Money Diary #3

Morning: I hear my work phone pinging with the sounds of email notifications. I roll over, check my email, and see that it's 6:15. Promptly hide under the covers. He hears me rustling, goes to turn on his laptop, and comes back to bed. A bit before 8, he goes to take out the trash and crashes back into bed. He finally gets up a little after 8, gets dressed, and kisses me goodbye. Finally get out of bed and walk the 10 steps to my laptop. I work from home, and I love it. Meetings are super efficient, I really like the work that I do, and as icing on the cake, I'm in comfy sweats all day. I read over a few emails, see a couple of meetings on tap for the afternoon, and settle in with a Wall Street Journal article talking about how people are "basically going about every facet of their daily lives from the Before Times, except coming into work." Turn on Netflix in the background (Marriage or Mortgage), brush teeth & Listerine, and sign into a Zoom meditation class. Try it for a few minutes and realize my mind is racing, so I log off and will try again another day. Read a millionaire interview where the interviewee worked remotely for the last part of her career. She notes her efficiency in getting things done by being driven to anticipate things that will come up and how that plays into her ability to address things on time or beforehand. I had signed up for the Tollhouse Cafe email list and see that I've gotten a coupon. Forward that to SO for him to print and hopefully we can go again this weekend!

Afternoon: An email comes in about a meeting tomorrow. I prep for that meeting and then shower so I'm camera ready for my afternoon Zoom meetings. It looks like tomorrow's meeting might get canceled, and I draft up some notes for when the meeting does happen. Jump on my back-to-back Zoom calls. My boss is on both calls, and it's great to see her. I really enjoy working for and learning from her. After the second call, she calls me and we chat/laugh about how the last meeting went. So grateful to be on her team! I decide to do a workout, and after years of not lifting weights, I do the Tone It Up Bikini arms workout. After doing it, I am exhausted and pass out on the couch. Look at my calendar for tomorrow. I have a morning meeting with an international colleague for a potential development opportunity and then my weekly call with my boss. Prep for the meeting with my boss and then I'm about to call it a day when a project comes in. I quickly look at it, decide to do a part of it later in the evening, and then hold some time tomorrow to finish it up. SO texts that he is coming home with cupcakes, YAY!! 

Evening: I'm starving and eat a couple of slices of pepperoni pizza. Play the first Harry Potter in the background, and when he gets home, I eat the King cake cupcake he brought back. It's so tasty! An email comes in, so I briefly log back on to answer it. I am a huge believer of Inbox Zero, so I try to answer emails as quickly as they come in (to the extent possible). He wants to go to the gym, so I get dressed (sweats, sweatshirt, jacket, and baseball cap), bag up my laptop, and we head out. While he works out, I review the work project and almost finish it when he gets done. We head to the nearby Alberstons next because he wants to see if the Bang hard seltzers are on sale. They're out at this store so we go to one a bit farther away. He gets two packages there along with 4 more sodas. Come back home and finish the work project. Have a bite of his pulled pork and then pour myself a glass of tangerine seltzer water. Watch the second Hobbit movie, read an Australian Money Diary, and bed around midnight. 

Money Diary #2

Morning: Wake up around 8 and watch Love is Blind. He gets up around 9:30, and I brush my teeth and get dressed (hoodie, jeans, jacket, and beanie). We're heading into downtown for a car meetup. Get there around 11 and his friend arrives a short while later. It's held at a local bar, and I see familiar faces (and cars) when we get there. We walk around the parking lot a bit, and I'm glad I wore a beanie. Even though it's sunny, it's pretty cold standing outside. We chat with his friend a bit, and he remarks how he had to shut down his office last week for a couple of days due to bad weather. He's a doctor, and he mentions that he doesn't get paid if he doesn't work. He'd rather get patients in his office sooner rather than later since cancelling and rescheduling usually results in a greater chance of patients not showing up (and thereby him not getting paid). His girlfriend shows up a few minutes later, and then we all head inside. 

Afternoon: 

