Week of Money: Where I pay stupid fees, like REALLY STUPID ones

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up tired. I woke up again (phantom twitch from Little Bun 5 am wakings), and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I just kept lying there, hearing my little boy snore just like his father who was snoring on the other side. They’re both loud, and in sync at the same time. I’m exhausted.

6:00 a.m. — My partner gets up to shower, I lie there trying to will myself back to sleep for even 20 more minutes. No dice.

6:22 a.m. — He comes back from the shower, I whisper-ask the time, and it is 6:30, so I get up and get ready for work.

6:23 a.m. — I had laid out an outfit the night before of a sweater with chiffon sleeves but then wondered if the shape would go with the skirt I picked today. I think it might be too long.

6:24 a.m. — I pick out two other options — blue striped t-shirt, grey flecked long-sleeved shirt, and then try on my first choice of the black sweater and decide it is okay.

6:25 a.m. — I think I just need to half tuck the FRONT of the sweater up so the proportion doesn’t look too strange on my torso. I pull everything on, Little Bun is still conked out. His father walks in a few minutes later, and says softly in surprise: Someone’s awake!

6:26 a.m. — Little Bun lets out a medium-pitched annoyed teenager-like whine… I can foresee the groaning in the years to come… and he wiggles in the bed, all irritated that it was Daddy he saw first and not Mommy. Sigh.

6:27 a.m. — Little Bun gets his bottle of milk and I go back to the bathroom. I put on makeup, and realize I have made it through my first Dermablend Camo Foundation tube, which has lasted a solid 4 months of at least 4X a week usage during work days… I use a little drop, and added on top of my BareMinerals Complexion Rescue, my skin looks ELVEN. People comment and even ask me: But… do you wear foundation?? *curious*…. They can’t even tell. It’s so amazing. And I’m not a liar, so I tell them I do, and then what the brand is. The only thing with Dermablend is you MUST set it with powder or it slides off your face in an oil slick by the end of the day. You’ll need to do lunchtime blots with blotting papers, and maybe touchup on the concealer here and there.

6:43 a.m. — I skip the morning glass of warmed milk for myself, I skip LookBooks with Little Bun and take my own selfies for Instagram (@saverspender), and then I tell him it is Muffly Monday! (Don’t ask me WTF Muffly or Muffle means, I just make up #$*#&%# to get this kid out the door and excited for school…)

6:44 a.m. — I tell him I have a “treat” for him at school (oatmeal chocolate chip cookies my neighbour baked from yesterday), and he picks out his clothes, we get dressed, he gets kisses and we head off to school.

7:27 a.m. — At preschool, he snags cookies from the snack box… well.. looks like Mommy is eating the other cookies instead, or else he’d be all hopped up on sugar. I tell him the preschool cookies are the treat.

7:29 a.m. — I leave him at preschool happily eating, with a cookie in each hand, taking bites out of one, then the other, and alternating.

7:40 a.m. — At work, I get organized, answer a new colleague’s questions, and then get ready to go meet my buyer for the dress and skirt.

8:10 a.m. — I hotfoot it there, wait, and then get texts from her that she totally forgot. OMG.

8:20 a.m. — On the way back, I grit my teeth, grab a Starbucks to console myself, and she promises to come by in the afternoon. Okay…. $5.11

11:20 a.m. — I go through my work day, and then have lunch.

1:02 p.m. — After lunch, I realize I missed a meeting but it wasn’t on my calendar. WTF… I never miss meetings this is not like me at all. It is the email program that let me down. 🙁 I apologize to the Director and he confirms the rescheduled meeting for next week instead. I cannot remember all the meetings I have (5 regular ones a week, various times).

1:07 p.m. — I then get this insistent call from this number so I finally pick up. Apparently, I DIDN’T PAY MY CREDIT CARD FROM LAST MONTH.
I freak out, completely defensive…. and then when I log online and check, I paid it to the WRONG EFFING COMPANY. OMFG…. I want to just die. Today is not my day. I am FURIOUS at myself.

1:09 p.m. — I quickly calculate the difference, and schedule it to clear by Friday. DAMN IT. WTF… I never make such stupid mistakes. I’m really super effin’ organized but with everything happening lately I have dropped the ball big time.

1:12 p.m. — I scarf down those chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and eat almost a whole tub of fat 10% yoghurt (yeah I know, 500 calories and then some..)

1:15 p.m. — Feeling calmer with a rush of fat and sugar in my comfort foods, I finish my 3 tasks for the day, and then list out what I need to get done tomorrow. I have so much to do, and things are just working against me. I feel like I am swimming upstream constantly. If it is not one document missing for a filing, it’s another, and then this one is linked to that one, so we need to redo the process back to include it upstream…….. bureaucracy. Don’t you love it? All this nice red tape?

2:30 p.m. — I quickly meet my rogue buyer and she pays me for the dress and skirt. +$50 Sweet!

I sold this dress:

And this skirt:

Both of which are now too short for my liking. I bend down with Little Bun and the skirts flip up. No good. I don’t like fussing with clothes.

3:30 p.m. — I go to my meeting but have to keep doubling back to work on an emergency issue. It’s TOTALLY, EFFING RUDE, but I have no choice, I have a deadline to meet, literally half an hour away.

4:07 p.m. — I finish my work and then head off to pick up Little Bun, exhausted. I’m brain dead. This new colleague is sucking up all of our time to train him as a team, and I still have to finish my major presentation on Thursday for some executives that I HAVE NOT YET STARTED. OMG. OMG. OMG.

4:15 p.m. — I get Little Bun, we eat oranges together (snack box was sliced apples today, he turned his nose up and ran away).. then we head on home.

