Section 0: Background
Hi everyone! I’m trying to tailor this a bit more to reflect the UK Money Diary style where I give context on the week before and reflect on it after. I also added in some of the questions from the recent thread about what Refinery29 should ask diarists (see here).
I wrote this the week of Thanksgiving; my partner and I stayed in NYC instead of going home to either of our parents’ homes. We wear masks and stay socially distant when we leave the house. I’m thankful that we live close to a park and live on a block where we know and enjoy talking to our neighbors.
This was a relatively normal week for us during a pandemic, save for me spending a bit more than normal and it being Thanksgiving. We’ve both lived in the city since college and have so-so relationships with our families, so we didn’t leave for “home” when the pandemic hit.
I also just named my boyfriend instead of giving him an initial. He’s the only person I actually saw this week, but the initials always throw me off when I read these.
What do money and success mean to you? What are your end goals?
It helps me to see money as a tool. I never resonate with people who say “money doesn’t buy happiness” because to a certain degree, it does. Money enables me to live the life I want.
I’m pursuing FIRE (financial independence, retire early) and hope to be financially independent (able to live off my investments) by my early 30s. To do so, I save 60%+ of my income per month. I want this because working for 40 years isn’t sustainable for me—I have a very cushy tech job and still get anxiety and rage about waking up every morning to work, the rat race, and being paid inequitably to male peers. I’d like to give myself the option to leave this world as soon as possible.
As an alternative, I could see myself successful if I open a product consultancy, where I advise early-stage startups on product management, what to build for their MVP, and product-market fit. I’m really interested in tech ethics and the questionable practices in venture capital, so I’d love to be in a place where I could be picky about what clients I take and help truly mission-driven businesses thrive. I could see this also working as a small business incubator—why not apply what works in startups to small businesses?
I don’t yet have a firm picture of what I’d like my life to look like when I retire. I’m interested in spending a lot of time reading, traveling to new places for extended periods of time, and potentially writing a book. I get extremely interested in niche topics. Right now if I had to guess, I’d be writing a book about the ways multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) manipulate women.
Are you a spender or a saver?
Definitely a saver. My partner is more of a spender, and we’ve influenced each other well. Seeing him spend money on himself for video games helps me realize I can spend more money on myself for things I just want (see my big purchase for myself this week).
In turn, seeing me save a lot of money has motivated him to up his 401k contribution and overall savings. He’s also interested in FIRE, although I’d say my timeline is more aggressive.
If you could go back in time, what's the one piece of financial advice you would give to your past self?
Learn about investing, look up the terms you don’t know, and start doing it as soon as possible. Ask questions to people you know or on the internet.
On to the diary!
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Section One: Assets and Debt
Investment Balance
$131,175

• Retirement (includes 2 company 401ks and 1 rollover IRA): $55,730
• Brokerage: $27,233
• Roth IRA: $25,439
• Managed account: $17,923
• HSA: $4,850

Equity if you're a homeowner
N/A, I rent in a HCOL city. No plans to own anytime soon
Savings account balance
$10,270
Checking account balance
$3,433 in checking account for bills

• This fluctuates, but I try to invest anything over $2k. I’m pretty conservative with my checking account buffer, and don’t worry much about the interest I’m “losing,” especially because interest rates are so low right now

$2,518 in checking account for rent

• I keep a holdover account that’s connected to Venmo and Zelle to pay rent

Credit card debt
N/A. There’s $1,348 currently on my credit cards, but I pay them all off in full each month. My parents signed me up for a credit card as soon as I was old enough and taught me about how important it was to pay in full. In fact, I think this was so hammered into my brain that doing anything other than that each month was never an option. Because of this, I’ve always thought of credit cards as similar to debit cards—only spend money you have.
Student loan debt (for what degree)
I was fortunate to go to college on a full scholarship, including living expenses. I studied psychology and sociology, and I graduated without any student loan debt.
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Section Two: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $6,570/month
I maxed out my 401k early this year, so for 8 months I was contributing $2,500/month out of my paychecks. That ended in September, so it changed my monthly take-home from about $4,650 to $6,570/month.
Deductions:

• 401k: $0/month (was $2,500/month)
• Medical: $128/month
• Dental and vision: $11/month

Income Progression

• I started in customer support right out of college, making $40,000/year + overtime, which ended up being about $52,000/year (thanks OT!).
• About a year later, I moved into an entry-level product role at the same company and received a raise to $60,000/year.
• The next year, I moved to a new company for a half-step promotion where I was making $82,000/year + 15% yearly bonus. The bonus was dependable enough that it was assumed as part of our total compensation, so let’s call it $95,000/year.
• Early this year, I switched companies again (noticing a theme?) for a promotion and now make $122,000/year.

