Going for Broke

Shortly after starting our $9 a meal challenge I found myself in a cab explaining it to my cab driver.  And when comparing the cost of our standard meal out of $60, the cabbie asked me what we were planning to do with all of our savings.  They could in fact add up to be substantial.  It didn’t take us long to decide.

We bought land!  

 And not just any land, land with a view of the Pacific Ocean!

Martin had discovered this little piece of heaven for sale in early November and we had flirted with the idea of buying it for either a vacation home or rental property but either way a place for Martin to build a spec home to showcase his talents without a client interjecting their opinion.  We crunched the number, re-crunched them again, worked through contingency plans A-E and came up with an offer that we felt comfortable with and positive the seller would turn down; it was low, but all we could afford.

To our surprise, they accepted!  On Christmas morning, boarding out flight to Chile we DocuSigned the offer and 30 days later we had the deed and key to the gate in hand.

And while I know the goal was to allow Martin free reign, I have been excited to review the designs adding my two cents (take it or leave it) and have already started researching small functional and ecological home ideas!

We hope to break ground by the fall of 2015 with the first night’s sleep next summer!

A Trip to the Future – Seattle

Things have been busy at work, between learning new areas of the business, rebuilding my team and the constant travel to Seattle.  So with year-end upon me, Martin flew up to Seattle for the weekend to see my second office.

Martin landed late Thursday night, took the train to downtown and managed to get lost on the three block walk to the hotel.  He arrived after his journey through the city around 11pm just as I arrived back from work.  Like I said, things have been busy.

While I worked on Friday, Martin made himself comfortable with the hotel, hotel restaurant, hotel room service, mini bar and surrounding area (the YMCA was just down the street)….By the time we met up for dinner later that night my daily per diem for food was all but spent!  So much for our budget, but I suppose vacations are an allowable exception.  Martin met me at the office and we set off for Palace Kitchen, a restaurant recommended by a few coworkers.  We walked the mile or two to the restaurant, finally catching up on our week’s activities and then settled in for a nine course tasting of various items on the menu. It was delicious and officially marked the transition from work trip to vacation-mode.

We woke up later than normal Saturday morning, and refusing to eat breakfast at the hotel, set off to explore the city and take in the sights.  We intended to grab breakie along the way, but didn’t find anything that was agreeable to both of us (either too commercial, too empty, too cheap or some other combination of Goldilocks’s plight) so we continued on our way to our first stop; a trip to the future…. We took the Monorail to the Space Needle!   

Spanning less than one mile or ten city blocks, the 5 minute ride was over before we could begin wondering why the concept never caught on; I mean between Disneyland and Seattle, it was bound to be the transportation of the future…Unfortunately we were too busy talking about the Simpsons episode where Homer drives the monorail…when in doubt Martin has a Simpsons episode to help relate to American life. 

 We made it to the base of the Space Needle and gagged both at the price to go to the top ($35?  No thank you) and the lack of food options nearby.  Now borderline hungry, we took a few photos and then set off in search of food.  We traced our route halfway back to downtown to Bell Town for breakfast (now brunch) at Local 360, another recommendation for coworkers.  True to form, Martin order granola and yogurt and a coffee (with at least 4 refills), I ordered chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy topped with fried eggs and one coffee, no refills.

With no other big plans for the day our waitress offered a few suggestions, the first being the Gasworks park.  She seemed cool and edgy, so we were in.  The Gasworks Park is an old gas factory that has since been reclaimed and turned into a city park.  The old pipes, imposing storage tanks and large machinery is still there, however the earth and ivy are slowly reclaiming their land, covering the stark cold grey of metal and structure with the jungle. It had the eerie feeling of both the old ruins of civilizations past (Angor Wat) and the future of 12 Monkeys.  I loved it and just wished it was a warm sunny day to enjoy the views of the Seattle city line rather than the drizzling windy winter day.

We continued our journey through the various neighborhoods, checking out U District, Queen Ann, Fremont and Pioneer Square.  It was in Pioneer Square that we got to know the history of Seattle…we took the underground tour of Seattle which led us under the streets and to the first floor of Seattle and the original sidewalks of the city.  For background, in order to prevent flooding and save money in the process, Seattle raised the street level up one story, thereby creating covered sidewalks one level below the new street level…  Wikipedia does a better job explaining so if interested, check it out… for this blog’s purpose I found the two hour tour informative about Seattle’s history as well as architecturally interesting.  Martin not so much, between the moisture and strong smell of earth and sewer, it offended both his sense of smell and good architecture/city planning.   

We wrapped up our tour of the city with a few beers at a whiskey bar/library and then headed off to the ‘burbs for dinner with Jo and Marcus!  As a side note, one of the benefits of travelling to Seattle every month has allowed Jo and me to rekindle our weekly (now monthly) happy hour tradition started back in San Francisco.

Martin’s visit to Seattle ended on Sunday with brunch at Café Campagne and a required stroll through Pike’s Place Market.  And while he headed off to the airport, I went to a movie by myself because no one can judge you in the dark.

All in all, a great weekend and so great to share the city with him.

On a Budget

I am not sure what exactly started the conversation or where we got our information, but a random day back in December, Martin and I got to talking about money and eating habits.  Specifically we were 1) re-evaluating how much we spent each night on dinner (mostly eating out) in regards to the national average of $5 per person per dinner (or at least that was the number we came up with) 2) our general understanding that unhealthy foods such as fast food take-out is, in most cases, cheaper than the healthier options of cooking at home and 3) how hard could it really be to cook a nutritious and tasty dinner on a $5 per person budget each night? 

Before we knew it, we had set ourselves out for a new challenge.  For the month of January and beyond, we were going to cook at home every night for less than $9 a meal (two people less $1 for shared supplies already on hand like olive oil and spices).  We still allowed one night out a week for our date night and we made exceptions for when friends were in town, but overall we were putting ourselves on a budget.  No more Tuk Tuk Thai or Golden Boy Pizza because we were too lazy to plan ahead or too tired to cook the food we had bought. 

Much to our surprise, with a little planning and coordination, the goal has been relatively easy to maintain!  And while sometimes well below our $9 threshold, each dinner has been nutritious, delicious and always something new.  We started rereading old cookbooks for ideas and coordinating the weekly menu to use all ingredients with little waste.  We have enjoyed home-made pizzas, cobb salads, turkey burgers, chicken Cesar salads with fresh Parmesan cheese, mushroom and chicken risotto, chick pea cauliflower soup and the kitchen sink frittata that comes in handy on those lazier evenings. 

While the initial challenge was only for January, we have continued through today seeing benefits not only in the bank but also on the waistline… Bon Appetit!