Best Toys for Toddlers - Kmart

Just warning you, I'm not concise, it's a novella.
Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: $205K, 90% of which is my 401K with a mix of standard and Roth funds, the other 10% is a Roth IRA. I didn’t contribute to my 401K until I hit 30, but for the last three years I’ve been able to max out my contributions. My employer also does a 10% contribution each year. Husband has $40K in his IRA, he also did not save much till he turned 30 and but we’ve maxed out his contribution for the last three years.
Joint Equity: just over $100K, bought our house 5 years ago with a 5% down, FHA loan. We’d saved for a couple years to have $15K down payment, sold my husband’s car and minimized all our expenses to save aggressively once we hit 30. Bought our fixer upper house for $285K. With all our remodeling, we forced appreciation and refi’d a year later to drop PMI. Refi’d again this summer to pay off a HELOC and get a 2.75% interest rate.
Joint Savings account balance: $51K
Joint checking account balance: $3K
Personal checking & savings accounts: $2K
Husband’s (H) personal checking & savings: $3K
HSA: $6K
529: $2K
Mortgage: $328K
Car loans: $57K, Kelly Blue Book value of both is $75K
Student loan debt: $34K for business management undergrad degree.
Home Reno loan: $9K
Peloton: $1800
Credit card debt: 0
Net Worth: Roughly $330K
Section Two: $120K base salary with annual $18K bonus, spouse’s salary & bonus is$ 40K, rental income (rent out finished basement unit to a friend) $9K, totaling $187K
Income Progression: I've been working in my field for 10 years, my starting salary was $14/hour which was about $28K. I’ve stayed with the same company and have leveled up four times to my current role. For the first seven years I was paid under market but didn’t know this and when I realized it, didn’t have the confidence to negotiate. After working on my confidence and researching how to effectively ask for a raise, finally asked for an equity adjustment three years ago and since then have received four pay increases.
Main Job Monthly Take Home:
Gross salary is $10K month and net $6K after deductions listed below, annual bonus is paid mid-year and net is $7500 after 401K contribution and taxes.
Deductions:
Taxes: $2K
401K: $1100
Medical & dental: $200
HSA: $75
Dependent care FSA: $416
Life, accident, cancer & disability insurance premiums: $40
Nonprofit contributions: $150, this gets matched by my employer so I always contribute through my paycheck. I mostly support a local mental health nonprofit and have smaller amounts going to the Oregon Food Bank and Oregon Humane Society.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home
$100 net for rental income after expenses (1/3 of utilities & mortgage, taxes-our costs for these expenses below reflect this adjustment). We will have to raise the rent (haven’t done so in three years) soon as the IRS requires that the rent charged must be within market parameters but it doesn’t feel right with COVID as our tenant (and friend) was impacted for some months.
We also sell items online that we no longer use/need. Have generated an average $200/month the last four months of doing this. Didn’t include this in income as it’s very irregular and we’re going to run out of stuff we’re willing to part with soon.
Any Other Monthly Income Here
My spouse and I have both joint and separate accounts. His take home is $2500 after taxes, he doesn’t pay for health insurance as his employer covers 100% of premium, and he doesn’t have access to a 401K. His contribution is $1K/month to our joint checking and the rest goes to his own checking and personal savings. While I pay more into our joint accounts, $3500/month, we take turns buying groceries/dining out/other household items.
Section Three: Expenses
Mortgage, Taxes & Insurance: $1183 (this is adjusted as a 1/3 of our cost is offset by rental income).
Currently aggressively paying off student loans at $750/month, with $34K left. Husband paid off his loans last year with an inheritance. Haven’t been serious about paying off until this year.
My car: $689, I bought a new SUV last year, put 20% down. The monthly payment hurts but I also LOVE my vehicle-plenty of space for toddler, pups and us. Interest rate is 3% so this is low on our priorities list to pay off early.
His car: monthly payments are $525 and is a 1% rate so we have no plans to pay off early. This is paid from my husband’s own account and not our joint account, as are my student and car loans.
Home Reno loan: $265, this is a 0% loan, so no plans to pay off early.