• SO gets free drink tickets at this meetup and gets me an orange juice. We came here earlier this month, and one screwdriver later, I was super lightheaded. Being a lightweight, I requested a non-alcoholic beverage this time. There's a group of 8 or so people seated at the main table, and SO and I sit at the table next to them. I'm secretly grateful that we're not at the main table as I don't really know anyone there and we see the same people every time we come to this bar. The conversations revolve around what fancy European car everyone drives and what even fancier European car they are going to buy next. SO spots someone who he saw at the last meetup and heads over to talk to him. I see him talking to the older gentleman, and both seem to be having a good time. I lose myself in a couple of R29 Money Diaries and their comment sections. Afternoons like this one let me catch up on reading and simply getting lost in my own thoughts as the world around me oohs and aahs at the cars that drive into the parking lot. The folks at the main table get food, and once SO's friend and girlfriend finish their shared plate of eggs benedict, I can tell it's almost time to go (YAY!). We walk out with everyone and then head to a hot lunch date at IKEA.
• At IKEA, he gets a plate of Swedish meatballs with green beans and mashed potatoes, and I get the chicken tender plate with double fries (because I don't want green beans, haha). We also get a cup of coffee and a glass for juice. Altogether, it comes to $14.05. We sit down and then realize the coffee was free because of his IKEA family card, and we weren't charged for the juice. I eat half of the fries and most of the tenders, which were really tasty. I also eat most of his mashed potatoes that were also really good. He brings a glass of pear juice, which doesn't have that much pear flavoring in it. We finish lunch with lingonberry juice. I'm usually not a fan of berry-flavored juices, but this one isn't too bad. After lunch, we walk around the store a bit and he gets a sommarvind (basically a beach tent). I wanted to get the frozen yogurt but am absolutely stuffed, so we promise to get it next time. 
• After IKEA, we head to the outlets. At Nordstrom Rack, he had spotted a $1300 Givenchy jacket earlier in the week, which he jokingly said he was going to get, but it's gone now. I want to go to the Adidas store, so we stop by, and I find a zip-up hoodie that has a clearance price of $19.95. Apparently, everything on the clearance rack is half off, so I grab it. We wait in line and price check it, and yup, it's 50% off the clearance price, so I am definitely going to get it! The total comes to $10.78, and the cashier asks if I want to round up to donate $0.22 to the Boys & Girls club (yes, that's fine), so the final total is $11. We wander around the outlets a bit more and walk into Bath & Body Works since we have a free item coupon. Nothing catches our eye, so we head off to the local sporting goods store. 
• At the sporting goods store, he has a 20% coupon and spots the North Face shirt he saw online. Both of us are not impressed at the quality of the shirt, so it's, as he says, a hard pass. We walk around and then head to the TJMaxx next door. I browse the clearance sections and remark that $16 is not a clearance friendly price! We spot a hockey rink next door that we didn't realize was there, so I make a mental note to read about it later. 
• We're off to a Nestle Tollhouse Cafe next, and as soon as we walk into the store, I'm already loving it. We get a regular 20 oz iced Turtle Mocha ($6.48), and when I take that first sip, I'm in heaven. We take turns splitting the drink with me drinking most of it. I grab a couple of menus to go and can't wait to return again. 
• The day finishes off with a couple of visits to Albertsons. Coke products are 99 cents with a limit of 4, so we each grab the maximum allotment at the first store (all Sprite Zero & Fresca since Coke Zeroes are out). As I'm paying for my four sodas, he spots a penny on the ground ($4.29 minus one penny = $4.28). He pays for the others along with some pork and Bang hard seltzers which he notes are massively on sale. We head to a second Albertsons to see if the maximum of four is per transaction and find Coke Zeroes there. We get 7 Coke Zeroes for us and 1 Orange Fanta for my mom ($8.58). 

Evening: Stop by Costco for gas, and then we are finally home. I immediately plop on the couch in exhaustion and start Netflixing. He hands me a sugarcane juice box, and we both decide it's really medicine-y tasting, so we won't be getting it again. I try on my new zip-up hoodie, and I like it! I go through what takeout coupons we have and spot one for Le Madeleine. I've never eaten there before, so I'm excited to try it. Dinner is leftover pepperoni pizza, and then I brush my teeth and Listerine. During the pandemic, I've gotten into the really bad habit of not brushing my teeth at night, so I need to break this streak. After I brush my teeth and Listerine, my mouth feels all minty. I find an online Japanese meditation session for tomorrow so I put it on my work calendar to remind myself. He puts the pork in the pressure cooker, and we watch Casino Royale on Netflix. After a while, we switch it up and watch the second Hobbit movie. He says March 1st is National Pancake Day with free pancakes at IHOP! I get excited for a few minutes until I realize the free pancake deal only goes til 4 pm, and he won't be home from work by then. Sad face. Bed around midnight.

Clothing = $11

Eating out = $20.53

Groceries = $12.86

Total = $44.39

Money Diary #1

Morning: Wake up around 7. Bathroom break and promptly head back to bed. He asks if I'm wide awake, and I tell him I might try to fall back asleep. I promptly pass out, and after what feels like half an hour later, I feel someone hug me. He tells me it's 11 (lol!!). Lounge around for another hour. 

Afternoon: Around noon, he mentions it'll start raining around 2 so we should probably start getting ready to run errands. He high fives me as I attempt to get out of bed, haha. Get dressed (sweats, hoodie, and jacket). He goes to work out and drops me off at the nearby mall. I walk around and people watch for the next 1.5 hours. After he picks me up, we head out to the nearby sporting goods store. He has a 20% off coupon and is trying to find a hat for me for an upcoming golf tournament we might attend. I'm not loving the choices, so he buys some gun parts and then we head out to Costco. Walk around, sample all the samples, and he gets some veggie straws. A late lunch of hot dogs at the food court and we get a whole pepperoni pizza to go ($14.02). I spill some pepsi as I get in the car, whoops. Get home, promptly lie down on the couch, and watch Love is Blind. He hands me a slice of pepperoni pizza, and I just veg for an hour. 

Evening: Around 5, I shower and get dressed as he has a meetup in the city. We leave around 6:30 and get there around 7. It's pretty packed, so we walk around a bit, and then the pizza arrives. I eat 4 slices of Silician pizza in round 1 and then grab 2 more slices. I manage to eat one more and then the other one goes to him. He recognizes some familiar faces in the crowd and chats with them. I try to walk the pizza off and then he grabs us two bottles of water. We walk around a bit more and then leave around 9. Home by 9:30, drink water, and plop on the couch to continue watching Love is Blind. Bed around midnight.

Eating out = $14.02

Total = $14.02