Save. Spend. Splurge.

Week of Money: Where I feel free from yoga obligations

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up for no reason. My body is used to waking up at 5:30 so that’s what it does. I lie there listening to Little Bun snuffle, and my partner snore. I cannot sleep. I CANNOT SLEEP. I am tired and cannot sleep. WTF body.

6:11 a.m. — Little Bun wakes up a bit later. He smiles in the dark at me. I smile back and give him a big hug and kiss. He crawls on top of me and I hold his (heavy) body against mine. I love this feeling. I remember doing it when he was a tiny baby..

6:13 a.m. — I get up and grab his milk. There is a shortage of goat milk so he only gets half a bottle, poor baby. He drinks it anyway.

6:18 a.m. — We get ready to “get going” and he protests at the usage of “get going”. “Don’t like get going! DON’T WANT TO SAY GET GOING…” Okay.. calm down.. let’s get ready then.

6:24 a.m. — I get dressed in my silk blazer vest again but change the pants out from my wide-legged paperbag waist flannel ones which I LOVE but today, as I WILL go to my LAST paid yoga class of the year it would look really stupid tucked into UGG boots as I walk there. It looks like a Russian dancer, you know, big flowy pants tucked into boots? Ugly. Also, UGG boots are warm and comfy. I don’t give AF what anyone thinks of what it looks like. I’m warm and comfy. I have other shearling boots and so on, but sometimes you just want to wear something to treat your feet. They are NOT practical in winter though, only for cooler, but dry sidewalk, snow, slush, and ice-free weather.

6:36 a.m. — I slather on makeup. My skin is peeling at the chin and on the sides of my face and my eyes. Eczema flare-ups from winter…. My makeup thankfully, covers that but reveals the dry, flaking skin which I hate but I know with the exfoliants I put on this morning, it will peel off by the end of the day, then I can moisturize and plump up the skin.

6:42 a.m. — I do selfies and then LookBook with Little Bun. He gets dressed in pants that has a HOLE IN IT because he WANTS the hole in the knee. People must think my son is a mini hobo or something, but kids want what they want and you gotta pick your battles. Or maybe he’s a hipster in disguise.. who knows.

7:30 a.m. — At preschool, the drop off is great. I lug all his winter gear in, pack it away, then kiss him good bye.

7:45 a.m. — At work, I start a cup of tea, make my breakfast sandwich – I have taken to adding dulse flakes (seaweed) in lieu of salt, and I like the sort of algae/seaweed kick it gives as a flavouring.

8:11 a.m. — I have.. a… effload of work to do today. So many things to do, it is not funny and my deadline is this week but I HAVE to pick up my yoga mat from the studio and go to my last class.

11:31 a.m. — I leave for my last and final paid yoga class early. I settle up my bill, and end up with a $30 credit. I would have preferred cash but they give me some story about how the system doesn’t work properly.. or whatever. WHATEVER. I am not paying for a subscription any more because it’s time to do yoga at home at night, alone rather than paying for a class. I buy the last class with my $30 credit which costs $23, and I have a $7 credit which I WOULD use on a second class, but decide instead to buy some locally made cream instead. It costs me money in the end, but I have some amazing organic hand cream and I’m done with paying for classes. Time to save money. $21.75

1:02 p.m. — Back at the office, I make my lunch of carrots, turnips, yellow peas and quinoa, add a slice of turkey meat to it, cook up an egg as well, and add seaweed flakes. YUM. I devour my lunch. Way tastier. I need some greenery though.. spinach maybe? I should buy some tomorrow, it’s easy to microwave and wilt down to add.

1:45 p.m. — I do a Spanish lesson on Duolingo.

3:30 p.m. — I don’t stop working until my last meeting of the day. My skin is flaking like mad, I can feel it peeling off…

4:00 p.m. — I bolt the minute the meeting is over and pick up Little Bun. He snacks on a digestive cookie from the snack box, and then we head home.

4:44 p.m. — I brush my teeth, take a shower (and by the way, I LOVVVVE my new, free $0 haircut and it looks awesome will all the layers..), and then start a load of kitchen towel laundry.

5:16 p.m. — I log in and file my taxes for my business (I pay quarterly), and feel the pinch.

5:50 p.m. — OMG. I MADE A MISTAKE…. #$&#%(&#(%&#Q)%(&)%&#()&%#

6:12 p.m. — I sigh, find and fill out a form to CORRECT my stupid submitted mistake, and fix my tax payment online. How stupid am I…. #$(*&. Just because I didn’t check my main number for gross sales, I effed up the rest of the calculations. Damn it.. I’m so dumb.

6:29 p.m. — I finally get it fixed, Little Bun whines a little that he wants to play with Mommy but bravely sits on my lap watching me work accounting entries and bookkeeping to fix my mistake, and I quietly kiss his head and praise him for being so good, waiting for me.

6:57 p.m. — He runs off to play with his father, but then he roughhouses and slaps his knee, my partner yells at him, and Little Bun runs back to me sobbing… I yell back at my partner to just TELL him to stop because you don’t like it, and HE WILL. You have to explain it to him that you don’t like it, not just yell at him and threaten to take away treats – he doesn’t know what he is doing is hurting you, so tell him. I cuddle Little Bun and explain that Daddy doesn’t like being smacked, etc etc… we work it out, cuddling for 15 minutes.