Peloton: $66, this also is a 0% loan, so again, no plans to pay off early. And yes, I am one of the many that bought one due to COVID, no regrets.
No credit card debt, we pay in full each month.
Utilities-water, electrical, trash, gas and internet: averages $300/month after annualizing. This also is adjusted due to 1/3 being offset by rental income.
Cellphone: $85-this one bill is paid directly by husband from his personal checking. We switched carriers last year and just haven’t updated the payment account.
Monthly Subscriptions: $116 for book subscription for my kid and my niece ,Peloton App, Netflix, Disney+, Apple Music, Apple data storage.
Daycare: $1150, partially paid via DCFSA, the rest out of pocket.
Savings contribution: $500 to HYSA, $100 to 529 which also gets random deposits.
Retirement contribution: $6-10K/year deposited annually before cut off dates to IRAs.
Pet expenses: About $1k annually for vet visits and meds. Food and misc items are accounted for in weekly spending.
Credit card fees: $600 paid throughout the year.
Car insurance: $1800/year but paid biannually (H has tickets and an accident in the last three years-grr)
Annual subscriptions: Prime $129, YNAB $84, PlayStation Plus $70, Calm app $60
MD Questions
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it? No, I was the first in my extended family to attend college. My mother never finished high school (no GED either) and my step dad finished high school in the middle east. I moved away from my mom’s household when I was 14 to live with my grandma and while she supported me wanting to go to college, she had the mindset that I would take care of myself by finding myself a husband, as she and my mother had. I was a ward of the state at that point and received lots of grants but also needed student loans to pay for five years (I struggled my first two years as I was depressed) and took out over 45K in loans for those years.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances? No, it wasn’t discussed due to the cultural background of my stepdad. My mom didn’t have a job as my stepdad comes from a culture where women stay home. They struggled sometimes-for years I didn’t have glasses because they couldn’t afford to get them for me. But I never went hungry and while we shopped at Salvation army, it was my norm so I didn’t realize we were considered poor till pretty much middle school.
What was your first job and why did you get it? I babysat for neighbors-on top of watching my own siblings-when I was 14. When I moved to live with my grandma, my uncles-who were general contractors-would hire me and my cousins to do grunt work and so I’d make $5/hour randomly during the summer until I hit 16, and my first job that summer was working at a cannery for minimum wage which I think was $6/hr. I still cannot eat canned/frozen green beans. I got that job so I could buy myself a car, which I did by end the of the summer. Then I got a different job-pizza parlor-to pay for the gas and insurance and worked after school and on weekends.
Did you worry about money growing up? Not really. My grandma lived off social security and some assistance from the state for taking me in, so I knew money would always be tight but she was thrifty and made it work. We always had food and I had clothes-new ones from Kmart-so I felt secure. I didn’t start to actually worry about money until I was accepted into college and then I had to figure out how to pay for it.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net? When I moved away for college at 18. I never thought about moving back in with my grandma though I probably knew I could, but I saw it as a failure because so much of my extended family thought I was stuck up and “getting above myself” for going to college. We have a large savings now due to an inheritance and that is our safety net. I should probably pay off more of our debt but having the large savings makes me feel more secure and it’s worth the interest we pay to feel that security.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain. Our rental income is mostly passive. My husband received $90K in an inheritance and used a 1/3 to pay off his student loans, the rest when to savings and some purchases such as the down payment for my vehicle.
Day one
6:35 Wake up to the sounds of my toddler (T) talking to himself in his crib. I’ve slept in and he’s awake early, at least it’s Saturday. Sluggishly get out of bed and go in to get him up. He greets me with some happy babbling and a hug. Change his diaper and he signs he’s hungry so I we head to the kitchen for breakfast. I warm up some frozen aebleskivers for him (make a big batch once a month and freeze for weekend breakfasts) and add a banana to his plate and a cup of milk. For myself, I make a cup of coffee via pour over and add some chocolate protein powder, use a milk frother and drink my protein mocha. I let out our pups and put together their breakfast of meat and veggies. We raw feed our pups a mixture of different animals-primarily beef, chicken and turkey-and add veggies & organs.
