WIAW: Money Rules.

Hello there!

Yup…it’s (What I Ate) Wednesday! Thanks as always, goes to Jenn for hosting. Today’s post is from yesterday – I was on-the-go pretty much all day, so there were some quick-but-fabulous  meals and snacks. And a lot of greens stuffed in a lunch – so yay following the theme!

Because I had so much going on yesterday, I had to hit the gym when it opened right at 8 am (yes, student gym means it opens at 8 on weekdays. Noon on weekends. lame). My ACV mix (ACV, lemon juice, water, stevia) when I woke up and a quick snack before I left:

I had a few of the pumpkin protein bars I made a while back stashed in the freezer, so I heated up two of those and added some coconut Oikos on top. I stand by what I said when I made the bars – they’re tasty, but not sweet enough.

After the gym was unpictured watermelon BCAAs, followed by an “Oh-crap-I-have-to-leave-in-10-minutes” breakfast.

Oatmeal, egg + egg whites and blueberry jam. Definitely nothing new there. A word to the wise – in a desperate bid to make your eggs cook faster, don’t crank up the heat. Half of those whites did not make it out of the pan. Yup…I’m impatient.

Lunch

I had a long but successful meeting with my Thesis supervisor, followed by a lunch meeting at The Piston Broke. It’s a gastropub close to the school that I’ve been multiple times – it’s good!

I was feeling something leafy, so I went with the chevre salad with chicken.

Spinach, arugula, mandarin orange segments, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds tossed in a maple vinaigrette and topped with chicken and goat cheese. The chicken was on the dry side, but everything else was delicious. And it reminded me that I need more goat cheese in my life – chevre is amazing.

Followed by two of little mints that come with the cheque – I love those.

Snack

I had a 6 pm presentation last night, so I had a quick snack around 5:30 to tide me over.

Baby carrots and hummus. It’s a classic.

So that presentation?

Gail is a Canadian financial writer and TV personality who helps people manage their money. She has a show called “Till Debt Do Us Part”, which I’ve seen a handful of times. So when Laurier was hosting her for a free presentation, I decided to go – you can never learn too much about money, right?

I don’t think I’m bad with it – I usually do ok with savings. But I know I could probably stand to improve a little bit. The main takeaways I got from her presentation:

• people tend to be irresponsible with credit cards. Do not put more on credit than you can afford to pay off at the end of the month.
• Pay off your mortgage, your car, your debt, and put away money for retirement. Then you can start buying all the status symbol-y things, if that’s how you want to spend your money. (fancy cars, designer clothes, etc.)
• start saving for retirement. Like ASAP. If you start in your 20’s, you only have to put away 6% of your earnings, versus 3 times that if you start in your 40’s.
• Have an emergency fund – about 6 months worth of rent and groceries.
• Don’t expect to have everything at once – buy a house, have a wedding, and have a baby. You’re going to live a long time; it’s ok to space it out a bit.
• Keep track of your spending. Keep a notebook and keep track of everything penny you spend, and every penny you earn.

A lot of what she said was common sense, but I did learn some things. And as a presenter – she is hilarious. I have this thing where I absolutely love hearing people swear unexpectedly…whether it’s an older person, a super-polite friend, or my Russian professor. It just cracks me up so much. And she had quite the mouth on her, which kept me giggling the whole presentation.

Her presentation made me realize that I need to focus a little bit more on my ‘emergency fund’ a little bit more, and that I need to keep better track of my finances. Might have to start an Excel spreadsheet or something!

Dinner

I channeled Amanda for my late dinner:

Yogurt bowl! Coconut Oikos, a sliced banana, sliced fig, Fibre 1, the last of my Dark Chocolate and Red Berries Granola, and almond butter. So good.

And of course, even brinner needs dessert.

A graham cracker with Bee’s Knees peanut butter and dark chocolate. And that may have been followed by another spoonful of peanut butter out of the jar I like the Bee’s Knee’s flavour, but I have to say – Cinnamon Raisin is still the best!

Have a lovely Wednesday!

<— Do you think you’re good with money?

<— What’s the tastiest thing you’ve eaten lately?

WIAW # 2

So apparently, I am enjoying this blogger bandwagon.

Of course, thanks to Jenn for hosting!

I had every intention of going for my long run of the week yesterday morning. But, when I woke up at 4:30 am to the sounds of rain pounding down on my roof, I figured that was not going to be happening.

Umm, no.

When I got out of bed at 8 and it was still raining, I decided it was definitely going to be a gym day. An all-weather runner, I am not. I’m actually a bit of a wuss when it comes to running in less-than-ideal conditions. As soon as it starts to get chilly, I relocate to the treadmill. I give it another two or three weeks before I start hibernating in the gym.

 

I did a 15 minute warmup on the elliptical at my school gym, followed by a tricep/back routine.

• 3 x 15 tricep dips
• 3 x 10 seated tricep press
• 3 x 10 tricep pushdown with rope attachment
• 3 x 10 seated rows
• 3 x 10 wide grip lat pulldown
• 3 x 15 hyperextensions

 

It feels so nice to be using weights again! It had been a few weeks, and I definitely missed it. I haven’t been following any sort of routine since I finished Livefit trainer, and I’m thinking I may need to find something new.

 

Breakfast

By the time I got home from the gym, I was starving. Clearly, a quick breakfast was in order.

Protein yogurt (1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt mixed with 1/2 scoop peanut butter chocolate protein powder), a sliced banana, and a pretty drizzle of almond butter. Did the trick.

 

Lunch

I was going to be hosting my office hours today, so I packed up a lunch to take with me.

Whenever I’m packing a lunch, a sandwich just seems to fit the bill. I’ve got ham, cheddar, lettuce, pickles and honey mustard squished in there.

A rule of food budgeting: Don’t waste anything. Including the crust of the bread.

Baby carrots and hummus for dipping.

 

Office hours! (Excuse the look on my face. It looks like I’m trying to smile, but I just can’t quite do it).

Office Hour Lunch.

Mmm, sandwich.

I didn’t get any students coming to see me on my office hours. But that’s  pretty much what I expected, especially in the first few weeks. Do any undergrads actually make decent use out of their TAs? I don’t think I ever really spoke to a single one while I was getting my BA.

After office hours was class – Deviance and Social Control, hence the textbook you see above.

 

Snack

I headed home after class (yay for a 5 minute walk to campus) definitely in need of a snack. I had plans to go back to school for an event last night, so I knew dinner would be late. Enter larger-than-normal snack.

Cottage cheese (I think just shy of 1 cup) with maple pumpkin butter (that stuff is seriously to die for) and some Cinnamon Chex (also in the to-die-for category).

 

Dinner

There was a speaker at my school at 7 pm, so by the time we got home it was close to 9. Hello, late dinner.

The lecture of which I will discuss in greater detail tomorrow.

For dinner, I took the leftover roasted chicken, and threw it in a pan with some onion, red bell pepper, salsa, cilantro, corn, and chopped spinach.

Which promptly became filling for quesadillas, along with a nice layer of old cheddar cheese.

Gooey deliciousness.

Of course, it had to be topped appropriately.

Salsa, sour cream, and homemade guacamole. Nothing less will do.

Delicious dinner and delicious day of eats!

Have a good Wednesday! Hump day and all that (awkward, awkward phrase).

 

<— If you’re a runner, do you run in all seasons, or do you head inside when it gets cold?

<— Salsa or Guacamole? I would have so much trouble choosing.