What I should have written for yesterday's Blog Entry Title: "I'm off the budget rails on the Crazy Brain" (Thank you, Ozzy Osbourne!)

I do not betray confidences (in that I do not name names) but, I am not the only one on crazybrain owing to too many goals, too few dollars. People are juggling medical treatment payments, legal fees, assessment extraordinary surcharges, down payments for newer cars, veterinary expenses. Me, I have only credit card payments, investing, regular budget, this field study thing, down payment for a newer car, and home upgrades to fret about. Nothing to turn the hair grey.

Two of my friends are needing to buy cars immediately, so I thought maybe we could go all together and find a quality car lot, and work over one salesperson for discounts if it meant him or her getting bonuses for selling three cars in one day. Too bad two of us are picky about what vehicle they want, and another pair has a shorter timeline.

A saner person pointed out that I was not keen to blow my precious metals fund on a car. If I thought it was achievable, I would attempt to pay down the HELOC so the balance was under 25% of the total amount of credit extended to me.

A crazier but better organized person suggested that I make a chart of my equilateral contributions to savings and debt goals, and display it prominently so I frequently have a visual reminder that we are not as bad off as crazybrain would interpret.

Last year at this time was when I dropped out of the 'How Long Can We Go Without Turning On Heat in the House' challenge. If it were reprised this year, I would still be in it, because our weather is crazy (in that it is actually like the weather east of the Cascade mountains: dry) and not miserable.

Also, my crazybrain toggled into sane brain when I walked out of a consignment store today with a discounted, clean, fitting, soft pair of trousers and some fun socks. Knowing that comfortable and decent clothing was within my budget is palliative.

Menu Plan to come.

I am having crazybrain. Not the type where I think cats make for good eatin' or that the imaginary ants crawling on me would die if I suffocated them underneath a train, but the crazybrain that comes up with a new thing to do every three minutes or eighteen different budgets. Or makes me feel I am deprived and poor because I cannot buy a car, pay off my HELOC and have an emergency fund over $10K at the same time, while at the same time I eye the veal scallops at the meat counter thinking "say, I could afford that.."

Birthday boy flipped a coin last night to determine whether we go to the kinda pricey but delicious (and bad for my endocrine system) pizza, or if we go to the cheesy cheap family restaurant for his birthday. Happy to say the cheap family restaurant won out, so we went to a frozen custard place afterward. I had baked apple cookies and chocolate bars for his class, in lieu of a cake, so that saved us some $$ as well.

The craziness I believe is the binge-purge mania of my budget. I have some $ left over from the last payperiod, it gets divided into debt and savings. On the weekend we buy whatever, as long as we need it, and for the weekdays I either aim for no-spend days or I set a limit of $60, and divide what I don't spend that day on debt and savings. I feel I should work more at building up the cash reserves, but I argue with myself: do Savings Bonds count as cash reserves, or is it just money market account, savings accounts, and Certificates of Deposit? Then I think of my friend who is not paying off her HELOC but rather investing in the stock market, and I think but I have to diversify, and how can I do that when I have maybe less than $100 each month to give to: stocks, stock trading, retirement, etc. I am reminded that savings should never be the final or leftover item on the budget: I try to make it the first and last, seriously.

Our family agreed on the idea of having more vegetarian entrees more often. We still love meat, but more beany, legumy, tempeh and fungus dishes will help us make food faster and more cheaply, and then we can regard veal scallops and bay scallops as sweet luxuries. We did spend $107 at the meat counter in the Public Market today , right next to the world-famous Flying Fish dudes, then $113 at the supermarket for Halloween candy ($1.50 off), cat treats ($0.75 off), fish (one whole salmon plus 2 lbs dover sole), cheese, apples, juices, bread, butter, pretty much everything that was obviously a great deal that we regularly consumed). The $$ for the boy's field studies on the peninsula has been taken by the school, but $300 still remains on the VISA card and must be paid off in three weeks.

In addition, what is driving me crazy is seeing money go everywhere EXCEPT toward a newer car, and a better wardrobe for me. I have three pair jeans and one pair velvet pants. I tossed out two pairs of ratty shoes, a pullover and a cardigan that did not fit, and I did not give myself some $$ to check out the consignment and thrift shops for bigger, fluffier, less threadbare sweaters.

So if you wisely scrolled past all the diarrhea, I am looking for GOOD vegetarian cookbooks. I have _More with Less_ and _Feeding the Whole Family_ which have lots of veg. recipes, but want to see what is out there.

Oh yeah, I reduced my risk of breast cancer today by taking vitamin D3 and serving steamed chard for dinner with kielbasa and sauerkraut.

From ZeroHedge:

If the US Government were applying for a loan, what would its credit score be? ConvergEx's Nick Colas estimates it at 655 (based on

Text is www.myfico.com and Link is

www.myfico.com) - which is higher than we suspected - but consistent with the structural belief in both sovereign and personal debt rating systems that historical payment patterns matter more than ability to pay, leverage, or loan amounts.

Read the whole article here.

That is not terrible: one needs a FICO score of 660 to apply for the kind of mortgage I have: 3.75% APR, no fee, for twelve years, at the credit union.

I need to work on fitness though. That is where the US and I share the score of F. Body clutter, house clutter, money clutter...

I must have done well at not eating out this month because I fantasized this afternoon about fish'n'chips and tacos, none of which is a mainstay menu item at my house. We used to go out for fish'n'chips when the English lived with us (my stepfather and his mother, from Liverpool).

Leanne Ely's Saving Dinner paperback died in the car. I braked, my purse and its contents plummeted to the floor, the paperback in several pieces. I relied on it a lot! It had nutritional data: protein, carbohydrates, fat, and suggested side dishes, and weekly menus that always included one vegetarian dish, and some slow-cooker recipes. I need the more durable spiral-bound edition. My Canadian cookbooks are decades old and still in use because they are spiral bound. Tangentially, I notice every Canadian cookbook I have has a recipe for butter tarts and for Yorkshire pudding, except for my ultra-regional Vancouver cookbooks.

