Last month turned out not to be as terrible as expected despite medical and dental bills.

And then, guess what? We got a check from D's insurance company today to reimburse part of the dental bill (it was $120.80 - not bad!).

Even without that check (which will go in this month's accounting) and despite the fact that we spent 17% more than this month last year (medical bills), we spent $269 less than we made. We saved about 1% more than this month last year, too.

So, overall a successful month.

The bad news is that I was working so hard today I didn't go to the bank to deposit my gym money. Which means I didn't get the bank popcorn, which was supposed to be F's after-school snack. So I had to buy her crisps. And we forgot to refill her water bottle at school (which she needed for soccer) so we had to buy water. And I was working so hard all day that I was craving a candy bar. Total at our mini-mart stop: $5.26. Not terrible. And I got a lot of work done, so my disorganization today in everything else was worth it.

Tomorrow:
- soccer game
- another soccer game
- evening circus performance (F's best friend is in it so we got free tickets!)

Pretty sure last month was financially, um, challenging. Not a financial disaster because we have an emergency fund and we live on last month's money and we can move money from one category to another. But still... not great.

And it's stuff we can't really control: medical and dental expenses. We have good insurance, and we're almost at our deductible. But medical this month was $730 (hope that we've paid for the final bill for the endoscopy I had to have!) and dental was $217.

I am going to go now and try to use other categories to knock those down a bit:
- underspend on utilities
- underpend on water/sewer
- underspend on groceries
- underspend on dining out
- underspend on fuel
- underspend on spending money/cash
- underspend on pets

Total of all of the underspend is about $400. It's not $950, but I think I can get the medical and dental to zero in about 3 months this way.

On the way to F's soccer game on Sunday our car started making the most frightening noise. D pulled over, and we tried to figure out what was wrong. We couldn't even put the car in neutral without this horrific metal-on-metal sound.

We called our neighbor who rushed us to the soccer fields, and we just abandoned our car on the side of the road (it's a very quiet dirt road). We having free towing with USAA insurance, so I called them to set it up; they said I could call back when we were ready and they'd come right out.

So F played her game (and scored two goals! score was 3-1). And our friends drove us home. And then D headed back out to wait for the tow truck.

They towed it to the dealer, and dropped the keys in the dropbox, and we were just freaking out all morning... what if it was a really expensive repair? What if it was the transmission? What if, what if...

But the service manager called D back and said it was a rock stuck in the brake calipers. All they had to do was take off the wheel. $25. Yes!!!!!! We can scrounge up $25!

We're so relieved...

My mother-in-law is coming back to stay with us tonight on her way back to the UK (from her "Tour of the West"). She'll be with us an additional three days, so I stocked up at the store. D wanted to have salmon which we eat rarely since it's expensive. And we were out of all sorts of staples, so it was an expensive shopping trip.

While we were in the store this morning it started snowing, and F was really upset because she's supposed to play in a soccer game at 2:30 today, but it's stopped snowing, and we just got an email that the games are ON! I need to figure out how many warm clothes I can pile on.

I cleaned the desk in our den (which is where I work when I work from home in the afternoons after school pick-up). My problem is with papers and mementos. But I managed to get rid of a ton of stuff. And then F made me pull out the white paper to recycle (she's a good girl! I just wanted everything GONE!). I still have a little bit to do, but it's nearly there. And I didn't clean D's side.

OK, need to go help F change for soccer.

So, first: How Soccer Saves us Lots of Money
- We are at the soccer fields every few days for practices and games. We were there last night for practice, today for a game (F scored a beautiful goal!) and tomorrow for another game (F is on the A team; we have A and B... I am so proud! She's worked hard for it!).
- The fields are in an abandoned horse racing track. I'm posting a photo of the entrance. It's super weird. And not near anything. There isn't even anything between the fields and our route home (no restaurants or shops or ANYTHING), so no temptations.
- Free entertainment, a great place to run (also free) when she's practicing (the old horse racing track is packed dirt)
- Lots of parents to socialize with! I even see old friends whose kids are on other teams/fields. There are like 30 fields.
- It forces me to have a good plan for dinner because we're not home until 7:30 or 8 pm on practice nights.



And now, How I Got a Deal on Glasses
I've been using magnifiers to read books and menus and things for a couple of years. But now when I drive, everything is fuzzy and I can't read street signs. Grrr. So I got an eye exam, and got my prescription for distance glasses. It's a light prescription. I don't need the glasses to get a license. But with the prescription, the trees have leaves and the signs have letters (the eye doctor took me outside so that I could test it out on things that are far away like trees and mountains).

There are a lot of eyeglass places online, but I have a teeny tiny head. And I have three pairs of reading glasses and two of them are super uncomfortable. All three are huge on my face and look ridiculous. But I read in private, so I don't care. But I'll be wearing the glasses to see kids' faces in soccer games, so that'll be public. Warby Parker (online) has a try-on program, but I thought I'd check our local eyeglass store first.

It's down by Target, and I was going by there on the way to get some stucco samples made, so I popped in. They had a special for glasses and lenses together (same price as Warby Parker!) and the salesperson showed me which glasses were on special. Then she looked at me and said, "or for the same price you can get any of our kids' glasses." I really am kind of small.

Anyway, I tried on the adult glasses. Like the three bears: too big! And then I looked at the kids' frames: they looked way too small! But I tried them on just to be sure: just right! Not just one pair, but pretty much every pair was my size.

So, I'm waiting for the prescription to be put in my kid-sized glasses.

I can wear a kids' size 4 1/2 shoe, too. I have kids' mittens and a pair of kids' jeans (I like them because they're stretchy). Kids' stuff is a lot less expensive!

