Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog

For CCF and anyone else interested, here are the pics of the main living area of our condo!

I did tidy up a bit more than I do on weeknights, but didn't try to quickly solve any of the clutter problems I wrote about in my last post. Soo ... be kind!

OK, so here's the view through the hallway from the foyer into the living space ... note record collection and random liquor bottles on left, AA's toy kitchen & the cat's house thingie that AA also plays with more than Noodles does.


Here's a view from the corner of the kitchen, looking over the island, that attempts to capture as much of the space in one shot as possible.


Here's the kitchen straight-on ... very small space. The stuff that's out pretty much has to be out; we've used most of the cabinet space to its capacity.


Here's the living room, and the least problematic view of the space, probably; unfortunately it's the view I look at the least, since I spend a lot of time on this couch.


Here's the dining room/crafts room. The sewing cabinet is behind the dining room table; the sewing machine lowers into it, which is super sweet because it's one less bit of "stuff" visible. To the left is my pet peeve, the sewing supplies storage unit.


Here's the view of the DVD/CD/videogame storage that AS finds problematic. I will admit that the clock which was there when we had a much taller entertainment center looks sort of silly and off-center.


This built-in cabinet is against the wall by the window, and in the lower right you can see the toy shelf and the board games shelf just peeking out behind the couch -- the couch is about 8 inches away from the shelf, so getting games is a pain, but we don't play them that often now that we have kids, so it doesn't matter too much. If we had room elsewhere, that's something I'd consider moving (the board games).


Closer view of the toys and games:


And, just so you can see some of the more "necessary" clutter -- AA's blackboard, our rocking chair, the bassinet up on two chairs, the swing, the bouncy seat -- so you can see why I want to simplify elsewhere and give my eyes a rest! (To the left in this shot you can see the balcony door covered by the brown curtain.)


There you go, my life laid bare. Let me know any suggestions or ideas this gives you of how to improve.

We've been watching a lot of HGTV lately, at least having it on in the background. (We used to like watching true crime shows when nothing else was on, but we all agree that it's too scary now having two young daughters, because too many feature brutal crimes against young women.)

Anyway, it's kind of inspiring, but then frustrating, because you start to see all the flaws in your own home's design, and figure out solutions, but none of the really amazing solutions come cheap. We REALLY don't have money to spend on interior decorating this year. Truth be told, I don't want to spend a ton on it until our student loan debt is gone (about three years from now if we stay at our current pace).

We all have particular pain points that we don't like about our main living space. (The bedrooms are actually in pretty nice shape.) The problem is that we have a big open-plan living space combining living room, kitchen and dining room. This is also where AA spends most of her time playing and where SL spends most of her time lying around in various bouncy chairs, bassinets, etc. It's our family room, entertainment center, sewing station, you name it!

Being such a multipurpose space, it has lots of stuff stored everywhere. The "stuff" is pretty well organized, but since it's all on open shelving, the cumulative effect is rather cluttered. We have kitchen appliances, fabrics and craft books, DVDs, CDs, many of AA's toys and books, NT's DJ equipment, and family board games all basically out in the open. Oh yeah, and in the nearby hallway we have a massive shelving unit that houses NT's record collection as well as various bottles of liquor, the cat's toy basket, and a few other random odds and ends. I love clean lines, and while I realize a family of 5 in 960 square feet who love home-based entertainments can't exactly be minimalist, I do wish there was a way to minimize or hide away some of our "stuff."

AS's least favorite stuff is the bookcases of DVDs and CDs. I'm bugged by her fabric collection, the toys and games, and the turntables etc. NT would love to have art covering the few blank spots on the walls (I actually like the blank spots because they offer my eye some relief, but I'd probably consent to some art if it weren't too busy). I'm also constantly moving rubble off our kitchen island and hiding it away, because it's a magnet for the random crap we bring home at the end of the day (mail, keys, phones, etc.)

The easiest (but one of the most expensive) solution would be to buy storage units that have doors to hide away the busy-ness of our stuff. We also talked about folding screens and curtains last night. We could probably fit a bit more stuff into closets if we really moved stuff around and downsized the stuff we already store there, but not everything would fit.