We did eat out for lunch twice: once because my spouse earned a leisurely lunch through enduring enough stress that he felt entitled to one at our favourite cafe; another because our friend from British Columbia was visiting. And we ate Chinese food takeout from the supermarket: got two meals each for two people out of $20, and that time earlier at Billie On Burgers.

We ARE going out for my son's birthday next Friday. And I have enough food in the freezer and pantry now to last at least a week.

Outfitting boy for his field studies is DONE, with an exception of a 2 ounce bottle of Dr. Bronner liquid soap for his toiletry! I thank JC Penney for coming through with flannel jammies and bathrobe for less than a third of what I would have paid at Land's End.

Serendipity: $15 haircut for boy today in an instant walk-in, instead of $25 at the hipster two-hour-wait-on-Sundays barbershop my husband likes to go to (truth: my husband gets buzzcuts for about $15). So that is $46 saved from haircuts this month.

Food was probably around $700. Gas only $55 for the month (including scooter). Coffee we cheated, probably $46 instead of $40.

Car Fund: $278 less than August 18 balance
Stocks: up $150 from September 1
Debt: down $916.43 from September 1


I need a challenge for October.

Yesterday I made a freezer inventory, a list of entrees for this week, and needed ingredients, plus a list of items we are low on.

Early this morning the beau and I went shopping. Today is Mayor's Day of Concern, when food bank drives dominate most supermarkets, even the ones just outside our city. We bought 80% of what was on my list, three impulse buys of salami, cheese, and olive oil. $111.43 prior to the box of oatmeal for the food drive. Most of it was vegetables: I plan for a lot of juices, soups and salads this week. What was nice: the checker was patient while my beau scouted for a food bank item, and she deducted the cost of the five bags we brought (25 cents) even though we used three.

We cheated on the coffee budget and had espresso at the supermarket. I wanted to spend less than $100, but that wasn't going to happen with the impulse items.

The bulk Spike (seasoning salt) went up in cost from $11.49 to $17.69 a pound. Yikes!

Then I started early on Christmas presents shopping, and bought a CD for myself, which I hardly ever do. I did in this case because I would like the artist, who won a music award in the UK, to see royalties, and from what I heard on our local listener-powered station, the cuts on this album are more cosmic and less melancholic. The boy received a MAD Magazine. Who doesn't love MAD?

Also bought weedblock fabric pegs and mulch/bark cover. Did not take as much time as I thought to spread.

Went to the corner supermarket to see what they had for coconut oil and apple cider vinegar, but was distracted by chips on special, and yet another group collecting food for food banks. Bought two cans of vegetables to donate, and kept chips for myself.

So that is about nine days' worth of dinners in the freezer and pantry and refrigerator. I do not normally purchase groceries in excess of $100 anywhere but Costco, but at this rate, I only drive for groceries once a week.

1.

Beat Caffeine Addiction - Lifehacker. I found $10 in a pants pocket and blew half of it on coffee. Without this, I am still $3 away from my $40 limit. After 12 noon, I switch to tea, to get the coconut oil melted in hot liquid. I have a tin of Teeccino which I cannot bring myself to use in the french press pot.
Sometimes I ask myself if I want a second coffee or if I want protein, and sometimes I go for protein.

2. About debt paying: I have read that possibly the reason for the slow economy in the United States is that people are paying off their debts. That seems too easy/pat an answer. I did not and still do not understand how banks and consumers would agree to get the consumer so mired that an increasing amount of money would go to paying off debt and not to keeping the economy going. Certainly now with gas costing over $4/gallon in the majority of stations in my city, and the gas prices and drought affecting how much food people can buy, the retail spending will be even less.

3. My tot is going on a two-night learning expedition to the Olympic National Forest. So right after I pay off the credit card I am embarking on my cyberexpedition to outfit him for under $300. We are not camping people, but I do not want my tot to get hypothermia. We went to Lake Louise, Alberta (Canada) one August and it was flippin' 3 degrees Celsius. We did NOT pack for that.; instead we packed like we did on our drive into America's Heartland. So I'm outfitting him like he was to stay in the Rockies. Parka, thermal underwear, fleece hat, warm socks, pajamas...

$256.97 spent on groceries and meals/treats out this month so far. Half of the groceries were purchased at a Big Box warehouse store as mentioned: pantry items like canned tomato products, quinoa, brown rice, sugar. We buy a lot of fruit, apparently, as I need to refill our fruit bowl every five days. Sadly, we saved on average 23% per purchase too. So keeping a price book, planning meals, using coupons, making inventory lists of pantry, refrigerator and freezer still are not sufficient in helping me meet my goal to bring food spending down. Without the eating out, the grocery spending is $198. But we are still $5.00 away from meeting our $40/month coffee quota!

I also bought a cheap bottle of Riesling for poaching trout, used a cup of it and then brought it to book club, where it found several good gullets to go to. For fellow book nerds, we discussed _Anna Karenina_.

We bought Guinness Stout cans at 75% discount, to be used in some

FANTASTIC beer bread.

DS goes on a three-day outing to Olympic National Park in November. I must find the handout he brought home and check his wardrobe for needed items, then budget for them.

DH's grandmother died last night but as we were over there last month, when she was confined to her room and unable to recognize her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, we get a pass on returning, especially as there is no service, only one of us could go during the school year (obviously the husband) and she was cremated hours after the death certificate was signed. I nudged my husband into sending flowers to his parents, in sympathy.

I don't know that there is a lot of grief left in the in-law household: two septuagenarians, one working full-time, the other recovering from knee surgery, spending shifts at her bedside, getting little sleep. They got to go together for coffee once the body was carted away, something they used to do daily before the lengthy languishment, and that they did once while we were there. But now they can rest and sleep and order danishes and nonfat lattes.

I need a new pair of walking shoes that do not crush nor fracture my toes. Also in need of replacement: our chairs -- I can get a desk chair for $10-$25 at the university surplus store. In the meantime, I shave off my VISA balance.

