Toilet-Paper-Tracker

I have these friends who hired an architect to draw up some plans for their house, paid him a lot of money, and were completely unsatisfied with what he came up with. I stepped in to help even though I don't do houses, mainly because they are friends and also because N has MS, so this project is not just about making their home nicer, it's about making it wheelchair accessible so that N can get around if she ever has to have the wheelchair. Right now it's leg brace and drastically reduced mobility.

They are really funny people, so we've had a lot of fun working together. Also - F is friends with their daughter I. The two of them went to preschool together, and are still friends even though they go to different schools.

The other architect failed to consider things like: existing windows (headers) that could be used for doors or openings, putting N's therapy room where there is LIGHT rather than a wall with no windows (ugh!), existing ceilings and how that would work with new rooms. He even had one scheme where he moved the kitchen to a completely new location (moving water and gas and everything else - this is slab on grade! this would mean a lot of jackhammering and cost). He also didn't give them a floor plan to show which walls come out and which are new, which means that it's impossible for a contractor give any sort of preliminary pricing.

So - I think they are really happy now! They keep emailing me to say thank you. They brought over pizza last night and desserts and we hung out while F and I and D watched the US v. Sweden match.

So I guess the work isn't free... the pizza was really good!

Frugal things and thoughts for today:

- I grouped my errands yesterday to save both mental energy and gasoline.

- One of those errands was a trip to the library. I haven't bought a book in ages.

- One of the books I picked up was Marie Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I have to confess, I think most of the book is ridiculous. But a friend who I ran into last night said that's because I'm already tidy. There was one thing in the book that was eye-opening. She said don't think about what you want to get rid of, but rather what you want to keep. I do think there are many fewer things that I really WANT in my life than what I actually have. She says to start with clothes, so I may try that. I wear the same clothes every day.

- F requested Chinese food for her birthday dinner as well as lemon pie. I made both myself which I'm certain saved a lot of money!

- I have a meeting set up to sell a blanket on Saturday morning. That'll be a nice snowflake.

We are pretty frugal most of the time... part of the reason is so that we can spend it where it counts (for us). We don't have any debt other than our house (and we should have that paid off in less than 3 years), we save for retirement and we have an emergency fund.

Here is why we're frugal:
- continue to save for retirement
- keep our spending low so that when we do retire we're used to living on less
- afford private school and college for our daughter
and.....
- be able to spend money on things that matter to us

We save here, spend there...

I don't spend money on haircuts or manicures. We don't eat out much. We don't have expensive cars. These aren't things that matter much to us.

But we like to have experiences together. We go to Europe to see family. We're going to Las Vegas for vacation and seeing three shows in four days. I'm willing to spend on birthdays and holidays and hosting guests. We improve our house (our biggest investment). We have four pets and they eat a lot.

Do you have things you're willing to splurge on?

We've had to find the right weather for swimming - unlike most summers which are super predictable (June gets very hot, it rains in the afternoons in July, etc), this summer has been strange. It rains mid-day some days; it's not as warm as it usually is. Right now it's cloudy and windy.

We went to the pool yesterday and as soon as we got there it started pouring! So we went and got ice cream instead (using a birthday coupon from Baskin Robbins for F). It warmed up and got sunny later, so we went to the pool at 5 pm, then went home and made pizza for dinner.

Meanwhile, I've been working on the General Store. Dollhouses aren't exactly a cheap hobby, but I have a Victorian house and lots of furniture and accessories from when I was younger, and I also have an entire general store's worth of things. I just didn't have the store itself, so decided to build one.

It's not a kit, and I'm lucky to have lots of scrap wood as well as my own chop saw and scroll saw (F can tell you that this is one of the advantages of having an architect mom). I actually drew the plans on Autocad (nerd!).

It's not done yet. I still need to put in the clerestory windows, make the bathroom door, trim out the windows in the interior, finish the mezzanine and railing (this is going to be a tailor and hatmaker because I have a sewing machine and sewing mannequin), finish the floor (which is made of stained popsicle sticks), make the shelves, put in the ceiling and light fixtures and put in the baseboard.

I was going to post photos but I am having trouble - every time I try to link the photo shows a broken link... ugh!

So, this is how we handle summer days when I need to get some work done but F doesn't have camp: playdates! Only today was sort of difficult. We had F's friend A over because the mom really needed to do our playdate trade so she could go to a meeting, but I had to teach my weightlifting class, which meant the girls needed to go with me.

I fed them a big snack since the class is at noon and figured we'd eat afterward as well. One of my weightlifters is F's former preschool and Kindergarten teacher (and school owner) N, and she brought her 9-month old, so the girls spent their time entertaining the baby so N could exercise. At the end of class she gave me $20 to take the girls to lunch or a treat or something since they were so great, and she said if I didn't take it, she'd have to get a gift certificate and mail it to me and that would be a big pain in the behind, so I better use it!

So I took the girls to lunch, and they were thrilled!

I got paid at the gym today, too, for April (he's always a month behind) so that's another $72. I used it for a principal payment plus my regular $150. We now owe $54,096 (but that will go down when our regular payment posts on the 7th.

Now I am going to go work on my little project for F which will definitely not be done by her birthday (oh well) - I am making a little general store (1"-1') to house all the cute general store dollhouse stuff that I had when I was a kid; time to pass it on! I will save photos for my next post!

I just went through websites for all of the events coming up where we live. The goal is free or at least low cost things to do.

1. We join an outdoor pool every summer (since it's outdoor, it's only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day). It should get up to 75 today, so we're going! And we'll continue to go all summer especially when F has half day camps.

2. Kickoff Party for our Tuesday Farmer's Market; lots of music and activities for kids - FREE

3. Festivals at El Rancho de las Golondrinas (a living history museum Spanish village) - there's one Fiber Arts festival with lots of sheep and another is Viva Mexico and then there's the Wild West Festival - $8 adults and free for kids

4. Santa Fe Bandstand on our Plaza - evenings in June and July - FREE

5. Music on the Hill - meet our friends, bring a picnic dinner and listen to music while the kids play - FREE

6. Movies in the park - they set up a big screen - this year among others they're playing Grease, Wizard of Oz, the Commitments and Goonies! FREE

7. Parade downtown to promote our Rodeo (we don't really want to go to the rodeo, but it's nice to see the horses and the huge paper mache bull with the flashing red eyes) - FREE

8. Folk Art Market - family day - $10 adults, kids free

9. Storyteller Joe Hayes (a New Mexico treausre) - tells wonderful stories and tales about the Southwest in a really pretty outdoor setting - FREE

10. Hikes to the waterfall and Nambe falls - $5 parking fee

Have you made a list of summer activities where you live?

F's tenth birthday is in a week and a half, but her party is today so that one of her best friends can attend (she is leaving for sleepaway camp in the middle of next week).

F determined what she wanted her party to be like, and once again she's proven to be pretty frugal!

We're having 7 girls plus F of course.

We'll start off in the park and have a bunch of soccer games. We're playing jailbreak, splat, lightning, king of the ring and the numbers game and also having a scrimmage. We bought pop up goals as part of her birthday present (since we play in the park almost every Sunday night, these will be super useful and I think she'll be really excited). We'll use them today, and it's a surprise!

Then we'll go back to our house and the girls will have veggies/dip/crisps and ice cream cake. Because there really aren't a lot of costs involved in this party, we were able to get her dream cake: a soccer ball cake from Baskin Robbins. Their cakes aren't cheap, but I guess my theory is to save and then splurge where you really want to splurge.

Then the girls will use F's microphone and do commentary for funny soccer clips that D found.

Party favors have nothing to do with soccer, but are pretty fun - they are story dice (have you seen these?). I like favors that aren't junky plastic toys that'll be thrown out, and there was a huge price cut on these on Amazon. They aren't cheap, but it's another good place to splurge in my opinion.

Then the parents will pick their girls up, except for one girl who is both one of her best friends and really more like a cousin. She's staying for dinner (tostadas). This will be great for F and also gives her parents (who are some of our best friends!) an opportunity to go on a hike or whatever.

So...
goals - $85 (part of her birthday gift)
food for party - $21
cups/plates/thank you cards/napkins with soccer theme - $11
cake - $35
favors - $42

Less than $200, and I've saved up $240 (party only, not gifts) throughout the year (I save $20 a month).