8:00 Husband is awake, so I finally have a chance to shower and do my am routine of Cerave face wash, epicuren protein toner, Hanskin hyaluron essence, PerriconeMD vitamin C serum, and philosophy’s renewed hope in a jar moisturizer, wait a couple minutes and add some Aveeno facial sunblock. I head out for a quick walk by myself, usually I take T with, but it’s 45 degrees and misty this morning. I listen to Corinne Crabtree’s podcast as I walk and wonder about how I’m going to get my step goal (14K) in with the crap weather.
9:30 My best friend has shown up with her toddler and we head out for a coffee (drive thru only, with mask on) on our way to the farmers market. I get a cafe au lait and it’s on the house due to points. $2 tip. My best friend, brother and sister are part of our COVID pod and we see each other about once a week in person.
10 Pay to park downtown ($2), bundle up the kids in a wagon with blankets and head into the park blocks for some food and produce. T and I share a pork and chive pancake ($12 for two with tip) while in the middle of some grass to ensure we're adequately distanced from people. Afterwards, I go a bit nuts and buy four different types of squash ($9). Since my husband doesn’t like squash, it’ll take a while for T and I to eat-but it will be delicious and I'm already anticipating the roasted yumminess. We walk around some more and feed the kids snacks (crackers, oranges, peaches) as we catch up and chat.
11:30 Head out to the west side suburbs for some apple cider donuts (have been craving one for three weeks!) and spend a bit of time sitting outside with the kids as it warms up. I've never been to this place, and it's much busier than I expected so we people watch and eat our donuts. I buy some frozen sweet and savory pies for the freezer as well as a wooden farm puzzle for T in the store that also sells the donuts as we leave. I'll have to find a toy at home to post for free as I have a strict one in/one out policy with toys. $71
1:45 Back home and T is down for a nap that doesn’t actually happen. I semi listen to him talk to himself in his crib for an hour while I chat with my husband about the day.
3 T is up so we have a very late lunch. I warm up some butternut squash ravioli and marinara for him and I have the other pork and chive pancake from the farmers market.
4:15 My brother arrives for game night with husband and our friend/tenant. I pop open a canned cocktail of coffee and rum and put on the Hamilton soundtrack while I do some online shopping. Dance around with T (trying to get in my steps) and pick out 4 long sleeve tops and sweaters and request curbside pickup for tomorrow. I'm slowly rebuilding my wardrobe as my body has changed so much. Two years ago I was pregnant, last year I was nursing and this year I'm down a couple sizes and have literally five cool weather shirts/sweaters. Hoping this purchase will net me at least two items to keep, so I try not to feel bad about the cost when I know I'll likely return half the items. $136
6:30 Bake the chicken pot pie for everyone to eat. It’s so comforting-just what I wanted on a dreary day. I try to get T to eat some, but after 4 bites he just spits it out and laughs. I give him some leftover snacks from earlier along with milk and a fruit & veggie pouch. H feeds the pups and the guys head back down for more game night.
7:20 Put T down for bed after four books and he’s asleep within minutes, thank goodness. I tidy up from dinner, start some laundry and put away the load that got washed while I was out.
8:30 Sit down with a coconut seltzer water, check my social media, personal email and then journal a bit.
10 Realize it’s later than I typically stay up so I take my melatonin, drink water and do my pm routine after brushing my teeth: cerave face wash, toner, essence, Kiehls midnight eye cream, Origins nitamins oil, cerave pm moisturizer. Head to bed and read till I pass out.
Daily Total: $232
Day Two
5:45-A bit early but I know I won’t get back to sleep so I get up and start my coffee and mix in the protein powder. Since it’s Sunday, I meal plan for the week and update my grocery list. We cook 3-4 meals/week and we eat leftovers the other days and supplement with delivery/take out for one night a week. I buy meat and most bulk items from Costco about once every 5-6 weeks (average $200 for those runs) so for this week, only need things we’ve run out of and fruit/veggies and milk.
