After a trip to the local Farmer’s Market yesterday, I used the following fresh ingredients to make a stir-fry for dinner: crushed garlic, chopped zucchini (three kinds), thinly sliced red peppers and California peppers, sliced mushrooms, and a small amount of cabbage. For protein, I added a skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces, and flavored the stir-fry with a salt-free spice mix and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I like to use EV olive oil when I stir-fry, and I served it with instant brown rice.

It was yummy and very pretty, too! The cost was approx. $1.29 per serving (6 servings), including the rice. Oh, and we had leftovers.

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Tonight, we will have fresh corn, green salad, and grilled wild salmon. DH loves salmon, but I only buy it if it’s wild because I do not eat farmed salmon. The salmon was $12.18 and will be enough for two dinners (4 servings), so tonight’s dinner will cost under $4 per serving (everything included). Still, not too expensive, and very healthy.

Since I am retiring later this month, yesterday I bought a new laptop for my personal use. The laptop I’ve been using for the last two years is very nice but it belongs to my employer and I will be returning it. My employer gives all administrators a new laptop about every three years and mine has gotten very heavy use. I knew the replacement laptop would have to be a Mac because it has been my preferred platform since 1986. The downside is that Macs tend to be pricier than many PCs, but my computer is one of my most important tools I use and I wanted one I know how to use well.

My new laptop is the same model as my old one… a MacBook Pro. It has an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (it’s fast!!), and more memory than the old one (2 GB RAM and a HD w/ 200 GB). I can really tell the difference in how quickly it processes. The best deal I found was at the bookstore of DH’s university. They gave us an educator’s discount ($250 off the price), a free iPod Touch ($299), a free printer ($185), and 3 years of Apple Care for $183 (regular $349). I also bought the right to use MS Office for $25, so I am all set.

I had budgeted $2500 for the new laptop and came in well under... and I also now have a free printer and iPod. The iPod is going to be given to my DSS and the printer will be donated to my previous school as we do not need another one.

On another note, I am accepting a part-time job working for the university one day a week, just enough to keep me out of trouble. My job will be to supervise student teachers and I am delighted that I’ll stay connected to my field (education). The position is temporary, for the fall semester and possibly the spring. As long as DH continues to teach, it means we will have the same calendar so we will be able to coordinate all our days off.

Yesterday, the books I ordered using MyPoints arrived:

1) Living More With Less by Doris Janzen Longacre
2) The Frugal Senior by Rich Gray
3) Your Money or Your Life (new edition) by Joe Dominguez and Vickie Robin

Once I read #1 and #2, I will offer my thoughts in a subsequent blog.

Of the three books, I had already read Your Money or Your Life about 10 years ago and really liked it. It was a library copy, but now I want to own a copy so that I can refer to it and also share it with certain family members that need to get a grip on their financial lives. After I re-read it I’ll first pass on my copy to DSD for her to read/reflect about her relationship with money.

The nine steps outlined by the authors provide compelling insights about the emotional impact of money in our lives. I especially like Step 9: Managing Your Finances. The section about the three pillars of financial independence (Capital, Cushion, and Cache) is very validating for me. This is a must read IMHO.

We are back from a week in NYC and what a great week it was. For the first five nights we stayed at a very nice hotel that connected to Grand Central Terminal, so it was very convenient to get anywhere in Manhattan. For the last two nights, we stayed in a “boutique” hotel with tiny rooms in the Murray Hill area on the east side. Manhattan is alive with an energy that resonates day and night. Although NYC is very expensive, it is an exciting, fast-paced city that has much to offer.

NYC attracts tourists from around the world, and we heard many different languages everywhere we went. New Yorkers were very friendly and I noticed that people walk everywhere…something very healthy. It also seemed that a lot of people smoke…not so healthy… but it could have been that some of these were visitors, although some were obviously New Yorkers. Since we have family in Manhattan, we had reliable information on good places to eat and interesting things to do.

