When we moved into our house in 2015, we knew that the air conditioning didn’t work. The region of the Bay Area where we live has clockwork wind in the summer. This wind is usually enough to mitigate the need for paying thousands to fix the AC and then pay mightily to run it. Between the hours of three and five in the afternoon, on cue, a breeze picks up and continues on throughout the night. When my alarm goes off at 4 am the weather outside has been lowered substantially by the lovely wind.

This regular summer wind is brought on by the marine layer pushing and bottlenecking its cool gusting air past our home on its way to the boiling central valley. It can be bothersome at times. There are days when you can’t enjoy being outside because of the wind. But we’ve come to love this regular visitor from the ocean.

Sadly, there are always a few days in the summer where this regular wind we’ve come to depend on disappears. It’s these days where we contemplate fixing the AC system. This weekend was one of those boiling windless days. On these kinds of summer days, the windless miserable kind, we escape to the coast if possible.

Bodega Bay

Saturday we took the Civic and drove out to Bodega Bay. We packed lunch and drove north. This time Mrs. Disengaged picked the location for the family hike: Short Tail Gulch. We took a trail down from the rolling headlands through a gulch filled with wildflowers and thorny berry bushes. The trail led out to a beautiful sandy beach dotted with rugged clam covered rocks. Mrs. Disengaged didn’t tell me we were going to the beach. I thought we would hike near the beach to enjoy the cool air.

We found a place to set down our packs near a towering rock that gave shelter from the wind and something to lean back against. The next few hours were spent under the warm sun and dipping our ankles in the frigid waters of the roiling Pacific. The air fought with itself, a battle of temperatures as a sudden gust of hot air would find its way to us, only to be swarmed with the steady cool air of the ocean. Way out at the horizon the fog waited patiently to make its march back to shore in the evening.

This beach didn’t come close to getting crowded, as most beachgoers forgo the steep trail and go to the other more populated shoreline further north. Still, there were more people than I expected not wearing masks. Which was disappointing. They would turn away from us on the trail as if that was good enough. Some would cover their noses with their shirts. I fought the urge to ask them where their masks were.

I hope people don’t wonder why California is a hot spot for the virus.

Laziness Equals Spending

On the way back we realized that it was 7-11 day. That special day of the year when 7-11 gives out teacup-sized servings of Slurpees to all who enter their store. And it being such a hot day, we decided to stop and get the girls some free Slurpees. When we’d stopped at the 7-11 parking lot Mrs. Disengaged asked me to get her some “Mommy’s Juice” and some milk.

Actually, she’d asked me to stop at Safeway on the way back, but I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and get it all at 7-11.

Laziness had struck. The enemy of frugality.

The store was in a bit of disarray like any good American 7-11 is. I had a hell of a time finding the Slurpee cup caps and anyone to help me find the caps. Eventually digging through the cabinets under the slurpee machines I found them myself. I happily tested out the different flavors and filled up a red and a blue for each daughter. I found Mrs. Disengaged’s current favorite drink: White Claw. The price for a 12 pack of White Claws wasn’t labeled on the shelf. But I stupidly assumed they would be the same price as the other drinks.

When the teller rang me up I was shocked at the price. $25 dollars for a gallon of milk and 12 pack of alcoholic beverages. I thought about telling him: “No, forget it, cancel the transaction I’m going to Safeway.“

But I’d given in. It’s okay, I thought. You can’t always get the deal. You can’t always save. Sometimes you gotta spend.

This was laziness talking. After a long nearly two hour drive back from Bodega Bay and sitting in the sun for hours prior to that, I was ready to go home. It’s ironic to think we were trying to get something free, ie. slurpees, and ended up spending probably double what we would have if I’d just gone to the grocery store.

$169 Weekend

All in all we spend $169 dollars over the weekend long.

• $25 dollars at 7-11 Saturday
• $144 dollars at Walmart for groceries on Sunday

We finally got our grocery bill down below $200 a week. A big change is driving further to Walmart, rather than to the Safeway near our house. The Safeway is 3.9 miles from our home. While Walmart is 10 miles away. But the differences in prices are dramatic…and sadly the quality of vegetables too. But the lower price beats out the freshness of the vegetables/fruit. This extra effort is saving us money.

Before embarking on our FI path, our grocery bill for the month averaged out to $1,000-$1,200. We would easily spend +/- $300 a week on food at the store. When I read other blogs and their low grocery expense, I’m astounded. Maybe it is my high cost of living area, but I’m quite certain it’s that I haven’t been trying hard enough. It takes effort to save money. Taking the easiest route or “being lazy” just simply costs more.

My milestone this year is to get our monthly bill down to $700 a month. How I will achieve this I’m not sure yet. But $175 a month for each family member…or $5 a day…is not impossible.

Expenditures On The Horizon

During our home inspection, 5 years ago, the home inspector noticed some rotting on the exterior siding and trim of our chimney. I was actually able to shave off a few thousand from our price because of the siding issues. Most of which I’d replaced already because of its ease of access on the ground. But the chimney has yet to be touched. Mostly because of its perilous location high up on the 2nd-floor roof near the edge of a steep incline.

My eyes constantly go to the chimney when I’m out enjoying myself in the backyard. It’s looming presence is always a reminder when I’m out in the back yard. My eyes go to it and I think to myself: “When will you fix this before it becomes a roof leak and costs way more?”

I’ve finally decided to fix the rotting siding and fascia. I borrowed a harness from work to tie around the chimney and save me if I should fall. And my friend’s dad will let me borrow his extension ladder, that’ll save me close to $150 for a 24′ ladder. I looked into renting a ladder but at my Home Depot its $94 a day. Still, I foresee this costing around $250 dollars for siding/trim and paint. There was a point when I considered outsourcing this. Just to save time and headache. But that would be laziness striking again.