7:36 p.m. — Time for bed. He fights me AGAIN. This is a recurring theme. He wants to play alllll day. He refuses to accept it is night time. He protests, he plants his bum on the floor and doesn’t want to move to get dressed for bed. OMFG.

7:556 p.m. — I manage to explain in detail what things are happening outside, and then he finally deigns to sleep after a bit of iPad language study.

8:40 p.m. — Afterwards, he lies down on my chest, cuddling with me – I LOVE THIS FEELING of my child on my chest – and drops off to sleep.

Spent: $21.75 – but will save $100+ a month from doing yoga at home.

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up .. AGAIN.. lying there, waiting for Little Bun to wake up. I am sure it is 5-ish. My body won’t sleep again. Stupid body..

6:00 a.m. — Little Bun wakes up, crawls over to my side, and rolls me over like a hot dog, and smiles into my face, breathing into my face. I hug and kiss him. I love this child so much. I cuddle him, kiss him until he squeals and wiggles free, and then he runs out to grab his milk.

6:02 a.m. — I explain that the goats for Easter took a break, and there is no goat milk, so can we share a banana instead? He agrees. We share a banana together, and I tell him he is a good boy for listening to his Mommy and Daddy so far, I am very proud of him, and he is my little baby. I learned from my mother, that it is important to praise children for even the littlest things to build up their confidence. If you think they’re a good boy, they will BE a good boy as a result, because my parents think so, and he strives for that level of achievement. At least, that’s how it worked for me.

6:07 a.m. — I start getting ready for work, he chooses my watch (Olivia Burton rose gold moulded floral), and I switch out my jacket from a beige blazer (too formal) to a ivory shawl one instead that is more in line with the whole look today.

6:22 a.m. — I FINALLY manage to wrangle him into a green shirt bought by his Mamie (it is so cute on him but he hates long sleeves), and we do selfies and Lookbook together.

7:15 a.m. — At preschool, he snags more digestive cookies from yesterday’s snack box, and then I head off to work after kissing him goodbye and telling him how much I love him.

7:29 a.m. — At work, I make my sandwich (and AGAIN, awesome), and a cup of hot chocolate tea.

7:32 a.m. — I get straight to work, and have to parse out a lot of details to make sure my timeline and dependencies for this project work. Any slip up and it means a lot of problems will happen, and I will probably have to fix each one by calling the client. DO NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN.

9:40 a.m. — My eyes are cross-eyed now. Damn… I take a break, grab a lemongrass tea and then finish off the presentation before my next meeting.

9:58 a.m. — I go off to my meeting, sort everything out, convince everyone to come on board, then go and grab my lunch.

11:59 a.m. —  Meeting over, I have a lot to think about to make sure I don’t screw anything up and it goes smoothly….. this is kind of what I get paid for because people may know bits and pieces of things but I have the entire chain in my head from one end to the other and back, crossing an expertise of about 5 teams which is the reason why I get paid — I’m like 5 employees in one brain. I don’t think companies see this though. That’s the sad part – I’m actually saving them money or costing them about the same amount if they were to hire 5 people to replace me. 🙁

12:01 p.m. — I add more turkey slices to my meal — what a cheap way to add meat without actually adding much.. I only need one slice for a whole lunch box plus some seaweed flakes.

12:14 p.m. — Afterwards, I eat half a tub of yoghurt and go through my RSS reader, and then with half an hour left, I head out to the grocery store.

12:30 p.m. — At the pharmacy I pick up some Cadbury eggs – a mixed bag, I really wanted only the crème eggs but they had some bag that also had solid milk chocolate and Caramilk in there, and some faux mini eggs by Hershey .. meh. We’ll see if these are great. $17.25

12:30 p.m. — I also head into the grocery store, and buy some whole wheat English muffins, more sliced chicken, and more Provolone cheese. Huh. It’s cheaper here than at Wal-mart. What a scam. I’m not buying groceries at Wal-mart any more. Lowest price? I THINK NOT. $14.34

1:07 p.m. — Back at the office, I rip open the box and dump the mini eggs into the bin and get to work.

2:12 a.m. — You know, I’m pretty happy I cancelled yoga. That was a weight on my shoulders making me feel guilty about not being able to make it due to meetings or being sick.. and plus I save $100 a month if I do it at home after work when my partner gets home to watch Little Bun as I sneak off for an hour to work out.

3:30 p.m. — I don’t stop for a break. At all. It’s non-stop.

3:33 p.m. — Everything finished, I take a break to rest my eyes. I eat like.. 3 Caramilk eggs

4:07 p.m. — I head off to grab Little Bun. I need to wash my shawl jacket and it says dryclean only but I’ll just wash it on cold delicate and hang it to dry. I need to cut back on drycleaning unless NECESSARY (e.g. winter jackets that I am not washing by hand).

5:17 p.m. — At home, Little Bun eats grapes (no milk again for him 🙁 ) and I start a load of laundry – delicate wash on a cashmere and wool turtleneck that I dirtied last weekend. I resist shopping / browsing online and review my budget instead.

5:29 p.m. — I finish playing the Shoppers game instead for 19 entries to win gift cards. It’s a ploy to make you want to buy those products or eat them, but actually I do need to pick up sunscreen for Little Bun for outings this summer so I do plan on going to the store for that soon.

5:30 p.m. — I start feeding Little Bun his vegan stew. (I want my noodles..)

5:53 p.m. — My partner gets home with a stash of milk. FINALLY. Little Bun finishes eating his vegan stew, and gets a bottle of milk.