Small snowflakes... we sold our old composter for $15 and I got a $15 swagbucks amazon gift card. So I paid down the mortgage principal by $30 today.

For the record we've paid of $5730.27 this year. We owe $54,318 on our house (so quite a lot of equity at this point! about $500k!).

I am still under budget for F's birthday. I bought some veggies to cut up and some hummus and ranch dip. Also crisps and lemonade. I so hope the weather is ok on Saturday afternoon!

F had her last appointment with the psychologist today (at least until something else comes up). She's doing so well, so essentially she's graduated! And now my friend's daughter is going to the same place (for anxiety), and the son of another friend is seeing someone because (at 10 years old!) he feels like he's stupid (he's not! he has some learning issues, but he is one bright boy!). It's making me sort of sad, but also happy that parents are getting help for their kids and hopefully giving them tools to cope.

Oh - one more money thing, and this is a happy thing that I've budgeted for just in case! F made the select soccer team! This is a really big accomplishment, and I'm so happy for her! It's $350 per season and $250 for the kit (which lasts until she grows out of it). The first tournament is in August.

Expense #1
They are almost done restuccoing our house; it had to be done (cracks which were soon going to mean leaks). And it looks amazing. And it's our biggest investment, so an important maintenance item.

Expense #2
Went to the dr. today about my low back pain (which I've been trying hard to ignore). She wants 8 weeks of PT 2x/week and also wants me to get an xray. I'm almost at my deductible so I guess that's the bright side, right?

Expense #3
I have a certain chunk budgeted for F's birthday, and due to her not-very-expensive tastes (and desire to only invite a few girls) we'll be well under our budget. She's having a soccer party. I was able to splurge on soccer plates and napkins. And we bought her pop-up goals as a birthday present that will be used at the party (a surprise!). We got cool favors, too, thanks to what seemed to be a big sale on Amazon (storytime dice). And an ice cream cake at Baskin Robbins (soccer cake; what else?); used a coupon.

Expense #4
We got tickets for three shows in Las Vegas (Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil Beatles, Tournament of Kings at Excalibur). We don't gamble, so the basic structure of our trip will be:
morning - breakfast in our room, walk around and see weird stuff for free
afternoon - play in the pool, lunch in our room (we have a kitchenette)
evening - see a show
We're saving on the things we don't care about (expensive meals, expensive hotel, gambling, roller coasters) to spend it on shows (which we don't have access to where we live).

Since we watched the BBC show "Back in Time for Dinner" I've been thinking about how eating has changed over the past several decades. We eat 95% of our meals at home, and they're prepared from scratch. We do use some processed/convenience foods (bread, tortilla chips, canned beans, etc.) which I'm fine with.

I have a system for planning our weekly dinners that I've described here before: eggy/potato night (spanish omelette, mexican eggs, baked potatoes and brocoli), cheese/bread night (grilled cheese, tuna melts, quesadillas), chicken night, something from the freezer (that was made in our crockpot and stashed for soccer nights usually) with a salad, pasta night, fish night and one night out.

Although many of our meals are vegetarian, they aren't always full of good vegetables. We usually have a salad or broccoli as side dishes.

I am trying to incorporate more and more varied vegetables, so I went on a hunt last night for recipes.

Here's one that's basically veggie meatballs (and I LOVE fennel):
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/roasted-fennel-pine-nut-polpette/#OgKuExCesmlMEqrI.97

This one is basically a beet salad to eat with bread and it doesn't have a ton of ingredients:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/roasted-fennel-pine-nut-polpette/#OgKuExCesmlMEqrI.97

I would make this curry recipe with carrots/broccoli/bamboo shoots:
http://rasamalaysia.com/thai-green-curry-recipe/2

Maybe something like this curry:
http://minimalistbaker.com/30-minute-coconut-curry/

So we'll be trying out some new recipes in the next few weeks...

There are a few that we already make regularly that are full of vegetables:
- crustless quiche with broccoli, sundried tomatoes
- a stirfry with courgettes, broccoli, carrots, ginger, cilantro, jalapeño and mint (and a little soy sauce)
- socca (which is like a courgette/zucchini pancake) with red onion
- frittata with onions and lots of spinach
- red onion, red peppers and courgettes with a really great sauce that we make in the oven and usually eat with chicken, but would be great with some crusty bread

Do you have any veggie-full recipes that you love?

