Friday dinner
party; hosts provided food

Saturday lunch
Veggie burgers, fries, coleslaw
Make zucchini bread for breakfasts

Saturday dinner
BLTs & corn on the cob

Sunday lunch
Thai curry w/ seitan & squash & 2 ears corn; rice
Find use for CSA hot peppers (pickling, harissa?)

Sunday dinner
Ratatouille with homemade bread

Monday
Stuffed poblanos (tomatillos, crumbles, corn) & rice

Tuesday
Garlic toss pasta w/ cherry tomatoes & parsley

Wednesday
Thai food delivery

Thursday
Chix parmesan w/ spaghetti & tomato sauce; side of green beans

Shopping lists:

Rainbow:
apples
berries
bananas
2 onions
carrots
bread
1 crushed tomatoes*
white vinegar
1 apple juice (c)
bagels

Wedge:
milk
paper towels
loo rolls
cumin

That's it! We cut to the bare minimum this week, because we're going to go a bit into next month's grocery money. The only things needed for our dinners are the bread, onions, cumin and crushed tomatoes. The fruits and bagels are for lunches and breakfast, the carrots are to make baby food, the vinegar is for laundry.

NT is going to bring some bananas from work that are too ripe for people to eat, and we'll have banana bread for breakfasts too. We've got chickpeas and curry sauce already, so he'll make curries for lunches and we'll also have leftovers from some of the dinners for lunch. There's also still some free hummus samples from the farmer's market and some of my homemade baba ganoush.

NT said I could forgo my turn to buy wine until next week. We have some partial boxes of white and red that will last us until next Friday. I drink less now that I'm counting calories anyway. So that's $10 extra of spending money that I get to keep for a while. I'm going to try not to spend it so I can pay for next week's wine.

***

Came home from the party tonight and NT checked the mail. We got packets from our lawyer with the adoption records! It was official when our hearing ended, but now it feels extra official. Now we REALLY should get a safe deposit box! We're accumulating more and more important documents.

I can take my copy to work and get SL added as a dependent on my healthcare on Monday. Nice monthly savings will result!

More interesting money articles on Yahoo! today. They're on a roll ...

This one is about rather outrageous kid allowances. We haven't started giving AA an allowance yet and haven't decided when to start or how to handle it. I do want to use it as an opportunity to start her financial education a lot earlier than mine started. I only got an allowance starting in 10th grade, and it wasn't combined with any lessons.

This is a rather depressing story about our shrinking middle... I've actually done great in terms of income and net worth over the past decade, but partly that's because of how badly we were screwing up before I came to this site. Most of us here are doing great with what we have, but just think how much better we'd be doing if more and more of the wealth didn't keep getting funneled to and hoarded by the top 1%!

And speaking of the top 1% hoarding wealth ...

***

We get our spending money out today, and I've already got it spent in my head!

I get $80, and I owe in $5, so I have $75 to spend essentially. $20 is going in an envelope for the play I want to see next year, $20 will go for my portion of babysitter wages for Saturday, about $15 will pay for wine for the week (we take turns and it's mine). That leaves $20. On Wednesday I'm treating my old boss and my family to Thai delivery; I hope to keep that to $50 with tax & tip.

That will leave me $30 in the hole for next Friday, so I'll only take out $50 then. $20 will go to the theater envelope, leaving me $30. Essentially I have $30 out of the next two weeks unallocated. Much tighter than usual! That's OK, I'll try to view it as a fun challenge to spend as little as possible for the next couple weeks. I really want to start saving up for a couple wardrobe updates!

We have a birthday party tonight and another one Saturday. Lots of my friends are turning or about to turn 40, so I expect a wave of parties. People are more likely to throw parties on the big 3-0, 4-0, etc. I told AS & NT that I didn't really want to chip in for gifts, so we're using a Barnes & Noble gift card to get them some cute novelty items, plus AS picked up a $2 "I'm the birthday boy" button at a thrift store for one of them. Glad to have one less expense to worry about! Also, tonight's party is kid-friendly (starts early & everything), so we only have to get a sitter for Saturday's.

***

Fitness tracking for the past few days:

Aug. 20
10-min. workout: No. 4/20
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,480. 20/20
No night snacks: Success. 17/20

Aug. 21
10-min. workout: No vigorous exercise, though I did walk home from work (30 min.). 4/21
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,636. 21/21
No night snacks: Fail (had wine at trivia). 17/21

Aug. 22
10-min. workout: Yes! 5/22
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,440. 22/22
No night snacks: Success. 18/22

Aug. 23
10-min. workout: No. 5/23
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,527. 23/23
No night snacks: Fail, though I kept it to a very small snack. 18/23

Clearly my 10-min. workout idea has run out of steam, at least for now. I need a new "trick" to get myself more active. These are the ideas I'm pondering for next month:
- My job is doing a yoga tutorial and pedometer challenge, so I think I'll sign up for those and try to really get into it.
- Bike riding on weekends, at least to do groceries but hopefully for pleasure too.
- Baby dance party at least one weeknight per week, where I play dance videos and dance around with AA and SL.
- Mild weight training regimen; at least two nights per week of upper body free weights, two nights per week of lower-body and ab exercises.

I have this weekend to ponder how to structure it and will post new fitness goals for September along with my debt-repayment goal.

Usually I flip through the top headlines (which are almost all fluff stories) on Yahoo and read one or two. Today there were several that dealt with interesting finance-related topics, so I thought I'd share:

High-end clothing hoarder who filled a 4,000-square-foot home with clothes

Most Americans toss out 40% of the food they purchase

On the flip side, Americans dealing with hunger

And finally, the top 10 cities where housing prices are on the rise. Minneapolis is #2, thank gawd! Would love to be less underwater than we are now (or breaking even would be even better!).

This time of the summer I always start to feel a financial pinch. We go out more, people visit more, maybe I'm just a bit freer with my spending money because I feel more social, less cautious/frugal and more up for fun outside the home.

We each get $80 every Friday for spending. It's a princely sum, I think, yet especially during the summer we find ourselves running through it quickly.

The money is for anything not covered by our regular budget: restaurants & takeout, booze, clothing, babysitters, movies, taxis, CDs/DVDs/etc., incidentals that fall outside the grocery/household category, gifts (we do save separately for Xmas and bday for the nuclear family, but extended family/friends, as well as anniversary/Valentine gifts, we have to cover ourselves), etc.

Most weeks I don't get much of the above, so a lot of times I'll find myself stashing most of the cash in my dresser. Then I might make a bigger purchase once I have some money saved, like a big order of vegan snacks online, or treating AS & NT to gourmet pizza delivery, or a wardrobe refresh of several outfits/shoes.

But lately, I don't have any money left over, which would make it hard to save up for a big purchase. I'm considering going to "The Book of Mormon," a Broadway comedy/musical coming to Minneapolis in February. Looks like tickets are in the $100-$120 range. I'd also want to bring AS or NT or both. So that would really add up.

It just occurred to me that maybe I should put an envelope in my dresser earmarked for the tickets, and put $20 per week in there. If I do that most weeks, I should have enough to treat us all to a night at the theater, something I never typically spend money on, so it would be a really special thing to do.

I should also try to save up some money for new winter clothes and/or alterations of my existing ones, since I've lost a bit more weight, and my clothes were already starting to be too big for me last winter. That will need to happen sooner than the theater, so I guess I'll start another envelope and stash everything left over at the end of each week.

We love the cash spending money system because it's the one part of our financial lives where no one has to be accountable to anyone else. But I think for these bigger purchases I'm going to have to plan a bit more than I usually do.

I'm late posting our meal plan because I've taken more of a backseat for a week or two, to rest up before I take the lead again when NT goes back to school. AS has really stepped up and with NT's help has done most of the cooking and meal planning! It's been really nice.

