Well, it ended up that I didn't get any trick or treaters last night. So this morning I took my huge bag of candy (minus about 10 boxes of nerds) to work and put it in the driver's breakroom. All of it was gone within an hour.

Work was pretty busy for the first three hours. Then the last three hours -well, didn't have much to do. Luckily there's an internet connection.

I'd checked out some books from the local library here about 5 weeks ago. I'd only read 3 of them - they were three weeks overdue. So today on the way home from work, I finally took them back. I was worried about what the fine was going to be. Somewhere I thought I had read that it was $.60/day - so I was expecting a fine of around $80 or more. Thankfully that wasn't the case - my fine was $11.90. Almost the cost of a new book. Part of my problem was that I am used to being able to renew my books multiple times online - for three weeks at a time (thank you Dallas libraries!) But in the town I'm in now, they only allow you to check books out for two weeks, renew twice, and can't renew online or over the phone. So, that just means that I'm going to have to figure out a way to make sure the books aren't late.

Part of the reason I went there was to see if they had any good books on strength training or Pilates. Let's just say their selection was paltry. They had a lot of books on Yoga, but none on Pilates. I was hoping for one of the Dummies or Idiot's Guides for either Pilates or Strength Training - but no such canoodle. I did find one book by Kathy Smith on strength training, which may be helfpful.

When I got home, I found my washer and dryer and kitchen table full of pots and pans and silverware and a waffle iron. I was wondering where they all came from. I figured my dad might have found an estate sale or something. When I moved from Dallas to Forth Worth (first move of the summer) my mom had packed my kitchen for me - but had inadvertantly NOT packed my pots and pans. I didn't figure this out till three day's later, and when I went back to my old apartment, they were ALL gone. So anyway, when my dad got home, he told me that while he was helping a good family friend clean out a storage unit today, he came across the aforementioned stuff, and after dad told him about my pots and pans having been stolen, he gave them to us. This will make cooking so much easier - included were also two glass baking dishes! I've never had a waffle iron before - I hope it works, can't wait to try it out.

My dad had another surprise for me too. He had taken three more boxes of stuff - one box was full of Elvis Presley newspapers (day he died, etc). Charles (dad's friend) thought maybe I could Ebay it for him. (Did some quick research, and it doesn't appear worthwhile.) Another box was full of religous tracts/music. The third box though was full of gold for a reader like me though - about 35 Reader's Digest Condensed books!!!!! I thought about reading them and then Ebaying them, but after a little research, realized again, that it wouldn't be worth it. I have enough reading material to keep me from the library for a LONG time! Then I or my dad can just take them to Half-Price bookstore and get rid of them!

Ok, better start closing this out so I can take a look at the Kathy Smith book before tomorrow morning.

Spending:
Food: $.85 (bottle of water at work - forgot my water at home)
Library Fines: $11.90

I am using a combination of the free program justbudget.com and the not free program youneedabudget.com . I think both of them will be helpful, in different ways. I really like YNAB better than the excell spreadsheet I made back in January for myself. This seems so much simpler than the one I made.

So, anyway, hanging it up for the night. Happy November everyone!

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura