We had some spending last week, but nothing that wasn't budgeted for...

No Spend Days
These don’t include regular bills (utilities, etc) only discretionary spending.

Sunday - household soap $3.78, gas $30.53, drugstore.com $39.42 (saved $2.22 plus $5 off plus free shipping), check for $32.75 for F’s hot lunches through the rest of the year at school

Monday - NSD

Tuesday - bought bday present for F ($40), bought her soccer socks ($15 for two pairs)

Wednesday - NSD

Thursday - F’s horse riding canceled; stopped for ice cream and rolaids (yes, they go together!)

Friday - big outing: $20 lunch, $18 mini golf and arcade, $2 slushes, $5.62 clothes for F

Saturday - NSD
groceries (as usual) - but they were lower than budgeted

The Old Navy stop turned out to be really great! I had a $35 reward coupon, and they were also having a big sale. We ended up filling out F's summer clothes (so now she's all set) for $5.62. Bought 3 long-sleeved t-shirts, one pair of capris, two short sleeved t-shirts, a skort and a pair of shorts. She already has about 3 pairs of capris and about 5 short sleeved t-shirts, also a few cotton dresses that fit. The hard thing is she's getting taller but is still very thin, so if something is an ok length, it's too big, and if it fits, it's too short. I will end up taking the skort and shorts in at the waist (a good reason to know how to sew!)

It's Good Friday - no school today! I have the day off too, because I finished a permit set for a friend of mine (a little side project while I wait for another project to start - also helps out my friend, and extra money!).

D has to work today, so F and I are going down to Albuquerque to do Albuquerque things. This is certainly not a free outing, but I'm happy to spend some money today (and it's budgeted for).
1. Old Navy - I have a $35 coupon and F needs some summer t-shirts - FREE
2. Lunch (probably Rudy's BBQ or maybe the Vietnamese place with the lumberjack) - should be about $20
3. Mini Golf $13
4. Slushies from Sonic afterwards (half price from 2 to 4) - $2 for two

Then back home.

There isn't soccer practice tonight, so we can spend the afternoon hanging out and not worry about getting back in time. And - it's supposed to be super warm down there today (it's always about 10 deg warmer in Albuquerque) - hooray for Spring!

I had heard about the “marriage penalty” years ago, but sort of (naively) assumed it had nothing to do with me. I just read about it again, and the article provided this link, where you can see if you’re affected by the marriage penalty. http://taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/marriagepenaltycalculator.cfm

And we so are!!! The more equal your two incomes are, greater the chance of a penalty. D and I make almost the same amount. Together we make $87,800. If one of us made that much, and the other stayed home, we’d pay almost $1300 less in taxes. That is a lot of money!

As a side note - this was designed as a marriage bonus, and did function that way back when there was only one wage-earner per household. It still is a bonus for those families where only one spouse is working. So it’s not really the “marriage penalty.” It’s really the “two working spouses” penalty. (According to the article I read, that is 57% of married people).

It’s a moot point, though, because despite our work experience and master’s degrees, we’re both in careers where neither one of us can make $80k. So there you go. We both work, and we both make almost the same amount.

I just redeemed rewards points on both credit cards.

Card 1 is American Express
We get 6x points on gas and groceries; those are the only things I use that card for.
Redeemed $250 purchase eraser
I put $250 in the virtual airfare "envelope"

Card 2 is Capital One
We get 3x points for everything, so I use that card for everything else.
Redeemed $237.55 travel purchase eraser (rental cars for our trip to the UK and France this summer)
I put $237.55 in the virtual airfare "envelope"

There is now $1357 in the airfare "envelope." We keep building this up so that when it's time to buy our tickets for the next trip we have enough saved up. We go to the UK every other year to see D's family, and France is my reward for putting up with them (just kidding!).

We used to have airline miles cards, but we ended up with just one or one and half tickets every two years (and we'd have to buy additional miles to get the second, and buy the last one outright, but that always cost more because we had to match it to the award ticket's time/date/etc). This method gets us three tickets, no restrictions attached!