6:35-T is already awake, so I warm up his aebleskivers and then go in to get him up. He’s quite cheerful for another early morning but get’s cranky as soon as I set him down to eat, so I break out his tablet and let him watch some toddler shows on YT Kids. H wakes up and helps with the pups, while I get started on weekly cleaning. Luckily T loves to “help”, so he’s back to his cheerful self once I give him a rag and mini spray bottle of water to “clean”-which he promptly sprays everything with. With the three of us cleaning, only takes about an hour to get all the common areas dusted and tidied up.
9 Get my morning skincare routine in after a shower, same as the day before. Make an egg and bacon scramble and share with T. I then head out to get grocery shopping in. Start with Whole Foods and get bananas, pomegranates, salad, onion, yogurt, deli ham, eggs and milk for $35. Head over to Trader Joes and look for butternut squash mac and cheese but they are out for the season!!! ARGH. Pick up some soppressata, crackers, PB&J bars, chocolate covered frozen bananas, three different types of tea, butter and some brookies for $45. I’ve spent enough time waiting in lines, I can pick up the clothes I bought yesterday. Pull up to the store and open my trunk and they deliver my clothes.
12:30 T is asleep when I get home so I put away groceries and make myself a meat and cheese plate with some leftover balsamic brussels sprouts from earlier in the week. Really feeling the lack of caffeine so I lay down for 20 minutes, and then remember I have clothes to try on, so I get up. Alas, only two items fit well enough (and are soft and warm enough) to keep. One is a black heather tunic with a cowled neck and uber soft, I also decide to keep a flannel plaid shirt in pink.
2 H wants pizza, but only a slice, and so we decide to go out to eat and pickup some books from Powells. Bundle us all up-still only 46 out!-and head out. Make sure to grab the foot muff for the stroller. We park in the NW part of the city, $3 for parking, and head into a small but empty restaurant. I get a slice of cheese to share with T and a lime seltzer, H has an everything slice with a beer, $20 with tip and H pays. It’s sunny so we walk around for while after checking out the changes wrought over the last six months as we haven’t been back to this part of the city yet. Wait in line to get into the bookstore and it wraps around the building because it’s well spaced out and only 50 people are allowed in the store at a time. When we get inside, it’s a reprieve from the biting wind, and very hard not to touch all the books I’m interested in-but I resist (honestly, H has to keep reminding me). Pick one up for T, two for H, two for me, and a cookbook for my MIL as it’s her birthday next month. Comes out to $71 and H pays; all of the books except the gift are used which is awesome.
4:30 Back home and we settle in for some downtime. T plays with his new farm puzzle (I have to take a picture cause I’ll never remember how it goes back together) and I sanitize a toy wagon that he’s no longer interested in to post for free on FB with a porch pickup. We read some of our new books, drink some tea, and eat some brookies.
6:30 Time for leftover chicken pot pie. T actually eats some this time and drinks a whole lot of milk. Pups get fed and spend minimal time outside in their dog run due to the cold.
7:30 H does bedtime routine with T and puts him down for bed. I get a load of diaper laundry started, look at the load of clothes to fold and tell myself I’ll do it in the morning. I prep T’s snacks and lunch for the next day: yogurt for am snack, chicken and veggie pasta for lunch, and a mix of oranges, hummus & crackers for his pm snack. I prep overnight oats for the week and throw in some chia seeds, PBFit, a little cinnamon and brown sugar.
9: Journal a bit, take my melatonin and do my pm routine with a RoC retinol serum instead of the nitamins oil.
Daily Total: $174
Day Three
5:55 Wake up before my alarm goes off and I’m slightly irritated that I miss out on the last 15 minutes of sleep I could have had. I get up and start my protein coffee, put away the dishes from yesterday and then settle in to review my work calendar for the week. I usually take 15-20 minutes before T is up to figure out work schedule and see if I have any urgent emails.
6:40 T is awake so I get him up, take his temp to make sure he doesn’t have a fever (daycare protocol) change and dress him, and then warm up some overnight oats and feed him. H wakes up, and since it’s a day he has to go into his office-happens 1-2/week-he quickly feeds the pups and then packs up and head’s out.