I think we'll have gone over budget on groceries (I still need to add it up after we buy canola oil), but we did stock up a bit on rice, flour, veggie "meats" that we had coupons for, and laundry detergent. Next week we should have to buy very little, since we have all the staples we need to build meals for the CSA veggies.

MENU:
Friday
Veggie burgers, cole slaw, green beans

Saturday lunch
Vegan Thai Lettuce Wraps and Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Roasted Peanuts

Saturday dinner
Breadcrumb pasta with cherry tomatoes
make baba for lunches, make seitan for mock duck sandwiches

Sunday lunch
Southern fried tofu, Succotash with edamame

Sunday dinner
Enchiladas

Monday
Pasta with sauteed zucchini, garlic, lemon and parsley


Tuesday
Barbecue mock duck sandwiches with corn on the cob and crosshatched squash


Wednesday
Pancakes, hash (bacon bits/garlic/potato/bell pepper/tomato/parsley)
defrost pizza dough

Thursday
Pizza

GROCERY LISTS:

Rainbow:
potatoes
apples
berries
pluots
bananas
garlic
lettuce
veggie burgers & facon (c)
Gardein burgers or chik strips (c)
bread (C)
panko breadcrumbs
coffee filters #4 (c)
pasta (c)
salsa
crushed tomatoes*
Ziploc bags (c)
degree deodorant (c)
hash browns (c)
frozen peas (c)
orange cheddar
muffins
bagels

Wedge:
sandwich fillings
firm tofu
6 eggs
peanuts (1/2 cup)
chickpeas
flour
rice
loo rolls
laundry detergent
1C black beans
chick peas
chili powder
paprika
oregano
sesame seeds
cheese strings
Australian cheddar

Hai Nguyen
rice vinegar

Target
veg/canola oil

***

Had a very good weigh-in last night; I lost over 3 lbs.! Back to 134 with 5 lbs. to go to reach my 2012 goal weight. I'm excited, because my goal is to lose those pounds before Thanksgiving and then hopefully just maintain through the food-happy winter holidays.

We do have some parties and other things planned, but I'm really going to try and behave so I don't stall or lose ground. One positive thing I'm doing is skipping the State Fair this year. For me, the reason to go is to eat fair food, and I always go overboard. I'm going to stay home with the kids (who are really too young to get much out of it) and send NT and AS with some tupperware and one or two food requests (versus the 5 or 10 things I'd normally eat while there).

I'll miss the fair, but it's the right thing to do this year.

Anyway, fitness tracking for the past couple days:

Aug. 16
10-min. workout: No. 3/16
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,447. 16/16
No night snacks: Success (just had fruit). 14/16

Aug. 17
10-min. workout: No. 3/17
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,705. 17/17
No night snacks: Success. 15/17

Aug. 18
10-min. workout: YES! 25 min. 4/18
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,752. 18/18
No night snacks: Fail, had 7 peanut M&Ms. 15/18

Aug. 19
10-min. workout: No. 4/19
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,433. 19/19
No night snacks: Success (just had fruit). 16/19

So overall, yay! I did notice less definition in my tummy last night; was actually afraid I'd gained weight. So I do need to get back into working out, even if it's just strength-training and crunches.

***

I got a nice little freelance proofing assignment from a co-worker doing some side work of her own; $130 for a little over three hours of light proofing. Yay! I'm going to put it to the house/moving fund if we don't need it for anything. That's a bit up in the air because:

On Saturday I came home from grocery shopping to see the bathroom sink half full of black, stinky liquid. NT (by far the handiest in our house) valiantly spent most of the day removing sections of pipe, cleaning, attempting to find clogs, calling the building management and Roto Rooter, etc. But we still have no bathroom sink. Now the Roto Rooter guy said it was due to a clog somewhere below us, and that they'd need to cut into a section of pipe somewhere else. This sounds like something our condo should be responsible for, not us, costwise. So I'm hoping my freelance money will go to the house fund, but it might have to go toward helping cover these costs if there are any.

AS hasn't gotten any more freelance offers since she just missed the last one, but she tends to get bigger-scope, higher-paying freelance jobs, so if she gets any this year it will be a big boost to the house/moving fund.

***

I liked the recent "frugal things I did today" topic, so let me try and think of the frugal things we did this weekend:

Did another big re-org of the kids' clothes, discarding a TON and rearranging the others. This is frugal because it unearths the usable clothing so we don't have to buy any. 99.9% of these clothes are gifts or hand-me-downs. So far we haven't had to buy winter boots or snowsuits for the girls, so accepting clothes from anyone and everyone who offers is a frugal deed, even if it leads to these big archaeological digs every couple months. We'll be giving the extras (4 big boxes!) away on Freecycle, helping someone else be frugal too. We're also getting rid of a crib bumper (now that AA's in a "big girl bed"), thermal cover for small stroller (we'll just use the big stroller if we need to take the girls out in one--NT's going to try and get some money for the cover) and some baby-carrying slings. NT listed the unused pacifiers on eBay, so hopefully we get something for those.

AS decided to cease pumping, and just nurse in the mornings and evenings for a little while longer. Breast pumps are called "single use" by the manufacturer, but AS used the one I used and it worked fine. I don't know if we could sell it, but we might try to get a few bucks on Craiglist. It was $250-$300 new and is still in good condition. If we can't sell it I'll try to Freecycle it, because as long as the user sterilizes the cups and tubes and/or gets new ones, I can't think of any reason why it shouldn't get another life.

SL has made great progress learning to eat rice cereal so is going to start on pureed vegetables tonight. Rather than get the expensive and wasteful little jars of baby food, I'll be cooking, pureeing and straining her veggies as I did with AA. This week we try peas!

I made homemade mock duck (aka seitan or wheat meat) last night; a double batch so we have some for next week too. We figured out that buying the vital wheat gluten and having me make it is about a quarter of the cost of buying canned mock duck.

I made a big batch of baba ganoush (eggplant-tahini puree) for NT and me to use for lunches this week. We had a lot of eggplant from the CSA and had plenty of other veggies to use for dinners, so it would have gone to waste. It will also taste good with CSA tomatoes, which we have way too many to use up with just dinners.

We got more curly parsley from the CSA than we could use, so I hung it upside down to see if it would dry as well as the oregano did. We don't have to buy dried parsley very often, but this would help us avoid it even longer!

I think that's it. I'll try to note the frugal things I do from now on; this is fun!

Today was our adoption! But I'll talk about that in a bit.

A big extra student loan payment hit, with $1042 going to principal. That makes $1866 down, $134 to go on our August goal. Sounds good, except we only have one more regular debt payment that usually puts about $127 to principal. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to send a small extra payment to make sure we hit our goal! I'll use some of next month's extra debt repayment money.

Now the fitness tracking. I've done really well with food, but utterly neglected working out. I've got to find a new way to trick myself into doing it! I'm not big into working out, so I always peter out if I don't add some new twist to make it seem more like a game and less like work.

Aug. 13
10-min. workout: No. 3/13
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,426. 13/13
No night snacks: Success. 11/13

Aug. 14
10-min. workout: No. 3/14
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,369. 14/14
No night snacks: Success. 12/14

Aug. 15
10-min. workout: No. 3/15
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,371. 15/15
No night snacks: Success. 13/15

It's not been a routine week so far, which is my flimsy excuse for working out -- but really I know I'm just bored and need a new game to focus on.

Anyway, Monday night we had a friend over for dinner, playing with the kids, and a game after kids went to bed. This is a newer friend; we've actually expanded our social circle a bit over the past couple years, and not just parents of other kids either. It's been really nice to feel like it's not just shrinking steadily. This friend is younger than us, around 30, and works with NT (he got her the job after we met her) as well as attending trivia with us on Tuesdays.

