Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $8 lunch + $12 canning supplies

I called sister and sister called me back. She got the $50 deposit yesterday, but she didn't get it on Saturday. It appears to take 3-4 business days to move money from WA to WI.

With the upgrades in the electrical system, digging a trench for the cable to the house (bury the copper deep enough), building and installing the solar panels, the repair of the milkhouse and the foundation, insurance, and a new furnace... right now I sent $14,000 to the WI account. It will take a bit more, so I warned sister to work with the projects she has going now and not go for any more until these are done.

I sent the 14K, but I found that my WA bank would only transfer $9999.99 at a time. I did two transfers. I warned sister that with bigger transfers the bank might be more careful and slow things down. I'll watch from my end.

Talked with the Duvall friends about this upcoming weekend. We'll sleep over there Friday night, plan what we will waterbath can - jam, jelly, pickle, etc, but also check the Duvall farm fair Saturday morning. I don't think we will be canning a lot, but we can do a little practice run. I bought lids, rings, and pectin. I even got a deal on the pectin!

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $5.50 lunch + $2.73 grocery

My WA bank completed the test "Bill Pay" transaction to the WI bank, from my end, on Friday. I expect that in the next couple of days that sister will see it from her end as a deposit. I'll call her tomorrow and ask. She'll have to tell me that she's seeing it before I send the rest - I just don't want to send tons of money without a little practice.

Picked up some produce - peaches at $1/lb and bananas at .50/lb. I used the HT cloth grocery bag at Safeway. Safeway deducts .03 if you bring a cloth bag, Greenwood Market deducts .05. Big grocery irony - HT, the kung fu grocery where I got the cloth bag deducts 0! C'mon man - if you are going to promote your cloth bag, make it worth our while!

Took a snap of a dustmop wearing a sweater.

Saving log - $5
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $4.50 curry

Found an interesting tool.

http://walkscore.com/

It assesses the walkability of any address in the United States, giving you a score between 0 to 100. My home address got a 75, my work address got a 91, sister's address was a 62, the farmette got a 0. Check it out - we are still trying to figure out how you get a 100.

I managed to use my cloth bag at the grocery store today. The grocery store was nice about using my bag, and I'm happy that Clif bars are back at .99 apiece.

Paid the sewer, water, garbage bill - $123/ month. I remember when it was in the $80 range 3 years ago.

Only three people were kicking around the department today - it made for quiet times, good times to put in a couple of phone calls.

Call 1: into the Wisconsin Bank that sister and I have a joint account with. I want to be able to electronically transfer dollars from my bank to this account. I figure that mail is slow, and control freak that I am, I want to see both ends of the transaction. I've set up my WA account for bill pay to this bank. We'll see which is easier - pushing money out of my WA account to this WI account, or vice versa.

Call 2: Arranging the pick up of the canning jars. I will be driving (gasp, driving!) Thursday morning. Haven't heard word as to how the berries are doing. A quick look at some of the brambles in our neighborhood tells me it will be another week or two.

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $7 lunch

Last week sister sent a packet of stuff - the application for our joint bank account (in Wisconsin), the estimate for the solar panels and site evaluation, estimate for redoing parts of the foundation and the milkhouse, pictures of the damage. It arrived yesterday.

Faxed to the Wisconsin bank my information. I'll call to make sure everything's okay, then put in my half in a couple of days.

Also got a call at work from the Wisconsin DNR agent. Turns out that the last tiny hurdle to closing the sale on the second property was that a thin strip of our property next to the road was zoned R1 (residential) and it should be all zoned A (agricultural) for the sale to go through. Since sister and I now own the property, not the estate, we as heirs have to sign off on it. Nowadays we can do it by email.

I took another look at the inheritance correspondence. When I send the little form to sign-off on the last check, it is the final distribution. It's really a timing issue. Since neither sister nor I are battling and have no particular issue, the estate has to be resolved within 18 months. Because the assets are real estate, things slow down a bit, the executor filed and got a 6 month extension, which ended a couple of weeks ago.

The first piece of property was sold and the money has paid us, the debts, the lawyer, and the executors. The second piece of property has been sold, but sister and I are to be deeded the whole thing (farmette + 73 acres bought by the state of Wisconsin) at the cost basis of 150K each to sister and I.

I originally thought that the 2nd property was going to come to us in the form of money, rather, its coming to us in the form of the deed.

The executors took out, as promised, a flat 4%, and best of all, it was inclusive of the lawyer's fee. I was expecting the lawyer to take out a separate, equal chunk. Sister apparently had a betting pool with neighbors and friends. I don't know who won.

So the executors step out. Sister and I work with the lawyer on the second property sale.

The 40K CD I started last month has started to earn interest - 174$.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $10 lunch (Friday)

Got the "final" check for the inheritance yesterday, at least that is what I what I'm signing for. It was actually a bit over $10K due to extra interest. I put extra in quotes because I believe it is just the final dollars for the 1st property sale, nothing yet for the second. Not "final" by any means. I'm going to look at my correspondence thus far and if necessary, I will call to clarify the situation and I will not mail my piece without it.

Sister and I each got a copy of the deed for the farmette - we now legally co-own the property.

Deposited $42 of tip box money. Took a peek at my credit card account. The fee has been taken off.

Saving log - $9
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $13 lunch + $4.50 groceries

Sister called. There is a possibility that buyers/ renters might be interested in the farmette. They would be friends of the farmette's neighbor coming up from Arizona in late August. Word has it that they are woodworkers, with dogs and birds.

Sister's very nervous about that possibility that someone other than family would be living there, but she would be very interested in the woodworking part - floors especially. I think its a great idea on paper - we need someone to be a presence 24/7 - but if they want to buy instead of rent, that would be an interesting twist. Until they show, though, its all theoretical.

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $8 lunch + $17 beers, chili dog, fries

After work, DH suggested we go to Mike's Chili in Ballard for Cincinnati-esque chili and beer. Delicious, but I won't need anything else until noon tomorrow ... thanks! And during said chili and beer, DH warned me about a thick envelope coming from the estate lawyer.

Getting home, I found out that since 1) the 1st property was sold so long ago, and 2) neither my sister nor I were aggresive about getting cash advances ... there is still a little more money - the interest - that has to be divided up between sister and I.

My share is $9,901. Even the crumbs are big.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $20 chiropractor + $5 curry lunch

Sister called me at work. The final hurdle for the sale of the second piece of land was that the town council had to approve it. It went through without a hitch. Apparently they approved it in about 2 seconds, sister said.

I expect that the estate will be finalized rapidly now, within a couple of months.

Sister went with her insurance agent, and paid the insurance for the farmette. We are now joint owners of the farmette. We talked a bit about getting a joint account in both sister's and my names, just in case sister got struck by lightening or something, and then we talked about plans.

I had to catch her a bit. She's having the foundation on the house redone for $5000. The site assessment for the solar panels came in at about $400 (a copy is to be sent to me), and they are interested in selling sister two lines of solar panels, each for $30K! Apparently there is a rebate of $4K/line, but I still had to remind her that she has now mentally spent $60K!

I'm not saying bad, I said, I'm saying be aware and slow down. Two big projects - tops - per year, so you can keep an eye on the work. Part of the usefulness of the joint account is that it provides a natural budget line. Put a certain amount in yearly and don't add more upon the pain of death. And I was thinking somewhere around 25K for each of us this year!

I also told her that I thought that the slowing real estate market would work somewhat to our advantage - a contractor with no jobs will start to work lean and pay attention to us. We could get a better deal somehow. We would be small, but we could keep someone eating next year.

I feel like the bean counter/ emotional brake/ killjoy here. I want this to work out. I want my sister to be happy. I don't want to be taken for a ride. And if sister buys me out in 5 years I at least don't want to lose too much money.

Savings log - $0
Spending log - $3.28 coffee, bagel + $16 gym shorts

It was 80 today. I wore shorts in public for the first time in 10 years. Actually they were gym shorts, so my trainer was excited too.

The second insurance estimate for the farmette was even a better price than the first one, which is a little weird to me.

Hope you all had a great fourth! The Lake Union fireworks show was lovely, but the 1 hr traffic jam at the end was a nightmare.

Just three events:

1.) Sister and I will be formally deeded the farmette on July 8, so we have to transfer and get property insurance in our name by that time. Sister talked to one of our great aunts in the area, and she got a good estimate that we probably will go with. (good enough, I think, that we probably got the family estimate) Another insurance agent will drive by this afternoon, so we'll know what the non-family estimate is.

2.) In the high-interest account that I'm using to my sister for farmette use, it has already made $27 in interest.

3.) After paying off all my top of the month obligations and looking at my slightly increasing savings in teeny brick and mortar savings account, I transferred 200$ into PayPal.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $4.34 girly supplies + $15 lunch

Two coworkers going away parties - one a lunch, one an afternoon cake and ice cream party. I claimed that I couldn't have too much cake and ice cream because the trainer could smell it on my breath.

On the more interesting front, sister and I will be deeded the house, barn, sheds and 7 acres Saturday June 30. Sister thinks that half and half on the joint account is a fantastic idea. She's into thinking about the upgrades - solar panels and electrical, which is okay, but I'm more interested in covering the taxes, better security and insurance. Cover the bases and ease into ownership, nothing too crazy. My fear is that while sister is there weekends and dad's friends keep an eye...its just not enough. We improve the electrical, which means copper, great, but copper prices are now high; copper turns into a "magnet" (hah couldn't resist) for thieves. If you put good stuff in, you now have to live there. Its not like they will give you a break and try to rob you during daylight.

The Wisconsin DNR (Department of Natural Resources) is already doing stuff. (Of course its now their property!) Sister asked and they've told her, which she's getting a big kick out of. They've sprayed the old fields with roundup last week, and are re-seeding with prairie grass and flowers, will cut 2-3 times a year, and burn the fields once every 3-5 years, to simulate wildfires. They're going to assess how they will restore the wetlands this fall. They seem to be very communicative and open - a very welcome development.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.25 coffee + 20$ lunch

I was sort of a bad girl today, along with all the other bad girls today. Our workplace has an all-staff meeting once a month. I planned to miss and I slept in a bit. Evil, no? There was only one piece of info at the meeting that I wanted to know, and I found it out after the meeting. (if you got an evaluation rating of 3 or greater, 4.5% raise). Whenever I do miss those all-staffs, I claim that I'm doing everyone a favor - the room limit is only for 120 people, yet if we have everyone in, its 140. Missing the all-staff makes the room safer.

But I didn't sleep in too much. The large inheritance check from last weekend had been kicking around the house for a few days and it really should be put to work. My plan was to deposit it while the all-staff was happening. And the larger the check, the longer it takes...you have to say no many more times.

One of the local banks has an ad in the window for their CD rates visible from the bus. 5.6% for 11 months. Best rate I've seen for a brick and mortar bank in Seattle. So I stood at the door at 8:59am, and I must have looked prosperous, because the manager came and unlocked the door, and we began.

It turned out that 5.6% CD was the rate if you had a number of accounts with them and you banked with them before, but I did manage to get 5.4% out of them, splitting my check into a 40K CD and the 26K and change in a high interest checking, which I wanted in case sister was interested in the joint account. The manager was friendly, and had a good poker face when I told him about the inheritance and presented the check. I also got a tote bag and a water bottle.

The manager did a soft pull of my credit rating. 808. A little bit of gossip - I told him that I looked for this bank in bankrate.com. He told me that they used to advertise there (they have online banking), but they got too much "east coast" money. So Tony Soprano banks here, I joked. He laughed, but it turns out that the real issue that it would come in easily and electronically due to the high interest rate, and it would flow out just as easily if someone else gave them a better rate. So they just advertise in the window for local money.

All in all, it took about 40 minutes of signing and printing out materials. Pretty easy, and they were very friendly. I wonder if after I left and turned the corner that the manager whooped for joy. The romantic in me likes to think so.

N.B.: tote bag is in the car. Sturdy, well made, good green color, its turning into the grocery produce shopping bag.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $7 lunch

What's left on the inheritance is for the proceeds on the property that the Wisconsin DNR bought are to be divided up between sister and I. Then the house, barn, sheds, and the 7 acres left (aka the farmette) are to be deeded to the two of us equally. I emailed my sister a proposal that we form a joint savings account that each of us contributes equally to pay for insurance, taxes, maintenance and upgrades.

I figure that this account would give sister some flexibility to pay what needs to be paid, it earmarks money to the farmette, it would set up a natural limit on spending, and it wouldn't hurt to put it in a vehicle that will pay us in interest while we make thoughtful decisions.

Sister mentioned the possibility of "buying me out" of the farmette in about 5 years. I also think if each of us puts equal amounts into an account like this it would make the accounting at that time a lot easier. Nothing like avoiding a "you spent this, but I spent this" fight.

Wonder what she thinks about this?

Saving log - $lots, see later in the post
Spending log - $20 for 2 breakfasts, $5 lemonade

This weekend's the Fremont Fair, which I usually don't go to even though its free - it just concentrates badly behaved people - but I wanted to see the art cars. I didn't realize that Seattle hosted the 3rd largest art car gathering in the US.

Here's one using materials familiar to a blogger:


This one can only be described as a tart car, with black bras and curlers on the top:


A working fountain on the hood?


This one has a wicked sculptural quality to it - the top of the windshield has the words 'outta my way' in mirror image, so you could see them that way in your rear view mirror.


Art cars intersect with frugality in weird sorts of ways. For instance, the one thing that art cars share is that the car part is all paid off; I'm sure that GM Financing takes a very dim view of gluing black bras on the hood of a car that you are still paying on. . In most cases, the materials used as a motif for the car - discs, lingerie, beads, chalk, paint, match box cars, pennies - are usually cheap or worthless. Making something out of nothing, as it were. And you have to be very, very willing to live with and still use the results.

Today I also received the 4th payment from dad's estate. The state of Wisconsin signed off and is buying our 2nd piece of property, but that money hasn't come into the estate yet. With this 4th payment, the sale of the first property is now divided up between sister and I. The amount is small enough so it would be FDIC insured as a CD, but large enough that its weird to see it as a simple slip of paper. Shouldn't it have a gilt frame or something?

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.44 coffee, breakfast + $5 curry lunch

I usually bring (5) .99 clif bars on Monday for breakfasts throughout the week. Today I forgot, so I bought one where I buy my coffee. $1.69! That'll be incentive to remember to put my week's worth of bars in my purse.

Sister called at work. The state of Wisconsin signed off on buying our 73 acres on the second property, so things are moving along. Makes sense, it is now close to the end of the fiscal year (June 30), and the beginning of the next fiscal year. It turns out that I'll be getting slightly more money than sister because sister already got some of the proceeds from the house, etc. The gang apparently has a little betting pool to predict how much the executors and the lawyer will take in fees. Hah hah.

Paypal mailed me the code to unlock my account, so yay, my account is now unlocked and I can put money back into it. Its paying 5.04%.

I signed the letter describing my promotion, so soon I will have something to slip into Paypal.

Saving log - $3
Spending log - $1.85 coffee, milk + $8.84 lunch

At work I got everything done that I had to - the evaluation, a couple of meetings, my timecard for the rest of the month. A couple of hornets' nests even settled down. Introduced DJ friend who was looking for a healthy, cheap snack to the $1.24 wonders of salmon omusubi (salmon in a rice ball wrapped in a nori sheet).

Sister called. Estate insurance will cover some of the water damage from the burst pipes last winter and torn up milk house.

Thank you all who voted for my How Tos!

I'll outta here and will be away between May 17-31 to Paris, France. I probably will not be blogging, but you never know - if there is an Internet cafe I might shoot off a note or two. I promise to post pics after!

Saving log - $5
Spending log - $1.85 coffee, milk

Lawyer friend and the rest of the gang took me out to lunch today. Dim sum. I love dim sum and we finally found a halfway decent place for dim sum called Jade Garden. The lobster puffs were fantastic and when I get the chinese broccoli that always makes me happy.

Got a call and an email from sister today. The steel bulk tank got stolen from the milkhouse and the there is some water damage in the house from frozen pipes last winter. Executors for estates take out insurance policies for this type of thing, so it is time for sister and I to assess the damage, and hound the executors on it before we actually inherit the house and farmette on June 30.

Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - .65$ milk + $20 chiropractor copay + $4 for 2 2-liter sodas (going away party) + $5 lunch

Cheap curry lunch with lawyer friend. His boss is trying to get him to write an "affirmation statement". Yikes. He enjoyed my story about the WiDNR's land survey (the 1-2 ft shift by the fence). An definining ingredient in an adverse taking, he informed me, is hostility. The parties involved have to be hostile, which we weren't. The situation is different, but its really a battle between the WiDNR and the corporate farm.

Had a little cake party for the leaving co worker. He was telling us that now his dog would only ride in a car if said dog was liquored up first - bloody mary's are his favorite, and after awhile in the car everyone can smell liquored dog breath. Hope you aren't stopped by the cops, I said. Yeah, like the cop's going to believe its the dog...

Got word from sister that dad's estate will be settled by June 30, no extensions. The sale to the DNR should go through, and my sister and I will each be deeded 50% of the house, barn, sheds, and 7 acres.

Told her that if anybody wanted me to sign anything, that it won't happen between May 17 - 31. And even though I'll put a hold on my mail so it'll stay at the post office, it would just be better if they held off mailing things until late May.

It also turns out that when the WiDNR did the survey, we actually have an acre or so more than we thought. The fence marking the property line that we share with the corporate farm should be 2-3 feet farther from us, closer to the corporate farm.

It will be fun to watch that legal battle if the WiDNR really wants to pursue it. I think, though, that since the fence is so old it establishes a precedent.

The phone call last night with sister was wide ranging. We compared notes on how we were each handling our money.

Sister - putting in new windows in the house, new furnace, 3 small oriental rugs, loan to her partner's brother (paid back), one IRA. Happy that she got 800$ in interest.

Me - bed, IRAs in 2005, 2006, Roth IRA in 2007, $2500 in stock, loan to DH (paid back), $20,000 to Vanguard in a taxable account (soon to be another $20,000), MP3 player. Happy that I got $1,900 in interest and dividends, and $3,900 in paper profits.

I'm going to have to keep my yap shut though. I think that sister bought okay stuff, but she needs a little patience. Wait until she gets everything and then see.

Saving log - $7
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + $5 lunch

Not lbs, K. As in $190,000. Got a voicemail from sister telling me she (we) got the WiDNR bid from the executors yesterday, so I know what to expect today. WiDNR is offering $190,000 for the 72 acres, leaving us the 7 acre farmette - house, barn, sheds to sell. We also got a bid to rent the property to Peanut, the farmer whom we fear is an ecological pig. We received a form where we were to decide separate yays/nays on each bid.

So I called sister a few minutes ago and we hammered out the decision.

Yay - $190,000 State of WiDNR bid.
Nay - Peanut.

In my mind it boiled down to one paragraph in the option s.23.09(2)(d) document (we are the Grantors):
'Prior to the closing of this transaction, the Grantor shall remove and properly dispose of all hazardous or toxic wastes or chemicals located on, in or under the above described property.'

In other words, if Peanut makes a pig of himself, he pays about $4,000 to use the land, and it takes $4,000 for us to clean up after his pleasure ... its a wash, and he's not worth it.

Tomorrow I copy the forms and send them off. Now its the house and barn. Sister is furious at the executors for not checking the level of propane the house was getting and with the extremely frosty temperatures this last week, she figured that this cold snap blew both the water heater and the toilet, with possible burst pipes and water damage. Time to ask lawyer friend about executors' responsibilities.

Savings log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $2 coffee, milk + $4.50 curry

Got an email from sister today. We should plan a bit about what to do with the second property.

Just to review 'cuz its been awhile, dad's farm was comprised of two pieces of property (both about 80 acres) that didn't touch each other, and were about two miles apart (this ain't Texas!). The first piece of property was sold about a year ago. The second piece of property has the house, barn, buildings, etc, and about 1/3 of it is a wetland - too low to be farmable. Right now the Wisconsin DNR is interested in buying most of the property, leaving us with 7 acres and the buildings.

However no offer has been made, and we don't really know when they would come on as a buyer. And about 45-50 acres is farmable. It means that January is a very good time to come up with plans for the year...at least its a better time than April, which is when the US Bank executors were thinking about it. City boys, eh?

Sister wrote to me the possiblity of renting it out - one farmer is interested in it, which means that he would till it and grow crops on it and pay us one time for the use of it during the year. Sister isn't thrilled about him either ... he's not Nut, he's more like Peanut. This issue with Peanut is that he's a pig - uses tons of fertilizer, herbicides, had plenty of equipment that leaks fuel oil, etc. Sister's thought is to contact the farmer who was tilling dad's second property. I don't know whether he would be interested in it, especially if it would be for just one year.

The timing is the issue for me. If I knew for a fact that WiDNR would buy the property this coming fall, then it wouldn't really matter; we could leave it fallow and be done with it. If its going to be a couple of years, well someone should use it.

Tough being a member of the landed gentry.

Saving log - see below
Spending log - $1.36 coffee, 11$ lunch

Well I deposited the 3rd distribution of the estate today (its not really an advance any more). It seems to be more difficult to put it in. The difficulty isn't with me particularly, it seems like the bank is getting tighter. I know you all should have such problems!

I put the 25K into my checking account, dangerous to many, but not really to me - I know what I want to do with it.

It went into the bank just fine, but due to the size of the check, the bank is putting a 5 business day hold on the first 5K, a 10 business day hold on the rest. That didn't seem to happen last year. So the money has to wait in the bank until early February.

My plan is to put 20K into my taxable Vanguard account, but that will be delayed too, because I sold 4K worth to put into my Roth IRA. A noble goal, but I now can't do anything for 60 days, until early March. I could keep that 20K in ING, but perhaps I should put it in another 4 week T-bill, if the interest rate is a shade higher.

Of the other 5K, I plan on putting 1.5K into gym class/ personal training, and the last 3.5K into ING with the expectation that I'll be using the money for the Paris trip.

It seems so odd to be writing about such a large sum of money when it seems many here are struggling. Let me know if I am offensive.

Saving log - $35 Drp
Spending log - $10 breakfast + $2.50 hot cider

This is a big, disgusting story in Seattle. Nothing more dangerous than used car salesman when they find a mark, which happened to be a frugal, but mentally unstable man. Worse for the used car salesman, this only matches their reputation.

Got 3 1099 forms and the 25K check in the mail, the third advance. I think I am close, but I think I do my taxes in early February, instead of now.

DH and I had some very frugal fun - Seattle opened the new Olympic Sculpture Park today. Completely free, except for the hot cider. ($2.50) It was a lot of fun, walking in the open air, tromping through nine acres. Its a lot better, prettier use of land than what was on the land ten years ago - it was a fuel storage site operated by Unocal. There were far too many crowds and lines for my taste, though. I think it'll be much more fun and entertaining in a couple of months, when it will just be a few people tromping around. The only other weird thing was there was graffiti on some of the sculptures already! We got animals here.

Savings log - $6
Spending log - $2 coffee, milk + $7 pho lunch

DH and I are going to Paris, France May 17 - May 31 with MIL. Its final - the plane tickets have been bought. Boss has been alerted. I've been told that I had better bring back pictures.

Time to see if I can download some French tutorials so I can practice as I walk. All I know is please and thank you. And when the thank you comes out as "mercy buckets", they're gonna know.

Sister wrote to me that she has asked for another 25K disbursement, so when I get a 25K check ... I won't be alarmed.

Bought another round of personal training, aka the gym class. ($718).

Printed out several 1099s from different online places. I see a fault with having so many online accounts - I have to go through each of them, one by one, and think "is this tax-deferred or not? am I supposed to get a 1099 here?" Much easier in the bad old days when they had to mail it to you. Also got the W-2 from work.

Lots of miscellaneous entries today. Found out that if your library fines are more than 6 months old, depending on the city/county, the fine might end up on your credit report. (NYTimes).

Come mid 2007, probably no more rebates. Can't say I'll miss them. I was diligent and managed to get from all the rebates I applied for, save one. (NYTimes).

Went girly fiscal commando today and yesterday. In other words, no purse, just five items in pockets: wallet, keys, PDA, MP3 player, headphones. I find hands free very freeing, and somehow frugal because I just don't want to shop and lug the bag around.

Your mileage may vary (YMMV), but as a paycheck calculator, it was useful enough to link and bookmark.

Sister emailed me last night. Our contacts watching the second property spotted an unmarked white van parked on the property,. Inside the van - a glance in the window - the passenger side seat had paper with WiDNR logos on it. So nice our CSIs are on the case.

Spending - 20$ for breakfast for both DH and myself. It was so nice to see a professional server these days. He was cool, not fawning, came at the exact time that you needed him (a second before you realized), got your order right. And at Denny's too! Cashed in for a free coffee using my punchcard at the coffee place, but bought a biscotti (1.82$), 2 more sweaters from the thrift store (2.99$ and .49$)

Just lots of bits and pieces today.

Savings log -

Put 6$ in the tip box - I have 46$ in total, enough to put in the bank.

Thank you Lucky Robin! I couldn't have given my last ING invite to a nicer person. Enjoy - and remember you've got your own invites to sell. 10$

All my stocks went up. Amazing and scary, so its time to stop monitoring now.

Spending log -
Last day of the Sur La Table 20% friends and family sale (DH currently works there) - picked up a small wisk, tongs with hard silicone so I can use them on a non-stick pan, a universal lid, poultry seamer (corkscrew thingee that I can use to stitch up a turkey), clip to allow me to rest a spoon over a pot, a coarse microplaner, 2 silicone circles that can be used as a lid, trivet, or sealer for a pan or a bowl. In other words, bought only the utensils that I needed or wished I had a second of. 69$

Lunch at the hideout - 6$.

New headphones for the MP3 player. Everything cheapo (10$-20$) that I've tried has at least two strikes: doesn't have good sound, hurts my ears, falls off my ears, the wires catch on my clothing, or the wires wad up in a ball so that they fly out of my purse when I try to retrieve my keys. Grrr. Supposedly these headphones have good sound, fold up, and while they rest on my head like a regular headphone would, I'm willing to risk the bad hair. 51$. In this case, the cheapest man pays the most.

Checked to see how much I owed the chiropractor. Quite surprised to find that it was only 50.56$; will pay it next week to get caught up.

So spendy, but constructive spendy.

We got a new temporary auditor at work, and very soon we will be in the thick of it. It feels like it would before a great battle. Tension mounting, no birds chirping, no sound at all, everybody busy getting their last little things done while we can before the big piles hit.

Sister emailed and asked me what I thought of the letter. I told her that will work out well for her, not so nice for me to share the deed to the property because I'm 2,000 miles away. I was going to say that I hope she won't take it the wrong way, but its the truth.

for the fortune cookie fortune. Got a letter from the executors today about the second piece of property that we are trying to sell to the Wisconsin DNR. It appears that the appraisal process is stuck on someone's desk, and that it takes a 12 member panel's approval to make an offer.

Since the executors are now on a deadline to settle the estate (January 2007), sister's lawyer has petitioned for an extension (March 2007), and the thought now is to split the money from the assets already sold and to jointly deed to us the second property to sell or do with as we will.

Sister will be bugged again for some unknown reason - it means that the executors will be backing out. (I can hear it now from her - they're idiots, they're incompetent, why did we allow this...blah blah blah.) I'm not thrilled, but its because I'm too far away to be a decent property owner.

$4 in the tip box

Had a small glass full of water/protein powder. This is going to be hard to take. The trainer suggested that lowfat and nofat milk will help...if I really wanted to give it a chance.

Had a quickie lunch with the lawyer friend ($7), told him no movement on the bid of the second piece of land--the fortune cookie prediction is holding, and since sister is currently in Maine, I'm glad.

DJ friend/co worker got a compliment for me - he's been asking for and getting new remixes and product from other DJs. One DJ specifically emailed my friend that he submitted his on the basis of my friend's bio. "Well, if you want her to do yours, I'll hook you up." was what he said.

Keeping my assistant busy. One or two new people are coming on - and a shortage of work. It will change; this year I predict it will turn on a dime.