I'm looking out the window at the fuzzy spring trees. I can't wait for my glasses to come so I can see the leaves and branches!

1. We need to restucco our house. I've budgeted for it, but not this much! Oh well, it needs to be done, and I don't mind spending money on our house since it keeps its value.

2. Bought gas today; prices are going up. I saw a woman that I work with at the County on the other side of the pump filling her car. She ran over to hug me, so I guess the County still likes me!

3. Decluttered a little bit. It amazes me that there are always more things to get rid of. This time: eyeshadow and blush from about 20 years ago (I wish I was joking); I don't wear eyeshadow or blush at all, ever, which is how it's sat in the drawer this long. Some random little toys. A few broken things and pens that don't work. The little tray in our laundry room where we put our keys is now very clean!

4. While I was decluttering, I found my sunglasses! I'd put them in a safe place (the little tray in the laundry room) and they got sort of buried by other stuff.

5. Found a new show to watch on the bbc iplayer... Back in time for Dinner. The premise is that they take a family and feed them a diet from another era. Episode 1 is the 1950s, Episode 2 is the 1960s, etc... I am disproportionately excited about this!

6. Went through my exercise socks, and weeded out a few pairs with holes too big to fix. I guess that's decluttering, too.

7. We are thinking about where we'll go this summer and we've decided to divide our vacation into three smaller trips... one 5 day and then two long-weekend trips (3 days each). We won't go far, but we'll take advantage of what is in the Southwest and our state. F has never been to Carlsbad Caverns, and White Sands is amazing, too. Three Rivers petroglyphs could be done on that same trip, and we can stay in Cloudcroft and go to the Space Museum in Alamogordo. That's one short trip. And then another one might be to go up to Denver (6 hour drive) to see the Colorado Rapids play (soccer). For the big trip we're thinking about Las Vegas. The flights from New Mexico are pretty reasonable because it's relatively close (closer than California).

I was so busy today... worked hard to prep for a big meeting, then the big meeting. The meeting went so long I missed my noon exercise class (grrrr) so I went home and waited for one of the four guys who's giving us a quote on restuccoing our house. While I waited: tried a new circulation pattern for the solid waste collection center I'm designing (this was a result of feedback from the meeting). By the time he left, it was time to pick up F from school.

Here are things I need to spend money on:
- new sneakers for F
- new sandals for F
She has these very long, very narrow feet. They are getting even longer! The thing is, because they're so long and narrow, she really needs to try shoes on; I can't just buy them on the internet. So it's a trip down to the outlet mall (a whole 15 minutes away!).

I did take a few minutes today to move my eye exam up to this week. I decided it was stupid to delay until May (I was playing mental games with myself by having the bill be in May instead of April which was pointless). My eyes are feeling really strained, and I can't read road signs. If I do need glasses for distance, I will be so angry! But if I do, I might as well get them sooner rather than later.

One last financial thing... called D today to say hi and we spent a few minutes strategizing F's birthday gifts. We have money saved, and we also figured out what the grandparents might get. They have just deferred to us (in fact, D's mum just gives us her credit card number) because F is sort of difficult to buy for if you're a grandma (because our grandmas aren't particularly well-versed in all things soccer.

We woke up at 6:30 this morning to find that it had snowed overnight - beautiful! But... F was supposed to play in two soccer games. We checked email and at 7 they emailed to say that the games were still on, then drove all the way out there. The games started at 9, and we arrived at 8:35 (coaches need to be early and D is a coach)... at 8:36 we received an email canceling the games. Ugh.

The fields were COVERED with snow, so it wasn't a surprise. We ended up playing in the snow with another family that showed up, too. We made snowmen, played snow soccer, made a huge snowball...

That mom was supposed to bring snack that day, and she gave D and F homemade strawberry bread, and here is where things went wrong... I can't eat gluten so I was jealous, and we stopped at a bakery on the way home. $8.

We went home and watched the football match (soccer), did our spazzy workout since F was stir crazy. Then lunch at home.

I called a few of F's friends to see if they could come play, but no one could, so we decided to go ice skating. On the way we stopped at Target to get Claritin for F. We used a coupon and got 70 pills, so this was an expense we were expecting anyway. $25.

Ice skating was $22 for the three of us.

Then frozen yogurt afterward. $10.

We did combine our errands, and we stopped by the grocery store on the way home, doing a big loop around town. It was supposed to be a relatively inexpensive shopping trip, so I was freaking out until I realized that we also bought a big bag of dogfood (this is from the "pets" budget category). $58 groceries for the week plus $20 dogfood for the month, which is good for us, so this was a spending highlight. It's a good meal plan, too with pad thai, pasta with courgettes, baked potatoes, risotto, mexican eggs, apricot chicken/rice/salad and something from the freezer (also with a salad).

We all have good days and bad days, and I'm not counting the Claritin, groceries or dogfood since those are expected expenses. All in all, $40 I didn't need to spend, but we all had a wonderful day and F wasn't too sad about missing soccer.

Since I live in a place where tourists love to visit, and PNW Mom asked about things to do here, I thought I'd do a post about some of the wonderful things to do here. I've included some locals-only tips, and if you're coming to visit, you should tell me!

Sorry - this is super long!

MUSEUMS -
My favorite is the Musuem of International Folk Art; it's free on Sundays! The most incredible collection of folk art I've ever seen - bright and colorful!
The Spanish Colonial Museum is also on Museum Hill and is housed in a house designed by John Gaw Meem (a famous New Mexican architect who is partly responsible for reviving Spanish Colonial style).

