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Home > Archive: July, 2020

Archive for July, 2020

Net Worth & New Recipe

July 29th, 2020 at 07:36 pm

I was just thinking that I have a net worth category that I never update. Mint tracks this for me so it’s pretty easy to keep an eye on. Today my net worth is $930,056.

I tried another new lean & green recipe: Cheesy Chicken Zucchini casserole. I made a few little adjustments, like using more chicken & zucchini, adding ricotta because I only had 6 oz Greek yogurt instead of 8 oz. I salted the zucchini as the recipe instructions indicated, but it still made a good bit of water. The taste was still good, but I’ll have to work on getting out more liquid the next time I make this recipe. That’s the only problem with cooking zucchini, all the water it makes as it cooks.

I’ve taken off a few days again. Had a few appointments, did some cooking & laundry, worked out.

NSV & Delicious New Recipe

July 26th, 2020 at 01:44 am

NSV: co-worker notes that I didn’t seem to be having the quarantine weight that everyone else seems to have gained, then asked me if I’ve been hitting the gym. I told him that I just went back this week & have only been walking (not running yet), but I’ve been watching my diet.

Tonight I made a new lean & green recipe: Salmon Florentine. It was delicious & even looked like a chef made it. Picture perfect! It made 4 servings so enough leftovers for the next 3 days & I still have half of the salmon filet in my freezer. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

I put myself back on next month’s schedule at my second job. I was supposed to take July off, but I got called in twice. I’m not getting as many hours at the third job since they’re having problems getting reagent, I’m glad that I just took a break & didn’t quit my second job. I want to keep making headway on getting my debt down & increasing my credit score.

Where I’m At Now

July 18th, 2020 at 01:58 pm

From a high of $22k in credit card debt earlier this year I’m now down to...[drumroll]...$12k! And I now have a $5k buffer in my checking account that I haven’t had in years, plus I have $2300 in savings that I haven’t had in years. All of this has happened in less than 6 months, y’all! 🤯

Amazing how quickly you can see changes when you buckle down & make the changes. Also, I would never wish the devastation of this pandemic on anyone, but it honestly had a role in changing my behavior & contributing to my success. With nowhere to go, canceled trips, and all the available hours to work it made a big difference. Also, the $5k gift from my mom that she will match at the end of the year. I’m so blessed!

And my investments are up to $840k this morning. Who knows how long they will stay there, but they’re chugging right along for now.

And in other good news, my latest credit score updates was 836. If I pay off all my debt maybe I’ll see a perfect score of 850?

Taco Salad

July 14th, 2020 at 03:33 pm

I made my own taco seasoning for the first time & I’m not sure why I never thought to do it before now. Thank you, Pinterest. Last night I had taco salad minus chips for my lean & green. I made enough for the week. I bought the fat free ranch for dressing, but then remembered that usually reduced fat products are better than fat free as they replace the fat with sugars. I’ll do better next time. 🥗🌮

What’s Cooking?

July 12th, 2020 at 09:51 pm

I’ve been doing some cooking since I’ve started working with a health coach. The goal of my meals are to keep them lean & green. I’ve made sheet pan chicken fajitas, garlic burgers with lemon butter zucchini noodles, shrimp with mashed and riced cauliflower, and roasted broccoli. I keep finding shrimp on sale which is good because I love it & you can eat a lot of it for your lean protein. I’ve bought so many variations of mashed & riced cauliflower. The two that I have tried so far are the Green Giants cheddar & bacon mashed cauli and the white cheddar riced cauli by Alexia. Both were good, but especially the mashed cauli.🧀🥓 Not sure what’s next on the menu, but I am looking forward to trying something else new!

Victory!

July 11th, 2020 at 03:37 pm

After 4 months of wrangling with the travel insurance company they are cutting me a check for my canceled flights to Montreal. 🇨🇦 I only got a credit for the Switzerland trip, but I can use the money for any destination. 🇨🇭 I have no plans to travel anytime soon. Probably not until next year at the earliest.

I am staying busy with work. Making plans to have some work done on my patio and trying to decide on a new comforter. The latest one that I tried to purchase they canceled the order. I never knew deciding on a comforter could be such a task! 🛏

I started my health program on June 29th & lost 9 lbs my first week. Monday is my second weigh in.

I am steadily paying down debt & have paid off $9k since this pandemic began. I am on track to have it paid all off before my 0% interest rate expires in April 2021. My TSP loan was paid off in May. My car will be paid off at the end of the year. My investments are almost back to February’s highs. All in all, financial things are on the upswing for now.