ll notice that all of these help *hopefully* curb some frivolous spending.
bring my lunch 3+ days per week
i got pretty good at this towards the end of my pregnancy, but sometimes it’s just to convenient to grab a salad downtown instead of taking the time to prep something and then bring it in. i started grabbing a few pre-packaged salads from trader joe’s, since they are half the price of the salad places in the skyway, for the days i didn’t make anything the night before. since i spend a lot of my day finding a few minutes here and there to pump, it also saves me a ton of time not having to run out and grab lunch.
meal + snack plan
i do 90% of the grocery shopping for our household, so i always know what’s around to eat. joey, on the other hand, doesn’t really know what we have around, so my goal is to not only leave him with a list of what i think we should have for dinner, but the snacks we have on hand for logan/him/guests. we have enough people drop in that it’s helpful to know that we have fresh salsa for a little chips and salsa action.
try one new recipe per week
i get stuck in ruts when it comes to what i like, so i want to try to branch out and add more to my recipe repertoire. i’m not talking full on meals, but a new type of side salad or #fab4smoothie can help shake things up. any good websites or recipe books i should be reading? i frequent skinnytaste for healthy meals for my fam, but where else should i be looking? [check out my pinterest board for recipes here]
shop my own closet – no buy august
this one i am SUPER scared and excited to try. i usually will pick up a few things here, some there, and it adds up. i rarely will go on a major shopping spree, but i am a habitual “i can always return it”-er, and while i’m usually pretty good about returning things, i want to see if i can make it a whole month without buying any new clothes for myself.
more than that, i’m excited to be able to wear a lot of clothes i haven’t been able to wear in a year, so my closet seems a little fresher and more exciting. i need to be more intentional about wearing things that i already own instead of filling in gaps with a new belt/top/jacket that i know i can find pretty easily. i’ve also decided that since we are headed into fall, evaluating what i really love in my closet at the end of this month will be a great way to get rid of things that don’t bring me joy [what’s up, marie kondo] and know what pieces are going to have a home in my closet for a long time.
i love love love the feeling of heading into fall and a new season. i was that nerd that looked forward to going back to school, so it makes sense that this time of year is one of my favorites [almost as great as christmas, but nothing compares to the holidays!]. the idea of getting really tight on my grocery + clothing spending makes me excited [nerd alert] and i’m hoping that i will have good things to report after labor day. thanks for following along!