I told my family we would be on a strict food budget: $720. As we have enough vegetable and animal protein to last us two weeks, I figured this would be easy. But I did a Costco run, and even though I missed about four items it came to $106.84, with $15.24 of that being vitamins (that should save me the $15 I would have spent on B-complex separately). So we have spent $182 so far in the first seven days.

With the Costco run we have $10 left in the month for coffee. I went to Cash&Carry for whipping cream and saw that the price went up by 10% since my last visit in July, and butter went up by 20%. These are the lowest prices around, according to my price book. So my coffee now looks like early Michael Jackson instead of later. I may have to run to the supermarket on the pretense of buying a doughnut and slip some half'n'half from the Starbucks kiosk into my drip.

We also ate out last night, as I was occupied creating a stock comparison worksheet, but at a highly-rated burger joint with very inexpensive offerings. $29.08 for three, and that included fresh and hand-dipped milkshakes.

So today I buy vegetables, fruit, luncheon meat and a little more dairy, and hope to spend less than $23, with a $5 coupon from a weekly circular.
Update: $40.11 I spent, but got $5.00 back. The males went with me, and we bought frozen vegetables. Other than eggs, I should not require any food items this week.

Debt so far:
VISA $583.66 due Sept. 27
Signature Visa: $61.24 due in mid-October (I did enable online bill payment, so I anticipate this will be paid on time)
Target: $120.93 due Sept. 21

$30 school supplies for boy
$37.10 Safeway (saved $13 through coupons)
$55.85 electricity bill
$3.00 shell account

Annual insurance for motorcycle, plus license tabs taken care of. Also Signature Visa card thankfully paid five days before the due date. I learned that if I do not use the return envelope Bank of America sends me, my payment can be delayed, even though I print the correct address in a highly readable typeface at 11 point or larger size on a properly stamped #10 envelope.

Now only $703.56 left on the credit union VISA, and $61 on the Signature Visa, and $120.83 on Target RedCard. Apparently my husband uses our credit union for PayPal on occasion, and as PayPal monitors credit card usage, its algorithm-controlled PC decided that the spate of charges for our vacation expenses was reason enough to suspend my husband's account. He should have used the Signature Visa, I agree, as we use that once every two years. So don't go on vacation on the credit card you have linked to PayPal, because OMG! Gas Fillup! Fraud!

Payment for boy's teeth extraction went through. I have about $210 remaining until Friday.

Giving us $40 a month coffee budget. This includes beans we buy for personal use, as well as replenishment of coffee card, and tips. That is for two people. I would like to cut down a bit, so I can afford a Virtual Private Network that can give me a Canadian IP address.

Learning (or rather re-learning) statistics. Scores for end-of-year statewide student testing released, but individual scores not. I have told boy that if he scores outside one standard deviation for both reading and math, he can have dinner at his favourite pizza place.

First, to inaugurate my new category, I saved forty cents (not .40 cents, that is hundredths of a cent, not hundredths of a dollar) a gallon at a Safeway gas station. As this is the second consecutive time I have mentioned the supermarket chain you could suspect I am paid to blog about it. Not true. If I did not have my price book I would not notice the savings, and there are many items I prefer to buy at Target, due to location and price.

I don't deny I am addicted to petrol. I looked at my 2012 Savings page and saw that in April we spent $120+ on gas refuels. That is 750 miles.

About coffee: I know I am an addict. I have a Turkish coffee set, Turkish coffee, Canadian coffee (not a type but a product name under the Murchie's brand), 5-lb whole bean bag from Costco, Folger's for emergency situations (no electric power for grinding the beans). I have a reloadable card from a cafe 1.5 miles away. My niece said I am a junkie. But I have limits. I would rather go through caffeine withdrawal than pay for Farmer Brothers coffee, even at five cents a cup as Wall Drug advertises.

But making coffee, tea, yerba mate a budget line item makes our consumption visible, and we can then (attempt to) cut down on purchases, maybe even consumption. I miss affording clothes.

I will budget September, including all those back-to-school expenses and Vitamin D3, sweaters, socks, gloves and hats, Christmas gifts.

Safeway, a West Coast supermarket chain, is now very competitive and introduced Just 4 U Savings for card members. The savings are substantial enough for me to enroll. Today we three shopped at Safeway and our bill came to over $100, which is rare for us as we shop $60 here, $30 there, among six different food markets. But we saved 26% off our food bill PLUS 30 cents a gallon off our next vehicle refuel. We bought tritip roasts, ground beef, whole chicken, pork chops, lots of produce ($3 savings for us as we bought over $15 worth). And some carbonated fruit juice and club soda (I know, I know, but juice is at 18g sugar per serving, and we use the club soda for egg creams and for our own grenadine-and-lime soft drinks or pair it with scotch, and our summer limit is one soft drink every two weeks). Enough food to last us for ten days, barring dairy and bread.

Took my stock investor/debt group friend to Mutual Fish Company, where I bought a whole salmon, two whole trout, ginger and spinach. She bought some sashimi and scallops. Fresh as the public market, but cheaper.

I blog about this because my friend and I are trying to cut down on our food bills. It turns out she and I both share our vision of the ideal job (no, it is not putting thumb tacks in Jell-O for $1000/hour).

I will return to Safeway as we apparently forgot the Hockey News yearbook. Maybe I can justify the return by grabbing some yakisoba noodles and bulk spice from the chichi supermarket three blocks away.

Here is an article about superinvestor Warren Buffett.
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Worked on some gentle qigong exercises for weight loss and the qi rushed from my head so fast, despite my slow directed motions that I felt dizzy and nearly passed out. The qi moved into my palms and heated them up to a feverish temperature. I have taken qigong before but it was Soaring Crane and I did not have weird experiences. This was from Dominique Ferraro's book _Qigong for Women_, an exercise for weight loss and energy balancing for some organs' meridians. The qi "heat rush" is apparently a desired effect. I do read that this qigong can be powerful when used correctly and with full intention, so in future exercises I will make sure the animals are away or out of the room and open a window, one that faces a tree.
I try not to be too woo-woo, and have a healthy skepticism, but I have felt the effects of energy medicine firsthand and know they are real, and so have other people who do tai chi, kung fu, qigong, and other similar exercises.