The subway and buses were convenient, inexpensive, and almost always crowded. On a few occasions, we used taxis and we thought these were inexpensive compared to those in our home city. We packed in a lot of activities in one week and these are some of my favorites:
~ The Metropolitan Museum of Art
~ The Guggenheim Museum
~ The Museum of Modern Art
~ The Museum of Natural History
~ A two-hour cruise on the Hudson and East Rivers
~ The Empire State Building (we paid $15 extra to go to 102nd floor)
~ The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
~ Central Park (Zoo, Lake, Boat House, free Philharmonic concert)
~ Grand Central Terminal
~ Rockefeller Plaza
~ Times Square at night
~ The hot pastrami sandwiches from Katz’s Deli on Houston
~ Cannoli from Veniero's in the East Village

Food and drink can be VERY expensive in NYC. For example, one glass of Cabernet and a beer cost us over $25 at the bar in our first hotel… we did that only once. However, we came in $80 under budget, not great but it still was under budget.

We saved money by buying:
~ a City Pass that paid for all the museums and the cruise, saving a bundle ($74 PP; thanks, scfr, for the tip)
~ Metro cards for the subway and buses
~ breakfast and lunch at small delis and groceries
~ our drinking water at Rite Aid or Whole Foods instead of the street vendors (59¢ vs. $3 per bottle)
~ salads from the Whole Foods salad bar for our picnic in Central Park
~ decent CA wine for $9 a bottle at a wine shop and enjoying in our hotel room
~ walking to places that were within 10-20 blocks

We also saved money by not shopping… DH and I just enjoyed the sites and being with our family. My DS, BIL, their children and grandchildren, my DD1, and several of our friends were with us, so we had even more fun.

Our $150 a day budget included:
~ City Passes/extra tour fees
~ Two lunches and three dinners at more “upscale” restaurants (expensive)
~ Breakfast, lunch, fruit, coffee, snacks at small places like the Metro Café
~ Meals at airport
~ Metro cards and taxis
~ Shuttles to and from the airport
~ Tips
~ One souvenir for me (a $25 scarf from the Met Museum)
~ Buying items forgotten @ hotel (e.g., sunscreen)

Our airfare was free with miles, the five days at first hotel were paid with points, and the two nights at second hotel were prepaid in March.

All in all, it was a great trip and I look forward to going back some day soon. Here is a view from the Empire State Building.


Central Park is lovely, safe, and well-cared for.


Here is one reason why mass transit is so popular. It can be very costly to park your car in NYC.

Summary of my $20 Challenge for last week:

Balance Forward = $54.04

Drove Prius 3 days = $6.39

NSD (4) = $12

New Balance = $72.43

My $20 Challenge is looking very sad right now. If I earn any 1099 income in my retirement, I will add the entire amount to this category. I am currently negotiating a consulting contract with my soon-to-be former employer, but I am not sure I will accept the assignment. This is the great thing about having CHOICES. The project will have to really appeal to me, otherwise I will pass.

DH and I are off to NYC in early July for a family wedding and are excited to be visiting for the first time. Our challenge will be to stick to a vacation budget for the entire week. The budget does not include air fare and hotels as these are already paid for. We are spending 5 nights in Hotel 1, and then changing to another hotel because Hotel 1 would cost more than $400 a night if we had to actually pay for it. (We paid w/points but only had enough for 5 nights.) Hotel 2 is a smaller boutique hotel that is “only” about $215 a night but includes a free breakfast and like Hotel 1, is in the heart of Manhattan. We know NYC is expensive, so I’ve tried to plan accordingly.

Expenses so far:
Air Fare - Paid with “miles” (saved $1000+)
Hotel 1 - Paid with “points” (saved $2100+)
Hotel 2 - Paid from vacation “reserve fund” (cost $439.58+)

Daily Spending Budget (average):
Meals for 2 - $80
Taxis, subway, entrance fees, etc. - $70

Budget for entire week: $1,500

My questions:
Any recommendations for “must see” sites in NYC?
Is our “daily spending budget” realistic?
Any frugal travel tips?

All feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Have you noticed how HUGE the portions at many restaurants have gotten? Yesterday DH and I went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. We each ordered a drink and dinner, and as we seem to end up doing more and more lately, we took home half of it. This will be our dinner tonight. With drinks but no dessert, our tab came to $62 including a 15% tip. This is more than we usually like spend for a dinner out, but it was a special celebration since it was Father’s Day and DH had just returned after three weeks in Central America. I wish more restaurants would lower their prices in exchange for smaller portions. Not only would it help the budget, but would also help those without the willpower to stop eating when they are full. Thankfully, we have gotten better about this in the last few years. Sometimes it’s hard, though, especially if you are someone like me who was raised to “clean your plate.”

