Saving log - $0
Spending log - $7 lunch + $11 goodwill (shoes and light blouse)

Bought a pair of brown slip on shoes and a neutral light blouse for summer. Seattle is not known for summer particularly. Usually there's a three week space that you need something summery - after that, its long sleeves year round if you want. I just don't want to hit Paris in t-shirts.

Hit the gym again armed with an index card containing a lower body routine.

My bus ride goes past a sign that never fails to make me smile. Here it is.

Which to participate in next Saturday -

The Public Library book sale or
the Greenwood neighborhood yard sale?

Because I improved my hard drive, everything is slow enough so that I broke down and bought another 512M of memory ($59) from Memory Suppliers. I've ordered stuff from them off and on - USB drives, the last 512 M memory, an SD card if overstock.com fails. I've always been successful. Their memory configurator alone is a lifesaver. (link is in Sites I Enjoy if you need the memory configurator)

I hit it so lucky today at the thrift store. Because I'm a casual sort, what has been freaking me out for the Paris trip is that DH, MIL and I will be having a high end authentic French meal, a dress for an important occasion place...in May, when its warm. The plan was that I'd buy something there. Not that I wouldn't find anything there - - but its always been my shopping experience that desperation breeds frustration, high expense, and bad luck. When I have to find it, I won't, and that will cut into museum time. Today I found a navy blue, high-waisted sheath dress. Conservative, classic, flattering, readily accessorizable, and 10$.

A couple days ago I snapped a picture of our cherry tree.


We don't get many cherries off of it - the birds get there first. Somehow I've lived near a cherry tree for well over half of my life. We had one on the farm, my uncle had one, the rental in grad school had one, and now here. Funny story - the cherry tree at the grad school rental was so large that I didn't figure it out until a cherry hit me on the back of my neck.

Bought $33 box of chocolate truffles I picked at the local chocolatier for DH on Valentine's Day. It wasn't much of a decision - I just went for 2 of nearly everything except the coconut and the peanut butter. I know DH doesn't really like peanut butter, but I forgot whether he really loves or really hates coconut. It was just a whole lot easier to say two of everything but these two, and there is nothing like appearing to be decisive when there is a line behind you.

Opening the box later, the chocolates were nestled in two by two and it looked like the hold of Noah's Ark.

It was such a nice day today, that I also walked to the library, something that I hadn't gotten a chance to do since early December.

Saving log - 0$
Spending log - Denny's breakfast (10$) + groceries (22.54$)

DH told me this week that the old Larry's Market that went under this summer has arisen, phoenix-like from the ashes. Its now the HT (Hop Thanh) Oaktree Market.

Its quite an experience in there. The interior's been remodeled only a little bit, so right now there are still a lot of Larry's bits, some of the signs, the cafe, the kiosks, the sushi stand, the bakery and the wine section hardly look touched at all. And there is a section called "Sales" where I swear the Larry's leftovers landed to be resold.

But it looks like a great Asian grocery store. Picked up a couple of utensils where once the produce was, now its asian cookware and bulk cleaning supplies. Got the fresh seafood - crab, lobster, tilapia. The meat prices look spectacularly low - chicken drumsticks for .69/lb, beef ribs for $1.19 - and if you have a recipe that calls for duck gizzards or pig uteri, well, here's your place.

Freezer section's a treasure trove - I also picked up edamane for .99/lb, checked out the long bean (at $2.19/lb, too rich for my blood), and got a couple of types of asian pears for .89/lb. And for laughs, I got a small bottle of sake for $4.29.

Since I bought over $20 worth of stuff, I got to choose a little thank you gift.

Loved it - it looks a bit like a cross between Uwajimaya, Costco, with some Larry's memories thrown in. The prices seem to run about .20 - $1 cheaper than Uwajimaya, and the parking's a lot easier.

Next door is the Oaktree Cinema - so it looks like we will be smuggling in asian snacks to the movies now.

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - 2$ coffee, milk + $5 lunch

Collected my tip box squeezings and put them in the bank. $48. All told, since I've started slipping change and bucks into the tip box at work when I remembered, then sticking it in the bank once per month, I've saved about $1338 in two years. Its small, but the action is painless and its $1338 that I wouldn't have had.

