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Oct 24, 2022    |      1 comment

School Lockdown x 2

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I’ve experienced two school lockdowns in the past 2 weeks. One at the university where I work and one at my children’s school. Both completely terrifying. One resulted in the shooting death of a beloved  professor. The other resulted in traumatized children.

Things like this…they put money and financial concerns into perspective.

For me – it started with a text from a mom friend,

“Do you know that the school is on lockdown?”

Thankfully, the kids’ school situation turned out to be nothing. A car was abandoned on school grounds with “suspicious items” visible in the front passenger seat and things got escalated – rumors of a suspicious person wandering the campus, etc.

However, before it was determined there was no imminent danger, there was chaos and fear and confusion. The initial “threat” was viewed as credible for over 2 hours. This was not a drill. Young kids were huddled into corners of classrooms, doors locked, lights off, and told to be silent as they waited for police to come and clear the building. I learned the difference between a “lockdown” and a “shelter in place.” Lockdown = lights off, don’t move, silent, locked door. Shelter in place = lights off, locked door, but you can move about and talk with each other. Its surreal that I even know this difference. That this is even a thing in our elementary schools.

Thankfully, there was no imminent danger and everyone was safe (physically). My own kids were very shaken up by the situation on a psychological level though.

Only a few days later…

The unthinkable happened. A disgruntled student, angry about a grade, came to campus to confront his professor. The original professor was away (out-of-town), but the student shot and killed the department head.

It was such a shock. Two back-to-back crises. Two very different endings. But both causing psychological damage to the surrounding community.

Things have been tough recently from a financial perspective.

There have been personal issues that have led to my ex and I going to court for child custody-related matters. This has been stressful and time-consuming, and expensive.

But at the end of the day – we are the lucky ones. We have our health and our lives and each other. That’s all that really matters. <3 

Oct 20, 2022    |      0 comments

Getting Healthy Has Financial Benefits

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Financial Benefits of Getting Healthy

Last month, I mentioned that I wanted to change my lifestyle and get healthier. Unfortunately, I gained about 20 pounds during lockdown when we were all stuck inside near our fridges. That pushed my BMI over the edge and made me clinically overweight. 

I know that carrying extra pounds long-term could be bad for my health, especially with my chronic illness and family history of heart attacks. So I’m trying to improve my diet and fitness so I can shed the extra pounds. 

My partner would also like to lose some weight and has decided to join me, which makes things a lot easier. Because we’re both onboard, there are no temptations in the house like apple pie or brownies, which are my weaknesses!

Staying Under Our Eating Out Budget

I didn’t know when I started this health journey that it would also have financial benefits. A few months ago I shared an updated budget that included $80 per month for eating out. Believe it or not, our health goals have caused us to stay well under that budget. 

So far in the month of October, my partner and I ate at Burger King once as a cheat meal and spent $7 by getting discounts through the mobile app. I also grabbed a six-inch Subway sandwich earlier this week, which was $6 with tip. 

My partner is on a work trip this weekend, so we won’t be going out to eat at all. Next week we may treat ourselves to a $30 or $40 meal if we feel like it, but we just haven’t wanted to go out. 

We live in rural Michigan where most restaurants serve bar food like burgers and fries, which doesn’t really fit in with our low-calorie, mostly plant-based diet. Plus, I know I can make a more nutritious meal at home that tastes almost as good for less money, so there’s not much of an incentive to go out. 

Groceries Are Cheaper Too

Since we’re not eating out as much while trying to reach our health and fitness goals, I thought our grocery spending would increase. But surprisingly we’re actually staying under our grocery budget. It turns out healthy food is cheaper than all that processed junk we were buying before!

I’ve budgeted $80 per week for food, but it seems like we only spend $75 every other week when we do a bigger stock-up. During the lighter two weeks of the month, we’ve only been spending around $50 because we’ve been shopping mainly in the produce section, with some beans and tofu thrown in for protein. 

I used to think produce was too expensive and would skip pricier items like mushrooms and broccolini. The irony is, I would refuse to spend $3 on a package of mushrooms or strawberries and turn around and spend $5 on a discounted pie from the bakery section! Now that I’m not impulse buying packaged foods, I can splurge on some specialty produce to make my meals healthier and more varied while staying under my grocery budget. 

Because I’m not limiting myself to the cheapest vegetables in the produce section, I can make so many delicious, healthy meals that just aren’t served at restaurants around here, such as Thai curry hot pot. I didn’t anticipate that eating better would enable us to save money and enjoy mealtimes more, but I’m not complaining! 

Have you found that eating healthier helps you save money? Or do you spend more when you’re on a fitness kick? Let me know in the comments below!

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