6:34 p.m. — Noodles done and eaten, my partner doles out some grapes to all of us and Little Bun very patiently picks all the grapes off all the stems off his bowl and mine as well. <3

7:42 p.m. — He starts coughing HARD, and I panic run to him and smack his back a couple of times thinking he is choking but then I realize if he was choking he wouldn’t be making any noise. I think the sweet grape juice just went down his throat without any saliva and the sweetness was making him cough (that happens to me sometimes)..

7:03 p.m. — I finished my bowl of grapes, now it’s his turn to eat the rest of his…

8:17 p.m. — We are in bed, in pyjamas (no fight tonight), and he is playing with his father, getting physically exhausted. GOOD. GET THAT ENERGY OUT.

8:30 p.m. — Bed Time. He conks out.

Spent: $31.59

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up.. really… tired. Little Bun slept a bit earlier last night so naturally he woke up a bit earlier. 5:30 is ridiculously early.

5:17 a.m. — I don’t bother getting ready yet it is far too early, I check my emails instead, drink a cup of warm milk and then hear: Maaa maaaa? Maaaa MAAAAAAAA? …persistently in the bedroom after he finishes his milk.

5:25 a.m. — I go and I rub his back, and cuddle him, but then he gets up and asks to go into the kitchen with Mommy.

6:03 a.m. — I get dressed in my outfit, not changing anything but not loving all this BLACK with this spring-y skirt. I am missing nude tights that would let me wear short boots instead and not have to always choose knee-high boots in black and brown..

6:05 a.m. — I ask Little Bun if he wants to stay at home with Daddy and he says yes “Play all day with Daddy”.. but then decides he wants to go to school instead with Mommy.

6:17 a.m. — Little Bun refuses to listen to me after I repeatedly tell him to STOP jumping around and throwing his things in the air, and after weeks of being calm and zen, I JUST LOSE IT. I scream at him but then catch myself, clench my teeth, rub his tears away and just hug him. It is frustrating. It really, effing is. I like that he is a bit contrary but that is for when he is OLDER, NOT NOW. Which is very contradictory for parents – we want them to listen to US but to question outside authority when it doesn’t seem right or fair, but how do we teach them THAT nuance? LOL … This is too philosophical for me right now.

6:49 a.m. — I get him ready, FINALLY, my partner gets his lunch ready (and mine, he adds sauce to mine), and then we head off.

7:10 a.m. — At preschool he gets a bowl of Cheerios and then I head into office.. tired. My brain has been running full gear the past week or so and I need a break. I make a tea, my breakfast sandwich with a few cherry tomatoes on the side (this makes a difference!) and get to work.

7:16 a.m. — I leisurely make a cup of chai and take a mental break of sorts to read Xin’s Money Diary for the week. I like reading diaries of bloggers I know, I have discovered… I still like the Refinery29 Money Diaries but sometimes they post two of them a day and it is too much to read without just unstarring them and skipping most of them unless the salary and/or initial story sounds interesting. Plus, they don’t really “talk” in those posts. They just talk about what they did and what they spent which is the point of the post, but I enjoy a little rambling. Their lives seem too perfect as well sometimes which is the case of most things posted online.

7:50 a.m. — I make a note to pick up more chai blend at the store. I really like this tea blend and it is easy to mix it with any kind of milk. Thus far, it has satisfied my Starbucks craving on the daily, which means that when I DO buy Starbucks, it is really just because I am out and it’s a treat. At $6 per box it can be pricey but I get about 10 8oz drinks out of a single box, so that works out to $0.60 per serving plus the cost of the milk added, so about $1 which is far more frugal than the $5+ I have been paying at Starbucks to have them make it for me fresh.

8:24 a.m. — OMG. Are you kidding me? Is my skirt actually LOOSE? That’s why it keeps flapping around and rotating. This is one of my tighter skirts that I could barely squeeze into when I started this job, and now it is actually about an inch too loose. I don’t want to take it in because what if I put on weight again (I love this skirt). I wish there was an option to adjust the size with a clip or something that wasn’t visible.

9:30 a.m. — Is it too early for chocolate? Can I pretend it is a snack? I’ll wait until 10, that’s “closer” to lunch time and more believable.

9:49 a.m. — I really need nude tights. And nude micro fishnet tights. I hate having my legs all covered up when I am in skirts and dresses, but ironically, love wearing boots with pants. Go figure.

10:40 a.m. — I TOTALLY waited past 10 a.m. and it is officially in the “lunch zone”, so I eat a chocolate egg.

10:42 a.m. — My colleague messages me, desperate to leave for lunch. I did not plan on this, she and I both brought our lunches but she needs to vent. LOL… I decide on pizza.

11:00 a.m. — We agree to escape in 15 minutes. Even though it’s raining.

11:02 a.m. — ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH I GOT TO THE END OF THIS LONG PROCESS AND THEN MY COMPUTER CRASHED BEFORE SAVING IT. OMFG. I leave to breathe some fire out in the lobby and practice my Spanish.

11:16 a.m. — We head out to lunch, but the place isn’t open for another 15 minutes and it is COLD, so we go to another place around the corner and I get the pasta. It is pricey for what it was, and the braised beef was more like a beef mush… Not terrible but the braised beef being mushy is silly. I ate 3 buns however. $29.08

1:07 p.m. — Back at the office, fully vented and a little more relaxed, I munch on a few Caramilk eggs. Nomz.