I was asked in a comment for my last post for a Kasha Varnishkes recipe. This one is from The Joy of Cooking.

"The trick to making tender but firm kasha is to coat it with egg and stir it over high heat until toasted and the grains are separate." In the summer you can turn this dish into a pasta salad using whatever fresh vegetables can be found and toss with a vinaigrette. I have found that kasha tastes super with some sprinkle of Tabasco or hot pepper sauce.

Brown in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat:
2 to 3 tbsps chicken fat or vegetable oil
2 large onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups sliced mushrooms (button, shiitake, portobello or combination), optional
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Remove to a large bowl. Cook in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but firm:
6 ounces bowtie pasta
Drain the noodles and toss with the onion mixture.
Beat in a small bowl ONE LARGE EGG.
Add 1 cup whole kasha (roasted buckwheat groats)
Stir until the grains are well coated. Wipe out the skillet and heat it over high heat. Transfer the kasha mixture to the skillet and cook, stirring, until the grains are toasted and separate, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add:
2 cups hot chicken stock.
Stir, cover, and simmer until the stock is absorbed and the kasha is tender but not mushy, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the noodle mixture. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Garnish with 2 TABLESPOONS CHOPPED FRESH PARSLEY. Serve immediately.
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I have $12.80 ($173.80 -($25 traffic fine + $136.80 dental bill for DS's triple tooth extraction)) remaining in the joint chequing account. I still have $300 in billings to pay, but those statements arrived this week. We did pay for stamps, a donut, mocha and croissant, potatoes and celery with cash on hand.
I have learned that Oyako Donburi (Chicken and Egg on Rice) by itself is not a satisfying dish: my son and I woke up in the middle of the night with our stomachs begging. It was pretty tasty though, and I would happily make it again, although with more rice.
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This Saturday I have a stock talk breakfast date. My friend goes for the big dividends, and I go for blue chips, mostly, with dividends, low price/sales ratio and/or low price/earnings growth ratio, with low projections of 14% annual growth if no or low dividend, and low projection of 7% annual growth if both dividend is in excess of 3.5% and I already own the stock. Ranked: WAG (Walgreen), SLB (Schlumberger), JNJ, GE, TGT and GG (GoldCorp).

Good news first: We showed our embittered DS that his Berkshire Hathaway stock holding DID contain Burlington Northern (not sure it still does though), so he is feeling a little better. He has identified McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) as his next stock purchase. Lucky for us, custodial accounts require only a $100 minimum. I will put some money into Target (TGT) as well into his college account and into my Roth. Other stocks on his horizon: Pepsico, Coca-Cola.

Bad news: I avoided looking at our accounts for a full week after our return. I doubt I can pay all my bills right now without bringing my money market account below its minimum balance, unless I unload some CDs or some precious metals. I will divide $2500 between what I owe the painter and what I owe on the cards. My goal is to pay the painter in full by August 24 which is well within a 30-day period, and half of the credit card bill by August 27. Was most of what we charged worth it? I guess yes, to be hospitable to my brother, who turned out to be whiny, obstinate and pretty ungrateful for the $2400 we saved him (he threatened to go because only one of us thanked him and his wife for cleaning the kitchen, and I waved good morning instead of spitting out my coconut oil and saying hello. Also complained that he had no car even though he refused to drive, complained we had no television even though hulu.com was available at high speed on the laptops they brought and he knew on past visits we do not have cable). If God exists, it is patting me on the head.

I do not betray secrets, but I see that a friend has been putting money into her investment accounts while she is paying off debt, and I may do that too. She does heavy dividends, which is attractive if the debt balance APR is in the low single digits. Stocks that look good to me are ArcelorMittal (MT), Questcor Pharm (QCOR), Teva Pharm (TEVA) - I think I have this already but will accumulate, and Freeport McMoran (FCX).

Too bad it is outgoing and not incoming.

My aged automobile's engine does not turn over when it is hot. This started a week before my relations arrived, but as I saw the engine temperature indicator narrowly near the red zone, I thought it was heat -- it was the first hot day of the year. The second time it happened was on Tuesday that week, I took it in for its oil change and asked the mechanics to look at the starter problem. They did not reproduce the problem of the engine not turning over when it was hot, but mentioned the starter lock cylinder and ignition switch were worn, and I hesitated as I did not see the connection between those worn parts and our engine. I had to go to Vancouver BC to pick up people and the car failed in Bellingham after I refueled. No rental cars available at the agency five blocks from the gas station because it was late afternoon Friday. My schedule was off and I did not get to see people because I arrived too late. A few more incidents of the vehicle not starting led me to call the shop in desperation and I authorized the replacement of the ignition lock cylinder and switch which is performed today. NOW, after driving it in hot weather, the shop owner says they have reproduced the problem and now it will cost me double.

The landscaping has been done on the new lawn but not on the garden which desperately needs weeding. My relatives will not take the car out for sightseeing because it is flaky and my brother will not drive if he is not licensed to drive in North America. Which leaves me to drive the piece of junk to places where it will naturally overheat, like the Dragon festival in the International District, or Tulalip outlet stores where my sister wants to visit.

I would babysit my nephew and let my brother and sister-in-law have time together but he does not understand English, and I do not speak much Japanese.

The bright spots is that my brother has not yet succeeded in picking a fight with me. The other bright spot: he arrived when my relatives are here so I was able to introduce everyone so no one will call 911 and erringly report a burglar when he shows up to paint our house. Thirdly, my nephew really likes our cats and our cats have, surprisingly, not fled in terror but let him touch them. My sister-in-law does not like cats but she is warming up to the idea of having one, which pleases my brother. She even did not mind when one cat jumped on her. I have warned the painter that my cat may try to jump on him if he enters our house. I know it is not cool or funny to let pets jump on visitors or strangers but the cat does not bite or scratch and we have to CATCH him in the act to correct his behaviour. We can't control him if we are not around to witness.