I don’t have any other sources of income outside my main job. My partner makes a similar amount to me—about $117,000/year with bonus.
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Section Three: Expenses
I live with my partner and we don’t have combined finances, but split many expenses 50/50. We use Splitwise to log transactions. He’s more laid-back about being paid back, but I’m much more “I don’t want to owe anyone anything, and I don’t want anyone to owe me anything” (I know, rigid, but I’m working on it!).
Splitwise is nice because it’d be ridiculous to Venmo request each other for a $4 coffee, but we can see how expenses are adding up. If someone has racked up a few hundred dollars of spending for both of us, the other person will cover our expenses for awhile. It works for us!
Rent
$2,200 for a 2 bed, 1 bath apartment in Brooklyn. We split rent 50/50.
Renters insurance
About $7/month for my portion. This covers all our possessions plus my boyfriend’s watches. He pays 75% of it because half of the monthly cost comes from the extra watch overage.
Savings contribution
I try to have about $10,000 sitting in my savings account at any given time, because it makes me feel safe in case of an emergency. I also like the freedom it enables, in case I wanted to leave my job and take a significant amount of time off. This is already at the $10k I want, so I don’t contribute to it monthly.
Investment contribution
It varies but on average I contribute $2,500/month to my brokerage account and Roth IRA (combined).
Donations
I try to donate about $200/month, but it’s pretty sporadic. This month I donated to the Yellowhammer Fund and Northwest Abortion Access Fund. One of my major goals for 2021 is to step up my donations and create an actual strategy around them, potentially involving a donor-advised fund.
Gas/electric
Our gas is $20-25/month and electric is $50/month. I pay gas and Will pays electric, both go in Splitwise. About $37/month total for me.
Wifi
Our wifi is $60/month, which goes into Splitwise—I pay $30/month.
Cellphone
I’m still on my parents’ phone plan—sheesh! This is convincing me that I should Venmo them for it each month.
Subscriptions
I pay for Hulu with ads, $5.99/month. My boyfriend pays for Netflix and we share a Spotify family plan with a couple of his friends, which I chip in $4/month for.
I also pay for the budgeting software YNAB (You Need a Budget) which is $84/year. I only pay it once a year in September.
Medical
I recently had to go to the emergency room for an overnight stay and follow up with some specialists. (I’m okay!) Because of that whole shindig I’m expecting to max out my deductible (and potentially my out-of-pocket-max) right at the end of the year. This will be about $4,000, but none of the claims have come through yet so I’m not sure of the exact total. I have a category in my budget for my deductible, and the rest will come out of my emergency fund.
Physical therapy
This month I’m starting pelvic floor physical therapy for dyspareunia (pain with intercourse).
I’d tried everything the internet suggested (“just relaaaaaax”) before getting the courage to find a new ob-gyn and ask her about it. She had some recommendations, but ultimately physical therapy was the “last resort” option that I’m now exploring.
My new physical therapist comes highly recommended but is out of network with insurance. Each session is $250, and I’ll go once every 2-3 weeks for the next few months as part of treatment. If you’ve worked through this problem (or are experiencing it now!) I’d love to hear your experience.
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Section Four: Additional 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?
Absolutely. My dad was the first in his family to attend college and my parents made pretty calculated decisions about where they would live so I could go to the absolute best public school possible. Over 90% of students at my high school attend a 4-year college, and we start talking about it freshman year. To say college was encouraged in my environment is an understatement.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My dad has worked in finance since I was about 10. He’s always been really knowledgeable about both higher-level economic concepts and the minutiae of personal finance. My family is frugal, too: we clipped coupons and got clothes on super-sale at Kohl’s and Goodwill. I know there was a period of time when he became self-employed and money got very tight for a few years, but the bulk of those worries were largely kept from me.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Yes. While we were comfortable, we lived in such an affluent place that our family was in “the middle class” of the town and it made me worry more about money than I probably needed to. Think The Stepford Wives for context.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
In college, I became maybe 80% financially independent as I had a scholarship and worked part-time during school and over the summer, but I was still on their insurance.
I remember being frustrated in college because even though I knew I was extremely privileged, my friends in college had their parents pay their summer apartment rent and gave them an “allowance” of spending money, and I was “limited” by the options I could afford with the job I had. My dad told me at the time, “This is frustrating but it’s preparing you for actually having to live off the money you make in the near future.” (Great, great advice Dad.)
I’m technically still financially dependent on my parents for my cell phone bill, but otherwise I pay for everything: rent, insurance, utilities, food, therapy, and all wants in the form of clothing, workout classes, etc. I could ask my parents for money if I absolutely needed to, but would use it as a last resort.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
I have an account (mentioned above) that a family friend who’s a hedge fund manager, well, manages. I believe the initial deposit was $1000 over 10 years ago, but that money wasn’t mine either, it’s all a gift. It’s not very liquid—it’d take me several months (and some very good reasoning) to get any of that money withdrawn, since it’s supposed to be for “the future” (which I guess I could argue is now?).
I might receive a small amount of money when my grandmother passes, but it’d probably be around $1-2k, if at all.
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Day 1 Wednesday, November 25, 2020
8:30am Wake up and shower, take my vitamin C gummies, then make coffee. I wasn’t much of a daily coffee drinker until my offices had it for free, and now I’m definitely addicted. I don’t really care if the coffee is shitty or not, I just put some milk in it and it’s great. Right now I’m trying to drink half or three-quarter cups so I can attempt to pull back my addiction a bit. I log onto work at 9am.
11:30am Eat leftovers from last night for lunch—quesadilla + Spanish rice. There’s an incredible Mexican restaurant by us, and now I am ruined for the tacos, quesadillas and nachos from any other place.
12:30pm Will picks me up in the U-Haul. We’re driving about 20 min away to pick up a butcher block desk he bought off Craigslist, which ends up being from a small office that’s downsizing. The desk is $150 which he pays for. We love the office’s style (and the owner is super nice!) and walk around while he shows us what else he’s trying to get rid of.
We end up buying an extra-large ZZ plant and two side tables from him for an extra $120, way less than we would have paid for the quality elsewhere. My half will be $60, and I’ll split the U-Haul too, $44.51. $82.26
2:45pm That ended up taking a lot longer than we expected! We get back and unload the van, then I bring stuff inside while Will returns the van to the U-Haul location. I jump back onto work—so much for a slow afternoon before Thanksgiving. AWS is down, which powers a lot of our engineering work (and a lot of the internet!) so a lot of our teams are basically twiddling their thumbs. We chat about how to message the outage to customers.
5:45pm Will starts making dinner (braised chicken and veggies) and I sit down to read with a strawberry Chobani, but I end up just reading Reddit and searching for new podcasts to listen to.
7:45pm Dinner was great! Now…ice cream.
9:43pm I remember that my mom sent me ideas for her and my dad’s Christmas presents, so I order on Etsy and Amazon. My dad gets a mug with an Ernest Hemingway quote (“write drunk, edit sober”) ($21.54) and a book on writing ($16.63), and my mom gets this food warming tote contraption she wanted ($43.52). We’ve been paring down Christmases over the years—this year I asked for the Europe version of Ticket to Ride. $81.69
11:15pm I finish up the first episode of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City with some white cheddar Cheez-Its to snack on. After, I start on the dishes from dinner. I listen to the Product Market Misfits podcast while I do dishes—the episode with Kristen Anderson from Catch is great, highly recommend if you’re tired of just hearing stories about stereotypical Silicon Valley tech companies.
Day 1 Total: $166.69
Day 2 Thursday, November 26, 2020
10am Wake up super late since I stayed up scrolling on my phone too late last night. We make coffee and set out for a long walk around 11:15am.
12:05pm At the end of our walk, we swing by our local liquor store and buy 4 bottles of wine (red, white, rose, champagne). Will pays, total is $63.15 for everything. We haven’t had wine in the apartment for ages and I’m excited to have some stocked up. $31.57
12:30pm Get back from the walk, shower, then turn on football. I actually don’t really care about any NFL teams (I like college football a lot more), but it’s such calming background noise for me that I find myself looking for games when I have downtime. We also recently found out that Will’s friends’ dog only has a few months to live, so we order some jerky treats and a squeaky toy for him. $14.07
2:30pm We head out to the restaurant we’re going to for Thanksgiving lunch, a local place a short walk from our apartment. They’re doing a prix fixe menu of the classics—turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and a phenomenal tarte Tatin with ice cream for dessert.
We eat outside under heat lamps. It’s super cozy. With our bottle of wine and tip the total is $208 (I try to tip over and above the norm because it’s a pandemic and Thanksgiving). My half will be $104.
5:53pm Get back from the restaurant. We have a ton of leftovers which is awesome (I think it’s excessive frugality, but I almost expect to stretch takeout or restaurant meals into two meals). Exchange some texts with my friends about their socially-distant Thanksgiving celebrations.
I turn on the Washington vs. Cowboys game right at the halftime show, which is Kane Brown with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. They’re all wearing masks (except for Kane) and it’s so odd to see them dancing in masks. I mean, I’m glad they’re wearing them, but it just seems like we could have gone without the halftime show this year.
9:21pm I order contacts from Contacts Direct. I got a new prescription but didn’t have a great experience with the eye doctor, so I’m hesitant about this order—only ordered one box of 90 lenses for each eye instead of a year’s worth of lenses. I’ve been getting headaches pretty frequently, so I’m hoping getting a new pair of glasses and alternating those (instead of wearing my contacts for 16 hours a day, every day) will help. $29.98 after insurance benefits
Day 2 Total: $179.62
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Day 3 Friday, November 27
8:56am Wake up super last minute, run to sign onto Slack and then start grinding coffee beans. I’m online and drinking a big mug of coffee by 9:10. (So much for half cups.)
10:45am Come up for air from work and grab the stuff to make a bagel. Everything bagels and plain cream cheese are my go-to combo.
12:03pm I grab a bag of clothes to drop off at the donation bin and a couple library books to return. The library is about a 25 minute walk so it’ll be a nice lunch break diversion.
12:56pm After the library I stop by the grocery store for some paper towels and sponges, since we’re almost out. Total is $22.62, my half is $11.31
1:09pm When I get home I jump back into work and put the USA vs. Netherlands game on my second monitor. By the 75th minute, the US is up by 2 goals so they start putting in some younger players—it’s fun to see Midge Purce and Sophia Smith play! I also throw some bagel bites in the oven for a quick snack and promise myself dinner will be healthier.
4:23pm I zone out of work and start playing Among Us. I end up playing for over two hours. We open a bottle of wine at some point and I get super tipsy.
6:50pm Turn on the tail end of the Notre Dame vs. UNC game. It turns into Jeopardy, which turns into Wheel of Fortune, which I’m not mad about. P isn’t as into the game shows and leaves to microwave a plate of leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner and play video games.
8:40pm Finally getting hungry after my bagel bites and Cheez-Its this afternoon and make a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers—turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and cauliflower. Yum.
Will and I end up getting in a tiff about the mess in our apartment so we take a break, cool down and talk it through. I watch a couple episodes of Sister Wives and go to bed around 1:30am.
Day 3 Total: $11.31
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Day 4 Saturday, November 28, 2020
10:05am I stayed up late (again) so it’s nice to sleep in. I play Among Us for awhile and have a couple rounds where I’m the impostor and get some great kills and wins. I run out into the living room and celebrate with Will. We laugh because it’s silly how much we love the games we play. Around 10:45 I start making coffee.
11am We desperately need new sheets because our fitted sheet has a huge hole at Will’s feet (and it’s growing). I search a women’s personal finance group I’m in on Facebook for recommendations and we end up buying a queen sheet set from Belk. Total was $100.71 with their sale. $50.35
1pm I was planning on returning a package to the post office today, but forget it closes at 1pm on Saturdays so I decide to run to Target instead. I have a lampshade to return and want to look for a shower caddy as well. I also have an old iPad to return, which Will tells me I can do at Best Buy. He finds an old iPod and flip phone I can take too.
Take the MTA there ($2.75 for a single fare). When I get there, it’s a madhouse and I remember that I have sillily (is this a word?) decided to come on the weekend of Black Friday. I stand in the returns line for about 15 minutes and get $10.89 back, but ditch the idea of trying to look for a shower caddy. The checkout line looks like 100 people long. -$8.14 because of return
Next I go to Best Buy, but who am I kidding—the line to get in the store is even longer than the Target checkout line. I walk back to the subway and get on to go home. $2.75
2:30pm Since Best Buy was a no go, I search for electronic recycling around me on the way home just to see where I could drop off the devices I have. Apparently there’s an EcoATM not too far from my subway stop. It’s more for selling devices, but if they can’t give you money for something, they’ll recycle it, which is exactly what I wanted. I put each of the pieces in the scanner, and end up getting a whopping $2 total (for Will’s old iPod). Still cool because I was just expecting to recycle it all. I’ll give Will the $2.
2:44pm There’s a Dunkin nearby so I pop in to grab a couple donuts ($2.90). There’s a woman outside asking for money, so I give her $5 cash. $7.90
3:00pm Last stop—our favorite deli is nearby and Will mentioned he wanted to get bacon there recently. I get a 1/2 lb and salivate on the way home. This is one of those things I won’t put in Splitwise because it’s small and because it’s fun to get for P as a tiny little present. $3.50
3:45pm Once I’m home I’m super hungry from only eating carbs all morning so I have a snack of carrots, hummus and some pepperoni. I head back out to drop off a bag of clothes and shoes at a drop box a few blocks away. The neighbors are outside at the park near our house so I stop and chat with them for a few minutes. Their kids are the cutest.
6:47pm For dinner I make a ham and cheese sandwich (panini style with rosemary butter) and more carrots and hummus. I put on another episode of Sister Wives. These people are so fascinating to me—first off, I think the husband is completely full of himself. But I’m also so curious about the wives. There are a lot of talking head testimonials where the parents explain that they’re “oppressed” because they’re different and want to go public so the world can see polygamy as a valid family style (I’m only on season 2).
I know they’re probably playing up the “we love our other sister wives and have so much fun together even without Kody” aspect because people expect sister wives to be catty and hate each other, but I can’t help but wonder why they need to be in plural marriage to get the same friendship they seem to value so much. I also doubt they’d extend the same grace and tolerance they want to people who are “different” because they’re LGBTQ, or “different” because they’re in an open relationship or marriage.
9:15pm I mix together oatmeal chocolate chip cookie batter and put some cookies in the oven. While I’m waiting, I browse Zocdoc for well-reviewed providers—I want to make a podiatrist appointment for a lingering toe issue and an audiologist appointment for a routine hearing screening. I got the idea to make these appointments since I’ll hit my out-of-pocket max with the hospital visit, making them free or very discounted. I make two appointments for next week.
I also lust over a Farm Rio puffer jacket that feels overpriced but I just love. Maybe I’ll buy it tomorrow since they’re having a 30% off sale.
Day 4 Total: $64.50
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Day 5 Sunday, November 29
8:58am Wake up and switch between scrolling on Reddit and playing a few Among Us games. After a bit Will gets out of bed and makes coffee for us.
9:45am Will finishes the movie he started last night and we start on breakfast. We’re making the bacon I bought yesterday, breakfast potatoes with onions, and a fried egg for Will (I can’t stand the taste or smell).
11:00am Yum! Breakfast was great. I watch a couple episodes of Sister Wives and mull over buying that ridiculous but amazing puffer jacket from Farm Rio. I’ve still been thinking about it since last night and I might take the plunge.
1:25pm I get a jolt of motivation to work out and do a 20 minute Sydney Cummings video on Youtube. I heard about it from a recent Money Diary posted here! After it’s done I’m so, so tired. I stretch and unpause my episode of Sister Wives.
2:22pm I help Will move the butcher block slab for his desk out to our backyard. We live on the first floor of a single-family home that was converted into apartments, so we get the backyard too—it’s awesome to have outdoor space in the city. P works on sanding it and applying poly for the next couple hours.
5:07pm Will suggests pizza for dinner and I am always, always down for pizza. I order pickup from the spot down the street—one grandma, one cheese and 2 orders of garlic knots come to $38.60. We’ll have leftovers for tomorrow too. $19.30
5:50pm We pick up the pizza and dig in. While we’re eating we turn on the Chiefs vs. Buccaneers game; Will has a few players on his fantasy team in this game.
6:57pm I sign up to write letters to Georgia residents encouraging them to vote in the Senate runoff elections in January. This is through Vote Forward—I did 20 letters for the general election in November and want to participate again. I’ll print the letters at a local coffee shop since we don’t have a printer at home.
Will sends me this Reddit comment about campaign finance since we’ve been talking about it recently. I decide I’m convinced by the argument and set up a $5 monthly donation to Brand New Congress. $5
8:19pm After texting back and forth with my friend all day, I buy the puffer jacket—so excited. She encouraged me to get it and is pumped for me too. $228.64
I also notice my paycheck has started processing in my checking account (I get paid tomorrow), so I enter the amount in YNAB and budget it all. I earmark about $1500 to go into my brokerage account tomorrow. I won’t include it here as “spending” since it’s included in the overview section above.
Day 5 Total: $252.94
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Day 6 Monday, November 30
8:43am Wake up and turn on my Slack. Will started the coffee process and I finish it up by pouring the water into our Chemex and letting it steep (I know there’s a coffee-centric word for this...).
8:56am I check my Citi card and my YouTube TV trial rolled over—I was going to cancel it this morning, which I thought was the last day. I email support to see if they’ll refund me, because (I promise I’m not just saying this!) I did have a pretty bad experience. The Roku app was glitchy for us every time we watched something. Maybe they’ll feel nice today! $64.99
9:35am After responding to a few work messages, I run out the door to the post office to avoid a long package line. I did the Warby Parker 5-day home try on and have to return my box of glasses today. I found a pair I really like and am excited to get in the habit of wearing glasses again, instead of just my contacts.
Thankfully the line is only a few people long. The employees are also super nice every time I go, so I try to be really pleasant too. The lines are usually long and I’ve seen more than one adult have a fit at this post office. It’s rainy today and I couldn’t find our umbrella, so my flimsy rain jacket gets pretty soaked through on the walk back.
11:35am My podiatrist appointment is supposed to be tomorrow morning, and they call me to tell me since I haven’t hit my deductible, I’ll have to pay out of pocket for the visit. I explain that I’m 100% going to hit my deductible, the claims from the hospital just haven’t processed yet. I ask her to bill my insurance first for the visit, then I can pay whatever ends up not being covered (if anything). She agrees!
Maybe this is standard, but I’ve never had it happen before—even if I haven’t hit my deductible, I’ve always been to offices that bill insurance first, then I pay the remaining balance.
1:05pm Lots of meetings today. I break for lunch and heat up the braised chicken with veggies. It’s definitely on its last good day, so I’m glad I used it up. Still yummy!
2:20pm Woohoo! Get an email that my YouTube TV charge was refunded. -$64.99
Will ran to Home Depot today to buy some tools for his desk and also got a shower curtain liner since ours is ripping. I go to put it up in the bathroom but my arms are so sore—like I got my flu shot type of sore.
5:05pm Sign off work after trying to wrangle a supremely frustrating SQL query. I don’t get it but figure I can ask our analyst team for help tomorrow. Will will have a late night working, so pizza and Sister Wives is in my near future.
While watching, I update YNAB to reflect the end-of-month balances for my investment accounts. I get a huge dopamine hit by seeing my net worth number go up. I’m also anticipating it going down a bit next month because of my medical bills, so I relish the moment.
8:09pm It suddenly dawns on me that my arms are sore because I worked out yesterday. It’s so rare now that I literally forget when I do it. Ha!
9:15pm We watch the Eagles vs. Seahawks game and I absentmindedly play Among Us. I end up getting ...bullied by a person playing it? They get mad that I figured out they were the imposter and start saying all these schoolyard-type digs throughout the next couple rounds, but level 100 of cruel.
I’m embarrassed by how sad it makes me but think maybe it’s a good thing I don’t immediately know what to say to bully people back. Such a weird experience. I end up going to bed around 11:30.
Day 6 Total: $0
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Day 7 December 1, 2020
7:07am Wake up late for my alarm at 7. I’m up a lot earlier today because my podiatrist appointment is first thing. I get dressed in the dark, kiss P goodbye, grab my water bottle and run out the door to the subway by 7:30. $2.75
8:10am Get to my stop and swing by Starbucks before the appointment. I get a vanilla latte and the bacon cheddar and egg sandwich. Total is around $10 but I have a gift card loaded onto my Starbucks app.
My spending here went way down when I switched jobs to an office not close to a Starbucks, and then stopped going into an office at all.
8:30am My appointment goes great, if a little painful when she numbs my toe. I had to get an ingrown toenail removed. I danced ballet and pointe for years so I’m (unfortunately) used to them, but this one was terrible. The doctor and I bond over both being dancers with bad feet and they schedule me for a follow up two weeks out.
She actually says there’s been a rise in these procedures because people aren’t getting pedicures since the pandemic and aren’t cutting their toenails well! Wild.
I look silly on the subway in December wearing Birkenstocks and socks with a huge toe bandage. It looks like one of those cartoon characters who stubs their toe and it becomes 10x bigger than their other toes. $2.75
9:40am I get off at the stop before mine to stop at Rite Aid. I grab Neosporin, band-aids and epsom salt and check my notes for anything else she mentioned about caring for my toe. $12.97
10:00am When I get home, I hop into work and working with our engineers on a promotion for the New Year. I also catch up with Will since he stayed up late last night and I got up early for my appointment. He says he ended up staying up until 3:30am (!!) cleaning up his tools, working on his desk and putting up the shower curtain. I’m floored that he is functional right now after waking up at 8.
12:15pm Heat up the last of the pizza for lunch, along with hummus and carrots.
5:20pm Work is average-paced for the rest of the day. Not doing nothing, not totally over my head. Will puts in potatoes for baked potatoes to have later, which we’ll pair with a salad. We’re getting close to needing a grocery run again, so the meals are becoming more of a mishmash.
We listed a couple things on our local Buy Nothing group last week, so a woman comes by to pick up a wifi router we can’t use anymore. Would totally recommend looking up if there’s a group in your area—they’re usually on Facebook.
6:30pm After dinner I watch more Sister Wives and look up RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit one of my friends shared for Giving Tuesday. They buy unpaid medical debt from collections, so $1 ends up paying off $100 of someone’s medical debt. I give $50 to the Arkansas campaign, which will clear $5,000 of medical debt.
As Will said earlier today, “medical billing in America is a racket” so I really hope this helps clear a burden from an individual or family. Doing this reminds me to check my insurance portal, which is steadily going up as each separate claim comes in. Ahhhh, modern healthcare! $51.49
At the end of each day please tally up your daily expenses. Then at the end of your diary please tally up all expenses in the following categories:
Total: $719.33

