Toilet-Paper-Tracker

Last night we were out at a restaurant that has a book exchange. And we saw a book we used to have, but that a borrower (who shall remain nameless) never returned - grrr! Anyway, we have the other 3 in the set, and it's one of our favorite series - the Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. And there it was, free for the taking! (We are going to pop in and replace it with five books we are decluttering out of our house).

And then today, F had a playdate with her friend S who is moving across the country (we are all very sad). Her parents said they still had to bring the birds to a pet store since they can't bring them along (they leave in 6 days). Long story short: we now have two super cute budgies. And a very expensive birdcage, and toys and food and a travel carry case. I hope they're happy here!

It's about that time again... before I can do our personal taxes, I need to do my business taxes. (My business is an S-corp - any profit or loss is reported on our personal taxes).

We need to do this sooner rather than later in order to apply for tuition assistance from F's school.

This year, like last year and the year before, I have to do my business taxes on a PC (I use Parallels on my Mac) because none of the business tax programs are native to Macs. (Someone is going to say that Turbo Tax makes Home and Business - this is not for S-corps, but rather for people who report their income on schedule C, so it won't work for my corporate tax return).

Anyway, I'm even more frustrated this year, because my old version of Parallels doesn't work with my upgraded operating system. And I can't upgrade Parallels because it's too old - I have to buy a new version! Grrrr!

I wish there was an alternative program. I've been googling business taxes on the Mac for an hour, and all that comes up is Turbo Tax Home and Business.

OK - next thought was to do the taxes myself by hand. I think this is probably the way I am going to go. Corporation taxes aren't that complicated, I do them myself anyway, Turbo Tax always had this bug which meant every year I had to do a lot of it by hand, and I'm too cheap to spend $80 to get the new Parallels which I don't use for anything else.

F's school has one class per grade, starting with pre-school through 6th grade. So: nine classes total. Some have two teachers (up through second grade), the 3rd and 4th grade share their second teacher. The 5th and 6th share three teachers. And there are ten specials teachers (a few are part-time). I'm calculating 26 teachers.

Currently each class room parent collects money for the teacher gift (anonymously in an envelope for each grade at the front desk), puts about $40 or $50 of that into the special teachers fund, and then buys visa gift cards for the two teachers.

The problem is that the amount of money that is collected varies widely (I asked for $20 per student, but another class asked for $40). The specials teacher amounts are divided evenly, but the amounts the lead teachers get can vary widely! Our school is small, and the makeup of each grade seems to have a "personality." Some classes are super-wealthy. Ours isn't. Even in the "wealthy" classes, there are kids on tuition assistance, and I think $40 is a burden.

I'm parent association president next year, and I was talking to the secretary today about how this could be easier and more equitable. I'd like to have a suggested amount to contribute for a gift (or more if you can afford it, or less if you can't). Then we just divide it evenly between all teachers (maybe less if you're half time?).

Then just one person has to buy the gift cards (I guess next year that's me) and there isn't a huge inequity in how much teachers receive. And each class could have their class cards in an envelope at the front desk so that the class could give the teacher the hand-signed cards.

I know the world isn't always fair... but I'd like it to be more fair.

(And I've already talked to the 4th grade room parent; we are dividing our gift money 2/3 and 1/3 so that the teacher that is half time each in 3rd and 4th doesn't get double the money of the full time teacher).

I'm sure people are going to have thoughts on this - I welcome all ideas! And I won't take it personally if you disagree with me!

I went to Cost Plus today for Christmas crackers (for my English/Irish husband) and thought that there must be a cheaper source. The only thing I can think of is to visit again after Christmas and see if they're on sale for next year. We have Amazon prime, but they were the same price on Amazon and out of stock.

I know some of you are English living in the US or have English spouses - any ideas?

While I was there I picked up an overpriced Quality Street tin. They didn't have the Cadbury, which we all prefer, but I felt like it'd be a nice surprise for him.

When he got home from work he said "It doesn't feel like Christmas somehow..." I guess at work they haven't put up decorations or anything (I share an office with just one other person and I put up window clings from Target and the silly silver tinsel tree I use year after year)! So I got out the Quality Street tin, and he was really happy!