8 Pack up T and take him into daycare. His daycare is operating under an emergency order and is able to have up to 10 kids per class (since T is a toddler, there’s less kids in his class with two teachers) but with strict rules in place. He gets his temp taken again before entering the class and I’m so damn grateful that we have the option to use daycare during COVID. Back at home, I make another cup of regular coffee, light a candle, turn on my heating pad and get to work-which is meetings, emails, reviewing financial disclosures and filings. I setup an office in an extra bedroom over the summer and keep myself closeted in there while H typically works from our dining table when he’s not in the office.
9:30 Have a break before my next call, so I warm up some overnight oats for myself and put away the laundry from last night.
11:30 Have an industry update webinar to attend, so I head out with headphones to call into the meeting and walk with a pup for 45 minutes. Back home I warm up a bit of chicken pot pie and eat it and some cucumbers with hummus.
1:30 Pack up my gear and some yogurt for a snack and also head into my office as I have some documents to get notarized. I can’t believe how many states still require wet signatures and notarized documents when they have secure online platforms to submit documents. This is the fifth or sixth time I’ve had to go in since COVID broke out so it’s not that onerous except I’m not used to it anymore. At least parking is plenty and free.
3:30 Waiting on the notary so I take a quick walk and pickup a couple gift cards from Starbucks for some of my team members. They’ll also be coming into the office next week so I leave it on their desk with a thank you note for all their hard work lately (after googling how long coronavirus can survive on paper & plastic-up to five days is what I found). $30
5:30 Get home and snuggle with T for a bit (H picked him up on his way home at 4) before getting to work on dinner. I had pulled out some frozen ground turkey last night, so I make stuffed bell peppers with the turkey, quinoa, onions and diced tomatoes. Add lots of garlic and some ginger to make it tasty as H isn’t fond of quinoa but he says likes it this time. T also eats it and we’ve got so much leftover I may have to freeze some.
7:00 It’s my turn for bedtime routine, so T gets his bath and then we read five books before he settles in to sleep. I take my shower and spend extra time actually washing my hair and doing a hair mask. Do my PM face routine and watch a movie with H while also journaling. Finally remember to prep snacks and lunch for T.
9:30 PM face routine, into bed I go and read until I pass out.
Daily Total: $30
Day Four
12:30 Wake up to T crying, which is not normal. Wait a couple minutes to see if he works it out and then go in and sooth him back to sleep. As much as I hate the disruption to my sleep, I love holding him while he sleeps and know this time is fleeting.
610 Alarm wakes me up and I feel refreshed somehow, so I pop out of bed, make my protein coffee and prep breakfast for T (oats, banana and milk again). Grab the laundry from the day before and get it folded before T wakes up. Do the usual temp routine and get him changed for the day. While he eats, I get my schedule sorted out and reply to a couple emails. H wakes up after 7 and feeds pups.
8 Drop off T at daycare and back at home with more coffee, my vanilla pumpkin candle lit, heating pad on and into my first calls of the day by 8:30.
10 Call into my next meeting from my phone, throw on my Beats, grab a pup and take a walk for 45 minutes. Once I get home, I eat some overnight oats and have some white pomegranate tea.
12:30 Eat some leftover bell pepper stuffing and then brush my teeth as I’ve a dentist appt in a couple hours.
3:30 Pay $15 for my office visit; for small dollar amounts like these, I do not pay from my HSA so this is out of pocket. The visit was a bit surreal but reassuring to see that the office is maintaining strict COVID practices. Head home and realize I need gas, stop by Costco and run my own cards before the attendant fills the tank, $45.
5:30 H picked up T and plays with him while I finish up some work. We eat leftovers that are in the fridge, so there’s the last bit of chicken pot pie, some roasted sweet potatoes and stuffed bell peppers.
7:30 It’s H’s turn to put T down so I say goodnight to him and head out for a walk by myself. Hit just over 13K steps before I call it good and head home for some tea, journaling and downtime with H.
9:30 My back begins to spasm up by my shoulder blades, this random pain started a couple months ago and comes and goes. I’ve started seeing a chiropractor for this but not sure it’s helping, thinking I’ll need to see a physical therapist soon. For now, I have H rub in some CBD camphor cream and take a CBD gummy to help me sleep.
Daily Total: $60
Day Five
5 I am awake and know that if I try to get back to sleep, it won’t happen until I actually need to get out of bed. Make my protein coffee and journal for a bit. I spend extra time working through thoughts I have around the holidays. Our house is typically the center of family & friend gatherings and I’ve been trying to figure out how I want to approach this year with a large gathering not an option. Prep T’s snacks and lunch for the day (yogurt, mandarins, butternut ravioli, peaches, graham crackers and some peanut butter pretzels, milk), prep his breakfast-last morning of oats & banana- and then go through my work calendar and emails till he wakes up. H wakes up sometime after 7 and feeds the dogs and helps with T so I can change and do my am routines.
8:15 Back home from drop off, have all the things in place and am able to get into my work.
10 Have a break in meetings, so I jump on the peloton and do an easy 20 scenic ride while I work through emails on my phone. After, I have some herbal tea and get back to my desk.
12:30 I get super irritated at a peer in another department and have to walk away from my laptop. Realize I haven’t had food so I eat more stuffed bell pepper, sans the bell pepper, which just means lots of quinoa and ground turkey. Really have to cut back how much I make of this recipe in the future.
4 Call it a day so I can be the one to pick up T. We head over to have a play date with best friend and her toddler. It’s so nice out that we manage to go on a walk around their neighborhood.
6:30 Arrive home to some yummy chimichurri steak, a salad and roasted delicata squash waiting for us. While H won’t eat squash, he’ll cook it for me if I send him the recipe. I cut up some steak into tiny pieces and give it to T and he seems to enjoy it. Give him some squash and it pretty much gets thrown to the floor for the pups to eat.
7:45 Bath and bedtime routine. Since it’s daylight savings this weekend, I’m starting to push T’s bedtime back 10-15 minutes at a time; by the time I put him in bed he’s pretty much asleep and I’m mentally drained. Decide I need a walk to sort myself out, so I head out with a pup listen to Women of Impact. Barely manage 10K steps but I’m ok with it. H has his weekly DND game night that’s virtual so he takes over the office and I don’t see him again for the night.
8:30 Settle in with sleepy time tea and a three TJ’s dark peanut butter cups. Get caught up on my transactions in YNAB, see that the Peloton loan charges came through and make sure all our expenses are accounted for through the end of the month. Take a shower, do my routine-realize I forgot to do this last night-take my melatonin and listen to a Calm app sleep story till I pass out.
Daily Total: $0
Day Six
2 Wake up and wonder why. I have struggled with insomnia and have instituted many habits to reduce it. Practice my go the fuck to sleep meditation and think I fall back asleep sometime after 3.
5:45 I wake up to sounds of T talking to himself and I wonder why me? I lay in bed and contemplate how I want to tackle his early morning waking and decide to leave him in his crib till he starts to complain. I get up and make coffee & protein, prep T’s milk, bananas, mandarins and cheerios, and then do work emails till I hear T begin to get cranky.
7:15 H is headed into his office, so I juggle getting T ready and getting pups fed and back into the house after they have time in their run. Not feeling my day so far.
11 Listening into some status updates for my area so I put away the diapers H washed last night, unload the dishwasher and change our bedding. It’s times like these that I feel especially grateful to work from home as it frees up our evenings to spend more quality time as a family. Being able to do these chores also settle my dissatisfaction with my day so far.
12 Eat some leftover steak & squash and a blackberry seltzer. Go for a quick walk by myself and listen to podcasts.
3 Call into a meeting on my phone while I do another peloton scenic ride. I haven’t really found an instructor that I love, so I’ve been making my way through all the place based rides which are pretty cool.
4 H picks up T and I continue to work till about 5:30. We head outside to the backyard to enjoy the last bit of sunshine. H cleans up the dog run (which is a big task as it’s about 700 sq ft) while I endeavor to keep T from throwing rocks. We snack on pomegranate seeds.
