It’s absolutely lovely to be back home. It’s nice to know that even after an incredible vacation, my life is one I want to come back to.

Updates on my vacation spending and the September closing of the books will have to wait…I’m more interested in a hot bath and doing laundry than crunching numbers. Overall, I think I did fine with vacation spending. I went on a jewelry binge-a whole different story. I got 16 pieces I am madly in love with. I will post pictures…but I did lose My Guy’s camera, so there’ll be a wait while I reimburse him and he buys a new one. (Yeah, I know, it’s a bum deal, but really, if I had to have something bad happen, I’d rather it be losing a material item, instead of injuries or flight troubles or lost passports. And my friends took many pictures.)

I bought a lot more gifts than I expected, and that does come out of my regular gift budget, so that may be a tough hit. On the plus side, I do have a lot of Christmas shopping done.

I loved both Croatia and Bosnia. Highlights included the Plitvice Lakes, a Biker Convention (really….dancing in the rain to rockabilly in the early morning hours), Mostar in Bosnia, the best squid I ever had, swimming in the Adriatic, dinner at St. John’s in London, bureks (meat and vegetable pastries….fifty cents for greasy love).

I plan to post more on my experiences in two magnificent countries, as well as details of how travel can be affordable. (In many places I paid less than $15 a night for lodging.) This is just a quick “I’m home.” The travel can get tiring…twenty six plane, ferry, bus, taxi, tube, and car rides since I left. I got to fly business class for both return legs (in exchange for being willing to arrive in San Francisco an hour later) and that peek at the luxurious life was both enticing and amusing.

My bath is ready.

In 45 minutes I leave for vacation. I will sleep in San Francisco tonight, then board my flight tomorrow, and arrive in London early Friday morning. Friday evening I arrive in Croatia. I’ll start at the top, in Crikvenica, make a day trip inland to the Plitvice Lakes, then move down the coast….perhaps Hvar, perhaps Split….definitely ending in Dubrovnik on the coast, then inland to Mostar in Bosnia, then farther inland and up to Sarajevo, then to Zagreb for a flight back to London. An incredible dinner at St. John’s restaurant, back to San Francisco on Saturday the 30th, then driving back home on Sunday the 1st.

Doesn’t it sound divine? I love travelling, and I could really be happy anywhere, I think. I’ll be with three other women, seasoned travelers, and expect to have a great time. I am planning on tracking all of my expenses, so I can post that a two week trip to Europe does not have to be a bank breaker.

I may peek in to say Hey if I hit an internet café. I may not. Wish me safe travels.

I have a really old debt from the early nineties that I paid off in 1997. I just got a bill from a collection agency for the same bill. I can see from my incomplete notes that in 1999 a new company tried to collect that debt and I had to get proof of wire transfers to get them to stop. This is a new company.

Fellow blogger Princess Perky pointed me to an article by Jeffrey, http://www.pfadvice.com/2006/08/21/zombie-debt/, and I’ll take the correct next steps, which may be no action. It’s not very much, but it is already paid.

What gets me is how absolutely deflated I felt when I got that bill. Here I am, Month 7 of My Challenge, and getting ready to go to Croatia and Bosnia. Bopping around, feeling good. I even decided to finally use a spa gift certificate I got as a gift last October to get a manicure and pedicure, and I scheduled my appointment for Wednesday, the day I depart for vacation. (It will be my first time for both!) Work is in order, the house is in order, I’m feeling pretty good overall. A little worried about too many migraines and headaches, but overall enjoying my life and being productive and all that.

And the ooooomph….like a punch in the stomach, I opened the letter. “We are your new creditor.” I had worked so hard to clean up all the messes I made whenh I was not frugal and not responsible with bills. I already had another old debt glitch that I haven’t tackled yet…I had paid off $4000 in fines, and my credit report says I still owe $4. (Why would I pay almost $4000, and not the $4? Long story...the County admits they picked a new collection agency because the old one had really screwed up records, but can’t fix the $4. I’d even pay the $4; I just don’t want it on my blankety-blank credit record. )

So after diligently paying everyone I ever owed, years and years and years later debts and fines shadow me. My reaction for now is that being good didn’t pay off, which bums me out because in general I believe that what comes around goes around. Maybe it’s because I was bad and then good, if I had been good all along I wouldn’t be in this situation. I thought that realizing I had made a mess then cleaning up my mess would count for something.