Since last April, we've gotten $2338 in awards (in just one year!!), less the credit card fees of $140. So about $2200 (and that's just one year of rewards). Our tickets cost $4482 total (a non-optional expense we have every other year). Wow - that works our perfectly!

I am starting to get excited about the trip, and about summer in general!

When we were first married, and until our daughter was about 2, we only had one car. My husband likes having two cars, and I wish we only had one. Most days we take just one car (I drop him off at work and then pick him up later.

Here is the breakdown on costs of having a second car (these costs are yearly estimates):

- Car 1 (VW GTI - husband's car) - total $1470-1870 per year
registration - $50
gas - $500-900
service - $350
insurance - $570

- Car 2 (Nissan Versa - my car) - total $1338-1758
registration - $37
gas - $420-840
service - $225
insurance - $656

So first of all it's interesting to me that overall the cars cost almost exactly the same amount to run. It's about $125 a month each or $250 for both; actual total for the past year was $233, so pretty accurate.

I think a savings of $125 per month (or $1500 per year) is a lot! D doesn't think it's that much.

Since tracking and spreadsheets are what I love to do, I am going to do a spreadsheet of how many miles we actually drive each week, and see how much they cost to drive per mile. I know this is slightly ridiculous, but it gives me something else to track.

And, just as a side note, D promised that when one of these cars is too old and eventually is destined for the junkyard, we will have just one car after that. So I'm pretty happy. They are both pretty newish (2007 an 2008) so it'll be a while, but I can wait.

I went to the doctor today for the checkup after my surgical procedure two weeks ago. He gave me the ok (I always like a doctor to say "you're fine" even if you know that already). And didn't charge me for the 5 minute visit. Usually it's $10!

Tonight we go to the school Gala (it's for tuition assistance). Because we are actually recipients of tuition assistance, tickets were half price. Except that we got an email a few days ago that basically said "We have some free tickets; call quickly if you want them. If you've already bought tickets, we'll refund you." I called right away and got two free tickets to the gala! So we'll be refunded next week! Yay! That means free food, too. And we're not paying for babysitting because F is going to her friend L's house.

Ok, it wasn't a free repair; I had Apple Care (which the business purchased for the computer) so I wasn't charged. But I had to pay for Apple Care. I consider it part of the cost of the computer.

I was without the computer for a few days, but I was able to work on my husband's computer using my files which had been backed up on Carbonite. I can't say I was as productive, but I was still able to work.

And I had backed up using Time Machine, so within two hours of getting the computer back (with a brand new hard drive) I was up and running again. The only things I was missing were some printer drivers. And I had to reload Autocad.

Apparently if I had backed up using Super Duper instead of Time Machine (they are similar) I wouldn't have had to reload Autocad. But I reloaded it while I was at the gym, so no loss of work time. Seriously, my laptop was in the corner and I just went over to check on it between tracks, entered serial numbers, etc.

My computer is now so FAST! The old hard drive must have been slowly dying. It slowly got slower (ha!) so that I didn't notice how slow it actually was. But it's so great now!

Here was the only cost of the computer hard drive disaster: I felt sorry for myself so I went to Palacio down the street and got a lemonade (they make it fresh from real lemons!) and then went to the gluten free bakery and got a sticky bun. I think the total for both was less than $10, and I felt a lot less sorry for myself afterward.

So the moral of the story - back up often and in multiple ways. And sometimes you need to get yourself a treat.

Ok, it wasn't a free repair; I had Apple Care (which the business purchased for the computer) so I wasn't charged. But I had to pay for Apple Care. I consider it part of the cost of the computer.

I was without the computer for a few days, but I was able to work on my husband's computer using my files which had been backed up on Carbonite. I can't say I was as productive, but I was still able to work.

And I had backed up using Time Machine, so within two hours of getting the computer back (with a brand new hard drive) I was up and running again. The only things I was missing were some printer drivers. And I had to reload Autocad.

Apparently if I had backed up using Super Duper instead of Time Machine (they are similar) I wouldn't have had to reload Autocad. But I reloaded it while I was at the gym, so no loss of work time. Seriously, my laptop was in the corner and I just went over to check on it between tracks, entered serial numbers, etc.

My computer is now so FAST! The old hard drive must have been slowly dying. It slowly got slower (ha!) so that I didn't notice how slow it actually was. But it's so great now!

Here was the only cost of the computer hard drive disaster: I felt sorry for myself so I went to Palacio down the street and got a lemonade (they make it fresh from real lemons!) and then went to the gluten free bakery and got a sticky bun. I think the total for both was less than $10, and I felt a lot less sorry for myself afterward.

So the moral of the story - back up often and in multiple ways. And sometimes you need to get yourself a treat.

Our mortgage is our only debt, and we're trying to chip away at this as much as possible while still putting money in our IRAs ($5000 each per year).

This month we put $210 toward the mortgage principal: $150 savings (budgeted) and $60 which I got for teaching at the gym.

We've paid $2053 in additional principal so far this year. At the beginning of the year we owed $79,141 and we now owe $73,634.

If we don't make any more principal payments ever again on the loan, it'll be paid off in August 2020. If I just continue to pay $150/month extra, it'll be paid off in October 2019 (which would coincide with my 53rd birthday. But our goal is to pay this off sooner, so every snowflake, ebay sale, swagbucks reward, pinecone reward, craigslist sale, etc. goes toward the mortgage.

I want to note that I make $$43,800 a year and my husband makes $45,000 (gross, not including small jobs on the side when we can). We pay about $14,000 per year for private school.

Computer repair - no charge

Artichokes for lunch - my favorite! Lunch at home.

Dr. appt. - I'm sure I have some sort of copay for this; hopefully not too much.

Ice Cream - For F for doing her piano for the past several weeks, and being generally great about it - a few dollars. But I am not participating. I'll have ice cream at home.

Evening entertainment - Well, it's Spring, so I'll be out on the soccer fields freezing my behind off and watching F's practice. Bringing my sleeping bag in case it's really, really cold.

Dinner - We're having cod and asparagus. I finally figured out how to make really good battered cod - it's the double-dip: flour, then egg, then more flour. I use gf flour.

Then F will take a long, hot bath to get all the grass and pollen off, and we'll cuddle and read in bed. Perfect evening!

Banjaxed is an Irish expression that means "broken beyond repair." (It can also mean "drunk" but my computer is so banjaxed that I'M the one who needs to get drunk except that I don't drink).

My IT consultant also happens to be my husband. He says the computer is definitely not working, and it will never, ever work again.

I should be freaking out, but I'm not and here's why:
- I have my husband's laptop to use (he doesn't take it to work, so I can use it all day tomorrow)
- I have a time machine backup (this backed up my operating system, too and can be used to recreate the entire computer including all preferences) from a few days ago.
- I have a carbonite backup from yesterday (all of my files are saved)
- All of my mail is in the cloud (gmail)
- All of my contacts and notes and lots of other things are on my phone.
- I have Apple Care

So there you go... all of this insurance (that's pretty much what it is, right?) means that this will, hopefully, be more of an inconvenience than a disaster.

Maybe the universe is trying to tell me I need a day off tomorrow. After last Friday's surgery, I've worked a full week, taught two exercise classes and done all of my usual housework. I have to say, I'm pooped.

I'll call our local Apple fixing place and maybe make a genius bar appt., and probably won't get much else done.

I finished the one missing photo book - 2010 - (once that is printed we'll be up-to-date) but I'm going to leave it in Shutterfly and not print it yet. There is a 30% and free shipping promo, but that isn't enough. I "researched" past Shutterfly promos in Facebook (and "liked" Shutterfly), and found that in 2013 there was a 50% off all photo books around July. And I usually get a coupon from them later in the year. I'm going to wait to print this one.

Also, I don't want to spend any money that we don't have to spend, so that we throw everything into our medical and auto servicing categories and not have to dip into the EF.