2:13 p.m. —I take a break to drink a tisane of cinnamon and dried apples. It’s quite good.

2:16 p.m. — Now the skirt fits again. LOL.. I’m stuffed from lunch and from drinking teas. Sweet. I gossip with a colleague about other colleagues and find out that one is retiring early next year at the age of 55!! Good for him. He’s also single so that helps haha..

3:08 p.m. — Almost there. Almost there….

4:00 p.m. — I bolt for Little Bun. When I reach him, a whiff of poo hits my nose.. wtf..?.. I ask him if he needs the bathroom but apparently he has been “tooting all day”… *sigh*

4:28 p.m. — At home I dress and try to leave to do yoga downstairs in the gym alone but Little Bun clings to me and sobs. F*ck.. I can’t do this because I then feel stressed that he’s screaming and crying and that just kills the zen…

5:05 p.m. — Super annoyed, I am pissed at not being able to just leave and do what I want for just one goddamn hour. KIDS.

5:13 p.m. — I get into the shower and when I get out, I lather my skin in exfoliants and my entire body in rosehip oil… luxurious. Then I cover it in body cream. Eczema gone!

6:21 p.m. — Little Bun has been hassling me for the past half hour but I need to get basic stuff done like check the budget thus far, enter amounts, think about the long-term goal and then figure out my plan for this year and the next money-wise. He hassles me SO MUCH I tell him that I will play with him in 10 minutes. He STILL HASSLES ME.

6:26 p.m. — I order more organic rosehip oil, I only have 1/3 left.

6:49 p.m. — It is SO SILLY but to get enough money in the cart to get free shipping (it would cost $10!) I add a few items, but end up also deciding to buy the nude tights online rather than going in-person to the store…

7:14 p.m. — Dang. I managed to not go crazy just because I wanted to make the most of the $10 shipping, but this is the final count for $98.57

The good news is that I was going to buy the nutritional yeast and the nude tights ANYWAY this weekend, so now that’s off my list. *check check* Talk about shopping cart inflation though. Yeeesh.

7:22 p.m. — Speaking of noodles… I make some to eat.

Spent: $127.65

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up pretty early. Little Bun didn’t sleep enough, I can tell. He is a bit grumpy but .. he is up and I’m up. It is DEFINITELY before 6 a.m., I can tell by the light coming in the window. Children are really Nature’s Alarm Clock….

6:00 a.m. — I get up and get his milk for him, then get ready for work. My skin is finally healing and my acne is disappearing. Only one left on my chin (I think it is where I rest my chin on Little Bun’s head), a few on my nose (definitely from sunglasses), and the last one on my cheek (my evidence of indulging on chocolate.. especially white chocolate..)

6:10 a.m. — I take extra care around my eyes – still red with eczema, and put a few drops of rosehip oil on there to calm it down, and then cover the rest of my face in my entire regiment of exfoliants and anti-aging stuff. Who knows if it works, I will see in 10 years I guess but reviews have said that they started doing stuff to their face 10-ish years ago and now they look much younger. The key is of course sunscreen which I am diligent about, plus avoiding the sun (I hate sweating, and do not want sun spots). I’m eying this Coola brand for next time.

6:32 a.m. — I get dressed in something super minimalist in a tipped blazer with black and white and then do the dishes because we have half an hour before I actually have to leave. My whole experiment of doing dishes when I see them is working out very well. I am speeding through them very quickly, the kitchen is kept clean, my stress has gone down as a result of not seeing the dirty dishes in the sink AND there are always clean utensils around which was an issue before when I was leaving it for days on end…

6:43 a.m. — We do LookBook — Little Bun is very insistent that he enter and choose all the pieces by himself now in the app, and actually checks my outfit to make sure I haven’t added extra accessories without his approval. Case in point – today I added a gold ring that I really wanted to wear, along with the two black stone rings he picked out to go with my outfit, and when he saw my third ring addition he gasped in horror and said: NO! NO MOMMY WEAR RING! Only THESE two rings!!!… I had to take it off and hide it in my pocket and then put it back on surreptitiously before we left. Hilarious.

7:16 a.m. — We head into preschool, he gets ONE slice of bread with a THIN layer of jam (his first taste of jam, ever.. I suspect.. and I told him it is also called jelly, like in the video song he loves – Peanut Butter & Jelly – by Super Simple Songs).

7:40 a.m. — At work, I make my sandwich, a cup of tea, and get caught eating it by my Director. We chat for a bit. I think he is finally starting to thaw towards me. He is pretty guarded / private, and no one has gotten close thus far but I’m working on his ice layer. I have a feeling he is both intimidated by how much we all know (we are mostly younger than him), the fact that he has done our job for a bit but basically moved into management because he wasn’t really cut out for technical bits of it, and he doesn’t want to cross the line with ANYONE.

8:15 a.m. — I get back to work and don’t stop except for a few tea breaks.

12:42 p.m. — I continue working after eating my lunch, finishing off that tub of yoghurt and eating 5 chocolate eggs. In that order.

1:15 p.m. — I have a whole week left of solid back to back work and I want to be sure that I am on top of it.

2:28 p.m. — My boss hands me the $2.00 he owes me for his fortune cookie addiction (lol) I picked up a small bag for him. He likes cracking them open and only keeping the messages he likes.