4:29 p.m. — I get a message that someone wants to buy a jacket. I paid $125 for it but I don’t wear it, it’s not my style in the end, too cocoon-like and boxy, so I’m letting it go for $40… Money in my pocket is better than sitting in the closet where I don’t wear it. I grit my teeth and suck up the cost, refusing to pay retail-even-on-sale unless it’s a magnificent piece.

4:40 p.m. — My friend emails me about a Sentaler coat she is eying and asks me if I have touched one.. I told her I felt the brand a few years and ALMOST bought a coat, but then held myself back because I just bought another super expensive coat that year… haha… I love coats. I convince her to buy it because it is the only thing people see during cold weather, and it makes any outfit look super polished even if you’re wearing ripped pyjamas underneath… Okay maybe not that far, but it does make any outfit look a million times better when the coat is incredible.

4:53 p.m. — I set up a meet to sell the jacket for tomorrow, another $40 in my pocket! WOO HOO!.. The only thing is I have to skip yoga.. AGAIN. It is right at lunch time.. Gahh. I feel terrible. I pay so much money for yoga each month and I AM NOT EVEN GOING? WTF. I think I’ll go, but to the later class. I can’t keep missing yoga. This is ridiculous. I feel sick wasting all this money.

5:29 p.m. — At home, I feed Little Bun his soup while playing on the floor with a puzzle.

5:31 p.m. — I then go through and do some bookkeeping in my company. Debits, credits, log expenses paid, income received…. I always neglect this part until the end and it becomes some twisted, neglected step because I have no alone time, but Little Bun is now being coaxed STRONGLY to go “read with Daddy“.. “do math with Daddy”… and my partner is taking on the role more after I have been basically screaming at him for the past 2 days. I need time to do my business too.

6:02 p.m. — As a precaution, I re-check all of my credit card payments and statements. I also have to do household things too, like manage credit card payments (WHICH I AM STILL ANGRY I MISSED THE PAYMENT.. what a gat damn, dumb, stupid OMFG interest charge….), and organize my bill payments. I AM STILL ANGRY AT MYSELF. I am out now over $100 in STUPID FEES this month because if that cheque charge not clearing in time, and my stupid, stupid miss on the statement. *beats self up*

6:37 p.m. — I need to get on top of things. I am losing it. Too much stuff happening, I’m all over the place and not calm in my head. Work stuff is spiraling out of control, my health is fine now, but I am skipping an effload of yoga, I am paying stupid fees…. TIME FOR SOME ZEN. How do I get this zen back? I feel like I need a week to organize my life, Little Bun-free. He is always sitting on me, on my laptop, around me, wanting me to hold him, throughout EVERYTHING… I can never just be alone. I love and hate it in equal measure.

8:56 p.m. — Bedtime. Finally. He didn’t want to sleep. Of course he didn’t.

Earned: $50

Spent: $5.11

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up not refreshed at all. Little Bun combined with my 5 a.m. phantom Bun wakings (where I instinctively get up out of habit instead of need for Little Bun), has really killed my deep REM cycles.

5:02 a.m. — I get up, start getting ready, warm a glass of milk while Little Bun drinks his like a baby in bed out of a bottle, and then my partner starts cooking eggs to make us avocado and egg sandwiches for work. He didn’t make any lunches this week as a bit of a break, so he has been cooking and making quick sandwiches for us.

5:48 a.m. — I get Little Bun up, I ask him to pick out my accessories and he picks out a ring I DIY’d with a Galaxy splash of colour (Read: DIY Galaxies Collection and this is how I created these pieces to wear and how to upcycle them), that matches PERFECTLY with my chosen Banana Republic watercolour floral skirt and purple Tippi sweater (secondhand! $20!) and he chooses my Olivia Burton “circle patterns watch, Mommy” (it looks like this one but a brown strap with rose gold/copper on a white dial face)…

6:15 a.m. — We do the LookBooks from yesterday and today as his father takes out the recycling and garbage (I later take out his Pull-ups garbage, which don’t really stink but still..)

6:30 a.m. — I get ready for work, he gets ready for preschool, and we head off. His hair is getting long and needs a cut.

7:11 a.m. — I drop him at preschool. No tears. He has finally given up.

7:20 a.m. — At work, I don’t stop until time for lunch.

11:20 a.m. — I meet my buyer at lunch, and sell her the COS jacket that I felt was too boyfriend-style in the end for my aesthetic and boxy.. I like a more tailored, nipped-in-waist style for myself. +$40

This is the one I sold. I like the simple lines, but need it fitted and nipped in at the waist.

12:40 p.m. — I finish my sandwich, have half a tub of yoghurt, and then work on writing blog posts for the rest of my lunch hour, stopping only to read a few pages of Phoebe Robinson’s – No you can’t touch my hair .. I have learned SO MUCH about black hair maintenance in these few pages thus far, it is incredible. I had to skip yoga to wait for this buyer. I’m so full of excuses these past few months. I’m a loser.

12:51 p.m. — A friend and I joke on the couch when she leaned over and said: That guy is the President!… I said: Oh really? Show me who he is again I have no idea what he looks like, and I don’t want to be rude to him and elbow him out of the way in a lunch line or something cuz I’m hangry, you just never know.. (half jokingly).. She points him out, and he WAVES AT OUR DIRECTION, to which I realize that the guys sitting to the side of me, work at the same company and are probably high-up VPs or something. FML…. it’s a good thing I was joking and they were smiling / laughing as we were chatting, eavesdropping on my joke.

1:11 p.m. — I get back to work, stuff the money in my wallet (it is getting really full now with bills), and then I finish my presentation. I have so much money stuffed in my (super slim minimalist) wallet, that it is literally overflowing. I grab an envelope to put them in, I need to hit a bank.

