Week of Money: Where I head out for the day and end up shopping
Pssst! How I like to cuff my blazers is the newest YouTube video posted today.
DAY ONE
??:?? — I wake up finally rested. Last night was terrible with this rave party nonsense that finally died down but then I kept hearing thumping (ghost noises)?
??:?? — My ears are ringing. On and off since childhood I have had an issue with tinnitus but lately it has been getting worse, and the ringing has been sharper. I wonder if it’s due to stress (likely).
6:14 a.m. — I make tea, Little Bun gets milk, and then he wants some game that is a bit puzzle/logic with sand and digging to get some green ball down into a funnel with odd configurations. I don’t see any harm in it – seems useful for logic actually, and I leave him to it.
8:15 a.m. — I have a plan on cleaning the bathroom (deep cleaning) today with Little Bun, laundry, recording the last bit of my video for YouTube (this one is almost half an hour long, and has taken me over 10 hours now to create), and to start an UNBIASED review on a pair of expensive celebrity sandals.
8:34 a.m. — YES! I get an email from my mother, confirming she is able to work remotely.. THANK GOODNESS. This was the news I was waiting for, to have her be able to be at home considering her age and health conditions. I am relieved. It is like a weight is off my brain. One weight anyway. I have plenty more.
12:20 p.m. — My partner makes a great lunch (one of my favourites): omelettes with fries. There is probably no food I like more to eat in so many different ways, than eggs. I love them in all forms, but this is one of my favourites…
12:40 p.m. — I make myself a cup of the Paris-Tokyo tea (I have been trying to use up the Darjeeling which I don’t love as much, but paid a lot of money for, before starting on these favourites), and I savour every sip. It’s so fragrant, and delicious, with strong bergamot.. a definite keeper:
12:56 p.m. — And my setup outside looks a little like this these days:
- Milk Chocolate
- Vince Shawl Cardigan
- MM Lafleur Angelou Shawl which I use as one, or a blanket for my legs
- HUE fleece-lined ponte leggings as it’s getting cold these days
- Book – right now, reading Beth Merlin’s On S’More Summer and it isn’t so bad although it’s a 4-book series and I kind of don’t love those because they tend to bleed into the next book and the next… whereas I sometimes just want the book to finish after one.
2:01 p.m. — It starts to rain, so I head back inside (BOO!!)… and I decide that since it’s raining, I might as well iron my huge pile of clothes. I set up the iron but it keeps snapping off with an alarming spark, and I put it away and use the steamer instead.
3:15 p.m. — Little Bun is up and I end up feeling a wave of nausea. I take more pills and end up falling asleep after I feed him.
6:10 p.m. — I wake up from my afternoon nap, feeling like my nausea and headache is cautiously gone for now.. but I am still feeling like I am a bit dizzy with motion sickness.
6:30 p.m. — I take it easy for the evening and finish my YouTube video on designer denim, but then realize I messed up an audio section and made it go 8X fast so I sound like a chipmunk and all the images are wrong. I redo it all, and re-export it out (takes about 2 hours, and then another 4-8 hours to upload to YouTube because it’s a 30+ minute video).
7:44 p.m. — I eat a tiny dinner, half what I normally would, to see if it settles my stomach and I feel cramps afterwards, like it didn’t sit right. I hope I don’t vomit.
8:56 p.m. — After Daddy Reading Time, Little Bun coaxes me to come to the bedroom, and he reads a book to his Stuffies, explaining sections. I test him on some vocabulary by asking him to explain to the word to the Stuffies, and if he doesn’t know it, I explain it to him.
9:26 p.m. — He yawns.. and I yawn. Time for bed. We head into bed, and I give him more of a history lesson on interesting things like cars and how we used horses back then.
Spent: $0
DAY TWO
??:?? — I wake up rested, but also tired. Still a bit nauseous. I pop two more metonia pills (am running out, need to refill this week), in advance to see if it helps my nausea.
6:00 a.m. — I make a cup of matcha, and Little Bun plays this new digging game which is surprisingly difficult to combine different levels of how to get the ball onto the pipe, by “digging” sand around certain elements to get the wind to blow it up, using physics to roll the ball, etc.
7:59 a.m. — My partner is up, and Little Bun squeals: IT IS PIZZA DAY!!!!!…. and he is very excited. I myself have been obsessed with this show – The Home Edit because they’re doing closets and I am getting so much inspiration with “zones” for things, and so on.