Anyway, just thinking out loud. I would love to find short-term solutions that would satisfy all of us and didn't break the bank. Maybe I should post photos and ask for your input, huh?

10-min. workout: Yes! I did a random combo of things like pushups, crunches, jumping jacks and squats.
Results so far: 15/18 (15 out of 18 days)

Calorie counting: Estimated 1480. (My target is 1280-1400.) I had a high-calorie dinner but skipped breakfast because I still felt full from the night before. So it came out about right.
Results so far: 16/18 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: Success! Nursing a chamomile tea as I write this, happy to be back on track.
Results so far: 16/18

I finally cracked the code! We used to get this amazing sauce with tofu spring rolls at a local Vietnamese restaurant, but it closed down about 5 years ago. Since then, I've been making a pale imitation of the sauce, based on what the waitress told me once when I begged her for the secret. All she told me were the ingredients: Coke, Sprite, peanut butter, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and chili sauce.

Most dipping sauce recipes just involve combining the ingredients cold, so that's what I do. It tasted pretty close, but it was difficult to get the nice thick consistency without adding more peanut butter than I wanted.

Recently it occurred to me to try cooking it to thicken it. Tonight's the first time I tried it, and I nailed it! So here it is, the yummiest spring roll dipping sauce I've ever had. Makes enough for probably 12 spring rolls.

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 c Coke
1/4 c Sprite
1/4 c unsweetened peanut butter
1/4 c hoisin sauce
1/8 c soy sauce
Sri Racha sauce to taste (I added about 1/2 t)

DIRECTIONS:
Pour Coke and Sprite into a small saucepan and heat on med-high while you measure the other ingredients into the pan. Use a fork to break down the peanut butter and blend it all together. When it's boiling, reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes or until it reaches a nice consistency (like gravy or apple butter). It'll thicken a tad more when it cools, but not much.

I serve these with tofu spring rolls. Ideally (when I have time to make them my favorite way), this consists of:

- Tofu, pressed, cut into pieces, fried in peanut oil until slightly crispy, and drained & cooled on paper towels (slightly warm is nice)
- Lettuce, shredded into strips
- Rice vermicelli, cooked & cooled (keep in cold water until you're ready to use it, so it doesn't get clumpy, then drain when ready to assemble the rolls)
- Several stalks of cilantro
- Spring roll wrappers

Pour very hot (not boiling; you need to be able to touch it with bare hands) water into a pie plate. Take one wrapper and dip into water, rotating it in your hands and dipping until it's all wet. (It will soften as you put the ingredients on it.) Put on clean surface, place tofu in a row (leaving room to fold down the top and bottom like a burrito), add small clump of rice noodles, small handful of lettuce, and lay 2-3 strips of cilantro on top. (The leafy tops can stick out for a nice visual.) Then roll up, and serve as soon as possible so the wrappers are still nice and haven't started to harden.

The sauce would be good with other things too! It's awesome!

10-min. workout:
June 16 -- Yes! I biked to and from the grocery store. It was 10 minutes each way, so 20 min. total.
June 17 -- sadly, no.
Results so far: 14/17 (13 out of 15 days)

Calorie counting: FAIL on both days. I could go back and try to guesstimate, but I may as well start fresh today.
Results so far: 15/17 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks:
June 16 -- Another slip-up. We got home late and tipsy from our first date night since SL was born, and decided to order food from our fave pizza place. I had a giant sandwich and some veggie buffalo wings -- more of a huge meal than a snack!
June 17 -- Success, but mainly because I was STUFFED from another big meal and couldn't even contemplate tea, let alone food. I still feel kinda full this morning ...
Results so far: 15/17

So our weigh-in was last night, and I had a bad feeling since the meal we'd had a couple hours ago was still sitting in my stomach like a big guilt-inducing stone. Sure enough, I was up THREE pounds, back up to 142 which seems to be my resting weight when I'm not being good. Sigh. I'm hoping part of that is a bigger-than-usual fluctuation due to the giant meal in my belly. Plus, lots of non-homemade food usually equals higher sodium & thus more water weight. Maybe.

