Money Diary #140

Morning: Up around 6, brush my teeth, and log on. Yesterday was so busy that I wasn't able to prep for the meeting with my boss this morning. Today is her last day in her role before she moves to her new position on Monday. I review the project that's giving me stress, jot down some notes, and walk through the questions I plan on asking her. Drink a cup of tea & jump on the call with her at 9. I share the news about the colleague whose position was eliminated & other news that I've heard. Then I go over the project that was stressing me out and she's aligned with how I reviewed it. Send a quick message to my new boss to see if I can chat with him next week. Do a dry shampoo and then go shower. 

Afternoon: Current boss sends an email to our admin and myself seeing if we can grab lunch at the end of the month before she moves to her new city. Lunch is a blueberry bagel, do the coconut oil pull, and lounge around. I send a note back to my current boss that I'd love to grab lunch and that I'm okay eating inside if everyone else is since it's so hot outside these days. New boss responds back and I'll reach out to him next week to set up a time. Review a project and then have an afternoon snack of homemade fried hashbrowns & milk tea. 

Evening: Read for a while, and here is what I learn: 

• Book I want to read: Soul in the Game by Vitaly Gerasimov

• A good reminder: "Don't fight with people you can lick."

• Temporary pops in income: "Many of the loans were extended to buyers who had temporary pops in income during the pandemic. Those monthly incomes fell -- sometimes by half -- as the pandemic stimulus programs stopped, and now they look even worse on an inflation-adjusted basis & as the prices of basics in particular are climbing."

Dinner is air-fried focaccia bread with roasted tomato & parmesan and mangoes. Do the coconut oil pull, brush my teeth, and bed around 10.

Money Diary #139

Morning: Up at 5:30, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Head to the bathroom and log on around 6. Send an email and head back to the bathroom. Settle in for my 7:30 meeting which ends in 30 minutes. Jump on the 8 am call with the department & the leader of the department. We spend half an hour introducing ourselves and get to know the leader a bit. After the meeting, I get a chat message from a senior colleague if I can set up a couple of follow-up meetings on our project. I send those invites & eat half of a blueberry bagel for breakfast. Also have another cup of tea. Jump on my 9:30 call that ends in 15 minutes. I get another project to work on, and as I start reviewing it, I get stressed. I reach out to my soon-to-be-former boss, and she, being the great human she is, sets up a meeting with me tomorrow to go over. Work on other projects and send related emails. Jump on a group call with my boss. She can tell something is wrong, and I tell her we'll chat tomorrow when it's just her and me. 

Afternoon: Head to a noon call that ends after 30 minutes & eat a milk-based dish for a very quick lunch. Jump on my last meeting of the day at 1 & jot down some notes to share with the senior colleague next week. Go shower, eat sliced mangoes as a snack, and keep working for the next few hours. Stop for an afternoon snack of milk tea & crackers, and then more work.

Evening: Keep working, review projects, and send emails. Dinner is rice & my favorite spicy fish stew. Do the coconut oil pull, brush my teeth, and log back on. Review a project, let my colleague know that I've completed my review & that I've inserted questions for her, and a different colleague sees I'm online and says I should log off, haha. I tell him the same, and I log off at 10. Oof, so tired today. Surf the internet for an hour, and bed at 11. 

Money Diary #138

Morning: Mom wakes up me at 6, and I lay around until 6:30. Get up, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Log on & check email. Drink another cup of tea and have toast for breakfast. Get dressed, download grocery coupons for Albertsons, and head out to the store. They grab bananas on sale ($0.29/lb), 2 things of milk ($1.49 each), 2 green peppers ($0.49 each), and 4 2-liters of Coke Zero & Sprite Zero (99 cents each). Come home, unload groceries, and log back on. A project comes in, and I review it. Reach out to the stakeholder with a few questions & set up a call with him tomorrow to connect.

Afternoon: Lunch is foccacia bread, cauliflower, and eggplant. Do the coconut oil pull and jump on my 2 pm call. Listen in and pipe up with a question. Reach out to a colleague to give her a heads up. The call ends by 3:15, and I get a few projects to review. Get started on those, set up a meeting for next week, and flag some initial questions to myself. Will review again later this week. Reach out to a colleague on a question & she shares that her position has been eliminated. I give her a quick call and see how she is doing. Drink a cup of milk tea and air fry some spring rolls for an afternoon snack. 

Evening: Read for a while, and here is what I learn:

• Easiest way to increase your compensation trajectory: "Lateral in the good times but stay put in the bad (because you have a built-up store of good reputation and a network and many places take a last-in-first-out perspective for cuts)." 

• Conserve your energy: "If you are exhausted in this job, you are a sucker. You need to learn the subtle trick of not exerting too much energy or as little as possible on this job." 

