In honor of retire@50 and monkeymama:
Had a very productive, moderately frugal day today:
10:30 - 12:30. did the Sunday routine of going to the coffeehouse and got coffee, a slice of quiche and read the Sunday NYT. Yes, I pay for coffee. Sundays it happens to be free, but if there is a jar about, I slip a dollar in. I've made my peace with paying for coffee - I get drip, I enjoy the ritual of ordering and being social with the staff. NYT paper subscription on the weekend happens to be expensive and duplicates the Kindle, but I like the feel of paper, I see all the pictures and the NYT itself is the one paper that won't turn your mind into cream cheese.
12:45 - 1:30. 2 mile walk, listened to the podcast of Marketplace Money, hunted for change (found pennies and a 10 cent euro coin). Noted on the walk that a Tile company was having a 20 yr anniversary sale. 50% off grout. Will have to check that out.
1:30 - 1:45. Hit the bus stop. (I go carless). I used OneBusAway to figure out when the bus will come - it really helps to take away the frustration out of using transit. Found out I had about 15 minutes, so I went to the produce stand. Bought 69 cent avocadoes for lunches next week, and $1 bagged salad. I was tempted by the $2/pt blueberries but figured they'd get smashed by the time I got home.
2:15. Made it to Bedrock Industries to pick up 10$ worth of vitreous glass for mosaics. Noted that I can get 4 x 4 in squares of marble for 50 cents!
2:45 Walked to Peets and Whole Foods because I was feeling a little hungry. Peets had a line, didn't see what I really wanted at Whole Foods, so I skipped the temptation. Noted that the blueberries were at 3.99$ at Whole Paycheck.
3:15 Caught the bus back and walked another 1.5 mile home. Got my exercise today and quiet time today.
4:30 - 7:30 Pulled my green folder out, took up Vanguard's offer on cheap(er) TurboTax. Calculated and filed my 2011 taxes. I pay $207, which is pretty usual for me. Since my 403b is going great guns, that represents my tax deferred money pool; I put 5K in a Roth - its worth more to me to bulk up the tax-free pool of money than it is to get the refund if I put it in a traditional IRA. My tax rate in total this year is 9.7%; I'm good with the $207.
In other words, I got a lot done, learned bits of information to further my hobby, got exercise, chilled out. I spent a little bit but I'm good with what I spent - it will all get used.
productive frugal day
February 13th, 2012 at 05:18 am
February 13th, 2012 at 06:30 am 1329114637
February 13th, 2012 at 02:49 pm 1329144543
And I can't think of a better way to spend a few dollars than to enjoy coffee and the newspaper. We used to have a wonderful outdoor patio spot to do this, and it drew a steady crowd each Sunday, but alas, it wasn't busy enough the other days of the week and went out of business. You just reminded me of how much I miss doing that!
February 13th, 2012 at 04:50 pm 1329151833
February 13th, 2012 at 05:13 pm 1329153237
February 13th, 2012 at 08:14 pm 1329164077
February 13th, 2012 at 09:49 pm 1329169754
February 14th, 2012 at 02:40 am 1329187205