Month: August 2019

Last week, I was burdening myself with a bunch of new habits and projects I was starting to get into. Luckily, I have a brother who is not as attention deficient as I am and he talked some sense into me.

Finding Focus

My brother came to visit this past weekend, and we had a good time. During a long run, we got talking about goals and projects and all that. Then, he, intentionally or not, talked some sense into all the random crap I was doing.

I so often find myself like a dog chasing cars. Excited by the new shiny sight that I lose track of all progress elsewhere. One of the few times I was successful in a goal was earlier this month participating in the GMTK Gam Jam. This was a 48 hour challenge to make a game. The entry I submitted, with help from a friend and said brother, was extremely simple, but it was submitted.

In preparing for the jam, I put nearly everything else on hold. Talking about this over the weekend, kind of woke me up from an insanity.

Back to Basics

One quote that I find fascinating is one from Ben Franklin. “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Now, I may not always be great on that early to bed and early to rise piece, but the pillars of “healthy, wealthy, and wise,” are what I particularly enjoy about the quote.

With this in mind, I am trying to solidify some good habits I’ve been on top of as of late and working to rebuild ones that have been slipping.

Healthy

On the health front, I’ve once again started up yoga classes. Inspired by a recent read, I wanted to get back in the practice. With a couple classes in, I’m already feeling looser and more relaxed. Keeping up with meal prep, most of my diet now is fresh veggies, and with a trip over the weekend to finally visit Dubuque’s farmer’s market, I am looking to add more interesting options. Finally on health, I am trying to get my sleep schedule a bit more towards that early to bed and rise part, though not quite 5 AM.

Wealthy

When it comes to wealth, I’ve sat down and laid out a rough budget needed to meet some of my financial goals in the next year. Though, I don’t see it as purely financial. Wealth is also relationships, experiences, and time management. With this in mind, I’ve started making plans for visits and trips with family and friends.

Wise

Wise is a tough one right now. Like I said, I’m trying to avoid particular projects or plans until I get a bit more settled. I am learning things throughout my other practices, i.e. yoga and personal finance, but not quite the deep learning that I typically attribute to this category. To keep all three pillars standing strong, I might make a trip to the library for another biography of someone I find fascinating.

These three pillars are a loose framework I use in a lot of areas in life. My yearly goals fall into these three categories. Even my weekly journals highlight sub-categories of each of these. Without a particular focus at the moment, it’s time to solidify the foundation.

While I intended to take the next few weeks off of trying out new habits, little did I realize it’s near impossible. Over the past weekend, I started laying the path for two new “unofficial trials.”

My intention of taking a break from trials was to take some time and consolidate habits that have been slipping or falling off. Taking time to reset or reorganize can help to build the foundation needed for progress to emerge.

Stream Team

I’ve been trying to stream on Twitch for fun throughout this month. At the beginning of the month, I participated in a game making event over the course of a weekend. Throughout the event I streamed my progress. I really enjoyed the feel, so I kept going.

I had a lot of fun a few streams ago talking with a total stranger for a portion of the stream. The really interesting part, to me, was that he was from Germany. I never thought I would have the opportunity, and Twitch gave me the platform to do so. Over the weekend, I gave a stream ago, but really wasn’t feeling it. I took a step back and laid out a plan that I think I will enjoy. I’m gonna give it a try for a while and see if I continue to enjoy it.

Lady Killers

This past weekend, at a friend’s wedding, I had a long chat with another friend. We were talking about our failures in the realm of relationships. The root cause of the failures really lies in not doing anything. We know that we need to do something, but make excuses for not putting ourselves out there. We decided to hold each other accountable.

With success I’ve seen with accountability groups in the past, I thought this would be a good way to not only benefit myself, but my friends too.

I’m not sure if I’ll do any further write ups on these two, but with no trial planned in particular, these came at the right time.

Over the past few days, I’ve been considering what else to say on my latest trial, weekly meal prep. I feel as though what I’ve said so far really captures the experience so far. This week will be a bit different than some of my other posts. Think of this week as a recap episode, read the highlights, or click on the links for more details!

Week One – The Time Save

After the first week, I was loving how much time I was saving during the week not worrying about cooking and cleaning for each meal. Funny enough, it was the week that I spent the longest time cooking.

Continuing this trial, I am thinking about switching things up to possibly increase efficiency in my meal prep session. I am actually thinking of switching out the chicken, the longest cook time by far, for lentils as a protein source that will cook up in a fraction of the time. Time will tell how I will tweak this process, but for now, I am enjoying the time Monday to Friday in which I can step in the kitchen and a meal is ready to go.

Week Two – Simplify

As a few of my trials have proven, simplifying my life has been a theme of many trials. From the minimalists’ challenge to wearing the same outfit each day, meal prep definitely fell into this category.

There is time for experimentation while prepping, but once cooked, the base meals are set for the week. I did try adding some variety this week. With some fresh picked jalapenos from my aunt, I baked one of the chicken breasts covered in cheese and sliced jalapeno. It was certainly different than the other days I experienced this week. So even when keeping the base meal of chicken, veggies, and rice the same, there is wiggle room for distinction.

Week Three – Save That Money

Last week, I focused on how meal prep has helped me to reduce my grocery and dining spending. Knowing exactly what I need to get at the store helps eliminate grabbing random ingredients that I may or may not need. It also helps avoid buying some ingredients but am forced to buy large quantities. I’m looking at you herbs.

While the grocery store definitely has a spot in my weekly spending, eating out can sometimes creep into a much bigger bill if let run wild. I like to think of myself as a frugal person, but even I found myself eating out 3-4 times in a work week. The problem always arose on the tough days when the last thing I wanted to think about was cooking and cleaning.

A story from this week actually applies to this exact feeling. After lunch yesterday, I had a bad craving for fast food. I had just watched a video prepping Harold & Kumar’s White Castle order and I got the crave. With an unfortunate lack of White Castle here in Dubuque, I was ready to settle for anything. Luckily, when work got out, I was able to pop in the kitchen, throw my dinner in the microwave, and eat. It was actually easier to eat in than get fast food.

In Conclusion

In the end, I really enjoyed this trial. Finding a new habit to save time, money, and stress is always a successful trial. I do plan on continuing over time. I’ll be experimenting more with the base meal to be sure. If you have any recommendations let me know!

This is normally the spot in which I tease the next trial, but for the next few weeks, I want to take some time and reset a few existing habits that have been slipping. I’ll still be writing, but I will be covering a variety of topics and habits.

This trial has been one of my favorites so far. I don’t think I’ve been as exited for a trial since the very first one. I love having all of my meals in the week figured out before I even wake up on Monday. Something I haven’t really touched on is the impact on my wallet.

What I’m Buying

In the past, I would frequent my local grocery chain, here it’s called Hy-Vee. Pretty decent prices and a decent selection of goods. At some point a roommate and I decided to start going to Aldi for those nice cheap off-brand prices. That brought down our grocery budget pretty well. Between the two of us I’d say we’d range in the $200-250 per month range each.

For this trial, I actually switched over to finally using my Sam’s Club membership. I’ve had one for a few years, and would maybe go once or twice per year. A huge inspiration for this switch, and this trial to be honest, was this post by Mr. Money Mustache. His approach to salad, relying on bulk ingredients from a wholesaler and homemade dressing, inspired me to follow in those footsteps.

With the switch to Sam’s Club, I would say I’m in the range of about $30-$40 per week, so about $120-150 per month. This doesn’t include quite everything if you want to get into specifics, for example the olive oil I use for the salad dressing. I really broke down the big items that were easy to compute. The smaller per meal items are pretty minuscule, so I didn’t feel like crunching those numbers quite yet. Though, should I make an update after a while I might get into the details. Also, the annual membership fee is something I’m taking into account, but I haven’t really decided how to compute that. Should it be per visit? Per meal? Ultimately, I’ll keep an eye on how things break out over time and get a better idea then.

What I’m Not Buying

While reducing my monthly grocery bill is definitely a plus, I think the more important thing might be what it’s helping me avoid. Having a meal ready to go helps keep me from eating out for convenience sake. In the past, I’ve frequently compromised to eat out due to the effort a meal would take. I mean, I need to eat right?

Taking that option off the table has potential to save a significant amount of money in the long run. I will still go out from time to time, but it’s no longer a “just because” situation. A loose rule I’ve sort of made for myself is that I should never eat at a restaurant alone. Going out to eat is a time to be with other. With friends and family. Not simply to eat. If the goal is just to eat, it can be easily accomplished in one’s own kitchen.