• Patience wins the day: "The quicker you want something, the easier you are to manipulate.​"

• Breaking the pattern: "Venture teaches you to pattern match, but by definition, you are supposed to invest in companies that break patterns." 

• Other people have ways of doing things that are correct: "After several years as an individual contributor, I was recruited into management. This is when I learned that other people also have ways of doing things that are correct, and they appreciate it if you consider the merit of their alternate ways instead of immediately dismissing them."

• No maintenance costs: "Work in a job that will shower you with money but has no maintenance costs (fancy clothes, country clubs, luxury cars, meal services because you don’t have time to cook) or high entry fees (a degree that comes with six-figure student loans)."

Dinner is rice & air fried shrimp, yum. Sliced mangoes for dessert. Do the coconut oil pull, brush my teeth, and show Mom a funny butt picture. Bed around 11.

Money Diary #137

Morning: Mom wakes me up at 6, and I head to to bathroom. Brush my teeth, drink a cup of tea, and eat a couple of Ritz crackers. An email came in earlier this morning, so I respond to it, loop in some colleagues, and set up a meeting for later this week. I have a D&I meeting this morning, so I jump on that 8 am call. I leave the call at 8:30 and eat Hawaiian bread rolls & scrambled eggs for breakfast. Head to my 9 am with a senior colleague where we chat about the department's changes & she gives me a few things to follow-up on regarding a project she is leading. Send those follow-up emails and prep for a meeting with my boss. It's my last 1:1 with her, so I walk through a few questions, talk about career steps, and say goodbye to her :-( She knows me really well, senses my sadness, and says we'll still have monthly 1:1's to catch up. Man, I'm going to miss her. Go shower after the call.

Afternoon: Lunch is rice, my favorite spinach dish, my favorite soup dish, and spicy fish stew. Do the coconut oil pull, and lay down on the sofa. Close my eyes for 15 minutes and hear the ping of emails come in. Head back to the computer and prep for my 2:30 meeting. Go over a proposed action plan with a few colleagues, and implement that plan during our 3 pm call. That meeting ends in 15 minutes, and I'm done for the day. I should read for work, so I do that for a few minutes but decide to try again tomorrow. Drink a cup of milk tea for a snack. Read for a while, and here is what I learn:

• Good career advice: "Corporate governance is the best area for success because you’re in front of the Board and senior management. Focus on areas that are high profile for the company and allow you to present to the Board and CEO/CFO. Focus on impact to org outside of the department and not within the department, like number of reports which doesn’t matter."

• Truth: "Stop telling people more than they need to know."

• Real estate vs the stock market: "Real estate is close to an all time high. Equity markets are not. I know which of the two I’d throw the next dollar at."

Evening: Watch I Love Lucy on the tablet. Dinner is rice, my favorite spinach dish, my favorite soup dish, and spicy fish stew. Finish the last of the lemon mint drink with Dad. Do the coconut oil pull, brush my teeth, and bed around 10:30.

Money Diary #136

Morning: Mom wakes me up at 6:30 since I have meetings from 8:30 to 11 this morning, and I want to eat breakfast & shower before that. Get up, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea & eat a couple of Ritz crackers. Go shower & then log on. The trainings have come in, so I start working on them & eat breakfast of scrambled eggs & toast. Get an email from a coworker requesting to move the 9 am meeting to tomorrow morning, and then another email from a different coworker to move the 8:30 am meeting to tomorrow afternoon. Reschedule the meetings, finish the trainings (yay!), and jump on my 9 am call with one of our interns. Speak to her about what she is interested in and answer her questions about grad school & work. My 10 am meeting gets cancelled, and my boss moves our meeting to that time. I prep for that meeting and then jump on the call to speak with her. Go over some questions with her and then talk about career steps for me. While I am sad that I won't be reporting to her after this week, I'm excited for her new role in the company. Then jump on one last call this morning with a different colleague. Speak to him about an issue that came up last week, get his thoughts, and also talk about the changes in the company. He just got back from an Italian vacation & sends me pictures which I drool over, lol. Once I finish speaking with him, I go through my inbox and look at emails that have come in this morning. Eat an early lunch at 11:30 of leftover Thai fried rice and do the coconut oil pull.

Afternoon: Jump on my noon call that ends at 1:15, and I'm done with meetings for the day. Eat a snack of cherries & grapes. Keep an eye out on email and read for a while. Here is what I learn:

• On splurges: "I have a few college friends who make more in their bonus than I make in a year :) I splurge on things like kerrygold butter and a Pret coffee membership."

• Mental peace comes from owning fewer things: "In my 20’s, most of my clothes came from discount places, and I was willing to hunt sale racks. Now with more money and less time, my savings come from owning fewer things."