INDIAN PUEBLOS -
Taos Pueblo tour - this is about an hour and a half away; they have tours.
Feast Days - If you are coming in the summer, check to see if there's a feast day at one of the nearby Indian Pueblos...
http://www.indianpueblo.org/19pueblos/feastdays.html

EVENTS -
We have lots going on all year.
Summer -
Music on the Hill (bring a picnic dinner and listen to music while you picnic outside) http://www.sjc.edu/programs-and-events/santa-fe/music-hill-2015/ June-July (free! great with kids)
Santa Fe Bandstand (July-August) https://santafebandstand.org/ concerts on the Plaza (also great with kids)
Indian Market (free), Spanish Market (free), Folk Art Market (July 10-12 this year - Community Celebration with the Artists is Wednesday evening and is free! Tickets to Market vary and the lowest is $10 if purchased in advance)
Rodeo de Santa Fe - end of June
The Burning of Zozobra - We burned Zozobra long before there was burning man...
Santa Fuego Baseball - small-town baseball - we bring food and a blanket and you get to see the game up-close; end of May through July - tickets are $6
Winter -
Winter Indian Market and Winter Spanish Market
Farolitos (paper bag lanterns on Canyon Road) on Christmas Eve
Skiing

HIKES -
- Audobon Trail is a short, easy loop but can be made longer if you make a turn and go up the Bear Canyon trail to make it longer (free); Randall Davey's house was donated to the Audobon center - it's open every Friday at 2 pm for a docent-led tour ($5). They have bird walks led by local experts every Saturday at 8 am (free!).

- Waterfall Hike - As you head up to the ski area there is a ranger
station to the right about halfway up (just past one of the campgrounds in Hyde Park). In back is the old log lodge where they hold a lot of weddings. There is a 1 mile hike to a waterfall - really nice and beautiful... kind of snowy and cold in the winter. Day use parking fee is $5.

-Bandelier - totally worth doing! (about 45 mins from Santa Fe). You can enter the caves and see the blackened ceilings (from the cooking fires made 800 years ago!). At the farthest point of the Main Loop Trail (1.2 mi roundtrip) you have a choice to continue to Alcove House, which is 140 feet above the canyon floor and only accessed by a series of ladders. It's another 1 mile roundtrip and the view from the top is amazing. $12 per car fee.

- Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks (about 20 minutes away toward Albuquerque) - really cool cone-shaped rock formations! About 20 min. south of Santa Fe.

-Tsankawi - On the way to Bandelier about 30 minutes from Santa Fe; petroglyphs and an amazing trail worn into the stone by people 600 years ago, beautiful vistas (ladders are a required part of the trail and the trails are very narrow). $12 per car fee.

- end of June is our rodeo down at the rodeo grounds - Rodeo de Santa Fe
- Folk Art Market - July 11, 12, 13 - http://www.folkartmarket.org/ - I would definitely come for the Thursday procession in Railyard Park (free with a free African concert - everyone dances, it’s a blast!!!). There is a volunteer button on the homepage - if you volunteer you get a free ticket (special times excluded) - volunteer as a Line Host!

FOOD -
We have some really amazing food here.
- The Tea House - stroll up Canyon Road, see the art (Friday night there are a ton of art gallery openings with wine/food), then stop in at The Tea House for tea and a scone or other dessert (they have a lot of gluten free choices, too).

- Ecco - stop in for gelato (on Marcy St) - it's homemade and wonderful

- Bumblebees - Mexican (not New Mexican) food, inexpensive

- Tune Up - GREAT locals place - really great New Mexican food

- Pascual's - great breakfast! This is not cheap, though.

- Vinaigrette - salads made with locally grown produce (grown up in
Nambe) - really wonderful, can eat outside beautiful patio (but also pretty expensive - this is for a treat!)

- Cowgirl - a fun outside patio, good to stop in and have a margarita
and listen to live music on the patio

- Kakawa - try an unusual hot chocolate - not cheap, but really different!

- Roque's Carnitas - a little lunch truck on the Plaza has been here for years and years. Super yummy and very messy! Get extra napkins!

- The Pantry - for a great New Mexico locals-style breakfast - it's down Cerrillos a few miles. You'll be the only tourist there! Be sure to get the potatoes.

- Chocolate Maven - you can sit down for breakfast here or just pick up a breakfast burrito to go. These are the best breakfast burritos in town!


SHOPPING -
- If you want Indian jewelry, shop under the portal of the Palace of the
Governors - you have to be certified/vetted to sell there,
so you know what you're getting is real - if you buy from any other
places/tables scattered around the plaza, the authenticity is not guaranteed

- Doodlet’s - fun/crazy souvenirs (this is just off the plaza)

- Madrid - a small town south on Highway 14 about 30 minutes - fun for a day trip and some funky art/crafts for gifts.

- Farmer's Market (Saturday and Tuesday mornings - check dates for summer v. winter) and Artist's Market across the street in the Railyard on Saturday mornings. You can get a yummy breakfast burrito in the Farmer's Market building.

- Todos Santos - chocolate shop hidden away in the beautiful Sena Plaza downtown; it's beautiful but I never buy anything here. It is worth seeing, though, and I'd probably buy something as a special gift for someone.

- Señor Murphy Candymaker - I do buy piñon caramel turtles here! And my favorite thing is the marshmallow dipped in caramel and then chocolate! Yum!


LODGING -
It's soooo much better and more fun to be near downtown, but it is more expensive. The biggest bargain is the Santa Fe Sage Inn which is a short walk from downtown. I hear that the Old Santa Fe Inn (even closer) is also not too expensive depending on the season.

With F not on her class trip, I decided to keep things low-key but still have a nice day out.

I had to do a tree survey for one of my projects (listing height, spread and caliper) so I enlisted F to help me; it's what I would have done anyway if she'd been on the trip. We had to enter through the "no trespassing" gate which made her nervous, but I assured her that since this is my project site, we're not actually trespassing. Then we parked the car and had to tromp across what was used for many years as a dump (people tended to just chuck things into arroyos). There were lots of sticker-bushes and old bottles. Even an entire stove and armchair. They've filled in the arroyo with dirt but it's loose and sandy, so we had to watch our footing. When we got to the other side, it was much easier, but we had step over an old barbed-wire fence. This also made F nervous, but it was all fine; we had on good shoes and she is an experienced hiker (since she could walk!).

I think it was good for her to have to confront these kinds of very mild risks (trespassing! cacti! tumbleweeds! rusty fences!) given some of her fears.

After we were done, and I'd closed the "no trespassing" gate, we headed up to Tsankawi, an American Indian ancestral site from about the 1400s. It was windy but beautiful. I thought a hike, being outside, would be good since that's what her classmates are doing, and I think being outside clears your head. The hike was incredible. Not too long. It includes trails heavily grooved into the rock by the former residents, other trails along the mesa top and two kiva-type ladders.

It was a good opportunity to talk about things, and also to think about the people who used to live here. What would it have been like to be a kid back then, living here in a cave in the rock? There were petroglyphs and pot shards, too.

After the hike we stopped for lunch at one of my favorite taco places in Pojoaque. It was 12:30 and it was packed! We got a seat at a table for four, but I saw two women who came after us who were waiting to sit and there were no tables, so I asked them to sit with us. It turned out they were from Picuris Pueblo (one of the 19 Indian pueblos in our state) about an hour from where we live, and they'd been in Santa Fe for the day and were heading home. We chatted about all kinds of stuff (one of them grew up right near where we live).

Before we all went on our way, they invited us to the Picuris Pueblo feast day in August. Such a great opportunity! I know a lot of people go to the Feast Days, but I feel weird if I'm not invited.

It's good to make a connection with people, and I think that's probably exactly what F needed today. Because this is a finance blog, the day cost $35 (that's for lunch and trail passes) and we have a ton of leftover chips and guacamole!

First, how I was frugal today, which is really just a list to remind myself that I'm trying hard and doing well at saving.
- watched a show on the bbc iplayer (free!) which is why we don't have to pay for cable.
- Ate lunch from the freezer (extra homemade taquitos that I froze last time we made them)
- Amended plan for F when her classmates go on the school trip... we are making it more low-key but still educational: a visit to Tsankawi Ruins (just a small trail fee and about half an hour away) rather than visiting Ghost Ranch (which will be a family summer outing on a weekend).
- Dinner is tostadas (one of our least expensive meals - about $4 for all of us)
- We pay down additional principal on our mortgage every month (I am adding this because when my mother in law and I were talking last week, she told me that her daughter, D's sister, has an interest-only mortgage that will come due in 20 years or so and then they owe all the principal at once - gulp! They'll basically need to sell the house to pay it, and hope that it's increased in value).
- Subbed for a weightlifting class for my good friend L; this means I'll get more from the gym at the end of the month. Or next month, or whenever he pays me for this month!
- One of the 6th grade teachers asked me to ask my husband if he'll photograph graduation; not sure how much he'll be paid, or maybe not much at all, but it's a good way to give back to the school we love so much!

Now an update on the class trip:
- F announced last night that she is definitely not going.
- She said that she wanted to tell the teacher herself, and I think that's very responsible and brave!
- In addition to our trip to Tsankawi tomorrow, she will help me do a tree survey on a site that's on the way to Tsankawi. And on Friday, she is helping out in the Kindergarten classroom. The second grade teacher said "Help out in my room, too!" so she may do that after lunch...
- We ran into the Experiential Ed teacher at pickup, and I asked him about next year's trip; it's closer to where we live (only about 25 minutes) and F told him she was pretty sure she could do that one.
- Two other girls are also not going (one because the mother thinks she's too young for an overnight, and I'm not sure about the other one).

I wish F could do it... but I think she made the right decision for herself, and I'm impressed at how she took so much responsibility for her decision.

Alarm system repair: free! The guy had to come back since he wasn't able to fix the problem the first time. I was prepared to argue down his price, but the price was... zero! I don't argue with zero.

Chiropractor: $66.27. It was an hour long visit and he was great. He did a lot of movement tests to figure out the problem, and there is some joint stuff and he can work with me he said. This is my friend's chiropractor, and she looooooves him. I'm going back next Tuesday and we'll see how it goes... I really need to take care of this lower back stuff.

Like Monkey Mama, I've had lots of leftover food (this is from my mother-in-law's visit) that we are eating our way through. I just had chicken for lunch (and had it for lunch yesterday, too). Tomorrow - salad with chicken? So food costs are low.

My mother-in-law is coming back on the 26th for a few days after her "tour of the southwest" with Saga (a British tour company). She is going to San Francisco, wine tasting, Yosemite, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon... I'm jealous! I'm sure she'll have a great time! I've washed her sheets and towels so they're nice when she returns.

Soccer.... well, we avoided having to pay for a tournament this weekend because no other teams signed up in our daughter's age category. So our team will play an extra game on Saturday, and we have Sunday FREE! That means another game of kids v. adults soccer. I was so terrible on Sunday in the second half. Kids v. adults soccer is free, and fun, so I'm happy.

A class trip, overnight, for 4th graders; I guess it depends on the kid, right? My kid, I have mentioned, is a very anxious not-yet-10-year-old. Seriously - she is taking her piano lesson right now and she said "you're not allowed to leave!" which she knows I don't do anyway. When she has soccer practice I like to run around the track, but this also makes her super nervous ("what if something happens to you?" she asks me).