The weekend was a fun, and unusual, whirlwind. I'm slightly devastated to lose ALL my progress of the past month because of two days, but it was ALMOST fun enough to counteract that feeling.

Saturday we did grocery shopping in the morning, spent most of the afternoon at "Haircut Day" (we all go together once a month and hang out with our barber friend). Saturday night we had free tickets to a fancy soiree at the Governor's Mansion (snagged the invite from a wealthy alumna of my college who actually lived in the mansion as a child, before her family gifted the house to the state). It was quite a night!

Sunday was Father's Day so we spent the whole day spoiling NT. I helped AA (who's 2) serve him breakfast in bed to start. Then AS and I cooked up an exotic (for us, since we'd never cooked these dishes before) Persian-themed lunch. We cleaned up and watched the kids while he went to get a new tattoo (among other things he added SL's name and birth date to his arm, so it was fitting for Father's Day). Then I got a carshare and drove him to an Indian restaurant for dinner.

So it was super fun, but really pricy and took an obvious toll on my fitness goals.

10-min. workout: Yes! I biked to and from the CSA drop site to pick up our veggies. It was 8 minutes each way, so 16 min. total.
Results so far: 13/15 (13 out of 15 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1802. (My target is 1280-1400.) Yikes! Dinner really added up, even though it didn't feel that filling.
Results so far: 15/15 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: Success! Just some tea.
Results so far: 14/15

***

AS just randomly saw a job posting for a position in England that she seems ideally suited for. Now, getting hired in England as a non-citizen is really hard because supposedly they have to declare that you're a better candidate than anyone not only in England but the whole European Union as well. But AS is pretty awesome.

Talking about it was scary and exciting. It made us realize that we'd like to be a lot more financially secure before we try, because it would be an expensive move and at least some of us would experience an interruption in income.

Also, the thought of doing all the legal stuff again (both the immigration and the estate/adoption stuff) just makes me feel tired.

I realized too that in my projections of late, I've been envisioning a future with no interruption in our trajectory financially. Moving to England, which is our ultimate goal, would be a big interruption. Last year I realized I needed to map out more scenarios so we'd be prepared for that, but with the new baby and everything I just haven't gotten around to it.

We'll talk to NT tomorrow (he's already in bed), but AS has pretty much decided it's just not a good time to go for the job. She needs to strengthen her career and solidify her reputation, and I need to get our financial house more in order.

I agree with AS more than halfway. But another part of me knows that opportunities and chances aren't infinite, and also that the longer we stay here, the deeper our roots and the harder it'll get to uproot.

It's so crazy to be a binational family, and especially one that doesn't fit legally recognizable structures. It feels a bit unsteady at times. Like, I know we're solid as a family, but the outside world seems wobbly. And sometimes I feel like that wobbliness could threaten our stability.

The USDA released their interesting study of what people spend on their kids. Of course all the news articles about it have headlines bleating "It costs $235,000 to raise a child in the U.S.!!!" The study itself is much less alarmist. They're talking what people SPEND, not what a basic, good child-raising would cost.

So, I had some fun playing with numbers to see how I stack up. You can play too! Here's the study: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/CRC/crc2011.pdf. I'm basing my calculations on page 29, the line for a year of raising a 0- to 2-year-old, with before-tax income of more than $102,590, in the urban Midwest.

Their estimates:
Total expense $20,070 (so $40,140 with 2 kids age 0-2)
Housing $6,850
Food $1,830
Transportation $2,500
Clothing $1,030
Health care $940
Child care and education $5,080
Miscellaneous $1,840

My estimates (with some explanation):

Housing $120 (Most of their estimate comes from upsizing to a home with more bedrooms, which we didn't do. They include furniture, and we have spent a bit on a crib, shelves, dresser over the years, though most has been borrowed/hand-me-down/used. This is my estimate per year per kid.)

Food $540 (SL doesn't take any food except vitamin D supplements, and I suppose a few extra calories for AS while nursing. AA doesn't eat much more than we'd cook before, but she does drink milk and eat yogurt and string cheese and a few other things we wouldn't have bought before. So I estimated $85 per month for her and $5 per month for SL [that will clearly go up when AS needs to transition her from breastfeeding to formula].