DH is back from Central America, where he spends three weeks every year with some of his graduate students. He is amazed at how in one year, the cost of living has skyrocketed. DH enjoys being immersed in the culture and likes to talk to the locals (DH and I are both fluent Spanish-speakers). The wages of the typical worker (hotel and restaurant workers, drivers, etc.) have remained the same. However, food, clothing, and many basic necessities (e.g., bus fares, taxis, and tuk-tuks) have increased in some cases by more than 20% from a year ago. The minimum wage is about $175 a month. In the bilingual school where DH and his students worked, local Spanish-speaking teachers are paid $250 a month; English-speaking teachers (typically from USA, New Zealand, or Australia) are paid $500 monthly, double the salary albeit still very low by our standards. In my opinion, it is unfair to have this double-standard but they cannot get native English speakers to work otherwise.


On a brighter note, here is a link to a good article from Money Magazine,
18 Ways to Beat Inflation:

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/pf/0806/gallery.inflatio...

Well, my $20 Challenge is off to a slow start. Here is a recap of the past 5 days:

Balance Forward = $47.65

Drove Prius 3 days = $6.39

New Balance = $54.04

Another way to look at it is that even small steps toward a goal are important.

you could have gotten a discount if only the business had informed you of it? Yesterday I learned from a friend that the vet we both use gives a 10% discount for clients over 55. I called, and sure enough, they said they would apply it for all “future” services/meds. I did not feel like arguing with the young lady who works in the front office on Saturdays but I will definitely speak to MC’s vet next week to see if they can go back to April to apply the discount. Poor old MC has kidney failure and I have spent over $2,000 on him since April.

I think they should post information about a senior discount in a visible place in the office.. and trust me, it is NOT that I don’t look 55.


$20 Challenge
Balance forward: $41.65
NSD: $3
Did not drive: $3
New total: $47.65

I've wanted to participate in the $20 Challenge for a while, but was at a loss as how to structure it. I see that my SA blogmates have many different ways of doing their challenge. This is what makes it fun. I didn’t want my savings to be “hypothetical.” In my case, I want it represent actual realized savings that are not part of the regular monthly savings that I incorporate in my budget. So here is what I decided:

No drive day = $4 (from my $150 monthly gas budget)

No spend day = $3 (from my “$100 monthly allowance”)

Drive the Prius to work (20 mi. RT) = $2.13 per day @ $4.25 per gallon

Rebates

1099 Income (if I work PT after I retire)

Under budget in any category

My goal by December 31, 2008: $2,500.


Here is what I have so far:

$20 to start
$10.65 - drove Prius to work 5 days last week
$6 – 2 “no-spend days”
$5 – rebate check received yesterday
Total: $41.65

Well, I have a long road ahead of me but I am hopeful.

This morning, the local radio station I've listened to for the last 15 years, had a "contest" about tomorrow's date. If listeners could guess what was special about it, they would win a prize. I called in and said that tomorrow was special because it was: 06-07-08. That was it! I won a 30 day pass to a local spa, just in time to enjoy it in my retirement. I was asked how I figured it out and I said, "I've always been good with numbers." So, this was a small payoff for all those years of figuring out my budgets and studying my spreadsheets... it does exercise the mind.

Today my HR department confirmed that when I retire in August, my employer will continue to pay for my health insurance (and that of my spouse) until I am 65. Then when Medicare kicks in, my employer will pay for a supplemental health insurance policy for the rest of my life. One of the reasons I am able to retire early is that I will not have to pay for health insurance premiums. At over $900 a month for our HMO, it would be a big drag on our budget. Only employees who are at least 55 and have worked a minimum of 15 years are eligible. I feel very blessed to have this benefit and wish it were available to all our employees. Currently, only certificated employees are eligible (teachers, administrators).

Yesterday the weather was delightful and I spent some time on my patio enjoying the sun, the birds at the feeder, and marveling at how quickly things grow when the weather cooperates.