I don’t plan on continuing to pout, but I am a little tonight. And I admit I’m gorging on junk food (don’t drink or smoke). I’m drunk on cookies. Tomorrow I’ll realize that my life is good and that I just have these tasks (battles) to face, and that since I’m a grown up that’s part of what I have to do. Tonight I get sugar in my tea instead of Splenda.

We’ve lived in our rental for 4-1/2 years. When we moved it, the only non-fixture items in the house were a roll of TP and a soap bottle by the sink. That same soap bottle is overflowing today!

I put my soap bits in there, instead of piggy backing them. My Guy likes a bar of soap, so he uses that and I use the pump bottle. It mushes well by itself, with some hot water now and then. I did try to nuke it once but it slightly warped the bottle. I will sometimes float it in my super hot baths (an admitted luxury) to soften, and then I shake.

Yesterday I bought a nice soap/lotion pump bottle as a gift for a particular friend; it's perfect for her. I was going to empty out the soap and wash it, so that she could do lotion or soap of her choice. Well, that liquid won’t fit in that 4-1/2 year old bottle.

I wonder how many of the original molecules from the original liquid soap are still bubbling in there?

I went to Target with my $10 worth of gift cards (Harris Poll Online Surveys) and shopped for an hour and a half and spent $9.37. I just don’t have much of a shopping streak. I had originally been worried that I would spend too much splurging for my vacation, but I guess I was wrong.

I am not always sure how to count gift card purchases. I don’t want to count them as income, because obviously I couldn’t put it towards rent or utilities. However it seems as if that way I could “spend” $10 on clothes or something and not have it show against my clothes budget. Then next year, my clothing total would be falsely low by $10. Well, since it’s $10 I’m not gonna worry about it. If it was $25 or $100, I might need to look at a different method (not just for The Challenge, but for me on an ongoing basis. I’m into tracking my expenses).

I did end up getting Nair (will be on the beach), a journal (a must for travel memories), a tiny spray bottle (for Fabreeze) and a pack of disposable razors (vacation and getting pills of my sweaters). This was after looking at many items, and trying on eight bras. I have room left in my toiletries and clothes budgets, so I didn’t need to be so restrained, but nothing seemed right. I almost got two pairs of shoes, but the more I looked at them, the more they seemed cheap. I just don’t want to buy disposable clothing.

My reluctance to spend $10 on an item probably was enhanced by being at garage sales, where things are such great deals. My haul today totaled $4:

Two gifts - $1

Two wet/dry women’s battery powered razors, with batteries: $1

Necklace, I think it’s a silver plated chain, $1.25

shorts, needed for vacation, seventy-five cents

Brush/mirror travel combo-free

Plastic hanger-free

With the shavers, I’m planning on being decadent and putting one in the bathroom and one in my travel bag. On the chain, it is heavier than non-silver, but isn’t marked 925. I did a Google check and didn’t find any good tip to tell if it’s real silver. That’s okay; I needed a longer chain for pendants and I couldn’t return it anyway. It’s not like $1.25 for a chain is outlandish!

I did get my hair cut, though I didn’t get it washed and wet in freshly showered instead. I brought in pictures of my hair for the hair stylist; dorky but it helped her. It was $18; no Challenge would ever get me to be a bad tipper, and I tipped $6, although $4 of $5 would probably have been just fine.

And the last bit of money news: a whopping ninety seven cents extra income from recycling. (I had a lot of non-money stuff to take in, so it was a full trip, just not the good stuff.)

Mopping is one of my least favorite chores, and I did it today. Our house tends to be very neat but not so clean. The floor looks a whole lot better, and I feel proud. I also otherwise cleaned, and hung a lot of laundry, and put away laundry.

I was sure hoping that there’d be decent TV on tonight, so I could get it bed and watch a little nonsense. However the offerings are not watchable, except maybe Antiques Roadshow. I do have the mighty stack of books.

My Labor Day Weekend was a cheap one; I spent $8.75 at garage sales. Since I do have my vacation coming on the 13th, it’s not like I could really feel good about spending much. I already feel somewhat guilty about going to Croatia in the middle of the Challenge. I knew that I would not give up travel even before I knew Croatia was a possibility. I do know that folks who are struggling don’t get to pop over to Europe for a couple weeks, though.