She is about 4 sessions into therapy for anxiety, and it's going really well.

OK, so the trip is basically this:
2.5 hour drive to a national preserve
spend 4 hours doing activities and eating lunch
1 hour drive to where they'll be staying (in the summer it's a camp)
overnight
1 hour drive back to the national preserve
1 hour activities
2.5 hour drive back to school

A lot of driving. Did I mention that there isn't cellphone service at the national preserve. She wants me to be max 25 minutes away from her at all times (I have no idea why it's 25 minutes) which is not possible. There is absolutely nothing closer than an hour. Parents are not allowed to go (the chaperones are three teachers and the Principal).

She doesn't want to stay overnight no matter what. She is torn about going on the first day. It's a school day, and my initial thought was that she should do as much of the trip as possible. But I am also worried that if she tries to call/text and it doesn't go through all day she'll freak out and undo the work she's put into the therapy so far.

So... what do I do?

I've offered two options:
1. She can go and do the first day and I will pick her up after dinner (1.5 hour drive) and I'll take her home; on Friday she can help in the Kindergarten class.
2. Skip the whole thing. If that's what she decides, I may take her up to Ghost Ranch which is only an hour away and there are cool education programs (I think Thursday is a hike then lunch then archery). It's the former home of Georgia O'Keeffe. That isn't free, and it's not inexpensive, but I'm ok with it since it's a pretty cool program. We'd bring our paints, too.

Just to add another layer on this: the forecast on Friday is snow and rain. I was thinking I could get a room near the camp and F could spend the night there and I could take her back in the morning, but that is $$ and I don't want to drive home in the snowy rain.

Oh - and another thing. There's another mother that thinks her child is just too young for this. She was going to keep her home from the whole thing, and she can help out with the little kids (we both had the same idea). She and I talked, and if I pick up F at the end of Thursday, she would let her daughter go and I could take her home, too. (If they both don't go, then maybe the three of us go to Ghost Ranch).

The other parents are fine with the trip, or if not fine, their kids want to go.

So, what do you think? You can blast me for terrible parenting; I won't feel bad!

It's been a great week with my mother-in-law here! Well, all week until today when four people living in close quarters with different cultural norms caught up with us.

We mostly spent our days down at the soccer fields for F's practices and game (she scored the only two goals our team made on Saturday, so even though we lost, she was happy).

Yesterday we went to Madrid (that's pronounced Mad-rid with an emphasis on mad, not like the city in Spain). It's a former coal-mining village, and then it was a ghost town and now it's a funky artist community. I knew that my English mother-in-law would like it; it looks like the wild west (how far from the UK can you get?) and she loves to shop. She asked F if she wanted something in every shop we went into, and F is not a shopper and really doesn't seem to want anything (except another Arsenal soccer jersey).

We had lemonades and chips and salsa at a little outdoor cafe and we treated (we've been saving up our dining out budget). We had dinner back at our favorite place near our house, and were expecting to buy that, too, but D's mum treated us! So nice!

Today was a little harder... F is pretty sick of D's mum referring to herself in the third person "Shall Grandma get you a little jacket?" F is a little sick of Grandma always talking about clothes (I think it's pretty funny actually! If you ask her how the plane trip was, she'll describe what she wore). F and I both find it hard that my mother-in-law walks really, really slowly; we walk as slowly as we can to walk with her, but it's nearly impossible. My mother is quick, quick, quick, so F isn't used to that.

Grandma wanted to come with us to the supermarket so she could buy postcards and stamps, but our supermarket doesn't sell postcards, and F needed some time alone with me. She's having a lot of anxiety about her upcoming school overnight trip and wanted to talk about it. So D took his mum to the CVS instead (where they do sell postcards, but only US stamps, not international).

While we were gone, my mother-in-law was trying to be really nice and left a little container of something called Bio-Oil for me to try. I only use unscented products, and when I saw the oil I went to close the flip top and found that it was super smelly. And in carrying it down to my desk, my very wonderful but not that steady on her feet mother in law had dripped the oil across the floor. Had to wash my hands and then picked up the container with a paper towel. Then I put baking soda on the oily spots, but I'm not sure all of the spots will come out completely (we have concrete floors and the oil was probably sitting for an hour or so).

In positive news, our shower valve survived the visit (it's a bit titchy, and always in danger of breaking if it's handled to roughly).

I'm pretty much ready for this day to be over, though.

Grandma leaves in the morning, and then I have to do her sheets and towels before she returns in a few weeks (fortnight!).

So, it was a great visit, but a lot of work, too. And I guess that's the thing about visitors...

D's mum is here, and unfortunately I had to work today. Now F is doing homework, and tonight she has soccer practice. We're taking Grandma with us.

Dinner tonight: penne with turkey bacon, goat cheese and peas and lemon/garlic sauce. Mmmm... I am starving, but I still have to get through soccer practice.

Today was expensive, but not because we have an out-of-town guest. I got the (I hope) final bill for the endoscopy I had to have. The endoscopy counts as a procedure (?!) rather than a test, so it all goes toward the deductible. I've paid over $1000 toward this test so far. I guess I should be grateful that the results were good!!!

David's mum arrives in two days... I feel pretty ready! I've done the grocery shopping, have a meal plan. I washed the linens and D put them on the spare bedroom bed. Tonight I'm cleaning the bathroom, and we'll move F's stuff down to our bathroom so that she can have it to herself.