I think that is the real strength of budgeting: being able to adjust and re-tool as needed when things come up. So for right now, my monthly budget for lots of things is going to be less (or zero).

I seem to have money leftover in household utilities (the only benefit of our mild winter here in the Southwest - lower gas bill). Also leftover in insurance since our premium went down (I just need to keep enough in for our annual umbrella policy). And a tiny bit extra in water/sewer. I have saved up some money ($44) in my knitting fund; I'll just have to start over and put this toward the medical bill. There are a lot of places to be flexible.

Some things on my mind:

1. I can no longer hang D's clothes outside on the line to dry because of his allergies (which cause the vertigo). I only very rarely use our dryer, so I have to hang them in the laundry room instead (they take longer to dry there, but that's not a very big deal - we do live in the land of zero humidity, so it's only 2 days instead of 2 hours). Our sheets are another story. I am not supposed to hang those outside in the Spring either, so the plan is to hang them in the laundry room across several hangers and then get the last of the dampness out with 10 mins. in the dryer. Not using the dryer is not only a financial issue for me, but also an environmental one. But my husband's health comes first, obviously!

2. I rented the Last Exotic Marigold Hotel from the library. Cost: $0. We've wanted to watch it for a while. Since I can easily wait to see movies, the library is a really good option.

3. Trying a new recipe tonight, a penne and sausage bake that I saw here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/penne_and_sausage_pasta_3094. It's not my most frugal ($8 for the three of us for dinner, not sure if it'll create any leftovers), but good for a "meat" night. I'm using chicken sausage since we don't eat pork.

4. We went to a house party today for one of our gubernatorial candidates. I really loved what he had to say, and he was smart and eloquent. His wife is an architect (how could I not like him, right?). But I didn't give any money for two reasons: I do a lot of public work, and I have to declare campaign contributions on my proposals. I won't give money because you never know when my political preferences might alienate potential clients. And secondly, when I give money, I like to give it to charitable organizations. On the other hand, if he gets the nomination, I will gladly give my time as a volunteer to help him get elected.

I am home today recovering from a very minor, simple surgical procedure I had to have (I won't go into it, but it took about 10 mins). Actually I'm recovering from the anesthesia (I got IV sedation rather than be put to sleep which freaks me out); the thing was so minor I don't even have any pain.

Anyway, I was at the surgery center (my dr. wouldn't do it in his office; I asked) for 2 1/2 hours total, and as I said the procedure was just 10 minutes. And the bill? It's going to be about $2900. I knew this ahead of time. Yes, I have insurance; my deductible is $2500, the rest is insurance co-pay (so you can imagine how much the real bill is).

We have the money to pay it, due to the EF, but I am going to ask for an itemized bill anyway. I am also going to call my insurance company and ask if they have arranged a price for something like this since they often do. And I am rearranging our budget, putting underspend categories into the medical "bucket" so we can minimize the hit to the EF.

Any other ideas? Or just pay it and be thankful I have insurance?

I only fix things on my car that I have to fix. When Nissan told me my fuel gauge may be on its way out, I decided just to track my mileage and not go too many miles rather than spend $700. Seriously - $700?!

But there is now a problem I absolutely have to fix. I've made an appointment for next Monday. I wonder how much this will cost.

Here is the problem:

- I can't get the passenger side door open. My key clicker won't unlock it. The door unlocker inside the car won't unlock it. And here is the weird thing - I can't even pry the door lock open physically. I mean that is the failsafe, the easy way to open the door from the inside; it's a safety thing to be able to unlock your door, right?
- Oh - and the trunk is also locked and I can't get it open either.
- And there's stuff in there. I can kind of remember what the stuff is, and if I really need it, my car is a hatchback so I can let down one of the seats and pull stuff out.

I am slightly concerned that the other doors are going to stick shut, too, and I am afraid to leave the dog in the car for even a second while I pick up F from school, just in case she's locked inside.

And what if I'm somewhere, and I can't get the doors to unlock and therefore can't get home? (These are the times I'm glad I live in a small town where we're never far from anything, and a friend could just pick me up. But still...)