2:19 p.m. — I washed my shawl jacket last night (just the neck) to remove the dirt and then delicate washed it instead of drycleaning it. $7 saved!

2:26 p.m. — My colleague comes over to eat some of the easter eggs.

3:02 p.m. — I had a really funny conversation with my colleague the other day. She was laughing because I’m being super sarcastic and (realistic) I think. It started by her asking me if a colleague I knew was single. I replied that yes I thought she was definitely single and about 40 years old.

Her: I knew it. How did I know she was single?

Me: It’s cuz single people smell different. Did she smell like happiness, liberty and hopeful promise?

Her: LOL.. I wonder why she’s still single at 40. I mean she’s beautiful, smart.. no idea why.

Me: She has very high standards. Maybe bordering on unrealistic because she is a bit of a princess (as told to me by her ex).. she wants a lot out of a guy and she does offer a lot in return, but it is a lot for ANYONE to meet. The pool is also smaller — the problem is that a lot of us have been partnered up long ago, usually during university or early work years, and of course a lot of that ends in divorce but a lot of the “good” guys are gone. If I were her I’d be on a dating site like ASAP. No shame in online dating. Easier to meet people and filter them.

Her: I guess.

Me: Or, the plan is that she needs to find a great guy, break him up from his current relationship, and take him. She’ll know he’s great because he was already vetted by another woman.

Her: LOL!

Me: “Dating advice from Sherry”. Steal a man. It’s the easiest way to go. Make sure you get a good one who can cook.

Her: OMG… *dying*

3:49 p.m. — I was half joking. The truth is that a lot of great women and men are single even into their 40s because they CHOOSE to be, and they CHOOSE to have high standards because they won’t settle for anyone just to have someone (how silly is that), but the dating pool is much smaller when you’re older and at an age where people have young children or at least kids at home. It isn’t as easy to find someone unless you’re willing to lower your criterion a bit and to compromise on a few things. And if you won’t compromise, then it is better off being single than to be with someone you don’t really want to be with at the end. It’s not worth it. I’d rather be single than be with a loser.

3:51 p.m. — Come to think of it …I wasn’t really joking about the well-rested, happy smell of single folks though… oh the leisure time they have to just wake up WHEN THEY WANT and EAT when they want without hiding it from their child, or to just.. have a brain fully functioning without half of it worrying about your kid even when they’re not around you. Oh the bliss.

4:11 p.m. — I grab Little Bun and we head home.

6:33 p.m. — Dinner.

8:10 p.m. — Bedtime.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I wake up TIRED. Little Bun had a midnight potty run and it killed my sleep. He also squealed a number of time from the blanket falling off him from him rolling around like mad. What we need are weights on the corners of all the blankets that magically follow him where he goes to keep him CONSTANTLY COVERED. OMFG. I’m losing my mind.

6:03 a.m. — I get ready for work, cobalt blue plaid shirt which I love, take selfies, and do LookBook with Little Bun.

6:09 a.m. — I make matcha tea and then kiss and hug him goodbye. He is all pink faced about ready to start sobbing just as I close the door. I hear him wail, and then his father comes to get him.

6:44 a.m. — He doesn’t want to stay at home with Daddy. Figures. I am not taking him to preschool, we only pay for 4 days but also this is time MEANT FOR HIM AND DADDY. Plus I plan on doing yoga in the gym before I come home so .. no. He is not coming with me.

7:02 a.m. — I get downstairs with my yoga gear, my bag.. and realize I forgot my lunch. I make it back upstairs again and knock on the door and get my lunch from my partner secretly. I think Little Bun spies me and bursts into tears at the counter, wanting his father to come back but now he saw Mommy and wants her instead. DAMN I didn’t know what side of the door to hide on to be hidden.

7:59 a.m. — I get to work and am slammed with meetings and “urgent” projects that all needed to be done yesterday. WTF. No respect.

11:48 a.m. — I eat my lunch at my desk, do more calls, and then take a break.

12:31 p.m. — I end up speed walking to the tailor to pick up all my fixed skirts and things. I don’t bother trying anything on – will be back next week because I decided to keep that pretty floral tank from Banana Republic (love the watercolour print) and it is perfect for summer. I take it in to get the shoulders taken up and the hem done. $25.30

1:16 p.m. — I am LEAVING today EARLY. I don’t care. I am working too much.

4:10 p.m. — I bolt. I wanted to leave at 3:30 to make up for my extra time worked but didn’t make it. I’ll leave early next week instead. I go to do yoga.

5:21 p.m. — An hour later, I’m refreshed and back at home.

5:40 p.m. — Little Bun eats his pasta for dinner, my partner bakes bread (they did bread together again today), and I install the tax software in French and English, and make a note to get it done this weekend.

6:15 p.m. — I log in and try to get my weekend organized so I don’t forget anything. I always forget a receipt, or the product and then end up having to make a second trip back. I have to figure out a way to be more organized for returns — maybe to pin the receipt to the bag..

7:13 p.m. — I make some noodles. Too hungry. I use up all my B12 flakes, but thankfully my Amazon order of my rosehip oil and B12 flakes arrived yesterday, I just need to pick it up downstairs.

8:02 p.m. — Little Bun is OBSESSED with Pete the Cat right now. He does the math along with Pete, sings, etc….

8:56 p.m. — I pop a night cold / sinus pill and sleep.