Tuesday was primary election night in Minnesota, so I voted after work and then spent the night glued to the computer watching for results. NT and AS went to trivia with friends and I stayed home with the kids.

Today I stayed home from work because ... we had our court date this afternoon! It went really smoothly (once I figured out which car we'd reserved and fought my way through downtown traffic, oh and we forgot a nipple for SL's bottle and didn't realize it until halfway through the hearing ... but other than that, TOtally smooth). Our lawyer had already cleared everything with the judge; once he explained our relationship she was fine with it, so the hearing was just a formality. Our lawyer asked us a bunch of questions, we kept the kids as quiet as possible, and the judge said like two words at the end and it was over really suddenly! It feels amazing to have legal rights in place for me as SL's mother and for AS as AA's mother. Best $4500 we ever spent.

We'll get our certified copies of the official record in the mail, so I won't be able to switch SL to my healthcare until we get that. But it should be pretty soon.

In other financial-variables news, we saw AS's first post-raise paycheck today, and it was $15.00 more than my guesstimate. (I did get the cents part right, which is really odd.) So that's $30 more per month that we can put in the house/moving fund (unless our mortgage goes up in Nov. and it needs to go there).

Let's see, other random updates:

We fixed another issue with our living space, the two mismatched rugs in front of the couch, by purchasing carpet tiles and making a custom-sized rug that stretches all the way to our rocking chair. It looks so much better and more uniform. I should do another photo soon. Not right now because there's laundry and mail scattered around.

AS's mom sent three big boxes of clothes and stuff for the girls. Mostly SL (who totally doesn't need anything because we still have all of AA's, but it's kind of fun to have new stuff) but some for AA as well. Now we have to either get rid of some or find more places to store them. NT and AS are looking through them now.

The pack 'n' play we got on Freecycle is really slanty and leans to one side. It's fine for SL now, but it won't cut it when she starts cruising (walking around holding the sides for support). So at some point we'll need to replace it. I think we'll try Freecycle again; the last time we requested one, we got three offers in two days!

Now that NT is out of school for a few weeks, I think we'll try to list a few odds and ends on eBay and/or Craigslist. NT already listed an old school book on Half. We've got some DVDs and books from our recent declutter that might get something. Oh, and SL has totally given up on pacifiers, and we have two unused ones still in packaging that are a pretty nice brand; might get a couple bucks for those.

The books I'll just take to the used-book store. They don't take much these days, but we might pick up a few bucks that way. The ones we can't sell there I'll donate to either the Women's Prison Book Project or the library.

Anything we make will go toward our new, as yet still tiny house fund!

I'm also taking a couple weeks off in the meal planning/cooking department. It's going to be almost all me again when classes start up, so I'm trying to take a bit of a break. I'll try not to be too meddlesome, though I've been trying to be hypervigilant about keeping the grocery list to a minimum. We've been doing REALLY well, keeping food spending under $100 most weeks (sometimes MUCH less), but the diapers, wipes and formula are killing our budget nonetheless. It's going to get crucial to make cheap meals once the CSA stops delivering produce in Sept./Oct.

That's all the news I can think of for now!

Well, we had a blast on our road trip and at the small-town festival we attended, and at the alumni gathering which was at a mansion on an island in a lake! Omigosh do I have some hilariously disgusting anecdotes about a string of bodily-excretion incidents involving our darling daughters (I'll spare you), but we made it through and still had lots of fun. We ate TERRIBLY and are all having serious digestive issues today as our bodies get back on an even keel. I weighed in and only gained a fraction of a pound, and I'm ecstatic about that considering all the factors.

Some catching up to do with fitness tracking (the calories are VERY rough estimates for some of the days, of course).

Aug. 8:
10-min. workout: Yes. 3/8
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,321. 8/8
No night snacks: Success. 7/8

Aug. 9:
10-min. workout: No. 3/9
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,651. 9/9
No night snacks: Success. 8/9

Aug. 10:
10-min. workout: No. 3/10
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 2,070. 10/10
No night snacks: Success. 9/10

Aug. 11:
10-min. workout: No. 3/11
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,931. 11/11
No night snacks: Success. 10/11

Aug. 12:
10-min. workout: No. 3/12
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 2,501. 12/12
No night snacks: Fail. 10/12

Today I've had a very light breakfast and lunch and feel MUCH better. I might end up snacking more than I need to tonight because we have a friend over (I do tend to drink & eat more when I'm having fun & not paying attention), but hopefully the overall calorie count will be OK.

Menu
Friday dinner
traveling
dry oregano before we leave

Saturday lunch
eat out

Saturday dinner
eat out

Sunday lunch
eat out

Sunday dinner
alumni gathering

Make cucumber limeade

Monday
Buffalo tofu sandwiches, chips w/ watermelon salsa

Tuesday
Chinese soy pepper steak; spicy garlic eggplant; Taiwanese sesame cucumbers; rice

Wednesday
Veggie franks, corn on the cob, watermelon on the grill

Thursday
Carrot fritters w/ (? - rice maybe); use up any other leftover veggies

Friday
depends on CSA

Ideas for coming weeks: chili mac, taco baked potatoes, crockpot enchiladas, pancakes for dinner

Grocery lists:

Rainbow
3 limes
cilantro
green onions
ginger
1 small shallot
apples
pineapple
soymilk
red cooking wine (c)
panko breadcrumbs
Franks hot sauce (c)
tortilla chips
moist toilet tissue (c)

Wedge
milk
yogurts
loo rolls
Field Roast franks
EB buttery sticks
Extra firm tofu x2
Vegenaise
coffee filters #4
basil
dill seed
thyme

CSA farm share contents:
Sweet Corn
Red Slicer Tomatoes
Mixed Peppers
Onions
Carrots
Asian Eggplant
Cucumbers
Oregano
Watermelon

I remember when paydays just could not come soon enough for me; I was always scraping the bottom of the barrel (i.e., my credit cards and line of credit) waiting for a cash infusion. Now, it doesn't really affect me as much; I have plenty of money for the things I need, and I don't spend on wants if I don't have money budgeted for them.

However, I'm really looking forward to Aug. 15, much more than usual. First, to have our day in court and hopefully complete the adoption process. Second, AS's raise will be reflected in her Aug. 15 paycheck, so one of our financial unknowns will be revealed.

I hope the adoption goes through and is effective immediately, so I can change the healthcare and know what MY paycheck will look like by the Aug. 31 paycheck!

We haven't gotten any new medical bills recently, which is another of our financial variables. I still think there's a chance we'll get more bills from the labor & delivery, or for NT's recent surgery. Still, every day that passes without a new bill makes it a bit less likely. If we don't get anything by the end of the year, I think we'll be safe. But that's nearly 5 months from now!

NT's tuition should be available end of this month or beginning of September. Our notification about our mortgage should also come at the beginning of September (actual adjustment, if any, will happen Nov. 1). OK, I'm just impatient for the next month to pass! I shouldn't feel that way because it's summer in Minnesota and warm weather is to be treasured, but I can't help it!

I keep forgetting to mention that my blog has topped 1 million visits! Every so often I'd check that number, but it was just like trying to catch the odometer turning over; half the time I'd miss the actual moment. So it was with my blog, but I'm still amazed at this milestone. This is one involved community!

Now for the ugly truth of my calories ...

Aug. 3:
10-min. workout: No. 0/3
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,888. 3/3
No night snacks: Fail. 2/3

Aug. 4:
10-min. workout: Yes, 20 min. 1/4
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 2,210. 4/4
No night snacks: Success. 3/4

Aug. 5:
10-min. workout: Yes, 20 min. 2/5
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 2,735. 5/5
No night snacks: Success. 4/5

Aug. 6:
10-min. workout: No. 2/6
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 2,807. 6/6
No night snacks: Success. 5/6

Aug. 7:
10-min. workout: No. 2/7
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,507. 7/7
No night snacks: Success (I stuck to fruit). 6/7

I'm rather stunned that vacation, restaurant and social eating can add 1,000 or more calories without much effort. I'm glad to be back to normal, and I'm really going to try to take it easy on the food amounts when we go away this weekend.

I had a couple hours of downtime today at work, so I printed out maps, driving directions, reservation info, dining options and more for our little weekend getaway. I find it never hurts to have too much vs. too little information, and since I had the time on my hands, I decided to go ahead. The packet of info is laughably thick for the small scale of our trip.

***

I keep forgetting to mention this too, but we have a court date set for our third-parent adoptions! It's Aug. 15. I'm not too nervous because it sounds like everything will be pretty much settled; we just have to show up. But I know I can't count on anything until it's over.

As soon as that's done, I can move SL to my healthcare, which is cheaper than NT's. Plus, we'll all feel a bit more secure.

***

Yesterday I had a meeting with a 401(k) adviser from Prudential. It counted toward a checklist of activities I can do to earn $200 of flex money for next year, so I mainly did it for that. I thought he was slightly dim because he asked to see my Prudential account, then proceeded to lecture me about gradually getting my contribution up to 15% (right now it's at 6%, plus a 50% match on 3% of that). He didn't even bother to ask me if I or my spouse had any other accounts we were contributing to. (Our retirement saving is at 9.1% of gross income, or 12.5% of gross excluding tax.) Of course I do want to up my percentage, but we're doing a heck of a lot better than 7.5% of $53K, which is the only part he bothered to think about!

I didn't bother to correct him because I was annoyed by that, and because I figured he'd try to sell me on putting all our money with Prudential.

Toward the end, I decided to go ahead and ask if he had any advice for what to do in preparation for moving to England. He actually had a decent-sounding answer! He said continue to build our U.S. accounts and keep the money in the U.S., only drawing down when it was time to retire vs. moving all the funds. He said it would just be U.S.-taxed assets at that point, so our Roth money wouldn't get extra taxed in the UK or anything as long as we kept it in U.S. accounts.

Of course I'll want to verify that, but it's the first piece of straight advice I've gotten from anyone about my situation, so I'm pleased to have something to start with. So overall the meeting wasn't a complete bust, though I struggled to keep a straight face when he advised me to check my spending and see if I was wasting money anywhere.

***

I can feel the calendar for August and September wanting to fill up, and I'm hesitating to commit to things. I'm thinking I'll skip some events so these months don't feel as hectic as the rest of the summer did. I wouldn't mind just hanging out at home and relaxing! But there are some things I can't avoid, and some I might decide are worth my time. We shall see. There's a volunteer event for a hunger relief org NT and I are kind of interested in, a launch party for a friend's literary magazine, another literary type event, one firm and one tentative plan to have dinner with friends, the adoption court date, the out-of-town thing this weekend, the state fair ... I'm feeling lazy just thinking about it all! We'll see.

I do plan to go back and record everything I ate, but the weekend with my sister, her husband and her three (high-school & college age) kids has been a whirlwind, so I just haven't gotten the computer time to go online and estimate calories.

I did go ahead and weigh in, even though we ate a late and pretty heavy dinner. 3 lbs. heavier, back up to 137. I'm not surprised, since I ate out for Friday lunch, Saturday lunch, Saturday dinner, Sunday lunch and Sunday dinner. And had leftover restaurant food for Sunday breakfast. Tomorrow I'll eat out for lunch and dinner as well. And then Tuesday I'll get to go back to my routine, and what a relief. I'm enjoying the eating out and I'm making every meal count (eating something I love and don't usually get). But if I want to hit my weight goal, obviously I couldn't keep eating out like this even if I could afford it (I can't).

I did work out some; 20 min. biking on Friday, a lot of carrying around kids while walking on Saturday, and 20 min. more of biking today. But just not enough to counter the unusually heavy meals.

I was feeling a bit glum about the weight gain, and about an uncomfortable dinner with my difficult, contentious brother-in-law. But then I went onto Facebook and saw a notification for an online auction I'd bid on to purchase baked goods to help pay for a little boy's fight with cancer. The chef auctioning things off announced the close of bidding, and said if people wanted to make a memorial donation or express condolences to the family, they could go to a certain website. I went there and it turns out the little boy passed away today, the same day the auction was ending.

I didn't know the little boy, but I know how it feels to feel responsible for a little kid's existence and can sort of begin to imagine how it would feel to have that existence end way too soon. So really, any feeling of irritation for my BIL or annoyance over my weight gain were dwarfed in comparison.

I'm taking the family to the Mall of America tomorrow, and then hopefully just back to rest and play games Monday night. I don't plan to buy anything there, except food (I'll probably pick up their checks since BIL picked up an especially big tab tonight).

I love my extended family, but I love being around my nuclear family so much more. Looking forward to a mellow late summer/fall with them; our only big plans are the small-town fest and alumni party next weekend, and the State Fair in late August. And those plans mostly involve just hanging out with each other.

All right, I'm just babbling. I'm going to finish my chamomile tea and start getting sleepy now.

First off, thanks to CB in the City for a thoroughly enjoyable, interesting and fun lunch! I loved meeting a current SA blogger in real life and now feel even more as if we're all really connected.

Our menu's a bit up in the air; I have two meals planned for this weekend, but my sister & her family will be in town and they have a million ideas about places to eat. So I may scrap these two, rejigger our perishables for the rest of the week, maybe make lunches with some of the extra ingredients if they can't wait. But, it's good to have a couple meals planned just in case.

Friday dinner
Spicy bok choy (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-bok-choy-in-garlic-sauce/), fried tofu & rice
[make pesto w/CSA basil & freeze]

Saturday lunch
Eat w/Family: Fancy mac & tomato salad: macaroni w/fresh tomatoes, corn, basil, parsley, garlic, olive oil

Saturday dinner
Eat w/Family

Sunday lunch
Eat w/ Family: Eggplant parmesan sandwiches & chips

Sunday dinner
Eat w/ Family

Monday lunch & dinner
Eat w/ Family

Tuesday
Buffalo chikn salad (Morningstar wings; chopped salad of lettuce, tomato, carrot, corn; bleu "cheez" dressing)

Wednesday
Bean & "chorizo" burritos w/tomatillo salsa, tomatoes & corn

Thursday
BLATs ("bacon," lettuce, avocado & tomato sandwiches) & honey-mustard-parsley carrots

Friday
Going out of town; eat on the road

Grocery lists ("c" means we have coupon)

Rainbow
2 garlic
3 avocados
iceberg lettuce
fancy rolls for eggplant sandwiches
Silk
2 granola (c)
2 lbs. macaroni
large tortillas
bread (c)
Caribou coffee beans (c)
red wine vinegar (c)
Tabasco Buffalo sauce (c)
mozzarella shreds
frozen juice

Wedge
milk
yogurts
loo rolls
paper towels
pinto beans
tortilla chips
cheese strings
parmesan cheese

Target
cat litter
potato chips
buffalo wings (C)
facon

Hai Nguyen
2x tofu

This is what we should be getting from the CSA, which is why we don't need many veggies:
Sweet Corn
Mixed Heirloom Tomatoes
Red Slicer Tomatoes
Onions
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Parsley
Bagged Carrots
Tomatillos
Eggplant
Hot Peppers
Bok Choy
Melon
Basil
Lipstick Peppers

Or should I say "diet tracking," since I've been good on the food side of things and horrible on the exercising side?

Aug. 1:
10-min. workout: No.
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,392.
No night snacks: Success.

Aug. 2:
10-min. workout: No.
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,514.
No night snacks: Success.

For some reason this week, I have not been able to convince myself to work out for 10 lousy minutes, and I have been fighting snack urges like crazy. I was starting to get some nice definition, so I hope I can wrangle myself back into workout mode. Might not happen til after this weekend, though, because I have family in town from Saturday to Tuesday.