And if I haven't vented enough... we found out yesterday our good friends (remember my friend C who just got a job at a non-profit?) bought a new used car (it's a year or so old Mini Cooper S). I'm not jealous. I don't want a new car. I don't want a more expensive car. I just want my car to open!!

OK, now I've definitely vented enough.

I am going to take F to piano lessons and hope we don't get stuck there!

Thankfully it's a frugal grocery week.

We're having:
- tuna melts
- mexican eggs and spinach
- pasta with courgettes and goat cheese
- asian meatballs over rice
- italian soup with ground turkey (crockpot) - this will make about 4 meals (we'll put three in the freezer)
- tamales out of the freezer and salad
- and tonight we're going to F's friend's house for kids and adult party (two of her friends have birthdays - both boys - that are just a few days apart, so they often have a celebration together)

Now I just have to work out what we're having on which nights. Soccer has started again, which means that on soccer nights we need to having something easy. (That is the mexican eggs, crockpot things, something from the freezer).
Monday - piano (we get back at about 5:45)
Wednesday - soccer practice (we get back late - like 7:30)
Friday - soccer practice (7:30 again!)

It's a juggling act, isn't it? But it is absolutely a requirement for me to have a nice meal as a family.

The grocery shopping came to $88.41
- dinner ingredients $35
- lunch ingredients $20
- fruit $6
- staples $11
- breakfast staples $13
- dessert items $3

OK, need to go wrap birthday gifts and play a game with F.

For a week I didn't do any work, and I didn't work on my financial spreadsheets or track anything or stress about things.

We went to California last Saturday, and D flew home on Monday, but F and I stayed for the week, and then went home on the train (Southwest Chief).

We had so much fun! My parents were really wonderful; they didn't want us to pay for anything! They took us to miniature golf, and my mom bought tickets for Disneyland (I treated F to meals - spent a total of $98 there (including parking and food; we didn't buy any souvenirs - that place is expensive!).

My dad wanted to go down to see the USS Iowa (in San Pedro); he used to be in the Navy. That turned out to be a really cool experience, and again, my parents treated. They took us out to lunch afterward. F and I also went to the Getty Center (which is free - you only pay for parking, but since my parents live nearby, they just dropped us off). My mom also bought F a couple of new shirts and leggings and socks.



The only way I could pay them back was to cook for them and do the dishes, etc. I helped my mom pick out a new countertop for the kitchen and fixed the rattling noise coming from the refrigerator.

We spent the rest of the time relaxing and going in my parents' pool.

It was a great week, and now I'm back to the usual. Spent the morning vacuuming, put in a load of laundry and I need to do the weekly food shop later in the day.

Will write more about the train later. And also a report on D's allergies.

I've been very good about not buying any new clothing (after my determination in December that I have more than enough clothes already).

I can't say I wasn't tempted by some of the sales in early February, but I didn't buy anything.

However, I did finish this cardigan that was on the needles, so I get a new sweater.

I had to borrow my friend's wooly board (that's the wooden contraption that it's sitting on) in order to stretch it a little bit. I so want a wooly board, but it's about $100. I am going to look in craigslist and ebay to see if someone is selling one used for less.

Anyway, hopefully the cardi is big enough now (I must have knitted tightly!).

PS - yarn was purchased last year (yarn comes out of my knitting budget - yes, I budget for knitting!) and was about $30 (maybe a little less); it's a very soft wool/acrylic.

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!

When we were married, we marveled that we had only one book in common (it was a Douglas Coupland book - I actually despised that book so not sure why I still owned it; I've since gotten rid of my redundant copy).

When D and I moved back to the US, he sent over a partial shipping container; it contained a lot of books! (and some other stuff, but there really were a lot of books).

I don't remember when I stopped buying books and instead borrowed them from the library. D still buys books (and likes to receive them as gifts), and he won't part with books he already owns.

I think you CAN have too many books. Look at our bookshelves - wow! I dust the books every week. And I just did a mega-dust where I took every book off and dusted behind them. And aside from our reference books (one shelf) and photobooks we've had made, we rarely open those books at all. I'd also rather walk by the shelves and see only my favorites - and I do have favorites that I would never part with! (Jasper Fforde, Kate Atkinson, Milagro Beanfield War, One Hundred Years of Solitude).



So I have decided to select one book a week to sell (http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller/sell-your-stuff.html?ld=AZSOATEXTJOINT) or donate to the library.

We used to do PaperbackSwap (which is brilliant if you want another book to come into your life to replace the book you just got rid of. That was my first step to forgoing new books altogether and just visiting the library).

Book no. 1 - Animal Dreams (Barbara Kingsolver). I really loved her book The Bean Trees. I didn't love Animal Dreams, but I bought it and kept it. I am now selling it for $1 over shipping costs. It's not much, but it'd be another snowflake, right?

When I think about the money I wasted buying books I feel slightly ill.

Our meal plan for the week is intended to use up some food that's already in the fridge, since we are leaving next Saturday to visit my parents in California. (Yay! It's going to be about 80 deg. and since it snowed here today, we're pretty excited!).

Potato pancakes and salad
Tilapia with paprika and curry powder and asparagus
Something out of the freezer (probably chicken black bean corn salsa stew)
Grilled cheese with tomato soup
Chicken tacos and guacamole
Pasta with butter and parmesan with peas

We need to have a little food left for D for the following week since he returns on Monday (F and I are staying longer and returning on the train the following Friday). I will be sure to update you on that!

No Spend Days
So this past week I not only kept track of our No Spend Days (discretionary spending), but also kept track of the triggers that caused spending (and the situations where I didn't spend).

Sunday - NSD
what I did to avoid spending: stayed at home in the morning “hanging out” with the family and doing chores, met friends for tennis in the afternoon (free!)

Monday - NSD
what I did to avoid spending: worked hard, brought a Luna bar to avoid sweets craving (peanut cookie flavor - yuck!)

Tuesday - went to the rolfer (I have an appt. every other month)
what I did to avoid discretionary spending: didn’t enter any shops, brought a Luna bar again (this time coconut with chocolate - yuck, again)

Wednesday - gelato $7
spending trigger - promise to F that we'd get a treat. I wasn't going to get a gelato, too, but they had my favorite flavor (honey) - grrr!

Thursday - NSD
what I did to avoid spending - F has an afterschool class, so there was no time to go to a store

Friday - bought lunch at a local supermarket for me and F (goes into grocery budget, but just should have made something at home)
spending trigger - hunger! not having enough time to eat lunch before F’s friend arrived! store is on the way home! Basically I wouldn't have stopped if it was just me, but wanted the treat for F.

Saturday - NSD (just groceries)
what I did to avoid spending - went to the grocery store after eating, so not hungry for "extras" - went to the library to get books for F, stopped by the office, went home to clean house. Too busy for discretionary spending!

It's a no-school day (parent teacher conferences) and things are not getting done. Here is a list of what I have started but not completed:

- The laundry - sheets are sitting wet in the washing machine. At least they're clean; need to hang them.

- Office kitchen - did an hour's work on it - got a lot of the construction waste tossed, cut the countertops and one backsplash, sink cut-out done (but we still need to install the countertops, put in the backsplash, patch/touch up paint, install sink, caulk and clean up).

- D's Birthday Plans - started his card (which I am doing as a "Design-your-own Birthday" - he'll get to choose different options for breakfast, etc.). But not done, and I'm running out of steam (and ideas).

- Chocolate Cake - I promised this to F. Need to go downstairs and just DO IT - it won't take very long. Procrastinating.

- Taxes - This one isn't my fault. Turbo tax is still missing a form. Otherwise, I'm ready to file.

- Check - There was a check that arrived when we got to the office, and I meant to take it with me to deposit. And I forgot it. Oops. While I was at the bank I was going to pay down the mortgage principal with the $205 D made on the side last month. It's popcorn day at the bank.