3:00 p.m. — I hear some bad news at my weekly meeting — a lot of projects are on hold now. WTF… this puts my entire contract at risk, so I sort of fret about it internally…. I hope I stay. I really like it here. 🙁

4:02 p.m. — I finish working, resist eating some chocolate and don’t give in (YAY WILLPOWER… or was it just because I was actually secretly too lazy to open the package and then forgot to eat some… who can tell, let’s just call it willpower and make it seem #likeaboss move) and then head off to grab Little Bun.

4:18 p.m. — We sit on the benches eating his cookies, and then I take him home.

4:43 p.m. — At home, I start kitchen laundry, eat all of his rejected toddler garbage snack (oranges), and he plays music on my iPod while I try and finish up my To Dos at home (mostly blog stuff, I really want to get all of April scheduled. I am a bit OCD like that.)

5:39 p.m. — I do some quick calculations in my beloved budgeting tool where I track everything and calculate it religiously and realize I only have $15,000 in savings left to take me to the end of the year. OMG. If I spend $3750 a month how is this going to work? …. I need to cut back, sell more, and HUSTLE. H-U-S-T-L-E.

6:01 p.m. —  Posts scheduled, Little Bun is quietly in my lap. I go and take a nice hot shower, my partner still isn’t home (probably dropped by somewhere to buy something) and I am happy for the peace and quiet so I can finish working. Little Bun is still obsessed with Beyonce….

6:15 p.m. — I log off, play with Little Bun doing math, and then I organize my closet again. Hmm.. I feel like I need to cull my wardrobe some more. BUT HOW!?.. I pick out my outfit for tomorrow. Spring. Is. Here. Y’all. Little Bun of course, hijacks my iPod for music. He controls it now. #MiniDictator

6:37 p.m. — You know what, for yoga I think if I can commit to TWO times a week I won’t feel so guilty. I need to just go TWO times and I am good because that is 8 times in a month, and worth the pass. Yes. I can do this. I am going tomorrow.

7:11 p.m. — My partner is home. I’m already making a pot of noodles to coat in B12 nutritional yeast paste (my new favourite thing)…

7:27 p.m. — Little Bun spends time picking off these miniature icon stickers to stick in his sticker book. I’m REALLY happy I had the foresight to buy this book on sale at Winners. There are THOUSANDS of little stickers (emoticons) and it has kept him busy for a longgggggg time thus far. Thank goodness. #AnythingToKeepThemQuietAndBusy … OMG YES. I WILL BUY STICKERS AS A GIFT FOR THIS KID. Perfect. Done.

8:30 p.m. — LOADS of books being read, and time for bed. He’s right now, obsessed with this book: Another Important Book.. man this woman Margaret Wise Brown can write some compelling bestsellers for kids, eh?

Earned: $40

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up completely NOT refreshed. I get up to get his milk because MOMMY has to do it as per the Little Dictator, and then I start getting ready for work. My partner makes cheese and bread sandwiches for today, I plan on eating mine for breakfast.

6:00 a.m. — I think about warming up some milk but decide not to. Oh yeah, have to do kitchen laundry tonight… to put away the dried pieces.

6:11 a.m. — I change my top three times. I don’t like the way this top requires a nude tank top underneath that SHOWS. I need another solution to this top. Maybe a cute bralette underneath that is meant to show. I finally decide on a classic #OOTD:

6:15 a.m. — I put on my makeup, pop a very painful deep cystic pimple (TMI I know..), and it hurts so much I have tears running down my cheeks. At least it will go down now, and be flat, rather than painful, bumpy and inflamed.

6:25 a.m. — My eyelashes had been drooping and thin in the past few weeks, so I have been doing EyEnvy every night for the past 2 weeks. They’re finally back to being lush, thick and long again. YAY!

6:30 a.m. — I get Little Bun to take selfies with me, and realize my hair is terrible today. All strangely sticking up on one side, not flowing down well.. I do a hair bun, and then I try a ponytail which I prefer with the outfit I have on.

6:33 a.m. — I try out the Nyx HD Liquid Concealer and like it so far. It could be a good alternative (CHEAP!) to expensive concealers, because it works quite well. I think I prefer the Anastasia foundation stick as a concealer which is thick and creamier, but Nyx is good for traveling.

7:33 a.m. — I get into work after dropping off Little (Un-Squealy) Bun, and realize it is my day to handle urgent issues. DAMN. I was going to go to yoga. How can I leave for that stuff now? Or maybe I can anyway… I eat my cheese sandwich while thinking about it.

8:55 a.m. — I clean up my desk, work on my presentation and decide to go to yoga today anyway.

10:54 a.m. — I still need to typey-typey out 15 posts by the end of next week to get caught up for April. My brain starts turning. I NEED TO DO THIS.

11:30 a.m. — I head off to yoga and kind of do and don’t want to go. I get there, and am happy I came, but my entire body is shaking in all of the positions. I am not with it today. My brain is not letting me focus on yoga, I have so much I feel like I need to get done. I am not with it today.

12:45 p.m. — After yoga, I head over to Starbucks (DOUBLE STARS DAY!), and pick up a venti hot chocolate. $5.11

1:12 p.m. — I head back to the office to eat my lunch and realize.. I LEFT IT IN THE FRIDGE AT HOME. OMFG…

1:15 p.m. — I sadly warm up and eat the chicken tenders alone (I was so impatiently hungry to eat them that half of them were still frozen inside and kind of gross…), eat a tub of yoghurt, and drink my venti. Sugar overload or what?