• Grocery + Dining Out: $157.77
• Fun + Entertainment: $0
• Home + Health: $164.67
• Clothes + Beauty: $228.64
• Transportation: $11.00
• Gifts + Giving: $157.25

​
Reflection This week felt like a big spending week for me. I checked YNAB and since January, I’ve spent about $1600 per month, not including rent—so about $400/week. That’s why this week’s $719 feels so high!
Writing this diary helped me understand how many things I have going for me. I’ve recently been in a huge funk—about my health, my performance at work and my relationships with family, friends and P. Going to the hospital, needing physical therapy to have sex and being in a pandemic will do that to you.
I was able to zoom out a bit and understand how stable and gratifying my life is. That being said, I’m so glad this community exists. I really love it and learning about all your spending and saving habits. Thanks for being here and sharing :)

I've received my money in to my bank account from 20Cogs and can confirm for certain that it is a great way to earn some easy free money.
My first withdrawal proof: Screenshot of bank account Screenshot of 20Cogs account earnings in November 2020
PROOF of £340 earnings: Screenshot of 20Cogs account earnings as of today Jan 30th 2021
This post is a walk though my experience of it, some helpful info and some proof screenshots.I want to share my referral link as using this site has been really positive for me and paid some bills this winter!
When you sign up using my link you get a £5 bonus: referral link. We both benefit from you using my link as I will receive the value of 5% of your earnings too. I hope you find this information worthwhile, and I am happy to answer questions and provide more screenshots in the comments.
**How it works:*\* Starting at Cog 1, you select from a choice of offers and complete a sign-up to unlock the cog. Once complete you move on to the next. Each completed cog earns you money.
You cash out when all the cogs are completed. You can speed through (like me) and earn less, or you can play the slow game and wait for better offers. Average is apparently around £200.
Examples of my offers:
Download the Yolt app - £5 reward
Amazon Prime free trial - £5 reward
LottoGo deposit £1.00 - £7 reward
Free 14 day Ancestry trial - £2 reward
Screenshot of cog examples
I had heard of and trusted basically every site I signed up to. Some of the offers you can spend money on, but you don't have to. I prefer not to. For instance, you can pay £1.99 for a Graze box and 20Cogs rewards you £4. You always have around 5 offers to choose from so there's always an option to not spend any money.
I spent £1 on the lotto offer as the reward from 20Cogs is £7. Then I won a fiver! Boom.
You can complete more than one offer on each cog, but I advise doing that at the end once each cog is confirmed and Cog 20 is unlocked ready for cash out. Once you have completed 20cogs and cashed out you can continue to earn and cash out repeatedly as long as earnings are over £5. GREAT news! Since collecting my £169.98 I have earned a further £174.34!
Screenshot of two complete tasks on one cog Screenshot of my 20Cogs account earnings
It's definitely worth it for a slow but steady earner. I checked mine quickly for new offers each day and chose to complete a new cog roughly on a weekly basis. It works well on both phone and desktop.
I started on 15th August 2020 and received my first payment on 25th November 2020.
Info:

• Some cogs take 30 days to confirm, but most are pretty quick. However, this doesn't affect the speed you can move on. Once you have clicked the cog link the next cog unlocks. In theory, you can unlock all 20 cogs in one day and complete all the sign-ups, then just wait for them to confirm.
• Be sure to read the Cog T's & C's. They are very clear, very helpful, and placed right next to the Cog info: screenshot. In the example 20Cogs state: "Your monthly payment [to Great Magazines] will continue if you do not cancel your subscriptions. Subscriptions can be cancelled in the My Account section.". I love this as they actively help you in the T's&C's to cancel sign-ups and ensure you are not charged ongoing fees.
• Customer service are really helpful. One of my links went to a site that didn't work, I messaged them with info and screenshots and they apologised and turned my cog green. (Avoid the MrFreeSlots sign-up).
• Make sure to use an account that you can verify if needed, just like gambling sites they may ask for ID (driving license / passport / utility bill). They did for me because I was cheeky and tried to set up two accounts which you are not allowed to do. But they had no quibbles accepting it and I received the money 3 days later.

Easy peasy. Nowt to lose. Feel free to ask me questions!
Imgur album link for all linked screenshots/proof: https://imgur.com/a/s1haZZS
Referral link Nonref link
​
​
edit: formatting

I wanted to do one of these since the bullshit post a few months ago from some E-6 claiming to be a millionaire with completely unrealistic numbers, but felt like waiting until I hit my 10 year mark/end of (normal) year. Coincidentally, these DFAS news and the paycheck posts made this even more relevant so I just wanted to share my journey with whoever is interested. Some of the numbers are from memory, but they're not going to be off by much.
I will say that while some of my situations were definitely lucky, some were also very stupid or unfortunate financial events that I've managed to recover from. Also, although we do NOT have kids, we do have a dog that we currently spend ~$200/mo on just allergy shots and food. It's a long post, but I'll hit up the different years and milestones I made in bold so it's easier to skip through stuff.
Also, although I am married, I was usually on the hook to pay for more of the expenses and our NW (retirement/savings) ARE separate and not included in MY NW numbers for this purpose.
BMT/Tech school - Nov 2010-May 2011:
NW: -15K
I came in on November 2010 (6-yr enlistee) as an E-2 due to college credits with roughly 15K in debt. During BMT/school, I had my brother sell my car for ~$5K that I put towards that debt. Unfortunately, I had no clothes that were made for the winter, and no entertainment for myself, so I bought a new wardrobe, a gaming laptop, a new phone and some other small purchases. Along with going out for food/drinks on occasion (we were at an Army base that had literally green meat as "steaks"), I ended up spending at least $3K during the total 7 months, but was steadily making progress on my debts. Got to my base as an A1C thanks to the 6 year thing.
NW: ~ -$6K
First base, year one May 2011-12:
As I got to my base I realized that I definitely needed a car. Being a car guy, I wanted something fun, but I also knew I wanted to be semi-responsible. I cringed at the notion of getting a corolla or civic, and ultimately bought my brother's car - a 2003 G35 that he bought brand new - for 12K that he demanded I get full insurance coverage for. We get along, so we worked out a payment plan and no banks were involved. I was paying him $500/mo and another $100 or so towards insurance every month because I had a few accidents on my record. To note, the car has lasted me until this year with less than $3K of total repairs to include all oil changes and the one tire change I did throughout my time of ownership.
I was eating out at least weekly for lunch and would usually do a dinner a couple times a month. I stayed away from clubs as it wasn't really my scene, but I drank at least one beer a day. I also flew home for every long weekend in the first year, which was pretty pricy and stupid in retrospect.
I had decent credit since my mom put my name on a credit card a few years ago, but I knew I needed to keep working at it, so I opened a discover card which all of my expenses (electronics, clothes, food, etc) went on that I paid off in full every month.
I knew that I should start putting money towards my retirement, so I also started a TSP (Roth was not available at this time) and was putting in about $100/mo which ballooned to a whopping $1K.
Paid off all my debts I had before I joined, but still had a little over $7K of the car to pay off and the rest was revolving debt that I paid off every month.
NW ~-6K
First base, year two May 2012-13:
I was able to get off base early (just over 1 year of being in the dorms) and got a place with someone I was friends with to pocket the difference in BAH. I bought a $1K mattress and other furniture that set me back a bit, but I was able to pay for it immediately. My rm and I got along well at first, but he was a few years younger than me and that age difference definitely started to show itself. After a few months, I had enough and asked him to move out around October. My rent was now $300 OVER my BAH. After paying for it for a couple months, I had a friend visit me for a month that chipped in the rent difference and ended up having my GF move in that did the same. I paid off my previous debts, but still owed a couple thousand on the car. I also started getting into scotch, picking up $1-200 of scotch every month (on top of the craft beer). Lastly, I got an off base gym membership that included tennis and a year round pool that cost me nearly $100/mo. Stupid expenses... but at least they made me happy.
Knowing a strategic language, I was told to take the language test and passed, getting me an additional $400/mo, although after taxes was closer to like 350 which basically allowed my scotch and gym expenses.
I stopped contributing to the TSP and instead went with the Roth IRA (remember, no Roth option in the TSP at this time and we weren't getting a match anyways) and I maxed out my Roth IRA for the year 2012 instantly.
NW ~+$5K
Deployment & moving May 2013-June 14
I got picked up to deploy at the end of May and was very excited. I also put on SrA just as I arrived. I bought a newer laptop that cost over $1K for that deployment specifically. Since I was living off base, I was able to put my stuff in storage to bank the BAH (~900/mo) and I was getting all of the hazard and tax free pay which totaled to be about 4K/mo. I had everything going into the SDP that I can and maxed it within 4 months. The rest I put in to max my Roth IRA for 2013.
Upon return, I moved to a far cheaper apartment that let me save ~$300/mo on BAH, but bought a new phone, kitchen knife, camera, handgun, TV and desktop, and had some other expenses. Because this place was also much farther of a drive, I was spending a bit more on gas. Nevertheless, the market was rebounding from the crash and I paid off the car, so I switched to liability insurance only that let me save more money.
Then, the hunger games started. I was trying to palace chase and was so sure it was going to happen, I didn't bother to study for my staff test. Unfortunately, the guard base lost my paperwork and by the time I sent everything to them again and they verified it all, my career field stopped letting people go. I found out a week before my test. I took leave to study, but spoiler alert: I didn't make it.
NW ~+20K
House purchase, marriage, divorce and another marriage June 14-16
The cheap rent was cheap for a reason. I got broken into and had my handgun stolen along with my TV. I also didn't have renter's insurance, but they only stole about $1K worth of stuff so it wasn't a huge deal. At this point I was also with my gf for 4 years now so we were talking about marriage and me buying a house to finish up my enlistment.
I bought a house that my GF liked that was probably the nicest house in the neighborhood with a VA loan and financed ~$180K. My BAH did NOT cover the house payment and they stopped paying my language pay, so I got a 2nd job for about 5 months on the weekends at a restaurant that averaged $700/mo. I ended up having some health issues that had me looking forward to get surgery and I could not be on my feet that long and had to quit.
Shortly after the house purchase, I bought my childhood attainable-dream-car. A '98 low mileage M3 that cost me ~$20K after the purchase & repairs were done which was close to the cost of it in this condition on the market so no change to my NW from this as this was my 2nd car that I could theoretically sell at any time. I did have the extra recurring cost of car insurance, but it was ~$50/mo for full coverage as my accidents finally fell off my records.
I also got married, moved her in, and paid for all of the expenses besides her car insurance, phone, and classes. I also gave her $5.5K to max her IRA for the year as well as maxing mine. We immediately started having issues (non financial) and we got a divorce within a year. While the divorce was pending, I started considering doing 20 years due to my medical concerns, but only if I got a base I wanted. Overseas listing was solid and I put on a few options for extended long.
Ended up going on a couple of dates a week after my ex moved out. After being in a shitty situation, I had a lot of time to think about what I was looking for and was very honest about that and myself in general. Really hit it off with one girl, but a few months into the relationship I was notified of my selection to Aviano. We talked about what that means for us, how we felt, and decided to get married, so we did.
Maxed my Roth IRA throughout the years and added a few thousand towards a brokerage account.
Before PCSing we had an AC go out that I paid for in the tune of $5K and decided to rent the house out (for the cost of the PITI).
My M3 went into storage with my family at no cost to me.
NW ~+40K
PCS issues July 16-April 17
We got screwed with a ton of wrong information about travel policies and had to spend nearly a month in DC out of pocket to the tune of $15K. Thankfully I had a 0% APR credit card. We also had issues finding a house here, so the extra TLA really helped out. We finally found a place, I had a couple of TDYs, bought a 2nd car, and as we were settling in, I got hit with a deployment.
I knew this was a good time to save some money, but also wanted another income generating asset, so when we flew home before my deployment, we made some time to look at houses so I can buy and rent it out in the same state that I was previously stationed at (and where she was from). We found a place and started getting everything together.
I also made the final payment on the 15K PCS bill the week before I left.
Maxed my Roth IRA.
NW ~$60K
Deployment April-Oct 17
In May, I had my funds in escrow that I got a hard money loan for, for a house that cost 120K and was set to be rented at $1200+. The house was rented within a week for 1250, so I was pretty happy about this. Wife went back to the US for a bit, so we saved a little on utilities/food expenses as she stayed largely with her parents. I started contributing 30% into the Roth TSP and I bought some crypto at the tail end of my deployment.
Deployment was shit, my shop literally sat in silence for 5 months after the NCOIC sent someone home for a bullshit article 15 charge. Made me EXTREMELY disgruntled and not giving a shit about making tech.
NW ~$80K
Home, until next deployment Nov 17-Jan 2020
I got home, bought a new PC (~$1.5K), and immediately made a bunch of travel plans to make up for the deployment time. The crypto boom/bust occurred with me taking out $5K (which was my initial investment), but re-investing it during the crash which I still hold to today and I crossed into 2018 with ~$100K NW.
January saw yet another budget issue where we weren't getting paid and our TDYs were getting cancelled, but I was doing pretty well... for a little bit anyways
Unfortunately, we had our renters cancel their lease on both houses in early '18, some repairs needed to be done that cost OVER the security deposit, and our PM company dragged their feet on getting new tenants in because of a change in ownership. I started living paycheck to paycheck (sans my TSP contributions) because I had to cover both vacant properties and still pay for our living expenses here DESPITE getting COLA and utility allowance as we were still trying to take travel opportunities. This year, I had to take money out of my taxable account to cover my Roth IRA.
I fired the PM company come September and hired a new one that had tenants in within a month at both places. Some additional repair costs were needed because the last company made certain things worse (or charged me for fixes that never occurred). We also had a flash flood while I was TDY (and had the wife join me) that led to our 2nd car having to be salvaged in the fall as well.
Come January '19, I was getting a handle on the past bills, we got another car for the wife, and life moved on for a bit. Picked up a 3rd car from a members that was PCSing (another M3, this one for $1K as a project car to resell or maybe even to take back to the US). Some more house expenses came up, but nothing we couldn't handle, although it did slow down our investments. Overall, '19 was pretty unprofitable outside of the 30% TSP and maxing the previous year's IRAs - which I funded for both myself and the wife. I got news that my IPCOT was approved, so I was spending another 4 years at Aviano.
We had some issues at one of our houses which cost 2 months of vacancies and another ~$2K of repairs in the fall of '19 and shortly after I had an opportunity to deploy again, this time to AUAB, which we agreed was probably for the best for a few reasons.
NW 120K
Deployment to now - Jan-Dec 2020
As soon as I got to AUAB, I put my TSP to 60% to max it out. During the deployment, my wife paid me back the previous year's $6K I gave her to fund her IRA, so I maxed out my 2019 AND 2020 IRA and also put aside ~$17K in a taxable account. I wanted my investments to REALLY take off, and they definitely did. Thankfully, the state where I have my houses were not heavily impacted by COVID and both tenants continued to pay rent without issues.
COVID sucks, but is a godsend for saving. With closed restaurants, that's at least $1-200/mo savings for us, not to mention another $2-300 savings/mo in travel costs before counting any extra expenses from these trips such as getting food at these locations, event tickets, etc.
That's not to say I've been saving everything, though. Upon my return we did immediately travel to a few cities, I bought myself a camera setup costing me $6K, and we bought a higher end Roomba and some other items on Black Friday totaling $1-2K. I still drink my craft beer and my Islay scotches. We finally salvaged my G35, which cost US money because of how the SOFA is here (bullshit...). I found a few more things wrong with the M3 that is here with me, so I'll likely start a large scale refresh here soon which means $$$$$$.
NW: ~$240K if you count the M3 in storage, $220K if not. To add, these amounts are based on my equity in the homes instead of the actual house sale price based on neighborhood comps which would bump up my NW by another $20K+
Goal for 2021 (assuming tenants do NOT move out):
I'll see what's up on the supplemental this month and if I don't make it again, actually study this year to get it come 2021. Figure it's time and all that, plus it would let me save/spend even more.
Max out TSP (should be done by September) and Roth IRA for 2021 next month. Look into getting a 3rd house if the numbers make sense, or just set aside ~$2k/mo towards other investments which, along with even a 7% market gain should see me hit $300K by end of 2021. If the market crashes, I would honestly prefer it so we can put in more contributions and ride the gains through the next 10 years until retirement.
We have also been discussing kids, so that may throw a wrench in the above.
All in all, hopefully this inspires you in some way and if you have any questions, let me know.
I want to specifically hit on the fact that while I do save a lot, I still find plenty of time and available moneys for my personal fun. Whether that's going out for food and drinks with the wife and friends a couple times a month, traveling around the EU, buying things for and participating in my hobbies (camera stuff, gaming, car expenses, snowboarding, etc.), I feel like my life is pretty un-deprived of things.
We also use quite a few credit cards to help us save money on travel, which does make a rather large difference when stacked together.
tl;dr a 10 year TIS, 2nd-time-making-it e-5 goes from roughly a -15K NW to +220-250K without bonuses, but with 4 years of COLA, 3 total deployments, and a total of 9K foreign language pay throughout his career so far
Edit: eyy just found out I made E6!

Hello everyone,
After posting about YieldNodes back on the other side of Christmas, I’m pleased to report a monthly interest return of 11.1% for December 2020; up from November's 9.8% and down from October's 13.5%. I compounded 100% of my returns and plan on doing so for at least the next 6 months.
Recap
Following a successful beta phase which turned a profit even in the March crash, YieldNodes has generated an average monthly return of 10.6%. Compounding these monthly returns provides an opportunity to secure even greater profits.
A few FAQ from the initial post (which you can read here if you like) I’ll answer here.
Best way to deposit?
I’ve only used depositing via Bitcoin which was quite simple. Once you sign up for free (using this referral link, if you don’t mind), go to “deposit” and type in how much you’d like to deposit. You’ll then be given the amount in BTC and an address to send it too. This amount will be saved for 10 days to give you time to accrue the necessary funds in BTC. Also note, following a desposit, it takes 7 days for your funds to be converted into the cryptocurrencies needed to run the master nodes.
Is the model based on BTC prices?
No. Not at all. BTC is used for paying in and receiving funds. Masternoding is vaguely comparable to mining but that’s now become very expensive and inefficient for the majority of people. If you're interested to find out more about masternoding, here's the definition from decryptionary.
Where to sign up
Right this way. It’s a referral link whereby referrers get a bonus of 5% of all deposits.