My Half a Year totals are ready. On my Minimum Wage Challenge I have spent $5,947.13 in six months. I have $405.96 banked/budgeted for planned purchases. I have $5.54 set aside in by Emergency/Big Purchase Fund, and $117.00 set aside in “Savings.”

My income is as follows: CA minimum wage of $6.75 for 40 hours a week, at 4.33 weeks in a month, $1178 total. I’ve taken FICA and SDI (CA State Disability Insurance) out for a total of $1073. I’ve assumed no federal or state tax liability, which I will have to revisit. Edited to Add: I have had an additional $37.63 in income over the last six months; an average of $6.27 from a couple of half.com book sales, some recycling, and a couple one dollar GoZing surveys.

On the Challenge I have been able to buy a freezer (that’s why my “savings” and emergency/big purchase funs are so low). I have been able to cover all my needs as well as quite a few wants. I’m getting birthday and Christmas gifts, and have an entertainment budget. I’ve counted every penny of expense since 1998 so it has not been hard to track to the penny how much I have spent. Every dollar counts against the Challenge; the day I picked up the freezer I felt very lucky and “rich” and gave $2 in cash to a person begging on the corner. (She looked very hungry, and here I was getting extra room to put all my food in.) That $2 went into the charity column; I don’t let myself cheat.

As far as my $20 Challenge goes, last year I averaged $1592 a month in spending. At 6 months on the Challenge, that’s $519 less spent x 6, plus $122.54 in saved money, equals $3236.54 in extra savings due to My Minimum Wage Challenge.

Any questions on details in any category gladly answered.

What are the odds that people recognized the reggae lyric in the title?

We made three batches of jam today, one plum and two blackberry. I also prepared a batch of plum puree for the next time we jam. Yesterday we went picking again; My Guy pointed out that while there is fruit to harvest, it makes more sense to harvest than can.

My dad wondered if canning jam was really a money saver. I know if I bought all new jars, and bought fruit, and paid full price for the lids and bands and pectin, it would definitely not be cost effective. Even with free fruit and low to no cost jars and bands and lids, it’s possible that the cost doesn’t beat out the cheapest grape jelly. I’m sure it’s competitive though, and you can’t really tie a ribbon around a jar of supermarket jelly as a little gift the same way you can with homemade.

For lunch we had a bread thrift store bake your own loaf, with some cheese left over from the camping weekend, and fresh jam. Delicious.

I am rolling in books. A Freecycle guy posted for “Wanted: Mystery Books.” I replied back that I had a few for him, and let him know about the buck a bag sale. He wasn’t able to make the sale, but he let me know of some authors he was interested in, and I kept an eye out for them, and we did a swap today. I have got a bunch of books to read.

I also have some books that might well be gifts. I’m not fond of hardbacks. I now it’s an oddity; at least it happens to be a cost effective quirk. I will put this nice stack of hardbacks by the gift pile. I like how Freecycle Guy and I are both ahead.

I did prepare a gift for a work friend. A very nice flannel nightgown that I have been assured is a "known" brand (garage sale); a good book (garage sale); and a batch of homemade cocoa, made with Splenda because she's doing Weight Watchers right now. The theme is a little bit of "Welcome Winter": here on the North Coast it's getting chilly and foggy.

I’m not sure why I haven’t closed out the August/Half Year books yet; I suppose I just haven’t been in the mood. The fascinating dollars and cents will have to come later.

Today was a fair garage sale today. I am so spoiled by super prices that regular good deals don’t get me excited like they should.

I spent $8.75 total.

For the house I spent $3.25, for assorted canning supplies, frames for my hanging files, and some gift bags. For gifts, $5, I got a lot of unopened bath stuff; some I have assigned to people (their favorite scent or brand), some for miscellaneous. A quarter on bath stuff for me and My Guy. A quarter on earrings.

I’m officially in the second half of my Minimum Wage Challenge. A voluntary belt tightening to live on less than half my net income; California minimum wage less taxes, for a total of $1073 a month. This is a three paycheck month for me in my real life, and in October I get another raise, so I could be living large. But I’ll be working at getting my Challenge Savings and Challenge Emergency fund back up there by trying to spend less than $25 a month in entertainment!