It's looking to be a very expensive weekend. My family is all excited about various food things, so we're probably going to eat out/get delivery every meal, and not cheap places like fast food either. We've got about $100 left in the summer fun budget, and after that it's up to our spending money to cover our portion of the eating out. I'm just going to try and get the most cost-effective vegan option at each place and hope for the best! After I take out my spending money today, I'll have $140 of my own money (a bit less after my lunch with CB). So I should be OK, but it's amazing how fast it adds up when eating out. It'll be fun, though!

The next weekend we have one of our small-town festival road trips we planned. We leave Friday and start back Sunday, and we'll be stopping off Sunday afternoon to attend a get-together for alumni of my college at one of their homes. This is the woman whose family donated the governor's mansion to the state of Minnesota, so I imagine it's going to be quite lavish! The invite says casual, though, so I'm just going to wear a sundress and hope I don't look too out of place.

A couple days ago I blogged about the financial unknowns that are making me impatient because I can't really set goals or finalize my budget until they're settled:

- What health bills will come in for the rest of the year
- When I can add SL to my healthcare
- What my paycheck will net out to once the above is established
- What AS's raise will actually net out to
- What NT's financial aid package for fall semester is, and whether we should cashflow by borrowing from EF, or just take the student loans they offer
- What our mortgage payment will be starting Nov. 1

Well, one is mostly settled, and one will be on the 15th.

NT got his financial aid package; they offered something like $22K, but we don't need that much since he doesn't need room & board and doesn't take a full course load.

They offered $2750 as a subsidized federal loan, something like $15K as unsubsidized federal, and the rest as a private loan. The $2750 subsidized had a great rate, something like 0% while he's in school and 3.5% once he graduates. The unsubsidized was at about 6.8, higher than any of our current debts, and the private didn't give an interest rate.

We decided to just take the $2750 at the great rate and decline the other two. I figured we could borrow from the EF and pay it back in gradually for the rest.

Then I checked his fall 2011 student account to see how much a semester costs us, and it was between $3000 and $4000. So the most we will probably need to cashflow is probably about $1250. The bill will come due in September, and we'll have $1100 ready to put toward extra debt repayment that I can just use for tuition instead. (I'll delete the amount from our "estimated future debt," which is part of our total household debt, so it will still feel like we're lowering our debt!)

Good to have that sorted out, and I think we picked a good option. Can't beat a 0% interest loan, especially when we have interest-bearing loans that we're still working on.

The other variable that will be settled soon is AS's paycheck; her boss confirmed that her raise will be reflected in her Aug. 15 paycheck. Soon 2 variables will be gone with just 4 more to go.

***

I checked my new Barclays online savings account, and we'd earned monthly interest of 71 cents! This may not sound like much, but it feels like a fortune to earn 71 cents on just $1000. My savings account linked to checking has $6000-$7000 in it at all times, and we earn 25 to 30 cents per month on that. I keep it because it's really easy to access the funds, but I may be lured away from the convenience by this much better rate. We'll see ... At the very least, it inspired me to snowflake a random amount of money I had sitting in my budget ($3.49) to the Barclays account.

***

I started thinking about the winter holidays recently, and how we usually tip our various service providers and send gifts to family. I really want to put most of any bonuses we receive into the house/moving fund, but I also want to make sure we're generous at Christmas. Plus, NT wants a big 40th birthday bash next March, and I was thinking we'd save some Xmas bonus money for that so it doesn't affect our budget. I think I'll sit down with NT and AS in the next month or two and plan out what we think we'll need to spend this year and for his birthday party. Then figure out what we can cover with our own spending money and what we'll need to come up with funds for.

***

Oh, and one more bit of great news:

I just confirmed a lunch date with CB in the City tomorrow! Very excited to have an SA meetup after getting to read about the recent California one.

All our mortgage payments hit today:
US: $444 to principal
UK1: $264
UK2: $56
UK3: $60

In all, $824 down, $1176 to go on the August debt repayment goal.

I was also able to transfer US$500 into UK savings, bringing the EF to $15,249.70. A pathetic amount of progress so far this year; essentially my 2013 goal will probably be the same as my 2012 goal, just trying to get the EF to $20K.

Fitness stuff for the last two days of July:
10-min. workout is a no for both days.
Calorie counting was a yes: 1,611 & 1,830
No night snacking: success for both days. And boy, I had a nearly uncontrollable craving both nights, but I didn't give in to it!

I hope to come back strong in August in my workouts; July was kind of a bust. But I somehow lost weight anyway, so I'm not too disappointed in myself!

I know I've mentioned most of these at one time or another, but I had some free time at the end of my workday and found myself going over them with impatience, because I love having my budget figured out to a penny, and that can't happen until we know:

- What health bills will come in for the rest of the year (expecting one for NT's operation and possibly more for AS's labor/delivery)
- When our adoption process will be complete, so I can add SL to my healthcare (the cheapest of our options; until this happens she'll be on NT's, which is about $70 more per month)
- What my paycheck will net out to once the above is established
- What AS's raise will actually net out to
- What NT's financial aid package for fall semester is, and whether we should cashflow by borrowing from EF, or just take the student loans they offer (I think it'll depend on current interest rates)
- What our mortgage payment will be when the interest rate resets on Nov. 1

Nice to have it all in one list. I'll be able to check these off gradually over the remainder of the year.

Phew, I was working on this entry a long time and would have lost it all if I hadn't done a select-all and copy right before I clicked Save and Publish!

July 27:
10 min. workout: No. 12/27
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,939. 26/26
No night snacks: Fail. 19/27

July 28:
10 min. workout: Yes, 20 min. 13/28
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 2,324. 26/26
No night snacks: Success. 20/28

July 29:
10 min. workout: Yes, 11 min. 14/29
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,274. 26/26
No night snacks: Fail. 20/29 (But, I was under my minimum calories by 6 even with the snack, so I don't feel guilty.)

All told, the social week and weekend was rough. I didn't work out consistently, and socializing for me equates to more calories and more night snacks.

It's been a busy weekend! Friday night AS and NT went to see the Olympics opening ceremony at a private party in a bar. She got the tickets from work. All food and drink was free! I had a friend over, and we snacked quite a bit, but at least I kept my calories under 2,000.

Saturday I was busy from about 9 am until 6 pm, constantly. I tweaked the grocery list, did the first round of groceries on my bike, dropped that off, walked to the store to do the second round, came home and put the groceries away, fixed lunch, made pickles with CSA cucumbers, cooked rice and lentils for the next day's lunch, cooked seitan for the next day's dinner, did all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, tidied the house for the babysitter, cooked a quesadilla for AA, showered and got dressed for date night. Whew!

We had an awesome night out. I won't say how much we spent, but let's just say it was paid for from our summer fun fund, which is now much depleted. We went to a movie, which we hardly ever do, got overpriced movie snacks, went to a fancy hotel bar for drinks and more snacks, took a pedicab home, paid the babysitter extra because we were out a LONG time, and ordered pizza after the babysitter left. I did actually restrain myself more than I did when I wasn't dieting, but it really added up.

Today I lazed around a lot, though I did fix lunch, get caught up on budgeting (we've got a lot of credit cards in play right now so it's a bit complicated), and worked out. And my weigh-in was amazing: I lost 4 lbs. from last Sunday! I'm now at 134, my lowest in a LONG time, and just 5 lbs. away from my 2012 goal!

We were watching a documentary called "Fat, Sick & Almost Dead" that was about two men who turned their health and weight around with 60-day juice fasts. AS and I were reminded that we like to do raw-food cleanses every so often, and we thought the juice fast sounded like an interesting way to do it. We wouldn't want to until AS has stopped nursing, of course, because part of it is a reduction in calories. But maybe this winter if we both (or all, if NT is interested) want to lose weight.