Spent: $25.30

DAY SIX

6:00 a.m. — That pill knocked me out and I slept PRETTY well as a result.. my cough and sniffling is not helping but it is going away, except this cold snap has brought it back.

6:19 a.m. — I get up with Little Bun squealing and singing songs in bed, talking about how many socks he has… (really).. he even insists on wearing socks on his hands to sleep like gloves.

6:34 a.m. — OMG. I FORGOT TO DO SOMETHING AT WORK. I quickly log on in a panic. I won’t bill for these hours. I should have done it this week but got caught up in other projects.

8:24 a.m. — Work done. Phew…. I go onto Poshmark to try and find that one skirt from Ted Baker (Grettia) I SHOULD have bought a long time ago but was too cheap to… I need it in a Ted Baker 1, or a US 4.. Oh well. I’m patient.

8:27 a.m. — I log in and schedule payments to my credit cards. I do a transfer four business days before it is due, pay on the third business day, and then check on the third day that everything went through. I have never, ever missed a payment or had interest on anything since I have owned a credit card (a good 20+ years), EXCEPT for this ONE WEEK where I was working hard, sleep-deprived and sick… I had transferred a payment to the WRONG card, and now am waiting (1 month and counting) for a cheque for the balance of about $1400. Ugh. How dumb was that? 🙁

8:39 a.m. — I have to find posts and make images for them. Don’t wanna. 😛

8:50 a.m. — I fix a hole in my gorgeous 100% super thick cashmere turtleneck thrifted (WHICH I LOVE and had to rehab to stretch back out as it obviously had shrunk by the seller — see below) and fix a locket that broke..

9:04 a.m. — I trim the edge off my newly tailored tank top that I could never reach for and wear because it was too sexy (spaghetti straps, very loose / low cut)… so I took my super soft, wonderful Grana tank top (review!) in almost the exact same shade of blue and had a tailor sew it permanently under, with a nice curved U at the back so it looks like a layered top that is now less revealing.

And see? This is the back, so it doesn’t look silly, the back of the Grana tank was originally up to my neck, but it looked so dumb I asked them to create a curve in the back to make it seem like it was intentional.

10:02 a.m. — I feed Little Bun his soup. He is really eating a lot lately…

10:24 a.m. — I finish creating 10 images for my posts. Whew. If I have thousands of posts to go through, this is gonna take TIME but at least once it’s done, it’s done.

10:30 a.m. — Hungryyyy.. where is my partner? 🙁 May have to eat a banana.

10:37 a.m. — Oh and these were my #OOTD for March.. Little Bun did ALL the looks for me in the StyleBook app I bought (review!) which looks EXACTLY like this FREE app – Smart Closet app:

12:08 p.m. — Lunch with Little Bun and my partner with his homemade baguettes.. Little Bun spies a tomato fougasse but my partner tsks him because it is for dinner not lunch.

12:36 p.m. — I cancel my Genius Bar appointment because my partner figured out it was the apps that don’t have sound support for the super old iPad 2 I have for Little Bun, NOT that the headphone jack is not working — it works fine for the tones and alarms on the iPad2..

12:45 p.m. — Now that my day is “free”, I decide to take it easy.

12:56 p.m. — I go to get ready and Little Bun spies me putting on jeans and his lower lip wobbles. He wants to come with me. I tell him I’m running errands and he can go “tent” with his iPad and do math under the covers (he loves that)… he wails Maa Maa over and over again as I’m putting on sunscreen and dressing.

12:59 p.m. — I distract him by doing selfies with him and a LookBook entry – I love how he sits on my lap and then twists to check that he is entering the right piece in the look (he even pats it — saying: Mommy is wearing THIS! *pat pat*)

1:06 p.m. —I finally get out the door, grab my yoga mat (plan on doing yoga again before heading in) and then get in the car and go.

1:30 p.m. — I drop off at a grocery store and find the Ohsawa Shoyu I had been looking for (!!!!) it was almost sold out and I snagged the last bottle. I also spend 15 minutes comparing sunscreens for Little Bun before deciding on one. $40.23

2:09 p.m. — I return the two French Terry sweatshirts because I’m only keeping that super pretty floral tank which is now completely sold out. If the floral print in the dress form had been a pretty wrap dress or a t-shirt-style sheath I would have bought it too because the print is SO PRETTY like a watercolour but the awkward skater skirt with the patterns NOT MATCHING at the seams drives me insane…… -$88.98

2:16 p.m. — Oh. I like this dress but it is close to $200 for POLYESTER and the shoulders are racerback (not cool for my body type – inverted triangle) I do like the laser-cut lace hem though…

2:34 p.m. — Okay this girl sucks at driving. She keeps inching up every 10 seconds. WHY DON’T YOU JUST DRIVE UP AND STOP? She had about a full car length between her and the next car and instead of pulling up tight, she inches forward, stops, inches forward again, I feel like I want to report her as she is driving a company car. I take down the license plate because I’m a snitch.

2:49 p.m. — I return my partner’s two jogging pants — he kept one for the house. $0 — the money just goes back to him

3:09 p.m. — I run over and pick up 4 more boxes of Tazo Chai concentrate for the office. Even at almost $8 each box I’m saving a TON by drinking this instead of getting a Starbucks. It tastes just as good and I can mix any milk I want into it. $30.68

3:12 p.m. — I head into a Winners to browse but end up finding the perfect folio folder for storing my working papers in (they’re getting crazy), and two boxes for my closet in this gorgeous floral print. I had wanted boxes that were pure white to keep the closet looking minimalist but if I’m to be honest, I like a lot of print and colour and white would be “clean” and “minimalist” but BOR-ING…. $35.61

3:13 p.m. — I also pick up a little magnetic box for Little Bun with dogs all over the front. He’ll love it. $4.59

3:18 p.m. — On the way out I try on and almost buy a dress in a wild but very pretty summery print for $30 but luckily it was TOO TIGHT. I regretfully (not?) put it back.

