Toilet-Paper-Tracker

I got my Pinecone check for $18 and sold an old jacket for $25, so I'll be making a visit to the bank today to pay down the mortgage principal. As a bonus, it's popcorn day (to be honest, I save my bank visits for Fridays, popcorn days).

F is supposed to have soccer practice tonight, but it's been raining constantly since this morning so I'm not sure it'll happen. If it does, D will take her, because I'm supposed to go to this school thing tonight.

I am not super-keen on going; it's like a cocktail party, and I have to dress in something called "business casual" which is a little funny for where we live (where everyone wears exercise and hiking stuff). I am actually sitting here in a regular shirt and scarf, but on my lower half, I have pajama bottoms and smartwool socks. (My jeans are on the table, but I'm only putting them on just before I go out!).

It's all my friends, though, and there will be food. And it's free.

I was told that as Parent Association president I have to set a good example and attend!

Working from home today... no real reason except that my workload is light today, and it's going to be HEAVY next week, so I thought I'd give myself a kind of break.

I am going to make some tea, work in a less manic fashion, head out at noon to teach my spinning class. Oh - and I just cleaned the mirrors.

Cleaning the mirrors made me think: my house is never completely clean at once because I have a weekly cleaning schedule (one or two things done each day) which means everything is cleaned at least once a week, but not all at the same time. It's the only way I can keep the house clean without spending an entire day doing it.

That got me thinking: I am almost the only one of my friends (I can only think of one exception right now, but there might be one or two more) who doesn't have a house cleaner. That's amazing to me!

No one ever talks to me about it; I think they know me, and know it's not in our budget.

I can see how it would be a justifiable expense, though, especially if we had more money; time is worth so much! I am figuring when I'm older/retired that it would be nice not to have to clean the house myself.

Do you clean your house or have a cleaner come in?

Spending:
- dinner out on Saturday night because we went to see the UNM men's soccer team play ($30, but eating out once a week is in our regular budget)
- went to Old Navy and spent $86 on winter clothes for F (and got a couple of things for myself, and I know that I wasn't going to buy any clothes this year, but since I have two shirts that are worn out, these are replacement items - total for me was $26). My mom is probably sending me some money for my birthday later this month, so both my clothes and F's should be covered.
- grocery shopping: a usual budget item of course
- bought gas for the week (I get it every Sunday now since my gas gauge is broken; I do track mileage, but this way no matter what I have gas)

Savings:
- sold a hat on craigslist ($20 saved - will be put toward mortgage principal)
- F played in a tournament today, which was supposed to have an entrance fee, but it was waived because our league played internally and coaches ref'd the games rather than hiring refs ($35 saved)
- rescheduled my dentist appt. so that the visit is covered by insurance; the previous appt. was about two days under a full year, and insurance only covers once a year (saved about $100)
- Old Navy was having a sale, so we actually saved $50. We got a ton of stuff and believe me, she needed it! She's grown so much! (for her: 3 pants, 2 shirts, 1 pajama pants for $40)

Priceless:
- how F played in her soccer game yesterday and tournament today - she loves it so much, and it's so fun to watch her!

I'm pretty happy about September. We made $6335 net (that includes our salaries, $21 in side income and a gift from my mom for our anniversary).

We spent $4138 and saved $1165 (IRAs, school savings, mortgage principal, car savings). That leaves $1032 (which will go toward the Big Medical Expense - I covered it with savings, but I'm paying myself back, and as of Oct. 1, we are now back in the black in the medical category - yay!!!).

Our income is 1.5% lower than last year (D had a side project last year that added income in September, but August was way less; now his income is stable).

Expenses are 9% lower than last year.

Money put into savings is 53% higher.

And now the really good news: D just got a raise (effective Jan. 1); it's $2400 more a year (gross). I figure about $140 net a month. He is also eligible for his company's employee savings plan. It's a matching plan, so now we need to figure out what to do.

We currently contribute $400 to his IRA each month, after tax money. The employee savings plan is pre-tax money. There are a lot of unanswered questions (which I listed for him so that he can ask): up to what amount do they match? Where does the money go (Fidelity? Vanguard? something else?) Is there an option to put it into an IRA? A Roth IRA? If so, how do the taxes work in that case?