8:32 a.m. — I fall asleep, my headache not helping, migraine starting, and feeling sick.
10:03 a.m. — I get Little Bun to wake me up at 10 a.m. and he runs around going: BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.. like an alarm clock, and I have to tap his belly to stop him. He then peers into my face, and offers to stretch my legs out for me because I used to tell him stories of how I’d massage his limbs and stretch his little legs when he was first born, curled up like a frog, not knowing there was space to stretch out, and I’d pull his legs every day, gently to show him there was room to relax outside of the womb. He pulls on my legs one at a time, then does my arms. Then I pull on his limbs, and he shows me how he also stretches his fingers and pulls each one. It does feel rather nice!
11:25 a.m. — Pizza time!
12:50 p.m. — I make a cup of tea for sitting outside (looks like my third last cup of Darjeeling and then I can drink what I really like), crack off a row of chocolate, dress in my fleece leggings and a sweater, and bring a headband to hold my hair back while it’s windy outside, a book, a charger, my phone and my cushion. I AM SO SET.
2:01 p.m. — May think I’m crazy but I keep lists of where to shop and eat in every city that sounds interesting, so I have a list when I visit.
3:00 p.m. — I get back inside as I hear the clinking of my partner spooning out yoghurt for Little Bun’s after nap snack.
3:28 p.m. — I do all the dishes, and then laundry…. and then Little Bun and I play in my closet, going through all my rings and things. I basically.. didn’t get rid of anything from my ring collection.
4:40 p.m. — I also go through all of my necklaces and we count them out. I have about 60-ish of them and I have to figure out a new way to store them because 30 of them are dainty and delicate, so it can’t be all hung together because they just get tangled and I get angry if I try to get one to wear. I need a new solution.
Little Bun makes little marks to track how many necklaces I have, and it looks like I have about 60+ pieces, but I know I can get rid of at least 10 as I went through, or will hang a few instead of storing them:
5:22 p.m. — I search, and find (plus bolstered by The Home Edit), these gorgeous jewellery boxes that stack:
5:22 p.m. — I pick up a set of them to be able to hold about 60 pieces in little cubby things, and I am THRILLED. They’re ridiculously expensive however. Each tray is expensive but I figure you get what you pay for and what they look like DOES matter to me. A lot. I will use these jewellery boxes ONLY for the delicate rings and necklaces I cannot hang together. All my chunky statement stuff will be on drawers in my future closet, rather than hung up or squished into these boxes because I would need 100 stacks….. $271.56
6:40 p.m. — I will also pick up some acrylic shelf dividers in anticipation for the bookshelf because I am certain I will need it for my bags to not flop over themselves at the bottom. But later this week.
7:25 p.m. — I make a light dinner, but after eating it, feel queasy. Maybe I should skip dinners from now on. It feels like too much food considering the lowered amounts of energy I am expending these days.
7:47 p.m. — Little Bun starts getting angry at his father correcting him to say words properly, and my partner revokes iPad privileges for tomorrow, which sparks a huge temper tantrum, sob fest. He has to learn that we are here to help him speak properly, and his attitude of being rude when we do help him by correcting his words, has to stop. Funnily enough, it only happens to my partner, not me, but we are a team / unit, so we have to enforce no iPad tomorrow.
8:43 p.m. — Time for bedtime and our routine. I end up getting engrossed in reading and explaining to Little Bun, that it goes way too late into the nighttime.
Spent: $271.56
DAY THREE
??:?? — I wake up a little tired.
6:00 a.m. — I pop two pills for nausea, I feel like I need it. Again, need refills this week.
6:34 p.m. — I forget about the iPad loss of privilege thing, and pull it out to let Little Bun watch some Apple TV Helpsters, and he turns into a frowny face and tells me he doesn’t want to use any iPad at all today. Then I remember his ban today, and realize he is self-policing to enforce the rule.
7:59 a.m. — My partner is up and studying. He has classes on and I respect that but he also has to understand that I cannot be the 24/7 caregiver. All of this stuff about him “getting to study from home and not have a commute, means I can spend more time with Little Bun” has NOT materialized into that ever since school started this week, and I am sort of getting fed up. I plan on having a talk today.
8:22 a.m. — I spend the morning lying down trying not to vomit and letting Little Bun play in the bathroom:
9:15 a.m. — I find ways to keep Little Bun entertained while my partner attends Zoom classes. We clean out the bottom drawer and I fill it up with my cuffs, all displayed. I think I need to cull 5 pairs, because it seems a little too busy right now….