Someone asked me today why I’m doing this. I only had a second to respond, I couldn’t go into the whole “it’s increased my gratitude” spiel that I wrote about in April. I simply replied “it’s an extraordinarily cost effective hobby.”

Hullo to my folks out there in Nicaragua! May your internet cafes be excellent! As goofy as it is, my folks read my blog and I think it’s very sweet. Even though the focus is primarily on frugality, for me frugality is a way of life that increases independence, gratitude, skills, and attitude, so my financial journaling can be personal in some ways and a fair enough way to keep up with a daughter that lives 2700 miles away. Feeling that life is abundant is really about more than knowing that I have food in the cupboard and money in my account. Many families in central and south America would see my life as very rich; endless water, hot and cold; many different outfits; seven rooms for 2 people; groceries stores filled to the brim.

Tomorrow may be the first canning of the season. Since we are eating store bought jam I can’t wait to get some of the good stuff put up.

One of the buddies I got some books for wanted to pay me. The reality is that she would have been uncomfortable if she didn’t pay me, and I didn’t want to push it. So, she gave me a dollar. Sounded really small to her, I’m sure, especially since one of the eight or so books was signed by the author (Zilpha Keatley Snyder! The Velvet Room! A freakin’ classic!). However, it puts me in the position of making a profit on being “neighborly.” Not only being neighborly, but introducing a young girl to a fabulous author in the incredible world of books. Such is life; I accepted the dollar gracefully.

That dollar gets added back into my gift fund. Add that to a dime I found on the ground, the gas-less walk I took to work, the plums I picked off my tree, and the great meal My Guy cooked, and it’s a positively abundant day.

I'm wearing my twenty five cent footy jammies. Got out of a night hot bath. Getting ready to drink tea and read my mighty stack of books. Cheap thrills, cheap thrills.

Didn't accomplish much today, except gathering a lot of plums, some minor puttering, and adding more to my Roth IRA. Obviously the Roth is not related to My Challenge, but it is because of the Challenge that I have extra money floating in my checking that I can use for other things.

It's been almost six months, and I'm almost halfway there. I'm a little proud of myself for sticking with the commitment I made. I'm gaining an awful lot.

My freezer is plugged in and humming. I bought a lot of bread that is ready to go in it. It is “The time of Many Plums” so those will be going in there. It’s filling up, and it makes me happy. I went to the Buck a Bag book sale after picking up my freezer and got 107 books for 3 dollars, so that’s less then three cents apiece. Ninety-three cents for buddies, and $2.07 for me.

All my categories that are discretional are up this month. No one single thing I did was bad, but gasoline, household, clothing, and gifts are larger than they could be, and it’s only the 24th. I’m still well within The Challenge, but it’s a reminder than when you are doing well overall, a little extra here and there can sneak up on you. A mango and other large quantities of fresh fruit, in the same month as a Deseret Industries run, in the same month I drive an extra four hours, in the month I do a Clinique bonus, in the month I go to lunch twice? Well it adds up.

Maybe it’s comical that I am spending so much less than I could, but am still so very aware of every dollar. I was glad I had extra recycling money, to add to my gasoline budget! This, in the same month I found out that in “real life” I am getting a raise. However, it’s only awareness of spending, not discomfort. Not regret. Just an increased mindfulness.

I came in to work today, and found a huge bag of aluminum cans right by my desk. It was so sweet! There was a picnic event, an Appreciation Luncheon that some supervisors put on for Staff, and they brought me the recycling! How sweet is that? Maybe weird, maybe unusual, but sweet! I did recycling today, and I’m donating back to the annual Luncheon Fund half of what I got for their contribution. So I made an additional $4.14 in recycling.

I bought the freezer. I'm using $60 from my Emergency/Big purchase fund, and $120 from my "savings" from March through July. This almost empties my emergency fund, leaving less than $5 in it. It leaves $76 in "savings. (Edited: later, I realized that including August "savings" I actually have $117!) I'll try to build those back, of course. It is satisfying to be able to make a purchase like this while on My Challenge!