Intended to be a publicly available bibliography oriented around chopmarked coins and the Chinese silver trade. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to comment, and they will be reviewed as potential additions. Not planning on using an academic citation format, just a generally functional list that includes high-level descriptions of the material.
BOOKS

• 'Chopmarks', by F.M. Rose. Numismatics International, 1987. This is the seminal work on the subject, compiled largely by the personal collecting experience of its author over several years. Some of the information is outdated, but this is still a necessary work for the collector. Rose's collection is still considered the gold standard. A reprint was issued in 2003/4.
• 'Chopmarked Coins - A History', by Colin Gullberg. iAsure, 2014. An updated reference with excellent images, this is a fanatastic reference full of useful information for both the new collector and the veteran. Only one edition has been printed, and copies are only available sporadically on the secondary market.
• 'The Canton Trade: Life and Enterprise on the China Coast, 1700-1845', by Paul A. Van Dyke. Hong Kong University Press, 2007. An exceptionally detailed account of the commercial systems in place during the 18th and 19th centuries, backed up with substantial research and hard data. Something of a dry read, but highly informative.
• 'The Mexican Pieces of Eight Reales and Their Domination in South East Asia; a Historic Survey of More Than Three Centuries of a Trading Coin' by J. Busschers. 1999. One of the most exhaustively researched references on the use of New World silver in the Far East, particularly strong in its data-driven approach to documenting the 16th and 17th centuries and associated exports from various Central and South American sources. Virtually impossible to find copies available for commercial sale at present; most are in institutional collections.
• 'China and the End of Global Silver, 1873-1937', by Austin Dean. Cornell University Press, 2020.
• 'Empire of Silver: A New Monetary History of China', by Jin Xu. Yale University Press, 2021.
• 'When America First Met China - An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs and Money in the Age of Sail', by Eric Jay Dolin. Liveright, 2013. Though the silver trade is not a prime focus, a particularly readable exploration of the particular commercial relationship between China and the United States, predominantly focused on the 19th century.
• 'China Upside Down: Currency, Society, and Ideologies, 1808–1856 (Harvard East Asian Monographs)', by Man-Houng Lin. Harvard University Asia Center, 2007. Covers the often-overlooked implications of the reductions in the silver provided to China as a result of the toppling of Spanish authority in the New World.
• 'Notes Sur la Monnaie et les Métaux Précieux en Chine', by Marcel Tillot and Emil S. Fischer. Presse Orientale (L'Imprimerie Française), 1898. One of very few pre-1900 publications on the subject of foreign silver in China not in Chinese. Original print copies are rare, but the publication is currently available digitally in its entirety for free via Google Books, based off a digitized copy held in the Wason Chinese Collection at Cornell University.
• 'Resplandores: Cap and Rays 8 Reales of the Republic of Mexico, 1823-1897', by Mike Dunigan and J.B. Parker. Superior Stamp & Coin, 1997. Not a chopmark reference, but the most authoritative resource on the exceptionally wide-ranging Cap & Rays series, the long-running type that was probably the single most important issue to Chinese commerce in the 19th century.
• 'Compendio de las Piezas de Ocho Reales', by Gabriel Calbetó de Grau. Ediciones Jaun Ponce de Leon, 1970. A massive and influential two-volume publication on the 8 Reales series that is still commonly used.
• 'The United States Trade Dollar - America's Only Unwanted, Unhonored Coin', by John Willem. Whitman Publishing Co., 1959. The original study of the Trade Dollar series, far and away the most influential American type to circulate in China.
• 'The Silver Way: China, Spanish America and the Birth of Globalisation, 1565-1815', by Peter Gordon. Penguin Random House Australia, 2017. A brief and easily accessible title on the emergence of New World silver in international commerce.
• 'El Numiscadero: English to Spanish, Spanish to English Numismatic Dictionary', by Gary Beals. Gary Beals (Self-Published), 2016. In a collecting area where Spanish and Spanish Colonial types are particularly prevalent, a useful book to have. Bonus points for featuring a rare chopmarked Maximilian Peso prominently on the front cover.
• 'A Monograph of the Silver Dollar', by John Leonard Riddell. Shepard, 1845. A fascinating book documenting the types of coins taken in at the New Orleans Mint in the 1840s (Riddell was Melter and Refiner at the N.O. Mint at the time, and had access to a range of coins placed there on deposit), including many contemporary counterfeits. Among the coins depicted are two chopmarked coins, reproduced in facsimile, a 1795-Mo 8R (Coin No. 24) and a 1776-M Spain 4R (Coin No. 481). To my knowledge, these are the earliest published reproductions of chopmarked coins! Available digitally through the Internet Archive.
• 'Tokens of the Industrial Revolution: Foreign Silver Coins Countermarked for Use in Great Britain, c. 1787-1828', by Harrington E. Manville. Spink, 2001. The actual subject matter is only tenuously related to chopmarks, but the publication itself carries a particular relevance. The front cover proudly boasts a 1796-Mo Mexico 8R with a Rothsay Cotton Works counterstamp and several chopmarks, a coin which originated from the Rose collection and is plated in 'Chopmarks', that Mr. Manville acquired for the British Museum, where it remains to this day as the sole Rose plate coin impounded in a major institutional collection. For the collector interested in other international uses of Spanish colonial coinage outside of China, this book would be useful.

MAGAZINES/ARTICLES

• 'The Chopmark News', edited by Colin Gullberg. The newsletter of the Chopmark Collectors Club that has been published since 1990, this is the reference periodical for the collector base. Membership in the club is less than $20/year, and typically two or three issues of more than 50 pages each are published annually, showcasing members' coins, interviews with dealers and researchers, and articles on the subject both scholarly and personal. Editions are delievered digitally but can be printed at additional cost. Mr. Gullberg can be reached at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
• 'The Journal of East Asian Numismatics' (JEAN), edited by Yuan Shuiqing. Originally founded by Michael Chou in 1994, JEAN saw a total of 18 published issues before ceasing operations in 1998. Regardless, the publication enjoyed considerable popularity and was known for its scholarship in the field of Chinese numismatics. The involvement of Mr. Chou, the buyer of the Rose collection, resulted in many Rose coins being published in auction sales promoted within JEAN. Publication of the magazine was resumed in 2015, and continues today.
• 'The Currency Problem in China', by Wen Pin Wei, Ph.D. Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, Vol. LIX, No. 3. Columbia University, 1914. An interesting academic article covering the development of coin and paper currency systems (including the use of foreign silver) in China; one of the more unusual claims is the continued circulation of Carolus 8Rs into the 20th century, trading at a premium associated with their popularity. Available digitally through the Internet Archive.

AUCTION CATALOGS

• Paul Bosco Auction 18, 'The Hal Walls Collection of World Trade Coins', August 4, 1997. Likely the single most complete and interesting collection of chopmarked coins to be sold in a single public sale (the Rose collection was dissolved over several years, and through multiple venues), including an 1859-S Seated Dollar, the finest known chopmarked 1878-CC Trade Dollar, and complete runs of chopmarked Pillar 8Rs (from 1733-1771) and Bust 8Rs (from 1773-1821), among many other impressive rarities.
• Aureo y Calico, 'Collecion Bohol', November 8, 2017. An extensive collection of Philippines coinage that featured a suprisingly comprehensive run of chopmarks on Spanish and Spanish American types, including several pieces that had originated from the Walls collection.
• Bonhams, 'The Alexander Patterson Collection - The Pillar Coinage of Mexico and Spanish America, and Cut and Counterstamped Coins of the Caribbean Islands.', July 16-17, 1996. A well-regarded collection of coins of Spanish America that included several quality chopmarked specimens.

December 2020 Beer Money UK Earning Report
This is my third month of using BeerMoneyUK to supplement my income. This month I made £2,342.
Here are my tow previous reports
October earnings report £774.25
November earnings report £2,731.24
Many thanks again to everyone who used some of my links to sign up for the offers. It is much appreciated. Hope you got some good Beer Money from it and remembered to share your links
Hope the below report is useful for people to see what are some of the best paying / most popular referral programmes.
This month I guestimate I worked about 50 hours to achieve this.
I am setting myself a goal to make £1,500 per month for 2021 or a total of at least £18,000. I think / hope this is achievable 🙏 .
Hope everyone has a great 2021, we all deserve it after such a bad 2020 !!!
Any questions just let me know. I am happy to help 😊
​

Company / link to Reddit post	Referral Link / Non - Referral Link	Sign Up Bonus	Required Min Purchase / Transfer Amount	My Earnings
Zumo	Referral link / Non referral Use referral code: ABC123	£10.73	£0	£669.44
Swissborg	Referral link / Non referral	€1-100 (Average ~€10)	€50	£211.06
WorldRemit	Referral link / Non referral	£20	£100	£200
Zelf	Referral link / Non referral	€5	€0	£145
Metro Bank	Referral link / Non referral	£50	Pay in salary or £500 pm	£100
Gemini	Referral link / Non referral	£8	£80	£92.87
Curve	Referral link / Non referral	£5	£0	£95
TFG Crowd	Referral link / Non referral	€20	€100	£90
Currency Fair	N/A	€50	€2,000	£90
Transferwise	Referral link / Non referral	£75 for 3 referrals	£200	£75
Xendpay	Referral link / Non referral	€10	€100	£65
Bitwala	Referral link / Non referral	€15	€30	£54
Tickr	Referral link / Non referral	£12	£5	£48
Vybe	Referral link / Non referral	£2	£0	£44
Bitpanda	Referral link / Non referral	€20 + €5 for quiz	€25	£36
Coinfield	Referral link / Non referral	£11	£100 (need to buy SOLO)	£35
Celsius	Referral link / Non referral	$40	$200	£33
Mode	Referral link / Non referral	£10	£100	£30
Skrill	Referral link / Non referral	£10	£100	£30
ViaInvest	Referral link / Non referral	€15	€50	£27
Instarem	Referral link / Non referral	£10	£200	£22.20
Luno	Referral link / Non referral	£10	£100	£20
Snoop	Referral link / Non referral	£5	£0	£20
TransferGo	Referral link / Non referral	£20	£50	£20
October	Referral link / Non referral	€20	€500	£18
Kriptomat	Referral link / Non referral	€10	€100	£18
Oval	Referral link / Non referral Referral code: KPN6NPYYU	£5	£6	£15
Easy Send	Referral link / Non referral	£10 for a referral	£100	£10
Costa Coffee	Referral link / Non referral Referral code: X8LOZ	£3	£2-3	£9
Verse	Referral link / Non referral	£5	£4	£10
Wirex	Referral link / Non referral	$10	£80	£5.35
InstaCoin	Referral link / Non referral	£5	£50	£5.08
BlockFi	Referral link / Non referral	$10	£100	£0
Twino	Referral link / Non referral	£15	£100	£0
Azimo	Referral link / Non referral	£10	£90	£0
Cash App	Referral link / Non referral	£5	£50	£0
Passfolio	Referral link / Non referral	$1-100	$25	£0
Quidco	Referral link / Non referral	£5	£5 in cashback	£0
Crypto Exchange	Referral link / Non referral	$50	£250 (5,000 staked in CRO)	£0
TopCashBack	Referral link / Non referral	£5	£5 in cashback	£0
Lenndy	Referral link / Non referral	€10	€100	£0
			TOTAL	£2,342