I spent a lot of time this weekend dreaming about moving to England. Two more things have spurred our desire even more to follow through on this goal: the wonderfully uplifting Olympic opening ceremony and, on the other side, the mass shooting in Aurora Colorado. We talked about moving on our date last night, and I said we should really think before each purchase, how badly do we want this, and would that money serve us better in the moving fund?

We sold our baby swing for $85, so today I transferred that money into our house/moving fund. $1,085 saved, $78,915 to go!

Right now it seems like we won't make progress for a while, because we have other financial goals of paying down student loan debt, getting our EF to $20K, renewing our medical fund to $5K, and saving for a trip to England in May. But we can still put a little bit away while doing these other things. And as these other goals are knocked down one by one, we can start to put more and more toward moving.

I think I'll do what I can without any real plan until the end of the year; we still have so many variables and unknowns coming up. Once I see where we are with all our goals, I can map out a strategy to attack them all; whether it's putting everything to one then another then another, like a debt snowball, or just rejiggering the amount I put toward each so that we feel we're approaching them all at a good pace.

AS's student loan payment hit, with $127 going to principal. That takes us over our $1025 goal with $1052 paid toward debt!

For August, we can start putting more toward debt now that we're all back to work full time (starting Monday). So my goal is to pay off at least $2000 of debt in August.

***

I didn't work out yesterday, BUT I did both the daycare drop-off and pickup, which involves a lot of walking and pushing, and I hauled the farmer's market produce around a lot. So I feel like it wasn't a lazy day. Still, this is turning out to be a bummer month for workouts.

July 26:
10 min. workout: No. 12/26
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,356. (Woo hoo!) 26/26
No night snacks: Success. 19/26

***

Two credit card rewards checks came in the mail: $105 and $440.96. I'm using them to cover the budget shortfall from my miscalculation of NT's paychecks. We'll earn two more soon: $150 each for me and NT from Citi Dividend cards. NT has already spent the required amount and I need to spend about $100 more on mine. That $300 of rewards will cover a window replacement we did recently.

It's a bit depressing that my recent rewards keep being needed for unexpected shortfalls and expenses, but I cheer up when I realize how our budget would otherwise have been damaged by these events, which were going to happen with or without the rewards!

Tonight we should be selling an infant swing via Craigslist. The buyer has promised $85, the same amount we paid for it when we bought it off of Craigslist. It's a great little swing, but SL is a very alert baby and prefers to be where the action is, so she only liked it for about a month.

Since we weren't expecting to get rid of the swing so soon, this is an unforeseen windfall. I should put it to the medical fund which is kind of skimpy these days, but I need the psychological boost that we're saving toward a new house/moving, so I'm going to put it in that fund instead.

AS let the publishing house she freelances for know that she was about to end her maternity-leave break, and they sent her a job offer right away. Another freelancer snatched it up before she had a chance to respond, but the editor promised she'd send AS more offers now that she knows she's available again. This is an amazing side hustle that can earn AS anything from $300 to $600 a pop, so this will boost the house fund immensely when it gets going again. I hate losing her company in the evenings, but we can't really turn up our noses at that kind of money when we have so many financial goals!

NT's summer semester ends next week, and his fall classes are going to be in the afternoon, so he won't be away most nights! I know he'll still have homework, but maybe I could start looking for freelance proofreading jobs to do in the evenings.

Our CSA is taking a break from deliveries this week to tend their crops. NT and I decided to continue with local food while it's in season, so we went to the farmer's market downtown today at lunch. (It's a combination of real local farms and grocery-store rejects, but it's easy to tell which is which now that we've been doing the CSA for a few years and know what's in season in Minnesota right now. Hint: Tropical fruits are not. )

We spent $26 and got:
Thai basil
Green tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
New potatoes
Leeks
Onions
Garlic
Summer squash & zucchini
Green bell peppers
Portobello mushrooms (the only non-local purchase)
Baby bok choy
Purple kale
(plus free samples of hummus, Sun Chips and Pepsi!)

We were kind of brainstorming what we'd make, but mostly just buying what looked good and was reasonably priced. Now I have to make sure we plan our menu so none of this goes to waste! The greens and herbs are most delicate, so we've got to use those first. Tonight's dinner is already planned, and we're not cooking Friday night. I'm thinking:

Saturday lunch: Creamy kale pasta
Saturday dinner: N/A, date night
Sunday lunch: Rice-lentil salad, zucchini boats, leftover Harvard beets
Sunday dinner: Holy basil seitan w/sauteed bok choy & rice
Monday: Sauteed cherry tomatoes & basil over pasta; garlic-butter crostini
Tuesday: Gardein BBQ "ribs," fried green tomatoes, leeks & carrots, cornbread
Wednesday: Portobello sandwiches w/sauteed peppers & onions, potato salad
Thursday: Southern fried tofu, cross-hatch squash & biscuits
Friday: Depends on CSA box

We shouldn't have to buy much for this menu. We already have:
- At least 2 boxes of pasta, may need to get one more
- Vital wheat gluten so I can make seitan from scratch
- Fresh basil (non-Thai) and parsley growing on the balcony
- Thin baguette in the freezer
- Gardein "ribs" that I bought with my own spending money as a treat recently
- Leftover carrots from last week's CSA

We'll need to get:
- Maybe 1 box of pasta
- Maybe some nutritional yeast for southern fried tofu mix
- Brown rice
- Lentils
- 1 shallot
- Cornmeal
- Bread for sandwiches
- Tofu

Also on the grocery list so far:
Rainier cherries
apples
bananas
berries
Silk soymilk
lemon juice
foil
formula
bagels
English muffins
Tofutti cream cheese
Earth Balance buttery sticks
EB shortening?
toothpaste
Bonne Maman jam

I'm excited! I hope we can stay well under budget this month. We've got to use our CSA months to catch up on the budget so we don't fall farther behind when winter comes and we have to start buying grocery-store veggies again. Also, we're now buying disposable (well, compostable) diapers for SL going into daycare, and some formula to supplement the breastmilk. So we need to conserve our grocery dollars more carefully than ever. Plus, this is one of the half-months that has 3 weeks of grocery shopping instead of 2. Hmm, thinking about all that, I may skip Rainier cherries for a week, and probably the Tofutti cream cheese as well.

This morning as I was sitting at my desk, I suddenly felt a painful pinching sensation down my spine. Sometimes my back just goes out like that. It was pretty painful all day but manageable, but it didn't heal up enough to allow a workout; I couldn't think of a vigorous activity that wouldn't make it hurt worse.

July 25:
10 min. workout: No. 12/25
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,565. 25/25
No night snacks: Success. 18/25

I also went over a bit in calories, but only because there was a load of fresh fruits at work and I had a big bowl of pineapple, blackberries and strawberries.

It's too bad I went over because AS made an amazing-looking berry-peach cobbler that I just knew I shouldn't have. But I'll have some for my breakfast tomorrow, so that'll be something to look forward to!

Earlier today I saw a Facebook ad for a good sale at a fashion online store, so I signed in and got an offer for 50% off my first item, plus free shipping. AS and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary,* in a very low-key way since we're so busy this year, so I let her choose something to be her present. She got a handbag and it was only $19.95. As I was going through I scanned the terms & conditions, but as I submitted my order I saw something that concerned me. I went back into the Ts & Cs and saw that it's one of those sites where you have to make one purchase of $40 per month or else they'll charge you $40 anyway. Uh, no, I don't think I'll be spending $40 per month on fashion accessories! As soon as AS receives her bag, I'll cancel.

*(For those who are curious, AS and I had already been a couple for years when NT came into the picture. We've been with him about 7 years.)

