Author: greg

The Best Pesto Recipe Ever

Ok maybe an exaggeration, but my dear brother claims he doesn’t normally like pesto but enjoys this version so perhaps it’s accurate.

Regardless, this is a quick, easy and cost-effective recipe that you can throw into your cooking arsenal. It’s dairy-free, and can be made gluten free by simply using gluten-free noodles.

Best Pesto Ever

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
  • 1 cup packed fresh spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup raw almonds (feel free to use roasted almonds too, or pecans, or walnuts, or pine nuts)
  • A lil bit of garlic (1-2 cloves, or one spoonful from a jar of minced garlic)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (feel free to add a bit more to achieve your desired consistency)
  • 1 ripe avocado (this is the secret ingredient – adds some creaminess and depth to what would be a pretty standard pesto concoction)
  • 2 pounds of pasta noodles (I usually use penne, pictured, but feel free to use whatever type of pasta you prefer)

Directions:

  1. Put all ingredients except the pasta into a blender (just the flesh of the avocado, might be obvious but don’t throw the skin or the pit in there). Blend it until all ingredients are well combined and the pesto has a smooth consistency. Add more salt/pepper/olive oil as needed.
  2. Prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the package.
  3. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water and put pasta back into the same pot.
  4. Add your pesto, stir around so the pasta is evenly coated, and if the pasta has cooled off, leave the heat on low to warm it up, stirring occasionally.

 

I typically make a full batch of pesto, and use half of the pesto for one pound of pasta now and keep half for another pound of pasta later. The full batch of pesto will fill up one standard mason jar and will last forever in the freezer so it’s a great option for a quick meal on hand whenever you need one.

Feel free to serve with parmesan, some garlic bread on the side or some wine if you’re fancy. Let me know if you end up making it!

#MoneyGoals

 

Pictured: A three-person quarantine pesto pasta dinner party, April 2020 in Dallas, TX.

Coronavirus and Control

The coronavirus pandemic has reminded us that nothing is guaranteed. Everyday aspects of life we took for granted have disappeared – graduation ceremonies, restaurants, toilet paper, maybe even your job or income. It feels like we aren’t in control any more.

We never were.

While many of the ideas I discuss on this blog revolve around the concept of managing your life in a way that maximizes your health, wealth and happiness, it’s important to remember that we can only really control our internal world of thoughts, decisions and reactions. We often assume we are in control of our external world (I click a button on Amazon and almonds are brought to my doorstep), but that illusion has been shattered in recent weeks.

That said, the things we can control can help us be better prepared to weather the storm of the uncontrollable, such as having multiple years of expenses saved up, staying in good physical shape and being able to cook your own food. The benefits of living a simpler and more financially sustainable lifestyle become obvious when shit goes sideways and folks who were spending as much as they earned suddenly cannot sustain their lifestyle.

So let this weird hiccup in our lives be a reminder to control what we can, accept what we cannot, and live in a way that is less dependent on uncontrollable, external circumstances.

#MoneyGoals

Pictured: Practicing controlling my thoughts next to the infamously uncontrollable Lake Superior, July 2019.

My Personal Spending Report for 2019

Here is every dollar I spent in 2019:

Housing – $10,621 total, $885 per month (up from $7,804 in 2018, a $2,818 increase)

This number includes rent, account setup/administration fees, utilities and a washer/dryer set purchased in July. 2019 was my first full year of living in downtown Dallas, and the ~$3,000 increase over 2018 reflects that.

While I could move further outside of the city and cut my rent in half, living downtown allows me to walk everywhere (work, friends, groceries, events) and not own a car. As I noted last year, the quality of life that comes with never having to commute is well worth the higher rent.

Cell Phone – $274 total, $23 per month (up from $140 in 2018, a $134 increase)

I purchased a new refurbished and few-model-years-old iPhone SE in February to replace my 5 year-old iPhone 5c. The newer phone allowed me to change to a cheaper service provider, Tello. I am currently paying $9.24 per month for cell service, so next year this number will likely be around $110.

Groceries – $1,286 total, $107 per month (down from $1,377 in 2018, a $91 decrease)

This number surprised me, and this is the second year in a row my grocery expenses declined ($1,475 in 2017). Not much changed with my diet – still rice, lentils, beans, veggies and nuts all day erry day, but I did travel more and eat out more this year which could have led to the decrease here.

Dine Out – $458 total, $38 per month (up from $319 in 2018, a $140 increase)

The increase in non-grocery food costs was intentional as I said yes to almost every invite from my friends to go out to eat, paid for 20 people’s Chipotle for my birthday, and paid for a few other friends’ meals at random times. I hope this expense continues to increase in 2020, as it will mean I’m spending time with my friends and enjoying life.

