We heard from the pipeline company, in the form of $250 to re-up their right-of-way option for 6 months. AS looked over the contract and says this the only time they can do that; in April they'll either need to pay up, drop the option or renegotiate with all of the landowners. I don't think the third thing will happen because it took them months and months to get everyone in line the first time, so it'll either be all the money or nothing by April.

Also got $28 from cable company as a partial month refund.

I also realized I still had $168 set aside for the kids' swim lessons, but we missed the fall session and won't be signing up again until spring. So I put that into our surplus too.

I also transferred another $2000 onto the 0% card. So that's another $2K I can keep in the bank in case it's needed to get out from under the condo.

(If there was no money coming in from anywhere else I would need all of that credit card money, plus the tuition money I saved while taking out a student loan, plus the money I've been setting aside for Roth IRA make-ups. But I keep forgetting that if I do sell the condo, I won't have mortgage or association payments anymore. Since I'm budgeted out to February, that's quite a bit of money that would be added to the budget if we sold. So I might not have to use all the money set aside for these other things.)

On the other hand, I might do all of those things and stockpile the mortgage/association money to pay off the promissory note to the seller. He's a nightmare -- will only work from paper checks but wants me to send him 12 checks upfront. I want to mail one at a time. I have them set up automatically from my checking account but so far there's been a problem with both September and October's payments. And now I have an extra e-payment in limbo I sent him when he thought he hadn't received the October check, that he hasn't used or responded to let me know his intentions with it. He's a thoroughly unpleasant person just by email (I've never met or spoken to him) and I can't wait to get him out of my life forever.

So maybe I WILL keep the 0% credit card balance, the new student loan and forget about catching up on Roths, and just save up money once we sell the condo so I can pay him off in a lump sum as soon as possible.

Still deciding.

In other news, I broke down and bought some things that just weren't showing up for free any of the places free things tend to appear. 2 sweaters for work ($11) and two scarves and a hat for the kids ($12) at the thrift store. And 2 side tables for the living room, $30 on Craigslist. Not bad prices anyway.

I also spent $24 at a bar after my work friend's funeral, hanging out with co-workers. A bunch of us didn't just want to be alone after the service, so it was worth it to feel that camaraderie. Although with that plus the sweaters, I've overspent my weekly money. That's OK though. I don't have anything planned and nothing else I really need for a while. At the end of this month our kids are staying over at daycare Friday and part of Saturday, so we'll have a date night. And in November one of our favorite comedians is in town, so we've got to pay in for those tickets ($15 apiece).

Other than that, we've been finding frugal ways to have fun. Last night we made pizza from scratch for our friend/downstairs neighbor's birthday, and later this month we have an autumn-themed potluck with a bunch of friends coming. And November is NaNoWriMo, so I might take part in that again.