The painter has taken his deposit. This week has cost me $2500 and it is not even the end of Thursday. If it were not for Greg Proops taping an episode of "QI" for its tenth series with Stephen Fry, and my husband needing someone to share car-driving duties (RENTAL CAR: I AM DESPERATE BUT NOT COMPLETELY STUPID) for 4200 miles, I would do serious harm to myself.

The gift cards I mailed to what I thought was the Cafe Racer survivor's address did not reach him. They were not returned to me. All today has told me is how much I fail at life.

I am mixing this up with

50 frugality blogs to help save money. I want my son to take martial arts this summer, even if it means cutting down on cappuccinos and potato chips.

Some debt group people are looking at their food expenses. I know I tend to overspend my own food budget, which is uneven because some months we buy meat in bulk, and some months we have Costco runs for the deals. Costco coffee went up 10 cents a pound, pooh. But gasoline went down twenty-five cents a gallon.

My visiting family are gourmands, so I will make some fish and veal stocks for them to use as they cook for us.

My price book cover looks like the Rapture happened, with four faces removed. As we are nearing the halftime show of Fantasy Celebrity Cemetery 2012, or Dirtnap for Dollars, here is a psychic remembrance of whom we will lose in 2013:

- Kirk Douglas
- Ernest Borgnine
- Andy Williams
- Billy Graham
- Christopher Lee
- Jake LaMotta
- The Duke of Edinburgh
- Olivia de Havilland
- Pauline Phillips ("Dear Abby")
- Mickey Rooney

you are welcome.

My goal now is to get more than $9.23 a month increase in net worth for my money market account, savings, certificates of deposit and chequing.

Just made biscuits and sausage gravy for brunch. Will make steak for dinner.

The day before was Bloomsday so I had a James Joyce cocktail at a very busy (two hour wait if you arrived at 7:15 pm) oyster bar. I saw the film "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" at the budget cinema, with no horrendously expensive pop or popcorn or candy.

I forgot what we entered as an acceptable deductible for health savings accounts but I am a little regretful it is high. I just paid $306 to my optometrist, $200 of that from the health savings account, and now the podiatrist is charging me $243 to show and tell me I fractured a toe. I have $19 left now in the HSA, so I must pay. The consolation being that when my medication needs a refill my deductible will be met. I will scramble for crash savings.

A bonus: if my spouse books and stays at a budget-conscious chain hotel, at least twice by mid-August, we can get a $50 gift card in addition to 15-20% discounts.

Almost interesting: the difference between the sum of HELOC payments made and the mortgage payments made is $3.60. As I cannot sustain $680/month HELOC payments the mortgage will have taken the lead.

I use the credit card to charge entertainment my brother's family wants: good tickets to a baseball game, market food tour. A Missouri-scale flood of expenses. I wonder if they will reward me by selling a Canadian gold coin to me without the premium.

$7.11 interest over six months of CDs. I could cry.

Today I found a recent 401(k) statement for the spouse. This set me off on a hunt for the retirement statements I have. I have piles of papers scattered in the spare room, our bedroom and in the living room. Never mind I have three crates for filing these.

In rooting for these statements like a blind pig who trapped her snout in lavender oil for a half-hour, I learned I miss investing. I have not invested for three months, instead saving $$ for house, taxes, laptop, family vacation. I must return to dropping envelopes of hot love to my brokerage of choice, and dabble in foreign currencies and precious metals.

I have also learned I cannot have control over my life until I tame my clutter. Then I will have organized and prioritized. Everything is a wildcard right now. I want so much to keep things simple, but the monkey mind reigns supreme. I hate this because I set a bad example for my child who is even more organizationally impaired than I.

But in also rooting for the statements I have found a library book I feared I would never see! That goes back tomorrow.

$306.13 optometrist bill today. I wonder what kind of high deductible we have in our health savings account.
He understands though, and spots me some prescription medication when I visit for my regular examinations, saving me $89.

What else: oh I was tabulating the finance statements for our bridge loan application outside a closed cafe (no, baselle, not THAT one) when the killer's dad (TKD) comes up. We are alone as the spouse had gone across the street for cheap roadtrip reads. I give TKD a hug, we talk about the grieving process, bridge loans, nuclear detritus washing up on the West Coast (note to self: do not move south) and why the cafe is closed: owner hastened downtown for a permit to participate in the local farmers market which started today. I did not tell TKD that I bought gift cards for the recovering barista/cook (RBC). Some stalking, errr, research showed that RBC was threatened with foreclosure three years ago so he presumably is not a wealthy person. I got a Target card for him and a Petco card for his little cat friend who could well be his "cheap therapist" as he recovers to return to work. A man who rides a motorcycle and owns a cat melts my heart.

A fearless, organized life filled with vitality and love: that is my goal to work toward.

Possibly yesterday it was my blogoversary. I am not sure. Could have been Saturday.

What I am celebrating today: I succeeded in paying off the roof from the Home Equity Line of Credit. I borrowed $3500 last June and here we are back at $13400.

Summer Reading: Anna Karenina, Nightmare Abbey. Finished The Sisters Brothers: I started it before May 30, and found the violence hard to take after Wednesday. I didn't have as much problem with the violence in Lady, Go Die!, the sequel to Mickey Spillane's _I, The Jury_.

I may try collecting spare change to pay for the higher escrow payment (higher real estate taxes). By collecting I mean beyond what falls out of pants in the washer and dryer. My kid is pretty good about wading into water pools downtown to fish out cash. You should see how surreptitious we are at the Butchart Gardens and Kubota Gardens. I need to find new places. I've read that vending machines are good but I don't see many of them. Maybe I will try those at Safeway. I also look under photocopiers. Places to try: parking lots, bars, fast food outlets (not likely).

