I brought some books with me on the trip to Vancouver: that's right, I spent the Fourth of July applying for a Canadian passport. One book was Doris Janzen Longacre's Living More with Less. I read through it, and saw how relevant these simple living and "living lightly" strategies still are: don't eat so much meat, material possessions aren't everything (they certainly don't make us happier in the long run), share with the less fortunate.
Also am reading Brent Kessel's It's Not About the Money. When I have the emergency fund, bathroom, landscaping, garage door, refrigerator and the Osaka trip squared away, I can think about expanding the giving budget. For now, I am working on donating 10% of my food budget to local food banks.

Still struggling with having fun in this lifetime and yet paying off the mortgage semi-rapidly. I learned today from a friend that it's not unheard of for Vancouverites to be spending up to 74% of their takehome pay on housing. Ach du lieber!** No wonder YVR's called "Hollywood North," eh?

During the Great Depression the market fell by 83%. I do not believe I can stomach that kind of loss. Time to move some assets to cash.

I guess there's always something more I could do to save energy/cut costs/save the planet/get in shape/save time, but figuring out what can be mesmerizing and time-consuming. I'm obsessed with the idea of doing something cheap that results in a 10% decrease in energy costs.
For our debt support group meeting on Sunday, I plan to visit a county library branch and get as many books in the 332.02402 call number as are available. Or reread my current books and come up with plans to reduce, reduce, reduce. Maybe I'll buy a refrigerator this weekend.

** Ach du lieber is short for Ach du lieber himmel: German for "oh for the love of heaven."