using the suggestion, i did a variation. spend 2300m/s to leave kerbin while matching the inclination. when i reach moho's orbit, i trim my orbit toward moho while timing an intercept, which cost me 800m/s. i spend 1000m/s on full circulation around moho for a total of 4100m/s. this indeed helps cut delta-v by 1/3, but cost me an extra 200 days... spend 3000m/s on return trip. within the budget of 8000m/s of my interplanetary carrier. i use the lander to discard one of my tanks during descend and undock just before retrofire for landing, losing the tank probably gave me an extra 600m/s to play with. overall it was a great mission, much longer and complex than the duna mission, and moho was a rough hilly little planet to land on. :\