- Library - this was on the to-do list since a book came in that I'd requested for F; but the countertop took longer than expected. So we didn't get to this.

- Post Office - Also didn't get to the post office for the same reason. Should have left the house earlier this morning!

OK, now that F's friend is over, I am going to stop procrastinating and get something FINISHED!

Since D started his real job (an an employee, no more self-employment!) in the autumn, he's had a few side jobs. Some are photography, some are small web design/updates.

When he makes any money through self employment, he puts a little bit in his business account (which he still has), 20% in our "taxes" account (from which we pay our estimated taxes) and the rest in our personal account.

I haven't done anything with the money. When he was self employed, his income was up and down, so I just left it in the account and took another look at the end of the year. I was used to leaving the money in the account because it all just averaged out to his yearly income.

But now he has a steady income, so the side jobs are all extra. How did I not realize this?

Since January, he has deposited $120 and $85 into our personal account. I talked with him last night, and he said "Put it toward the mortgage!" Yes!

So I get to make another principal payment this month. And he just did another little side job, so there will be more coming in. This is significant money compared to the piddly money I get from the gym each month.

I was talking to the woman I go to for rolfing (rolfing, by the way, is the best thing that ever happened to me, but that's another story). She and I are on the same page on lots of subjects, and I just found out that she paid off her mortgage a few years ago. She's about two years older than I am. I am so happy for her! She said that some people advised her not to do it, but that the piece of mind has been so worth it. Talking to her made me feel even more strongly about getting the mortgage paid off. (Although I still want to put money in our Roths, so it'll be a little more slowly than the way she did it).

What we are now paying toward principal:
- $150/month from our regular income
- gym money (last month it was $50)
- David's side income (probably averages $100/month)
- anything I sell on Craigslist and any other misc.

I've signed up and paid for the last of F's summer camps. Our budget for camp is $1500, but we've paid $1057, and it looks like her summer is as full as we want it to be. I'm going to keep the additional money in the budget, but it looks like we're over $400 ahead!

She'll have two weeks off with no camp, then camp for two weeks, then the next week off, then three weeks of camp, then our trip to the UK, then another week and a half off before school starts.

That's 4 1/2 weeks off with no camp, which is great - we can go hang out at the pool together, do some road trips around the state, go to Albuquerque and play mini-golf...

I got a $10 discount for signing up early for one of the camps. And we are probably going to host a counselor for one of the other camps. We have to make them food, but we get $80 for a food stipend.

Less stress today than yesterday.

I managed to call a few friends about the office (no takers yet - may have to be a bit more "global" about it and post on facebook to a wider audience).

We received new credit cards the other day, and I activated them this morning, then spent about half an hour changing the credit card info on paypal, amazon, itunes, health insurance company, insurance company, netflix. Luckily I have a list of what is associated with that credit card, so I don't have to think about it. The only reason it took so long is that the health insurance company had me on hold forever. And then they were jerks about it, saying that I had a pending payment, and if it didn't go through then they'd charge me $30. So then I had to call my credit card and make sure they were paying the pending payments (they are).

I almost finished a proposal that is due next week. I am waiting for info from my landscape architect, but that didn't stop me from working on other sections.

I went to my weightlifting class at lunch time.

And then I picked up F from school. We are sitting across from each other at the dining room table; she's doing her homework.

I didn't go to a store, and I didn't spend a dime (not on the internet either).

And F will spend the evening with her friend while D and I are meeting the new teacher. Turns out the school is letting the kids play in the library while we meet, but I think F will be happier playing with a friend.

We are going to CA to visit my parents in a few weeks, but they also want us to come in May for my Dad's 81st birthday.

We can go two ways:
- direct from our city on a regional jet or
- the usual way - down to the Big City (Albuquerque) on Southwest

Southwest costs $948 for the three of us. My mother always gets us pre-boarding ($60 total). Airport parking is $12 for four days. The gas down there and back is about $14. It's an hour's drive. We'd leave Friday night due to flight times.
Total $1064

The regional jet is $1151 for the three of us. No need for pre-boarding or airport parking. The drive is ten minutes. We'd leave early Saturday.
Total $1151

Difference is $117. So, is it worth it?