Since my patio is small, my garden is a collection of containers. In addition to the plants that are solely for the enjoyment of their beauty, I also like to grow edible plants. So far, I have planted pots with:
~ four types of mint (for tea, garnishes, salads, and mojitos)
~ basil (for salads, marinades, and pesto)
~ oregano and thyme (for marinades, sauces, rubs)
~ Fresno peppers (grilling, stuffing, salsa)

These are fun and easy to grow and do not require lots of water. The herbs are much more economical than buying fresh bunches at the store. I just snip what I need for my recipe.

The basil is ready to begin harvesting. It will grow all summer long.



The mint and thyme are ready to use but we will have to wait until July for the peppers.


Just for the beauty...these are a couple of my favorites. Million bells are easy to grow and they resist bud worms. These are planted in a pot I brought back from a trip to Mexico.



This stag horn fern is happy to just hang on a piece of bark nailed to my fence.

This morning I heard on the radio that gas is expected to go to $5 a gallon in our area within a few weeks. Wow…for some reason, $5 just hit me. I wonder where it will stop? No doubt, it is just a matter of time before rising gas costs will have an impact food prices and other goods that have to be transported, as well as on the cost of travel. And yes, I really want to whine about it, but I won’t. It won’t change a thing. So, I will focus on what I can change and control.


We don’t have adequate public transportation where we live, so driving is a necessity. I will try to drive more efficiently and less frequently when possible. I figure I’ll be spending between $35-$40 more a month if gas goes to $5, so my challenge will be to see how I can creatively save elsewhere, something I want to do anyway. DH and I are still planning to take our road trip to Sedona this summer (with my DS and BIL), but we are taking one car instead of two. We will just pack lighter and make it work.

A friend sent me these links that have tips for saving gas:

www.howtoadvice.com/savinggas


www.howtoadvice.com/ReduceGasBills

The gas savings tips were interesting. Some of these I’d heard about before and some were new to me.

Note: I did not like the “Making Money” link on the sidebar of gas saving tips web page… seemed a little "scammy" to me. (Yeah, I couldn’t resist, so I clicked.)

DH is in Central America with a group of graduate students and has been keeping me updated via email. This morning, I was able to have a nice long chat with him via Skype. Even though DH is thousands of miles away, it was great to see him “in person.” (It sure is fun to have web cams on our computers!) So far, the trip has been uneventful, except for one student who exceeded the baggage weight limit, so she had to pay an extra $50 (ouch!) for her suitcase. DH says his 15 students are now fully immersed in teaching elementary students in the hosting bilingual school.

The posada (inn) where they are staying is Spartan, but clean and affordable. Most of the rooms cost about $25 per night, have a small private bathroom, but no phone or TV. It does, however, have wireless internet available free to all guests. DH’s group has access to a communal kitchen where they will prepare and share some meals together.

About Skype: With Skype, you can make free calls over the internet to other people on Skype for as long as you like, to wherever you like. It is free to download.

I’ve been using Skype to call relatives in England, Switzerland, and Central America for more than two years. My laptop always goes with me, so I use Skype to call the US when I travel out of the country. This is a great way to make free international calls. If the computers of both Skye users have web cams, you can see each other while you are speaking. Otherwise, you will just hear each other… and it sounds as if you are on “speaker phone.”

If you want to learn more, here is the link:

www.skype.com/getconnected

two years ago brought a lot of stress, the good, the bad, and the ugly. In anticipation of retirement, we sold our family home and moved into a smaller two-bedroom townhouse in the same city.

The good: it was a financially sound move because we cut our housing expenses in half. DH and I are a blended family… I have two daughters and he has a son and a daughter from previous marriages, all of them now grown and gone. We had bought the family home when we married (his children were still in school and mine were in college by then). Once the nest was empty, we wanted out of the expensive upkeep of a five-bedroom house with its large “high maintenance” back yard. Our timing was good because the house sold quickly, and currently homes are not selling at all in our area.