Transportation $888 (I included the cost of the stroller $1100 minus the profit we made from our hand-me-down stroller $400, so I included $700. After some back-and-forth, I also included the Hourcar, which we spend about $90 per month on. Although we might have eventually gotten a carshare anyway, having kids definitely pushed us toward that decision. We don't actually use it to transport them much, but we use it for convenience and speed partly because kids add more work and take more time out of your day.)

Clothing $816 (Though we hardly ever buy clothes for the kids, we use a cloth diaper service [$91 per month] and buy compostable diapers for when AA is at daycare [about $45 per month]. That's 100% of this cost; any other bits of clothing we buy like sunglasses, socks and the occasional pair of sneakers are truly negligible when divided over 2 kids over a year.)

Health care $750 (I'm only counting the healthcare deductible, which is pretax so even less than this. They have the occasional co-pay or bottle of medicine needed, but both kids have been insanely healthy so far, and so there's really not much else so far.)

Child care and education $6900 (Here's the first cost we have that's greater than the average. We have a REALLY good price for where we live in the city, but I suppose they average it in with the metro area and get a lower average; or maybe people don't have full-time daycare like we do.)

Miscellaneous $1,056 (My estimate is a bit lower than the USDA's. I counted $100 each for Xmas and for each of their b-days; $8 per month each for miscellaneous gifts & supplies; and $63 per month to cover the additional cost of travel [AA needs her own seat now when we fly]. These are just estimates [except the Xmas and b-day gifts].)

Total expense $10,254 (so $20,508 with 2 kids age 0-2)

So, we spend a bit more than half the average in our region for our income level. Not bad! I'll be interested to see if we track the averages at this level the whole time through having kids, as different expenses come and go.

10-min. workout: Yes! I was very close to copping out AGAIN. But I finally talked myself into doing 10 minutes: mostly crunches, some mountain climbers, plank holds and jumping jacks.
Results so far: 12/14 (12 out of 14 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1276! (My target is 1280-1400.) OMG! My first time getting under my max target, I even made it under my lowest target! Didn't feel like a particularly light day, but it worked out that way.
Results so far: 14/14 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: Success! Just some tea.
Results so far: 13/14

Debt repayment: sent some money to NT's student loan, with $107 going to principal. That takes us to $927 paid, $73 to go on the debt goal AS's student loan payment at the end of the month will push us over the top.

10-min. workout: Yes! I was very close to copping out tonight; heavy meal later in the evening than usual. But I finally talked myself into doing 10 minutes of upper-body free weights.
Results so far: 11/13 (11 out of 13 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1517. (My target is 1280-1400.) Not too bad. My evening meal was heavier than usual, but my breakfast was light so it kind of balanced out.
Results so far: 13/13 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: Success! I couldn't even finish the dinner I'd dished up, so I definitely don't need a snack. I am having some chai tea but that fits within my exceptions.
Results so far: 12/13

10-min. workout: Yes! I went to our regular trivia night with friends, and I first walked down the 18 flights of our condo (4 min) and then jogged to the bar (6 min).
Results so far: 10/12 (10 out of 12 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1594. (My target is 1280-1400.) I was actually under 1280 before I went to the bar, but I had a glass of sangria and shared a plate of fries, so that pushed me way over.
Results so far: 12/12 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: Uh, see above. I had french fries and sangria. The first night I've cheated.
Results so far: 11/12

10-min. workout: Yes! I was trying to decide what to do, but AA wanted to practice jumping (she just learned how!) and wanted me to do it too. So I kept doing it (and "falling down," and leaping away from her in a kind of chase) for 10 min. Phew! I'm realizing that if you focus, it's really easy to get the heart rate up for 10 min. without a lot of preparation or thought.
Results so far: 9/11 (9 out of 11 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1403. (My target is 1280-1400.) My best day so far -- only 3 calories over! (And I only estimate some measurements, so I could well be in range.)
Results so far: 11/11 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: Success again!
Results so far: 11/11

Had our weekly weigh-in tonight and I was down 2 lbs. to 139! Yay, glad to be in the 130s again and to be back at my starting weight for the year. Now I just have 10 lbs. to go on my goal. Which is to say I'm back to square one, but it's better than being completely off the board!