My afternoon exercise bus passes right by a large North Seattle Goodwill, I've been in a couple of times. Every so often I talk to someone about the Goodwill - us frugal types somehow know each other... call it fru-dar - and I've discovered two things about my neighborhood Goodwill:

1.) Best general sales and the lowest markups are on Monday. Go on Monday if you want to buy big bags of stuff.

2.) The new electronics come out on Thursday, right before the weekend.

Survived the Thursday night/Friday morning storm all right. We (and to the best of my knowledge, our neighbors) have power and heat, had it on continuously, and we are thankful. About 150,000 folks in Seattle proper (500K throughout the PNW) were not so lucky.

The eerie, maddening thing - the power outages are very, very spotty. One side of the street would be out or one block would be out. At my bus stop Friday, the traffic light was out, the Walgreens and the Tully's coffeeshop was out, yet across the street the Safeway blazed bright and the little shops along that side were lit too. A co worker mentioned that her house had power, but her neighbors across the street did not. She planned on inviting her neighbors over. We used to do that for snow storms when we knew our neighbors better, using the food that you would be bummed about losing.

Lots of unfrugal activity. Other co workers are buying hotel rooms while they are waiting for the power to come back on. Every diner and restaurant has a line. According to the TV, gas seems to be running low, lines of cars waiting for gas are long - apparently by people driving around to keep warm. G$d, I hope that isn't the case. Surely we have to be better prepared than that! There are some Red Cross shelters, but unfortunately getting the word out and receiving the word depends on electricity.

Pride goeth before a big credit card bill.

Kicking around day. DH bought my Denny's lunch, I covered the tip. Then it was a haircut, and a cider because getting a haircut is so traumatic.

Talked to a Mormon elder, who was all of 20. He was passing out hot chocolate and pamphets on the street corner of 85th and Greenwood. I accepted the hot chocolate and a chat. Weird to think that my little Seattle neighborhood is hotbed of religious fervor and we are the heathens.

Spending - 2.65$ tip + 15$ haircut + 3$ cider

Noticed that a number of bloggers are writing about if they budget and/or if they reconcile their accounts. I don't budget, but boy, I reconcile my checkbook (and all my other accounts) online every day.

I don't know about everybody else, but once upon a time I didn't do either, and my accounts showed it. I figure that to get somewhere financially, you have to know whether you are overspending. You can either do it at the beginning/end of the month, which is what a budget is, or you do it continuously, which is what reconciling your checkbook is.

My mind can only wrap around these two choices, but I figure there must be more. So I throw out this question - how do you know if you are overspending?

Thanks, guys for your advice. I'm going to tell lawyer friend about it so when I stick his name on the cc:line he won't be surprised. Except for the 70% weirdness, the landlord and the rental are fine. We aren't insane nutball tenants; if we do call, they respond quickly. Best of all the rent hasn't changed any in 5 years.

So why do I rent? Well to tell you the truth in the simplest and least bitter-renter sounding way, financially we can't swing it in any fiscal responsible way right now, circa 2006-2007.

The median price of a house in Seattle/ King County about 400K. As a matter of fact, Zillow.com estimates the price of the place we rent at 370K. DH and I together make 60-65K, and we rent our 2-bedroom digs at 845$/month. Even with the most evil, fiscally suicidal I/O, neg-am, no doc ARM loan at a bogus teaser rate we would still pay about $500/month more than we rent. And a loan like that means that I would still be renting - from the bank instead of a landlord. To afford a 30yr fixed, we would need to at least double, even triple our income.

So we cheap it out, save our money, and wait. After all, a house is like any other purchase - you want to get a better price. No sense being frugal in your choices, save your money, then turn around and overpay in the largest purchase that you'll make in your life.

That's not to say we aren't interested. We're saving our money - house prices can drop, or they can rise even further. Conversely, we can save for a down payment or we will sit on a ton of money and rent. Either way, we sleep well at night.