10:20 a.m. — He plays in my closet, and comes up with Scavenger Hunt games. He comes up with more games like Rock Paper Scissors, but he keeps winning because he pauses before to see what I throw, and then does the opposite to beat me. HAH!
11:03 a.m. — I go to wash my silk shirt after soaking it and stupidly forgot that BLACK BLEEDS… and now my shirt is ruined. I let it dry on a chair and then plan on making rags out of it. Or just donating it, maybe someone will find a way to turn a ruined silk shirt into something pretty. Or maybe I will. I can paint some gold on the stains and see where it takes me.
12:03 p.m. — My partner makes a pizza and Little Bun SQUEALS with excitement. I love the pizza with tomato sauce too:
12:58 p.m. — I head out to the balcony and have another cup of tea. THIS IS MY LAST CUP OF DARJEELING!!!! I AM FINISHED!
It is not that I hate this tea at all, it is that I didn’t realize I don’t like Darjeeling because I find it too astringent for my tastes. If you love Darjeeling, this is the tea for you.
I also snap off a few bites of chocolate:
And I now have a backpack with my things:
2:41 p.m. — I finish reading The Magnolia Story and I did not think I could love Jo & Chip Gaines more than from their show Fixer Upper, but I do. I really think they’re great. Inspirational, kind, down to earth.. I really connected with her story, as I was brought up similarly in many ways.
3:49 p.m. — Little Bun up, I head inside, I take off my warm clothing for sitting outside, and I look at my partner and firmly say: Please play with Little Bun. He needs time with you. I don’t say anything else but he knows I am about to snap.
4:00 p.m. — I feed Little Bun as my partner has a class. GREAT. I am beyond annoyed right now and am slamming dishes on the counter.
4:13 p.m. — I try to cool down and not get frustrated at Little Bun, and we read Usborne’s See Inside Cars while I feed him. These books are GREAT.
4:50 p.m. — I log into my bank accounts and horrified, realize I left $1000 just sitting there un-invested just because I didn’t take a note when I was doing it (frazzled mother moment) and it has been there for 12 days. GAH. On the bright side, I didn’t invest it at the peak of the market before Apple and Tesla did their 4-share split business and then everyone sold off their shares.
6:16 p.m. — Little Bun reads a comic book, and I make a light dinner for myself. I also end up quizzing myself and score 12 on this list but mostly because I like trying new foods, so I always try everything that sounds interesting.
7:41 p.m. — I finish all the dishes and wipe the plates but leave the rest to dry.
8:04 p.m. — Little Bun starts his bedtime routine with his father, reading and drawing a little picture afterwards. I guess he learned his lesson because he came to his father rather than being asked (it’s at 8:00 every night), and happily / eagerly did the work. I guess an iPad-free day did him in.
9:03 p.m. — Time for bed. I make a plan to scan all my documents tomorrow and make a shopping list for this week when I head out.
Spent: $0
DAY FOUR
??:?? — I wake up with Little Bun ‘squee-ing’ at me in bed.
6:05 a.m. — I make a tea and Little Bun gets milk.
6:50 a.m. — This hits right home for me.
8:03 a.m. — I call my friend for a long chat.
8:38 a.m. — Little Bun comforts his Stuffie (I make them cry from time to time so that he comforts them and learns empathy:
Then he teaches them some French:
9:22 a.m. — All while I am on the phone Little Bun entertained himself on the iPad, and once I was off (he was getting grumpy coming up on an hour and a half), he perked up and asked what we were going to do.
9:34 a.m. — I clean up my first drawer in the bathroom and re-arrange it into more of a jewellery set. At least until the bookshelves are up, then I can maybe move some items over, and when I get my jewellery box, start freeing up some of the bowls to make them less cluttered.
10:29 a.m. — First drawer organized, cuffs all laid out. I have a few I don’t really think I need to keep, but they have potential to be upcycled and painted or created into something new. I set them aside for future projects.
11:04 a.m. — I make some quick pasta for myself.
12:15 p.m. — My partner baked some bread today and Little Bun hassles him until it’s ready to eat.
12:57 p.m. — I get dressed and head out to the balcony.
