We've worked hard on the new counter in our office kitchen (that is me and my office-mate J). Nearly done. I just need to paint some edges and caulk. Michaels had the paint on sale, just over $1 each. That's a business expense, but I still try to keep my business expenses as low as possible. Which is probably why I'm still in business even though I'm an architect (and many of my colleagues are really struggling).

Other stuff: Discretionary spending is way down. I think it's the act of tracking it that helps. We always tracked every dime we spend, but looking at discretionary spending on a day-by-day basis is a different thing.

More other stuff: We are going to California to visit my parents. We leave on Saturday. Staying with my parents allows us to do things we couldn't afford if we also had to pay for a hotel. And my mother got Disneyland tickets for me and F (D comes back home on Monday, so this will just be a mother-daughter thing). We've been to Disneyland a lot. It's great to be able to spend the day there, and still come home to Grandma and Grandpa at the end of the day. We are also planning on mini-golf and maybe a horse ride (F is a really good rider) in Griffith Park.

Even more other stuff: My mother has asked for me to send her a grocery shopping list. See? This is way better than a hotel!