The bad: we had way too much stuff! Some people by nature can be packrats, but I could not believe what we had accumulated over the last 20+ years. I still had income tax returns from 1983 and cancelled checks from 1969! DD1 tipped us about using a professional shredding service (hospitals routinely use them), so for $5 per banker’s box, we safely got rid of obsolete financial and personal papers. Condensing 11 rooms into 5 smaller ones was a challenge. We gave away our extra furniture to friend who had just bought her first house in exchange for help with sorting and packing. We donated 25 boxes clothing and household items to Goodwill and our collection of children’s literature to the library. Although friends suggested a garage or yard sale, we simply did not have time because of the escrow deadline. A yard/garage sale would have been a moneymaker, though, and I would not hesitate to do it in the future.

The ugly: DH wanted to rent a moving van and move with the help of friends and family, but fearing for his back, I insisted on hiring professionals. The movers I found online, and who seemed very reputable, ended up charging us 50% more than the quote… they justified it by re-shrink wrapping all the furniture we had already prepared for moving. They charged an exorbitant amount for the materials and held our furniture hostage until we paid them. So, a move of less than 10-miles cost much more than it should have because I didn’t do my homework and didn’t ask the right questions. If we hadn’t already moved all the items we could transport by car, it would have cost even more.

Although I occasionally miss my roses (I had 50+ bushes that bloomed until November), my tiny patio is just the right size for me to easily maintain. MC, my 18-year- old kitty, formerly an indoor/outdoor cat, at first had some adjustment problems to an indoor-only life but he eventually settled in. We love living in our smaller, cozy townhouse that will give us the freedom to travel more in our retirement.


MC always finds the best seat in the house, er...patio.

Each of us seeks to manage our finances in the best, most effective way that works for us. For some, like Ima Saver and Pennywise Meanderings, using cash and envelopes is a successful system for paying bills. For me, it is using a credit card. However, the key is that I use my CC to save money as I will discuss later, and I always pay it in full each month to avoid finance charges. My method requires discipline, both to carefully monitor expenses (I use Quicken) and to charge only what I will pay in full each month.

There was a time I had credit card debt… I was a single mom and emergencies happened that depleted my emergency fund (auto, medical, etc.). I paid as much as possible each month until I was debt free. About fifteen years ago, when DD1 moved out of state for college (and never moved back), I started using a credit card primarily to buy airline tickets to visit her. It was convenient to purchase the tickets with a CC (back then, it was over the phone and now, it’s online). Another “benefit” is that the CC company I use provides life-insurance in case of a plane crash (hey, you never know…).

Now, still debt-free (except for a small mortgage), I pay for EVERYTING I can with a credit card. Why? Because I like to use my reward miles (that never expire, BTW) to save money. For example:
~ DH and took a great vacation to France in 2004 with free tickets ($2,100 saved)
~ We are going to NYC this summer with free tickets ($1052 saved)
~ We visit DD1 and DD2 several times a year, and our airfare is usually purchased or reduced using reward miles. (Savings > $1,000 annually)

I use the CC to pay for routine expenses that I’d normally pay by check or ATM card:
~ Utility bills
~ Phone and Internet
~ Prescriptions and medical co-pays
~ Vet bills
~ Groceries
~ Gas/auto expenses
~ Entertainment/ meals out
~ Insurance
~ HOA Dues
~ Donations
~ Personal care (e.g., haircuts)

I also use the CC to pay for periodic expenses such as auto maintenance, gifts, clothing, carpet cleaning, vacations, etc. and large planned purchases (new refrigerator, new carpets, shutters, etc.). However, I always write a check if there is a fee involved for paying with a CC (e.g., property taxes). The miles add up quickly.

Another advantage: I save time and $$ on stamps, because I pay only one bill online. The money used to pay the CC stays in my interest-earning savings account until I make a transfer to my checking account to cover the payment. So, this is the system that works for me, but I recommend it only for those disciplined enough to pay the account in full each month to avoid finance charges and remain debt-free.

Due to living where public transportation is limited, and having jobs that require driving to meetings within the workday, we are a two-car family. DH does the most driving, so he is the primary driver of the Prius. We've had it since 2003 and it has been a good investment. When we first bought this car, people made fun of us; now they envy us. DH is away for the next three weeks, so I will be driving the Prius. I should save about $100 in gas in the next three weeks.

Here is a link to a site that helps consumers identify the best gas prices by Zip Code:
www.gasbuddy.com