2:29 p.m. — I make playdate plans for tomorrow night as my partner is going out with a friend for some Daddy Time, and I have to remember to buy a present for her son’s birthday coming up. Stickers, probably…

2:50 p.m. — I feel really run down actually. I am still very tired. Could do with a nap to recharge my batteries.. I hope Little Bun sleeps well tonight.

3:03 p.m. — I call the credit card company to cancel my MBNA World Elite card but I am too late, I am already approved. I get convinced to keep it because I get 10,000 points to apply towards the $89 fee, which leaves me with $11 “free”, which I can cancel the card in a year … plus I have the Rogers card coming in at $29 that I can use for forex fees, so I’ll try both cards out and see which one I keep based on my spending. I need a new card, the CIBC Dividend one only gives back 1%, doesn’t give me free no-forex (additional) charges, and I need a new go-to card…. I’ll try them all out, pay the fees this year and see which one I like the best.

3:40 p.m. — I worked like a BOSS today. I manage to kill a whole bunch of issues that kept cropping up, like whack-a-mole.. Tomorrow I have to stay in the office because I have back to back meetings all the way through lunch, then we need to pick up a quick dinner, and then go to our playdate.

3:47 p.m. — I print off 5 colour copies of presentations on what I am presenting tomorrow, and have to plan out my day…

3:56 p.m. — I snack on the maple sugar “mints” (it’s just sugar), that I bought with my credit last week while I do a few lessons on DuoLingo in Spanish, and am pleased I am picking it up kind of well…

4:15 p.m. — I have a colleague who says she uses DuoLingo to learn French but though she knows it well, she can’t speak it. I laughed and told her that part was practicing. It was to stop being embarrassed and to just TALK. Start shoving the words out of your mouth, make mistakes, correct yourself, talk 24/7 and after 3 months you will be mostly fluent. That part, is not something you can learn from books or audio tapes, you really need to practice once you reach a certain point… and to reply back in French. But if you are at work, talking only in English, you’ll never learn the language. It is best to practice with outside folk, like at a restaurant, or in a store.

4:45 p.m. — Oh by the way, so the whole relationship I talked about here? Yeah, they’re giving it a second shot. He is going to try and go slow to not EFF IT UP.. lol.. and she is hesitant but trying because it is too hard to break away from what she thinks is the best she’s going to get at this point. They’re not that young either, they’re in their 40s and if they want a relationship, they both need to be on board and on the same page, on all matters that are important in relationships. Honesty, no lying, and realizing what each other wants. I will note that in recent weeks I have learned she is a bit of a Princess. She wants people to do everything for her — nanny, chef, maid… honestly, I think she’s playing in the wrong league if she wants that kind of $$$. “Heck, we make a lot and we don’t have staff!”, as my partner would say.

5:09 p.m. — I pick Little Bun up from preschool, and head home. He is happy to go home, and we go and check the mail afterwards. My partner’s order of that massive stock pot came in from Amazon, plus a few letters, like a David’s Tea gift card (<3), and my new bank card which I need to use to activate tomorrow but if it is snowing I am not going to be keen on walking out anywhere.

6:49 p.m. — My partner comes home with food for tonight (just a simple red pepper bread thing), and food for tomorrow’s lunches.

6:59 p.m. — We try to give Little Bun a piece of red pepper bread… and then…. out of nowhere, he just projectile VOMITS ALL OVER THE FLOOR. FML. OMG. OMG OMG.. I stay calm on the outside but I panic internally and I quickly hustle him to the bathroom to retch into the toilet instead of on the floor. I don’t make it in time, and he projectile vomits all over the floor ON THE WAY TO THE BATHROOM. .. OMGGGGGGGGGG… the stench of curdled digested milk……

7:02 p.m. — My partner immediately starts helping clean up the entire floor as I get Little Bun cleaned up and organized. I rip off his clothes slowly, wipe him down, wash him off with soap and water, and get him into the bedroom with the iPad to play quietly while Mommy and Daddy clean. He isn’t angry or sad or upset that he vomited, just in wonder that all that came out of his mouth…. “YOU SPIT!” (No my baby, that is NOT spit…)

7:28 p.m. — My partner finishes wiping all the floors and triple mopping it, while I hand-wipe the bathroom tiles. I need to definitely go over the floors again this weekend with a steam mop. DEFINITELY. 100000000%. Maybe even tomorrow night. OMG. The smell.. the SMELL.

8:02 p.m. — Exhausted, I get undressed, my partner already has a load of the  vomit-covered laundry going, and I fall into bed, do some double-digit addition math with Little Bun upon His Highnesses’ insistence that “Mommy do MATH.” and we all go to sleep.

Spent: $5.11

DAY FOUR

??:?? — Little Bun wiggles and squeals “MAA MAA…???” and I have to respond back “Yes baby??“…

??:?? — Potty run.

??:?? — He’s now stuck and tangled in the blankets with half of it wrapped around his body too tight and the other half of his body exposed and cold…

5:30 a.m. — Mood this morning? Ex.Haus.ted. I have not REM slept in a long time. I feel like this is my life now.

5:38 a.m. — I get up, my partner showers, Little Bun stares at his father showering and says: Daddy is a nudie! .. LOL… and then his father plays peekaboo with him from the shower door while I wash my face, dress and put on makeup.

5:49 a.m. — I start on the dishes. I have two full sinks of dishes as my partner has been cooking and making food for our lunches the next day, so pots and pans are filthy.

6:18 a.m. — Dishes ALL DONE and wiped, put away and clean, I get Little Bun ready to go to school, then we take selfies together and he does my LookBook.

6:30 a.m. — My partner is almost out the door but forgot to do Little Bun’s lunch. Dangggit… he comes back, and dirties more dishes and plates to do his lunch, peeling the fruit for his snack and then he leaves. He has a dinner tonight with a friend so I planned a playdate.

6:45 a.m. — Little Bun videotapes me putting on his shoes (he INSISTED on wearing his cool dog socks today):

7:29 a.m. — Little Bun starts panicking in the car garage, and is almost close to tears saying: The car! The car!...to which I am completely confused until I finally realize he is saying THE CARD… He had wanted to bring this David’s Tea gift card pochette that I got in the mail the other day that he very nicely decorated with emoticon stickers, and we forgot it on the chair at home in the entryway. I calm him down and give him one of my rewards stamp cards from a local cafe I visit, and kiss him.

7:44 a.m. — At work, I eat my mushroom omelette sandwich early, I plan on eating my other lunch during my actual lunch hour, and that should be enough to tide me over until dinner time.

8:38 a.m. — I complete a few tasks, and then start on the rest of the work today. It’s snowing. I don’t want to go outside to do anything…. or do I? It’s soft flakes, nothing too strong.. maybe I should get everything done although it says that tomorrow it won’t be so snowy, so it might be a better day to head out especially since I am going to yoga anyway.

11:48 a.m. — Whoa. Time for lunch. I worked non-stop.

12:08 p.m. — I eat my lunch, and try to read my book but get side-tracked with other things….

12:28 p.m. — A colleague heads out to an Italian grocery store around the corner, and buys a cannoli for me. <3 HOW SWEET. I’ll have to treat him back some time.

12:56 p.m. — My neighbour messages me to ask what time I’ll be coming over and I say 4:30-ish..?

1:56 p.m. — OH #%&#!!!*#%*. I FORGOT SOMETHING SUPER #@!!!$%## IMPORTANT AND NOW EVERYTHING IS #%&#!!!!??)#. OH FML. FML FML FML FML.

2:34 p.m. — I do my presentation. It’s long, lots of questions, and complicated.

3:56 p.m. — I work on that, and three other issues of things I find that I need to fix (unrelated to my f*ckup..)… My neighbour messages me before I leave and says: Come over for wine and homemade pasta!… OMG. yes. Thank you. I really need it after this day I have been having, I tell her gratefully. I leave, grab Little Bun and head home.

4:34 p.m. — At home, we drop everything, I change into comfy yoga pants and a top, and head upstairs with Little Bun, waving goodbye to Daddy who has his own dinner tonight with a friend.

6:33 p.m. — I unwind the entire time with my neighbour, who says she misses me terribly because I am working now, and wishes I was still “off” .. LOL.. I don’t. I love work, but .. today was a real FML day. A REAL FML DAY. She feeds me SO MUCH. Two plates of pasta, a crab cake, 2 cookies, and I am very satisfied. She even got me to drink a small glass of white wine. I don’t hate it, but wine is not my thing.

7:00 p.m. — Her boy starts getting rowdy, as he is getting very tired (he skipped his nap, same age as Little Bun, and is starting to strip off his clothes and run around naked….)… she tries to get him to put at least some underwear on, and tells him there are boundaries between strangers and families seeing him naked. He doesn’t care. He’s butt naked, pulling on his penis, and running around shaking his bum. Little Bun is laughing like CRAZY.. he can’t believe this kid is allowed to be so wild because he would be immediately yelled at (something I am working on…. trust me).

7:03 p.m. — At home, I log in to try and resolve this issue. I can’t. There is no other way out. I have to ask for help tomorrow. FML. FML. FML.

7:56 p.m. — I can’t even muster up energy to shower as gross as that sounds. I’m beat. I don’t smell, and I’m really just mentally exhausted and brain dead. I am really not on top of #%#%… I’ll put my dirty hair up in a bun tomorrow and call it a day.

Spent: $5.11

DAY FIVE

??:?? — Wakeup #1 – Squealing

??:?? — Wakeup #2 – Got stuck in a blanket

??:?? — Wakeup #3 – “Maa maaaaaaa”

??:?? — Wakeup #4 – Coughing

??:?? — Wakeup #5 – Snoring like a chainsaw in harmony with his father

??:?? — Wakeup #6 – Coughing

??:?? — Wakeup #7  – Potty

??:?? — Wakeup #8 – Coughing

6:00 a.m. — I wake up tired. I finally ate all of my old lunches from last week and have to buy one today. I make a note.

6:03 a.m. —I get dressed slowly, put my dirty hair up in a chic bun because that’s how we do when we are tired and we don’t smell ripe…yet.

6:07 a.m. —I drink a cup of warm milk.

6:20 a.m. — Little Bun picks out my outfits, does my LookBook, we do selfies and then he clings to me: Maa Maa… don’t want Mommy to go to work. Want Mommy to stay at home. Mommy stay home with Little Bun?? *pleading and sweet*…

6:31 a.m. — I kiss and hug him and say I need to work to fuel his sticker addiction and he adds as an afterthought… “and the train!!!”…

6:37 a.m. — I get ready to go, pull on my cute over the knee boots but make a mistake in NOT wearing socks (lazy…) and regret it the whole day. I end up with a blister on my right foot at the end of the day.

6:49 a.m. — I hug and kiss Little Bun goodbye then gently twist him into his father’s arms who then picks him up as he reaches for his arms, starts sobbing crying for me. He is sick so he really wants Mommy.

6:53 a.m. — I head to work tired. Yesterday was rough, they really ran me down… I get out of the car and take the time to clean the camera at least. LOVE THIS CAMERA ON THE CAR.

7:12 a.m. — I decide to drop by and treat mah’self to a chai latte and pain au chocolat. $7.90

7:30 a.m. — I head into work, drinking and eating this treat and I then get to work cleaning up the mess and addressing a few other issues from yesterday. FML.

