May 20 I work from home and eat leftover Thai takeout with Nate. I spent way too much on my girls weekend in Ashland, but I make a $900 payment to one of my credit cards and can see my balance dwindling. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. May 21 […]

May 13 Nate goes to 2 different bike stores that sell used kids bikes to find a our 12 year-old a larger bike so her knees aren’t hitting the handle bars! He finally finds a nice used Trek on craigslist for $245- our daughter likes it, and the guy lets him have it for $225. […]

May 8 A funny thing happens in one of the conference workshops. We are talking about the challenges of our work, and there’s a lot of animated discussion. I don’t recall what comments I made, but several people come up to talk to me after the session. One young person asks me, “Have you written […]

May 5 It’s rainy and gloomy. I pick my daughter up from her sleepover and she reports having gotten 5 whole hours of sleep (about what we expected) but seems in good spirits. Today I am driving to the coast for a conference at work. On the bright side, my expenses will be paid while […]

April 28 I can’t believe I’ve made it 18 weeks without buying stuff. I still think maybe that glass bowl was unnecessary, but I’m still feeling accomplished. April 30 Lunch at the food carts, $21.85. May 2 Lunch at the cheap Mexican chain, $20.85 – I buy lunch for a coworker too. May 3 One […]

April 22 I finally finish Not Buying It. Judith Levine’s friends ask her on New Year’s Eve if she is excited to go shopping the next day. But on the contrary, she and her husband don’t seem eager to break their shopping ban – the most ambitious thing on their list is to replace a […]

April 13 The household products I ordered from Grove arrive. Even though they are just cleaning products, I am excited to open the box. The free handsoap in “sunshower” scent – which one might say was the impetus for the whole purchase – is purfumey and cloying. I am maybe more sensitive to fragrance than […]

It is mid-April, and Portland is bursting with colorful blooms of spring. Meanwhile I am sick in bed with a cold, adding things to my Amazon cart. Because what else would I do when not feeling well? Sleep? Read? Make some tea? Watch an old movie? Take some medicine? Nope, apparently I tend to shop […]

April 7 I finally file our taxes and get a pleasant surprise. Not only are we getting a refund this year, but we are getting a hefty $3,300 kicker refund from the State of Oregon, for a total refund of over $4,800. This could help us get closer to our goal of being debt free […]

March 30 & 31 Nate is visiting friends in Tucson and I get to spend some solo time with the kids. We take a walk downtown along the river (some of the cherry blossoms are still blooming) through Saturday market, and to a new bubble tea place ($21). We visit the Sellwood food carts for […]