I feel wiped out by this week. I'm so glad it's almost over!

Highlights and low points:

Monday I got the news that I need some dental surgery; now I wish the appointment would just come, because I can't help imagining that my mouth is deteriorating even more in the meantime. But it's scheduled for Sept. 3, so I just have to be patient. I'm not even that worried about how much it will cost; I mostly just want to feel like I have a healthy mouth again! (I may be singing a different tune when I see the bill, but we'll see.)

I got a bunch of books listed on half.com, and I've sold 4 out of 31! We're averaging a profit of about $6 per book so far, so I'm happy.

I listed five items on eBay, which I don't use very often, and I've gotten absolutely obsessed with it, checking every few hours to see if there's been any new interest. I can't tell how they're going to do, because I listed them all at 99 cents, and so far three of them have 99-cent bids. But there are at least two people watching most of the items, so I hope they'll go up. It's an interesting mix of items: a 1946 General Mills iron still in its cute retro packaging, an antique book (possibly from the 1890s) about a female Civil War soldier, a 1961 book on decorating for teenagers, and two collections of classic erotica books (one set from the 60s and one from the 80s). I think they're all good items but I'm not really sure how much they'll go for. Oh well, at least they'll all get good homes, and if people get huge bargains on them it will be so exciting for them. I've learned from one of my favorite shows, Cash in the Attic on BBC, that you have to be willing to let things go at any cost if you're going to put them in an auction.

This weekend a friend is driving me to some used bookstores to try and sell as many books as possible before the garage sale. Whatever they turn down is going into the sale. We already have hundreds of books earmarked for that, so it's going to be quite a job hauling it all over to the sale!

NT got a $100 bill last night because they had to cancel a work gathering, and the founder wanted them to celebrate with their family instead. So we ordered our favorite gourmet pizza, had it delivered, and each got big, elaborate ones that would give us enough for lunch today as well. It came to $60, we gave the driver $10, and NT gave me the other $30 to put in our travel fund. Hooray! I wish it were lunchtime right this second so I could eat my leftovers.

I got to check over the above friend's budget (he's trying to track finances and get out of debt for the first time), and I helped him cut a few costs. It was very exciting because no one in the real world has ever asked for my help before. And now I have someone in the real world who will geek out about budgeting with me.

One of NT's UK pensions has lost about $1600 over the past year, so that will affect our next net worth update. But it shouldn't take us backward thanks to our huge credit card payment last week.

AS listed the futon at her college, and we've gotten two calls so far. Hope to close the deal for at least $85, today if possible.

I have bills stacking up in my purse, which is unusual for me. Nonurgent stuff like medical copays, dentist bills and student loan interest payments on deferred loans. I'm planning on using my September extra debt-repay to wipe all these out, but some of that money will actually be available with our Aug. 15 paychecks, so if I get a chance I will set those payments up today. It's been busy at work, and I've been writing this post in between jobs, but now it seems to be slowing down.

I still haven't finished up the UK taxes! It's OK if it waits till after the garage sale and all these other sales, but I want to get it off my plate soon...

Oh yeah, and our smoke alarm has been chirping angrily every few minutes for a couple days now. We're finally getting the handyman to come look at it, so that'll be another expense. If we don't use all our September extra money for the above-mentioned expenses, I'll save the rest to cover repairs.

Phew! No wonder I feel wiped out this week. Except for pricing some more garage-sale items, the bookstore jaunt and some grocery shopping, I'd like this to be a fairly quiet and relaxing weekend.