Y’all, the flu SUCKS. It is the fucking worst. I’ve had it for three miserable days and I am tired of feeling awful and tired of staying in bed (also apologies if none of this makes sense. I’m not functioning very well lately). I went to work for an hour today before someone yelled at me and told me to go home, so back to bed it was. I’m also tired of, in my ample spare time laying in bed, trying not to worry about whether or not I’ll be good to get on a plane by Monday night. Remember that trip I mentioned in the last post? Yeah, I’m supposed to be spending next week in the Azores with my mom and sister, and I’m really hoping I’m better in time for that. But I’m also trying not to think (worry) about it. Continue reading “Two tales of health insurance”
Wins this week
It’s late on Friday night, I just finished cooking for the next few days, doing all the dishes, and cleaning my perpetually-dirty kitchen counters, and I’m tired. I’m super busy this weekend and my last post was pretty serious so I figure I’ll just make a quick list of all the good things that happened this week since I don’t really have the time or energy for more. I’m actively trying to be more mindful and thankful for small things, so I might make this a recurring feature. But for this week: Continue reading “Wins this week”
Progress, not perfection
Ever since I can remember I’ve struggled with perfectionism. Maybe it’s oldest child syndrome or something, but somewhere early on I got this idea in my head that everything I did needed to be perfect. I had to get perfect grades growing up, and let me tell you, in college that translated into way too much time spent studying and absolutely way too much heartache over my few A- grades. I had to be the nice, well-behaved child or I’d let my parents down somehow. I needed to know what was happening three weeks in advance so I could put it in my planner. I didn’t start drinking until fairly late in college because I was afraid to lose control.
During college I recognized that being so inflexible and focused on everything being just right was making my life harder, not easier, and less fun, so during my sophomore year I tried to start relaxing my uptight perfectionist qualities, just a bit. Continue reading “Progress, not perfection”
When the best deal isn’t the right one
So I did A Thing a few weeks ago and bought a Vitamix. We can debate whether or not I actually needed to pull out the big guns for making smoothies or whether I could’ve stuck with a $50 blender, but the fact is I was sick to death of my roommate’s awful Magic Bullet (I seriously hate those. You can’t run them for more than a minute at a time because they are wimpy pieces of junk, there are always whole frozen berries at the bottom, and the stupid design means I’ve poured milk into the container, screwed on the top with the blades, flipped it over, and promptly had all that milk leak everywhere). I was looking to get something else RIGHT NOW (well a few days later anyway. I did my research like a good money-conscious person) and a Vitamix seemed to be a good choice. Continue reading “When the best deal isn’t the right one”
Digit review: effortless savings with an unfortunate new change
Back all of two weeks ago when I decided to start this blog, I had the idea that I’d do a series about the fun money-saving apps I use to both save up for specific things and to boost my savings effortlessly. After all, I’m a millennial with a smartphone so it’s only natural I use these things, right? (I would say that’s a hilarious joke because I didn’t even get a smartphone until a month after I graduated college so I’m still relatively new to this scene, but it turns out joke’s on me because I’m just as addicted as I assume all the cool kids are who got theirs back in high school and college. That’s one of the reasons my personal Facebook account has been deactivated for something like 5 months now, but I digress).
Well, I’m putting the horse before the cart here because this post is about why I’m going to stop using one of said magical money-saving apps. Continue reading “Digit review: effortless savings with an unfortunate new change”
Financial independence and my future freedom
So, Erin, now that you’ve created a blog about it, what exactly is this financial independence thing you’re working towards in life? Good question, convenient rhetorical device! (Side note: asking a question so you can answer it yourself is called hypophora so boom, you just learned something today!) Continue reading “Financial independence and my future freedom”
My not-so-comfortable life?
So about that Washington Post article today that says you need $80,273 to live “comfortably” in DC…
1) Is that pre- or post-tax? These things matter.
2) Is this per household or average per person?
3) I guess things are looking up because last year the number was $108,092.
4) I started laughing and then I think I kept laughing to keep from crying. And then I shared the article with a coworker and we were both laughing to keep from crying.
Here’s the deal: at least as a single person, I find this ludicrous, even pre-tax. Continue reading “My not-so-comfortable life?”
DC property tax credit: Schedule H
Since it’s tax season, I figured I’d write about a DC tax credit that doesn’t seem to be all that well-known or publicized. I’d certainly never heard about it until TaxAct helpfully prompted me to fill out the information for it and boy am I glad it did!
Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a tax expert and am not licensed to be giving anyone tax advice. Talk to a professional before doing your taxes. Continue reading “DC property tax credit: Schedule H”