3:50 p.m. — I drop by Starbucks and use my stars on a massive Venti rooibos blooming rose tea. $0 – yay for stars!

3:55 p.m. — I take a break and chill in my car to do my budget and watch videos. I’m really obsessed with This is Us and The Good Fight in particular. I love all the characters and the style is so GOOD. Especially Maia Rindell’s dresses, and this ivory turtleneck she has on that is flecked with black. I wonder where it’s from..

3:58 p.m. — I see a couple just MAKING OUT in the parking lot. I mean, they’re at least in their 40s, going at it like they are both going to prison for 20 years.

4:20 p.m. — I finish the episode and then head off to drop everything I got at work. I don’t like carrying heavy things in with Little Bun so I do heavy bulk shopping for cheaper or to buy what I can’t find around my home or work on the weekend and then drop off the supplies at work so that I have no excuse to eat out and I save money.

4:36 p.m. — I pick up more vegetarian chicken tenders and try a local Montreal fake patty company that was on promotion. I’ll heat up one patty per lunch and see how it goes. I also grab some mushroom soup and Bio-K – a 12 pack that comes out to $40…. The final bill is pretty high but is for the next week or three. $70.83

4:48 p.m. — Oh. HAHAHAHAHHAHA JUSTICE! A guy cut off another woman to turn left on a street where you can only go straight and a cop just happened to be waiting on the corner watching things… and the cop starts easing up behind the car to get them out of the way of traffic to ticket them I’m sure. Nice. FINALLY.

4:50 p.m. — Ooo I really did like that speckled turtleneck on The Good Fight… worn by Maia Rindell. I put it on my Style Wants list to re-evaluate at a later date. No yoga. It’s too late already and I am really tired.

5:12 p.m. — YAY! Salad, with smoked salmon and avocado, and a tomato fougasse.

6:34 p.m. — Little Bun asks to go to the potty to poo-poo and as I get up to help him, he calls out: PAA PAA!?!? PAAAAAA PAAAAA???

6:56 p.m. — I start a load of kitchen towels, put away the dried laundry, and do all the dishes.

7:01 p.m. — We get a few hits on something my partner is selling but people are weirdos who are always trying to get a better deal out of you.

7:03 p.m. — My partner shows me the latest household gadget — a brand new Dyson V8 Animal vacuum cleaner. It went 20% in sale because the new one is coming out and this is old stock.

7:05 p.m. — My partner checked and said the new one would not be as good for our needs — we have a real problem with my hair getting tangled in the head. I cut my hair out each time I use it and it was getting frustrating because my would tangle the rotating head within 30 seconds (I shed like an animal).

7:06 p.m. — Hmm… This new Dyson has a larger more open head that doesn’t seem like it would catch the hair and tangle as easily. It is lighter and quieter. He paid about $500 even on sale…. we DID discuss buying it last year but he wanted to wait for a sale. I didn’t know he would buy it this weekend though.

7:14 p.m. — This is why I think sometimes our Household Budget has to account for $500 expenses monthly. If it isn’t a new bread mould, it is a new vacuum or something. We are also not the type to buy cheap crap so our single purchases are always 3X more than what a normal family would spend.

7:16 p.m. — We plan on keeping the old vacuum for using it on the cars and cleaning the locker — outside use.

7:49 p.m. — I pop a cold/sinus pill, wash it down with some Bio-K and an allergy pill. I feel like I’m being medicated all the time but I’m really just battling to feel normal.. my nose is running like crazy and I have such a headache.

7:59 p.m. — I chat with my partner about work while Little Bun tents and learns new words on the iPad.

8:03 p.m. — I get Little Bun ready for bed, and we play around the “blanket mountain”.

Returned: -$88.98

Spent: $181.94

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — Potty Run

??:?? — Blanket Fix #1

??:?? — Blanket Fix #2

5:30 a.m. — Wake up tiiiiiired. Potty run, blanket fixing at least twice….

5:31 a.m. — I make a cup of green tea and remember to add some chia seeds in there. We spend a quiet morning just talking. There is nothing, NOTHING better than your little child sitting on your lap, getting cuddled, feeling his warm little body next to yours and wrapping your arms around him. I love and live for these small moments with him. I hug him and whisper that I love him more than anything in the world and he should never forget that.

6:12 a.m. — I then spend the morning fixing a hole in my cashmere sweater at the back, organizing my closet and deciding to downsize on 3 more items — Nirvana tank (way too big even as an XS), Rebecca Taylor top (never reach for it), and a white cotton vintage Ralph Lauren skirt which I don’t love enough as a white skirt to get hemmed.

6:20 a.m. — In between I spend a good hour playing with Little Bun and making up games with boxes and dinosaurs… he is easily amused with rolling cardboard containers down a “slide”…

7:30 a.m. — We have some fresh squeezed orange juice and I resist the urge to go out with Little Bun for a snack/breakfast because I already spent a ton on groceries to eat at the office etc.