Fast food -- we looked in my kid's science notebook and saw a table of "what I know about fats" and "what I learned about fats" and half the notes were diatribes against McDonald's. I never taught my child to hate McDonald's, but I never took him there other than for preschooler birthday parties. The adults we know think it is strange for a child to be that vehement in actively disliking a fast food chain and I agree. He doesn't feel this way about Wendy's or A&W.

January 1:
HELOC $14771
Savings 10473
Gold & Silver 11918

Savings Goals:
Car Replacement: 3000
Roof Replacement: 3400
Tax: 1787
Laptop 400
Saint Louis 1200

-----------------
May 1:
HELOC $13700
Savings 14768
Gold & Silver 12350

Savings Goals:
Car Replacement: 1200
Roof Replacement: 2000
Tax - done! Gold star!
Laptop - done! Gold star!
Saint Louis - done! Gold star!

$3400 savings goals reached
$4300 savings increased
$1071 HELOC decrease

$96 left in chequing account. I hope Target National Bank hasn't received/processed my payment yet, although I understand it's prompt that way.

Animal Control came. The Great Dane in its small pen barked for close to 60 minutes, maybe 75 minutes on Friday at dinner time, when it's inconvenient to have pink noise or the mp3 player on for dinner prep twice... I no longer record when it barks during the day, because I can slip headphones on and ignore it, but I can't ignore it at dinner: I have to hear timers beep, phone ring. I've discovered pink, white, and brown noises on binaural beats are as beautiful to hear as a newborn's first cry.

Dismayed by low Zillow estimate. Don't know how 38% growth in market value over 12 years happens to just us and only us, but others have higher ones. New roof, new heating system, new insulation, new windows, new kitchen, new bathroom. Just because everything except the roof haven't been added in the last two years doesn't mean that Zillow's priced it in.

I am doing an employment novena for my friend and he is doing one for me. All I know is that after the "holy water", purple candle burning, Blood Sugar Blues tincture and magnesium, the nasty cortisol-fueled thought racket at night doesn't happen.

We missed out on the car buying days event sponsored by the credit union. Oh well. September or August, we should have a newer car. Unless we've moved, in which case we will definitely have a better car.

Robin Gibb woke up from his coma. I'm positive Barry Gibb's singing to him did the trick: Barry can hit the notes that can recharge certain parts of the brain. Oddly "You Should Be Dancin'" hit the mp3 shuffle play as I typed this. I am sorry I did not think to play the Bee Gees when my mother had her cancer. Maybe Paul McCartney couldn't sing high enough to put Linda McCartney's cancer into remission. Two deaths in a week is just greedy anyway.

My spending focus is on the house.

I use lots of Excel for my Schadenfreude list, but the problem with autodidact learning is lack of structured curriculum. I have been using Excel Formulas and Functions for Dummies, working on my first, second and third mortgages -- not concurrent! do not fret! -- and found:
if I kept my first mortgage, I would be paying $388.50 in principal a week from now, with 16.78 years left.
if I kept my second mortgage I would be paying $653.37 in principal a week from now, with 11.44 years left.
I'm paying only $24.23 more than $653.37 in principal, but $141.19 less in interest. With the first mortgage $792.87 would have been paid in interest. I would still be using the Itemized Deductions Schedule on my 1040.

I have overspent for this payperiod, and yet oversaved as well. On the Payday it all works out: surplus is allocated to money market account, and VISA card.

Now that My HELOC Balance is $300 away from what it was in June 2011 before I borrowed for the roof, I am slowing my contributions to $163+/month, and putting 5% of our income toward noise-cancelling ear buds and home improvement/maintenance.

Who's Weak This Week: Zsa Zsa is trending but not for reasons the Dirtnap for Dollars crew would salivate at; Robin Gibb will likely live to see the centennial of the Titanic's sinking (he composed a requiem and is making public appearances). I have been spoiled this year by a score each month: numerically that rate is impossible to sustain. I passed up Andy Williams for Larry Hagman, strictly based on age, and here's Andy in a wheelchair, and Larry doing television. I like Andy Williams too, I had such a crush on him when up until I was five. He voice-dubbed Lauren Bacall! How cool is that? You know what would be cool? If he sang a recording of his own eulogy, and Lauren Bacall addressed the mourners, lipsynching the eulogy. Or vice versa, only I hope Ms. Bacall stays with us a long time.

A tip for those who want to play in 2013: Morley Safer, Steven Adler, William "Refrigerator" Perry, and Tony Iommi.

The balances seem abstract to me, except the tax bill, that's as concrete as a two-ton weight. When the proprietor of our espresso hangout says he's noticed our absences, staring at the tip jar, we can see how the $$ we contributed to his fund made a difference.

I'm not bothered so much now by the tax bill: I earned that much over the year in interest, dividends, and other investing. Although I am requesting DH change his tax withholding, it seems to me I am a more responsible steward of monies eventually turned over to the government than the government is of monies returned to me. The initial shock of surprise and unplanned expenses ebbs when I understand I have the $ to pay for them. Maybe the refinance changed our tax deductions for us: we pay under $4300 in mortgage interest, pay under $3400 in real estate taxes, the $600 tax for the roof just don't add up to itemized expenses. Last year we paid $5100+ in mortgage interest, and probably $6100+ the year before that. Amazing how fast the $100 savings is redirected to school donations, higher food and gas prices. We shopped and got $68 worth of groceries, but I've forgotten most of what we bought. I remember the produce, and dairy products and Nanaimo bar, we got some bagged cereal as well. Oh yeah, the wines. The wines cost at least a third of the bill. Meanwhile if I use up four vegetables our crispers are halfway to empty.

I wasn't happy with last month's food bill, but I did shop at Costco and buy a bulk order of meat, that's $300.

What's great when the insides are not so great: organic udon in chicken broth flavoured with salt, sugar, soy sauce, and sprinkled with five spice powder and kelp. Ohhhh.