6 Cut up the last bit of steak and make fajitas with black beans, bell peppers and onions. Apparently beans are a hit with T and minimal amount of food gets donated to the pups via the floor. They get their meal after we eat and spend time in their run.
7 Realize we’re out of milk, so I run out to the closes grocery for milk and pick up some bananas, $5. Since I ran out to my car without a jacket, I get an overwhelming urge to have a warm drink, I stop and get a hot cocoa with some Irish cream flavor in it on the way home. $5 with tip.
8 T is down for bed, so we put on a movie in the background (a not so awful Nicholas Cage flick) while I journal, write up my MD, and H plays games on his phone.
9:30 Melatonin, pm face routine with retinol, and in bed. I try to make it through another chapter of Omnivore’s Dilemma but can’t recall where I fell asleep at.
Daily total $10
Day Seven
5:50 It’s the end of the week and I wake up excited for the weekend and get started with my protein coffee and prep T’s snacks and lunch (yogurt, PB&J sandwich cut into tiny pieces-and yes, I eat some, apple chips, cheddar bunnies and belvita pumpkin crackers, milk). When T does wake up, I give him some banana, pomegranate seeds, and a nature’s bakery bar. H wakes up and helps with T while I feed the pups and then get ready (ie am face routine and changing from pjs to my new tunic and some leggings).
8 Call into my first meeting while I drop off T at daycare. When I get home I keep the call on my phone while I eat some pumpkin yogurt and another cup of regular coffee in my kitchen. H has a late start to work today so he head’s out for dog food run, $189 for 130 pounds of raw meaty bones and organs and $18 for veggies. We keep an extra large freezer for all the dog food, which allows us to buy in bulk and minimize the raw feed costs.
12:30 Eat some roasted butternut squash-with butter, nutmeg and cinnamon with a side of soppressata and cheddar. H runs to the local hardware store to pick up some items to make a six foot candy shoot for trick or treaters. I tell him to make sure to buy disposable gloves for handling the candy. Really don’t know if we’ll get kids but if we do, H wants to have it for them. $25
1 Have some project calls to listen into, so I take the calls from my phone while running some errands. Pickup my refilled prescription for eczema, $1, return the tops that didn’t work out, -$49, and also return some toddler clothes to Target I purchased earlier in the month, -$25. Since I’m in and out of three different stores, I use disposable masks.
5 Finish up the last of my updates for a project and call it a day. It’s cold out but sunny, so we decide to go for a drive to a different neighborhood and walk around. Order a pizza from H’s fave place-1/2 everything for H, ½ BBQ chicken for me-and drink some wine in an outdoor covered patio while we wait to take the pizza home. I ply T with snacks (TJs pumpkin bar and a mandarin). H pays for the pizza, $35 with tip, and I pay for the wine and a bottle to go, $47 with tip.
7 Back home and we can finally eat. Still feeling a bit tipsy from my glass so hold off opening the bottle so I add it to the wine fridge. I don’t drink as much as I used to and I have got to stop buying wine like I drink it everyday.
8 Bath and bedtime for T. He’s so tired he falls asleep as I read the last book. It’s my night to choose a movie so I pick Hocus Pocus (third time watching it this month!), and H checks out on his phone but I pull out the froze chocolate banana slices and text my sisters as I watch the movie.
10 Stayed up late for me on a Friday night. Part of me smh at myself but a larger part of me is glad I get so much sleep. Melatonin, PM face routine and snuggle into my bed. Goodnight!
Daily Total: $241
Week Recap: $747
Food + Drink $246
Fun / Entertainment $34
Home + Health: $263
Clothes + Beauty: $62
Transport: $50
Other: $92
This was one of the most out and about weeks we’ve had since COVID started so the total dollar amount was a bit higher than average. I’m struggling now as I read through this about how much I went out among other people even though I wear a mask, sanitize my hands and do my best to not touch surfaces. With cases re-surging in Oregon, I really need to limit myself going out. On the other hand, it felt so great to have a busy week and be among others so not sure how I’m going to reconcile this.