I pick it up at Sear's in 3-5 days. I've got big plans, including the march of the plums, a Ray recipe I'm doing (pork, crock pot, chiles...I've gotta do a search), some frozen lasagna and stew for treat food, bread. Exciting.

The Dork of the Day award goes to me, because I took a camera on a flight to another city only to use it to take pictures of my favorite thrift store.

Deseret Industries is huge, in Sacramento on Auburn. I believe it’s in an old supermarket building.

Those of you who think thrift stores are small, cluttered, dingy places with ripped out-of-date clothing, think again.

Even if you are in a small town, you may periodically make Big City runs for certain items. You may want to check out the thrift stores. This one can’t be the only huge, great thrift store in the nation!!!

The pictures aren’t perfect because I felt like such a goober taking them. I’m hoping you can at least see how big, bright, clean, and organized it is.

Well, California's minimum wage is going up to $7.50 in January (and later it will be bumped to $8). I just don't know how to handle it. If I stay on The Challenge a year I'll be doing it in January and February only, since I started in March 2006. My inclination is to stay at $6.75 for my Challenge. In the "real world" I wouldn't see the money right away-if it took place the first, depending on how I got paid, I might not see an increase in my check for up to 3 weeks. So my excitement is short lived.

In my Real World, I'm getting a pay raise in October. I was amused that it is the second raise I've had since March 2006 and I won't be able to spend a dime of it.

I came back to town from the camping trip today, flush with food. I felt like a bit of an oddball, but if two pancakes or a near empty jar of jam are going in that garbage, it’s my natural instinct to rescue them. Other foods that I help rescue include some garden squash, a hot dog, a bit of left over steak, hamburger and chicken; some provolone cheese, and some sautéed mushrooms. I also brought back a bunch of the chopped veggies and some of the potato salad I brought.

I did put in $5 towards a gift for the hostess at the cabin, but that and the extra gas was worth it. I did end up feeling mildly punk, but not miserable. Did nap on Saturday in the tent. I would really like to be headache free for a while but I guess I’ll take mild or medium headaches over doozies.

I’m getting close to needing a freezer. The plums are really coming in, and berries will be coming. I’m looking at a Kenmore 5 cubic foot chest freezer for $169.99 from Sears. Maybe I’ll do it next weekend. A lot of thrifty chores coming up: my favorite thrift store tomorrow in Sacramento, the “buck a bag” book sale at the library next Friday night, and freezer. The “buck a bag” sale is pretty great; I love stocking up on mysteries. If you pack the bags right, the books are around three cents apiece. Most of the gift worthy books sold at the regular sale, for 50 cents or a dollar, but sometimes there are great finds.

Another 17 hour day tomorrow, leave the house at 5 am and get back at 10 pm.

This morning at work I was putting a roll of toilet paper in my Kleenex box, and didn’t realize it would cause people to stare. They were kind; they found it mildly ingenious, I think, and seemed to think I was coming at it from an environmental angle. I admitted that it was thriftiness too. I’ll see if I see a bunch of tissue boxes with the flaps taped shut and TP poking out. (Tip: take out the cardboard roll in the middle.) At the least I’ll score some of these folks’ empty boxes.

Not exactly sure why so slow and low on posting lately. My spending is fine; nothing exciting and I'm well within My Challenge and all that. Don't think the lack of posts means going off the wagon or guilt about purchases. It’s habit, it really is. I did a very small favor for a friend and picked her up paper plates for a work event; boy, the price of this normal item, generic store brand at the cheap store, just shocked me. I can see how if I spent the $2 here and $10 bucks there on “normal” items it could make a big dent in my budget. As it is I don’t miss paper plates, so that’s fine.

I’m doing a weekend trip with some work friends. It’s my old unit, but as an alumnus I attend every year and have a great time. It’s at a friend’s parent’s cabin a couple hours drive away. Most of us camp in tents outside, and hang out and swim and play games and eat all day. I did buy a bunch of fresh veggies to make a veggie tray, and non-fat sour cream to make a dip, and stuff for potato salad, so I’ll spend a little more on groceries and gas than usual, but I can take the hit. I went camping last month and that cost me $12 (entertainment budget); I’m not going to avoid fun things to save money.

I picked plums from the backyard tree and picked blackberries in town today. The apples on one of out trees are already pretty pick. So it may be a decent jam, apple sauce, and apple butter year.