8:24 a.m. — I manage to stay calm and try to fix the issues with the least amount of penalties possible and then I head off a little early today to yoga to buy my lunch first and then a present for my neighbours kid.

11:44 a.m. — I stop by for my lunch and decide on a creamy ham pasta, SUCCESSFULLY resisting the $6 tempting cakes because I had a cannoli yesterday and a pain au chocolat this morning. $12.70

12:03 p.m. — I drop by the kids store, scour everything and choose a drawing set of cards for him. This kid LOVES to draw and these cards will teach him step by step how to create each image. $28.70

12:47 p.m. — I go to yoga while she wraps the present for me, I’ll get it on the way back. I also had to resist buying yet another massive fire truck for Little Bun. Too many gifts. He has 3 vehicles already, and we play just fine with them with the blankets on the futon pretending the blankets are the river or a cave or the mountains…

1:13 p.m. — Halfway through yoga I realize almost too late FML I AM PRESENTING IN HALF AN HOUR. OMG! I AM NOT ON TOP OF ANYTHING THIS WEEK. I never book meetings close to yoga or at the end of the week but I had no choice!!! I rush out in a panic, pick up my beautifully wrapped gift for Little Bun’s friend and rush back to the office to scarf down a meal and be relaxed before my presentation.

1:30 p.m. — JUST IN TIME. I am not sweaty, flustered, I am calm, and I finish the presentation.

3:08 p.m. — Know what irks me about people sometimes? ZERO respect for my knowledge and what I do. It took me 10 years to learn what I know, and they think after 3 hours they can do my job. EFF YOU. Try it. I want to see you try it, and kill it. I am not in this business to teach you my job, I am here to teach you how to work efficiently and operate the way it is expected, but I AM NOT HERE TO TEACH YOU MY JOB. I leave slightly annoyed as it is MY expertise, and I can teach you, OR do my job and deliver. Not goddamn both.

4:01 p.m. — Before I leave, I realize I have more meetings this week to “track what I am working on”. This is all part of their new managerial plan to get “on top of things”. LOL. ALL THE LOLZ. Good luck with that.

4:12 p.m. — I pick up the photos for Mamie, and grab a card out for Little Bun to write a card to her. I also start prepping for tomorrow, update my budgeting tool for the expenses from today and my partner’s shared Excel sheet of his expenses, and pore over the numbers.

6:07 p.m. — My partner comes back with a light dinner. I’m starting to get sick of salad every night to be honest. How do I kibosh this? I guess I can’t…  Little Bun refuses to eat most of it, only snacking a bit on bread and only eating the pieces of egg and avocado alone. His appetite goes up and down but as long as he eats pretty well most of the week I’m not fussed.

6:35 p.m. — I do the dishes.

6:57 p.m. — I hand him stickers while I finish drying everything, and then we wants to go do math. He is VERY excited to do math with Mommy, and I lie down with him, then start teaching him how to do double digit subtraction with the two digits on top of each other, then the line, and “borrowing” from the left column to do extra math on the side. After about 10 examples, he gets the hang of it. We’ll practice this more later, he’s got it. Then we can flip to subtraction.

7:15 p.m. — Then I play with Little Bun in bed, re-enacting out We’re Going on a Bear Hunt with the blankets serving as a cave, a river, etc. It’s a new game I invented on the fly, where I sing the song the same way as in the video, and Little Bun re-enacts each section by splashing in the blanket “river”, etc. You don’t need a lot to entertain kids, so that’s why I resist buying him things. I WANT to buy him cool toys and trucks and games and so on, but …. they get bored of that stuff easily. Imagination is harder to cultivate.

8:02 p.m. — I quickly hop in the shower and wash my hair. I can’t go out tomorrow with oily, greasy hair. I have limits… standards… no matter how low they have fallen lately… I need to definitely… freaking get on top of this next week. I try to breathe.

8:22 p.m. — Time for bed after some math equations. How can you say no to that face!? I do a few math equations with him, and practice on teaching him how to count backwards. I am still working out my technique on how to teach kids but will share it later if anyone is interested…

Spent: $49.30

DAY SIX

??:?? — Little Bun is stuck in his blankets and starts crying “MAAAAAA MAAAAAA”

??:?? — He wakes up SCREAMING: “want to play!! WANT TO PLAY!!!”

6:50 a.m. — At least he “slept” in.. and I feel a bit more rested. He only woke up twice last night. I have got a LONG list of errands to do today. I have to buy a pot on my partner’s list, plus go to the bank, mail off photos to Mamie in France (updated ones), pick up more tea on sale… SO MUCH. I make a list, obsessively. I ask my partner to pick up some Bio-K for me at the grocery store. I definitely have a cold. I woke up with a sore throat.

6:54 a.m. — I need to write 15 more posts to get “caught up” on the blog with my Alpha A personality. I have some ideas but I keep forgetting to type them into my iPod and then they drift away..

7:12 a.m. — I start a load of laundry, make a cup of matcha tea and try to relax as Little Bun is SUPER irritable this morning and is whining and just… out of sorts. I’m staying calm though… I’m really trying to be zen. I eat the leftover bread from yesterday. There is no raw almond butter so Little Bun doesn’t want his bread. He wanted a “bread treat” with raw almond butter. I have to pick some up today.

7:31 a.m. — I start on the dishes so they’re done and out of the way at least.

8:04 a.m. — Dishes done and dried, I go and do math with Little Bun. Weird.

8:12 a.m. — I make a cup of tea. Am I going to regret this second cup later? Dunno..