Our house is generally tidy, but I also vacuumed out my car since she'll be riding in it a lot, and I worked on our yard a little bit. I am building a little enclosure to hide our barbeque, and that should be done by tomorrow evening.

Here is our meal plan:
Cheesy cornbread with sundried tomatoes and a side salad (before she arrives)
Pad thai (before she arrives)
Turkey burgers with french fries and salad
Chicken piccata with rice and broccoli
Frittata with salad
Pasta with turkey bacon, peas and goat cheese
Barbequed chicken with veggies and a yummy sauce (friends over; they'll bring something, too)
Eat out one night

Our grocery bill was about 20% more than normal, but we usually don't eat that much animal protein (but D is pretty adamant that he wants to treat his mum to nice meals, and the concession is that we aren't eating out a bunch; fair enough!). We also bought sausages for easter breakfast tomorrow and an extra thing of eggs to dye for hard-boiled eggs (lunch!). I expected that, and I think I can make most of it up with an "eat out of the pantry" shopping trip later in the month.

When you have a guest, does your grocery shopping spending rise?

I had to toss a pair of pajama bottoms this morning. This was the pair my family called Franken-jammies because I had sewn them up so many times. (Make do and mend). The fabric just got thinner and thinner and they literally shredded.

It made me think about this movement to have fewer things... I absolutely am not into "stuff" and I don't have a ton of clothes. But the fewer items of clothing you have (like 33 things for 3 months! Eeek! http://theproject333.com/getting-started/), don't things tend to wear out more quickly?

I now have three pairs of long pajama bottoms; I put them on as soon as I come home from work (comfort!!!!). I think I may need to replace this pair.

Do any of you have a "capsule" wardrobe?

Yesterday I got my fuel gauge repaired. It was a repair I wasn't going to make, but the last time I went in for an oil change, they said that because the fuel gauge problem was triggering the check engine light, they didn't know if there was anything else wrong with the car. In other words, something could go wrong with my engine and I'd never know because the check engine light is always lit. They wanted $50 for an engine diagnostic; I told them I'd do it next time.

But on a whim, I checked online to see if the fuel gauge was part of any recall. It wasn't for my car, but was for another Nissan model. I called Nissan USA (corporate headquarters) to see if maybe they'd had issues with my model, too. The incredibly nice woman said no but that she'd look into it and call me back.

I totally did not expect a call back, but she did call back a few days later to say she was still checking. About a week later, she told me that Nissan USA would pay for the part and I could pay for labor. Instead of a $700 repair, I paid $198!

Later yesterday evening, we decluttered F's bathroom drawers. There were all sorts of dried up hairbands and old barrettes that F was happy to part with. And now the drawers are organized and tidy.

So, not a no-spend day obviously, but money well spent and a satisfying decluttering session.

The weather is really nice, and D's mum is coming out in a few weeks, which has me thinking about our garden.

Today:
- buy some soil at Home Depot (see if the outdoor rugs are out yet)
- shop vac old leaves
- sweep
- think about sewing new cushions (I have the foam and fabric)

Next Weekend:
- build a small wall to hide the bbq

I need to call my good friend G who is an amazing gardener to find out when I need to put out vegetable plants here in the high desert (we could easily have another freeze). I've tried starting from seed, and when I put out my poor plants they all died. So I'm buying starter plants at the nursery.

The plan:
- lettuce mix (this you can actually start from seed)
- zucchini
- tomatoes
- thyme
- spearmint
- green onions

It's not super ambitious, but I'm not exactly the best gardener.

We've decided to bbq when D's mum is here, too, because the weather is supposed to be good, and that will be a treat for her, coming from England. And I need to wipe down the outdoor table so she can have her tea outside.

We did a lot of work on the garden last year and just have a little farther to go... I love it out there.

I was going to deposit my $84 gym money next week, but it's Friday and the bank has popcorn! So I'm going today.

Then I pick F up from school, take her to tennis and then soccer (this is the big sports day). It's pretty nice out, so I'll probably do one lap around the horse track at soccer.

Tonight: frugal dinner of soup and garlic bread.

Tomorrow: out to dinner with friends. We're going to our mutual favorite, a small locals place. That's a big deal in a tourist town like this! Much less expensive and better food. But it's not downtown, so tourists don't find it.

It's nearly the end of the month, and I'm itching to do the end-of-the-month summary to see how we did (pretty well, I think!). I bought gas today, because I was driving to a town about an hour away and I don't like getting low on gas. But we're still within our gas budget.

One more grocery shop for the month, and there's still $382 in groceries! So the remaining money after that shopping trip will beef up our "unexpected medical" and "household repairs" categories. D was supposed to call his mother to find out if she has any diet restrictions right now. That way I will tailor the menu plan in two weeks (when she arrives) for her. This will affect next week's meal plan because I don't like to repeat too much. I also want to know what she likes for breakfast, snacks to have around...

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm definitely looking forward to it!

The housing market in our small city has been really weird. Things weren't selling, and what was on the market was really weird or overpriced.

I don't make it a habit of keeping track, except that a good housing market usually means more work in construction which means more work for architects! I weathered the last economic downturn pretty well, but that was mostly because I don't design houses (I do mostly civic/public buildings). That slowed down, too, but not as much.

This morning I learned that the house two doors down from us is under contract. I didn't even know it was for sale; it must have just gone on the market. It was being rented out because the owner moved around the corner (same neighborhood); I didn't know the people who were renting it (it hasn't been that long). I can't wait to have real neighbors! There are only four houses on our street.