In Dirtnap for Dollars news two of my picks are selling their houses; one has defaulted on her house loan. Try to imagine being in the tabloid news 50 years ago for wearing furs, getting jewels from randy royals, and big divorce settlements, and then defaulting on a house loan when you're five years away from pushing 100.

My Office Professional 2010 arrived today. I hope my 2008-era Dell laptop can handle it.
Extending my spring cleaning to include my PC and my insides. Starting with yogurt smoothies and indoor exercises.

Watching gold and silver slide like cliffside Malibu houses during an Act of God. If I see it below $1690 USD I'll buy a half ounce or one ounce.

According to data from the Federal Reserve Board, the ratio of homeowners’ equity to value at the end of the first quarter of 2011 was just 38.0 percent, the lowest on record. If this includes the 100% equity of paid off houses, I request permission to gulp audibly.

Slept through Ash Wednesday morning Mass. I did get replacement tabs and registration for the car -- well timed, as today they expire, so there is my penance. I also renewed our Scarecrow Video 10-punch account, taking out a Pokemon DVD for tot, and a Guy Maddin film for me (it was two-for-one Wednesday today, so one film would be for free).

No giving up disordered attachments of the flesh, other than the resistance to exercise. I do have some abundance--flesh, books and clutter, but scarcity in other areas. Disordered attachments of the mind and wallet will be surrendered, once I figure out what the disordered attachments of the wallet are. Library fines? Wasted food? Five-minute hot showers in February? Acrylamide-laden potato chips? Extra payments toward principal of extremely cheap loan? Sending heavy pricy coffee table hardcover books to eastern Canada while people starve on the streets? Disordered attachment of the mind is thinking how lowly and lonely I am. Certainly there are others who feel more lowly and lonely but I need to know how to find them to care for them. Thinking I need all the books and back magazines I have is disordered attachment.

Chequing account is now under $100 from now until payday.

Lenten practice possibilities:
sell books on shelves. divide proceeds between donating and debt.
empty a junk drawer.
Push-ups and sit-ups. If a starving, freezing Jew can do them in The Book Thief, I could do them.
clean one floor of pieces of paper.
Fast. Sleep on the floor.
Donations for every Vancouver Canucks win (22 games played between now and Easter).
Donation for every Dead Pool win I get between now and Easter (this should be easy -- I may have hit my limit).

Two months until tax payments are due. I had best be starting my tax calculation.

This morning was not fabulous. Constant readers who remember my post about my kid hot-to-trot to put his money toward an account earning 0.1% have this update: the boy forgot his account application and furthermore mislaid the $ his grandparents and I gave him. I asked three pointed questions about the account setup this morning: he lied for the first question and ignored the other two. Tweenility?

HELOC payment went through. Paid more in interest than last month, although I did not take any money out. I just paid 33% less over the past 30 days than I did the prior 30-day period.

I earn 25% of the interest amount I pay out in mortgage and home equity line of credit. I had an epiphany that I have been too aggressive setting a one-year payoff for the roof. 113 days to go, $2260 more to pay. I like Jean Chatzky's "$10/day" idea in Pay it Down. 3 - 3.75% doesn't seem like much, but it's still 7.5 - 9.2 times more than what I'm earning outside stocks, bonds and precious metals.

Our Valentine Day meal was made inhouse: veal in lemon sauce, with steamed asparagus and carrots, and grenadine sodas, and I brought from the fridge some truffles I bought on Thursday. The boy's class will feast on Nanaimo Bars today for MORE SUGAR! WHEE!

from

endoftheamericandream.com
#1 Today, 46% of all Americans carry a credit card balance from month to month.

#2 Overall, Americans are carrying a grand total of $798 billion in credit card debt.

#3 If you were alive when Jesus was born and you spent a million dollars every single day since then, you still would not have spent $798 billion by now.

#4 Right now, there are more than 600 million active credit cards in the United States.

#5 Exclusively among households that have credit card debt, the average amount of credit card debt is an astounding $15,799. That means households without debt were not included in this demographic sample.]

#6 If you can believe it, one out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards. I can't. I have three credit cards, and one charge card. I use one 99% of the time, another only when I travel, and I keep the unused one because I am afraid of the hit to my credit score if I close it.

#7 The average interest rate on a credit card that is carrying a balance is now up to 13.10 percent.

#8 According to the credit card calculator on the Federal Reserve website, if you have a $10,000 credit card balance and you are being charged a rate of 13.10 percent and you only make the minimum payment each time, it will take you 27 years to pay it off and you will end up paying back a total of $21,271.

#9 The length of auto loans in America just keeps getting longer and longer. If you can believe it, 45 percent of all new car loans being made today are for 6 years or more. I cannot believe this. Eight years ago, a typical car loan was for four years. My first and only car loan was paid off in two years.

#10 Approximately 70 percent of all car purchases in the United States involve an auto loan. Only 70%?

#11 Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago

#12 Mortgage debt as a percentage of GDP has more than tripled since 1955.

#13 According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, approximately 8 million Americans are at least one month behind on their mortgage payments.

#14 Historically, the percentage of residential mortgages in foreclosure in the United States has tended to hover between 1 and 1.5 percent. Today, it is up around 4.5 percent.

#15 Overall, nearly 29 percent of all homes with a mortgage in the United States are underwater. ACK!

#16 If you can believe it, the mortgage lenders now have more equity in U.S. homes than the American people do. I can believe it. I've cashed out no more than $2200 each of my two refinances, and I'm struggling to keep my equity above 55%. I have more mortgage yesterdays than I have mortgage tomorrows, too.

#17 Medical debt is a major problem for a growing number of Americans. One study discovered that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.

#18 Sadly, the number of Americans that are protected by health insurance continues to decline. An all-time record 49.9 million Americans do not have any health insurance at all right now, and the percentage of Americans covered by employer-based health plans has fallen for 11 years in a row.

Each payday I feel like Peanuts' Lucy shaking her Psychiatric Help stand can with a nickel inside.