I cashed in $15 in swagbucks for an amazon gift card (which I'll use for something I am going to get anyway, then put $15 toward the mortgage). Won't it be weird when the mortgage is paid off and I have to actually decide what to do with those snowflakes?

We are restuccoing our house right now. I didn't realize how disruptive it would be. I know they'll clean up, but they had to dig down 6" around the house and then powerwash. I can't wait until everything is back to normal.

In the meantime, they had to get everything out of our trash enclosure, and in there was an old composter which we never used because it needs to heat up to work, and it's too shaded in the trash enclosure. There really isn't anywhere else to put it. I think I'm going to sell it.

Today's purchase: almond flour. They were having 20% off sale, and I want to make a cake!

And in free/cheap news:
- F got a letter from her Irish pen-pal (my friend's daughter)
- D is making frittata (yum!)
- I turned in a project for County review and rewarded myself by cleaning out the spare room closet (and at this point it's not done; it's just a disaster!); this is all to unearth my dollhouse from when I was a girl (F and I are going to renovate together!).

Not spending much, except on food!

We took our coach out for dinner on Friday night; we were supposed to go out after practice, but practice was canceled due to (abundant) rain.

Yesterday's game wasn't canceled, though. The weather from 9 am to 10 am (game time!) was beautiful! And just as we turned around to walk back to our cars (it's about half a mile walk to field 5) there was a hailstorm! Blizzard like winds, icy hail hitting out heads and faces! I couldn't look up, but I had one arm around F (partly to keep track of her, and partly to keep my camping chair over her head to protect her). F was screaming "Ow! Ow!" and "Are we going to die?" I could hear other kids screaming. We all made our way to the tunnel where there was at least some protection. Some people just fell to the ground and stayed there huddled under blankets! We finally made it to the tunnel where about a hundred stunned people were stuffed together looking bewildered. There were inside-out umbrellas and shivering children. Our car later said it was 33 degrees F! And the hail continued.

After having my head down for so long, I felt kind of sick when I finally straightened up in the tunnel. We stayed and waited for the hail to stop, but it kept coming. So we finally made a run for the car (on the other side of the tunnel). The parking lot was chaos, and we just turned on the engine so that F could warm up her hands and feet, then waited for cars to leave so we could get out. Our clothes were soaking wet, so I had F take hers off and put on some dry things we had in the car.

When we finally got home, there was snow all over the ground. It finally stopped snowing and hailing, the coach who is staying with us showed up (he was also in the hailstorm) and we had pasta for lunch.

We decided to just get a pre-cooked chicken for dinner. Not on the meal plan, but much easier.

I did the grocery shopping today and we're having a goodbye dinner for our coach who leaves tonight.

We're having baked cod with aioli and roast potatoes (D makes the best!) and the cod was $10 but who cares! It's a special dinner. Oh, and peas. An English "Sunday dinner."

But first.... Sunday afternoon soccer kickaround (now that the weather is ok again!).

It's been a very weird week...

1. F's soccer coach was not asked to coach next year's select team; I didn't think he would be because they don't like parent coaches for select and his daughter is on the team. He, apparently, did think he would be, and is pretty upset right now, and has decided to leave our league for another one that is just starting up. He said he wouldn't take the girls to the Memorial weekend tournament, so D stepped up and said he would do it. Select tryouts are next week; I guess the coach's daughter won't be trying out, but I think most of F's group will.

2. F's school has a committee that deals with retiring teachers and other transitions. Our much-loved school secretary is retiring and they asked the Parent Association to help collect memories for a scrapbook and also cash. And then some of the teachers wanted me to include another teacher who is leaving... it's turning into a big deal. I don't really have the time to do this, but I'm going to figure it out because I love both teachers.

3. I have a big deadline on Friday and I'm in good shape for it, but yikes, it's taken a lot out of me.

4. The British soccer coach is still staying with us. He's great, but we're eating a lot later because I want him to be able to eat with us. Which means after we eat, I'm exhausted. And after the dishes there really isn't time to unwind.

5. I spent a ton of money stocking up on staples because Sprouts had the bread and flour and tortillas I use on sale. But after the coach leaves, we won't have a ton of money left for groceries for the month. I'm going to have to meal plan really carefully.