AS's gift to me, besides the cobbler, was that she cleared off that fabric cabinet! It looks so much better with the bolts of fabric not piled on top. I'm so happy about it! To make it even better, NT rearranged his DJ equipment so it hardly blocks any of the window any more. Our place is slowly looking better and better.

Got a fun, busy summer ahead of us! Thank goodness for our shared Google calendar, because things keep getting added and it would be so hard to keep track. Especially with all the medical appointments we've all had this year, and the shared parental leave, and NT taking summer classes.

Tomorrow is AS's publishing house's regular happy hour; it's our good luck that it's outside the museum across the street from home! Close by AND kid-friendly, so AS and I can both go and bring the kids. And they have vegetarian hot dogs, which lil AA loves.

Friday AS and NT are going to an Olympics opening ceremony viewing party at the local British-themed pub, and I'm having a friend over to see the kids and watch a movie after they go to bed.

Saturday we'll be having an anniversary date; with NT if we can find a sitter, otherwise just me & AS.

Next week is NT's last classes until September, and then one of my sisters and her family comes on Saturday for a 4-day visit. Should be lots of fun, and they're staying at a hotel so we won't feel overwhelmed.

The weekend after that, we've got a little road trip planned to a small-town festival, leave on Friday & come back Sunday.

After that the calendar is mostly clear -- but we're almost into September! Wow, summers go so FAST in Minnesota. I'll never get used to that.

Finally my fitness results are starting to look better again. (I did need to snack tonight and last night for my antibiotics, but I'm now done with the pills, so I won't need to again.)

July 23:
10 min. workout: Yes! 11/23
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,431. 23/23
No night snacks: Necessary fail. 17/23

July 24:
10 min. workout: Yes! 12/24
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,439. 24/24
No night snacks: Same as above. 17/24

Also, last week I sent a small extra payment to NT's student loan to make sure I hit my monthly goal. (I just took it out of what I plan to pay next month, since we've got a cushion in the checking account.) $44 went to principal, so that takes us to $925 down, $100 to go. AS's student loan payment will hit soon and take us over the top!

Well, not a raise, but as good as one. I've been factoring in $575 per month starting in August for SL's daycare tuition. Then it occurred to me that our daycare lady might charge more for infants, as some places do. (She's in-home but has a lot of pro daycare experience and runs hers really professionally.)

So AS finally asked her how much it would be and she said $475! She's actually charging less since there are two of them. When AA starts going to school in a couple years, SL's will go up to $575 since we won't have two full-timers at that point.

So awesome! Right now I'm putting the surplus to our house down payment/moving fund. This may change in November when our mortgage rate adjusts; but I won't know probably until August or September. Of course, I may have underestimated AS's net take-home from her raise, so there's a chance we'll have more than we thought.

So now because of AS's raise and this unexpected daycare discount, I'm estimating we'll have $185.70 per month for that new savings goal. Of course, it would take us our whole lives to save $79,000 more at that rate, but we'll put any other windfalls or income increases or expense decreases into that fund as well. This is just a starting point. Last month, we had no money earmarked for an expensive international move. Now, we have $1000 saved and $185.70 per month designated to go there.

OK, so Banker Gurl's recent posts have gotten me intrigued about what (and how many) clothes I own. They're divided between hangers and drawers, laundry baskets, ironing pile and such, and I never really thought about it. Once in a while, if I get a windfall, I'll buy a few more things and get rid of things that are worn out or don't look good on me anymore, but I don't think I've ever analyzed my entire collection. Which is funny because AS and I have mentioned it in passing once or twice.

This was a great exercise because it also made me neaten up my drawers, toss a few things I haven't used for years, and realize that I'm probably going to need to fill a few gaps before winter comes.

So here's my total (I found it kind of hard to pick categories, so not sure if some of them make sense):

Tops:
T-shirts, camis & tanks: 17
Short-sleeve tops that are not Ts; blouses, dress shirts, vest, etc.: 12
Long-sleeve shirts (both pullover & button-down): 7
Pullover sweaters: 3
Cardigans, hoodies, suit coats, etc.: 10
TOTAL tops: 49

Bottoms:
Shorts: 1
Jeans: 4
Slacks & Khakis: 4
Skirts: 4
TOTAL bottoms: 13

Other (one-piece, underclothes, fitness, etc.):
Dresses: 13
Romper: 1
Long johns (thermal pants): 2
PJs: 2 sets
Undies: 11
Bras: 3
Swimsuit: 1
Fitness bottoms: 4
Fitness tops: 4
TOTAL other: 41

Shoes:
Sneakers: 3
Heels: 4
Sandals: 4
Flats: 6
Flip-flops: 2
Slippers: 1
TOTAL shoes: 20

Did not count: coats, winter gear, socks, tights, a couple things I keep at work, costumes

So not including the areas I didn't count, I have 123 articles of clothing.

Some of the areas seem skimpy -- 3 sweaters and I live in Minnesota?? -- but if I think about it, the cardigans etc. category is what I mostly wear. Indoor temps are typically pretty high in winter here, so dressing in layers is a must.

I did spot a few problem areas for winter:

- My slacks are going to be too big if I continue my fitness regimen. Even though I haven't lost a ton of weight this year, my fitness regimen (assuming I start back up and keep it up) has trimmed down my figure. My work pants were already on the too-big side last winter. If I keep up my progress they'll be falling down by the time cold weather hits.

- Same with my bras. It's time for a smaller cup size.

- All my shoes are getting in pretty bad shape except my workout sneakers, two pair of flats and one pair of sandals. And the flats that are still nice, one pair is purple and the other is a pair of ankle boots, so neither goes with a ton of things. I need a basic black and a basic brown pair that go with everything. My current ones won't last the winter, I don't think.

Everything else I feel is at a decent level. I don't have a ton of clothes compared with my closet in the past, but nor do I feel deprived or like I lack a bit of variety.

What do you think? How do my numbers compare with yours?

Ay-yi-yi.

All I can say is, after the weekend I had, I felt fortunate that I gained less than 2 lbs. at my weigh-in tonight. I knew I was going to be heavier, but I wanted to at least stick to part of my routine so I can hopefully get back on track soon.

Even though I didn't work out, I feel like I've been on my feet much of the weekend. Maybe that's why I didn't gain as much as the calorie counts and lack of workouts would warrant.

July 21:
10 min. workout: No. 10/21
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated (gulp) 2,824. 21/21
No night snacks: Sort of? No. I don't know, I felt like I was constantly eating until pretty late, so I don't know where dinner ended and snacking began. I'm going to say I did snack. 17/21

July 22:
10 min. workout: No. 10/22
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,945. 22/22
No night snacks: No, I needed to eat something for my antibiotics. 17/22

It was a mostly fun if hard weekend. Saturday was haircut day, as well as having our friends over to celebrate their 5-year anniversary. I ran around lugging bottles of wine and a massive box of Chinese takeout food and we all ate at our place. Then we rushed out to catch fireworks; the best Minneapolis fireworks are always late July, rather than on the 4th.

Lil AA fell out of her big-girl bed very early this morning; second time it's happened. NT positioned a beanbag chair by her bed tonight so if she does it again, hopefully it won't be such a bad shock for her. We're thinking about whether we can do anything else to help. She REALLY travels in her sleep.

Today we only had one Skype call to England, but I promised my parents one, so I spoke with them later in the day. We got a new bedframe and put it together; now we'll have more bedroom storage space. I made a new complex dish for dinner (seitan stroganoff; seitan is a fake meat made of wheat) that was a big hit with everyone, so I'll probably get practice getting better at it!

I don't really know why the weekend felt so overwhelming. Part of it was NT being somewhat out of commission after his surgery; partly the lost sleep due to AA falling; partly I had my own illness to deal with, along with antibiotics. Tomorrow is my last day of parental leave, so I'll try to take it easy, get back on working out and a sane amount of calories, and just generally find my equilibrium.