​

By Chrissy Stockton | Updated November 20, 2020
There are so many strange, strange aspects to this case.
From JonBenét’s child beauty pageant background to the family inviting friends over to hang out at the crime scene while their daughter was missing to the ransom note, there is nothing straightforward about this case. To me, the evidence points to the murder being an inside job to cover up an accidental death. But the evidence doesn’t fit neatly one way or the other.
This article will explore arguments supporting the theory that JonBenét’s older brother Burke may have gravely injured JonBenét during a temper tantrum. Thinking JonBenét was already dead or knowing she was fatally injured, her parents finished the job and covered up the murder.
It is hard to believe these parents would be emotionally able to strangle their little girl with a garrote. I also don’t think it would have been the end of the world to bring JonBenét to the emergency room and simply say Burke’s temper got away with him and a tragic accident happened. A cover up doesn’t make sense to me… however it does seem more likely than any other scenario. Here’s the evidence:
[*] John Ramsey found the body in the home’s basement. This is consistent with how a father would act in a cover up. The old adage that the killer returns to the scene of the crime has some truth to it. A guilty person inserts themselves into an investigation as much as possible.
[*] John and Patsy Ramsey did not cooperate with police. They immediately hired a lawyer and were never completely forthcoming with investigators about what happened. If they did not know what happened to their daughter already, they would be desperate to cooperate in order to get answers.
[*] The ransom note is extremely weird. The note was written on a notepad and with a pen from the Ramsey’s house. After writing the note, the items were put away. An intruder would type the letter out ahead of time and bring it with them. They also wouldn’t clean up after themselves. The note demanded a sum similar to a bonus John Ramsey received which would indicate familiarity with the family’s finances. While it was never definitively proven, some investigators believe the note was in Patsy Ramsey’s handwriting.`
[*] Though the ransom note specified that no one should be contacted, Patsy Ramsey called the police at 5:52 am and then called a few family friends to invite them over for emotional support. A frantic mother warned that her missing daughter will be harmed if anyone is contacted might typically be more reticent to call the police or invite friends over.
[*] If the plan was to kidnap JonBenét and collect ransom money, why was she killed? If her death was accidental, why still leave the ransom note as extra evidence?
[*] When JonBenét’s body was discovered, it was covered by a blanket. This is something that is typically done when the victim is known by the murderer.
[*] Police found Burke’s fingerprints on a bowl of pineapple on the kitchen counter. Pineapple was one of JonBenét’s favorite snacks and it was found in her stomach in the autopsy, meaning she ate some shortly before her death. Some believe Burke shared a midnight snack of pineapple with JonBenét before her death, or JonBenét ate some of Burke’s snack, leading to a temper tantrum that resulted in a deadly injury for JonBenét.
[*] While being interviewed about the murder, young Burke covers his mouth when asked about the pineapple, one of the most common tells that someone is withholding information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHTnAQ6lnz0&feature=emb_title
​
[*] One of the biggest pieces of evidence for the intruder theory is the existence of DNA from someone(s) not in the Ramsey family on JonBenét’s underwear. An investigator with the Boulder DA said, “We all shed DNA all the time within our skin cells. It can be deposited anywhere at any time for various reasons, reasons that are benign. To clear somebody just on the premise of touch DNA, especially when you have a situation where the crime scene wasn’t secure at the beginning … really is a stretch.”
[*] Statistically, when a child is killed he or she is most likely killed by someone in their immediate family.
[*] Patsy Ramsey’s initial call to 911 when she found the ransom note in her home has been widely criticized as being abnormal behavior for a mother finding her daughter missing. Suspiciously, Patsy does not say her daughter’s name in the call and referred to herself as “the mother”.
[*] People also believe they can hear Burke’s voice on the 911 call asking “what did you find?” though Patsy Ramsey’s story is that Burke was asleep in bed until later on in the morning.
[*] When he was told JonBenét was deceased, John Ramsey stated “It has to be an inside job.” While this doesn’t point a finger at Burke, it’s definitely strange and falls more into the “family did a coverup” theory than the intruder theory.
[*] John Ramsey called his personal pilot twice the day JonBenét was found dead.
[*] Strangely, when he found his daughter’s body and carried her up the stairs to where the police were, John Ramsey did not cradle her but held her away from his body. One of the detectives recalled seeing this and having a gut feeling John had murdered her.
[*] Interviews with Burke show that he has trouble speaking without smirking, which many feel is a form of duper’s delight,smile%20at%20an%20inappropriate%20moment.).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89zlpxJB6fs&feature=emb_title
[*] Others insist this is normal awkwardness to be expected of anyone who has had such an unusual childhood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-QYhlFIefY&feature=emb_title
[*] Former Boulder police chief Mark Becker was in charge of the investigation. Here is what he believes happened:
“We know from the evidence she was hit in the head very hard with an unknown object, possibly a flashlight or similar type item. The blow knocked her into deep unconsciousness, which could have led someone to believe she was dead. The strangulation came 45 minutes to two hours after the head strike, based on the swelling on the brain. While the head wound would have eventually killed her, the strangulation actually did kill her. The rest of the scene we believe was staged, including the vaginal trauma, to make it look like a kidnapping/assault gone bad. I have avoided saying who I believe is responsible and let the facts speak for themselves. There are several viable theories.”
​
​
https://thoughtcatalog.com/christine-stockton/2020/11/the-best-arguments-that-burke-did-it-in-the-jonbenet-ramsey-case/

