When I looked at my Discover bill online I "discovered" (ha ha) that the $40 payment for my I-pass had been charged. This is an automatic payment that appears whenever the the balance runs low. The I-pass is how I pay for tolls.

Since tolls are a way of life in this area, I have to count it in my $300 everyday expense, just like I would count gas. So I am now down to $50.

I'm going out to dinner tonight with a group of friends -- it's been planned for about a month and it's really hard to get all of us together. So I'm definitely going to do it. I just have to do it cheaply. I may just order an appetizer, or maybe a salad.

Tomorrow after work I have to head down to Terre Haute, Indiana, for a workshop. The cost for this is on my head, although, as a board member, the professional organization I belong to may help out. Anyway, none of this cost will count toward the $300, since it is definitely a pre-retirement type of expense!

On the plus side, I worked at a golf outing/dinner last night, selling raffle tickets, and I got a great dinner for free. You could tell it was planned with men in mind -- ribs, pulled pork and roasted chicken were the entrees, and the sides were potato salad and corn on the cob. No dieting last night!