Now on to today's fitness tracking.

10-min. workout: Yes! We walked about 4 miles total today, to and from a friend's brunch, but that was pretty leisurely so I don't count it. However, I did 10 minutes of upper-body weights and ab exercises when we got home.
Results so far: 8/10 (8 out of 10 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1637. (My target is 1280-1400.) Not too bad!
Results so far: 10/10 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: I had some celery with peanut butter, which is one of my allowable exceptions, so it still counts as a success.
Results so far: 10/10

10-min. workout: Yes! NT and I went on two separate errands, totaling about 40 minutes of biking. Plus we walked a few miles to and from a local arts event with the girls in their stroller. Fun, exhausting day!
Results so far: 7/9 (7 out of 9 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1965. (My target is 1280-1400.) It was kind of a high-calorie day, but I feel like I more than made up for it with activity.
Results so far: 9/9 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: success! I didn't even have (free) wine or beer at the event, just water. I may have some tea, because that's becoming a comforting ritual.
Results so far: 9/9

10-min. workout: Yes! I had to pick AA up from daycare, and I had relatively comfy shoes on, so I jogged home (OK, walk/jogged; there are hills). Took almost exactly 10 minutes.
Results so far: 6/8 (6 out of 8 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1515. (My target is 1280-1400.) My lowest day so far! Very exciting. At first I felt hungry during the day, but the last meal really filled me up. Hopefully I'm getting acclimated to smaller, lighter meals.
Results so far: 8/8 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: success! I did have some fresh strawberries (those are in the calorie count above, and within the allowances for night snacks). I'm still pretty full from dinner, so I'll be fine with a cup of herbal tea.
Results so far: 8/8

10-min. workout: Yes! I was feeling tired and hungry when I got home, so I looked for the thing I could get out of the way the quickest. So I jumped rope for 10 minutes. Whew, tiring!
Results so far: 5/7 (5 out of 7 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1609. (My target is 1280-1400.) My third lowest day so far! I skipped wine tonight because I knew dinner was going to add up to be a bit heavy (veggie burger on toast, corn on the cob w/margarine, potato salad w/vegan mayo)
Results so far: 7/7 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: success! I'm still pretty full from dinner, so I'll be fine with a cup of herbal tea.
Results so far: 7/7

We budget $700 per month for groceries and household (including some but not all the diapers we use, plus wipes). ($754 if you count the amount I escrow to save up for our summer CSA vegetable farm share.) We don't even try to get all organic like LuckyRobin (whose post inspired this train of thought) and yet we still struggle to meet $700 per month. We're constantly going over this amount, and I've occasionally refreshed our funds with budget surpluses. We're not going to have many surpluses this year, probably, so it's even more paramount that we stick to it.

A couple months ago I started feeding our Amex card rewards, which is 6% for groceries, straight back into the grocery budget. That's about $40 per month. That's helped somewhat. Also, if anyone wants extras like ice cream or chips, they now pay that back in from spending money.

I'm hoping now that the CSA share is about to kick in, our weekly grocery expenses will get under control for the summer at least.

When SL starts going to daycare, she'll need compostable diapers during the day since our daycare lady doesn't do cloth ones. So, starting in August, I'm upping our budget to $750 per month. So, if you add $54 for the CSA and $40 in Amex rewards, our grocery/household budget will be at $844 per month.

Hopefully AA will potty-train this year and help ease the diaper costs that are one of the main sources of pain for our budget. We haven't been pushing her but plan to start in earnest in August if she hasn't shown any more interest in self-training before then.

