Toilet-Paper-Tracker

We brought several books with us on vacation... I think I read three books during those two weeks (they were all on my phone from our library's e-lending service, so easy to carry!). My favorite was the Silkworm (JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith; it's a mystery and the second in a series of books). I also read The Silver Linings Playbook which I didn't like very much. And a great book called The Boy Kings of Texas (Domingo Martinez); it totally captured growing up in a border town in Texas. There's a southwestern thing I can relate to.

F brought The Mysterious Benedict Society (Trenton Lee Stuart) which she declared "the best book EVER" so if you're looking for a book for a kid around 9 years old, you might check this out... I started the first few pages and now I want to read it! It was lent to F by next year's teacher, and when we were up at school the other day (it doesn't start until next Weds.), F ran into the librarian who assured her that the library has all of the books in the series, and if they don't have the new one yet, she'll make sure they get it asap! (I love that librarian).

Have you been reading anything that you like and would recommend? We're always looking for books to read!

When I analyze the year so far, we're over budget by about $1700. (The way I do this is to use numbers for last year for the remaining months, which gives me an overall year to look at, but it means I still have August through December to "correct" things).

The $1700 is still less than the surprise medical bills I had in the Spring, which means that we're working on getting those paid for by shifting other budget items, and that makes me feel good. Basically, those medical bills account for the budget bust for this year.

So I looked at how August through December might go in order to make a plan.

Obviously, and easy way to get the budget back in order would be to stop contributing to our IRAs for two months, but I don't want to do that; we have money in the bank (EF) and so we don't need to do this. We can whittle at the $1700 instead.

So, the plan:
- limit cash for D to $40/month
- don't buy any new yarn (knitting budget down to zero)
- maybe skip the Nutcracker this year (just talked to F and she is very willing to make a less expensive substitution)
- F has a lot of new clothes from Grandma, and her winter coat fits and so do winter boots, she has the next size up on soccer cleats, so I don't think we need much for her clothing budget this winter.
- work on grocery costs (don't have to reduce much from last year)

When I do this in my excel spreadsheet, I end up with a $3,000 surplus! Yeah!

We just got back from 2+ weeks in England and France (no, not Paris! More on that later!). Here are some of the frugal and not-frugal things we did on our holiday...

Frugal
- got a ride to/from the airport and left our cars at home (no parking fees)
- had someone stay in the house with our pets (no boarding fees) - we did buy him a small gift and gave him a gift certificate for Amazon (way lower than what we would have paid for pet boarding)
- stayed with family in England (and they fed us so well!)
- brought a packed lunch to the Arsenal Football Club stadium tour
- F has a "Junior Gunners membership" so her tour was free
- D contacted them ahead of time to say we were coming all the way from New Mexico and that F is a huge fan and Junior Gunner, and they arranged for the mascot - Gunnersaurus - to surprise her! Wow! And he gave her a goodybag of stuff including a watch and cuddly toy Gunnersaurus for free!
- stayed in a weekly rental in France so we cooked most of our own meals (and it's fun shopping in supermarkets in other countries)
- our stay in France was in a little town near the Spanish border - much less expensive than Paris!
- most of our days in France were spent at the beach (free); activities included walking along the cliffs to another beach about an hour away - the walk itself was awesome!
- Used public transportation in our last two days (when we didn't have a rental car) and to get to the Stadium
- Rental cars were diesel - we filled up very little
- Didn't buy souvenirs (except F got this very cool little whirlygig which we played with on the beach every evening - 2 euro - it goes up in the air with a slingshot and then spins when it comes down)

Not Frugal
- bought lunch in the airport rather than pack it (I ended up with work to do at the last minute and decided our holiday would start in the airport - but it wasn't even a good meal, so I wish I'd packed the lunch!)
- some meals out - but well worth it! - in France
- one terrible meal out in England - we took my father-in-law to his favorite pub which is just awful, but we see him so rarely and it's his favorite.
- Arsenal Football Club stadium tour wasn't cheap, but worth it
- paid for admission to some tourist sites (Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain; turtle sanctuary; a castle; and a fortress outside of Perpignan)
- Paid for the French rental apartment to be cleaned at the end rather than clean it ourselves; we could've cleaned it ourselves, but really wanted not to wreck our last day there.

I'm sure there are more... but that's all I can think of right now.

It's time to start packing (at least this is what F told me - I was waiting until tomorrow, but I think she's right; a lot is going on tomorrow).

We’ll be gone 16 days, with potentially two climates (we need to have clothes for anything from 55 deg F to about 85 deg F). We’ll be doing laundry once or twice. This is my standard packing list... I use a visual packing list because I just think that way.

What I’ll wear:
black leggings
tank top/camisole
short sleeved t
long sleeved t
infinity scarf (lightweight)
puma trainers
1 pair of socks

In my Campmor:
liquids ziploc
hanging cosmetics bag (small and flat) - including powdered clothes soap for 3 washes
small purse with the essentials (pull out on the plane)
packable daypack
little pouch with euro adapter/phone charger
plastic bag for dirty laundry and ziploc for wet swimsuits
ziploc of stuff to pull out on the plane (sanitizing spray and wipes, knitting project, inflatable pillow) with binder clips to attach it to the seatback pocket

Clothes
5 trousers - jeans, cropped black leggings, grey convertible pants (long to bermudas), cropped jeans, cropped black cuffed pants [plus 1 to wear]
1 skirt
1 long sleeved shirt [plus 1 to wear]
1 three-quarter sleeved tunic
5 short sleeved shirts
2 tank tops
1 dress
1 pair pajamas
6 pair underwear
1 bra [plus camisole to wear]
4 pair socks
2 thin cardigans
1 warm cardigan (this is by ibex - it’s thin but warm)
1 packable rain jacket
2 pairs of shoes [plus 1 to wear]
1 swimsuit

I’ve done a test-pack and this fit into two medium and one slim ebags packing cubes. The total weight was 14 lbs. and there was a ton of room left in my Campmor bag. I can easily stow my purse and the ibex zip cardi in there while I’m walking around the airport so that I have both hands free.

http://www.savingadvice.com/blogs/image.php?blog=5402&id=12669&width=80&height=80

It was a beautiful day today - super hot (I like hot!).

F had a playdate and I went into the office. Then I picked up both girls and took them to the pool.

We were supposed to have our weekly adults v. kids soccer kickaround this evening, except it's raining now (monsoon season); and lightning and thunder. F is pretty disappointed, but she's in the living playing FIFA with D right now, so that helps.

So, we're not going out to eat tonight, which is good, because we had a couple of unexpected expenses.

My back was pretty bad for about two weeks (long story - was in a car accident when I was 16 and it flares up sometimes) so I had to go to the chiropractor. She's amazing and it's better now. $66 (no insurance doesn't cover it - it goes toward deductible). And I'm still paying down the Big Medical Bill. Ugh.

And D's car needed oil change and a new battery. It was $233! Eeek! There is now negative $75 in the auto servicing bucket and my car needs an oil change soon. I put $60/month in that bucket, so it won't fill up next month; I'm going to have to transfer some money from somewhere else.

And... finally... ants! We tried everything, and finally called the pest control people. $178. Only $33 left in repairs which freaks me out. We need to build that back up! I put $70/month in there just in case, so it should go back up quickly.

It seems like we squeezed two days into today... I seriously thought tomorrow was Monday.

- cleaned the birdcage, litterbox and toilet
- vacuumed the house
- F had a friend come over for a playdate
- put in a load of laundry
- did a little bit of work
- F's friend's mom picked up the friend
- went to our usual two supermarkets (Saturday shopping!)
- unloaded groceries
- made lunch
- hung laundry
- made marinade for dinner
- did more work
- the Parent Association Vice President came over (I am PA Pres) and we planned out the year while our kids played (so basically another playdate!)
- they had organized a show for us, so after we did our work, we watched their show
- decided to have dinner outside
- ran a bath for F and played bathsketball with her (that's not a typo) - first one to ten baskets won; I am really bad at bathsketball - she won.
- finished up the work from earlier and send off some Parent Association emails

Did you notice the only thing I spent money on today was groceries? I get a $10 statement credit from Amex for shopping at Sprouts, too.

Tomorrow - we may eat out... our little Mexican place has kids eat free on Sunday and Monday nights and we'll be playing kids v. adult soccer until about 6:30.

Here's something I didn't know until just a few days ago: D has an Irish pension! It has about $14k in it. He said he completely forgot about it, and he's not sure what the rules are about how it can be invested. He thinks you can't really touch it at all until retirement (not even to change what fund it's in or anything). Wondering if anyone knows anything about Irish pensions?

He also got the annual mortgage statement from our Irish house. As of June 30th owe 5272 euro on the house. We're paying only about 20 euro a month in interest now. Final payment will be June 21, 2015; one more year!

Our payment is 451.40 euro each month, so I am figuring that even leaving money in the Irish account like we usually do, and maybe a little more, when we own the Irish house we can add $400 a month to our principal payments on the US house. I am going to go play with my mortgage paydown calculator now...

Right now I have enough work; in 8 months or so I may not, but here's the thing: the long term future is not a reason to take a project I don't have any time for right now, and it's definitely not a reason to take a project that looks like it could be awful.

I got a call from a woman (who knows a friend of mine) about a possible project. She's talked to some other architects but didn't feel like it was a "fit." She's bought an old house (1940s) that is in a borderline commercial area (zoned for commercial), and already done some demo (like taken out the heaters - something I wouldn't have done right away - winter isn't THAT far away). She wants to turn it into a restaurant.

I told her I'd come look at it, but let her know that I am going on vacation soon and my priority is the projects I'm currently working on. I told her I couldn't really devote more than a site visit until I return.

The house is a maze of rooms, and she wants to "open it all up." (This means replacing structural walls with beams, etc.) I talked to my engineer, and he said she needs to know that the roof load requirement for a commercial space is more than double a residence. And then there's the fire suppression system for a commercial kitchen...

And its an old house, and I'm sure there are lots of surprises in there that she won't even find out about until they start work. Oh - and did I mention that they have fixed up a few houses and want to do some of the work themselves? I honestly have no idea how much she should budget, no idea how much I would charge (given all of the unknowns).

I'm either going to tell her the timing isn't good for me, or give her a price that (if she were to accept it) would make the project definitely worth my time.

Just signed up for two American Express offers:

- $10 back on $50 purchase at Sprouts (since this is where we shop every week, I'm pretty happy about it! We usually spend less here, but I'll stock up!)

- $20 back on $20 min. Amazon purchase - really? Wow! Definitely will use this.

So if you have American Express, go to offers on the bottom of the main page...

The great thing about volunteering all weekend is that I didn't have many chances to spend any money. I did buy a fresh juice (for me) and an ice cream (for F) up at Market. We were volunteering for three days straight, and felt like we needed a treat! B

ut I brought our lunches, and I didn't buy anything at Folk Art Market (aren't you proud of me?). There were some beautiful things, but I wasn't tempted because I just don't want any more stuff.

Got a free tshirt, and so did F and so did D (we all volunteered). Perfect bed-shirt!

And I made some friends, got to help some people, had fun.

We do have kind of a long layover at DFW (4 hours)... we've been there before, but the only fun thing to do for a kid (not a toddler - they have Junior Flyer Club play areas for little kids, but that isn't fun for a big kid) was to ride the Skylink.

If you live in Dallas or know DFW well and have any ideas, I would so appreciate them!

Are there any fun shops to look in? Anything else to do where we wouldn't need to exit the airport (I don't want to have to go through security again).

We're leaving in a few weeks, and we have a long plane flight (first flight is just 2 hours, then 4 hour wait in the Dallas Airport, then 10 hours to London), so I'm gathering up things to do the plane for F (and me, actually).

The two goals are: low cost and minimal size. We don't bring a lot of books because they're heavy and have to be lugged back with us. We use individual sheets that can be tossed after they're completed. They're held together with a clip.

Me:
- book on my phone
- soduku puzzles (free puzzle printouts here: http://www.websudoku.com/)
- knitting (one ball of yarn, scarf, instructions on my phone, chart printed out)

F (who is 9 years old):
- extreme dot to dots (a few pages cut out of a book she already has)
- roadtrip battleship (free printables: http://www.momsminivan.com/battleship.html)
- mad libs (cut out of a book she already has)
- printable boggle game - can be played alone or with others - lots of 4x4 and 5x5 grid here: http://www.printactivities.com/Paper-Games/Printable-Boggle-Word-Game.shtml
- mad-minute multiplication practice sheets (she thinks multiplication is fun, so I'm just going with it) http://www.madpractice.com/
- brand new pad of paper for hangman and drawing ($1.50 at Target)
- airport bingo (we make our own with categories like "screaming baby" and "person who needs help with the overhead bin")
- New game for the ipad/ipod - we're getting Dots (stack the states and stack the countries are always popular; and my favorite is Oregon Trail because it takes forever!)

And then there's our travel journal... Just a tiny notebook and F and I write back and forth to each other in it about things we're doing or have done. If she had to keep a journal herself, she probably wouldn't, but if it's like secret notes to each other, it's way more fun!

Another snowflake! I got paid by the gym for May (yes, May; he said June is coming soon) - so $70 toward the mortgage principal. We now owe $70,383. Next month we'll be in the $60k's - so happy!

Tonight we're going to have dinner (tacos with guacamole - I copied the recipe down from Gabriel's which has the BEST guacamole - have been using this recipe for years). And then we're going out to see the Folk Art Market artists' procession (free!). After the procession there is an African band, so we'll all be dancing!

I'll be at Folk Art Market all weekend, working (as a volunteer of course). As the chair of a committee I get a free parking pass (right next to Market) and I get to go to Market for free (including the Friday night party) and I get the wonderful feeling that I've helped people. It's the most exhausting and rewarding weekend of the entire year!

One of our long term goals is to install solar panels on our roof. We live in an insanely sunny climate, will eliminate our electricity bill (and we'll get money back from the power company). Federal incentive is 30% and our state incentive is 10%. Also - having solar panels definitely adds value to a house, so you make your money back on resale.

So we've been crunching the numbers and comparing companies...

The company I really like has another incentive program. They're giving me a $500 discount for being an architect. And they'll give me $500 every time I refer someone. I'm doing two projects that I think will be considered referrals and my neighbor is interested in panels, too.

And, yes, I have the money saved for this specific purpose. No, I'm not financing it.

The biggest hurdle now is the neighbor who lives above us. By law he can't stop us from having panels (and other people in our neighborhood have them, and our homeowner's association allows them as long as they're below the roof parapet), but I don't want him making our lives difficult, either, so once we decide but before we sign a contract I'm going to talk to him.

Getting there...

Paid down $155 on mortgage principal today. Our balance is now $71,332. Even if we don't pay any more down on principal, we'll own the house in July 2020.

Yesterday's frugal fun: we rode our bikes to the park (about 1 mile) and played tennis for a little bit, then rode home. Had teriyaki salmon bowls for dinner (like the ones they make at the special counter at Whole Foods but homemade and a lot less expensive). I have a good teriyaki sauce recipe - might have put in a bit too much ginger, but no one complained. We all love ginger!

Vacation decisions: we're hoping that D's coworker is ok with staying with the cat, dog and birds (he said he was, but we want to make sure) and our neighbor will stop by and let the dog out while he is a work. She spends a lot of time in her gardens, so our dog can hang out with her.

Volunteer stuff: I just called the logistics expert that helps put on Folk Art Market to ask about a lot of miscellaneous things like how do I get the handstamp for my volunteers to use at the exit and what do we do if it rains. I got a call from the volunteer coordinator to say she has a bunch of badges that my volunteers haven't picked up yet... ??? I need to stop by their office and pick those up I guess. Argh!

But right now... I'm going to my weightlifting class. I need a break!

I am trying to be super-frugal this month because we are leaving on vacation at the end of the month, and also my husband needs (unexpected) orthotics for his plantar fasciatis (pretty sure that was spelled incorrectly). Here are today's strategies:

1. I worked out that because of our vacation, we will only have three grocery shopping trips this month, and set a budget for those trips. The rest of our grocery budget will go into the vacation fund: money for buying groceries on our trip.

2. Pruned and dug out wells under our trees to make watering more efficient; then used our cistern water to water the trees. We're expecting some storms and I want to use the cistern water and let it refill rather than letting it overflow and go unused.

3. Found a pattern for a scarf to knit on our vacation. One skein of yarn, so easy to carry; and I already have the skein, so not going to purchase anything new. Small needles, also easy to carry. And the pattern is free on knitty! http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring08/PATTlaceribbon.html

4. Grocery shopping this week: exactly on budget. The menu is tacos, pasta with goat cheese and courgettes, teriyaki bowls, crash potatoes with a vegetable, mexican eggs and salad, fagiole and biscuits. Plus all lunches and breakfasts. No eating out!

A low key Fourth - we went this morning to our city's Pancake Breakfast where we hung out until almost noon, saw a lot of friends... Bought the tickets early and saved $2 (D and F get the pancakes, but I can't with my restrictive diet). So... $12 for breakfast, but it goes to charity.

Hot dogs for lunch at home. Free.

D and F are watching the Brazil-Colombia match. I can hear them in there discussing the play. Free.

Maybe the pool later... Also free.

I am going to take the soccer match time to finish up some work, including organizing my team for the Folk Art Market. I've picked up t-shirts, and I need to drop one off to a volunteer who lives up the street. They were very kind and let me have a badge and tshirt for F... youngest volunteer! (She's not officially signed up obviously, but she will work a station with me, and she'll be accompanying us on Friday night so that we don't need someone to babysit - it was great news that she'll be allowed to do that). So we save both money - not that we ever pay for babysitting - and hassle! And she gets to be at the opening Friday night event, and she gets to volunteer (good for her soul, I think).

OK, I'm going to work now!

Best,
Marci

I love packing - totally LOVE it! Probably because a vacation is a grand experiment in minimalism. Our house is clutter-free and open, but we still seem to have a lot of stuff. But when I pack I edit, edit, edit. I pack in only a carry-on.

I promised to share my packing list, which I will do in the next post, but first, the list of what I DON'T bring:

What I don’t bring:
- jewelry except one pair of earrings that I wear and my wedding ring
- a big jacket (I layer instead)
- a real book (reading on my iphone is fine for me)
- photocopies of our passports - my mom has pdf’s
- things I wouldn’t wear at home (silly hats, money belt)
- belts and other accessories
- towels (have never stayed anywhere they didn’t have towels!)
- travel clock (my phone has everything I need on it)
- computer (I load pdf documents onto my phone)
- hairdryer (I never use one at home either)
- camera/video (this is on my phone; my husband who is a keen photographer brings an SLR)
- guidebooks (before I go, I do a lot of internet research and then put relevant info in a pdf on my phone)

And now, what I pack it all in:
My bags:
- baggallini triple zip (this is my regular, every day purse) It is light, small and can be stuffed into my carry on and the interior is light colored so things don’t get lost inside. You can use it alone or pop it into a backpack or tote. I've seen it for about $26. http://www.amazon.com/Baggallini-Triple-Zip-Dolphin-Size/dp/B00G2D6SCI/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1402844396&sr=8-14&keywords=baggallini+everywhere+bag

- campmor essential carry on - it’s only $30 (frugal, frugal!!!), rugged, has backpack straps that pull out (which I use a lot) and shoulder strap (which I leave at home). It doesn’t have hard sides (which add weight and make it harder to stuff into the airplane bin and also the size-check box. It has an outside pocket for things you need to grab for the plane (sweater, ziploc of “stuff you need to have under your seat”). Also has a handy front pocket for a sweater and a place to put your passport where you can get to it easily but it’s not exposed - http://www.campmor.com/essential-carry.shtml

- Eagle Creek packable daypack - sturdy, but packs up small; perfect for day trips. Can pack souvenirs in here if you’re allowed a “personal bag” on the flight home. http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Creek-Packable-Daypack-Black/dp/B003CKMTWW

- two medium (14x9x3) Ebags packing cubes and one slim (14x5x3)

I promise to show you the packing list next time... I'm an architect and I think visually, so I have a visual packing list as well which I constantly modify. This one is for a trip we're taking to the UK (D's family) and France, so the weather will be pretty varied (could be chilly in the UK, will be hot in France).

Today was mother-daughter day, and we definitely spent some money, but I'd budgeted for it. We went to Albuquerque to have some fun, including lunch and the Fun Center. We stopped at Old Navy because all of F's dresses are waaaaay too short (they are quite loose in width - my skinny little girl! - she grew 2" from Dec. to June). We had lunch.

I wasn't being particularly cost-conscious, but there are ways we saved:

- shared a lunch (so total for lunch for two of us was $10). Ate at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, and got to watch the soccer (football) match on the large screen. F was very happy to see her favorite player - Giroud - and that France won.

- I got coupons online for unlimited passes at the Fun Center, so we saved $8. We definitely made full use of the unlimited pass, partly because Monday is pretty quiet there so you don't have to wait in line. We did go-karts twice and bumper boats twice and a round of mini-golf and the bungee jump.

- We visited Sonic during happy hour for slushes so the total for both was $2.35.

On the way back home, F said "I love mother-daughter days." So worth it, so much fun, and I agree with her: I love being with her, too.

Tomorrow - more frugal, and definitely a no-spend day. We are meeting some people for a free hike in the mountains.

I calculate our net worth every three months, just to see how we're doing. We're now at $1,072,306 (up from $1,023,088 last quarter)! Yay! (This is mostly our two houses... one will be paid off next summer and the other - the one we live in - will be paid off in 2020 at the latest but I'm hoping it's sooner).

The Dublin house has only $7000 left on the mortgage, and the value is going up, but we will pay a lot of taxes when we sell which is a bummer. So I probably should have put that in the liabilities column.

It seems odd that our net worth is good, and I'm super happy about it, but I only have $68 to spend on groceries for this week. Argh! And we are having people from D's work over for dinner tonight. I am making a nice pasta dish (with sundried tomatoes and white wine - already have both - and rocket/arugula - also have - and shrimp - have about half what we need).

Oh, Ryanair. The world's most irritating airline, but so inexpensive and they always go where we want to go.

The problem is their luggage restrictions... all those bags that say they meet airline carry-on sizing restrictions do not meet Ryanair's even more restrictive 7.87" thickness requirement. And there isn't any leeway because they have a rigid box and your bag has to fit inside it. If your bag doesn't fit, they will charge you 60 euro to check it (that's over $80).

I have a Campmor Essential Carry-on which is soft sided; if you don't fill it too full, it will easily mush into Ryanair's box. (That, by the way, is the perfect carry-on bag - it weighs about 1 pound and only costs $30). It has a big, ugly logo that upsets people who hate big, ugly logos. Ryanair now allows a "personal item" which can be 13.75" x 7.87" x 7.87" so you can put some of the overflow in there.

But... the Campmor can only be carried as a shoulder bag or a backpack. And F needs wheels. Unfortunately, all of the wheel bags have a rigid base and that base almost always is more than 7.87". There is a wheeled bag you can get from the UK (40 GBP); they'll ship to the US. That's an option.

But here is what I'm thinking: what about a folding luggage cart? (like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Conair-Compact-Folding-Multi-use/dp/B002CV8UXE/ref=pd_sim_hpc_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0D48861PCG4T5T4J7CBE . Then F can have a soft bag like mine and it can sit in the wheeled contraption. When we need to put it in the Ryanair box, the wheels are folded up and stored inside it.

Yes, all of this is to avoid baggage fees. We've paid to check one bag, and that's it. And that bag needs to contain F's booster seat because that would otherwise be considered a separate bag! And if we get it from the rental car company it's about 50 euro ($75!!!!).

Some notes: we are very light packers. Last time we traveled far, to Canada (varying weather) - F and I packed together in my Campmor carryon. She also had a small bag of toys/card games. She is now bigger and she has been traveling with her own carry-on wheelie, but it won't meet Ryanair's restrictions even though it's smaller in every other dimension. Also, we can stuff some things into the checked bag if needed.

Only two weeks to Folk Art Market... I picked up my badge and tshirt today (free t-shirt!!!), as well as badges and tshirts for some of my volunteers (they'll pick theirs up from me rather than being limited to the two pick up times).

I was curious that the committee chairs didn't get all-access passes, but I can take the back way in (my volunteers are on the back path to the buses. I got my parking pass yesterday, and that's the really important thing. It means I can be on-site as needed quickly. Did I mention that I get to go to the event free? And that my husband, as one of my volunteers, also goes free?

The logistics of putting on an event like this are staggering, but it's spread out to lots of committee chairs. Every year around this time, I think that this is my last year, and every year I do it again! I love it, but this is the point when I'm most tired (making sure everyone is scheduled, and making sure that I have a packet of info to give to people, and making sure everyone has a shirt and a badge, and sending lots of reminder emails. That wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have regular (paid) job!

OK, done complaining.... it'll be a great event and I'll try to post photos.

Now... the really sticky issue: will I buy something or not? I think the answer is probably not since I am still paying myself back for the large medical bill. And there is one more bill to come from that. And a vacation coming up. So, definitely no. I will just soak up atmosphere and take photos.

I love our city in the summer - there are so many fun, free, community things to do. One of my favorites is Music on the Hill, which is basically a huge picnic with music. Everyone brings blankets and picnic dinners. The kids run around playing. Our local bank gives out little rubber koosh-ball like things that the kids play with.

We go up to the front and dance. You see tons of friends, and sometimes people you haven't seen for a while. It's a small enough city that we know a huge percentage of the people there; maybe that's why it's so fun.

And, seriously, free music is awesome.

Last night we sat with a big group (several blankets all pushed together) including a couple and their kids who have just moved here from the UK, who now have a bunch of instant friends.

I made potato salad for the first time (despite my brother who said "I never eat potato salad; it was the answer to every food poisoning question in medical school.") We brought yummy sandwiches, and cherries and cookies. And chips and salsa. And watered-down lemonade.

Do you have free music/festivals/picnics like this in your town/city? Do you like to go?

I got a weird letter today from my general liability insurance company. They said they made an error calculating my premium, and if I still owed money to pay on the premium, they'd adjust it, and if I'd already paid in full, they would send a check. Really? I hope so. Wonder how much? Are we talking 50 cent or $50?

In other financial news:
- F is not loving this week's camp as much as last week's, but it's from 8:30-3:30 and I'm able to get some significant work done which will allow me to take off some time next week when she doesn't have camp.

- I drove over a screw on a jobsite (this is one of those job hazards!) and had to go to the tire store. But - yay! - the screw was just stuck in between the treads and was super short so it didn't puncture anything. They removed the screw and didn't charge me.

- Because we hosted a coach last week, we have very little grocery budget left for this month (but we do have some dining out budget which I can move into the grocery bucket). Luckily only one more shop for the month. I'll need to be strategic.

- I am making my packing list (one of my favorite parts about traveling!). I will post about this at some point, but you probably guessed that I'm an extremely efficient packer. I do carry-on only. This saves bag fees. And I have a very inexpensive carry-on ($30) and very light; it's the best on out there.

Summer is hard - for some reason our food budget goes way up (I think it's having friends around - we seem to want to get together, enjoy outside when it's warm out).

Anyway, we're still trying to find ways to save.

I registered F for soccer next fall early (deadline is July 1 for earlybird) and saved $10.

And we visited Sonic today during Happy Hour (2 to 5) for slushes (during Happy Hour they're half off). Total was $2.16 for two.

I canceled a subscription to a magazine. This is the only magazine I subscribed to (except for a professional magazine that I somehow just get). I find it's more exciting to see what I can find at the library's free magazine exchange.

I am making a sketch model (that is a rough model, not the finished pretty models you see in lobbies of buildings) to use for design, with cardboard I had in the office. I don't make finished models for my clients unless they pay me! (But they all want the sketch model - I usually say no because it's made for my use and to take to my engineers so they can understand the building I'm designing).

Just found a great show to watch on the bbc iplayer. But it's only available for one more day! So I used the bbc downloader so now we have it for a month. The show is called Tigers about the House about a zoo trainer who hand-raises Sumatran tiger cubs in his front room!

And, finally: dinner tonight is from the freezer (chili that was frozen from a big batch) with a salad. I make the dressing myself; so much less expensive and a lot tastier!

That was a quick round-up of our savings today. It makes me feel better just to see it listed like that!

A frugal thing:
I had an old skirt that I didn't want to wear as a skirt anymore, but I liked the red fabric. So I mined it for fabric, and made it into a tank top.

I am equally proud that I did not keep the scraps (which I am prone to do); that'd just be more clutter. I have a lot of things I keep in case they're useful, but tiny fabric scraps is carrying that too far. F's fabric scrap bag is already full, so I got rid of the scraps.

It's that time of the year again - Folk Art Market is almost here (3 weeks away!). I am working hard to fill my volunteer shifts, but still have some open slots left. I have contacted almost everyone I know.

I've scheduled a training session, and I've finished the information packet that I'll send to my volunteers.

So, this is unpaid of course (I am the chair of one section of volunteers), but I feel so good doing it. It has a huge benefit for the artists who take home 90% of what they make and do things like open schools and artist cooperatives. This year there will be 150 artist from 60 countries.

My friend founded the Folk Art Market 11 years ago, and that's why I'm a volunteer chair, but even if I didn't know her, I'd volunteer.

And, a big bonus: when we travel to France later this summer, we are invited to come to the house of one of the artists (a basketmaker) for the day. He'll be coming to our house for dinner when he's here for Market. Those kinds of cultural exchanges are priceless to me, especially for F.

Do you do volunteer work? I'll tell you something: it sure is a frugal way to spend your time!

The grocery spending this week was about $80 more than normal - yikes! But there's a reason... we have a British coach from F's soccer camp staying with us. He's 22, and he eats a lot!

But... we get a check for $80 from the camp at some point as a "thank you" - really it's to cover extra food costs. Characteristically, I am not worrying that they'll forget to send it to us.

F is so sad that the coach is leaving this evening. I'm sad, too. We'll miss him!

Just got a notice that the coaches (Brazilian this time) from next week's camp need somewhere to stay. I'd do it, but D thinks it's a bit much to do it two weeks in a row. Next year...

Last year I paid $3236 for professional liability insurance. I wonder what it'll be this year...

It's not optional for me (my clients require an insurance certificate), so I just have to pay it, but it's pretty frustrating given the state of the economy for architects. Our fees go down, but it doesn't seem like the insurance premium ever goes down.

Anyway, you know how I am about tracking things... I track my incoming money (for the business which is an S-corp) and also the percentage of gross billing for different types of projects (fire station, work for homeowner's associations, offices, schools, etc.) and for different types of clients. Turns out in 2013, 88% of my fees were from local governments. Ninety-two percent of my fees were from repeat clients. I need all of this info in order to fill out the renewal application.

And more information... it's a long form. I am going to fill it out tomorrow and scan/send back to my insurance agent on Monday. Hopefully given how much (how little!) I made in 2012 and 2013, the premium won't go up. Fingers crossed.

I will hopefully be able to post some photos after the party... but in the meantime, some of the frugal things we did for this party:

- having the party at home (we always do that)
- food is hot dogs, watermelon, crisps (last year we ordered pizza and it was expensive!)
- cake is from a mix, and I'm making my own buttercream frosting (last year we ordered an ice cream cake - sooooo expensive - and not that good - never again!)

The party is an Ultimate Challenge party (this is a change from what we'd originally discussed which was a camping party). We have all sorts of games/challenges (I found them online, and a lot were from that show Minute to Win It which I've never seen because we don't have tv, only Hulu). This is what F wanted - something active, something fun! I will let you know how it goes...

I bought most of the supplies for the games from the dollar store.

The first game is Defying Gravity, where you have to keep two balloons aloft for a minute. There is face the cookie where you have to get a cookie from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands. The best one is probably Walk the Plank: you have to walk across a 2x4 and get water from the bucket at the end (except you don't have anything to put the water in - so you can use your shirt or your hair or cup your hands - then walk back and fill up a tupperware at the start of the 2x4. Will probably take multiple trips!).

It's warm and beautiful outside, and the garden is looking nice. By 4 pm, the sun will come around and the garden will be shaded.

OK, I'm going to go take the cakes out to cool... then frost.