1:13 p.m. — I am watching Phryne Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and getting inspired by her outfits:
… I especially like this modern take on a kimono outfit when I went down a rabbit hole of googling kimono robes:
Which drew me down a rabbit hole to wish for a pair of gladiator sandals as I also loved her laced heels:
1:40 p.m. — Little Bun helped me tally up my necklaces the other day, and I have 139 of them. O_o
1:59 p.m. — Some choice phrases from a great book: All the single ladies unite (Traister)
And I liked this anecdote:
I obviously strongly believe that independence is key for all women, married, unmarried, single, not single, with or without children, and here are some anecdotes:
And another one:
FANTASTIC book. Read it – All the Single Ladies Unite! Also…
2:58 p.m. — I head inside. All of my partner’s smoothies went bad somehow, and he had to toss out the ENTIRE batch he worked on, about 20 huge mugs of them. Sigh. He will have to go grocery shopping tomorrow or something, to get more fruit to make these again.
3:21 p.m. — Little Bun wakes up an Angry Bun. The neighbours upstairs are redoing their floors or SOMETHING, and they’re making a hell of a racket. They did it from morning to through his nap, and now.
4:51 p.m. — I finish scanning all my documents with Little Bun “helping” me while watching Helpsters. I scan about 50 receipts, papers, etc.
4:53 p.m. — I shoo him and his father outside to the balcony so I can have a break. I’ll feed him dinner afterwards.
5:44 p.m. — I have been searching for a pair of gold sandals to replace my current handmade ones which I got off Etsy for about $100 and was very unhappy with. First off, the sole is flimsy, like a flip flop, and the leather while nice, doesn’t hold well in this flimsy sandal, no matter how nice it looks. Sandals like this need to have a leather sole. Period. And for $100 I am expecting quality, these aren’t $40 sandals.
They look great, but the foam bottom is awful on my old sandals, and they’re so badly made, they’re stretching now, so I can basically slip my feet in without undoing the cheap straps. I just need to pony up REAL money for a PROPERLY made pair, and I end up finding these Satira Ancient Greek Gold Sandals:
I could have waited to try and find them, or a similar pair from Ancient Greek Sandals in this gold, in my size, but I decided just to go for it because it was 50% off, and another 25% off, so I paid $97 USD plus $30 USD shipping. This to me, is a great price. It’s what I would pay for the sandals, USED. I will look out for these sandals all the time in different colours in my size, and hope they appear, but I am pleased to buy a gold, staple pair for my outfits.
I own Ancient Greek sandals and love them, so the quality is definitely there. I also like the fact that it isn’t a thong for the toe, but a piece of leather wrapped around it for the big toe, and then some more leather straps wrapping around the foot, and then around the ankle. It looks exactly like what I want, and will STAY ON MY FOOT. $178.61
6:16 p.m. — I feed Little Bun and then do my nails in this new summer mauve I got by mistake and decided to try out. It’s not my style, it’s a little too purple for me, but not too far out of the berries, reds and pinks I enjoy wearing. When I put my toes on my favourite White & Warren Travel Cashmere Wrap, it looks far more like a pink berry which is more of my style, but it is actually a bit more purple than pictured:
I am getting (slowly) better at doing my own pedicures. The brush really matters, that much I know.
6:47 p.m. — Little Bun LOVES playing in my closet so he makes up excuses lots of time asking about how they need to be in my closet with him:
7:13 p.m. — Little Bun plays with his father as. I do all the dishes.
8:14 p.m. — Little Bun does his reading with his father and his art project, and then I guiltily buy a pair of heels from Acne Studios and a bracelet because… I am scared they’ll disappear. I have been looking for these specific heels for a LONG TIME (about 4 years), and they are some of the most comfortable heels I’d ever worn. I use up the very last ounce of my credits, and pay the rest in cash. $66
8:40 p.m. — I brush my teeth, wash my face, and prep my towels and things for tomorrow’s outing. I have two appointments.
9:20 p.m. — Time for bed.
Spent: $244.61
DAY FIVE
??:?? —
??:?? —
6:00 a.m. —
7:59 a.m. — I have finally found proof that even supermodels can’t wear ‘anything’ and look good.
On to nicer items, here’s my style inspo these days. If you want to see WAY MORE, follow me on Pinterest @saverspender
8:03 a.m. — My partner starts on some date bread but I don’t love it. The dates are too soft and mushy versus the raisin bread which I prefer:
8:05 a.m. — I am out the door. I have a list of things to buy and do, and my first stop is Starbucks, for my ONE and ONLY guilty treat of the Beyond Meat sandwich burger.