• Truth: "The more you scale, the more you need to appeal to different kinds of people, which sucks the personality out of what you're doing."

• Good advice for relationships (both personal & professional): "You can be happy or you can be right. Don’t count on being both."

• Why stuff gets done: “The way things get done in the world is because of two things — relationships between people and focus.”

Air fry some focaccia bread and have that along with spicy hashbrowns for an afternoon snack. Drink milk tea. 

Evening: A friend & former coworker calls and we chat for an hour about her work & how she is thinking of what is next for her professionally. She is leaving for a 3-week vacation (yay for her!) and she's flying on Qatar Airways. I make a request for her to take pics of the food, as I'm a huge fan of international airplane food, haha. Dinner is the last of the leftover Thai fried rice, do the coconut oil pull, and brush my teeth. Bed around 10. 

Money Diary #135

Morning: Mom wakes me up at 6:15 since we want to get groceries & come back home before it get super hot. I roll around & finally get up at 6:45. Brush my teeth, drink a cup of tea, and eat a couple of Ritz crackers. Get dressed and we head out around 7:30. First stop is Albertsons where mangos & grapes are on sale, so we get those along with 6 bagels from the clearance aisle. Also get a couple of agua frescas for free with their Saturday Sampler coupon. Next stop is a nearby grocery store that has shrimp on sale -- in and out in around 10 minutes. I start coughing in the car and put my mask on. Last stop is Kroger, where we get ginger aisle on clearance, three kinds of foacia bread on clearance (though I thought all of them would be $1.79, two of them turned out to be $2.29, whoops), clearance Hawaiian rolls & mushrooms, a free yogurt, and 5 pounds of cherries on sale. Back home around 9:50, unload groceries, and pass out on the couch for a while. Mom makes fried Hawaiian rolls with butter, so we eat those and I drink a cup of ginger tea that she makes. Watch I Dream of Jeannie for a while, and then go shower. 

Afternoon: Lunch is rice, poppy seeds & veggie drumsticks, my favorite spinach dish, and fish stew. Decide that Love Cookies, Hate Cooking would be a great name for a food blog someday. Watch Wimbledon for a bit, take the stems off of the cherries, and then switch back to I Dream of Jeannie, which is on an episode marathon today. I had gotten an email earlier last week that there will be several trainings to complete this week, so I log on to see if I can start them today. They aren't available yet, and I'm not feeling up to reading for work, so I log off and have an snack of tea, grapes/cherries, and crackers. Settle in for an afternoon of reading Money Diaries instead. Here is what I learn:

• "Win some, lose some, still thankful to be in my position": "I would love to have a life where I could just write a check for $500 and not bat an eye, though, yes, the surprise part of it sucks."

• "Would you share a bit about your investment/strategy that helped you accumulate assets?": "I haven’t done anything special. Just having a high income relative to my expenses and investing consistently."

• "It was only one person": "I'm not bothered by someone projecting their own boundaries onto my situation." 

• Manage the margin: "Our cost of living stayed relatively the same while our salaries increased."

• What I want in retirement (renting in a city by the water that has grocery stores I can walk to): "Even though most people have cars here and there's no reliable public transportation, I live by downtown and am in walking distance of the grocery store which covers necessities as someone who WFH. It's great cost savings, and you get in exercise too, so in the end, you are better off."

Evening: After the I Dream of Jeannie marathon ends, I switch over to The Munsters. Dinner is rice, poppy seeds & veggie drumsticks, my favorite spinach dish, and fish stew. Do the coconut oil pull, and brush my teeth. Bed at 9:30.

Money Diary #134

Morning: Wake up around 6:45, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Go shower and breakfast is a hard boiled egg with toast. Get dressed & head out to our local Chinatown. First stop is the grocery store where we get goatmeat, salmon steak, and perch along with various veggies. Next is the Asian bakery where they get garlic toast and I get a couple of milk butter rolls. They split one garlic toast & save the other for later, and I do the same with the milk butter roll. Then is the Japanese store where Dad buys stuff for the garden. He asks if I want sugarcane juice and I ask the same question back to him, lol. We decide to pass this time, and head to the Thai place to grab fried rice & panang curry for lunch. Last stop is the ethnic grocery store where they get a bunch of groceries. 

Afternoon: Get back home around 1 and unload groceries. Lunch is fried rice, white rice, and panang curry. Do the coconut oil pull. Read for a while for work & take notes. Eat the milk butter roll from this morning and drink a cup of coffee for an afternoon snack. Continue reading for work & taking notes. 

Evening: Dinner is leftover fried rice & panang curry. Do the coconut oil pull, read & take notes for work, and brush my teeth. Play on my tablet for a while and then bed around 10:30. 