Spent $$$ today: oldest friend came by with his family. He, she and I had a great time: his daughters were somewhat bored/restless, understandable: all were under 12, the cats fled immediately, and soon my son did as well, as he too is under 12. He didn't emerge until his father came home. We went to an izakaya (Japanese pub). I love my friend because we can be immediately real and honest with each other in ways that might be awkward with other people. My phone service provider told me I needed to add money if I was going to do crazy things like call Canada phone numbers: I paid the extortion fee they call "Top Up." It was worth it though. I also ran to the corner store to get multigrain and cheddar crackers, Pepperidge Farm cookies and juice. I also cut up vegetables and pears and made a vegetable dip.

What did I learn from this? Chance favours the prepared mind. And I am not an awful person.

I think I lost already the 2012 dead pool: Robin Gibb is recovering from his liver cancer, so the news reads.

Reasons: [for Jerry! hi!]

1. I asked to see the title. Instead of offering or showing me a copy, the seller said it was in a safe deposit box and would be presented to me at the time of signing.

2. I hoped for a half-way point between his place and mine for a title transfer place, like maybe downtown at a County office, but he said it would have to be in his neighbourhood.

3. I slept, but not very well. My precious metals went down, beside. I'd been told that when God is with me, I feel deep peace inside. I did not feel deep peace until I had read responses from a handful of message boards in which I posed my question about requesting a copy of a title. I had read on automotive consumer websites editorials and articles recommending asking to see a title. The responses from the message boards said my request was reasonable and thus I declined the seller.

4. I insist on doing due diligence. That means taking a checklist, having the right questions to ask, and perusing the correct documents. Why a seller wouldn't do the same, especially when I am not the first person to come look at and test drive the vehicle, is not for me to know, I guess.

5. I am not financially ready to make this purchase. If I am okay with the price of the car, but balk at paying 9.5% of the car price for county tax, and the car is priced at $14700 when Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds suggest $12434 - $13470 for a Prius for sale in my city in "very good" condition with the options this auto had, and I'm freaking out because I don't know why my spouse takes out $40/day from our account, then purchasing the car in full is going to drive me bonkers. Okay, more bonkers. Lifetime residency in the Bonkers Penthouse Suite.

I would like a Prius, I would like to pay for it in full with cash, I would like to read more about how a buyer prepares to venture into private party vehicle sales. I have cash, but they are in scattered liquid assets, which I would pay back into the HELOC within a year.

I like the 2007 Toyota Prius, but for all my bleating about paying for a car in cash, I learned that I have to pay County Tax (9.5%), and the insurance is nearly double what I pay on my POS car. So not 100% "I'm paying in cash!" but closer to 85% "I'm paying in cash!" and 15% financing.

DH and I are haggling -- he wants to use the home equity line of credit for the financing at 3.0%, and I want to use the personal line of credit at 8.9%, because I don't want to lose the tax deduction of interest on a home improvement, which is all I use the HELOC for. This expenditure is going to hurt a lot at first, but if we have it for 14 years like we've had the POS, we stand a better chance of withstanding the eventual $10/gallon fuel.

Maintenance and fuel for the vehicle will put me ahead by $90, and if I don't factor the insurance into it I would pay $540 less than what I do for the POS car.

Someone else has come by to look at it and drive it, and is taking a second look on Saturday. I am going to sleep on it, and offer $14520. My spouse is okay with the car. The Prius is much more technologically sophisticated than our car, and has more than we need for getting from point A to point B. But finding one at Kelley Blue Book value or under with under 45000 miles in Seattle is like finding a unicorn.

Off to run a CARFAX report.

1. My brother e-mailed to say he's having knee surgery this summer, but that won't stop his plans to fly literally halfway around the world to visit our Cascadia. He plans to show up much earlier, like maybe next month or the next few weeks.

2. Someone local is selling his 2007 Toyota Prius for $14700, extended warranty, and the Prius has under 50000 miles. The warranty means I wouldn't have to take it to a mechanic, but I probably will anyway. I've been in contact with the seller and tomorrow I hope we will have a test drive. I have enough in cash to pay for the car!

Oohhhh!
If #2 happens, then #1 is going to be a stretch. My brother's not keen on visiting the Rockies, but will stick to islands around the Salish Sea and some cities on the coast, including ours (Vancouver/sibling-ours or Seattle/couple-ours). This suits my budget fine. Canucks tickets, well, that might require a third mortgage...

I speak of simple pleasures. Coco Chanel said that a hot bath is good for a rotten mood, and I agree. Yesterday, having had very little sleep, I threw some dead sea salts, ylang-ylang and jasmine essential oils in the bath, and once soaking made some price book entries from my Trader Joe's escapade -- yes I could use some advice as to how to properly enjoy cheap yet luxurious pleasures -- am I to read Balzac or Flaubert or Baudelaire and pop Trader Joe's cocoa truffles in my mouth while hydrating with mixed pear juice + sparkling water? Then I could deal with the "this just in!" reports from Junior about the NHL All-Star Game and other interruptions.

I try for $100/day maximum spending, including bills. I maxed out today with gas and groceries, and will max out the next four days with bills.

YNAB end-of-month top four updates:
Food
Groceries: $480 (excellent!), Restaurants: $220 (three people, I ate out every week, but only at one place with cloth napkins or Script-typeface menus or pâté with toast points. My family ate out too. Groceries spending will rise next month: my seven-week supply of meat will run out, and eventually we will try to get our $55 membership use out of Costco.

Mortgage: $1353.71. Includes a teeny prepayment.

Car Insurance: $266.80.

Phone & Internet: $229.18. This WILL go down next month by $105 next month: we both paid the same bill unbeknownst to each other, and we no longer have a landline.

This month, while eating out, I learned of grenadine soda. A tablespoon or two of grenadine, and soda water, with a bit of lime juice. This I have been attempting to recreate at home, using what must be a decade-old bottle of grenadine syrup. We also used up the decade-old box of kosher salt. My bilingual box of salt I brought with me when I immigrated is still here and nowhere near empty.