Am I the only person that gets excited when September rolls around? Perhaps it is the idea of going back to school, buying new stationery and of course new clothes. I feel the end of summer brings a chance of reinvention, like the chubby kid that comes back after the summer looking stunning as the result of a growth spurt.
I love the idea of getting back to business, no more lazing at the pub on a Sunday afternoon because the weather is too good to miss. Now is the time to make action plans for the last quarter of the year.
At The Lean Times, I am truly getting back to business: there will be a great Lean Review a month, Menu Monday and other posts. If there is anything you would like me to cover or figure out a solution to a specific problem please drop me a comment or get in touch here. I promise to get back to you personally.
What else you ask is on my back to business agenda? Well, I think it is a good time to re-evaluate my budget. When is the last time you had a look at yours? Every few months it is a good idea to give it a tweak, to make sure your money is working for you not the other way around.
There are a few areas that immediately come to mind for tweaking – the first is energy suppliers. Energy suppliers have raise prices so I am going to run over to USwitch to make sure I am getting the best deal possible. You may have to allocate a bit more of your budget to heating your home in the coming months so you are going to have to figure where you are going to get that money from.
I am also going to start my holiday shopping as soon as possible so it is spread over a few months instead of putting all the financial pressure on December and January. If you do it a bit at a time then it won’t be as painful. I am also going to attempt to make more gifts to lessen the load.
The other part of my budget that I am worried about is the food allocation. In the summer, fruit and vegetables are much cheaper and if we want to eat well we are going to have to be clever. I have my slow cooker at the ready for lots of stews and casseroles; you can use cheaper cuts of meat as they get more tender by slow cooking. I will also be putting a few more meat free meals on the menu.
What are you doing in preparation for the last quarter of the year? Please get in touch if there is anything you would like to see covered on The Lean Times or if you have suggestions for readers about getting back to business.
The best holiday “make it” gift I have discovered is making truffle like candy. They make great hostess gifts, colleague gifts, neighbors etc. and also have become my signature for the holidays. I just googled Oreo truffles originally because I had tried them, and then each year for the last few have tweaked and added different flavors-besides oreo, I make nutter butter, mint, vanilla, and mounds bar (coconut). They are basically cookie crumbs and cream cheese dipped in chocolate, and set. Godiva get $3.00 a truffle. I can make 3-4 dozen for under $10 using real wholesome ingredients. fun for bonding with my daughters, but open a couple bottles of wine and make a girls night of it, sharing the cost, labor and the goodies, and a cheap night out. I’ve gotten better at buying in Christmas clearance wrappers and gift boxes for the following year, but wax paper and ribbons look just as smart using a fancy paper plate.