Tomorrow I'm making the mincemeat for our mince pies; I make them by hand (and no, I don't use suet - I use vegetarian shortening).

At Cost Plus I also got a couple of Aero bars (the mint kind - yum!) to put under the tree as an extra surprise.

Spent more than I wanted, but I figure it was a tradeoff since we aren't having an expensive Christmas dinner. And since we don't go back to the UK for Christmas anymore (not since the Great Christmas Fight of 2005 between D and his sister - don't ask!), I figure he needs a little bit of home this time of year.

I miss Christmas there, too, but we are going back in Summer. I wish we were visiting Ireland, too to see the rest of the family (the relatives that no one fights with!), but not this holiday unfortunately.

Nollaig Shona!

Got paid for teaching at the gym today. So... a $40 snowflake, going to mortgage principal.

Now that I've redone the budget for 2014, I have $115/month earmarked for mortgage principal. This is in addition to the snowflakes.

And, I just got an offer at the gym yesterday - they want me and my friend L to co-teach a noon weightlifting class on Wednesdays. I was thinking it could be fun, another chance to work out and I'd get paid more. And L and I would alternate weeks, so it's not that often.

We just bought our Christmas-Present-to-Ourselves... some photos from the awesome photographer Mike Stimpson.

http://www.mikestimpson.com/photography/

Not everyone's cup of tea maybe, but we love him! (And, yes, I bought the one of the stormtrooper knitting!).

The photos themselves were not expensive - only about $6 each for approx 8x10's.

But now we have to think about framing them. We don't live anywhere near an Ikea (closest one is about 7 hours away). My husband says that American Frame is the least expensive option (over the internet).

Do you know of any other options?

Thursday night was F's winter concert at school - it was beautiful! The 5th and 6th graders did a S. African song as a tribute to Nelson Mandela. At the end, they sang Light a Little Candle, Say a Prayer for Peace in the World, and they all had these battery-operated candles, the lights were out - it was beautiful!

Afterward, we collected the kids from their classrooms. Then we went into the class below, where F's closest friend is, and asked her parents, who are our closest friends, if they wanted to go out for dinner. When we got to the restaurant (where you pay up at the counter, and then sit down) there were four other families there from school, so we all sat together and the kids had a table of their own.

So, that was our dining budget for the week.

But... we went over to friends' last night for dinner. F and their son are in the same class; he's her closest boy friend (not boyfriend!). We brought some sparkling waters (grocery budget).

And... tonight other friends are taking us out for dinner as a thank you to D who took photos of the house they're selling.

Three dinners out in three nights, and we only paid for one!

This is actually very welcome right now. D has had pretty bad vertigo, so I've been doing everything around the house. This means I don't have to cook dinner and fewer dishes.

A while ago I read this great article on the Get Rich Slowly website:
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/10/27/the-balanced-money-formula/

It's about the balanced money formula from a book by Elizabeth Warren and her daughter. It advocates allocating some money to things that are not needs or must-haves, but wants. Some money allocated for fun.

I like a balanced approach and a balanced life. I want to note, though, that there are income levels where there is only enough for Needs, and nothing leftover. And I think if you have debt, you'd want to get rid of that first, so maybe you allocate less for fun while you attack the debt.

They advocate allocating your budget this way:
- 50% needs/must-haves
- 30% wants
- 20% savings

I just did our 2014 budget and managed to make our budget exactly match this formula. If we are below budget in any category, that money will go toward savings (which will increase savings from 20% - that would be great!).

What gets categorized as wants v. needs/must-haves is a personal thing. Here's how I did it:

Needs/Must-Haves: mortgage, utilities, life insurance, house repairs, food, auto, medical, dental, household supplies.

Wants: Cash, personal items, haircuts, clothes, pets, entertainment, pool, toys, birthday parties, supplies for F, camp, F's classes (piano, soccer), furniture, appliances, gifts (within the family and birthday and Christmas), vacations (including pet boarding, travel insurance, airport parking and everything else). And F's private school tuition.

That is kind of the key to Wants. You have to prioritize and budget. F's school tuition is $650/month. That for us is a Want, but it's important to us. The money leftover after that is for the other Wants that aren't as important. Clothes aren't that important to me. Neither are haircuts. I don't do a huge, expensive birthday party for F (we usually have it at home). But we have money for the Big Want: that private school tuition.

Savings: Emergency fund, paying down principal on our mortgage, retirement savings.

I always knit something for F for Christmas. I finished this little guy last night. He's made of leftover yarn (one thin, one thick - both are alpaca).



In other news, all of the ornaments on the school Giving Tree (arranged by the Fire Dept.) have been taken! I am so happy - so many more kids needed gifts on Friday that I sent out an email to all of the parents in F's class (I am room mother) and at the end of the day every ornament was taken! (The ornaments are put on the gifts as gift tags so they get matched up with the child).

So, all of the shopping is done, knitting is almost done, the tree is up. It's time to do the Christmas Calendar. The Christmas Calendar is a list of all of the things that are already planned plus the things we want to do this month. Our little city has a lot going on during the holidays.

Here is what is planned:

9 -
10 -
11 - F's piano recital
12 - F's school holiday show
13 - Christmas at the Palace (a city event)
14 - maybe the ice skating show (with Olympic skaters!)
15 - Las Posadas (re-enactment of Joseph and Mary trying to find a room at an inn, posada in Spanish - this is sung entirely in Spanish and is led by the priest of our cathedral)
16 -
17 -
18 -
19 - F has indoor soccer skills
20 - early dismissal - maybe out to lunch?
21 - going away party for F's friend who is moving to Cleveland
22 - The Nutcracker!
23 - make tamales and biscochitos for Christmas Eve
24 - Christmas Eve - Farolito walk (do you know what a farolito is?)
25 - Christmas Day - dinner just the four of us
26 - Boxing Day - F has a friend coming over
27 -
28 -
29 -
30 -
31 - New Year's Eve
1 - New Year's Day
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -

Other things we want to do:
Christmas in Madrid - a tiny artist's town; they light everything!
Cross-country skiing - F and I have the gear - we just need to head out and ski
Friends over - there are lots we'd like to see this month!
Playdates for F - several friends she'd like to see outside of school
Bring F's giving jar to the animal shelter
Hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows
Write thank you letters for the teachers

Over the past few years, I've been trying to catch up on our photo printing. We do a photo book each year (I complete it in early January and wait for a promo to have it printed).

If I see a promo earlier in the year, I print one of the past years I haven't printed yet. I was missing 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Anyway, I received a $10 off coupon in the mail, so I decided to work on 2008. I guess it was a good year for photos (D is a children's photographer), because I ended up with 64 pages! Eeek!

But... they were having a 50% off promo for photo books. And I found a 20% off the entire order coupon. And there was a free shipping code.

In the end, we got the photo book plus our holiday cards (I would probably not send these, but D is insistent - we have a lot of overseas family who we don't see very often) for $54. I think it was about a $70 savings.

I should mention that I have a line item in our budget for this (I put in $10 a month - so $120/year) which will go down once I finish the previous years (now just 2006 and 2010 - yay!!).

There are obviously other companies that do this, but I'm really familiar with shutterfly now.

Do you make photo books? Or print photos and put them in an album? Or print photos and put them in a box? Or just keep them on your computer? Or something else entirely?

So here is the photo of the lumberjack I promised; I think the Vietnamese place I go to used to be a hardware store or lumber yard or something? Anyway, it's pretty reasonable. My lunch was $7.50. I don't eat out a lot, and I really love Vietnames food.



More lunch-related news: I went home for lunch today. It's so cold here, I felt like eating something warm. Had two fried eggs, and spent the rest of lunch making this pair of pajama bottoms for F. If you look closely the pattern is cute little pigs! F LOVES pigs. So this is one of her xmas gifts!

My computer is going "click" intermittently. It's a very soft click, and it's not super-often. But it's upsetting. And I have applecare. So I'm taking a trip to the genius bar at the Apple Store in Albuquerque.

The Apple Store is in an upscale mall (all sorts of stores I never shop in, nowhere near my beloved Old Navy). I checked out what other shops are there, and seriously, I'm going to go to the Apple Store and then leaving for my favorite Vietnamese restaurant which is totally awesome, reasonably priced and has a giant lumberjack out front. I'm not kidding; I'll take a photo for you!

Tonight I sold an old toy of F's for $30 - yay!!! I am over budget in my xmas shopping for her so this will help bring things back under control.

I have to think carefully about what xmas dinner will be this year (I want to stay in budget). D is always confused about American Thanksgiving being so close to Christmas. He says you basically end up eating the same thing. We normally do a very British Christmas, even have friends over for Boxing Day.

Other random thoughts:
- having a super clean house makes me spend less (do you feel that way, too?)
- I just lied to F when she asked what the giant box was (it's a gift for her) - I said it was a box for the office, a new printer. I hate lying, but in this case, it's an ok lie (we can't reveal that I buy the gifts and not Santa, not yet, anyway). And I AM going to take it to the office to wrap and hide.
- Dinner tonight is homemade sushi.
- D bought some clothes and has asked me to wrap them up and give them to him for Christmas; is that weird?

I have to say, the November statistics are sort of blown to shreds since we purchased our plane tickets to the UK.

I did realize one nice thing - about 32% of the cost of the tickets was covered by rewards statement credits.

Gain in income = 145% (that is because D didn't make any money last November)

Increase in spending = 85% (that's the plane ticket)

Increase in savings = 714% (we are now putting $400/month each toward our IRAs; this also includes paying down our mortgage and funding savings - total saved this month $1221)

We've been eating leftovers for the past few days (I'm sure a lot of people have!).

This is my favorite recipe for leftover turkey: Rachael Ray's Quick Turkey Croquettes.
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=168&r=534,170,537,78,804,168,166,162,161,163,164

Except more carrots and celery. And I don't like nutmeg, so I put in a little thyme.

I already had leftover celery and carrots. I had to buy green onions and some potatoes (less than $2 total).

That's what we had tonight (after watching the old stop-animation Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer).

This week's meal plan:
- chickeny/turkeyish: croquettes
- eggy - mexican eggs with salad and toast
- bready/cheesy - toasted cheese sandwiches and asparagus
- pasta-ish - spaghetti and turkey balls
- fishy - sushi (with cucumber, avocado and shrimp)
- something from the freezer with salad

Just read this on the bbc website:
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20130710-the-forgotten-generation

As a member of Generation X (although not sure I'd identify myself this way, I know that I'm not a baby boomer - I was born in 1966), I found it relevant. I am one of those people who worked in smaller firms, and then opted out to form my own firm (it's a corporation, but I'm the only employee).

I lost a ton of wealth during the last recession (watched the value of our houses plummet and our IRAs lost about 30% of their value). And my salary has just never gone very high (I've topped out at about $45k and so has my husband). It makes it hard to save, but we've done the best we could and been frugal.

The label that most consistently gets applied to me is not "slacker" (no one mistakes me for a slacker!) but "you're still young; you have a lot of time to make money." I am making far less than most of my clients (firefighters, city or county employees) and they kid me on the sly about making a ton of money. And 47 isn't that young when you have to think about retirement. (There may be some gender bias here, or maybe a misunderstanding of how my fee is divided up between salary, overhead and paying my engineering consultants who normally get a third or more).

Anyway the article was interesting to me; what do think about it? Are you in one of those groups: boomer or gen x or a millenial?

This photo is from last Sunday... we strapped on our cross country skis and went skiing right down our own street (this is in our cul de sac).



My SIL was just trying to convince F that she should downhill ski. I said she can go downhill skiing when she can afford the gear and lift tickets. At our ski hill, a bunny hill lift ticket is $36 (regular hill is $49) for kids. Gear rental for kids is another $32. So $68 for a day. That's our budget for household supplies/toiletries/cleaning products for a month.

Or kids can do a 6 week program, all inclusive with rentals for $485. That's more than our entertainment budget for the YEAR.

Anyway, my x-c ski gear is about 20 years old, and all I need is a bottle of maxi-glide once in a while. F's set up is less than $100 and lasted two years. Last year, we bought her new boots end of season that should last another two years. We can sell the old boots (still in great condition) at the ski swap we have here in town (and maybe pick up new skis for next year).

And cross country skiing is super fun! And you can ski UP!! (And I don't downhill ski - so I'd basically be sitting around in the ski lodge waiting for F all day).

It's a little frustrating that my SIL, even though here intentions are good, is putting ideas in F's head that we can't follow through on (she so admires her aunt and wants to do whatever she suggests). But hopefully F will stay satisfied for a while longer with what we do as a family.

My parents have arrived. It's been a mixed bag.

Not so great:
- they didn't like their hotel that they chose and moved to a different hotel (but complained a lot first)
- they don't like walking in snow (we got a lot of snow last weekend)
- I'm cooking a lot for everyone! And trying to keep the house clean
- My mother keeps calling my brother who arrives tomorrow to warn him about things (like snow or the dog hair) which makes me feel sort of bad
- My dad lost his mobile phone, but someone called me - last number called - to say he found it, and we got it back only a few hours later

Great:
- having my parents here
- they got to watch F sledding - priceless! (I grew up, and they still live, in so. California where there isn't any snow)
- my mother complained enough about walking in snow that we went to Ross and we both found boots (mine are Clark's - got a great deal)

So - my brother arrives tomorrow. I have bought all the food at Trader Joe's already, so now just need to get wine. I'm not sure I know how to pick out wine (usually D tells me what to get based on what he sees on the TJ website).

We had such a nice (and frugal) day today.

Woke up to snow! And it continued snowing off and on throughout the day. Beautiful!

We made hot chocolate and hung out in our pajamas. And then worked on the living room a little (we put in our new tv/game cabinet yesterday, and we were refeeding the speakers and stuff).

Then went to a friends' housewarming. They live up a dirt road; I'm glad we put the snow tires on last weekend. (This house was HUGE and had 360 degree views and a glass-enclosed temperature-controlled wine cellar. I have to say though - I wouldn't want to live in a house like that - it wasn't "warm" at all - not temperature warm, but cozy warm).

Then went to another friends' house (very cozy!) and while F and their daughter played, we hung out and ate yummy food (cheese, crackers, olives) and ate the cookies I made (cranberry/white chocolate/pecans) and drank tea.

Then home to a simple dinner (toast and deviled eggs and some satsumas).

Tomorrow I have to get the house ready for the family (who arrive on Monday and Wednesday)... vacuuming, putting sheets on the bed and setting out towels. And have to do the last of the shopping for Thanksgiving week (this will be a big shop - I have to feed four extra people!).

I like those days when I can drop F off at school and sit at my desk and work hard uninterrupted. But today was not like that!

But in all the craziness of today, I managed to sell something on craigslist and made $8.

Then I was at F's horseback riding lesson (this is paid for by my parents - my dad used to ride so they're very supportive) and the teacher C's 3 year old son P got in the car with me so we could hang out where it was warm. We draw together, and he plays with the hazard lights button. He's super precocious and very cute.

Anyway, after informing me that he was going to shoot a bear and we'd have bear burgers for dinner, and then letting me know that I'd drink water and he'd drink whiskey (!!) he reached into the car door pocket and pulled out a few dollars and announced "I found money! Here!" and he thrust the wadded up bills into my hand. Cool! I guess I don't ride in the passenger seat of my car very often. Either D or I must have stuffed it in there.

I need to pay down the mortgage principal this month, but I'm waiting until tomorrow because Friday is popcorn day at the bank!

I've worked out the Thanksgiving menu, and believe me, it wasn't easy! I can't eat gluten (celiac genes) and my brother and his wife are vegetarian and my dad is pescaterian. My brother won't come if I cook a turkey in the house. Here is the menu that accommodates everyone (and my pocketbook; they are coming from out of state, so I provide all the food).

- Hungarian Mushroom Soup (from the Moosewood cookbook)
- Wild Rice Stuffing with cranberries and pecans
- D's roast potatoes (his roasties are the BEST!)
- French beans with a vinaigrette
- Asparagus with Brown Butter
- Cranberry Sauce
- Precooked turkey breast from Trader Joe's for the four of us who want a little bit of turkey (this was $12.30)

- Salted caramel and chocolate tart
- Pumpkin chiffon cake (a Rachael Ray recipe that I adapted to be GF)

I've bought all the ingredients except the fresh veggies (mushrooms, potatoes, beans, asparagus). So far I've spent $27.94. I had a lot of the staples already (flour, sugar, mustard, butter).

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

I've lived here for 20 years (almost 21) and I've had friends come and go. Two friends who moved away years ago were here this past weekend; it was so great to see them! I miss them a lot!

They were all into eating out and shopping, and it was hard to say no, because I wanted to hang out with them. When they suggested a hike, I was definitely in for that, though! Our beautiful hikes are the free treasure here. We walked up a gorgeous arroyo, and picked up heart shaped rocks and saw the sunset just as we arrived back at the trailhead, and it was a great way to spend time together (for free).

Today I got paid for teaching my spinning class - $40 for the month. And I went to the weekly weightlifting class I love (taught by my friend L) for free (that's one of the perks of teaching).

And when F got home from school we had hot chocolate with marshmallows because it's turned pretty cold here. My recipe: 2 T sugar, 2 T cocoa powder, 1 c almond milk and a lot of marshmallows!

I'd much rather have a hike and hot chocolate than a lot of little trinkets. I wasn't even jealous at all of my friends' purchases - necklaces, postcards, a purse, etc... (Mostly because I can't deal with clutter!). So that's progress, right?

Last week the issue of socio-economic diversity came up at F's school. One of the parents of a girl in F's class made a public comment (in a school-wide meeting) that she works hard for her money (? she doesn't work) and was not in favor of tuition assistance because she was concerned that the level of education would suffer.

I was personally insulted, and pretty upset. We get 15% of our tuition reduced. It is means tested, and I was told that we should apply if we made less than $100k (we were making $70k and now make about $80k). I was thrilled to get some help!

I know there are people that make less than we do, and they get more assistance, but I have no idea who they are, and they don't know who we are. You know why I don't know? Because you can't tell! I mean you can tell who is RICH, really RICH. But aside from that, the kids all dress pretty much the same, and they're all bright (you have to apply to the school). You can't tell by color or race or color whether or not they're on tuition assistance.

And my daughter is at the top of her class academically (and both my husband and I have masters degrees), so I have no idea what this mother was talking about.

Then there is the idea of what is "poor." We have close friends that know we're on tuition assistance; their daughter is also in F's class. Their lifestyle doesn't seem that different from ours, and the husband wants to take another job with a $30k pay cut (yikes!) so his wife was worried about a drastic change in their lifestyle and was curious about tuition assistance.

I told her that the financial guy at school told me to apply if we made less than $100k and she looked disappointed. "Oh, it'll still be way above that." With a $30k pay cut? Wow! I kind of thought they weren't making much more than we were.

Anyway, it just shows you can't tell. Someone may have a nice car that they have a big loan on, or they may have a less expensive car but own it outright. We have a nice house, because I designed and helped build it myself; we owe $80k on it while our friends' $1 million house is fully mortgaged. We have friends that have really expensive clothes, a new Honda Fit and their kids have tons of toys, but they just declared bankruptcy.

So... my message to this mom is "you don't know." And you probably shouldn't go on about things you know nothing about.

I haven't talked to her since the comment (it was last Monday) and probably won't reference it at all. I don't even want to look at her; when I think about her, I just get angry.

I brought some old cd's to Hastings yesterday, and I got $18 for them! I was expecting about $5 and was set to donate them to goodwill, so I'm pretty happy!

And it declutters the house in the process!

Today - just turned in a proposal for some work with the County. Fingers crossed. There's a Starbucks right near the County's purchasing office, so I took my half off groupon Starbucks card (paid $5, get $10) to Starbucks and got a coffee as a treat. They gave me a survey thing which I filled out online, so now I get another $1 off my next coffee treat. (I get a Starbucks coffee about once a month).

OK, back to work...

We are in the process of purchasing the flights to England to see D's family (mother, father, sister, brother-in-law and our two nephews and one niece... oh, and a few cousins, too!)

His family cannot or will not (different in each case) travel here, so if we want F to know her grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins, we need to travel there. We're currently on an every-other-year schedule, but, oh my gosh - it's so expensive! Total will be - gulp - $4482.

We have money saved up (I set a little aside each month so that we save about $2800 every two years) and also travel rewards (about $1500) to apply to the tickets.

And I just figured out that we can fly from here directly for the same price as driving down to Big City. That means: someone can drive us to the airport (so we don't have to pay for parking for two and a half weeks) and we don't have to drive an hour to the Big City (saves tons of time!). But we do have to take a smaller plane (one of those regional jets) which I don't love. It's still just one stop, though, in Dallas.

I have to remember that this is one of the reasons (in addition to saving for retirement of course) that we are frugal in our spending: so that we can afford for D to visit "home" every few years and so that F can know her family.

My friend is having a baby any day now - hope she holds off until Friday (which is when the baby shower is). This is an amazing woman who has five kids already (including triplet boys!) and she's NICE. Her daughter and F are in the same class.

Anyway, I bought her a little onesie and when I was given some free yarn by F's piano teacher last week I decided to knit this little cardigan, too.



Cost was just for the buttons...

I entered one of my buildings today in the local AIA chapter's award competition. It irritated me to do it (costs $100 to enter), but I haven't submitted for an award in years, so all of my awards are sort of old... This is no guarantee, of course, that I'll win. But it would be good for marketing. The $100 is not mine personally, but a business expense. (I'm still a little irritated about it, but D convinced me to do it, and he's probably right).

I'm entering one of my fire stations in the renovation/adaptive re-use category. I'm proud of that project because it was really difficult (the original building was made of a very brittle clay tile called pen-tile so I had to work with existing openings - otherwise the tile just shatters). I also had a ridiculously low budget. And I think it looks pretty cool! (The first thing I need to do is to get D to take photos of it - the only ones I have, I took, and they're not great photos!)

So... wish me luck!!

I don't usually post about what I'm reading, but this book is so much fun!

It's called Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, and I saw it on the book club list of one of our local bookstores. I got it at the library, of course!

It's a mystery (which I have to confess I love) about books (which I also love) and a bookstore (don't love that much, but that's because I love the library).

Speaking of the library... I am going to take a pile of books over there that I was saving for the garage sale I'm not having. The library has a store, and they make some money from the sales of used books. Our library is right downtown, and it's in a pretty building, and the librarians are super nice. And did I mention I have a friend who's a librarian at a local college? (Add librarians to the list of things I love).

I paid the car registration today. I saved 5% by paying it online, but had to pay a convenience fee of $1.25. In the end, though, even with the fee, I saved $1.00. So it made sense. A little snowflake, but it's still a snowflake, right?

Speaking of snowflakes, it's turned really cold here. It rained, hailed and snowed a tiny bit last night. With the time change it was very dark coming out of F's piano lesson. But the piano teacher told me she was getting rid of a ton of stuff, and she had some yarn in her garage/storage area. So we went out back in the dark, with the blowing leaves and drizzle. And I got a huge bag of yarn! F was excited to look through it with me after school.

Today I am subbing for another spinning instructor; I think the gym might pay me for these subbed classes (I have not really figured out the payment system). I already subbed a weightlifting class this month, so we'll see if I end up with more money. I don't get paid much as I've mentioned, but I do get to exercise for free! It'll be good to move around a little today. I feel like I've been sitting in this office forever!

Not-frugal decision #1 - it's the last day of fall soccer for F; the girls were so great! We are hosting the pizza party since D is the coach. Not sure how much it will cost in total (lemonade, pizza) but I had money left over in the food budget from last month, and so we're still in budget. And in my mind, this is one of the things I LIKE to spend money on! Glad we can be generous!

Not-frugal decision #2 - I was going to have a garage sale tomorrow. I anticipated making about $60. But I've decided to donate to a charity shop instead. It's gotten cold outside, and I want to spend the weekend with F - $60 isn't worth missing out on time with her. And the stuff will go to charity. I am going to go through everything and set aside a few things to sell on craigslist/ebay. I went back and forth on this, nearly making myself crazy! But I'll be glad to have the house decluttered, and to be able to give back to a charity!