Anyway, the really good news is that it sold for $720k! It's a little larger than ours (maybe 2500 sf and ours is 2300). It has a little bit nicer view, too. But this is really good news for our equity! I've been figuring our house is worth $500k, but I think it's probably a little over $600k. I built it 16 years ago, and with the lot and an addition about 9 years ago, we've paid $300k total. We owe just under $57k.

I should be less nervous about money given the equity in our home, but you have to have somewhere to live, and you can't eat your home, right? Plus equity could disappear as the market changes. So I'll just continue being frugal.

Hello, I'm the tooth fairy. Well, at least at this house I am. The secretary at school told me "F has a surprise for you!" and it turned out she lost her tooth at school. She showed it to her close friend/deskmate who thought it was a blob of hot glue! Anyway, the secretary gave her a little treasure chest container, and she brought it home for the tooth fairy (reminder: that is me). Amazingly, I am actually prepared! I have a set of secret ink pens that the tooth fairy can give F under her pillow tonight. This was as stocking stuffer I forgot about and decided to keep on hand. There is also the tooth fairy certificate which I just printed out.

Now, the thing I'm not prepared for is Easter. Did I mention that I am also the Easter Bunny? The New Mexican Easter Bunny is a jackrabbit named Tomás. I don't want to spend a lot on Easter, and F still has candy from Valentine's day. I don't have a lot of time to go to the store, either. Tomas always leaves eggs around the house so that F can go on an egg-hunt when she wakes up on Easter Sunday, and I have the eggs which I rescued from last year. I think maybe the solution is some japanese erasers from Amazon. There is budget money for these kinds of holidays, but I think $20 max!

I did get some money from the gym today ($84) which will go toward our mortgage principal. It was a fun class today... I really love weightlifting, and what I teach is weightlifting set to music, which is even more fun!

The bad thing is that I have some very tight muscles, and it's pulling me out of whack. I went to the chiropractor yesterday, $60, and I have another appointment with someone different (who fixed my friend's problem) on April 14. I am going to ask for an assignment (stretching? exercises?); I will work hard if I know what to do! I'm going to go stretch right now!!!

I checked the Ink Cash rewards on my Chase Card (this is my business visa) to find that I had accumulated $140! I guess I've too been busy to keep track, because I usually cash out at $50!

Anyway, they now deposit directly into an account, and when I see it, it'll go right to the mortgage.

I ran around like crazy today. Lots of work, a long meeting, had to take D to the car place (it was $87, less than expected, so that's good) and then the Egypt Fair up at F's school (where the kids all shared their projects on Ancient Egypt - F did transportation; all of the kids walked in to "Walk Like an Egyptian" - ha!).

There wasn't much time for lunch, but the meeting was right near our house, so I went home and had 15 mins to heat up some leftover pasta.

F and I splurged on ice cream at Baskin Robbins; $3.25. That was to celebrate her excellent Egypt report as well as getting a head start on her next book report. She read Greenglass House, a newish book about a mystery in an inn. I read it, too, and we both loved it. Her project is going to be a floor plan of the inn. It's almost like Clue! Different people and objects in different rooms.

Now.... I guess it's dinner time. Sausages with rice and broccoli.

We were away for a week for Spring break - but we're back!

I got a ton of work done today, and I also made a trip to the bank to deposit the other half of our tax refund (state refund). Along with that, I deposited some snowflakes from selling some old technical books that I was considering tossing. I'm glad I didn't - I got $63 for them!

So I put 1128 toward the mortgage principal today; we've paid off $5104 this year.

Paying off the mortgage is crucial to paying for F's school (when she enters high school). We ended up getting $750 in tuition assistance this year (and it's really $1000 because we also don't have to pay the $250 finance charge since we're getting assistance; if you don't get assistance and pay monthly, it adds this charge - ugh).

The bad financial news is that I'm still getting bills for the endoscopy I had to have in January. I paid $422 at the time of service, and I thought that was it, but nooooooo... I've gotten two additional bills, one for $150 and another for $60. There is only $78 left in my "medical unforeseen" category. I need to beef that back up!

So... more good financial news: We did not spend much on our spring break trip. We stayed with my parents, so we just bought food.

I am hoping we can stay on budget when D's mother comes to visit from the UK in April. We have one dinner out planned, and one visit to the Tea House for a treat (I like the scones with lemon curd) and one potluck dinner with our friends at our house. D will probably also take his mum out to lunch one day. So that's pretty much our eating out budget for the month, but oh well! She's coming a long way.

We're trying to figure out some free entertainment, too. She'll want to go to the Plaza and probably buy something from the Indian jewelry sellers. She wants to go shopping for jeans, too. We can tag along since these won't be our purchases.

She can't really hike or walk too much (she uses a crutch), but she will go to F's soccer practices and Saturday game (they have a cart to take her to the fields) and her tennis lesson. And she'll go with me to pick F up from school. Not sure that's the best entertainment...

Any ideas?

It's almost the end of this long four-day weekend. We decided not to go x-c skiing today so that F could play with her friend. They are in different grades, so they don't see each other at school, and after this week it's Spring Break. We are going to CA to see my parents and her family is going skiing in Banff.

Another friend of F's is going to NYC and another friend is going skiing in Telluride. Wow! Those are some fancy vacations! I am pretty excited about our vacation, too. My parents live in a really nice area, and since we stay with them lodging is free! We're taking the train out, and from my parents' house we can just walk down the street and see the LA Marathon go by. So that's Sunday's activity. My mom is buying all sorts of food for our stay. We're going to Knott's Berry Farm one day with my 26 year old niece (F is over the moon! They looooooove each other!).

The train, by the way, was the same price as flying and includes a sleeper car and meals on the train. We booked early since they have a sort of tier system.