8:12 a.m. — Oh. My card has completely run out of funds, and I turned off Auto-Reload in an attempt to try and curb my Starbucks habit, which I have now whittled down to ONLY eating these Beyond Meat sandwiches and no hot sugary drinks like my beloved Chai latte, nor the Matcha tea because they use the cheap Matcha (not Ceremonial as it’s VERY expensive) and I am officially a tea snob so I can no longer pay to drink that swill. I reload the card. $25
8:15 a.m. — I sit in the car and eat the sandwich while watching Top Chef. Yes, I do this all the time with food. For some reason, it makes my food taste better. It tastes nothing like on the screen, but it just enhances the mood.. somehow.
8:16 a.m. — I go through my list, and decide I should do my Canadian Tire shopping first. I have been obsessively watching The Home Edit, (for the record, I find them aggressively happy and too chipper but that’s minor compared to the work they do) and they’ve inspired me to do better with my organization, just in tiny tweaks as I refuse to buy any big furniture or invest in any big pieces that are larger and MAYBE unlikely to fit well in my future closet/home.
I already recently purchased that lovely (and expensive) Stackers jewellery box last week (waiting for the shipment)
…and I discovered that their line is sold at CT, and their Small Organization Acrylic boxes fit like a glove into my awkward medicine cabinet that requires boxes 4″ or smaller or else the door won’t close. I also pick up all of their shelf dividers because the quality looks solid and not flimsy, even at $13 PER DIVIDER (omg) … but I can return what I don’t use. I also need more rubber gloves just in case, they’ve been sold out everywhere else. Plus some batteries.
8:42 a.m. — I pick up everything on my list, except the batteries because apparently I need customer service to get them for me? Forget that. $110.79
9:50 a.m. — I head over now to Michael’s, a craft store conveniently located by Wal-mart, and proceed to spend an obscene amount of money on acrylic paints because I plan on painting and upcycling my items more, so I need more colours. At Wal-mart, I buy something like 33 colours, some new brushes (rather than the detail ones I have), and those batteries I was missing for my selfie remote control Bluetooth wireless device thing for taking my outfit of the day photos) $80.42
9:53 a.m. — My feet are KILLING ME. I was optimistic and thought I could wear 4″ boots with a super chunky heel (not stilettos, I am not crazy) out for the morning and afternoon on my feet all the time, but after having been footwear-free since March, this is not happening.
Luckily, I pack spare flats in my car at all times (two pairs), and throw them on.
I should really also have spare winter boots in there just in case.
10:27 a.m. — I almost don’t go to Michael’s but I do anyway thinking I need some other colours I am missing (oddly enough, teal and green were all sold out), and I pick up a few brass findings for new jewellery as well, and a folding pair of scissors so I can keep them in the car just in case. $42.77
12:00 p.m. — I FINALLY make it to my third destination, a consignment shop, and … get into trouble. I am only supposed to pick up my sweater, and my cheque for $750 for this Gucci bag I sold. I actually bought it for $500, so I made $250 on it even after dropping it at consignment. The new (LOVELY) owner tells me she can’t even keep the bags on the shelves, they’re going like crazy. +$750
12:07 p.m. — I also drop off my large YSL Sac de Jour I bought earlier this year, because it’s meant for the office and I think I won’t be going back any longer, so it might as well get sold and I can use something else if I have to go into the office on occasion. I paid $1604 for it, but as it is going on consignment, I will only get $1300, at best. At worst, $1000, but that’s all right, it’s sitting there collecting dust anyway:
12:12 p.m. — I end up looking at and trying on new things: I love this Moschino blouse with the flowers in the front, but it was too large for me..
This is Alice & Olivia, and such a fun print/idea…. though I would have preferred the hand to be ring-less, as it looks like an engagement hand, so I am not sure what the message would be if someone wore this. An “I’m engaged!” sweater?
The floral embroidery on this dress is STUNNING, and reminds me of those Eastern European traditional costumes with the gorgeous flowers everywhere. It’s too big for me, but also the flowers are too much, I would have preferred less in general, for my personal taste but it’s a stunning piece:
Couldn’t resist trying on this red coat by Acne Studios:
This was a Dolce & Gabbana floral coat I almost bought, but in the end, did not love the ladylike collar and awkward open front. The rest was good though. I struggled with putting this back, but ultimately decided if I was going to spend money, it wouldn’t be on something that I wasn’t 100% about just because of the collar. The sleeves were also bracelet sleeves which is fine, but this kind of summery/spring coat has a very short wearing time, in between it getting too hot and then blistering cold, much like the many spring jackets I own in my closet already!