I am 27 years old as of today! As I wrote this diary, I realized that my life is pretty boring right now. I also didn't get too deep into my work, because attorney, and because it's pretty boring this week.
I wish we could have more in savings right now, but I never came from an enviroment that encouraged responsible savings, nor have I ever had the privilege of having enough to put in savings. Until now. My husband has come from a place of privilege, so he's gotten to see firsthand what it's like to not have it.
Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: $6,622.23 in a 401K I get through work. I just started qualifying for the 401K in April of this year. I contribute 10%. My employer does not match anything, unfortunately. I’m not sure how much my husband has in his teacher account. Additionally, I have $1,300 in a Roth IRA I started at my old job which had no benefits. I haven’t contributed to my IRA in a few months because…
Equity if you're a homeowner: We just bought a house at the end of September! We did not intend on buying a house yet, but an offer came up in my hometown that was too good to pass up. We bought the house for $120,000, we put down about $6,500, and the house is estimated to be worth about $180,000 without any repairs (of which it needs many.) We do not intend on living in this house, because I don’t want to live across the street from my parents. Hopefully, repairs will be done before the end of the year and we can start getting renters in. The current plan is to rent it out for a year, and then sell it.
Joint Savings account balance: $1,000.00. See above. We’ll work on replenishing this once repairs are done.
Joint Checking account balance: $11,588.05 in our joint account on the date of publishing, following receipt of my $8,000 bonus last month. We are about to pay $8,000 to fix the foundation in our house, so we have everything in our checking account. Additionally, we’ll have to pay for labor to pull out the rugs, paint, etc. And we need to buy new appliances because the appliances in the house are definitely the original from 1968.
Credit card debt: None. Everything is paid off monthly on both accounts. I think we both individually pay about $2,000 per month on our credit cards. Sometimes less, rarely more. I don't ask him what he buys, and he doesn't ask me either.
Student loan debt: $218,719.16 for my undergrad (about 9K left) and law degree (the rest). I am a first generation college graduate and my parents had nothing to provide me except their love and support. They always told me education was the most important thing, and for that, I am eternally grateful. It’s just another payment, and I wasn’t going to let that stop me from living the life I wanted. For now, I am on an income based repayment plan and hopefully it will be forgiven in 2030.
My husband has no student loan debt, which is great because I have enough for both of us.
Extra: My husband has a trust left behind by his grandpa. He has never touched it, and does not have plans to, until maybe we buy the house we will actually live in.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression:
I got my first job in college because I was a young graduate and never had a high school job. I worked at the university dining hall making 8.50/hour. It was a glamorous year. The following two years, I worked for an attorney in town and decided that I wanted to go to law school. I made 10/hour for about a year and a half, and then 12/hour when I graduated and kept working there until I left for law school.
During law school, I did not work, because it was just not feasible. I had internships in the summers, of which three were paid. One was a federal judge internship, where I was paid a stipend at the end of the time, and they also paid for parking. One was back at the firm I worked at in undergrad, and I got paid a lump sum to be a legal assistant for half a summer. The third was at the city attorney’s office, and they paid $20/hour. I had never gotten paid that much in my life and I was thrilled.
Out of law school, I started working at a plaintiff’s law firm, and I made $55,000 until I passed the bar, at which point, I got a raise to $80,000. I hated being a plaintiff’s lawyer, and got out after six months. After that, I worked at an insurance defense firm, where I made $65,000 for six months as a trial period, and then $80,000 again. That firm environment was not healthy, and I got out after about a year and a half. I was unemployed for about three months and got by on my savings. Then I got the job I have now, where I bill less hours, and make more money. I have been at this job for a little over a year.
Main Job Monthly Take Home:
5,552.04 (me) 3,331.96 (h) after taxes, health insurance (we each pay our own), etc.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home
We both tutor (him math, me English) on the side with a friend who organizes it all. Our profits have increased each month since we started. In August, we made $190, in September we made $593, and in October we made $775. Current November profits are $916 and the month is only halfway done. I anticipate that this number will keep increasing as we get more students. This money is used on house expenses. Maybe after we get renters in, this money will go towards student loans.
Any Other Monthly Income Here
None yet! Hopefully our time as landlords starts soon!
Section Three: Expenses
Rent / Mortgage / HOA fees: $1,900.00 in rent for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1100 sq. ft. apartment, including all water, sewage, valet trash, and pet rent. $1,015.00 for our mortgage while we are repairing and having to pay for it on our own, and no HOA fees. Once we start renting the house out, we will not have double payments.
Renters / home insurance: Renters is $35.23/month. Home insurance was paid for the first year as part of closing. It was $1,200 for the first year.
Retirement contribution: none that wasn’t previously discussed.
Savings contribution: TBD once the house is done. It was previously around 10% of my paycheck and I think my husband contributed the same.
Investment contribution: TBD once the house is done. It was previously $75/month. I also have an acorns account that probably gets about $15-20/month. It currently has about $220 bucks in it, but I have had to withdraw from that account when times were hard.
Debt payments: Currently nothing. Focusing on the house for now.
Donations: I donate $10/month to the ACLU. We also foster kittens through our local shelter.
Electric: $102.39 last month. This bill is starting to go down now that it’s *finally* cooling off
Wifi/Cable/Landline: $50.27/month
Cellphone: $70.66/month for me. My husband is still on his parents’ plan.
Groceries: We spend about $60/week on grocery delivery from Imperfect Foods. Every couple of weeks we’ll go to the grocery store and pick up anything we didn’t get delivered. Those days can range from $40-$100, and it’s only every few weeks.
Gas: Maybe $50/month? My commute is short, and I don’t go to any other places anymore.
Eating in: $40-70/week. We’ll order food once a week. It helps me feel normal and not like my life is a never ending series of cooking and cleaning.
Subscriptions:
Netflix: $14.99. I pay for it for myself and my parents and brother
Hulu: $11.99. Same
Spotify: $14.99. Family plan for me and my husband because he didn’t use spotify beforehand
HBONow. I think it’s $15.00. My husband pays for this
We mooch off of someone for Disney+
Book of the Month: $10.00/month. I love to read, but at a truer level, I love to own books. I will never get through my reading list, but I’ve come to terms with it.
NYTimes: $6.38/month
Winc: $60.00/every other month
Gym membership: $42.22 for the Peloton classes, and $74.78 for the bike itself. I got it for 0% APR and it will be paid off in three years. If it were not for the house, I would have paid this all off already. It’s been a great purchase and I fully recommend it.
Pet expenses: between $80-100/month. The cats are bougie and get fancy food from PetCo. One is also fat, but we’re still working on that. This may increase depending on if we have fosters, which we do right now.
Car payment / insurance: My Rav4 payment is $334/month and car insurance is $90/month. My husband’s car is paid off and I think his dad still pays the car insurance because it’s cheaper that way. (P.S. if anyone has advice on refinancing your car, please share! The thought terrifies me)
Regular therapy: I think my insurance is covering my co-pay right now because I am not paying anything for therapy right now.
Paid hobbies: None. The Peloton is my paid hobby.
I’d like to note that most of my expenses are paid on my credit card and then paid off every month. I may not be able to use those sweet, sweet points yet, but once we are free, I’ll be at an airport as often as possible.
Section 4: Money Attitudes
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If so, how did you pay for it?
Yes, there was always the expectation that I attend university. My parents both immigrated to the US in their early 20s and did not attend college. They both always told me that education was the most important thing, and the only thing I could take with me. In application, this got a little more complicated because my parents did not know how higher education worked. I had to do all the research regarding college applications, the SAT, scholarships, FAFSA, etc. because they didn’t know how any of it worked. When I applied for FAFSA the first time, my mom had me sit down and read all the fine print to make sure I knew what was happening. However, once I applied to law school, my parents asked why I didn’t just go to law school, and why I had gone to undergrad. It took some explaining for them to realize that I needed a Bachelor’s degree before going to law school. I had to pay for all of it through loans.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have around money? Did your parents educate you on finances?
My parents were not great, and still are not great, at finances. I knew my mom spent too much money on the credit cards, and my dad has frequently pulled out of his 401k. My dad told me too many details about the household finances that I did not need to know as a child.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I got my first real job in college because my parents could not support me.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Constantly. See above for my dad using me as an emotional support daughter.
Do you worry about money now?
In theory yes, because I’ve never known how to not worry about money, but in practice, I recognize that I am living a life my parents could have never dreamed of, and I am not irresponsible with my money. I could stand to be a little more frugal, but I worked hard to enjoy my life now, not later.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I became financially independent at the age of 17, when I got dropped off at my dorm. My parents gave me $200, and that was it. I think they may have bought me groceries once after that.
Section Five: DIARY TIME!
Tuesday 11/10
6:30 a.m.
I asked my husband to wake me up early because the foster kittens needed to go to the vet. Quarantine has wrecked any aspirations I used to have about being a morning person. Now I am bitter and groggy. He kisses me goodbye, and goes off to work.
6:45 a.m.
Okay, I’m up. I feed the foster kittens, feed our cats, and do some chores I will not have time to do later today, mainly dishes and general clean up around the apartment.
7:15 a.m.
I get dressed and make myself breakfast. Two eggs, two vegan bacon slices, and an avocado. I let the kittens out for a while so they can get some energy out.
7:50 a.m.
I’m off to the free vet at the animal shelter. The kittens have had soft stool for a while, but since they are older than the ones I normally get, I hoped they would resolve it on their own. Alas, they did not, and it is time to get it resolved. While driving over there, I make some calls for my volunteer work which I have not had time to make previously. I volunteer with Child Advocates, which is the Houston branch of CASA. Three calls total, and that’s off my plate, finally.
8:30 a.m.
No one has come out to help me at the shelter, so I have to get out to find someone.
9:00 a.m.
Medication obtained, and I need to go back home to administer medication and drop them off.
9:20 a.m.
Kittens medicated, and I’m off to work.
9:30 a.m.
Work! Why they made us come back into the office is beyond me, but at least I get my triple screens.
10:00 a.m.
My husband is a teacher, and I asked for his google classroom link because I just wanted to hear his voice during the day. We’ve both been going through it lately, so the support is appreciated on his end as well. I keep his algebra class on in the background while I work.
11:30 a.m.
My mind starts to wander, and I open ASOS to browse. I buy a dress that I’ve been eyeballing for a few days, and I justify it as a birthday present to myself. I can probably wear it to work.
$89.95
12:45 p.m.
I’ve put off eating long enough. I go downstairs to the cafe and get a salad and some chips. I am participating in a weight loss challenge at work, so I try to eat healthy. I also run into my coworker downstairs and we chat on our way back up. I also FINALLY fill my water bottle today. I’m permanently dehydrated, it’s fine.
$8.96
1:45 p.m.
My husband’s geometry class. I sit in again, and even participate a little bit!
6:00 p.m.
Time to head home. I’m beyond exhausted. And I should still have a long night ahead of me. Instead, I drive around the neighborhood park for Pokémon Go related reasons and it makes me feel better.
6:45 p.m.
Normally on Tuesdays, I spend the whole night logging my billing. I should do it as I go, this I know, but I hate doing it and I don’t want to. So I do it on Tuesdays and usually spend the entire evening doing it. Right now, I would rather sit and cry, but instead, I start making pasta sauce for spaghetti squash.
7:00 p.m.
I turn on Dancing with the Stars and all three kittens fall asleep on me. I am trapped forever now.
8:00 p.m.
Dinner time! Homemade sauce with mushrooms and greens, all on top of spaghetti squash. I make sure to have plenty for leftovers. My husband and I turn on game shows because it feels like a mindless tv night. Billing? Who is she? I will regret this later. Meanwhile, my husband and I talk about how down we’re feeling, and try to make each other feel better. They say the first year of marriage is the hardest, but nobody planned for a global pandemic.
10:00 p.m.
I do a face mask for the first time in forever. My skin went to absolute shit after switching to the mini pill in May, and I finally went to the dermatologist to fix it. It’s been about a month and a half with spironolactone, Epiduo, and sulfur face wash. My skin purged terribly, and I could not stop picking at it. So I do a brightening face mask to help even out the skin tone. My husband records a video for class, and I keep Jeopardy on in the background. RIP Alex Trebek. Around this time I stare at my briefcase some more. This is the first time in eight months I have not done my weekly billing timely and I feel the laptop boring into my soul. However, the exhaustion goes down into my bones. There is no shaking this. I’ve been feeling like this for a while, and my therapist said it was probably depression. She also frequently tells me to do self care, which I am terrible at. With all this in mind, I resolve to be okay with not billing tonight and just exist for the rest of the night.
11:40 p.m.
I start getting ready for bed. Nighttime face routine, brushing teeth, feeding kittens, and putting the food away. I’m exhausted, and I go to bed.
Daily Total: $98.91
Wednesday 11/11
8:00 a.m.
I barely registered when my husband left this morning, and I start to come into consciousness. This is a more normal start time for me. Yes I got eight hours of sleep, but I do not feel any less tired.
8:12 a.m.
My birth control alarm goes off so I have to get up.
8:17 a.m.
I check my work email and see that I missed a call from someone I needed to speak with ASAP. I call him from my cell phone. He doesn’t need to know that my hair is sticking out like a Cynthia doll and that my vision is still blurry. I get things resolved, all is good. Meanwhile, I feed the cat squads and pop some waffles in the toaster. I promptly forget about them and shower quickly. I grab the waffles after showering, taking the rest of my meds, moisturizing, brushing teeth, etc etc. As I’m about to head out the door, I realize I still need to medicate the kittens. I do that quickly, and head out the door.
9:10 a.m.
I’ll be real. I don’t feel bad about leaving for work after 9. My commute is exactly 10 minutes long and they don’t care when I show up, as long as I do the hours. Being a lawyer has plenty of stress and exhaustion, but this part is pretty chill.
9:20 a.m.
Oh look, I’m at the office.
10:00 a.m.
I log in to see my husband, but apparently he left work early because he didn’t feel good. I text him to see if he needs anything.
As I work, I munch on some pomegranate seeds that I cut out my poms last night. Why did I wear white pants today though?
12:30 p.m.
Lunch time! I heat up some spaghetti squash and sauce and go back to my office. All the legal assistants were sitting in the break room and it was too many people for my comfort. To be fair, all the legal assistants sitting together was already too many people for my comfort before the pandemic.
2:30 p.m.
Zoom call with a client for deposition prep. It goes fine, no issues. This is important.
3:30 p.m.
Deposition. First half hour, the client could not get the sound to work, so I just called him on my cell phone and put that up to my computer to work as the sound. We get through half an hour of deposition and then his phone dies. We try to get him back for twenty minutes before we just call it and agree to reset. I am mortified. It’s not my fault, but I’m still the lawyer and we take responsibility for the mistakes. I call my boss and let him know what happened.
5:45 p.m.
After that debacle, I work a little bit longer and then head home to make sure my husband is okay. As I pull into the parking lot, I note there is a food truck downstairs! My husband said he wanted to order food tonight, so maybe we can do this instead so as to not pay for delivery fees.
6:00 p.m.
Tutoring! This student has a test on Lord of the Flies tomorrow, so we go over her test review. I read Lord of the Flies in the eighth grade, so I tried to skim over it before tutoring, but I do have to rely on Sparknotes for some details. I can easily discuss themes with her, and she feels much better.
7:00 p.m.
My husband went downstairs while I tutored and got us dinner on his credit card. He is tutoring a different girl now for math, so I eat half my veggie burger while he works. I lay down on the sofa and read Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby for a while.
9:30 p.m.
Time to turn on the Bachelorette. It’s Tayshia’s first episode, and we’re ready for it. My husband is also a little in love with her, and I completely understand. Honestly, same.
Sometime around 11:45, I doze off on the sofa. My husband gets me up and I relocate to the bed without brushing my teeth or moisturizing. It’s one of those nights.
Daily total: $0 from me. I didn’t ask how much the burgers were.
Thursday 11/12
7:30 a.m.
I wake up feeling surprisingly rested. Maybe I’ll do a quick ride on the Peloton!
7:50 a.m.
LOL nope. I fell asleep again. But this time, I resolve to at least do an arm workup for the tricep challenge on peloton. I feed the cat parade first and turn on a 10-minute class. After that, I get dressed, and even put on makeup! Man, I feel like a woman. I balance this out by running out of time to eat breakfast. Oh well.
9:10 a.m.
Work! I left a pear here, so that’s my breakfast.
10:00 a.m.
Joining the algebra class again. They’re learning the formulas for horizontal and vertical lines and I actually remember this! But my office neighbor is here and in a hearing, so I keep the volume down low.
12:10 p.m.
Lunch! More leftover spaghetti squash. It was a huge squash and I’m getting as many meals out of it as I can.
12:39 p.m.
After three and a half days, I finally finish medical record review in one case. Time to move onto medical record review for a different case. There are more records in this one.
2:45 p.m.
I’ve gotten through two hundred more pages, so I go make some matcha. I keep a jar of matcha green tea latte mix from Trader Joe’s at work so I can make that whenever the mood strikes.
3:30 p.m.
Not so embarrassing confession: I still play Pokemon Go. I rarely spend money on it, but I don’t have a remote raid pass, so I put up the ninety-nine cents to get it.
$0.99
6:00 p.m.
I work until 6, at which time I have therapy. I stay at my office for therapy, because I’m too lazy to drive back home beforehand. We talk about the holidays, fears, my parents, and continued burnout. I resolve to talk to my husband about not going to his family’s for Thanksgiving.
7:00 p.m.
Therapy’s done, so I pack up and go home. I leave my work laptop at work because I need to be better about boundaries.
7:30 p.m.
My friend wanted to do a ride together on the Peloton. I let her pick, which was a mistake. She chooses an Alex Toussaint ride and we nearly die. While we ride, I ask my husband to peel sweet potatoes and press tofu. I should have asked him to press tofu earlier, but I didn’t figure out dinner until an hour ago.
8:00 p.m.
I boil the sweet potatoes and start making sauce for the tofu. Sauce is miso, fig jam, peanut butter, soy sauce, and honey. *Chef’s kiss* I also boil some ears of corn. Once I mash the sweet potatoes, I grab a mandarin and juice it. This is the best dinner I’ve made in ages. Baked tofu with miso sauce, sweet potato mash with orange juice, corn, and salad. I’ve peaked. While we eat, my husband and I talk about the holidays. He has students in person again, aside from the online classes, so he can’t realistically isolate anymore. His parents are older, and his brother just had a baby. We know his family really wants to see us, but it’s just not safe. The US just hit 150,000 cases today.
We make the call to my mom first, because we had previously discussed taking my 14-year-old brother. My parents are not very celebratory this year (heyo therapy), so we wanted to make sure he was fed. My mother understands. This was the easy call to make.
Then we make the call to his mom. We express our concerns, and she is much more understanding than I thought she would be. We also mention that Christmas will likely not be possible, but we know this will be a longer conversation to have with her later.
Finally, my husband calls his aunt. That conversation is not as chill. Biggest thing is that she assumed I don’t want children because of my career and that women can be lawyers and have kids. She did not know she was on speaker. I am LIVID.
After all these calls, I finally shower, do my nighttime routine, feed kittens, and get ready for bed.
11:00 p.m.
Bed time. Except that the big cats get all grumpy and are fighting with each other, so they keep us up for a while. UGH
Daily Total: $0.99
Friday, 11/13
8:00 a.m.
Not as rested as yesterday, not as tired as Wednesday. I’ll take it. Same old morning routine: cats, clothes, etc. Today, I remember the veggie breakfast sausages and heat two up to take with me.
9:15 a.m.
Work! I eat my veggie sausages and a plum. If you’re keeping track, that’s four different fruits this week. I also check my bank account! Payday! The foundation guy still hasn’t cashed his check though, which is annoying.
1:20 p.m.
I go heat up my lunch, which should finally finish up the spaghetti squash. As I walk around, I see that there are two other lawyers here and two legal assistants. It’s a ghost town. I’m tempted to leave. I also see that Barack Obama’s new book is about to come out, so I pre-order it.
$29.23
1:45 p.m.
Because of the ghost town status, I leave. I have errands to run and a Friday to enjoy. Regardless, I will still work at home.
2:00 p.m.
I saw a few recipes I want to try this weekend, so I pop over to Whole Foods right by the office and get the ingredients I don’t already have at home. It’s mostly specialty vegetables and fresh spices. I even buy salmon, which I almost never cook.
$78.40
3:00 p.m.
I get home and medicate the kittens, which I did not do before leaving this morning. I put away the groceries, and my husband gets home! Yay! He lays down on the sofa, and I pull out my laptop to finish working for the day.
5:00 p.m.
I finish working for the day and start a load of laundry
6:00 p.m.
I do a ride with my other friend. The theme is weird, but I get a great sweat in.
7:00 p.m.
I use the fancy ingredients to make coconut miso salmon curry and some plain rice. It is AMAZING!! Maybe this is the best dinner I’ve made in a while. Martha Stewart who? Meanwhile, my husband puts on the latest episode of the Mandalorian. I didn’t watch the first season with him, but I’ve enjoyed watching this with him. After that’s done, I finish Wow, No Thank You and start Anxious People.
11:00 p.m.
Bed time! Same old routine. We have a long day ahead of us.
Daily total: $107.63
Saturday 11/14
8:12 a.m.
My birth control alarm will never let me sleep in.
9:30 a.m.
But I do get to sleep a little while longer. However, today is my birthday party/friendsgiving and we have so much cleaning to do. I heat up some tea, and my husband makes us toaster waffles, and we sit for a little while.
To be clear, when I say party, I mean, hanging out with the same few people I’ve seen all of quarantine. There will be eight other people there aside from my husband and I, so there will be a total of 10 people in my apartment. (And five cats). I even considered cancelling this after we had to call the family and tell them we weren’t going to Thanksgiving. But I’m already bummed I don’t get to go to the Texas Renaissance Festival this year, so a small get-together is as good as it gets.
10:00 a.m.
The theme here is powerpoint party, and even though I sent out the information two weeks ago, I have not prepared my powerpoint. I spend three hours prepping my powerpoint. It is informative, it is dark, it is ready.
Well, kind of. About two hours in, I notice my laptop has stopped charging. I JUST GOT THIS CHARGER A MONTH AGO. I have known the end was coming for my laptop soon enough, but I kept trying to hold it off. My laptop is already four years old, and it would not be worth it to replace the battery. I don’t like using my work laptop for personal things, but I don’t have another option, and my husband is still working on his presentation as well, so I grab my work laptop and finish it off. Let’s see if I purchase a new laptop this upcoming week. (Recommendations are always welcome. I currently have a Dell XPS 13 Touch, and I’ll probably just get a new one of those unless a better recommendation comes along).
1:30 p.m.
We start the deep clean. I get busy in the kitchen and my husband cleans the bathroom. Vacuuming, mopping, rug cleaning, etc. and soon, our apartment is spotless.
While we’re cleaning, my mom texts me and confirms the foundation guy picked up his check.
4:30 p.m.
I still need a few more things so I shower quickly and head to Kroger to get the last things I forgot at Whole Foods. I am unfortunately out of time to work out, so that won’t happen today.
4:45 p.m.
Paper plates, cups, tin foil, and more tofu. I’m not trying to do all those dishes tomorrow.
$16.26
5:00 p.m.
I also go to Spec’s to get more alcohol. It’s the only place that has mead, and I’m trying to recreate those Ren Fest vibes as best I can.
$102.90
5:30 p.m.
Time to start cooking. Everyone is bringing a little something, so the weight is not on me to do it all. I am making vegetarian shepherd’s pie, tofu roulade, and roasted cauliflower. I’m very anxious. I’ve never been a fan of hosting parties, and COVID has only confirmed that I prefer being a homebody. Insert cooking montage here.
6:00 p.m.
One of my friends arrives early and helps me finish prepping. The roulade is not going well, which is disappointing.
7:00 p.m.
Everyone has arrived, and we start eating.
Presentations are shown, laughs ensue, and good times are had by all. Powerpoint themes:

