I know, I know. I’ve been talking about my post-wedding, office job weight gain for months now. You’d think I’d have done something about it by now. Sigh.

Unfortunately, despite my attempts to eat healthier and get in shape, I’ve failed pretty miserably. I don’t have the guts to weigh myself after a week and a half of holiday overeating, but I’m sure if I did I’d be 10-15 pounds heavier than I was on my wedding day just 7 months ago.

In the spirit of the new year (who doesn’t vow to get healthier every New Year?), I’ve decided to really do it this time. Seriously. Don’t laugh.

I take full responsibility for my own laziness and poor eating habits, but part of my problem in the last six months has been the gym in my apartment complex. I was excited to use the facilities for free (what frugal exerciser wouldn’t love a free gym?). Unfortunately, it’s a tiny room with only a tread mill, stationary bike, and weight machine.

Too often I returned home from work, changed into my workout clothes, and forced myself to go to the gym (getting there is the hardest part for me). When I arrived, I discovered that all of the machines were in use. Some nights I returned 3 or 4 times to find the machines in use by different people before finally giving up.

I’ve made the decision to use some Christmas gift money to join a proper gym.

I’ve found a gym close to my house that allows month-to-month membership fee payment. It costs $15 a month plus a one-time setup fee of $40. If I choose this membership option, I can cancel my membership at any time with no fees.

The other option I’m considering requires a 12-month commitment. I’m hesitant to do this, because even though I have the best of intentions, I don’t want to end up paying a monthly fee for a membership I’m not using. However, the monthly fee is only $5 more per month, and the 12-month commitment carries with it unlimited guest privileges. That means Tony would have access to the gym, too, for just $5 more per month.

I did the math, and if I kept the membership for a full year paying month to month, it would cost $219 for the year. The 12-month membership with guest privileges would end up costing me $268 for the year.

I really don’t like the mindset that many people have when it comes to gym memberships (”If I’m paying for it, then I’ll HAVE to use it”). I find that it almost never works that way. People continue to pay every month even though they never use the gym.

However, I really like the idea of having the option to bring Tony with me to the gym if he wants to work out. If we went together for only 6 months, the rest of the year would pay for itself in the amount we saved. I also think I’d be more likely to stick to it not because I’m paying for it, but because Tony and I would be doing it together.

What do you think? Should I stick with the month-to-month dues or commit for a full year and risk paying for a membership I don’t use?

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After replenishing our freezer and pantry, our grand total was way over budget - about $85. Yikes! But with all the meat and several items like coffee and cheese that we buy in bulk each month, I’m not too worried about it.

For almost two weeks we’ve been eating holiday foods and restaurant meals while traveling (including an entire day of fast food yesterday as we drove 14 hours in one day — yuck!). We’re both really looking forward to getting back into the kitchen to cook some healthy homemade meals.

Here’s our first menu plan of 2009:

Sunday: Roasted chicken and red potatoes (We’ll make chicken stock with the leftovers.)
Monday: Chicken quesadillas
Tuesday: Chicken fajita tortilla soup
Wednesday: Chef’s salad
Thursday: Bean and cheese burritos
Friday: Homemade sushi (more on that later )

Now head over to OrgJunkie for more menu plans!

Related posts:

1. Menu Plan Monday & Grocery Round Up: 10/11-10/17
2. Menu Plan & Grocery Round Up: 9/27-10/3
3. Menu Plan & Grocery Round Up - 11/15-11/21

As much as I loved seeing everyone, the best part of our trip was the time we spent together. We spent a total of 34 hours in the car together driving. It was plenty of time to talk about our priorities, our goals, and what we hope to achieve in the coming year(s).

I hadn’t realized it, but the regular hustle and  bustle of daily life was leaving us very little time to talk to one another, reconnect, and make plans. We’ve only been married 7 months, but we’d already fallen into a routine that didn’t include much time for philosophical heart to hearts.

If you haven’t done it in a while, I really suggest spending some time with your spouse, one on one with no distractions, to talk about your plans, goals, and future together. If you have a date night coming up, spend it in a quiet place talking instead of at a movie or a loud restaurant.