Well, maybe not DH. His side of the bed has developed a slow leak. (Select Comfort is basically an air mattress with a phd.) At least with air, it is a lot less messy. Because my side is just fine, right now we are swapping out hoses, valves, etc, to narrow down just what is failing on DH's side of the bed. (BTW, take your best shot - I'm going to either delete or treasure your comments.)

Slushy, goopy mess today but a lot less icy. 2 buses on my normal bus route didn't come, so it was plan B - down the hill to the workhorse bus. I was 15 minutes late.

Savings log - $2 tip box (finally deposited this month's scrapings today), 8.04$ coming from this week's T-bill, and payday.
Spending log - $2 coffee/milk + $7 lunch.

Well, its snowing in North Seattle. Turned from rain to sleet to snow at about 2pm, while I was on my walk and trudging through to my errands. Didn't walk that much, but I'm expecting that if you're walking in the cold, you probably will burn off a few more calories because you are trying to stay warm in addition to getting somewhere.

There is about 2 inches on the ground as I type, and its still snowing strong. We tend to have snow days at work in parallel to Seattle Public Schools. If they're canceling school or starting late so do we.

Saturday
Spending log - $9.77 (brushes and paint container for a craft project) + 22.26$ groceries at Whole Foods (WF).

WF because we were in the Roosevelt neighborhood going to an art supply store. Seattle neighborhoods are funny - the Roosevelt neighborhood has about 6-7 audio stores within 3 blocks of each other. The neighborhood that I live in - Greenwood - had at least that many antique stores. Go figure why businesses are so lumpy like that.

I think I managed to get the only decent deals at WF, using my price book. It would have been about 15.00$, but I bought a bag of groceries for charity.

I think WF is so popular because its a prestige place to get caught. I wonder if that's a good general frugal rule. The chance of getting a good deal is in inverse proportion to a place's "coolness".

Sunday
Spending log - $3.28 (bagel and coffee) + 5.76$ (lacquer thinner) + 2.50$ box of crackers

I'm feeling a bit better today. I want to thank you all for your wonderful thoughts.

My cat's decline was gradual enough and he was a stoic. But by Friday he refused to eat anything, meowed like he was in severe pain and didn't put anything in the litter box, so off to the vet he went. His X-rays were a mess - a mass of abdominal cancer and a crystaline kidney. The vet couldn't find the other kidney.

I donated the rest of his unopened cat food - about 20 unopened cans and several unopened bags of Greenie cat treats - to the neighborhood PAWS cat adoption site. The folks at the site were very happy to see them, and it made me feel a lot better, too.

I plan to get another cat in about a year, but I'm a firm believer that cats appear karmically. They pick us. A cat will appear or a friend will introduce me to one. Until then, fond memories.

Savings log - 3$ to the tip box
Spending log - 862$ for the vet, X-ray, blood tests, euthanasia, and cremation. (My cat got a war souvenir - a pellet - when he had a run-in with a BB gun about 15 years ago, which we found out by an X-ray at that time. I had better see that BB in his ashes!)

That is, if the chiropractor cashes the check as soon as he gets it, and with the new banking rules about floats (there are none) you've got to assume it. Its as close to zero balance checking as I care to come. I did put 300$ in savings so I wasn't at the edge of my budget and I have 30$ in my wallet, so I can easily survive tomorrow and Tuesday's payday.

I just got caught up in spending this month. Sigh.

My gym will come through with the rest of my costume Monday, but I did get a black long sleeved top just in case (if you get it, they will; if you don't prepare, they won't). Lately large in tops and sweaters is loose, so I gambled and won: its a medium and it fits! I also got a new medium sports bra. Tight like the large bra used to be, so I have to consider it a goal. (41.91$)

Yesterday DH picked up a buffalo chuck, so we had buffalo pot roast last night. (Montana roots, I think.) Frugal for me because DH sprung for it, but at 3.99$/lb not particularly frugal for him. Haven't seen any fantastic deals in the grocery stores here right now. November's around the corner and around here that's the time chicken stock goes for 78 cents/can.