While figuring out these costs, I visited the airport parking website and found that you get $1 a day off just for making reservations (no pre-payment or anything). They give you a coupon to print out. So that's good to know!! I reserved for our March trip.

Got paid at the gym today, and it was definitely higher than it used to be before I added the weightlifting class (which I teach twice a month because I share the class with a friend). I taught today actually, and it was really fun! (Well, at least it was for me). And I was right on time, exactly one hour. Since it's a noon class, people are very appreciative when we're on time, so they can get back to work.

The gym paid me $50, which will go to mortgage principal.

I did end up buying a $7 cable so that I can plug my iphone directly into the stereo at the gym and play the music from there rather than having to use CDs which I've had trouble with (our gym CD player acts weird sometimes). So I guess that's really a $43 snowflake.

Going to go watch some Olympics coverage (on the bbc iplayer) and stretch for 15 minutes...

Are you watching the Olympics? If so, how are you watching?

I had a No Spend Day (personal) today (I did buy something for my business, but that's not discretionary), but I thought a lot about what my spending triggers are.

A lot of you know me by now, and know that I am not a big spender. And you also know that when I do spend money I didn't need to, I feel super guilty. I'm trying to avoid those guilty feelings, and only spend when I actually WANT to and for things that are meaningful to me.

So... what are those spending triggers?
- When I'm in a store (this is the first trigger) I tend to buy things that
- are on sale (another trigger - I really just need to stay out of stores of all kinds) that I don't really need
- Candy or a sweet drink (usually premade iced tea) - I get the sugar craving at about 2, and if I don't have a little square of chocolate or something, I am liable to walk down to the plaza and get a candy bar or a lemonade from the little restaurant which is less than a block from the office.
- My daughter - I end up getting her little treats that she probably doesn't need. It's better if she doesn't come shopping with me. Bear in mind that she never asks for anything; I'm the one who suggests things. This is how I know she really doesn't need anything.

Do you have triggers like this for extra spending? Are there situations you avoid?

Our good friends have been saying for months that they think F should try tennis. I haven't played since high school PE (and I was terrible!) but F really does like any sport with a ball (and most of the others without a ball), so we all met at the local tennis center. They're members, so we didn't have to pay to get in.

Our friends brought a racket for F to have (one that their son has grown out of - I guess it's a grip issue). I love having a small daughter - she gets a lot of stuff that other kids grow out of! (Clothes, a wetsuit last year, this racket!).

Of course F loved it. And actually, I thought it was fun, too! (It's been 30 years since high school, so I guess things change). She got to keep the racket, and they even had an extra adult racket that they gave us (they said they have like 50 of them - wow!). Maybe it was just fun because we like that other family so much...

We're going to go again with them, but I thought I might take F after school one day to one of the outdoor courts (the flip side of the storms in the East is that the Southwest is DRY DRY DRY which is bad - DROUGHT - but we might as well take advantage and be outside).

Today F had a playdate with her friend K and didn't even bring a coat (February - crazy!), and K's mom is driving F home (so sweet!) and then I'll take her to piano.

So a few frugal days that were still fun.

No Spend Days
These don’t include regular bills (utilities, etc) only discretionary spending.

It wasn't a perfect week, but I'm happy that our spending is on experiences rather than things. And x-c skiing is a lot less expensive than downhill! (The amount includes snowshoe rental for D - he doesn't ski - and trail passes for me and F).

Sunday - x-c skiing $47, eat out $53

Monday - NSD

Tuesday - NSD

Wednesday - NSD

Thursday - bought gas (this isn’t discretionary spending, so technically a NSD for me), D bought something at REI $29 (this is part of his clothing budget)

Friday - No school - bowling with F - $27 (so much fun!)

Saturday - Bought groceries as usual on Saturday. No discretionary spending.