Money Diary #133

Morning: Up at 7, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Eat a slice of toast for breakfast & sit in the tub for a while to soak my body and shower. Jump on my 10:30 call that ends in half an hour. Send a couple of emails.

Afternoon: Lunch is cauliflower pizza with veggies, which we split three ways. Wash it down with a glass of Cherry Coke and do the coconut oil pull. Fall asleep for 30 minutes with the TV on in the background. Read for a while for work & take notes. Keep taking notes for work until dinner.

Evening: Dinner is rice, potatoes, and soup. Do the coconut oil pull & brush my teeth. Read for a while for work & take notes. Bed around 11:30.

Money Diary #132

Morning: Up at 7:30 and feel tired again. Brush my teeth and drink a cup of tea. Jump on my 8:30 call with a colleague. It ends in 15 minutes, and I eat a slice of buttered toast for breakfast. See an office message that throws me for a bit and schedule a meeting with my boss for Monday after she is back from vacation. Write a couple of emails and do a couple of projects. Go shower and schedule a meeting with one of our interns for next week. 

Afternoon: Jump on my noon call, and after that ends, I set up a meeting on Monday regarding an action item with a senior colleague. Lunch is rice and goat stew, and do the coconut oil pull. No more meetings today, and I keep an eye out on email. Drink tea for an afternoon snack with air-fried spring rolls. Type up my notes from last night after reading the 1924 edition of The Box-Car Children. 

• Look for the positive:

• "But that's just as well," she thought. "Because he won't get so hungry waiting for the milk."

• "Indeed, it is doubtful if collectors of rare and beautiful bits of porcelain ever enjoyed a search as much as did these adventurers in the dump heap."

• "They were used to spread the delicious morsels of butter on the brown loaf. With dried beef, and a cookie for dessert, who could ask for better fare? Certainly not the four children, who enjoyed it more than the rarest dainties."

• "When she ladled out four portions on four plates of all sizes, some of them tin, and laid a spoon in each, the children felt that the world held no greater riches. The tiny onions floated around like pearls; the carrots melted in your mouth; and the shreds of meat were as tender as possible from long boiling. A bit of bread in one hand helped the feast along wonderfully."

• "Even a hammer makes a good pillow if one is tired enough."

• "Building a dam is wonderful sauce for a dinner. "I think stew is much better the second day," observed Benny, eating hungrily."

• "Almost a gift from heaven," said Violet, stroking one of the eggs with a delicate finger. "It wouldn't be polite to refuse them."

• "Scrambled eggs made a delicious supper for the children. Jess broke all the eggs into the biggest bowl and beat them vigorously with a spoon until they were light and foamy. Then she added milk and salt and delegated Violet to beat them some more while she prepared the fire. The big kettle, empty and clean, was hung over the low fire and butter was dropped in. Jess watched it anxiously, tipping the kettle slightly in all directions. When the butter had reached the exact shade of brown, Jess poured in the eggs and stirred them carefully, holding her skirts away from the fire. She was amply repaid for her care when she saw her family attack the meal. Clearly this was a feast day."

• "I never had such a cheerful crowd of cherry pickers before," Mrs. McAllister said at last. "I'd much rather stay out here than go into the house where it is cool."

• "You see, you're better than most pickers, because you're so cheerful."

• Look for the fun: LHenry had never been trained to run, but the boy possessed an unusual quantity of common sense. "It's a mile race," he thought to himself, "and it's the second half mile that counts." So it happened that this was the main thought in his mind when the starter's gong sounded and the racers shot away down the track. In almost no time, Henry was far behind the first half of the runners. But strangely enough, he did not seem to mind this greatly. "It's fun to run, anyhow," he thought. It was fun, certainly. He felt as if his limbs were strung together on springs. He ran easily, without effort, each step bounding into the next like an elastic. After a few minutes of this, Henry had a new thought. "Now you've tried how easy you can run, let's see how fast you can run!"

• Look to stay humble: 

• "When Dr. McAllister drove into his yard he found a boy washing the concrete drives as calmly as if nothing had happened."

• "His family almost forgot to eat while Henry recounted the details of the exciting race. And when he showed them the silver cup and the money they actually did stop eating, hungry as they were."

• "There were certainly as many duties always waiting for him as he had time to do. And it made no difference to the industrious boy what the job was. Nothing was too hard or too dirty for him to attempt."

• "But the children always spoke of her as the "lady who owns Watch," although Mr. Cordyce paid for the dog in less time than you can imagine. It made no difference to the children that Watch was a very valuable dog. They had loved him when he had not been worth a cent; and now they loved him more, simply because they had so nearly lost him."