8:48 a.m. —My package was REFUSED at delivery??? No freakin’ way. They just didn’t want to deliver it. It was just some cashmere shampoo and cables. WTF. I re-order. It turns out to be cheaper than before, because the price dropped on the cashmere shampoo. I actually receive a refund/difference for what I originally paid. This worked out well in the end after all. -$1.56

9:12 a.m. — New load of laundry in the wash, drying the last one, and I start rehabbing my cashmere turtleneck sweater that the seller CLEARLY shrunk in the wash, and not only that, it has a massive hole in the sleeve. This was not mentioned in the listing. I haven’t rated her yet, but I am not happy so I message her. I am still willing to keep the sweater, but now I need to carefully repair the hole, rehab it to stretch it out to fit better, and this was not part of the amount I paid.

9:48 a.m. — I think it is working out well, this rehab!! The sleeves look longer (I held it up to my body), and the hem is definitely longer. I message a friend to ask him about how his date went. I want details and drool over the descriptions of Mexican food… mmm.. guacamole.. tortillas…. I’m hungry now.

10:11 a.m. — I finish steam mopping the entire kitchen and hallway. I need to find a WIRELESS steam mop cuz this is really cramping my cleaning game. Anyway, I had to do it today because Little Bun projectile vomited the other night and no matter how clean it becomes, it is always good to re-clean the entire apartment just to be sure.

11:14 a.m. — My partner is home and I am already in bed doing math with Little Bun, teaching him double digit subtraction, and then addition. He is still fuzzy on the whole thing but he keeps eagerly asking me for: More hard math? More tricky? More difficult math??… who am I to say no? I do math, I read books to Little Bun before I leave…

12:47 p.m. — I eat my lunch (bread and cheese) and head off for errands today. I need to buy :

• Stockpot at Williams-Sonoma: $516.69
• Computer at Apple for my partner: $5109.49
• Stamps and mailing photos to Mamie: $15.68
• Cold pills: $10.97
• David’s Tea to pick up some tea on sale: $15.17
• Non-stick scissors: $11.49

12:08 p.m. — I head off, and he gives an unconvincing whine as I leave as his father picks him up to cuddle him. He is tired, and will need to sleep soon, so he is a bit grumpy.

3:28 p.m. — I finish ALL of the chores above and settle in for some videos, hiding out in my car (my new second home / apartment.. for realz… I am thinking of adding pillows and maybe a plant in my car). I like to hang out in the car in the parking lot, and watch videos, work, whatever. I use the cellphone as a wifi hotspot (YES for 1 GB of data per month!) and it has worked out beautifully so far especially after I do all of my errands.

3:31 p.m. — I pop a cold pill to stop my runny nose. That will help my sore throat as well if I can dry up this bacteria river… I also figured out the perfect “garbage bag” for the car. I bought this cheap washable little thick paper bag in metallic rose gold, and I clipped it to a box I keep in the car to use to hold my shopping and purses. I throw all the garbage and crap in there, then unclip it, and toss it in a real garbage for later.

3:56 p.m. — I finish up blogging and watching videos on the side while in my car, chilling out with a Starbucks Rose Rooibos (caffeine-free!) latte. $5.11

5:25 p.m. — Phone died (hotspot goes with it). Time to head home. I make my way back and the traffic is RIDICULOUS.

6:27 p.m. — It took me an HOUR to get home in the time it normally takes about 20 minutes. O_o … they closed down 3 lanes into one and of course, it started snowing like crazy, so everyone takes double the time to drive. I make two trips from the car, the other was to carry the laptop & pot upstairs.

6:33 p.m. — My partner has salads and breads prepared, and I eat mine while Little Bun starts half soft-crying in his chair “Mommy.. want your Mommy…“… he is really not feeling well and apparently slept 3 hours for his nap today, and I know his throat is hurting if his nose is running (like mine), and I kneel down beside him, and rub his back, soothe him, ask him to play nicely on his iPad until Mommy is done dinner… and I periodically (while eating) go back and forth between him at his desk and me eating salad.

6:57 p.m. — He’s pretty calm. I finish my salad, manage to feed him the rest of his bread he left untouched on the counter, and I do all the dishes.

7:44 p.m. — Dishes done, I play with Little Bun in bed doing “hard” addition and subtraction with double digits, and then read ONE BOOK to him before we all go to sleep. He fights bedtime (3 hour nap, who wouldn’t), and eventually falls asleep. He asks for water because he’s “drinky” and I refuse. He already had two gulps before bed, and any more and I am SURE to have his and my sleep broken with a potty run. Time to lay down the law on water.

Saved: $1.56

Spent: $5687.60 – Not all of it is mine…

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — “MAAAAAA MAAAAAA“!!!!

??:?? — “STUCK STUCK STUCK“… he wrapped himself in a blanket and now half of his body is covered in triple layers and the other half exposed. I refluff out the blankets.

6:40 a.m. — I’m up “late”, and my partner takes a shower while I make myself a tea, put away things as quietly as I can, and check on my sweater rehab (so far, so good). I have to meet a buyer today to sell my Persol polarized Havana sunglasses which I did love, but I kept them as a spare in the car because I prefer the Ray Ban Polarized Cockpit style, and realized that in the end I NEED sunglasses with a nose pad, otherwise it just slips down my nose, gets all messy with my makeup / sunscreen, and causes little tiny pimples to appear.

7:08 a.m. — Little Bun squeals: ehhhhh ehhhhhh!!! and I rush to him, rub his hair, and kiss him. He has his eyes still closed but when he senses me moving away (to get his milk), he cries out again.

7:11 a.m. — My partner heads down to wash the cars because the car wash bay is usually empty this early in the morning and he doesn’t feel rushed, nor does he have to deal with people walking around as he is trying to put the cars back into our spots.