6. We want to take the coach out for dinner on Friday. Not budget-friendly, but luckily we have the money in our dining out category.

7. So... Memorial Weekend will be soccer, soccer, soccer! We'll need to pack lunches and have easy dinners.

8. And the following weekend is F's bday party (not her birthday which is in early June, but she has a friend that is really important to her and she can't come unless it's before June 5). It'll be a soccer party (what else?) and we'll have it at the park.

9. I can't think of anything else... need to go make dinner.

We got an email from our neighborhood association to let us know that they were redoing the plantings near the entry to our streets (we have 66 homes total and a big sign out front). They said that they'd be taking out some feather grass and we could take some if we wanted. This was the plant I was planning for the area along our driveway anyway, so D went down and got three plants.

Feathergrass tends to self-propagate, which for us is a good thing since that area is so barren. I want to plant some allium, too.

It's hard to grow anything here. It's not just the water; it's the terrible soil, too.

I'm starting to get excited about our garden despite the fact that it is really cold, and it's supposed to be cold all week. It snowed last weekend. I'm ready for summer!

We spent a few hours weeding the yard today (D didn't have a choice since it's Mother's Day and this is what I wanted to do!).

F is playing at a friend's house, but we'll leave in half and hour and pick up F (and the friend!) to go have a soccer kickaround in the park.

So, not an expensive day.

I did go to the store today to do the grocery shopping for the week. We still have the soccer coach staying with us, so I had to buy a little more of everything.

Here is the menu plan:
S - tortilla espanola with salad
S- taquitos with corn on the cob
M - lemon-crumbed fish with broccoli
T - chili with chips, lettuce and sour cream
W - quesadillas with quacamole
Th - freezer with salad
F - out to dinner with our coach!

My hands smell like cilantro and cumin from mixing up the taquito filling - yum!! It's a great recipe - chicken, cream cheese, green salsa, spices, lime...

OK, time to go gather up the soccer stuff now... hope everyone had a great weekend and happy mother's day!

I haven't written anything for a few days because I've been dealing with a big deadline (next Friday!) and an exasperating plumbing problem.

The deadline is going well.

The plumbing problem... we'll see. I won't go into it, but the gist is: our shower valve is messed up. We need a new one because no one seems able to repair it (paid $75 to a plumber for a temporary fix), but I can't figure out what to order. I went to the office today and found the original cut-sheets for the original valve. I found out Friday at like 5 minutes to 5 pm that the woman who originally sold it to me is still in town and works for a different plumbing supply place. I'm hoping she can help when I send the original info.

In other news:
- big gluten-free sale at Sprouts so I bought extra bread and baking flour
- we have a soccer coach staying with us for two weeks. He's so tired from all the games (and sun and rain and hail!) today that he's upstairs napping.
- our free entertainment today was F's soccer game. She played so well; I'm really proud! Two goals and one setup for another girl who then made a goal. Select team tryouts are in a few weeks, and she's nervous but excited.
- I went to our cheesemonger (I love that Santa Fe has a cheesemonger!) today and bought ridiculously expensive cheese for mother's day. That's all I really wanted was some nice, ridiculously expensive food. Also bought cherries (also spent too much).
- I'll need to reign in the food spending once the coach is gone and mother's day is over, but I'm okay with splurging on food once in a while.

And now it's time to make a budget (but kind of fancy) dinner: tortilla espanola (spanish omelette) with salad (with goat cheese). Yum! F went to a bday party today, so she asked me to save dessert for tomorrow (she said she'd had enough sweets - funny kid!)

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!

Here's how to waste food:
- put chicken in the oven with a really nice sauce
- check it to make sure it's done and determine that it needs an extra 5 minutes
- give it an extra 5 minutes and check again
- repeat until the chicken is like one of those joke rubber chickens
- serve it anyway
- watch your family spit pieces out onto their plates
- spit your own chicken out onto your plate
- feed the rubber chicken to the dog

Ugh.

I am not a naturally good cook (my mother never cooked, and therefore never taught me, so I learned how to cook around when I got married at age 36 - seriously), but I've learned to make some nice things. I need to stick to those things, and baked chicken is not one of those things.

I don't really need to say more, do I?

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!