• "Work hard and you’ll be happy, and then you’ll get money, and then you can keep working, just for fun": "All you children must go to school and then to college. Then you may do whatever you choose for a living," replied Mr. Cordyce. (This also came true.) "Of course I have more than enough money to support us all," went on Mr. Cordyce, "but if you have something to do, you will be happier."

Evening: A work email comes in during the early evening, so I log on and respond to that. Dinner is rice and goat stew, do the coconut oil pull, and brush my teeth. Log back on, send an email to a different stakeholder about regarding the work issue from this evening, and set him a meeting with him on Monday. Bed around 11.

Money Diary #131

Morning: It's past 7:30 & I finally get up. Feel super tired for some reason. See that a colleague wants to move our meeting to tomorrow since her son is not feeling well today. Log on and reschedule the meeting. No meetings today, and breakfast is air-fried toast with an egg in the middle. It's super tasty, yum. Read for work for a while and take notes. 

Afternoon: Watch I Dream of Jeannie & lunch is rice and goat stew. Keep an eye out on email and lay down for a bit. An email comes in, so I set up a follow-up meeting for next week. Read for a while, and here is what I learn:

• Yes, recessions are buying opportunities, but . . .: "But the closer you get to retirement, they can be incredibly detrimental unless you can delay retirement, easily cut expenses, or add supplemental income for a few years."

• Think like a VC: "Check if any secondary trades have occurred, and if so, at what valuation and when (Forge, Equity Zen, etc). The point is to understand: will they be able to raise another round, when, and at what price. This is all that matters. The likelihood to the company of achieving a liquidity event."

• "Meet yourself": "Your note about how being an expat allows you to 'meet yourself by living in a new context. It just expands the lens of your life' hits the nail on the head for me. I did a couple of weeks in one of the Asian offices at the former company, and it has been the highlight of my career so far. (In undergrad, I studied abroad for a couple of summers, and hands down, those were the experiences I enjoyed the most. There is something about combining travel + work/studying that seems to bring out a version of me that I never knew existed)."

• "The difficulty level of our relationship is about zero": "Plenty of money, low-stress jobs, no kids. So yes, marriages without kids are exponentially less stressful than marriages with kids. But it’s not just that: It’s that a marriage without children can be every bit as meaningful and loving and important as a marriage with kids. And not only that, there’s no question that in the best case scenario having kids can enrich your marriage. But it is, perhaps, just as likely to drive you apart — especially if you get into the division-of-labor wars. Or if the kids bring extra challenges that you aren’t in agreement about how to handle. Or because finances are inevitably tighter when there are more people in the picture. I guess what I mean to say is that people seem to automatically consider childfree marriages “second best” and I wanted to push back against that. You can have a very meaningful marriage and life without being a parent."

• "Trust your gut": 

• "If something is wrong your gut will alert you even if your mind can’t quite logic through what exactly you’re picking up on."

• "While it is true that some people are exceptionally good at hiding their true nature until you’re invested, most people will let the mask slip, but it might only be for a minute. Be on the lookout for that minute."

• Don't attach a moral weight to finances: "If I decide my bougie spin studio is important to me, then I cut something else to keep my free towels and fancy shampoo."

Evening: Eat a Lindor chocolate and watch I Love Lucy on the tablet. Dinner is rice, my favorite spinach dish, and goat stew. Do the coconut oil pull and brush my teeth. I loved the Boxcar Children growing up and realize that there is a 1924 edition of the book. Read the original 1924 version for a while and remember how much I loved reading the series. An internet friend emails me, and I respond back to her. Bed at 11:30.

Money Diary #130

Morning: The alarm at 6:15 wakes me up. Log on and send a couple of emails for work. Brush my teeth & settle into the couch for my 7 am meeting which goes for an hour. Then my boss's boss holds a meeting at 8 which goes for 45 minutes. Get dressed, grab the butters & ice pack from the fridge, and call Dad to let him know I'm headed out. Get to parents' place around 9:30, eat an omelette & drink some ginger ale for breakfast, and then Dad & I head to pay car registration for both cars. In the car, he shares that they are thinking of moving to a different state and asks for my opinion. Back home around 10:30 and set up a meeting for next week. Go shower & use the psoriasis shampoo. 

Afternoon: Lunch is cauliflower fried rice & sausage curry. Split a Melona honeydew ice cream bar with Mom. Do a coconut oil pull. Show Dad the positions available for work and talk to him about next steps. Keep an eye out on email and read & take notes for work. A project comes in, so I set up a meeting with a colleague tomorrow to go over. Send an email about the expat position to the hiring manager to see when it might be posted. Eat some cherries that Mom gives to Dad and myself. Drink tea with some coconut thins for an afternoon snack. A friend/former colleague calls, and I'll give her a call back tomorrow. Having not heard back about the expat position, I figure it's a no go. 