It’s so easy to get caught up in talking about day-to-day life — jobs, kids, bills, etc. Tony and I like to occasionally have conversations like the ones we had in our first months as a couple when we had few responsibilities — long, windy philosophical discussions about our relationship, the future, and other things we don’t get a chance to discuss during the busy work week. These conversations help us look beyond what’s happening in our current daily lives, set new goals, keep us working toward achieving them, and leave us feeling like two teenagers in love with a world of possibilities ahead of us.

We talked about our careers, our finances, and our plans for after he graduates in 18 months. It was a lot of fun, and now we’re starting the new year with a renewed sense of purpose and a clear path to achieve our goals.

With just 18 short months until the next chapter of our lives, we’re deciding now where life will take us next. Hopefully there are big changes ahead. Don’t you just love the new year?

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1. Resolutions for another frugal year
2. Merry Christmas!
3. Credit crunch hits close to home

In the interest of keeping myself honest, here’s what I hope to accomplish in the coming year:

• Finish building our 6-month emergency fund. We’re a third of the way there now, but I hope to finish it by the end of the year.

• Spend less than our budget. We’re doing a lot better than we used to, but we continue to go over budget by $50-$100 every month. Technically we’re not spending more than we make because we save at least $300 a month, but we’re cutting down our actual net savings by going over budget each month.

• Make a dent in our student loan debt. Now that we’re credit card debt free, I want to really crack down on our spending and send every extra penny to our student loans so we can be completely debt free sooner.

• Learn more at my job and grow my skill set. Someday when we have children, I’d like to work from home, so it’s important that I learn as much as I can now to build my credentials and qualifications.

• Enjoy the present, and try to stop looking ahead to the next big thing. This is a constant work in progress for me. Planning ahead is essential to reaching long term goals, but sometimes my constant planning makes me lose sight of the present. I need to find a balance between appreciating what’s now and planning for the future.

What are your resolutions for the new year?

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1. Starting the new year credit card free!
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I’ve learned much more than I can confine to this post (you’ll have to head into my archives for some of the highlights). But here’s the big stuff I’ve learned in the past 12 months.

Budgets aren’t limiting — they’re freeing.

Before I started budgeting, I felt guilty about every extra penny I spent and stressed that I wouldn’t be able to cover the necessities. Now I know exactly what I can afford to spend, and I know what I need to leave for the necessities and savings. A little money goes a lot further when you budget.

We need much less money to live comfortably than I thought.

Before we moved here, our combined income was almost twice what it is now. But we always felt broke because we were blowing our money on restaurants and unnecessary purchases. I couldn’t imagine living on our current income then.

With a little discipline, though, we’re able to live a richer life on half the money. We still do all of the same things we used to enjoy (like movies, eating out, and books), we just enjoy them less frequently or find frugal ways to enjoy them for little or no money. Now we have money leftover for savings and debt repayment.

We actually “need” very few things.

Our ideas of needs and wants were severely out of whack before we started living frugally. Now we know that we don’t need two cars; we don’t need to own a house; we don’t need new clothes every other month. All we really need is each other, healthy food on the table, and a warm place to sleep. Once we recognized the difference between needs and wants, we were able to set priorities so we could still enjoy some of our wants without interfering with our long term goals.

Realizing how little we actually need also gives me great peace, especially in this economy. By eliminating extra wants, we could cut our monthly spending in half in the event of a financial emergency.

Stress free finances are the greatest luxury of all.

There was a time when I thought skipping weekly meals out and entertainment spending would mean getting less enjoyment out of life. Boy, was I wrong. I enjoy life so much more now that we’ve cut those things out, because I no longer feel stressed and scared about my finances.

It’s been a fantastic year, and I’m anxiously looking ahead to next year’s challenges and successes. I hope to learn even more!

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As much as I love the holidays, I breathe a sigh of relief when Christmas is over. This year I managed to escape the pressure to spend a ton of money on gifts and entertaining. Instead, I found frugal alternatives to extravagant shopping to show the people I love that I care.

Now comes the pressure of New Year’s Eve.

The older I get, the less pressure I feel. But there was a time when all of my friends were heading out to fancy, expensive parties to ring in the new year. All dressed up in new clothes, they’d drop $50 a person on tickets to these parties or head out for expensive nights on the town at fancy restaurants.

One year in college, Tony and I gave in to the pressure. We packed some party clothes and headed to the city with some friends. I have no idea what we spent after travel costs, hotel, food, and a night on the town, but I know it was a lot. The worst part was that we were pretty miserable the whole time. It was freezing, and every place in the city was charging $50-$100 just to walk in the door. We ended up going back to the hotel at 9 p.m. and watching the ball drop in our pajamas … something we easily could have done at home for free.

I know many of my readers will be celebrating the new year with young children this year, so you may not be feeling this pressure. If you are feeling pressure, though, my advice is to resist it!

Instead host a small get together or a movie night. You’ll have plenty of time to go out on the town in the coming year if that’s what you want to do — and you’ll spend a fraction of what you’d spend on New Year’s Eve.

Two years ago, Tony and I stayed home in our pajamas and enjoyed a 24-hour “Seinfeld” marathon. We made a lovely dinner, and toasted to the new year at midnight. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on New Year’s Eve, and it cost practically nothing.

What’s your favorite frugal New Year’s Eve activity?

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1. Preparing for a frugal holiday road trip
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I’m also going through a similar dilemma with my year-end bonus, so I can definitely relate. Please weigh in and help Bobbi make a decision about what to do with this money and how to start saving for retirement now.

First, I would like to say that I feel truly blessed to have a job in these hard times, much less to have received a “year end” bonus from my employer. Thank you Bob! Second, thank you to “Living Well on Less” for letting me guest post.  This is my first.

A little background: I am a mid-40 something woman with a grown daughter. I don’t spend more than I earn (anymore), and I work for a small business that has been in business for 10+ years. The business is doing pretty well in spite of this crazy economy (we are very versatile in what we do). However, I do not have a 401k or retirement at all so I am trying to build my own. I have no mortgage, so I am able to save every month.

My dilemma is what should I do with my bonus ($2,000) and I am hoping your readers can give me some advice. I am not an investor right now, but one of my goals for 2009 is to learn more. Right now I need to do something simple. These are the choices I am considering:

• ING savings account – 2.75%
• FNBO savings – 3.252%
• My Credit Union ‘daily interest’ account – 1.29% (daily)
• 24 mo CU CD – 4.69% (12/09 maturity date)
• IRA – Roth or standard - ?
• I have a credit card @ 0% interest until March with a balance of $1500.
• Car loan around $19,000

I don’t know much about Roth IRAs and I’m not even sure I can open one with this amount. I am leaning toward taking half and paying on the credit card and putting the other half in some sort of savings. I would love to hear what your readers would do or if they can give me more information on the IRAs.

Thank you and happy holidays to all!

I recommended that she pay off that credit card debt and start the new year with a clean slate! What do you think she should do? And can anyone give her some advice on the best way to save for retirement when you’re getting a bit of a late start?

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1. Tempted by the end-of-year bonus
2. Getting started …
3. Being frugal means being flexible

It’s no secret that there are usually a ton of sales this time of year. Stores that overstocked for the holidays are trying to make room for new inventory by dropping their prices.

However, I generally avoid big ticket items in the days after Christmas. Why? I’ve found that prices fall even further in the bleak retail month of February. You may see sales on big ticket items right after Christmas, but the prices are nowhere near rock bottom. Retailers are counting on post-Christmas shoppers with gift cards to spend.

If you’re planning on dropping a big chuck of change, even if it is holiday gift money you’re spending, do yourself a favor and wait a couple months.

Smaller electronics and appliances that were overstocked for Christmas like DVD players, computers, and small kitchen appliances are likely to have big discounts this week. If you’ve been in the market for these items, now may be the best time to buy. Make sure you do your homework, though. Just because the deal looks good doesn’t mean it’s the best deal out there.

And don’t forget, now is definitely the time to shop for the holidays next year. We didn’t buy any holiday decorations this year, because we bought them last year at drastically lower prices (about 75% off). Then we threw them into storage to use this Christmas.

Look for holiday decorations, greeting cards, scented candles, artificial trees if it’s time to replace yours, and other holiday items that retailers are practically giving away. Now is also the best time to pick up calendars for next year. But hurry! The best items never stay in stock for long after the holidays are over.

