Went to a near-by farmer's market this morning. Spent $5.50 on produce (celery, green onions and tomoatoes). Then went to the grocery store and spent $13.38. Mostly on produce again. Between coupons and sales I saved $14.14 or 51%.

Total spent this month so far = $18.88

Went to the library and picked up some more holds. A bunch of stuff came in all at once so I have a lot of reading to do. I estimate the library is saving me $200 - $250 a month. I read 4 - 5 books a week, I listen to at least one book on tape a week. I read 3 - 4 magazines a month and I get CDs and movies on occassion. Plus it's so convenient, I can put things on hold online and pick them up only a mile away.

I cleaned the upstairs - two bedrooms and a bath. I'm pretty satisfied with the choices I've made about my spending overall. I don't miss very much and am content with what I have. But if I were to suddenly have a lot of money there is one area where I would definitely spend more - Cleaning! I had a cleaning lady a few years ago but I decided it wasn't worth $2000 a year so I've been doing it myself and I really, really, really hate it. But for now early retirement is a more pressing goal so I force myself to clean instead of hiring it out. I really loved having a cleaning person and having the whole house clean for a few hours at least. I pretty much clean in shifts since it's just me. One area one week, one area another week, so the whole house is never all clean at the same time, but life's too short to spend all weekend cleaning. Although that's a big part of my plans for this weekend since I went to long between cleanings this time and I can't stand it any longer

I finished Declare Your Financial Independence by Cindy McIntyre. It had some good information but it's a difficult read, kind of boring. It's based on the principles in Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robin.

I also read Close to You by Christing Dodd, it's a romance/mystery book. Pretty good, a good popcorn book. That's how I describe a book without a lot of substance but relaxing and entertaining just the same.