Travel – $1,108 total, $92 per month (down from $1,236 in 2018, a $128 decrease)

Travel expenses were kept low this year as my two big trips were subsidized heavily by my parents (road trip through Minnesota and Ontario) and my company (flight, hotel, transportation and food in Hawaii). About $300 of the total is skydiving in Hawaii, with most of the balance coming from a few flights to Minnesota and one to Colorado. I expect this category to increase in 2020 (anybody trying to go backpacking in the mountains?)

Transportation – $114 total, $10 per month (up from $100 in 2018, a $14 increase)

Even if my employer didn’t pay for my public transportation pass, this would stay the same as 99% of my transportation is walking or biking these days. The total consists of occasional Uber/Lyft rides, tips for friends driving me to/from the airport and paying for parking when my friends have driven me somewhere.

Other – $1,411 total, $118 per month (down from $2,258 in 2018, a $847 decrease)

My miscellaneous expenses included concerts/events (~$250), gifts/donations (~$400), activities with friends like volleyball leagues, museums, paddle boarding and movies (~$200) and shoes/clothes (~$200). The funniest transaction of the year was paying Shruti $1 for being a peasant and not owning AirPods 😛

TOTAL – $15,274 for the year, $1,273 per month (up from $13,234 in 2018, a $2,040 increase)

The $2,000 increase from ’18 to ’19 came from $2,800 more housing expenses offset by $800 less miscellaneous expenses. All other categories stayed the same, give or take ~$100.

Looking towards 2020, I expect to spend around $15,000 – $17,000, with the forecasted increase coming from travel, dining out and more fun experiences with friends and family.

If you want more detail or have any questions, comments or anything I can help with, feel free to comment or send me an email at hashtagmoneygoals@gmail.com. Happy New Year, happy new decade, and happy saving and investing to all of you! 🙂

Related Reading:

My Personal Spending Report for 2018

My Personal Spending Report for 2017

How I Save $720 Per Year on Cell Service

Buying Happiness

How to Influence People

My friend Ashley has eaten a plant-based diet for as long as I’ve known her (at least 4-5 years), and has never once told another person what they should or shouldn’t eat. That said, her enthusiasm about what she chooses to consume makes people curious as to the benefits they could see by changing their own habits. Many of her friends have adopted vegetarian or vegan diets, or even just became more intentional about what they eat, including myself. 

I’ve had a similar experience with my lifestyle choices. People ask a lot of questions about meal prepping, not owning a car or investing, and are interested to learn why I do the things I do. Some of those folks go on to incorporate some of my daily practices into their own lives, without anyone ever telling them to do so.

No one likes to be told what they should or shouldn’t do, so the best way I’ve found to influence the people around you is to lead by example. Whether it’s riding a bike or making a dope vegan mac n cheese, live a life that others are drawn to and eager to learn more about, and those people willing to change will do so on their own.

#MoneyGoals

 

Pictured: Influencing a small child by keeping her in hand. Temperance River State Park, MN / July 2019

My Life Goal

Whenever I tell people about my simple life and enthusiastic money saving tactics, they often ask me why? What is the point of saving so much money when I could be driving a new BMW, eating fancy sushi and living in a luxury apartment?

There are a lot of immediate benefits I gain from my daily habits. Walking/biking everywhere keeps me in great shape. Cooking my own food is a skill I take pride in, and helps keep me healthy. Not having unlimited data on my phone helps me stay engaged and present in the world around me.

But the most important reason for all of this is simple:

I want to maximize the amount of time I spend on intrinsically motivated activities and minimize the amount of time I spend on extrinsically motivated activities.

The basic definition of an extrinsically motivated activity is a behavior you engage in for external rewards such as money, admiration, or avoiding punishment, while an intrinsically motivated activity is a behavior you engage in for internal rewards such as personal enjoyment.

I’ve developed a simple test to see if what I’m doing is intrinsically motivated. I ask myself, “Would I still do this if I had to wake up at 7AM on a Saturday, do it for free and no one would ever know about it?” I would answer that question with a “Hell yeah!” for spending time with family and friends, hiking, biking, walking, exercising, spending time outdoors, playing music, playing basketball, traveling and teaching people about things I’m passionate about.

While I love my job and the people I work with, it would be tough to convince me to wake up early on the weekend to work in an office without getting paid or receiving some other reward. Hopefully at some point in my life an office job could be replaced with family time, deep conversations with friends or climbing mountains.

My life goal is not to have the most dollars in my bank account, but to spend the most hours doing things I love.

#MoneyGoals

 

Pictured: Engaging in an intrinsically motivated activity, kayaking with good friends. Mora, Minnesota / June 2019.