See? The collar is a Peter Pan collar and it looks too Jackie O / ladylike for my style.
I find the same coat new on eBay trying to sell for $2635 CAD but I still don’t like it, even if it was a deal at $400. This is a hard lesson to learn as a shopper who loves designer and bargains, it’s to not just buy it because it’s a great deal, it’s to buy it when it’s a great deal AND you love it:
I tried on these heels JUST FOR FUN. They’re by Aquazurra and these are 6.5 which surprisingly ‘fit’ me but you can see my toes barely make it through the front. They’re called “Wild Thing” and were very popular at one point:
Ridiculously high, but SO MUCH FUN to wear.
Tried on these platform Louboutins, and of course, I still hate them. I hate the platform look for one thing, but also, they’re just too high to walk in:
These lower heels were FAR more comfortable and I was close to buying them because I thought – WOW. Comfortable Louboutins in my size!? But I decided against it because I just bought a pair of black Acne Studio heels.
Here is where I got into trouble:
12:56 p.m. — I get sucked into buying a coat I SHOULD NOT HAVE TOUCHED. This double faced wool and cashmere dark charcoal grey and light grey Lisa wrap coat for $300. $344.92
It normally retails for $1600 CAD, and I got it for $300 plus taxes. It’s a coat I have been eying for a long time to buy, a wrap coat in grey, that doesn’t look like a bathrobe. CHECK! The larger lapels make it look less bathrobe-y, the dark grey is stunning for the outside with the inner grey as an accent, and it has pockets. It isn’t reversible however.
If I find it in another colour, I will buy it in the long version (I saw it on eBay for the short version for $300 and I wasn’t sold), it’s such a nice piece, and feels a lot like the Sentaler coats I have been wanting for a long time, except for the lack of the ribbed sleeve detail. This short version is not my style because I want the coat to cover my back bum completely and go to my knees:
1:02 p.m. — I drop off a broken iPad mini to a recycling service to get $35 for it. Little Bun broke it, I bought a new one, and this one won’t even be taken back for a credit at Apple, so I might as well ‘sell’ it for someone to refurbish and resell later.
1:07 p.m. — I refill my metonia pills for my barometric pressure headaches. This medication is subsidized by the government, so I pay a very small fee, frankly. I think they normally cost $20 – $30? But I pay: $2.88
1:19 p.m. — I pick up a stash of chocolate and 4 juice boxes. I didn’t realize how thirsty I get, and that makes me want to spend money, so I vow to keep juice boxes in my purse when I go out, so I can drink one and satisfy my hunger/thirst for cheap. $15.70
2:30 p.m. — When I am home, it looks MUCH better without the Tupperware in its odd shape of a smaller bottom moving up to a wider mouth, and things fit in there more solidly, as well as giving me much more space. You can see that they aren’t perfect rectangles, and the bottom & sides are annoyingly small…
Et voilà! Things fit a lot better in there, look neater.. I am very pleased. The rest of the shelves don’t need anything, so I won’t buy any more containers. It was just this shelf that held things that couldn’t sit up on their own:
4:30 p.m. — I do all the dishes, clean them, and then spend time with Little Bun in his favourite place these days – MY CLOSET. He loves playing in my closet and asks daily.
6:16 p.m. — I feed him, take a few pieces of bread (am not hungry, I think I have a cold), and then we do some math. He can’t finish his pages, he does one and a half.
8:40 p.m. — I read with him for the rest of the night, learning how cars and cranes work on the inside, and by this time, I am really getting tired. I think my cold is getting worse. I am CERTAIN my partner gave it to me, because HE was sniffling before. I take a Night pill – they all expire this year in December, so I better use them if I have them.
9:11 p.m. — We head to bed, and talk for a few more minutes before we all drop off to sleep.
Earned: $750
Spent: $622.48
The day almost ended up an equal wash of In and Out money! I suspect for September, my savings rate will be near $0.
DAY SIX
??:?? — I wake up and make myself some tea, and wrap Little Bun in a blanket as per his request. He caught the cold as well.
