June 2020: wedding stuff begins

Oh, hi, y’all. Why the hell am I even bothering to post a spending report 11 months late? No one cares about last year’s spending, and I don’t particularly care about it either.

But honestly, if I don’t finish out my 2020 spending (starting with June because that’s where I left off), I am pretty sure I’ll never get back into blogging again. More on that later (it’s one of the many posts I keep meaning to write but can’t seem to get around to doing).

So, here we are. Continue reading “June 2020: wedding stuff begins”

February 2019: “oh shit, I need a new roommate” edition

I have an excellent excuse for not having posted last week: Gwen from Fiery Millennials is now my roommate and was moving in! Admittedly, it’s my fault for naively assuming I’d have time to write Wednesday night and that, say, putting together a bed wouldn’t take hours.  But never mind that—blame her instead for my radio silence last week!

Which leads into February’s rundown. Continue reading “February 2019: “oh shit, I need a new roommate” edition”

The elephant (snake?) in the room: fear, guilt, and excitement

In case you haven’t been able to tell from my social media or recent posts, I’ve been doing a lot of hiking lately.

There were the 16 miles I hiked solo two weekends ago. Last weekend I went with other people on Saturday, but alone again on Sunday. And let’s just say between trail conditions (SO MUCH MUD) and my brain, Sunday wasn’t exactly the must fun I’ve ever had out on the trail. Continue reading “The elephant (snake?) in the room: fear, guilt, and excitement”

A quick note because I’m not sure what else to write

I spent a ton of time yesterday looking up apartments in this area (not just DC, the VA/MD suburbs as well) and wanting to cry because holy hell I cannot afford to live here. Despite things happening last weekend that convinced me it was time to move, I may honestly end up re-upping my lease for another year because at this point I can’t really afford to move to a different place (or at least not to any of the ones currently available). I figured in some small way that would spark an idea for today’s post, but I sat down at my computer last night and I just couldn’t bring myself to write anything. Continue reading “A quick note because I’m not sure what else to write”

How to save money on car insurance: terrifying decision edition

Last year I wrote a post about saving money on car insurance. It included a lot of the basics—shopping around, getting a policy for a full year instead of 6 months, and paying for that year up front instead of monthly. Plus it’s the same company I have my renter’s insurance with, so I got a bundling discount there.

Well it’s that time of year again (not a coincidence that this is now the second year in a row I’ve opened up a new credit card around this time ?). And I’m back with more money-saving tips. Except that they aren’t the basics this year. I’m actually terrified to do this: I’m dropping the comprehensive and collision coverage for my car. Continue reading “How to save money on car insurance: terrifying decision edition”

In defense of kid lit and rereading

So I went to CampFI two weekends ago. And then, instead of having time to recover from that (#introvertproblems), I jumped right in to chorus concert week where I spent multiple evenings at rehearsal (remember my plan to go to bed at 11? Impossible when you get home at 11, assuming you’re lucky and don’t have to wait 20-25 minutes in the metro station for a train home so it’s even later) and had to dedicate my entire weekend to it. So to say I’m exhausted is a bit of an understatement.

I was adventurous and went to barre Tuesday night for the first time in the better part of three weeks (yes, that’s how busy I’ve been); I am very consciously making the choice to skip it tonight in the hopes that that’ll allow me to finish up this post and go to bed more or less on time. But other than that, I spent Monday and Tuesday evenings in an exhausted stupor on the couch, too tired to do things that’ll make my life easier, like putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher (my roommate isn’t currently home so I’m not forced to clean for her sake), or to work on the things I want to get done. My impending car insurance renewal isn’t going to research itself, after all.

That’s made it hard to figure out what to write about lately. It’s hard to pull money lessons out of sheer exhaustion, and even harder to dedicate the time to sit down and write a post. Hell, I haven’t even spent any money so far this week thanks to the seriously well-stocked fridge (again, good thing my roommate isn’t here because it wasn’t just my half of the fridge that was full!) my mom left when she departed my apartment on Monday morning. Bless her for that, especially because this is a week I’ve been too tired to think about making food for myself, let alone grocery shopping and actually making it. I may have spent the bulk of the last two evenings on the couch but at least I had healthy food to eat while I was there!

So let’s talk something a bit different today. And let’s start off by revisiting my bookshelf. Continue reading “In defense of kid lit and rereading”

The power of small (literal) steps

My primary form of transportation is walking. Most of my trips are in the 15-25 minute range, but I’ve certainly been known to walk 40 or 50 minutes to get somewhere.

Last weekend I found myself looking at a 2.5 mile/50-ish minute walk and felt a bit overwhelmed: that’s a ridiculously long walk (never mind the fact that it would take me probably 40 minutes on public transit so I might as well get some exercise in)! Who would do that?!?[*]

And then I realized: most days I do double that and think nothing of it since it’s just routine. Continue reading “The power of small (literal) steps”