• Poetry of Catullus (Catullus is a fuckboi)
• Crimes Each Duggar Would Commit (this was me)
• Loch Ness (by my friend who honeymooned in Scotland and is learning Scottish)
• The Republican Party’s Path To Victory (It’s a shitpost. It’s one slide and it’s Jeb!)
• Do Tapirs Exist? An Exposition (Spoiler alert: Yes)
• The Spy Kids Trilogy and Why They’re The Greatest Movies to Ever Exist (undisputed best slideshow of the night)

12:00-1:00 a.m.ish
I don’t remember exactly when the party ended, but it was a reasonable enough hour. I take my makeup off and go to bed.
Daily total: $119.16
Sunday 11/15
8:12 a.m.
Birth control alarm. UGH. I am hungover and feeling it.
9:00 a.m.
I move to the sofa so I can watch tiktoks without waking up my husband. I will not move from this spot very much all day.
We don’t really eat breakfast today, because we are still full from last night. Around lunchtime, we heat up some more food from last night.
I watch Big Mouth all day because season 4 is coming out in a few weeks. It’s just as weird and uncomfortable as I remember it being.
I also cuddle with kittens all day, and they are SO CUTE. I LOVE THEM.
7:00 p.m. ish
I finally get up to be semi-productive. I load the dishwasher and leave the pots and pans for my husband to wash later. We still ended up using all our utensils, serving spoons, and small plates for cake.
I also start dinner. We actually finished most of the food we had made yesterday at lunch. I make ramen and guss it up with shiitake mushrooms, miso (lots of miso this week), kimchi, and rice cakes. Easy, tasty, satisfying.
Around this time, I go back to my laptop. It is not charging. UGH.
After dinner, and more tv, I finally shower, and finally feel like a normal person. I read for a little while before bed.
11:30 p.m.
What a lazy Sunday. It’s exactly what I needed.
Daily total: $0
Monday 11/16
7:15 a.m.
I’m up and mostly rested.
7:30 a.m.
I get out of bed, and finally do a chore I’ve been putting off all week: repotting my money tree to take back to the office.
After that, it’s the same old morning routine: cats, plants, packing lunch, getting dressed. But today, makeup and breakfast both happen. Who is she????
Additionally, I joined a weight loss pool at work that started a month ago. I weigh myself for the weekly check-in. Despite the feast I had this weekend, I still managed to lose a pound. This is pretty consistent with what I’ve done all month. Overall, four pounds lost. I wish it would go faster, but it’s fine. I’m healthy, I’m active, and I eat well.
9:00 a.m.
Work! My money tree fell over in the car and dirt got all over the ground. Great. And the tree is falling out of its new pot. I awkwardly repot it in my car, and then in my office. Hopefully it’s okay. Otherwise, I have a specific research topic to answer, and a report due tomorrow.
I also bring my personal laptop and hope it will charge here. No such luck. I order a replacement charger AGAIN, but this time it’s free of charge. I also start doing research on how much it’ll take to replace my laptop. I do need it for tutoring, so it’s not like I can put it off much longer. There are Black Friday deals going on already. There’s also a Best Buy nearby, so I’ll go look after work.
11:30 a.m.
I eat a plum and go look at my credit card statement. I usually pay it off every two weeks, to align with paychecks, so I pay off my credit card. I note that there’s a Classpass charge on my card. I saw the email a few weeks ago and forgot to cancel. I cancel my membership, but the $60 charge is already on my card. UGH
$60.00
I also get an email confirming our Imperfect Foods order and the charge that comes with it.
$63.93
1:00 p.m.
I heat up some of the ramen from yesterday. It’s fine. Our work microwave isn’t very good. I eat a mandarin as well.
5:30 p.m.
I am almost finished with the document review in this case, but I ordered some tables for my office plants last week, and they came in over the weekend. I assemble those and arrange my plants. Since it’s my birthday tomorrow, I get to go to the plant store.
6:00 p.m.
I drive on over to Best Buy and check out the Dell selection. They only have Inspirons on display. What a waste of time. I also goofed on the way over here and had to do a big loop on the highway to get here, so I’m extra annoyed. Afterwards, I call my husband and he already knows that I’m going to suggest ordering in. He gets me.
6:40 p.m.
I get home and plop on the sofa. He wants something hearty, but I want the opposite. We find a good compromise and I put the order in.
$40.44
7:45 p.m.
Food is here! He got a BBQ brisket sandwich, and I got a brussel sprout salad. Compromise. We watch the latest Last Week Tonight. John Oliver blows up 2020 and it’s exactly what this year deserves. Trash TV and kitten cuddles for the rest of the night. Too tired to read.
11:00 p.m.
Time for bed. Teeth, face, etc.
Daily total: $164.37
WEEKLY TOTALS
Food + Drink: $310.89
Fun / Entertainment: $30.22 (book and pokemon go)
Home + Health: $0.00
Clothes + Beauty: $89.95
Transport: $0.00
Other: $60.00
GRAND TOTAL: $491.06
REFLECTIONS
Aside from the alcohol and extra party purchases, this was a pretty standard week. I have been doing better about not buying clothes when I’m sad, but I also normally buy used clothing and not a new dress for $90. I am very much a creature of habit, which I did not realize until I wrote it all out. I am excited about our financial future, and although we aren’t putting much into savings right now, I know that’s temporary.