From 2001-2004, newly married, I kept record of our checking account not in that skimpy check register in the back of each checkbook but in a REAL register I found at the drugstore--a book with many, many pages. Hoorah!

On the front of it I stuck homemade stickers. On the inside of the back page I wrote the names of the books I had read each year. I was in and out of the book all week for three years.

I gave up on it and any form of keeping track of finances, beyond viewing my statement online, at my own discretion, because money started to stress me out. I set up utilities and some other bills so they were automatically deducted, and I bought overdraft protection for the checking, just in case. Anything more than groceries and gas is too much spending. (Tell my husband that.) The register was retired to the back of a desk drawer.

So, yesterday I unearthed it to find the name of the modern art book where I first saw the little girl in the blue armchair. I knew I wrote it in the back. Brettell, R. wrote it. Modern Art, it's called. Great book. And there I *miraculously* found the very misplaced, long-gone receipt for my faucet; I swore I threw it out. Now the tap shall be replaced for free, and in the week's time I gave hubby to repair it.