10-min. workout: Yes! I walked upstairs to the condo and then checked my time -- it had only taken 4 minutes. So I walked down and up the last flight of stairs -- maybe the equivalent of another 18 floors? -- for 6 more minutes. My legs will feel it tomorrow! My arms are very sore from the sworkit.com workout yesterday
Results so far: 4/6 (4 out of 6 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1570. (My target is 1280-1400.) My second lowest day so far!
Results so far: 6/6 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: success! I'm a bit peckish, but since my calorie count is already over my limit, I won't even have fruit or veggies. My chamomile tea will get me through.
Results so far: 6/6

10-min. workout: Yes! AS told me about a cool website (also a mobile app) -- sworkit.com -- that generates workouts based on the amount of time you have. I asked for 10 minutes and got a pretty intense workout! I didn't know some of the exercise so I faked it or did something similar; I'll have to look up the exercises before I use this again. Good website though!
Results so far: 3/5 (3 out of 5 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1628. (My target is 1280-1400.) Not too bad! A half cup of lemonade and a cup of red wine pushed me over 1400.
Results so far: 5/5 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: success! I'm finishing a glass of wine I was too busy to drink earlier, but I won't have any late night snacks tonight.
Results so far: 5/5

Now to my two random refunds:

First, that dentist that charged me so much sent me a $228 check. No explanation, so I'm not sure which visit it's a refund for! I'm pleased, but maybe not enough to use them again. I think I'll try another place.

I'm going to put that money back into the medical fund; we'll probably need it for AS's and SL's hospital bills from the birth.

And second, this morning when AS's mom checked out of the hotel we'd paid for, they gave her an invoice that showed they'll be refunding $260! (Now I just have to remember which card I used!) Weird ... part of it seems to be a refund for the first night, since her flight was canceled and she didn't come in Friday night. Not sure why it was so much. Or why they refunded that, since it was a special nonrefundable online rate. But who's complaining?? It was nearly half of what we'd paid for the room. If I really do get that refund, I'll put it aside because NT's sister and stepmom, and maybe his brother-in-law and father, are thinking about coming to visit later this year, and we'll handle the hotel costs if they do. This $260 is a nice chunk of change toward that!

10-min. workout: Yes! I did quite a bit of walking today, some of it hauling SL in a carseat, but the real workout was a 10-min. walk carrying AS, who probably weighs about 35 lbs. My biceps felt quite worked out by the time I was done!
Results so far: 2/4 (2 out of 4 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 2610. (My target is 1280-1400.) Whoops! We took AS's mom out to eat at a local BBQ restaurant and then to an ice cream shop. That meal alone was probably about 1300 calories.
Results so far: 4/4 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my target, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: success! I can say with all certainty I do NOT want a snack tonight. May have a cup of chamomile to relax before bed.
Results so far: 4/4

10-min. workout: Nope. I did walk quite a bit yesterday, so I feel good overall, but nothing vigorous enough to count in this challenge. Once AS's mom leaves I'll devote myself to this part of the challenge.
Results so far: 1/3 (1 out of 3 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1717. (My target is 1280-1400.)
Results so far: 3/3 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my limit, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: success! Had a cup of peppermint tea
Results so far: 3/3

Also, finally lost some of the weight from May! I'm down to 141, which is still 2 lbs. over my starting weight for the year, and 12 lbs. higher than I want to be, but nice to see some movement on the scale.

And now ... I entered my May debt repayment to my "Past Goals and Results" page, and realized that our total payoff since May 2007 has been more than $150,000! I told AS and NT and their first reaction was "I can't believe we got in this much debt!" It's hard to imagine because for the past 5 years, we've had a completely different attitude toward money than we did for the first 10+ years of adulthood.

But, it means we've pretty much reduced our debt by one-third. Considering how much we started with, no small feat!

10-min. workout: Yes! In fact, I did 2 10-min. bike rides, so 20 min. total.
Results so far: 1/2 (1 out of 2 days)

Calorie counting: estimated 1549. My goal is 1280-1400. Much closer, but my 2 glasses of wine pushed me over the edge.
Results so far: 2/2 (my goal is to track, so even if I go over my limit, it counts as a success)

No night snacks: success! Had a cup of chamomile tea
Results so far: 2/2

AS's mom finally arrived for her visit. She's currently luxuriating in her hotel, after an exhausting journey and a ton of drama back home. (You wouldn't believe the stories she told last night ... but I won't go into it here.) When she's up, we'll take her to brunch.

10-min. workout: nope, didn't get one in today

Calorie counting: estimated 2150. My goal is 1280-1400. Whoops!

No night snacks: success! Had a cup of chamomile tea

Today was kind of a mess. I was meant to have summer hours (leave at 1 pm) but instead ended up staying nearly an hour later than a regular day.

Meanwhile, AS's mom who was supposed to fly in at 7 pm kept calling with updates on more and more delays (crazy storms out in the DC area) until finally they canceled her flight and booked her for tomorrow night. I don't even think they gave her any perks for delaying her trip 24 hours! Not to mention $118 of hotel went to waste (it was nonrefundable, and even if it weren't, we probably found out too late to cancel). Oh, and a $5 fee for canceling the carshare we were going to use to pick her up.

So hopefully she'll get in on time tomorrow night. She leaves Tuesday at noon, and this is going to be her only visit with her new grandkid this year, so I don't want it to get any shorter!

Oh well. She was in pretty good spirits the last time AS talked to her; she's very outgoing but doesn't get out much, I get the sense, so I think she just enjoyed being at the airport and chatting with lots of strangers.

All our mortgage payments hit:
US: $442 to principal
UK1: $263 to principal
UK2: $56 to principal
UK3: $59 to principal

All told, $820 down, $180 to go on the debt goal.

We had a bit left over in UK checking after the mortgage payments, for a change, so I transferred US$100 into EF savings. Getting close to our starting point for the year, but not there yet. Sigh.

On a brighter note, this was the first time ever that we paid more to principal than interest on our U.S. mortgage! Only by about 50 cents, but still feels momentous! Only took us about 9 years. I don't know if we'll be here long, though, if rates go up in November.

May went very well in the debt and fitness departments (though not in the savings, net worth or weight loss areas ...).

May goals:
Pay off at least $1,100 of debt.
Balance as of 5/30/12: $310,772
Goal balance: $310,823
Progress: DONE! $1151 down

5-5-5 FITNESS GOAL:
Do these 5 things at least 5 times:
1. Walk to or from work (XXXXX)
2. Exercise to a Gilad program (XXXXX)
3. Do free-weight training (XXXXX)
4. Ride my bike (XXXXX)
5. Walk up the stairs to my condo (XXXXX)
Progress: DONE!

My June debt repayment is very up in the air; will probably be minimal. Because I like debt goals I'm SURE I can reach, my goal is to pay off $1,000.

For June, as I mentioned, I have three healthy goals:
1. Do at least 10 minutes of VIGOROUS exercise per day.
2. Count all calories consumed (or, if that info not available, estimate).
3. Eliminate night snacking (exceptions: fruit, veggies, peanut butter, herbal tea).

I know PrettyCheapJewelry was probably looking more for a financial challenge, but I thought I'd share my fitness ones -- my financial ones aren't very "fun" or shareable.

These are my three goals:
- Do at least 10 minutes of intense exercise every day
- Count (or at least try to estimate) all calories consumed
- No night snacking unless it's fruit, raw veggies, sugar-free peanut butter or herbal tea

So, if any or all of these goals interest you, feel free to join me, and blog about your progress!

Caveat: I'm going easy on myself this weekend since we have AS's mom in town, though I will try to start the challenge. If I don't, it officially begins for me on Tuesday!

Lots of random little things have happened financially recently:

-We took part in a condo garage sale. We made $16 pretty early on and then not another penny. Spent $8 of it for 2 puzzles, a pair of snow boots and maybe something else. Since we'd been using the girls' piggy bank to make change, we just put the $8 or so of profit in with their money.

-Deposited said piggy bank and it was almost $100, so I made up the difference and moved it into savings for SL. She already has some money there. Once she has $1000, I'll open a CD for her.

-We took the clothes and some other stuff that didn't sell at the sale to the church donation van that parks across the street from us every Sunday.

-We took the books that didn't sell to a used bookstore. They took a few of the books and gave us $15, but we had a ton they didn't take. I looked at a few bookselling sites and confirmed that the books have pretty much no resale value. I looked up charities, and we're going to donate some of the books to the Women's Prison Book Project and the rest to the library. Both good causes.

-AS got a tax bill for $101.34 from the IRS; they claimed we'd overstated what she'd paid in estimated taxes. I checked back through my records and they were right! Part of the amount is to cover the balance of tax we owe, and a couple bucks of it is a late fee. Fair enough.

-NT's student loan account that wasn't showing payments finally caught up! ... mostly. The principal balance is suddenly much closer to my calculation of what it should be. They said they'd fix it by adjusting the original loan amounts or something, and I can't figure out what they did. Their balance is about $380 higher than what I estimated it would be. I was going to call and argue, but I have no real basis for my claim, whereas they have fancy computers and stuff. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say I messed it up -- after all, I did make the tax mistake recently.

-I immediately sent a $400 payment. I don't want to have to change my spreadsheet to make the debt amount higher, so this will bring the actual principal in line with my version.

-I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for the tax bill and the student loan payment above, BUT I checked our paychecks today and found they were more than I'd bargained for. Turns out I'd underestimated NT's pay during his part-time parental leave, and I forgot that I'd adjusted my withholdings since I'll most likely be claiming SL on my and NT's tax return next year. So when I applied those changes throughout my spreadsheet for June and July, I was able to cover the above unexpected bills plus a little left over. Hooray!

-My tax adjustment is a permanent boost in our income, so I can figure that into the budget. Only about $60 per month, but believe me, I can put it to good use!

AS's two student loans hit, with $128 and $61 going to principal, so $189 total. That makes it $1151 paid toward debt this month, surpassing the $1100 goal.

Also, the smaller of the two payments was the final payment on that loan! That's right, another loan bites the dust!!

It's funny, because when I logged in, it still showed a 1-cent balance, but next payment due date was N/A. You better believe I called them to make sure that wasn't going to trigger a late fee if I didn't set up a payment! They assured me that the one cent would be forgiven with no payment and no danger of a late fee.

That takes AS down to just one student loan and her half of the mortgage she and I share. Here's how our remaining debt breaks down, with interest rate, if anyone is interested:

US Mortgage: $163,748 (3.25% var.)
UK Mortgage 1: $72,301 (1.49% var.)
UK Mortgage 2: $15,242 (1.49% var.)
UK Mortgage 3: $16,049 (1.49% var.)
AS SM student loan: $11,468 (3.25% fixed)
NT DL student loan: $15,620 (6.175% fixed)
NT FM student loan: $5,510 (3.8% var.)
NT Education (estimated future debt) $10,834 (interest n/a til borrowed)

TOTAL HOUSEHOLD DEBT $310,772

Today NT took me for a very hard (for me, not him) bike ride, which means ... I'm done! I did all 5 of my challenge activities 5 times:

Walked to or from work (or at least 30 min.)
Exercised to a Gilad (aerobic & weight training) workout
Did free-weight training
Rode my bike
Walked upstairs (18 floors) to my condo

Phew! I'm going to let my legs recover, then go shower and have some lunch.

It rained almost all day yesterday so I didn't ride my bike as planned. But today I did my 5th Gilad workout.

So I just need to do one more bike ride before June 1 and I'll have reached my fitness goal!

I'm still planning on a new goal for June, but I've decided to not require myself to do it until after AS's mom leaves. She's visiting the first weekend in June and leaves Tuesday morning. It's her first time flying out to see us, so we're probably going to spoil her (and by extension maybe ourselves) in the food and other indulgences (aka laziness) departments. So my June goal will begin the first Tuesday in June!

I weighed in tonight and was down a pound to 142. So, I'm ending the month 2 lbs. higher than I started it, but I'm glad my weight did go down a bit at the end. Gives me an extra boost to keep going in June.

Thursday I walked up the stairs to our condo after work. (This time I counted the stairs per flight and they are 14, so it's about 250 stairs total!) That activity is done, thank goodness! But I might still use that as part of my working out in June. Don't think it takes quite 10 minutes so it might not work on its own for my "10 minutes a day" rule for June; I'll have to time it and see.

Today I worked from home since my office was closed for the holiday (but my particular duties depend on our largest client's schedule, not our office schedule). So I was able to do a Gilad workout.

That makes it 23 workouts done, 2 to go for May. I still need to do one Gilad and one bike ride. I'd love to do my bike ride tomorrow and my Gilad on Sunday, but we'll see.