7:45 a.m. — I spend the morning in a haze. I start a load of laundry, then try to manage Little Bun because he is sick and very clingy, and always wants his Mommy. He clings to me all day, wants to play “math” so we do more math, and then he asks for “hard math??”.

8:48 a.m. — We end up eating early, he sees the pasta cooling on the counter and asks for pasta. He gets a small bowl but doesn’t even finish it.

9:22 a.m. — My partner makes a salad for the both of us and I choke it down (I am starting to get really sick of salads to be honest..)

10:45 a.m. — I finish eating, then get ready to head out to get stuff done. I need to return that pot (my partner decided we don’t need it), and the laptop (he also decided no on that too), and I also have to meet a buyer to sell my Persol sunglasses adn to buy an iPod/iPhone adapter so I have a spare one at the office and two at home. I originally bought one for $25 at Apple but this guy is willing to sell his old (NEW ONE still wrapped) for $8.

11:57 a.m. — I do ALL of the dishes, and dry them. First round. Second round is after my partner makes our lunches.

12:40 p.m. — I head out, and as I am going out (love my new Over-the-Knee Aquatalia Kiara boots!! But you NEED to wear thick socks with them to avoid blisters)…

12:43 p.m. — I do LookBook with Little Bun, and as i go to leave, he clings to me, burying his face into my thighs. I call out to my partner a few times to get the EFF UP and grab him, but when he goes to reach for him, Little Bun pulls away like a limp rag doll and bursts into tears on the floor, sobbing…. his father, frustrated, goes back to bed because he’s tired, wants to nap, and doesn’t want to deal with a whiny Mommy-Mommy-Mommy child…. well TOUGH #%*#&%(..

1:02 p.m. — I leave him on the floor after I kiss and say “I love you” to Little Bun and I head out.

1:52 p.m. — I go to meet my buyer downtown but can’t find parking, so I message her and say I’ll come to her place instead. She is surprised and is very pleased that I came to her door. She explains she lost her OWN sunglasses and her husband suggested checking on Kijiji for people who are selling theirs off, and by chance she found mine. She loves ’em, and hands over the money. +$125 CHA-CHING!

1:58 p.m. — Before I leave, she eyes my boots… and says they’re really nice. I tell her to check out Aquatalia.

2:15 p.m. — I head to meet the seller of that $8 adapter.

3:02 p.m. — I get there and he texts back that he is running about an hour late, which is fine, because my car is my second home, so I hang out in there, eating Hershey cookies and cream pastilles (OMG ADDICTED.. bought a huge bag at Bulk Barn), and watching The Good Fight (season 2 is on!)

3:40 p.m. — He shows up, basically (with his wife) drools over my car admiringly, and then I hand over the $8 to her, and get the adapter. $8

3:48 p.m. —I decide I have time to still return the laptop, and the pot and race to do it.

4:22 p.m. —I get there, and then realize I FORGOT THE RECEIPT FOR THE POT. OMFG. I get a flashback, very clearly of myself putting the receipt in a tray for safekeeping but forgetting to take it out and tack it to the box to return it (which is what I normally do), but Little Bun frazzled me…

4:31 p.m. — I at least, return the laptop because Apple emailed the receipt. -$5109.49

5:40 p.m. — I make my way back, get stuck in traffic (damn 3 lanes down into 1 again), and then when I am home, I RUSH into the door because I hear Little Bun just SCREAMING HIS HEAD OFF down the hallway.

5:41 p.m. — I quickly open the door, rush in, and hug my baby, who is right at the door, red-faced, screaming for me, teary-eyed and sobbing “MAA MAAAAAA“….

5:43 p.m. — I calm him down, and discover that he started putting his stickers all over the place which made my partner very angry, so he basically kiboshed stickers forever. Sigh.

5:55 p.m. — I calm him down, hold him to my chest, explain that stickers no longer stay at home and have to go into recycling, and are only for preschool. He shakes his head, sobbing, and upset again that stickers are no longer at home, and at the loss of his “sticker book”…

6:02 p.m. — I calm him down again then divert his attention by asking him if he wants to do hard math with Mommy. He nods, pink-nosed, red-faced, and eagerly pulls me to the bedroom.

6:05 p.m. — I tell him I need to wash my face, get undressed, get situated and then we can do hard math.

6:07 p.m. — I lie down with him after 20 minutes of getting organized and we do math together…. I teach him triple digit addition and subtraction (same concept, but we borrow from our friend, the left-hand column!)… and he picks up the concept pretty quickly.

6:09 p.m. —My partner heads out for dinner and I stay with Little Bun and cuddle and play wit him. He periodically asks for stickers but I tell him gently “No” and he clams up and his lower lip sticks out in a little pout (OMG I remember he did the SAME THING as a 3-month old baby when I was late with the milk, and I HAD to snap a shot it was so damn cute).

6:44 p.m. — I play with him with a pillow, I record a mini math session so I can show my mother (proudly) how much he has learned, and then I chew some raw garlic to kill this cold I have….

6:49 p.m. — I get some hand cream out and accidentally push out too much.. DAMN. I spread it all over my arms and my hands.

7:00 p.m. — I eat our dinner — candied salmon with salad and bread. It is too dry, and I tell my partner it needed something, more than just avocado.. he nods sadly..

7:37 p.m. — Little Bun is EXCITED. He has not had salmon in a long time. He attacks his father for more and more until he is full.

7:45 p.m. — After dinner, I take a shower with Little Bun (he loves these).

8:22 p.m. —I do the dishes again (second round after my partner makes our lunches).

8:49 p.m. — I do more math with Little Bun, I read a book with Little Bun, and then we head to bed (he squeals in protest but then goes to sleep..). This time change is going to kill us.

 

Earned: $125

Returned: $5109.49

Spent: $8

———-

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