I may be nuts, but I think a post I made in the Forums was misinterpreted today. What’s funny to me is that it’s renting so much space in my head. It’s such a little thing, one person in the United States thought I was mean, and maybe I am not even reading the situation right. But I am just in a mini-tizzy. I know I have the capability to act childish, but I’d rather have a mellow Sunday night.

Today I spent on non-necessities. I even had sort of a spree. What did my crazed self end up spending? $36.21. I love how a binge for me is still little.

My first splurge was getting a $24.67 Clinique item to get the Bonus bag of make-up. I justified it to myself just fine; I tend to get the Bonus once every two years and that meets 95% of my makeup needs. So I got lipstick, mascara, lotion, and three other items. I love Clinique lipstick.

Then I got some bubble bath and two bath pillows at the dollar store. $3.22 on pure luxury. One pillow will replace the kinda broken one in the bath (which will go in my travel bag), and one will be back up for later, so I don’t spend more than I want when I need the bath pillow.

I continued to go nuts, and bought fresh fish at the store. My Guy likes catfish, and it was reduced for quick sale, so an $8 something package became $4 something. We’ll have oven fried catfish tonight, one of our favorite dishes, and one that we rarely have fresh fish for. And it doesn’t end there….I got a small bag of fresh cherries! Reduced price, but still, cherries! I only went to the market to get the $3.79 2 pound block of cheese with a dozen eggs free, and I buy fresh fish and cherries.

I’ll have a good dinner tonight, and a lovely bath, and the satisfaction of having nice makeup for a long time. And I’ll have the extra satisfaction of knowing that when I spend like a mad woman, it costs me less than $40 bucks. Whew.

I hadn’t played poker in a long time and it was nice to play last night at my place. At the start of the year I had tracked my winnings and losings, so that I had a better idea of my overall play. Well I started the year with $40 in winnings in first game (buy in for $20, took home $60). Then I lost $14, leaving me with $26 winnings to play with. So when I started the challenge I had an extra challenge: I had only that $26 in winnings to play with, or else I’d have to dip in to my entertainment money, which I wasn’t sure about. Anyway, we missed a bunch of games, and then I missed some games that were played, so it had been awhile. And I won $47.25! So now I have a separate jar of money with $73.25 ($26 plus $47.25) to keep playing with. Even if I’m a total loser from now on that’s 3 games worth at least.

Miscellaneous note 1: People brought over left over pot luck stuff from work to the poker game, so now I not only have ground beef, salsa, chopped tomatoes, and shredded cheese in the fridge, I scored a nice Ziploc and some Gladware tubs!

Miscellaneous note 2: My recycling income is way down, because of my decreased club soda consumption. Last run was $2.72, versus the usual $ or so. But I have been really finding a lot of bottles and cans on my breaks at work. So I’m picking up the neighborhood and making money.

Miscellaneous note 3: I was a big freebie girl and stopped for a few years, now I’m back to getting the free samples. Just maybe one nice item in the mail each week, but it’s great. I love the sample antiperspirants; I’ve gotten three lately.

I keep reading little snipes at frugality (not here!), as if people who choose not to spend are depriving themselves.

Get this straight: I am not deprived. I am not missing lattes, going out to eat, spending at the mall. I am not some sad little thing sitting at home washing Ziplocs while life passes me by. I am not doing without.

Some people may under spend on important items, say, on health insurance. Others may pass up grapes they love every day for bananas that are cheaper, never really satisfying themselves in the aim to save money. Some folks may be so concerned about debt or saving money that life revolves around keeping and making money.

I am very frugal. I do not spend a lot of money on things I don’t get value out of. But believe me; I have become very clear in my mind that a lot of things that don’t cost money are the things most important to me. And when it is important, I will spend money and not regret the purchase.

I have a $25 entertainment/eating out budget every month. What’s happened is that when I eat out I enjoy it much more than when it was frequent. If I am really, really in the mood to go out to eat, I do. I have learned to differentiate being lazy (can of soup works here) from wanting the experience of dining out.

I travel every year. If the stars align right, I may go to Eastern Africa next year to meet up with my folks. It will cost thousands-airfare alone to Africa is a doozy-and I won’t question in for a second. (My Dad was born there, and took my mother and me there when I was an infant, and now he’ll be able to show his wife and me. Very full circle and all that.)