I've done some reading on employee savings plans, but I'm not sure I understand the tax implications. It is not a 401k. It is not a SEP or Simple.

We'll make decisions about the $400 and the new $140 once we know more.

Does anyone have experience with an employee savings plan?

I got paid by the gym today (for August! ugh!).... but that's $55 toward the mortgage. Along with $6 I got from a Target rebate and my usual $150 from our budget, I paid down the mortgage principal by $211.

We've paid down an extra $3359 this year so far; the house will be paid off in July 2020 if we don't pay any more down on principal. With my usual $150 per month, it'll be October 2019.

I also cashed out Pinecone today; I should be getting a check for $18 soon (mortgage principal of course!).

I've always meal-planned our dinners. I have a very specific plan and this helps save us a lot of money!

I don't plan our lunches, though, because we often end up eating leftovers (including some leftovers from F's lunches) and I don't want a bunch of wasted food.

F, though, rarely eats leftovers, so I've decided to meal-plan her lunches. What I used to do was just have a bunch of things in the house I could put in her lunch. But I've just made an excel spreadsheet so I know exactly what she'll be eating, and exactly to buy at the beginning of the week. I'll add fruit for my lunch and D's to the shopping list.

The thing that sparked this: F is complaining that my lunches are good and D's are bad. And I noticed he put two starches (crisps and cheesy breadsticks) in her snack one day; no fruit or veg. I was disproportionately upset about it, but still...

We'll see if lunch planning saves money, too. I'll bet it does.

This past week we've had a soccer coach from the UK staying with us. It's so great, and fun, and it's an important cultural exchange for F. So I don't mind the slightly higher grocery bill.

But next week will be "eat out of the pantry" and my grocery trip will be for fresh fruit and veggies only.

I'm going to try to do this on the last shopping trip of every month. I'll report back on how this works.

Anyway, the meal plan:
- something from the freezer with a salad (need lettuce)
- tostadas (need lettuce, I may buy a thing of salsa - not sure we have enough and it will be eaten)
- potato pancakes with a veg (need eggs, 1 onion, veg)
- veggie sushi (need avocado and a cucumber, sushi rice since we only have a little bit - bulk bin)
- chicken thighs adobo with rice and a veg (need one onion and a veg)
- tuna melts with salad (need one can tuna)
- pasta with butter and parmesan and courgettes (need courgettes)

For lunches we need jack cheese and fruit and one tomato for F.

I am finally getting around to posting photos of F's room... we redid it at the start of school, partly so that she could have a desk, and partly so she could have a more grown-up room. And partly for more storage!

We sold some furniture (bed and unused dresser) and got some new stuff (bed with storage underneath it, desk). The rug is the same, we didn't paint or anything. I painted an old bulletin board with silver glitter paint. I stole a chair from our other bedroom.

I don't usually like to eat out. It's expensive, and I'm cheap! And I have a lot of dietary restrictions. It took us 2 days to figure out where to eat out on our anniversary. I wanted D to be able to eat somewhere he doesn't usually get to go (when we do eat out, it's not fancy) and D wanted me to be able to eat something besides a dinner salad.

We finally figured it out... F said "Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world!" and I mentioned a sushi place in California that we all love. Actually, I've never been to Japan, but I'd love to have sushi there!

Anyway, D also loves sushi, so we're going to go out for sushi. We usually save our sushi dining for that place in California when we visit my parents, so we're not sure where to go here. But I'm going to ask a friend of mine.

We're using the anniversary money that my parents gave us (thank you, Mom and Dad!). And it was a lot! There will still be money left over, and I want to use it to help buy the Playstation that F and D want for Christmas (so they can play their Fifa soccer game).

I am totally ahead of this Christmas thing! We decided a few weeks ago that we'd get photo calendars for my mom, D's mom and D's dad and a new mousepad for my dad. I saw the 40% off Calendar sale on Shutterfly. Plus there was a code for free shipping for orders over $39.

Our order came to $38.37! Grrr... I should have just put a 4x6 photo in my cart, but I called customer service and they gave me free shipping anyway because I was so close. That was nice! So total order with tax for four gifts: $42.90.

We have about $300 in our gift "bucket" so we're right on target. I've made a list of gifts for F, and she and D want a Playstation with the latest Fifa soccer game. I don't want anything, but D never listens to me about that, so I need to think of something that he can buy me that doesn't cost much, that I would like and that would make him feel like he's gotten me a present.

I drove on the school field trip yesterday. Oh my gosh did I get lucky - I had three girls in my car and they were all super polite, funny, fun to drive with.

The field trip was to the animal shelter (not the one in our town, but one about half an hour away) because that’s the fourth grade service project for the year: they volunteer helping the animals in the shelter on weekends, make dog biscuits to sell and then the money goes to the shelter.

Anyway, the woman who showed us around asked the kids about what responsibilities you take on when you have pets. They thought of everything except the one that was in my head: taking your pets to the vet. Someone (I think an adult) finally said it!

Anyway, it was in my mind because our dog has been itchy, and she's scratched and gnawed at herself for about a week now. Nothing has helped. So I took her to the vet today... She has allergies! I went home $120 poorer and with three medications for her (two for allergies and one for the bacterial infection she got from irritating her skin so much).

This is what the "pets" budget is for. For some reason I rarely see that in people's budgets. Do you have a budget for pet food, vet visits, regular medications like heartworm? (We also go to a local pet store once every two months or so and pay $16 to use their large metal tub to give her a bath - way less expensive than a groomer and we use their shampoo, towels, tub - our dog is kind of big! - so that's in the budget, too). If you have a pet budget, how much do you allocate per pet?

It's a long story (and not that interesting), but I have a client which requires me to invoice the people I work with separately. I was dreading doing six little invoices; ugh. I figured it wouldn't add up to much either; it's just an hour or hour and a half for each.

After I dropped F off at school and before I went back up to drive on the class field trip, I decided to challenge myself to get all six of the invoices done and emailed out to people. It only took half an hour, and the invoices add up to $880. That's more than I thought, so I'm happy I just buckled down and got it done.

I don't know about the rest of you who are self-employed, but I don't love doing invoicing. I do it though, monthly, because that's the key to cash flow.

And, I've officially invoiced for almost $13k more than my annual goal. Very excited about this! The past few years have been difficult for architects, and this is definitely an improvement! I worked hard for every penny.

After college, when I was living in my first real adult apartment (around 1990), my grandfather was experiencing a transition, too. He had Alzheimers, and couldn't live on his own anymore, so a caregiver moved in (she became part of our family, but that's another story).

He used to cook a lot, and my grandmother baked a lot (she passed away in 1981, when I was 14 and it was so hard and still is - but that's another story, too); between them they had all sorts of small appliances.

In 1990, my mother started to give me things like the old mixer and blender, a bundt pan. Later on, a meat grinder (hand crank) and my grandmother's rolling pin (this is, in my opinion, one of my true treasures). I have my grandmother's teapot; it's art deco and super cool; I think she got it by saving washing powder box tops. I have a set of primary color pyrex mixing bowls (much sought after by pyrex collectors).

I was just using my blender (grandma and grandpa's blender). I remember my grandma using it, and it's still going strong. It has that (now cool) early 70s look. Hard to believe it's about 40 years old!

I was thinking two things:
1. Isn't it cool that my grandma's blender isn't just a memory, and I don't have to wonder how it used to look. I use it all the time!
2. Isn't it super frugal to use things like this for a long, long time?

PS - I don't use the meat grinder, but I guess I should try it; it's got to be cheaper to make your own ground turkey, right?

Five Frugal Things from the past few days:

- Did a pinecone survey; I now have 600 points (that's $6, and I like to cash out every $12)

- Came home after F's soccer game and soccer practice (we were out there for 3 hours! And they won! And F scored a goal!) and had lunch here instead of going out to eat. The key: having a plan about exactly what were were going to eat for lunch.

- Spent $70 on groceries at Albertson's yesterday; used coupons and their $1 sale. It should have been $100, so we saved $30. Now we're stocked up on lots of things.

- Made our meal plan for the week (aiming for a light shopping week because of the extra groceries from Albertson's; we mostly will be buying fresh produce):
asian meatballs with rice
grilled cheese and tomato soup
tilapia with curry and paprika and a vegetable
pasta with parmesan and courgettes
baked potatoes and broccoli
tostadas
something from the freezer with a salad

- Watching tv on hulu (free!). We haven't had cable for years; haven't missed it at all!

I've found the key to eliminating discretionary spending: when I am THIS busy, I can't barely find time to post anything here, much less spend any money!

(Actually, have I mentioned that posting here is a much better online activity than buying something online?)

Today I helped D with school photos. We did the preschoolers, pre-K, K and first grade. Also did some teachers and the First Grade class photo.

Then I turned some drawings in to the County. Talked with a contractor who is currently building one of my fire stations. Talked with an engineer. Came up with a price for a new project which I'll send tomorrow. Answered emails.

I even managed to eat lunch and feed the dog.

And now it's nearly time to pick F up from school. After school I'm meeting with the art teacher (F can hang out while I talk to her) about student designed tshirts that the Parents Association can sell.

Then we'll come back so F can do her homework and practice piano before we head down to the fields for soccer practice. This is the extra team that she had to try out for; she's excited to be on the team! But practice is from 5:30 to 7, so that makes dinner sort of difficult.

I've got white chicken chili cooking in the crockpot, so that's dinner sorted. I am thankful to whomever invented the crockpot!

And after dinner, I guess it's off to bed.

The side income isn't mine; it's D's. But I'm helping out. You see, D is doing the individual and class photos for F's school this year. We have no idea how much he'll make, but last year's photographer was so awful, the school begged D to do it!

He takes photos of kids and families as a side business, but hasn't done a lot of shoots lately (his big time of year is Christmas when families get together). His photos are beautiful (I'm biased, but really - they are!).

I'll be helping record which kids have been photographed (which is good because I know almost every child in the school) and writing down the image numbers so D can track them. I'm also Parent Association president this year, so I gathered up volunteers to get the kids from their classrooms, make sure they look the way they want to, etc.

The class photos are particularly difficult, but D has done this before at F's old preschool (and still does their photos for them).

Que Viva La Fiesta! (Que Viva!)

It's been non-stop since Friday... first the fair at F's school, then we walked in the parade the next morning with school. This morning we went on a hike (4 miles - F's longest) and then to the next parade (we just sat on the curb for this one and F collected candy).

Que viva la candy! (That's what F thinks, anyway - she got a lot! This will definitely last until Halloween).

We brought a packed lunch and each got a fresh lemonade from our favorite little cafe which has fresh, homemade lemonade. It was perfect to sip while we watched the parade. Low cost, super fun.

Because of where we live, there are people dressed as Conquistadores, and Spanish Princesas and the Caballeros de Vargas (who take care of the statue of Our Lady - also known as La Conquistadora - in the Cathedral); my friend's wife even makes some of her dresses; she dates back to about 1625.

I love Fiestas (who doesn't like a city-wide party?), and now that it's over it really feels like Fall. It's time to buy our green chile for the winter.

Tonight: soccer kick-around and then a simple, inexpensive dinner (tuna melts or quesadillas).

Yes, I spent more than I wanted to on groceries by about $20. I'm sure we'll still in budget because I shop on Sat or Sun and there are only four weekends in this month.

I had a list of course and a menu plan, but I think I should have put more thought into it. I bought shrimp (it was on sale but still $7 for a little less than a pound) for pad thai.

Even though we're in budget, I am going to do an "eat out of the pantry" with the exception of fresh fruits and veggies for the end of the month shopping. I am very sure we have plenty of food.

Also, this week's groceries include a crockpot meal which will result in three future meals stored in the freezer. We're really going to need those because F's soccer season has started.

The other thing I overspent on: went to the grocery store hungry and bought myself lunch there (grrr! I had food at home, too!). F and D went to see a local high school play soccer, so they had lunch there (it was booster club day and they had hamburgers).

Tonight: roast chicken and potatoes for D who misses the weekend roast dinners that he had in England. I try to do this for him as often as possible, but sometimes we're too busy. The potatoes are parboiled, and then both chicken and potatoes are cooked in a marinade of lemon juice/olive oil/garlic/thyme/rosemary/tabasco/honey. It's one of my favorite recipes, and not hard at all.

Fourth grade is the best at F's school - the teacher is amazing and they put a big emphasis on personal responsibility and organization. They actually teach the kids how to plan and organize rather than just expect them to figure it out. Each child gets a day planner and that's where they record and track their homework assignments (F is upstairs doing homework right now). Oh - and parents aren't supposed to help (if we do, our children need to make a note in their homework so that the teachers know there was some difficulty withe the problem).

And, there's the TeacherBank. Each child has a bank account at TeacherBank, and a checkbook. They had a homework assignment where they learned to write checks and keep a check register.

They are paid 100 TeacherBucks for the job that they do (these rotate monthly). And they have to "rent" their desks for 25 TeacherBucks a month.

They have to "buy" supplies with TeacherBucks, and they are fined if they blurt out or fail to push in their chairs.

At the end of the year, they all bring in toys and things they don't want anymore, and there is an auction so that they can use their leftover TeacherBucks to buy things.

Starting them young on the road to financial common sense!

The huge emphasis on responsibility is really great. In fact, F has been putting her lunch box an water bottle up on the wall, too. And they also have Kindergarten buddies (so they get to the be the older big buddies to smaller children). F adores her little buddy; he loves soccer just like she does, and his favorite food is "dessert!" She keeps saying "He's soooo cute!"

I am impressed on how the school has handled the transition from year to year, giving the kids more responsibility and also more freedom; it's all incremental so it feels totally natural. By 6th grade, they'll be leading the all-school meetings and bringing the hot lunches to the younger kids when it's snowing outside.

So I went down to Target today (it's kind of out of the way, so I save my Target trips for when I'm in that area anyway - I was on my way to a meeting in the south part of town and left a little early).

I bought Claritin for F (used $2 coupon and got another $3 coupon).

I also bought kleenex (well, not kleenex brand - I buy the Target brand). And I noticed something... The four-pack of vertical kleenex (which I prefer) has 80 sheets per box (so 4x80 = 320). The four-pack of horizontal kleenex is 160 sheets per box (4x160 = 640). But they cost exactly the same! So you get double the kleenex with the horizontal kleenex. I am never buying vertical kleenex again!

OK, so I also bought some sunscreen and toilet paper. As they scan everything, it's just too hard to see the screen (things go by so quickly) so I always check my receipt before I walk out the door.

Glad I did because they charged me for two kleenex four-packs instead of the one that I bought! Back to customer service where they corrected it quickly.

I have to take a trip back to Trader Joe's today, too. I bought potatoes on Sunday, which I put in a cool cupboard as usual; I was going to use them tomorrow night. Well, this morning, something smelled awful in the kitchen, and I couldn't figure out what it was (I thought it was maybe the dog's food). When I popped in for lunch (to let our dog out), it smelled worse, and I started to worry it was a dead mouse so I opened the cupboards. The potatoes were oozing all over the cabinet; yuck! I've had potatoes grow eyes but never ooze like that! So, need to go to TJ's for the refund (I already called them, and they said "don't bring the potatoes back in!").

We'll go after F finishes her homework; she said she'd go out with me. The thing is, it's not really on my way. I'm wondering if I should just go tomorrow morning, but that cuts into my work day.

Anyway - what weird shopping karma I have today! Have you had experiences like this, too?

Every year I do a photobook of the previous year... but I wait for a good promo to actually have it made. We'd skipped a year or two and I was slowly going back and making those albums. I've had 2010 saved in my Shutterfly projects since December, but the promos weren't that great on photobooks.

They have a 40% off sale on everything through Labor Day as well as a free shipping code (so it ended up being about 50% off), so I decided to finally print that book!

Now we're all caught up (we've got 2005 - the year F was born - all the way through 2013).

I can't wait to make 2014, but I'll keep that in my projects until another good promo comes around!

I really didn't want to spend money on lunch out today, but my friend is in town... I also have a lot of work right now, and didn't feel like I wanted to take an hour out (I'm struggling to finish as it is).

I'm very proud that I told her that instead of lunch I could go for a walk. And it was a really nice walk! And it was free! And my dog walked with us (she goes to the office with me and I take her on a short walk after lunch).

Tonight we were supposed to go to a soccer assessment for F, but it's been bucketing raining all afternoon. They play in the rain, but there's also been a ton of lightning and thunder, and they don't play in lightning. She's sad, but they've rescheduled it to next Tuesday.

My plan for an easy dinner still applies: grilled cheese and tomato soup. Perfect for the stormy weather. We may have the same thing next Tuesday! (Perfect when you only have 10 minutes to make dinner, too).

The good (great!) news is I am not having a party at my house tonight! And we are going over to my friend M's in-laws (they have a vacation home here). I've know the in-laws for about 20 years and they're really nice.

The other good (great!) news is that it isn't a big party at all... there will be 11 (three of those are kids) total so I'll get to really talk to everyone.

More good (great!) news: I am bringing dessert, so that means not only that I will get to eat dessert (I usually can't given dietary restrictions) but it is a really easy potluck thing for me. I make a flourless chocolate cake (total cost is about $5 including the heavy cream (for whipping).

Yesterday I spent the entire day working on F's room (photos soon!) while she was at her friend's house. We went out to dinner (our weekly meal out) because I was so tired.

Today the same friend is here, so I got a ton of work done, and housework, too.

I am feeling really great about starting the week. My deadline is pretty much under control, and I'm hoping that one night this week M and I can hang out (she wants to go out for a drink; I don't drink, so will just have water). Every night except Tuesday (a soccer tryout for F); I have to remember to tell M! Maybe she'll want to meet me at the gym tomorrow for a lunchtime class (have to remember to ask that, too).

My good friend is in town (she comes back to visit once a year). She's not staying with us, but she always has parties (I'm happy to bring a potluck dish) and wants to go out to eat (I usually skip that, and she's fine with that).

She loves to shop, and I don't shop at all, so I skip that, too. She has other friends to shop with.

The hard part is, she comes in late tonight, and will be staying through the week, but I have a HUGE deadline and no time to hang out with her (we could go on a hike or whatever). But I want to! But I have the deadline! And I don't want to be a whiner and say that I can only see her on the weekend (actually, I'll be working several hours this weekend, too).

It's a firm deadline (a County review meeting) and I had a setback today where I spent the day making a change (ugh; this is why I need to work this weekend).

Oh - did I mention that she wants to have one of the parties at my house? On Sunday night (school night!). I called her and just got voicemail, but I told her that we could maybe do something early, but that people have to clear out by 8:30 pm so F can get ready for bed. I wish I had said I couldn't do it at all because the thought of cleaning the house after a party, with a deadline looming, makes me hyperventilate.

I'm going to go do the dishes and then relax for an hour before I go to sleep; I think I need to rest before I can confront her (and myself) with the reality of self-employment!

This is for Klarose who has dogs that look kind of like mine. She's a Pyrenees mix (and we're not sure what she's mixed with). She's from our local shelter but she was a transfer from another shelter. I think she might have been a herding dog.

OK, this doesn't have to do with our finances except that she eats a lot of food!!!

Before I could spend any of it, I took my gym money right over to the bank and paid down principal. It was $145, and it reduced our total paid in interest by $33. That's nice to see.

So now we owe $69,193.

I called my brother after I left the bank, and just mentioned that I'd paid down some principal, and he chuckled. He said he feels bad when he sees his principal go down because he knows he's doing something wrong (in his mind, the cheap interest rates mean that it's better to keep the mortgage and put his money elsewhere). He has a lot more money than I do, and it's all tied up in various investments and stock options. Actually, I think it's just stock now, not options anymore.

We have completely different attitudes about money, and he understands that I operate on piece of mind. Plus it is definitely worth it to us not to have the mortgage anymore so that we can pay for F's school. In the meantime, we are still fully funding our IRAs.

I know a lot of you use your extra funds (and snowflakes!) to pay off debt. If you're debt free except for your mortgage, how do you use that extra money? Paying down the mortgage or investing?

Usually when I go to the gym the owner isn't there (it's always the lunchtime classes)... if I'm teaching, I unlock and then lock up (same for my friend L who teaches on Mondays at lunch).

L called to tell me that she'd been paid for two months (June and July) while I was on vacation; we're good friends so she wanted to make sure I got paid now that I'm back. But I didn't know when I'd see the owner so that he could pay me.

I subbed for her class today, and as usual, since it's a lunchtime class, he wasn't there. But... in my car on the little side street by the gym, he pulled up next to me, said hi, how was your trip, etc... and then gave me $145 for June and July!

I haven't gone to the bank yet to pay down principal, but will some time this week.

Now the money decision: we are doing some upgrades to F's room to make it a room fit for a girl in the "upper cluster" (which is 4th through 6th at her school). She's been doing her homework at the dining room table or else at the little desk in our bedroom, and she asked for a desk. She'll need a chair, too, and we've ordered more storage bins. She'll be getting a new bed, too.

We're selling some things on Craigslist and Ebay (desk, old bed, some toys) and I'm trying to decide whether we put that incoming money toward the room improvements or we chalk that cost up to "home improvements" and use the Ebay money to pay down principal.

I'm leaning toward offsetting the cost of the new items instead of paying down principal. What do you think?

Today I bought groceries (under my spending goal!) and also bought cat litter (with $3 coupon) and a small can of spraypaint for F's bulletin board. I've been moving stuff around in her room all day with the goal of a more grown-up room, and re-fashioning the old bulletin board is part of that.

Then we went to the park for the Fourth Grade Class Get-Together. We do this just before school starts every year so the kids can get out some of the excitement of seeing each other after a long summer. Also we get to meet the new families, and their children can start school seeing familiar faces. My daughter really hit it off with C, whose family just moved here. C is a soccer player like F.

I loved the parents of the new boy J... they moved here from California two weeks ago. We stayed about 3 hours, and the kids played, and we ate (potluck). It was so much fun! (I'm a total extrovert, and I love meeting new people).

Tomorrow we meet with the teacher (we already know her, but this is a chance to talk about F and she can tell us about what they'll be doing for the year).

And then school starts on Wednesday! (I personally love a mid-week start because the first week back they're exhausted by the end of the week).

We have good friends who used to live here who are visiting this week. The suggestion was made to go to brunch together, and I can't wait to see them. But instead of eating brunch out, I opted to have them over.

Yes, I'll be cooking and paying for food for six, but it works out way less expensive than going out and getting meals for the three of us.

We're going to have french toast souffle (super yummy; and I will make it tonight and heat tomorrow so all the goop soaks into the bread), muffin cup frittatas and strawberries. And I bought some juice and D will make coffee. Total cost was less than $18.

We would have probably spent about $40 if we went out. Maybe more, because what always seems to happen is the people we eat with get more/sides/coffee/juice/etc. (when we go out we get water and just one meal each), but we split the bill anyway. I never say anything about it; you're all going to say that I should, but I hate doing that. It's just not an option for me.

Inviting people over is not only cheaper, but we'll get to hang out, and the girls can play together outside or in F's room while we chat.

I'm going to take that $17-whatever it came to out of our dining budget, though, rather than groceries budget!

Today I paid down our usual $150 plus $12 from pinecone to our mortgage principal.

Our new balance is $69,338. We're in the 60's!

Did you read the Clark Howard thing about paying down your mortgage v. investing the money? He had a good point that often people are so motivated to pay down the mortgage that they really end up saving more to do that than they would save to invest. That makes a lot of sense to me.

Anyway, according to my spreadsheet even if we don't pay down another penny on principal we'll own the house in July 2020. We've paid off $2,838 in principal this year (yay!!).

More analysis:
- if we only pay off $150/month (this is budgeted) we'll pay off the house in Oct. 2019.
- if we pay off $150/month until our Dublin house is paid off and $500/month after that, we'll have our house paid off in Oct. 2018 (that was my goal date - it's the month I turn 52
- this doesn't count any tax returns being applied to the mortgage principal, so it may be sooner