Other things to mention:
- I signed up for the local pool this summer and got a $15 discount since I was one of the first 60 to sign up.
- I bought some socks at Target for F and she realized it said "pack of 7" but there were only 5 (good spot, F!). So I returned them. They were out of this style at the store, so I bought them online and for some reason no shipping charge. I have no idea why.
- I just finished my state taxes and we're getting the last part of our solar PV tax credit. When the money comes into our account it will go right into the mortgage principal.
- I stopped by the office today and saw that I'd gotten two checks; yay!
- I also ran 1.5 miles from the office (it's a really nice run; less hilly than running from our house)

It's about 3:45 now, and I have about 1 hour to relax while the girls play... I'm going to go watch a show on the BBC about The Knowledge (that is the test that you have to take to drive a London taxicab).

I hope you all had a great weekend!

I got "perfumed" at Target today. It was from pushing the cart (it's my hands that smell). It's so strong that even after using germ stuff, washing my hands three times, rubbing with a lemon... they still smell! I am so grumpy! Now I'm going to have to sniff the cart handles before I use them.

Anyway, I bought F some shorts (we are going to CA for Spring Break and I realized her summer clothes don't fit!) $8, some foil and kleenex and wipes.

I also went to the grocery store this week and had a pretty good week. Total was about $75.

I am going to go wash my hands with baking soda; be right back.

I'm back; it didn't work.

Dinner tonight is Apricot Chicken with Basmati Rice and Broccoli. I'm going to go get started on the sauce to take my mind off my stinky hands.

We received our tax return money yesterday, so F and I went to the bank today (popcorn Friday!) to pay down principal.

This was a big pay-down! The return (federal) was $3104 and I put the entire thing toward principal. Our balance is now $57,917. If we don't put any more money toward principal, we own our house in February 2020.

I promised D that when we went below $50k we would have a nice meal out. According to my spreadsheet that happens in September.

Anyway, in the car on the way to F's tennis lesson, we had a big discussion about mortgages and interest and principal. She was pretty into it! I wish my parents discussed these sorts of things with me when I was a kid...

Our tax return money was deposited into our account and we got a notice about the portion that we decided to take as an Amazon credit. We opted for $200 to be Amazon and they added another $20 to it for taking that option (snowflake!). We'll use the Amazon credit for regular purchases, but the $220 (and the rest of the tax return money) will go to mortgage principal.

It makes the accounting a little weird, but whatever. We use Amazon for most of our purchases (bday gifts, birdseed, dog tooth treats, everything). So I just need to track those purchases as if they showed up on our visa.

Besides our tax return yesterday, we got our February electric bill. And it was ZERO dollars. Actually it was negative $1.32 but they won't cut checks for less than $20, so we need to wait for it to build up. You know what we'll do with the check when we finally get it of course. Mortgage!

It was the kickoff meeting for my new project today. You'd be proud of me: I stood my ground about our upcoming vacation (which I noted in my proposal to them). I said I wouldn't work on holiday, so that week did not count toward the schedule.

I ended up doing a midweek shop this week, which I never do. I really can't remember the last time. I bought some staples we ran out of (olive oil) and sour cream for tonight's dinner. I would have ended up buying these during the weekend shop anyway, so it is what it is.

While I was there, I picked up a prepared salad for lunch (which I also never do). I will get reimbursed from the office since the reason for the salad is that the kickoff meeting went so long I missed lunch.

Today F went to see the psychologist. She was great, and F came out of there seeming like a weight was off her shoulders. I think it was just the act of letting someone else in on her secret anxiety. So we have an appointment next week, and we've reserved the slot for the near future. The cost was $10 (insurance!!! yay!).

Tomorrow: parent-teacher conference at 8:45, and for the first time I'm dreading it (in the past it's just been "F is a joy to have in class and very bright"). I want to talk about F's schoolwork, but I know the teacher wants to talk about the anxiety (I'm not guessing - she emailed me). I'm just going to tell her that F has just seeing someone so maybe we can check back in a month after she's seen her 4 or 5 times. Her work notebook is sent home every other week and I look at everything and sign off and send it back, so I know the anxiety hasn't affected her work (she's getting all A's).

After the conference I need to go match a stucco color; F said that was fun and she'd help. Then I'm teaching spinning, which F definitely wants to go to. Then we'll have lunch together.

Friday is a no-school day, too, and F has a friend coming over. Maybe I'll get a little bit done while they play.

I popped into the bank today to deposit a check (side income) for D and the office rent check from my office-mate and also to pay down $174 on the mortgage.

On the way, I stopped at the post office to mail a bunch of old books to bookbyte. I should be getting about $50 for them, and of course that will go to the mortgage. Anyway, the books were HEAVY and the post office is up a series of steps. Ugh. But as I was piling my three boxes up in an orderly way on the hood of my car, I saw my friend R (he's the husband of my friend L). R is an archaeologist, and super nice! He carried my books up the steps and into the post office for me. On our way in, I saw another friend who is the mother of one of F's soccer friends. Soccer starts soon, so we'll get to hang out on the fields.

It was a reminder that I like living in a small city.

I ran today, too, and smiled at a lot of people, but didn't see anyone I know. I run from my office downtown, and it's mostly tourists after a certain time of morning.

Now I am busy making plans for F for the long weekend. She has Thursday and Friday off for parent-teacher conferences. Our conference is Thursday, but the rest of the day is free. And we're going running together with a friend of mine (that we met in the NICU when F and her son were both born preemie). That'll be early, too, while her son is in school, since she is very certain he wouldn't want to run with us. Friday afternoon is tennis.

Last weekend was pretty blah, so I'm trying to find fun activities and playdates.

Maybe x-c skiing, too.