Evening: Read for a while, and here is what I learn:

• Living life: "Still, it’s rough to go from actually living life—doing stuff, seeing new things, meeting new people—to living in my tiny apartment staring at myself and my coworkers on a screen with little human interaction. I found myself thinking on the trip, 'that’s no way to live. No wonder I’ve been depressed.'"

• Small communities & village life: "We were made for small communities and village life, and so the constant trying to process the news of all of the world events and pain of everyone feels like too much because it is too much. In village life, it would take weeks, months, years for bad news from distant places to travel to us – and now it's instantaneous. It’s okay to step back and let yourself process it slower, and have a stronger focus on your immediate community."

• Being child-free: "Honestly, having been a parent but also having been in two child-free marriages after that, I would seriously consider getting back together on the terms above with an understanding up front that kids would NOT be in the picture. If I thought the relationship was worth it."

• More content life: "I’m trying not to have a checklist and instead am working toward just a happier, more content life, filled with people and things and activities I love and who love me back. This translates into devoting time to hobbies and volunteer activities that fill my cup and a goal to focus less on work."

• Applies to both career & guys: 

• "Try your best not to get invested in guys until they’ve clearly communicated to you that they’re very interested. It sucks (and sounds regressive) but it makes it a lot easier to let them chase. If you’re not proactively texting them, you can discern their feelings more easily and (most importantly) sit back and relax and let them do the work."

• "The absolute worst trap you can fall into is over-analyzing his behavior or trying to make sense of things, or try to game your behavior to get him to magically be into you. It’s more simple than that: he’s either into you or not, and if he is, it will be easy and you will know."

• "You can’t will him into anything. My biggest advice as someone who has been dating forever and who has had to learn A LOT, is to take everything at face value. Do not try to figure out what he is thinking or feeling. You don’t know. He said what he said and he did what he did in the moment and that’s that."

Evening: Eat a Lindor chocolate and watch I Love Lucy on the tablet. Dinner is cauliflower rice, sausage curry, and an omelette with slices of sweet mango. Do the coconut oil pull, brush my teeth, and more I Love Lucy. Bed around 10.

Money Diary #129

Morning: Up around 8, head to the bathroom, and fall back asleep. Wake back up at 10:15, migrate to the sofa, and watch KUWTK. Dermaplane my face, brush my teeth, and shower. Get dressed to head to his friend's place for barbeque. 

Afternoon: Lunch is a bbq'd chicken leg, two things of ribs, a burger with pepper jack cheese, grilled corn with Kerrygold butter, and a slice of key lime pie. SO and his friends sit outside and a couple of them go swimming. I stay inside in the air conditioning and read a few money diaries. Here is what I learn:

• Small footnote in the story: "My then-boyfriend-now-husband and I were long distance at 22 and it felt like SUCH a defining part of our relationship. Eight years later and I honestly forget about that year sometimes! It's such a small footnote in our story."

• Contrast: "That she has a 'hefty' trust fund that she doesn't know or even want to know the value of is mind-boggling to someone who worries about the impact on my financial situation of every single purchase I make." 

• "I am here": "I feel like having a bf was the only thing that made me feel 'together' and adult so losing that forced me to come to terms with how behind in life I feel. My friends from college are investment bankers and consultants and product managers at huge tech companies and they're making six figures and traveling and living in luxury apartments. And I am...here."

• Make choices that you want to make: "As long as you make the choices that you want to make and are right for you, you'll be just fine."

Drop off food at his mom's place and then come home & pass out on the couch. 

Evening: Call parents and Mom reminds me to bring back butter & the ice pack. I tell them that I'll start after 9 in the morning tomorrow. Eat a couple of ribs, drink a glass of Coke, and brush my teeth. Do the activated charcoal mouthwash, watch KUWTK, and bed around 11. 

Money Diary #128

Morning: Up around 8 and head to the bathroom. Fall back into bed, and the next thing I know, it's 10:15. Get up, brush my teeth, and migrate to the sofa to watch KUWTK. He is already up and playing on the computer. He goes to shower and then gets dressed. We head out to a local ramen place to meet up with his friends for lunch. 

