Money Diary #108

Morning: Get up around 6, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Go shower, eat toast & have another cup of tea for breakfast, and sign into a webcast around 8. Head to a 9 am meeting after that that ends at 10. Jump on a call with my boss and another colleague which goes half an hour and then I speak with my boss one-on-one on a few questions. 

Afternoon: Jump on a 12:30 call that ends at 1, and eat lunch of rice & goat stew. Jot down some notes for my meeting with my boss tomorrow. Read for a while on how "lifestyle creep is real. Lots of high-earners living paycheck to paycheck on $1 million. When you literally spend every day hating your job, you need to spend a load of cash to keep yourself from rage-quitting. I bet this is the case. They spend money to distract; to get a high in between job-related lows. Over time, more money is needed to as the novelty of distraction wears off and tolerance increases. It's a vicious cycle." Have tea for an afternoon snack and watch TV.

Evening: Eat dinner of rice, fish stew, and goat stew. Brush my teeth and bed around 9:30.

Money Diary #107

Morning: Mom wakes me up around 6:30 since they want to go to the local floral nursery today before it gets too hot. Brush my teeth & drink a cup of tea. Eat toast & drink another cup of tea, get dressed, and head out. Get gas in my car since I'll be heading back to SO later this week, and then head to Albertsons to get free cauliflower pizza (one on my card & another on theirs), two pints of Blue Bell ice cream (vanilla), and bananas for SO, lol. Dad weighs the bananas to ensure they are almost 4 pounds since that is the max poundage that falls under the $0.29/lb deal, haha. Come home, put everything in the fridge/freezer since it's so hot out, and head to the nursery. We see our neighbors there as well, and walk around for a while. It's pretty nice but nothing catches my parents' eye this time around. Come home, immediately go shower, and then watch the Sunday morning cartoons (Flintstones & Jetsons). An I Love Lucy marathon starts, and I fall asleep for an hour. Use the air fryer to warm up cheese pizza and Mom adds veggies to that. Drink Fanta, do a coconut oil pull, and veg on the couch.  

Afternoon: Drink tea & split a slice of pizza with Mom for a snack. Manager emails with a job opportunity in another department, so I take a quick look and jot down notes to speak with her about it later this week. She also emails and wants to know if she's needed on a call tomorrow, so I tell her she can skip it & I'll follow up with her afterwards. Read a Money Diary that talks about how "premium brand businesses always seem to thrive. Luxury sells. Branding is everything. The biggest global brands are so successful because they’re recognizable. Simple, clean brands with coherence and continuity." 

Evening: Watch Munsters; eat dinner of rice, a cold summer dish that Mom makes on days it gets super hot, and fish stew; and do a coconut oil pull. Brush my teeth, and my mom tells me it's better to focus my efforts on staying here (over taking the expat position, lol). I read about how "there are certain actions -- such as saving, exercising, and spending time with loved ones -- that practically no one is going to regret." Bed around 10.

Money Diary #106

Morning: Hear Mom wanting to wake me up at 6 and apparently I fall back asleep. Dad comes at 7 to wake me up since we want to run errands before it gets really hot in the afternoon. Brush my teeth and make scrambled eggs for Dad & myself. Eat that with toast and drink a cup of tea. Shower, get dressed, and head to Sprouts. I spot a clearance keto chocolate cheesecake and get that. Next stop is Costco, where they go shopping in the store & I head to the food court to grab a cheese pizza. Costco opened earlier than their official 9:30 time, and the food court lady says they're not quite ready yet for cash-paying customers. No worries, I tell her, as I hang out and people watch. A pre-teen orders at the kiosk, and the lady tells her that the ice cream machine isn't working because whoever worked last night didn't properly fill it up. The lady wants to give a refund to the pre-teen, who asks if she can wait until her mom comes. The lady reassures her it's simply returning the pre-teen's mom's money, and that's all. After 15 minutes, the food court officially opens. The lady thanks me for my patience and takes my cheese pizza order. By this point, parents have walked around the store, grabbed with they needed, and are about to pay. Mom tells me they didn't find the Melona ice cream bars that are on sale, so after they pay, Dad & I do another walk around the freezer section. I don't see it either, so we head back to the food court area to hang out & wait. The pizza is ready in a few minutes, I ask for paper plates & red pepper flakes, and then we head back home. Once we get back, I pass out for a while on the sofa. 

Afternoon: Lunch is a couple of pizza slices & Fanta and then fall asleep again for an hour. Eat one of the keto cheesecakes and then work on my resume. Prep for a meeting with my boss's boss and also prep for a meeting with my boss. I'm also connecting with our interns next week again, so I jot down some notes for that call as well. Drink a tea-coffee homemade drink and watch the Belmont Stakes with Dad. 

Evening: Watch the Yankees game and then switch over to I Dream of Jeannie. Dinner is rice & air-fried salmon. Brush my teeth, do a coconut oil pull, and start looking at apartments in the international location. Bed around 11.

