Falling into Routines

Oh thank goodness, Fall is nearly here again!

My fellow Atlantans know that we have been plagued with a seriously wet summer. Usually by this time of the year, we are all desperate for cooler temperatures. This year, though, we are all just ready for some sunshine! It has rained here more already this year than our usual entire yearly average. I am pretty sure the entire city is Vitamin D deprived right now. We aren't even totally sick of the heat yet either, since the rain has kept things here pretty low-temp (knock on wood). While I am definitely ready for the cooler weather ahead, I will take some sunshine alone for a bit right now.

But of course, I hope that cooler temps are still right around the corner! There's nothing worse than hot, humid days in October!

Source: Pinterest

I can thank the season change for us starting back with serious meal planning this past weekend. Fall means back to school for the hubs, so evenings will be quiet at the homestead a few nights per week. If I don't have a menu planned for myself to cook solo, that can mean takeout orders and frequent grocery store stops. Now that we are back in regular, post-wedding, school season life mode, we are hoping to cut back on our food spending. A quick synopsis of the budgets revealed that we have been buying double the amount we normally would at the store … but somehow also eating out double as well. It doesn't take a genius (thankfully, since I am no math whiz) to realize some seriously wasted funds. Even just a few small changes can help us out here.

Polenta with Roasted Vegetables and Fontina; Source: Pinterest / Williams Sonoma

So we set a weekly budget for food at the store, as well as a weekly budget for eating out. Our "eating out" budget includes expensive lunches, too – another common side effect of not meal planning. My lunch in-town, for example, can easily be $12 if I opt for my fav Pad Thai. Ridiculous!

We are  … three (ha) days into our budget, and so far, so good. I haven't bought anything outside the budget yet, and we have a TON of food at home ready to take to work, with supplies for more meals this week. We made already BBQ in the slow cooker, and WW soup on the stove. It feels good knowing I can go home tonight and already have a dinner there waiting for me.

Even though pizza sounds divine tonight, too. That's just my hunger talking, I guess ;)

What is your Fall routine or ritual? My next step is to inch back into regular work-outs before any "winter weight" has a chance to start hanging around. With these low-humidity late summer days we are having, evening walks are my new fav!