Afternoon: His friends are already there and have ordered by the time we get to the ramen place. There is one kiosk to order, and the person who is ordering is taking her sweet time reading each item on the kiosk menu. I exchange glances with the guy in front of us, and SO goes to sit at the table with his friends. He motions me over, so I sit and watch the woman take several more minutes to place an order. Finally, the guy in front of us and his significant other get to the kiosk, and after a couple of minutes, he motions me over as they are done ordering. SO gets tonkotsu ramen and I get red curry ramen. Both of our bowls come pretty quickly, and I take a sip of the broth from SO's ramen. It's really tasty and I like it. My red curry is also really good -- I had low expectations of this place, and they've definitely been exceeded. The red curry comes with three tempura shrimp, and I give SO one of the shrimps. He gives me some of his ramen, and I finish 75% of my red curry bowl. He finishes the rest. During lunch, we decide to grill at his friend's place for tomorrow, so we head to Costco where he buys ribs, hamburger buns, "summer flavors" of La Croix, and a key lime pie. There are samples galore, so we have lunch part 2 here -- mango slices (twice), sausage with jalapeno (once), ice cream with berries (once), guava drink (once), hot dog + pickle (once), hamburger (once), plantains (once for him, none for me), and we pass on the hot dog since we're so stuffed, lol. Head to his friend's place to drop stuff off for tomorrow's barbeque. Then to Albertsons to buy 10 ears of corn, lettuce, and strawberry/lemonade ice cream ($6.18). The ears of corn and lettuce will be for tomorrow. Come back home & pass out on the couch since it's so hot outside. He defrosts ground beef for tomorrow's barbeque and gives me a bowl of the ice cream we just bought. It's pretty yummy.

Evening: Around 6, he wants to head to Walmart to buy more meat for tomorrow, so I get dressed and we head out. He gets two packs of drumsticks, sauerkraut, and slices of pepperjack cheese. Come back home to drop the groceries off, he grabs a guava La Croix for me, and then we head to Ross. The guava is pretty tasty, and I like it. Ross is busy, and we don't find anything interesting. We head to his friend's boba store, but the friend isn't there, so we head back home. I watch him play GT7, and he warms up a couple of slices of leftover pizza for me. He grabs a mango beer from the fridge, and like yesterday's grape beer, it's more juice than alcohol. I drink some and he drinks the rest. I watch Hulu on the tablet, and I like this the best -- since he is in the living room playing GT7, and I'm in the same room watching KUTWK. Read for a while, and here is what I learn:

• Reminder: "Everything happens for a reason, and I have the rest of my life to find out why."

• Another reminder: "Happiness, mental health, and peace of mind are more important than dollars and cents."

Do the activated charcoal mouthwash and bed around 2. 

Money Diary #127

Morning: Up at 8 and migrate to the sofa. He is already up and playing on the computer. Around 9, we go back to bed, lol. Lay around for a while, and then I brush my teeth. Watch KUWTK and he plays on the computer.

Afternoon: Eat a slice of pizza and watch more KUWTK. His back isn't feeling well, so he lays down in bed for the rest of the afternoon. Text my mom to see if she wants any more butters. She says no. Go shower and use the psoriasis shampoo.

Evening: He gets up and plays GT7. He warms up leftover curry, some food from his mom, and green beans for dinner. We eat and then he plays more GT7. He grabs a grape beer from the fridge, which is more juice than alcohol & I like it a lot. We eat dinner and then he plays more GT7. I fall asleep on the couch until 11. Then head to bed and fall asleep.

Money Diary #126

Morning: Up around 6:30, head to the bathroom, and forward an email to my boss. Fall back into bed until 8. Turn on Keeping up with the Kardashians, check email, and start working on the project from yesterday. Call my dad to see how many butters I'm getting at Albertsons since they are on sale, and he tells me to get one. Prep for my morning meeting with my boss and warm up some leftover chicken tenders. Connect with my boss who gives me good advice on next career steps, and I will follow up with her after she gets back from vacation the week after next. Read emails after my call with her, finish a project, and call it a day. 

Afternoon: Watch I Love Lucy & I Dream of Jeannie. Read for a while, and here is what I learn:

• Work and life: "I expect different things from my significant other and my career. Emotional and financial support do not have to, and in many ways should not, come from the same source."

• What a happy, fruitful life looks like: "I think a happy, fruitful life is a balanced life where people prioritize self-reliance and self-actualization, but also take time and make efforts to create meaningful relationships in their lives. Jobs come and go; relationships ebb and flow; at the end of our lives we all have to live with the choices that we made, that no one else has responsibility for. I have never believed in pouring 100% of myself, and what I have to give, into any one thing. My marriage, my relationship with my son, my friendships, my relationships with my parents and other relatives, my volunteer work, my faith, and my career are all important to me. I feel my life is a happy life because I have all those things, and I have all those things because I never emphasized one to the exclusion of all the rest."

• Truth: "Yeah, your career will replace you when you die, but so will your loved ones eventually. Life goes on for everyone else. The important thing is you do what fulfills you when you are alive!"

• Another truth: "Do not give yourself to careers or relationships that drain your buckets or don’t pay you back emotionally. Instead, pour yourself into work and people (including yourself) than fill up your buckets."