6:30 a.m. — Little Bun bursts out with this gem out of nowhere:
6:59 a.m. — “Mommy, today is a special weekend day because I will do two extra pages of math” — he didn’t finish his math yesterday, and when I suggested he finish it tomorrow, he went silent and said: “But it isn’t a weekday!” But on his own volition, he decides to do the math pages to finish his work.
8:08 a.m. — I let him into the closet to play. I am lying down, with a throbbing headache behind my right eye, threatening to burst a vein. I am sure my cold has something to do with it. Little Bun coerces me into a game in the closet where the Stuffies ‘ride’ in an old beauty container I have kept, and they are in their little ‘boats’.
9:35 a.m. — We read a bit more of a book, but then I have to lie down and I drift off to sleep as he reads some stories in French and listens to them. He’s starting to really embrace this language.
10:11 a.m. — I eat a light breakfast.
11:25 a.m. — I play a game with Little Bun as my partner makes oatmeal, pasta and some rice pudding for the week. He will also do a BBQ tonight, so he’s prepping for that.
1:03 p.m. — I cover myself in swathes of cashmere and sit on the balcony, wrapping a cashmere wrap around my head and making notes to wear gloves too. I am determined to spend an hour or two outside every day until it snows. My mug of super hot tea warms me up well, and I am savouring the Earl Grey with the strong bergamot flavour.
1:25 p.m. — I make it through the Heineken book while eating a few squares of chocolate with toasted coconut (a new discovery), then put it down, as my brain is hurting from this headache that won’t go away, and I head inside.
2:50 p.m. — I finally take a cold pill (Day), to put myself out of my misery.
3:22 p.m. — I bid on and buy a pair of Frame denim jeans I had been eying for a long time. I wasn’t sure what the rise would be on these Jeanne jeans, as they say mid-rise, but it turns out to be a 9.5″ rise which is super for me as it’s ‘high rise’ enough (I need at least a 9″ rise). I really wanted a very ripped in a dark dark black pair and this one looks perfect. I use my credits. $0
4:15 p.m. — Little Bun ‘makes’ burgers for his Stuffies while his father BBQs chicken and vegetables outside
“A burger with beets (purple), salad (green), tomatoes (red) and cheese (yellow)”!
4:31 p.m. — Teaching kids to stay still and do work is like pulling teeth. He wanted to do his math pages now. Or maybe I liken it to herding recalcitrant cats. ARRRRGHGHHHHHH… He’s distracted by everything and refuses to do it properly by crossing out numbers because he thinks he can do it in his head (he can for some numbers but not ALL triple digit ones).. and he’s always messing up the tens by being one off because he forgets to cross it out to make it one less.
4:47 p.m. — “BOOOM!!!…. Stuffie BLAST!!.. Stuffies blast ALL the planets except Earth and Mars, because Mars may be our new second home!“…. He’s really absorbing these lessons about Mars and how it could be a potential place for human migration in the future, but I quickly catch him and tell him we shouldn’t rely on future promises and focus on saving the ONE Earth we live in now and taking care of it. We go over a list of what we can do to save our Earth now, and give ourselves grades on how well we are doing.
5:28 p.m. — In the closet, we play Rock, Paper, Scissors, but then he is a little cheat (all in good fun, he switches the item when he sees what I throw down), and he starts telling me that the Rock is Titanium, but I counter that it’s Lithium so I am able to cut it with my Scissors. He squeals in disbelief and tells me it can’t be because the Rock is Titanium with diamonds, which are hardened carbon and the hardest material! …. We pull different chemicals and elements from his book and learnings to reinforce the game we are playing. I figure it’s a more fun way of learning the elements, and anything we aren’t sure about, we refer to our Elements books to check what they say.
6:04 p.m. — My partner starts on the BBQ.
7:46 p.m. — We finally get to eat and Little Bun is silent, just shoveling food into his mouth like a machine. At the end, he looks at me and says: Mommy my belly is too full!!… Little Glutton should be his new name.
8:22 p.m. — I do the dishes that were generated (not many, as I already did a few more this morning and in the afternoon), and try to keep the kitchen as clear and as clean as possible as my partner will cook again tomorrow making more food.
9:19 p.m. — Time for bed, after we read a few books by Wonderbly that I had made for him. These personalized books with his name in there, or the address, are WONDERFUL and a lot of fun to read. He points out the pages to the Stuffies as we do shared reading, and then he turns to the back pages and reads everything, including disclaimers about FTC guidelines, etc. O_o ….. He’s just like me when I was a child. I used to read things like the back of shampoo bottles for fun, I literally read what I could around me in the house once I had burned through all the books.