I will likely eat oatmeal or homemade granola with bran for breakfast every day this week. I will pack lunch every day. I will hang laundry. I will not be upset about it. I don’t have to “get over” being upset about it. These are not unpleasant things.

If you think being frugal is painful, you’re wrong. Being frugal is very freeing, very relaxing. My income could drastically drop, and I wouldn’t have to alter my lifestyle for a second. How luxurious is that ?

If you looked at me lying on my nice bed, post-long hot bath, with my big poofy wonderful comforter, and my pile of paperbacks, on the pillows and floors and everywhere, and my tea with extra lemon and extra sweetener, you’d be able to tell I was far from deprived. I’m living a positively decadent life.

Don’t misinterpret my oatmeal, fools.

Some folks get me thinking. That’s not always comfortable.

Sweeps posted in a Thread entitled Where Do You Draw the Line: “I was a little disappointed when I looked in this thread because I thought it meant: Where do you draw the line on being frugal? I don't mean to offend anyone, but I think there are a few people who have gone to the extreme with being frugal…. What really makes me scratch my head is when someone works so hard to save a few pennies while they overlook very big things like:
» Taking advantage of the tax savings and potentially company matching of retirement plans
» Dropping unnecessary insurance coverage and/or raising deductibles
» Using cash-rewards credit cards (or even cash-rewards debit cards)
» Paying bills with online bill pay to avoid the use of envelopes, stamps, checks and wasted time
» Paying down highest-interest debt first, instead of paying off something else that may give a warm-and-fuzzy feeling but makes less of a financial impact.
» etc. etc. etc.

So I am evaluating…am I sweating the small stuff without paying attention to the big stuff?

Well, no work match on retirement, so I'm okay there. I’m good on insurance, high deductibles and not over insured. I don’t have a cash-back card...I could, and should, look into it, but say I got 5% on everything on my card, I’m looking at maybe $15 a month maximum. Now that’s more than eight pound s of cheese, which is real, but for me, not a “very big thing.” Online bill pay? Yeah, I love it, but at half the postage for 4 household bills a month that’s 78 cents for me. And I have no debt, so I don’t need to worry about paying off in a different order. So the initial list, I’m okay with.

But how about that [etc. etc. etc,?

Here’s where I am tackling my own issues. I am socking away big bucks on My Challenge. Prior to The Challenge my savings were in good shape. The bad thing is until recently I let my savings sit in a 1% account. I had a IRA (rollover from prior 401k) that I didn’t add to and I didn’t manage its allocation. I have a 457b deferred compensation plan that I make contributions but I don’t manage the allocation.

I am making progress. I just opened a Roth IRA. I moved a large chunk of savings into ED and ING accounts. (I know ING isn’t great but the $25 bonus was compelling, and it’s not 1 %.) I am facing my fears and working at not being intimidated.

Okay, boring banking chatter in the middle of exciting frugfality. But that’s the problem in my head; garage saling is fun, finding out how to invest for retirement is not. Sweeps point is well taken; while saving the (shiny!) pennies, I’ll make sure that all aspects of my financial house are in order. It will be a journey-I didn’t become frugal overnight-but I should continue to make solid progress.

Why doesn’t that Sweeps character have a bog, huh?

Today was a curl up in bed with a book day. I think I was more worn out than I realized (I’d gotten over being sick and having migraines and worked a tough week). I am grateful that the simplicity of my needs and wants gives me the gift of time.

I’ve posted about being lazy. Some people claim I’m more efficient than lazy. But either way, having a low maintenance life style and a clutter free house lets me take a full weekend day to myself. I ate a lot of plums, and some “slugs” from the bagel shop. (Long bagelish sticks covered in seeds and garlic and other lovely stuff). I had some “new” garage sale books. And I made medicinal type tea: two bags strong, with lots of lemon and a lot of sweetener (some Splenda, some sugar).