• On investing: "Invest in your career enough that you can financially support yourself. Invest in all your relationships enough that you have a full life."

• Bad vs good managers: "All of the bad leaders I’ve encountered were focused on the people above them rather than those they were supposed to be leading. As a leader, your job is to advocate for your team and to make sure they have the resources they need to do their jobs, then get out of their way. Let your staff present their own work to senior management. Don’t ever take credit for your staff’s work."

He wants to head to the gym, so I get dressed & he drops me off at the nearby mall. I do some steps since I haven't walked the past month or so, and I find a penny. I call my dad when I am in the Japanese store and he tells me he will call me later. I call my mom and she calls me back when I'm in the mall. She tells me to get noodles from the Japanese store if they are less than $2 each and 4 butters from Albertsons. I head back to the Japanese store where I grab two noodles ($3.50 - 1 penny found = $3.49). He comes back from the gym, and we head to the mall. He looks at clothes and shoes but doesn't get anything. Mom calls again and tells me to make sure to store the butter in the fridge (and not the freezer, lol -- I'm glad she told me that because I would've put it in the freezer). Walk to Bath & Body Works where I liberally spray myself with the Teakwood cologne, lol. Head to Costco next where he gets gas & then we load up on samples (Kodiak flapjacks -- twice, spinach dip & Ritz crackers -- twice, ice cream -- once, and potato salad with hot dogs -- twice, lol). I am stuffed and we grab mouthwash that is on sale, sweats for him that are on sale, and large aluminum containers for barbeque ($33.56). He grabs a pepperoni pizza for our dinner and also gets a mocha freeze for me. We share the drink as we wait for pizza, and once that is done, we head to Albertsons. 

Evening: We get Starbucks since I have a $2 grande deal at the in-store Starbucks. Since this store doesn't have the salted caramel cold brew that he wants, we get a pineapple coconut drink on a pre-paid card. I note that this Starbucks is one penny in tax cheaper since it's in a neighboring town. He spots a BOGO deal on sauces from our favorite burger place so we get jalapeno ranch & creamy pepper and 4 butters ($8.75). Head back home where I pass out on the couch and watch more KUWTK. He wants to head to his friend's boba store, so I get dressed. We stop by Walmart first since he needs to get washer fluid for the car, and I find a nickel ($4.19 - the nickel that I find = $4.14). We head to his friend's boba shop next, and the guys hang out while I read on the couch. Afterwards, as we're heading home, he asks if I want to go to Ross. Since it's past 10, I'm not super comfortable heading there tonight, so we plan to go tomorrow. As we're getting home, we see the garage is open because his mom is here to drop off beef noodle soup. He warms up the noodle soup & a slice of pizza for me for dinner. Brush my teeth, do the activated charcoal mouthwash, and bed around 12:30.

Groceries/Costco/Walmart = $49.94

Total = $49.94

Money Diary #125

Morning: Up at 6:45, see work emails, and migrate to the sofa. He showers & kisses me goodbye as he heads to work. He tells me that we might be headed over to his friend's place tonight. A couple of projects come in, so I start working on those. Prep for my meeting with my boss tomorrow. Watch Keeping up with the Kardashians and sign into my 10:30 call. During the middle of it, another call comes, which I later see is my dad asking that I call as soon as I can. Once my meeting ends, I call back & there are water issues at home, and he'll call back later. Sigh.

Afternoon: Head to my noon call that ends in half an hour and then jump on my 1 pm webcast with the entire department. My boss's boss makes announcements about the department and what is next. I call my dad afterwards who says the water issues are fixed thankfully and I walk him through what's happening at work. When he tells me how much it cost for the water issues, I try to remind myself that while the issues are not caused by us, peace of mind is priceless & money that should be spent should be spent. After I speak with him, I warm up a cheeseburger for lunch and wash it down with a glass of Sprite Zero. I read for a while, and here is what I learn:

• Small moments: "The bricks of any relationship, kid or adult, are the small moments that you build into a solid wall."

• Lean into moments of kindness: "It's about choosing to lean into moments of kindness when they arise."

• The spectrum: "Becoming famous is amazing. Being famous is a mixed bag. Losing fame is miserable."

Evening: SO comes home and we hang out for a bit. I get started on a project that came in and decide to finish it tomorrow. Get dressed and we head out to the local outlet mall. He gets shorts & shoes and then we head to IKEA for dinner. He is on a call, so I order two plates of chicken tenders with double fries, two drinks, and a slice of daim cake. Since it's Thursday, we get 50% off one of the entrees, so the total is $18.15. The cake is divine, and I tell him it'll become a permanent fixture in our IKEA meals. We head home, watch TV, and bed around 11.

Eating out = $18.15

Total = $18.15