9:25 p.m. — I get up and take a night cold pill so I can sleep comfortably.
Spent: $0
DAY SEVEN
??:?? — I wake up before Little Bun and just lie there with my eyes closed, hearing him snort and snuffle. He then rolls over into my side and makes baby noises to tell me he’s awake “Wee wee.. squee seee“… and sings out: “Baby loves Mommy!” … and I respond back: “Mommy loves Baby!”
??:?? — I make a cup of tea.
6:00 a.m. — MOOD for 2020.
7:04 a.m. — I am a staunch believer and advocate for women’s rights, and as a result, you always get a lot of flak from people who like to cite ‘facts’ about why I am wrong. “Oh but women are also doctors and dentists and make lots of money, are those professions where women make less?” … No, you rube, just because women are in those professions, doesn’t make it (1) a female-dominated industry and (2) give any proof that they’re paid the same. Women in the same professions, even female dominated ones like teaching, are ROUTINELY underpaid versus their male counterparts.
Giving stupid examples like that to ‘prove’ their points, just means they haven’t read any literature on the subject at all. My best example is cooking. Men dominate the chef world, because it’s a public domain. Women chefs, will routinely tell you how hard it was to get taken seriously and to enter the business, let alone be the only women on the lines cooking.
Ironically, home cooking is derided because it isn’t in the public spotlight, and therefore, women are relegated to do the grunt work at home for the most part, because they’re women. For someone like me who sucks at cooking but loves to eat, I needed to find someone who would love to cook. Otherwise, I’ll guarantee you, I’d have had to fight to have equality in my household to get him to cook his half / fair share if he didn’t.
I could go on for hours on this, but I won’t. The three books I’d suggest starting with are: Fair Play, Invisible Women and All the Single Ladies Unite.
7:13 a.m. — Little Bun is cold, so I take off my cashmere sweater and give it to him. I have so many he might as well wear one and I can wear another later.
8:15 a.m. — After my partner is up and starting to cook, I fix up a necklace that has been bothering me.
I made this lovely DIY necklace out of some hardware washers from Home Depot for under $50, but the findings I used at the back dug terribly into my neck and left marks, so I figured I’d do a little fix for it. I found a leftover fabric remnant from my dresses (I chopped up the belt to make straps for this yellow dress):
So I first used some magenta silk cord I snagged off packaging, and made sure to tie it TIGHT with multiple, strong knots to keep the necklace together and to not snap (thread won’t help, it’s quite heavy and needs solid silk cord), and then start doing a kind of abstract flower draping / wrap around the magenta thread:
Finished product! I rather like the way it looks, kind of like like I’ve made rosettes all over it, and the magenta thread peeking out doesn’t bother me at all:
Final, fixed product:
9:05 a.m. — I grab all my rings and Little Bun squeals: YAY! ORGANIZING TIME!!!
9:26 a.m. — We spend the morning organizing my jewellery, and Little Bun decides they need to be outfitted:
1:20 p.m. — We have a lunch and then Little Bun immediately goes down for his nap. He’s tired today.
1:28 p.m. — I make it out to the balcony late. I finish my book and then start on another one but am unable to concentrate.
2:11 p.m. — I come back in early to finish a video for YouTube.
4:00 p.m. — I finish the video and am uploading it and Little Bun is still conked out for his nap.
6:12 p.m. — We do a little math, and I give him some post-its to draw on, and he made this out of them: “I LOVE MATH”
7:28 p.m. — Little Bun is quiet in the corner and then shows me: “Mommy look, I made pi!”
8:14 p.m. — Oh another Squares Race is on in the game we love to play (Two Dots), and Little Bun squeals: “WE ARE GOING TO CRUSH THEM!”
8:23 p.m. — My partner is finally off the Skype call he had with his friend (he finally learned how to put a background on so I could walk around comfortably), and I take a break from Little Bun.
8:40 p.m. — Is this book talking about me? Haha! … I love jewellery but not the fine, expensive stuff.
9:24 p.m. — I finish the laundry and dishes, and then brush my teeth, wash my face and get into bed with Little Bun to “chit chat” which he considers his favourite time of the day, alone time with Mommy, in the dark, talking about any topic.
Spent: $0
———-
Want more? Read all of my previous Week of Money Diaries.
Post a comment