I thank all of you who have posted words of encouragement. I am not unhappy with my Challenge; I had just been in a bad mood-perhaps due to being worn out? –and took it out on the Challenge. I am proud of being able to choose not to spend half of my net income. When I deny myself something, it could really be looked at as denial, because I would have the money to spend on it. But the real thrill is that I am meeting not just needs on the Challenge, but wants, too. My soul is as fed as my belly. And it will be very hard for me to take material goods for granted again. Quitting drinking has already given me the gift of never taking sanity and peace for granted. A day without drama and a day with plums and “slugs” and a book is a very, very fine day.

Big bucks today, but some good stuff. $28.50, with $25 being for 2 items.

Two drawer metal filing cabinet in great shape, along with

A beautiful small oak table, both for $25.

A 25 cent pair of earrings for me

5 little gifts at an average of 20 cents each (including nice garnet earrings)

Wrapping paper, 8 unopened rolls

A basket

Glass Canister (that exactly matches another two I have, and was 15 cents)

Ziploc lunch box

Books, three

The small table is almost like a miniaturized version of our dining room table; same oak cooler, same design. I polished it with mayonnaise; crazy tip, but it works wonders on wood. No it doesn’t stink. Let soak, then wipe up all excess, and buff buff buff. I was skeptical, too. I certainly wouldn’t call either the cabinet or table a steal, but I feel like I got good value.

And I went with a friend, which makes the whole process more fun. I have another social activity tonight, which is good because I don’t get out enough. Our community has an Arts Alive event the first Saturday of every month; businesses and galleries in our “Old Town” district showcase local artists and crafts people, and sometimes have some food. It’s nice to wander our locally owned stores and businesses, enjoying the summer and the sense of community.

In yesterday’s post there’s a bit of the “poor me” syndrome going on. Not my favorite trait. I’ve shaken that off. How? Well, partially from the very kind comments. But partially because of a talk I had with some co-workers.

We were walking around the block, and laughing because I was tossing grapefruit peel, and admitting that at home I’d be saving it to scrape pith off, slice, and freeze to make candied peel. So the idea that my snack’s peelings could have been my buddies Christmas presents just cracked us up and in particular cracked me up.

Here’s the deal. If I’m in a funky mood I think, well, it's a gratuitous thing, an indulgent thing, to do this out of choice when so many are forced to by circumstance. But then, later, I think, the wonderful thing is that I’m doing this by choice. It is not disrespectful to the working poor to have this as a Challenge, it is respectful to myself and the earth and my fellow citizens. By not talking what I have for granted, I’m not taking what others have for granted either. I can very clearly see the value of a dollar, any dollar: whether it’s interest off an investment or from a tiny paycheck, it’s still a flannel pair of jammie bottoms from the thrift store.

It’s Day Two of Month Six of my Minimum Wage Challenge. And my inner voice keeps whispering, “who cares….who cares….time wasted…..” What will I have if I succeed in my year? I know, I know, I’ll have a full appreciation, a lot of gratitude, a healthy savings account. But I’m in the mode where I’m thinking that it’s just pretty silly.

It’s not that I’m wanting to spend and can’t. Really. It’s just the little kid in me feeling bumptious. I’ll get over this feeling, and go back to feeling brave and wise and grateful and complete. Knowing that Enough is Enough, and Money is a Tool not a Goal.

A full refrigerator makes me uncomfortable. Too much food makes it easy to lose things. It makes me antsy like I have to use things.

When the fridge is emptier I feel more peaceful. What’s up with that?

(If I ever become a bazillionaire I will order a fridge that is twice as wide and half as deep.) I will be able to see everything and never have to go into rescue mode.)

Inspired by someone’s post, I organized all my Survey Point information. Looked at all the sites where I’d have a point balance, or even a dollar balance, and saw what I could redeem now or what I was saving for. Keeping in mind that larger point cash outs are somewhat better value, balanced with the desire to spend the points before anything happened to the sites, I wrote out a spreadsheet. I don’t think it’s comprehensive yet (I know I’m a member of a lot of survey sites) but it’s a good start.

On the way: two $5 target gift cards.
Very close to: $10 into PayPal
Also very close to: a $10 check
Considering: getting $25 GAP or K-Mart certificate. (The GAP GC costs fewer points but has higher priced items in a more limited range). Also maybe Overstock.com or Bath & Body)
Can cash out now but will wait for a $5 balance: $2

So that amounts to $37 as of now, with another $20 close by. Nice.