I've pretty much written off this week in terms of my health goals, but I'm still going to record everything so hopefully I can get back on track next week.

July 18:
10 min. workout: No. 10/18
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,851. 18/18
No night snacks: Success. 16/18

July 19:
10 min. workout: No. 10/19
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,461. 19/19
No night snacks: Success. 17/19

July 20:
10 min. workout: No. 10/20
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,847. 20/20
No night snacks: No, I needed to eat something because I started antibiotics. 17/20

I thought I'd share my menu and shopping list, since I like reading LuckyRobin's. This week we have more eating out scheduled than usual. We've been buying more fruit than usual because it's fresher and cheaper during the summer. Also, during the summer we hardly have to buy any vegetables because we get most of them from our CSA.

Friday dinner
Get takeout & take it easy. Pizza Luce

Saturday lunch
super Saturday scramble - tofu/eggs, diced potatoes, fried tomatoes, toast, facon
AS making cupcakes for fireworks display tonight

Saturday dinner
Friends' anniversary dinner (eat out or takeout)

Sunday lunch
Veggie burgers, lemon-butter broccoli

Sunday dinner
Seitan stroganoff over pasta; Harvard beets

Monday
Chikn-fried steak or chix patties, potatoes, carrot-walnut salad

Tuesday (NT has class until 8:30)
Bacon-avocado sammiches (tomato if we've got some), corn

Wednesday (NT has class until 9:00)
Parsley-breadcrumb pasta

Thursday (NT has class until 8:30)
Corn, cilantro, black beans, tortillas

Ideas for next week: Buffalo salad (if we get corn in CSA); something Mexican; portobello sammies & potato salad; BBQ

Grocery list (we divvy it by the stores we got to for each):

Rainbow:
cremini mushrooms
avocadoes
peaches
small bag Rainier cherries
apples
strawberries
blueberries
Silk soymilk (coupon)
veg burgers BOGO
bread (coupon)
white vinegar
grape jelly
spaghetti
Athenos feta BOGO
cheddar cheese
Smart Ones desserts (coupon)
cotton balls
gauze pads

Wedge:
nutritional yeast
sweet brown rice (1 C for pudding)
slivered almonds (1/2 C)
pistachios (1/2 C)
walnuts (1 c)
dried cranberries (1/4 c)
black beans
firm tofu
silken tofu
loo rolls
fig cookies
flour (all-purpose, unbleached)
coffee beans
vegan wide noodles

Target:
facon
pita chips

FY2012 Spending:
AS's April T-Mobile fillup (500 minutes): $53.90
NT's May Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $33.36
CJ's May T-Mobile fillup (1000 minutes): $107.78
AS's June T-Mobile fillup (1000 minutes): $107.78
NT's July Net10 fillup (300 minutes): $33.36

FY2012 total so far: $336.18

Since we're only in our fourth month of the "fiscal year," that means our average is $84.05 per month! I hope that will go down quite a bit since we all just filled up, but we also have been using more minutes because of the new baby: more calls to the proud grandparents, and people staying home with the baby = more use of cellphones vs. work phones.

But, it's netting out to be cheaper than our old family plan, just barely.

RECAP: I switched to prepaid in late March 2009, so our phone "fiscal year" begins each April. We have 2 phones on T-Mobile prepaid and 1 on Net10 prepaid. AS and I refill in 1000-minute increments and only need to refill when we run out or when it's been a year since our last fillup to stay active. NT needs to buy 300 more minutes every 60 days to keep his phone activated.

Our cellphone bill, for three phones on a family plan, used to range from $80-$95, depending on texts, calls to 411, etc. Usually it was close to $85. My ideal goal is to get my average cost to $50 per month, but any average number below $85 is a savings.

Not doing too great this week so far:

July 16:
10 min. workout: No. 10/16
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,521. 16/16
No night snacks: Success. 15/16

July 17:
10 min. workout: No. 10/17
Calorie counting: Yes, estimated 1,688. 17/17
No night snacks: Fail. Had drinks and sweets. 15/17

Hoping to at least hold steady on my weight this week! It's a social one, which can lead to both more eating and less exercising.

So last year I did the Chase Sapphire offer for a $500 bonus (which I eventually turned into a $1000 bonus after much threatening and wrangling). I decided to try again this year, even though the reward is down to $400, and I wasn't sure it would work to do the same card again.

Well, I checked my rewards balance tonight because I knew my statement would close today, and ... it worked! I just redeemed for a $440.96 check, which by the way is 79 cents over my budget shortfall. So that problem is totally cleared up; I don't need to take more money out of the medical fund for now.

So, if anyone did the Chase Sapphire last year and wants another offer, I recommend trying it again!

A small payment to NT's student loan hit, with $56 going to principal, so that's $881 down, $144 to go on the July goal. Hmm...there's only one more debt payment this month that usually pays about $125 to principal. I may send another small payment to make sure I hit my goal. I should be able to scrape together some money somewhere to do that.

We recently had about a $545 shortfall; we thought NT would be returning to full pay this past pay period, but didn't know that he gets paid oddly, so some of the unpaid time was still reflected in the new paycheck. We thought about cutting back our summer fun/vacation fund, but in the end we took the money out of medical savings (since the paycheck had been intended to pay part of NT's wisdom-teeth bill). Hopefully we can make it back up at some point.

We should have a couple of CC rewards coming in soon, to help offset this loss. (Actually, I just thought to check on them all, and my CapOne that I JUST opened and used up on a medical bill has already given me my reward! $105--I just requested a check. So that shortfall is already down to $440. Nice! The statement on my Chase Sapphire double-dip should be ready any day now (statements are dated the 17th of each month), so I'll finally know whether or not double-dips work.

Also, since the good CC cash rewards seem to have dried up, I'm having all 3 of us apply for Delta SkyMiles Amex cards, where we can get 30K points each for spending $500 in 3 months. If we transfer all the points into a single account, there's a chance we can use them to help purchase one of the UK tickets for our trip next year. If not, we can use the miles to save money on a future trip.

Back in June I posted pics of our problematic living space, and you all gave us excellent suggestions to fix it. I wouldn't say these are "before and after" pics, because we still have more that we want to do. But we've made some small, subtle changes that already make me feel less crazy when I look around the room ...

THEN: 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.


NOW:

The liquor collection fits on two shelves, there's much less junk on top of the shelving unit, and you can probably see there's less clutter on the kitchen island.

THEN: 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.


NOW:

Less kitchen clutter, one less entertainment shelving unit in the far corner.

THEN: 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.


NOW:

Found storage for most food stuff, moved coffee station to corner, moved our most-used spices out onto the counter.

THEN: 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.


NOW:

You can see AS's project in progress, cutting down on amount of fabric and storing it around pieces of cardboard for a more uniform look. (The stuff on top of the cabinet will get stowed away once our new bed frame arrives.) Also, no more kitchen supplies in this cabinet; it's all sewing or household supplies.

THEN: 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.


NOW:

We reduced our CD/DVD collection, getting rid of some, putting others in books. Some CDs are stored in the drawers under the TV, but once we get more shelves to put in that narrow CD shelving unit, most or all of them will fit there. I also moved the weights that were visible under the TV, to under the couch where they can't bee seen. This is very incomplete; we want to take down the clock and those little white pieces of paper and put in a single, striking piece of art in that big blank space.

THEN: 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:


NOW:

We got rid of a TON of toys and books so that we could simplify here and put the rest away in the girls' room. We moved some of the puzzles and games under the couch. We still have a few DVDs we're getting rid of, and we'll be able to put more puzzles and games in the TV drawers once we move the CDs out of there.

THEN: 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.)


NOW:

A slight overall improvement, to my eyes.

If I get a chance today, I'll do a beginning-middle set of kitchen storage pics. That is more complete than the overall space, but there's still some work we're planning there.