 

 

 

How I Save $720 Per Year on Cell Service

According to J.D. Power, the average Americans’ cell phone bill was $73 per month in 2014, which comes out to roughly $850 per year. If you were to invest that $850 per year and allow it to compound over 10 years you’re looking at an opportunity cost of over $12,000 which is a ridiculous amount of money.

If you are paying the average amount, or really anything over $20 per month for your cell phone, chances are you could be missing out on some juicy savings.

I recently changed to a new service provider, Tello, which uses Sprint’s network and offers a plan with unlimited texting, unlimited minutes and 200MB of LTE data and unlimited 2G data after that for $12.30 a month after all taxes and fees. Again, that’s an essentially unlimited plan for $12 per month.

You may be thinking, “I don’t know if I could make it in this crazy world with only 200MB of fast data and unlimited slow data!” Consider that you would save $720 per year compared to the average American, be about $10,000 wealthier every 10 years of your life, might be more conscious of the time you spend staring at a glowing screen, and you can always download all of the entertainment you would like on WiFi (which you most likely have access to 90% of the time anyways).

When I personally made the switch from multiple gigs of data to 200MB, the only major change I made was downloading podcasts while on WiFi instead of streaming music while traveling. I also made some updates to my phone settings (most of which are outlined in this helpful article on reducing your data usage). After all, data is the most expensive part of any cell phone bill so it makes sense to optimize your usage no matter what service provider you use.

And if you really can’t make it with more data, Tello has more plans with higher data such as one with 1GB for $14 per month. If you want to check out the plans they offer, feel free to use the link below which will give you a $10 credit if you try it out (and will give me $10 too, so thank you!)

Tello Plans

#MoneyGoals

(Pictured: Me using my 200MB of data in Deep Ellum, TX. July 4, 2018)

One-Time vs. Recurring Costs

A smart man once said to me, “Sometimes the most obvious points are the most insightful.”

The idea that recurring costs are more impactful than one-time purchases seems like one of those points. It’s obvious that saving $10 per month on your cell phone bill would have a bigger impact in a year than trying to find a good deal to buy a new TV for $50 off, but how many of us spend time researching big purchases and hardly pay attention to our smaller monthly charges?

Next time you’re looking to save some cash, see if you can optimize your weekly or monthly spending. Rent, all kinds of insurance, cell phone/internet/TV service and groceries are some of the areas I focus on, and you can certainly think of more. Stay tuned for a hot tip on how to save on cell phone service next week!

#MoneyGoals

(Pictured: My most prolific money-saving tool, shielding me from recurring expenses of gas, car insurance, tolls and maintenance. Dallas, TX / October 20, 2018)

Moroccan Stew Recipe

The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college, my mom tried to teach me how to cook as I was moving off campus and would no longer have a meal plan. This was the first and only recipe she guided me through. My impatient 19 year old self was frustrated by having to take instructions from my mom again (sorry mom!) and my inability to chop vegetables efficiently.

When I went back to school, I promptly ate a month or two of PB&J and PB&Banana sandwiches, but eventually came back to this easy and delicious recipe. Now cooking is one of my favorite things to do, and this dish is one I have made for many dinner guests. As what seems to be a recurring theme in life, I should’ve listened to my mom earlier.

The mellow vibes of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and the heartiness of russet and sweet potatoes come together to make this Moroccan Stew a perfect cold weather dish. It is also great for family and friends who might not be the biggest fans of spiciness (@ my fam).

Ingredients

Spices:

  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Feel free to increase amounts of any spices you are particularly fond of. I typically go heavy on the cinnamon, nutmeg and curry powder.

Everything else:

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 thing of kale (I just grab a fresh bunch at the grocery store) chopped
  • 2 cans chickpeas, drained
  • 2 cans petite diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 3 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 3 large carrots, chopped
  • 2 (or 3) cups dried lentils, rinsed
  • Enough water to cover everything (or vegetable broth)

Directions

  1. Combine all spices in a bowl. Take a sniff of the mixture, it’s an awesome combo.
  2. Warm up coconut or olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Cook the onion in the oil until soft/golden brown (5 to 10 minutes). Stir in kale and spice mixture, cook until kale begins to wilt and spices are fragrant (maybe 1 or 2 minutes).
  3. Pour all the other shit into the pot (chickpeas, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, lentils) and pour enough water/broth in to just barely cover everything. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until vegetables are cooked, stirring occasionally for roughly 30 minutes (I usually grab a chunk of potato and try it, if it’s too hard keep cooking).
  4. Serve over brown rice (I typically make 3 cups dry. See Sweet Potato Chili recipe for rice cooking instructions.)

Moroccan Stew will last for about a week in the fridge, and longer if you freeze it so it’s great for meal prepping for the week. If you would like any further guidance I’m happy to answer any questions!

#MoneyGoals

Other Recipes: