Wednesday
Saving log - $7 tip box
Spending log - $0

Thursday
Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $2 coffee + $2 groceries

Re: 2$ coffee. What can I say? Every couple of months I crave a professionally made cup of coffee.

I'm starting to see the food sales - one sign said: "Ignore the prices on the menu, everything is $6.95". Cabbage is now .19/lb, and now that I have Clif bar coupons, I can only dependably get Clif bar at Trader Joe's or PCC. The coupons last until 12/31/09...I can wait.

Busted:


Now for the unfortunate news. I learned that lawyer friend's younger brother passed on this morning. I never met him, but I feel the loss.

Sunday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.50 bagel (got a free coffee) + $10 ham sandwich and banana

Monday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $17 dim sum lunch

Six weeks ago, I discovered that one of my peanut butter Clif bars was

recalled as part of that peanut butter Salmonella unpleasantness. I tossed the Clif bar, but I wrote a bright little email on their website, saying how bummed I was for having to toss it.

Tonight in the mail I got nice note back from Mr. Clif, with 15 Clif/Mojo/Luna bar coupons - each for one free bar. Not bad for thirty seconds worth of work. Gracias, Mr. Clif.

Our grocery store was selling broccoli for .58/lb. It felt like the good old days.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $12 breakfast + $110 groceries

Stocked up on groceries and minor Valentine's Day treats. This weekend is a three day one for me - President's Day is also a holiday for me.

DH and I decided to go out the next day, Sunday the 15th. V-day itself is going to be a-stay-at-home for us. Frankly, the V-day festivities aren't really a bowl of cherries for many of the coupled folks I know of either. For the average ordinary, it used to be a card and chocolates and maybe a rose or two (in the 80's, before Columbia got into the rose business, roses were very, very dear). Then the romance became ramped-upped into expensive dinner, drinks, etc, all to re-create the "most special event" ever, every year. I might just be a curmudgeon, but all holidays seem to be turning into their own Christmas. The themes change, but the orgy-like spending continues. Stop it.

Anyway, also up for this weekend, I also plan on repotting a fern into two pots, get a little exercise, and pay off this month's spendy credit card bill. It caused me great sadness to move a bit of savings out to help pay for it.

From Feb 6, looks like the paranormal (aka ghost) investigation of our offices is scheduled for a Saturday in March. 7pm - 11pm, with maybe extra innings up until 2am. I'm in on the fun. Oh I caint hardly wait!

Tuesday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $8 lunch + $12 groceries

Wednesday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $0

Helped to replenish the freezer by buying a bag each of frozen peas and frozen corn. That and some salad - needed green in my diet. Bailed out on my brought lunch for a bought lunch with lawyer friend, lawyer friend's partner, and screenwriter friend.

DH used his Christmas gift and got the haircut, the manicure, the pedicure, and the straight razor shave. Looks like a million bucks, and hopefully it has cheered him up some.

Worked out a bit Tuesday at the very last minute - work got the better of me, so I did my homework: ran for 15 minutes on the treadmill, did the 45 squats, a few wall angels and 10 chest presses. 30 minutes was better than no minutes. Did manage to get back down to 180 again.

All told, not much fiscal happened today. I guess I'm like most everyone else these days - quiet, spending only a little on want, and mostly on need. Payday on the 13th.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $0

Woke up this morning to a very sad Post-it on refrigerator from DH:

We must eat what we can
Freezer and refrigerator were OFF last night.

Bummer. He called this afternoon. We'll try saving a pot roast that hadn't been in the freezer that long, and we'll save the butter in the freezer, along with the bottle of good gin. Everything else he tossed. As far as the refrigerator was concerned, anything that hadn't been put in the night before gets tossed.

Sad, but it would be even sadder to risk food poisoning for several $1.49 bags of frozen vegetables. I think, well, hope, that we only lost about $50 worth of food. Its why I have to remember to treat food as food to be eaten, and not as heirlooms.

DH traced the refeer culprit to an odd design - you can control the cold inside on the middle of the top shelf - and lately the top shelf was quite packed. A few things knocked the control, a careless hand brushed the dial down, and there you are. No cold? Refeer can do that. At least it wasn't that the power cord was chewed on or it got unplugged accidentally.

Time to restock the refrig over the next few days.

Speaking of entities that chew cords and dangly things, a breakthrough of sorts. I said, "Morgan", she looked up from her scratching post. I said "Morgan" again and she came. Without bribery even.

Another bit of good news - DJ friend showed me the cover of the new, first compilation CD for Global Vortex. Vol 1: Electronic and House. Its a beautiful cover. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I have bought CDs on the cover alone. And if it was in the CD stacks I definitely would have touched it and thought about buying it.

Saturday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $12 breakfast + $8 produce

Sunday, Super
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $12 liquor and sweets

Ate way too much at our Super Bowl soiree, but we saved a bit - we provided the chips, the homemade salsa, a bit of liquor, and a tiramisu cake. Our guests brought several cheeses and crackers, sweet potato chips, dried fruit. We were going to order pizza, but we already had enough food.

Nothing particularly fiscal happened this weekend, only that the game and the ads didn't particularly make us "forget" our troubled times. And that cash4gold ad? Hmmm. Sign of the times.

The threat of guests this weekend did what it normally does - forces us to clean the house. Ah, blessed clean house.

Morgan behaved herself this afternoon - first time she's seen our friends. Didn't run away, but didn't really relax in front of our guests.

Sunday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $10 Fremont Sunday Market

Saturday
Saving log - $100 KO Drp + $40 MMM Drp
Spending log - $12 breakfast

Ate 1/2 of the mega-breakfast, the other 1/2 for dinner and we both got very good at getting the to-go boxes before we dig in. (easier to estimate 1/2 before you dig in). I'm seriously toying with the idea of bringing a couple of those Ziploc boxes in my tote so I don't even have to bother the waitress. Is that too chintzy? Noticed that even with all the talk of Starbucks, Microsoft, and Boeing layoffs, there was plenty of food being left on the plates.

Went to the gym on Saturday to catch up a bit because I didn't go all week, due to that pesky cold. I'm still at 182 with the shoes on (that 178 was with the swimsuit).

Noted that the KO share price was getting down to the $42 range, close to average price that I was buying it during its slump in 2002-2005, so I decided to put in a bit more. If KO gets much lower, its time to consistently add to the position.

Didn't feel particularly ambitious on my walk today (it was freezing!), but I tried to shorten my walking intervals and lengthen my jogging ones. At least for the first two miles, it was a 1/3 jog and 2/3 walk. When I visited the Fremont Sunday Market, I found a cute framed mini-poster of the Champs Elysees.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $22 lunch

Just great. For breakfast, sometimes I have a Clif bar, sometimes an Odwalla bar. For the last few months they have been Odwalla, but it turns out that the 3 peanut flavors of Clif bars have been recalled due to salmonella contamination. And I bought some on Saturday. Time to check the expiration dates. The FDA is maintaining a

searchable list of products.

I know I'm not supposed to eat what I find, but I wonder if I'm supposed to just throw them out or save them and the package and send them somewhere or call the manufacturer. Time to do a little more digging.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $45 Big Lots + $75 groceries

Was treated to breakfast today, and since there was so much of it, I was also treated for dinner as well.

I've done a good job of brown bagging lunches that the refrigerator is pretty dry. It was quite a little grocery shopping run, something that we would have easily done every month or so, now it feels like a few times per year event. We tied the grocery run to a Big Lots run for paper towels, toilet paper, toiletries, and a lot of cheap replacements for items we've busted in the last year or so.

I feel terrible for thinking this, but as this recession deepens, while I'm still saving and earning, my thoughts are darker - the triage, who I will lend money to and who I won't. I joke to DH that I will lie if necessary and make up a job loss, but its unseemly. DH, of course, some of DH's family, sure, limited amounts. My family is small, just sister and I. But friends are tough. If they are your friends that's worth something, but too many requests & when money is pissed away, you are tapped out and you're pissed.

Sorry I seem so dark today. It was a blue sky, sunny, 40 degree day - a rare Seattle January day. And here's to the possibility of two more.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $12 breakfast

Haven't been to the gym or doing much exercising these last two weeks some walking, maybe a mile or so. Dodging cars trying to "gun it" with my knees as I walk is unappealing.

I went to the gym today though, and weighed myself, fearing the worst. But I'm at:

182

I have been bringing my lunch most workdays. We've been working about 4 hours per day because of the snow and ice, and if you are there for just a short amount of time, it hard to justify spending 25% of your workday to find a lunch place open and eat what they're serving.

The lunches that I've been bringing are not the portable sandwich variety, but of the bento box variety. I've been making lunches with a base of brown rice or rice pilaf, with turkey, ham, or pot roast laid over it. With that I put a dab of any two condiment-y things like yogurt, cranberry sauce, mango pickle,

red pepper ajvar, hummus.

The money and the weight loss are nice, but its a bummer giving up one of things I most enjoyed (lunch somewhere else).

Saving log - $40 Drp
Spending log - $13 breakfast + $110 DH Christmas gifts

R.I.P Crown Hill Bistro, nee Library Cafe. We went and found a U-Haul sprawled along the parking strip, and talked to the owner. Done in by the recession, drop off of business and two mistakes in the Entertainment coupon book. (They were in as the Library Cafe, and they shouldn't have been in at all.). Entertainment coupons can really kill a business - we need our spendthrifts.

So the

search for a Seattle breakfast spot continues anew. After the Denny's, then this, DH and I decidedly feel jinxed. Anybody have a Seattle spot you hate and you want gone? Let us know.

This morning we went to a new spot, Rooster's Breakfast Club. There was a bit of on-street parking, and that was great. The place was the right kind of jumping - a consistent 3/4 full, so no lines but no desperation. Food was very good and very ample - I split the meal in half. Service was speedy and professional. I could adopt this place. But ...

Along the side of the building was one of those gigantic posters put up by the City of Seattle - environmental review of a construction project. The building that the new breakfast spot was housed in will be torn down for something nefarious. But right now its only the environmental review.

In other words, the breakfast place jinx continues. However, unless the sign went up yesterday, the particulars of this jinx has already happened before we showed for our meal. Is it wrong of me, now that the recession hit my Saturday morning, to hope against hope of a recession serious enough that the RE developer goes bust? Can we equate the economic niche of a breakfast place to an environmental niche?

N.B.: As of 1/3/09, there is a

Text is petition and Link is http://www.phinneywood.com/2009/01/01/61s-and-greenwood-development-petition/

petition going around.

Thursday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $8 lunch + $6 groceries

Friday
Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $2 coffee + $70 groceries

Spendy day today after several days of cheapness. The $70 of groceries was really the beginnings of a theme Christmas gift, plus a turkey ham for me.

Most of our Christmas shopping is family. My sister loves the salmon and whatever other fishy/shellfishy thing that looks good. (One year I gave them 8 months of Harry and David... meh, they said. We get good fruit here, too. But you can't buy salmon in Milwaukee) A few weeks ago the fishmonger had trout for sale. Fingers crossed that that's still around next week.

That's it for my family. DH doesn't have a big list either - his sister (and BIL), and his mom. Let's divide and conquer, I said. I'll buy for his sister and BIL, and he can buy for MIL. Done, he said.

I'm going for a theme here. Big fad in Seattle is chocolate - fair trade, dark, vegan, single sourced - in other words, treating chocolate like coffee, where it comes from a country or an estate. There's even a chocolate factory in North Seattle that gives tours. So I went to the Greenwood market and ran the table of large chocolate bars. Some were of countries, some were of flavors. 1 was even 100% dark chocolate.

Now to find a nice container, or maybe a military grungy one (like it was buried in the backyard), just for laughs. (Both his sister and the BIL have a sense of humor) When they open the box, I have a nice sign over the chocolate:
"In case of recession, break seal."

Friday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $11 lunch

Saturday
Saving log - $40 DRP
Spending log - $7 brunch + $65 groceries

At the grocery store. Shopped for my contributions to the Thanksgiving feast and to take advantage of the frozen corn, pea, and green bean sales. I also picked up one box each of chicken broth and stock. I also picked up some hard cheeses.

I didn't walk this today - I cleaned the kitchen. Clutterfree! It gets me that DH tends to be clueless about cleanup - or rather, he tends to be clueless about the follow-through. He'll wash, but he won't put away, or he'll leave it soaking in the sink. He is the anti-fly lady. I also got rid of the ancient condiments lining the baseboard behind the stove, and moved all the non-condimenty things back there. Condiments get nasty quick over the heat of the stove.

Then I tried the

roasted cranberry sauce recipe from Saveur - it is fantastic, and only about 15 minutes of cooking, 1 hr of waiting around. (actually, I'm an inveterate tinkerer, so I've already added my own additions and deletions). I also tried a new sweet potato recipe which was also fantastic. The very opposite end of sweet potatoes with marshmallows, but it uses a lot of butter.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $12 groceries

DJ friend took me out to lunch. That, along with breakfast food at the all staff meeting, made for a no spend day as of 6:30pm.

Unfortunately I "blew" it on cranberries, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and an orange. I'm going to try out a roasted cranberry sauce. In it, you put sugared cranberries on a cookie sheet with a bit of orange peel, cinnamon stick, thin strips of jalepeno, then bake for 15 minutes.

But I am here in the midst of the November grocery bonanza. Organic broccoli for $1.49/lb, even cheaper than regular; frozen green beans, corn, peas, peas and carrots each for $1/lb. I know where I'll be Saturday.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $9 lunch

Ah memories - on 60 Minutes, when Michelle Obama talked about Barack Obama's first apartment in Chicago near

Harold's Chicken Shack, it brought me back 25 years ago when I lived in a brownstone apartment across from the Hyde Park Harold's Chicken Shack, when it was on 53rd and Kenwood.

The apartment itself was a dive, but it had three distinct advantages.

1. You didn't have to give directions. All one said was, "across from Harold's Chicken". None of this counting blocks or figuring the cross street. You either knew it or you were a Martian. Such a timesaver.

2. Dead of winter - and there were a few weekends when it was -80F with the windchill - a hot meal was across the street.

3. You could look down at a lovely colored neon sign (a cook with a cleaver going after a chicken) whenever you liked.

The Harold's Chicken that I knew was strictly take-out. No tables, no chairs. You walked in, pop machine was on your left, you turned right, walked past the nasty fake wood paneling, and past the handwritten cardboard sign of the rules:






Zen poetry in disguise.

You ordered through a microphone, put your money under the clear bullet-proof slot. You waited for your chicken (they fried it to order), and when it was done (with enough Frank's Hot Sauce to drown it) the cashier put it through a bullet proof carousel.

Prices? In 1984 I think it was $2.75 for a white half, $2.50 for a dark half. It made my weekend budget go. I ate there so often that the cashiers would complement me on my haircuts. Oh yes, I liked the soggy fries, but I didn't like the wonder bread. Giving away the wonder bread primed me for a life in non-profit service.

There you have it: a Chicago institution.
Even have their own blog -
http://haroldschicken.com/

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $9 lunch, apple + $8 groceries

I know that with the stock market and the world-wide fiscal badness, it sounds like the line, "so Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?", but everything else about my day went well.

The last couple of weeks I've only made it to the gym on Thursday. Today I managed to get there the other day that I promised myself I would go - Monday. I've been weighing myself each time I go: 185, 187, 186, 185. Today, 183. Yippee.

Rolled over a 1 yr CD to a 13 month at 4% interest rate. This is one of the 40K CDs. Couldn't get the highest rate (4.2%) because I had no loan with this bank. Who knows what will happen fiscally when this CD matures? I expect to be looking seriously at real estate at this time. But holding it in a CD means I can't be tempted to buy...much.

Saw a .50/can deal on tomato products, along with 4/$1 little lemons. I'm starting to see more things under $1.

It is time to think over things fiscally. As the stock market drops, its time to console one's self and plan.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $8 lunch + $20 groceries

Good
Found a good deal on Odwalla bars at Uwajimaya - I eat them for breakfast - .99/each. Usually they go for $1.39 - $1.69. At best lately they go for 10/$10, which is $1/each.

Weird
I was shocked to see a big bin of

jujubes . Somehow I missed the memo that they exist as a real fruit. I just thought it was a cutesy name for a piece of candy. FYI - they appear to be in season right now.

Awful
On a darker note, we were alerted that our health insurance is going up. A lot. If HR continued with the old carrier - premiums would have gone up 41%. Now they are "merely" going up 30%.

Sister mailed me another box of vegetables of various sorts. Mostly root vegetables, but a few ears of corn, husk still on. I'll have to mention that while the corn looked fine, a day or two in dark in the mail turned lovely sweet corn into bits of starch.

Made a ratatouille out of what I got. I only got a little Japanese eggplant, so its less rat and more vegetable stew. I only had to buy a large yellow onion to start things off, which I got for $1/lb.

DH sometimes reads my blog so I really shouldn't write that there was kohlrabi, turnip, beet, that little eggplant ... all the veg that he hates, but what the hey it cleared out my countertops wonderfully.

I also sacrificed our large chard for the stew. I was sad to see it go, so here's a picture in memoriam.


And yes, I got my new camera 2 days ago. I wanted to post a topical picture yesterday - 2 honesty boxes each with the WaMu dead headline - but the picture was too large for the blog. I dropped the megapixel setting. We'll see how well that works.

A couple of economic items at work, overshadowed by the WaMu collapse:

1. A

largish law firm is going under; we won't get pledge payments from them from now on. I worked with their payroll officer and sent my condolences.
2. Our non-profit moved in 2003. We use a bond to pay for the commercial mortgage. Apparently the interest rate our non-profit pays has gone from a pittance (0.1%) to not a pittance (+6%). A case where we see the strains.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.25 bagel, coffee + $1.13 apple + $20 groceries

Forgot to mention that since our 403B is administered by Merrill Lynch, we asked about how that was going to work now that Merrill Lynch was bought out by Bank of America.

The answer is nothing much would change. Our plan administrator is in the now Merrill Lynch Wealth Management division, and for the moment is going to be our plan manager. In our 403B the old Merrill Lynch funds were bought a year or so ago by Black Rock.

Was just going to buy tomatoes and a red onion to go with all the cucumbers sister mailed to me. But then I saw a decent deal on bananas, a great deal on whole chicken and a BOGO free on chicken drumsticks and thighs. (DH is a dark meat guy). So I walked home with two large, heavy grocery bags - $20.

Fall is back in Seattle. Trees that are turning color early look a bit yellow and bedraggled in the rain.

Oh yes, its raining. We might get a last few days of summer sun, but its wise not to count on it.

Had breakfast at our usual spot - now Crown Hill Bistro (nee the Library Cafe), but used a get-cheaper-second-entree-for-free coupon. Saved about $12 from our usual, and we got credit for it on the punch card. So in a couple of weeks, we can save the same amount again.

Took the bus to the Greek Festival and spent $70 - I got a lot of olive oil, bag of feta, bag of olives, a jar of tarama, a couple jars of grape leaves, bag of butter cookies, a Greek pastry cookbook, a set of coasters.

Sister mailed me a box of cucumbers. Odd, I know, but they did make it all right. Its time for a cucumber, feta, red onion, olive salad.

I also bought a $2 raffle ticket at Greek Festival. I know that I have no hope of winning, and frankly, this is the only raffle ticket I ever buy for the year. Reminds me of the old joke:

An old woman prayed to God that she would win the lottery. She prayed for years, nothing. When she died and met God she asked, "why didn't I win? Not even a little bit?" God said, "you had to meet me halfway - you had to buy the ticket!"

Finished up the day by watching some Looney Tunes. A little reminder that some of the best art was created during the Great Depression. Life goes on.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.50 bagel & coffee + $10.50 sushi lunch

Pigout during Friday's lunch potluck and Saturday's dinner potluck, so its time to get out there and work some of it off.

Bad news: rained all afternoon
Good news: rain cools everything down.

So I walked in the rain, stopping at dry spots under trees and eaves. It worked maybe for the first three miles, but then I got soaked.

Route was: Greenwood, Fremont, cross Fremont Bridge, 3/4 up Queen Anne Hill, Bigelow Ave, down to 5th Avenue. Ate a conveyor belt sushi lunch as a treat, then walked to my usual end point downtown at Dexter/Denny. About 6 mi in total with a mountain climb 2/3 of the way.

I only went up Queen Anne hill about 3/4 of the way because my glasses also got soaked, & it was hard to see. Dangerous when you are trudging up a hill. I did notice that the hill was a bit easier after walking about 4 miles. The first time I went up it I thought it would be easier if I was fresh for it so I took the bus to it. Wrong. Easier if the leg muscles are good and warmed up.

Decided on the Queen Anne conveyor belt sushi lunch. Plate prices were $1, $1.50, $2, $3. The other place I go to the prices are $1.50, $2.25, $3, $4. Not that much on the face of it, but it means that for $15, you can either eat until you are practically sick at the first place, or you've got to control yourself at the second. $10 gave me a very good meal.

After I got home I took a warm bath and took a preventative aspirin in water. Tomorrow I will burn off my last trainer appointment and then it will be me.

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $9 lunch + $15 groceries

Noticed two good things tonight

1. More 10 for $10 deals on things I actually eat - fruit, salad, baby carrots.

2. CD rates in ING and my other brick and mortar bank are going up. Not talking about a lot of going up, more like .3 or .4% of a percent. Still, better it goes up than goes down.

Noticed one good thing (maybe) last night.

1. At the present rate of CPI-U inflation, my I-bonds should be bearing interest in 8% range this November. We'll see in October.

http://www.savings-bond-advisor.com/cpi-inflation-update/

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + $22 groceries & lunch

Peaches were at .99/lb at the downtown supermarket, so I picked up some along with a plate of california rolls for $3.79. Nice to see 2004 prices for a change.

My mail contained a notice for a class action lawsuit for Coke shareholders of record between 1999 and 2000. During that time, KO dropped from $80/share to $30-$40 and so far hasn't recovered completely from it. Plantiffs are suing that KO misled the company finances, etc. I'll have to research this a bit more - the possibilities are to take it, ignore it, or file for exclusion. This was about the time that DH gave me a share and started me off of DRiPing. I had one share and was working on a bit of another at the time. I'd be shocked if I get a check for more than single digits.

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.70 coffee + $5 lunch

Had $10 in my pocket today to finish the week. My cheap curry place kept my cheap week on track. I began the new tip box cycle by adding $3.

I managed to spend only 40$ this week, including lunch with friends and few groceries. It required buying a foot-long sub and eating it over two days, hitting the free lunch going away party, and hitting the cheap curry place.

I haven't been to the cheap curry place in several months - miracle of miracles, its still running its any-vegetarian curry and a drink for $3.99 + tax (and I tip decently). Its line, as usual, was huge. Next door, the $5 sub place: crickets.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.25 bagel, coffee + $3 iced tea, apple + $17 groceries

I can't say whether this is the most cost effective or cost saving, but this is how I've altered my shopping habits.

What I have:
"Easy" public buses - I regularly take the 5, 355, 15, 28, 48
Willingness to walk; expanded my sphere of what constitutes easy walking distance to 1-3 miles.
Experimented with routes and walking, noting the grocery stores along the way.
I have 7 grocery stores - 4 of which are along my long (over 1 mi) nightly summer walk - what I was asked to do nightly for cardio. 1 of which is the new downtown supermarket.
Always carry one cloth bag.

Right now I:
Look at the flyers
Note what I absolutely need for dinner that night. Concentrate on using everything up and not having to toss slimy stuff.
Hit the grocery store on my nightly walk for what I need. No more than 4 things, or what can comfortably fit into cloth bag.
Lug home.
Keep the refrigerator about 1/3 - 1/2 full. Use the stockpile a bit.

What we used to do:
Look at the flyers.
Saturday afternoon was weekly grocery shopping. DH and I would make a car circuit and hit 3 or so produce stands and grocery stores. Keep the refrigerator 3/4 full and stockpile.

In other words, I'm now starting to shop like a European. I'm shopping nearly every night for small amounts of fresh stuff and let the refrigerated stuff ride until its eaten. If we barely make it through something, its time to give our taste buds a rest and not buy more.

Noticed that Paris really tied common shopping with the Metro. The really big stations had shopping marts connected with them where you could pick up a little something at your Metro stop. Otherwise, the sub-neighborhoods in each arrondisement had a grocery, a bakery, a day market and a late-night market connected with them.

I'm probably not doing as well as I could be, or am I? Right now, I'm still a bit overweight and I'm trying to eat less. That represents locked-in energy that I'm trying to tap. The buses will run their routes and burn their fuel whether I take them or not. I'm trying my darnest to avoid waste.

Eating the stockpile seems to make the least sense, because it represents stored food at its cheapest. When I eat it, any replacement of the item is going to cost more. Still, this stuff doesn't keep forever, and if you are saving food for high cost "emergencies" ... this is the time.

So far, its costly in terms of time. 30 extra minutes/day walking and european grocery shopping works out to be 3+ hours extra.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.70 coffee + $3 groceries

More home cooking for lunch today. So far this week its been $7 lunch split over 2 days, yesterday a $3 bahn mi (Viet bagette sandwich and fantastically frugal), today homestyle. I have an all day training tomorrow, so I'll probably go for the old habits and get a regular lunch. Unless, since its Friday, all the places will be packed. But then we have ... the supermarket.

I've looked at my Drip stocks. Even after the 350 pt drop, I still show a profit on two of them. There are some fantastic deals here - blue chips on sale. Not really time to buy anything right this minute, but its time to look, research, and plan on adding more.

The funds that I moved from Ameriprise are now in a money market fund in Vanguard. Time to think about when to put them into equities and the funds I'd put them in. Again, no moving this minute, but as the stock market in general gets lower, the NAVs of the funds get cheaper and you can buy more shares.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + $22 energy bars

I had every intention to make it a no-spend day, but my trainer asked me to buy a box of energy bars from her to get a bonus. She's never asked me before because as she says, "she sucks at selling supplements", so I don't expect her to ask again. Besides, I can always say that I'm finishing off the box I bought. It just so reminds me of high school band selling candy bars that it made me laugh.

Did look at the grocery flyers today - the sales start on Wednesday finish on Tuesday. Coming up on the 4th of July, its an okay week for produce - $1/lb for peaches, broccoli, cauliflower. But $1 seems to be the floor this year which is depressing compared to years' past.

Took a couple of pictures of items that I want to remember. The Ballard Denny's got destroyed this morning. I had eaten here in the past couple of years - Just pick any Saturday that I blogged in 2006 or early 2007.


And to remind myself of persistance, I took a picture of the last holdout of Ballard condo development. She didn't sell, despite being offered up to $1M for her little house. She died in her house a couple of Sundays ago - some folks stuck flowers in her fence. I have to admire that, but when sister and I faced a similar decision, we sold.

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.50 coffee + $10 supermarket lunch

Found out that the bus pass will cost us $4 more/month, for a total of $171/yr that we shelter pre-tax.

The really thrilling frugal news is that downtown Seattle actually has a supermarket at 3rd/Pike. They had their grand opening today.


You go in and immediately head down the escalator and into the produce section...


No screaming great deals but a few good ones - 10/$10 odwalla bars, .79/lb bananas, .97/lb asparagus (not fond, but you might like). No parking - its downtown. And it was a bit of a mad house so the checkout lines were crazy. Matter of fact, the person behind me in line had enough time to notice the sale prices on a couple of items were higher than the regular price. Ha ha, be careful, supermarket, most of your customers will be accountants!


I know it sounds like a shameless plug for spending money, but its really great - now I can do the Rick Steves frugal picnic trick for lunch, rather than hitting the restaurants all the time. Pioneer Square has a couple of places, but their only produce is an apple and a whole lot of distilled grape products, if you know what I mean. And its so nice to know that when you have 5 people bring chips to the workplace potluck, you've got options. The Pike Market (3 blocks away) is great for produce and great bread, but what about the salad dressing and the butter?

Anyhow - bought my lunch and apple at the downtown supermarket and got a free cloth bag (note what the bagger was holding in the last picture) to add to my bag-of-bags collection.

Also found 10 cents on the street today.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.70 coffee + $12 lunch + $7 groceries

We got an apology from the real estate management company, or rather, from the guy who was subbing for our contact when he went on vacation. The water bill had been paid and soon we will get our bill.

I get to stand down. Not only did I fill our water bottles last night, I also ran the dishwasher, and I took an extra-long shower after gym this afternoon, just in case it was to be my last for a few days.

Had lunch with the gang - lawyer friend, lawyer friend's partner, screenwriter friend. We ate at Bush Gardens, which is the oldest Japanese restaurant in Seattle. It was fascinating - a bit like the Japanese version of The Doghouse (old time diner in Seattle which closed in 1994). Not comparing the food, rather I'm comparing the old school mood. Despite the classic Japanese versus American diner, they were very similar - both places are/were institutions, each have/had their specific ways of doing things, each have/had wait staff as old as the hills (motto of The Doghouse: don't annoy the waitstaff - good waitstaff are harder to replace than customers), each had their peculiar etiquette and rules that you MUST CONFORM TO because conforming to the rules is the key to their success.

Which explains why I got scolded for asking for miso when I ordered ramen ...

Peri peri shrimp yesterday, creamy crockpot beans today. I'm confused - high end one day, low end the next.

No real recipe here - just a willingness to clean out the counters and use what was in the pantry.

First off, the beans were ones that sister sent me from her garden at the farmette. So while they were dried - they were freshly dried if that makes any sense.

Started soaking the beans at 5pm Saturday. Then at 11pm I drained them and put them in my crockpot with 2 chopped onions, what was left of the peri peri sauce (chile, olive oil, lemon juice, cilantro, parsely, garlic pureed into a smooth paste), excess chopped parsely and cilantro.

Set the crockpot to low at 11:30pm. (Gutsy to sleep with an 80s era crockpot turned on, I know, I know.)

I woke up at 9am to a wonderful smell, but I turned it off because I was going to be out and about. When I came back, I added to the crockpot a jar of simmer sauce from Trader Joe's, and a small can of tomato paste, then cranked the crockpot up again.

They turned out creamy and delicious, a happy accident. We had them with rice, but it would be great by itself or with a tortilla. Hopefully they won't be too musical in my digestive tract tomorrow.