Made stuffed grape leaves for the potluck on Tuesday. Picked up ground lamb last week at $2.99/lb. Again not really all that frugal, but for stuffing grape leaves lamb is the easiest and the most authentic.

Yesterday DH and I were watching the little trick-er-treaters on Greenwood Ave Saturday afternoon. Like a lot of other places, Halloween has undergone a shift. I picked up a bag of candy in case we get a couple of traditionalists (or teenagers), but I really don't think that many little kids trick or treat on a week night anymore. Too dangerous, too little return.

It was a blast watching all the little tykes dressed as frogs, queens, Star Wars characters (to the Darth Vader with the plait hanging down the back - you go girl!), superheroes, t-rexs, princesses, sports stars, playing cards, monkeys...its a great irony that we adults allow our children to be creative but as adults - and adult women especially - costumes are narrowly defined, generally on the wench line. Its like we say to kids be anything to have fun, but to an adult be sexual to have fun.

Ah... Before freecycle.org, before craigslist, before Overstock.com there was:

Hardwick's.

Hardwick's is another slice of old time, blue collar Seattle. How to describe? It used to be a used-hardware store, its four rooms stuffed to rafters with the concentrated squeezings of the hardware, tools, garden tools, kitchen ware, a bit of furniture coming from hundreds of yard sales. The stuff could be pretty good, but you had to paw through it. If you actually found exactly what you were looking for, you should have gotten an award or at least a deep discount on your next tetanus shot.

It was a mess. It was glorious.

Now Hardwick's is considerably cleaner, with a lot of new goods (items on consignment, things that didn't sell at Ace, etc) in amongst the old stuff. You can find things quickly now. The prices are still great, but the serendip is gone.

I just hope they still have the guy who hand draws the gift certificate on the bottom of the paper bag.

Weekend 5 or 6 without the car; I lost track. Luckily we are now getting into spring and summer in Seattle, when all the neighborhoods have local events. This weekend was the Greenwood Art Walk, which was a juried show of artists set in local businesses all along Greenwood Avenue, the main drag of our little neighborhood.

DH and I walked over a bit of it this afternoon. The art was fun, but the best part was going into little businesses that you pass by in the car - the guitar store, the game store, the chocolatier, the coffeeshop, the antique store. The local wine shop had a free wine tasting. We bought two bottles - $18. I also bought a small painting of a Keith Haring-like bright cartoony sun for my office, which is in the basement - $25. Its the first piece that I bought from this sort of event. I figured I would get 25$ of enjoyment out of it.

A bit spendy, but it was our way to buy locally and support a local business if we buy at all.

I had no Saturday gym appointment with the trainer and it was the second Saturday without a car, so it was DH and I entertaining ourselves on foot. After a little grocery shopping of all light items, our plan was to walk to the library and back.

Just at the other end of our block lay the first yard sale of the day. It turns out that our general neighborhood - Greenwood, in North Seattle - was holding a gigantic garage sale extravaganza, with over 100 garage sales spread out over 30 square blocks.

I'm of two minds with a yard sale. I love a great deal as much as the next frugal woman, but if you can't put it to use immediately it doesn't matter if its $1 or $1,000,000, it feeds an underlying shopping addiction. Its a bit like commending an alcoholic on their frugality if they get drunk on MD20/20 rather than the finest wine.

Anyway, I must have had a taste for the shopping equivalent of MD20/20; we hit four sales getting to the library and we had a fine time pawing through other people's stuff. I bought 2 CDs for a 1$ apiece which I've ripped to put on my MP3 player, and a Patrick O'Brian novel for .50.

But that was it - I could have bought a jigsaw, a multitude of baskets, purses, and shoes, Thucydides' Pelopenesian War, brownies for sustenance, a woven pillow, a needlepoint pillow, about a thousand VCRs, three stools - bar or step. In other words, junk I didn't need.

The visit to the library and back again for a free mocha (my 10th drink on a card) rounded out the day.

Spending log - 33$ groceries (a month's worth of breakfast bars) + 2.50$ yard sale spending + 1.50$ bagel with the mocha.