Money Diary #105

Morning: Up around 7, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Parents head out to get groceries, and I jump on my 8 am call. Parents get back a bit before 9, and once the first part of the call ends, we all have croissants & tea for breakfast. Jump on the second part of the call at 10. Head to an 11 am meeting with my boss who wants to immediately know how my call with the hiring manager went yesterday, lol. I tell her it's the perfect expat job for me in the perfect location but I don't know how I'll be able to handle it from a personal standpoint since SO and parents will be here. She encourages me to talk to her boss, so I email her after my call with my manager saying I'll work with her admin to get on her calendar. Boss's boss immediately emails me back and says I can schedule something directly with her. 

Afternoon: Lunch is rice & fish stew, and then Dad & I head to the appraiser's office to drop off the completed form. The lady from last week is there, remembers us, and takes the form. Head back home, and my dad asks me whether I really want this expat job. I tell him I'd like to go through the process since it would be a huge promotion for me, and let's see what happens. Boss's boss will call me on Monday afternoon to chat. Drink tea and eat some crackers as an afternoon snack.

Evening: Watch TV; dinner is rice & fish stew; and do a coconut oil pull. Bed at 9:30.

Money Diary #104

Morning: Up at 6, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Go shower & eat a croissant for breakfast with another cup of tea. A colleague emails to check whether I'll be at the 9 am meeting since she is trying to squeeze in a doctor's appointment. I tell her I'll be there and she's grateful I can cover. Head to the call which runs until 10:15. Prep for a quick call with my manager to run a few questions by her before I speak to the hiring manager. Head to the call with my manager, connect with her, and then stare at the wall for a while.

Afternoon: Head to my 1 pm call with the hiring manager. Learn more about the expat job (which would be 3 years long, oof) but in a city which I'm super interested in and the job itself would be a dream job. Lunch is the last of the leftover Thai fried rice. My mind wanders for the rest of the afternoon, and I work for a few hours. Take a tea break in the afternoon.  

Evening: Keep working until dinner at 8, which is rice & goat stew. Brush my teeth & do a coconut oil pull; work for 30 more minutes; and then pass out at 10.

Money Diary #103

Morning: Up around 6:30, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Get an urgent email from a colleague, review it & send to my boss for her review, and then she connects with another colleague. Once I have everyone's feedback, I reply and jump on a 8 am call. That ends within 30 minutes and I eat a croissant (& drink another cup of tea) for breakfast. Review a project before I head to a call to meet our interns at 10. They ask very thoughtful questions, and I did a similar internship during school which furthered my interest in where I ultimately ended up. They are interested in a specific area of work that I do, so I make note of their request and quickly message my boss to see if she's alright with me putting together a quick intro session to what I do. She is, and I schedule another meeting with the interns next week. 

Afternoon: Lunch is rice & fish stew, and then jump on a 1:30 call with a colleague. In the middle of that, I get an urgent meeting invite for 2, so I head to that meeting once the first one wraps up. In the second meeting, I'm asked for my feedback, and I joke I should've brought the interns to this call. Everyone laughs, and I'm done with meetings for the day. Review a project for a few hours and then drink a cup of tea. 

Evening: Review an interview I found online with the hiring manager from a few years ago, and jot down some thoughts/questions in order to prep for my call with him tomorrow. Dinner is rice & fish stew, do a coconut oil pull, and brush my teeth. Exhausted, I fall asleep around 9:15.

Money Diary #102

Morning: Up around 6, brush my teeth, and drink a cup of tea. Running errands today with parents, so I go shower & make scrambled eggs for everyone for breakfast. Drink another cup of tea and eat some toast. Head out around 8:15 to our local Chinatown. Around 8:45, boss texts me on our office messenger, and I tell her I'm in the car but happy to chat. She calls me with life-changing news for her. She has gotten a major promotion and will be moving this summer to lead a division in another office. I'm so happy for her but selfishly very sad for me. We make plans to chat later. Once in Chinatown, head to the grocery store for veggies, goat meat, and fish. Then head to the Japanese store next door to grab faux crocs for my dad, lol. The next stop is the bakery where I eat milk toast (yum) and parents get garlic bread. It's around this time that I realize starting next month, I'll have a different boss & don't know what the future looks like for my job. I start getting kind of anxious. We finish eating at the bakery and then hang out outside the Thai restaurant since it's a bit before their 11 am opening. Head inside a couple of minutes before 11 and order panang curry (mild) & 2 veggie fried rices (one medium & another medium-hot). Last stop is the local ethnic store where parents grab veggies and other things.

Afternoon: Back home around 1, eat panang curry & fried rice for lunch, and do a coconut oil pull. Head to a 3 pm meeting which runs until 4:30. Drink tea for a snack. Set up a meeting with a colleague tomorrow, and review a project that comes in during the late afternoon.

Evening: Watch TV, dinner is the leftover Thai food, and brush my teeth. Do a coconut oil pull, feel exhausted from the news this morning, and bed around 9:30.