Goodbye April, Hello May!

We made good progress with our goals in April:

• Keep grocery spending under $450. We spent over $450 on food this month – our total was $471.76. Food costs for Brett and myself were $443.92; the additional $27.84 was the cost of snack items for the grandkids (although we will be reimbursed).

• Aim for zero food waste. We nearly had a zero-waste month – just a half cup of cooked chicken was tossed. I had bought the chicken at Trader Joes, and used most of it in a Waldorf salad and a chicken pot pie, saving a little to use in some fried rice. However, it had started to turn by the time I got around to making the rice and I threw it out (better to be safe than sorry). Otherwise, we used up everything!

• Have one full no-spend week. We spent nothing April 17 through April 23 .

• Have four no-drive days. We had only three no-drive days this month because of my work schedule and a trip to Shiloh National Military Park.

• Try one new recipe. I made four new recipes this month: katsudon, the Pioneer Woman’s chicken pot pie, Ina Garten’s blueberry muffins, and lemon-ricotta pasta with peas (recipe coming soon!). The katsudon turned out OK and tasted good, but I made a couple of small mistakes that I can fix next time.

• Walk 40 miles. Between work and walks at our apartment complex, I walked 50+ miles in April.

• Visit one natural or historical site in the area. We had a very satisfying visit to the Shiloh National Military Park mid-month, with great weather, no crowds at the park, and an easy drive both ways.
• Read four books. I read five books this month. One of them, The Far Pavilions, was v-e-r-y long, 1,000 pages, and in order to finish it before it had to go back to the library I read 5% every night. It was a wonderful book to read again though. This was my third time reading The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. It remains one of my top three favorite books ever.
• Study ***** every day for 10 minutes. I did my Duolingo lessons twice every day. They can be frustrating at times, but I am making progress, albeit slowly. I gave Brett a pronunciation workbook and phrasebook that I hope he’ll let me borrow once in a while.

We celebrated Brett’s 73rd birthday this month although I sadly had to work that day. Our daughter-in-law took us out to dinner in the evening though and gave Brett a bartending set as well as a box of 20 different cocktail mixers! Meiling sent him a box of fancy cookies, WenYu sent a generous Starbucks gift card, and I gave him his two language books (so exciting).

Our son arrives tomorrow for a week’s visit, which means we have the first week of the month off from watching the grandkids as our son will do all the drop-offs, pickups, etc. We will offer to watch the kids one evening though so M & M can go out before he heads back to Japan.

We put an incredible $55.84 into the change/$1 bill jar in April, in spite of of spending slightly more than usual on food.

Our goals for May are pretty much the same as last month:

• Keep grocery spending under $450. 
• Aim for zero food waste. 
• Have one full no-spend week. 
• Have four no-drive days. 
• Try one new recipe. 
• Walk 40 miles.
• Visit one natural or historical site in the area. 
• Read four books.
• Study ***** every day for 10 minutes. 

Upcoming events in May include Mother’s Day and my 71st birthday. Brett has promised me my annual Day of Doing Nothing, and I’m hoping I won’t have to work on either of those occasions.