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1. Start your after Christmas shopping today
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I hope you’re all enjoying a safe and happy holiday. Now is the perfect time to take a step back and think about all the people and things that are truly important in your life.

Here’s what I’m thankful for this holiday season:

• Seven months of marriage to my wonderful husband, who will be with me every step of the way for the rest of our lives. He’s been incredibly supportive and willing to hop on board the frugal train from the beginning. I’m so thankful for our shared goals and his willingness to make sacrifices to help us reach them.

• My parents, my sisters, their husbands, and my healthy nieces and nephews. I don’t see them as much as I’d like, but I’m thankful for their well being and their presence in my life.

• My new in-laws who accepted me completely as part of their family long before it was ever official and have provided us with endless support and love.

• A job that I enjoy (most days) where I’m learning a million new things every day.

• An unexpected career in a field I didn’t know existed before I was hired at my job, but that I’m so excited to be a part of now.

• A steady paycheck that allows me to pay all of my bills on time, put food on the table, and save for the future.

• Frugality and budgeting. Without it, I would still be financially lost and overwhelmed with no goals and no plan.

• The people who read my blog. This blog has been such a huge part of our financial journey so far. I truly love blogging, and I’m thankful to the people who take the time to read it. Without you, I’d be talking to myself.

• The coming year and its endless possibilities.

I hope you’re all taking the time to count your blessings this holiday season. Merry Christmas!

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First I would like to thank Karen for letting me guest blog on her site over the holidays. I know that this has been a tough Christmas financially for lots of people this year. With all the doom and gloom out there about the economy, just about all of my friends and family are tightening the old belt over the holidays.

As Karen wrote in one of her previous posts, the holidays are supposed to be about being with your friends and loved ones and the wonderful memories that come from those times. In my family, it’s not Christmas without my Mom’s sticky buns. Both my sister and I are in our early 30s, and to be totally honest that’s all we really care about. I have no idea what I got for Christmas when I was 8, but I can tell you that we didn’t have sticky buns that year because Mom burned them.

While things are a bit tight for everyone this holiday season, please don’t pass up on to spending time with your friends and family because you think you can’t afford it. I have come up with a elegant dinner menu for 6 people that you should be able to do for under $30. Hopefully this helps you continue to have those wonderful memories and experiences over a great meal.

Dinner Menu

Roasted Pork Loin with an Apricot Glaze

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Onions

Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges and a Honey Mustard Dressing

Vanilla Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce

Sweet Potatoes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and cut 2 large sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Slice a half of a onion into roughly quarter inch slices. Toss the onion and sweet potatoes with salt and pepper, cumin, red chili powder, a dried herb of your choice (rosemary goes nicely). Place on a cookie sheet or roasting pan and put in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour until the sweet potatoes have finished cooking and are soft to the touch.

Pork Roast

Mix together a dry rub for your pork loin (about 3 lbs. roast) consisting of salt, pepper, dried oregano, and cumin (remember with cumin a little goes a long way!).

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat in a skillet (love to use my 12″ case iron pan for this). Place the spice rubbed pork loin in the skillet and brown on all sides.

Once it’s browned on all sides, place it in the oven for about an hour or until you have an internal temp of 150 degrees.

For the glaze, take about a half a cup of apricot jam (peach also works well), and heat it in the microwave or on the stovetop. After the pork has been in for 30 minutes, brush the pork with the jam. Repeat this again after you take the pork out of the oven. Once the pork is finished let it rest for 10 minutes before carving it.

Salad

For this salad I normally just get a bag of pre-washed baby spinach and a can of mandarin oranges in light syrup. For the dressing just whisk together Dijon mustard, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and honey.

Dessert

This is just a simple dessert. Pour a caramel sauce over a good quality vanilla ice cream. Feel free buy the sauce at the store or go ahead and make your own. It’s pretty easy.

Wine

I think that a Syrah would stand up nicely to the pork and fruit flavors of this dish. One of my favorite value Syrah blends is the 2006 Penfolds Kanooga Hill Shiraz/Cab blend. You can normally pick it up for about $7.99.

Check out Chris’s blog for more recipes & entertaining tips!

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