7:45 a.m. — I have to also refill the nutritional yeast bottle with the Bob’s Red Mill Nutritional Yeast B12 bags, and my matcha tin is running low.

8:18 a.m. — I watch some Big Bang Theory while Little Bun watches some Pete the Cat.

8:40 a.m. — I clean up my StyleBook closet and I am pretty excited to pick up my tailored flower printed tank to wear. I can imagine so many ways to wear it. Full review of that, and this French Terry balloon sleeve sweater here.

http://shopstyle.it/l/EQEt

9:07 a.m. — I re-jig the budget and try to hit $30,000 a year but it is impossible with preschool, condo fees and utilities and the things we buy monthly not even looking at what I buy personally!!! $36,000 would be the lowest I could go without feeling unhappy because it gives me a range of about $3000 a month to play with, with about $2500 taking up basic living expenses and preschool fees.

10:13 a.m. — Little Bun gets bored of videos and wants to eat. We come out just as my partner finishes the lunch.

10:21 a.m. — I need to also buy some more fermented cod liver pills (Blue Ice is my favourite brand), more deodorant (Secret Sensitive Clinical is the only one that really stops my sweat from staining things), ORG Mineral Peel Body gentle face exfoliant, and I see I only have one Dermablend Smooth Liquid foundation (HOLY GRAIL) left in my stash so for sure by the end of this year I’ll need to buy more. All of this costs MONEY and I usually buy in bulk. I love love love the peel so much. I am on my SIXTH bottle in the past 4 years. I will never use any other exfoliator again — this stuff takes the dead skin off without ruining or scrubbing my skin harshly.

10:35 a.m. — I put away the dried laundry.

11:00 a.m. — I’m definitely napping today. I’m really getting tired and it is only 11…

11:59 a.m. — We finish playing puzzles and matching numbers on the floor and we both go down for a nap.

1:34 p.m. — Up from our nap, totally refreshed. I start on dishes immediately.

2:24 p.m. — Dishes and pots (first round) all dried and washed. I know there is more coming as he does the lunch boxes later…

3:00 p.m. — I make a bowl of noodles and try out my new Ohsawa Organic Nama Shoyu Sauce and OMG IT IS AMAZING. I am .. I am totally blown away. I just needed a few drops and all the flavour came through. I am SO BUYING THIS STUFF AGAIN. Seriously. Mind blown. I have never had soy sauce like this before.

3:36 p.m. — My partner comes home as I am watching more episodes of Project Runway All Stars (I <3 Anthony, Stanley and Fabio SO MUCH. I love their personalities.. I am really excited for any of them to win…)

4:03 p.m. — I finally find and order the ORG Mineral Peel Body gentle face exfoliant and take three bottles, which means 4 in stock which should last me another 4+ years. $94.55

4:16 p.m. — I order the Secret Sensitive Clinical deodorant online (my charged taxes are also less when you buy online — 5% instead of 15% for me), and I pick up two extra bottles of Biosil because I’m deciding against buying more fermented cod liver oil. I’ll just buy a refill of Biosil as I only have one bottle left – I stopped taking it for a while to see what the effect would be and I noticed a difference in my hair, skin and nails.. It is much better with Biosil . $111.98

4:25 p.m. — Know what sort of gets my goat? People mixing up these particular word twins. Ready?

  • Heal vs Heel
  • Discrete vs Discreet

4:32 p.m. — We aren’t even past the first week of the month and I’ve already spent almost $900. Sigh.

4:25 p.m. — It is complete and UTTER BULL#%#& that women are pilloried in the media for having white hair. Men like my partner can go around half grey and still look distinguished, but women become hags? WTF… I hated reading that the backlash against “The Duchess of Cambridge’s white hairs”.. caused her to never let any time lapse between her “natural brunette” hair dyes again.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/hair/best-hair-dye-grey-hair/

Also.. don’t pluck your white hairs. The hair will just stop growing there and you’ll have a bald spot. Oops..time to beef up on that Biosil yo.. *cough*

5:00 p.m. — LOVE project runway. Have to keep watching. I want to go all the way to the end. I love love love the contestants.

5:25 p.m. — Still hungry… I want more noodles I think.

6:08 p.m. — I finish scheduling 35 posts for my Pages..

7:25 p.m. — This is so me as a mother. SO TRUE. Not loving every minute of motherhood…. but my hair is not “done” for a video in a laundry room LOL.. but I totally hide in the closet and eat chocolate secretly.

7:38 p.m. — OMG..this video is SO ME AND LITTLE BUN…. He is as heavy as that baby panda and I am just as wily at avoiding him…

7:56 p.m. — Little Bun falls asleep almost instantly, curled around like a chipmunk around my arm, and I wrap back around him so that his head is against my stomach and my whole body is around him, keeping him warm and holding him.

8:20 p.m. — Of course.. this is not super comfortable for me because he is literally lying on my arm and cutting off blood circulation, but I am just lying there, loving the sound of his little boy breath as he drifts into a deep sleep…

8:23 p.m. — I can’t really sleep anyway – that nap ruined my night sleep. I am not as tired and I just lie there looking at him in the darkness, resisting the urge to pet him because it will wake him.

??:?? p.m. — When he finally shifts off my arm, I take the opportunity to curl up like a chipmunk, myself, my favourite way to sleep.

Spent: $206.53

———-

Want more? Read all of my previous Week of Money Diaries.

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