Just yesterday I hit ~~free twitch turbo~~ partner on twitch after roughly 5 months of streaming (somewhat) consistently. Today I'm hoping to share some decent advice and give my own (learned) opinion on some of the frequent yet not always useful tips shared around here.
Before writing this I did a cursory search through the subreddit for frequently asked questions so hopefully this answers most of the ones that I myself have any experience to answer.
My simple request: I'm not going to be posting any links to my stream or anything but if you go out of your way to find it please don't follow/subscribe to the channel unless you are genuinely interested. Thanks big boss.

Should you stream?

If I have to read another thread or comment of a person asking if they should stream I am going to scream. What do you people expect to hear? Yes, please stream the world needs you, you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams and have all the clout to have ever been cloutted.
I know people who usually type out questions like that probably don't read posts but here is a hack I've used to answer my own dumb questions through out the years. Say that shit out loud and respond to it like someone asked you the question. Nine times out of ten, you end up answering it yourself and on the off-chance you actually don't you should have a more actionable question.
Example: Instead of asking "should I stream?" you end up realizing the only thing holding you back is having no mic or something. The question then becomes "I want to stream what's a good cheap mic?". Which is a lot better and doesn't make people want to pelt you with rocks.
For those of you who ask "should I stream or is it a waste of time?" please, I BEG YOU, stop. Most of the shit you do is a waste of time, you either want to stream or don't. Make a decision based on that.

Webcam, do you need one?

This question is asked so often that I see it every time I come on the subreddit. Unsurprisingly, the answer is always the same as well, yes you do.
However I disagree.
I have never streamed with a webcam, not a single time, yet I'm still here and somehow managed to get partnered.
Now, I know why every one parrots the same advice, it is because the people making tip threads, youtube videos, etc., all say to use a webcam. Harris Heller said it once and I'm pretty sure that was enough for the people who copy and paste what he says in text threads here to become their mantra.
The truth is, all that matters is the content. Ask yourself do you do/want to do a lot of react/just chatting content? If so, you probably want a webcam since your content will focus around reacting to content. Lirik doesn't use face-cam because his content is his gameplay and commentary, not his face. Corpse literally blew up and is famous for not showing his face (even though he is still a personality).
I know the whole "Lirik doesn't use a face cam" argument is going to be met with people saying "exception not the rule!!!" but seriously, just use your head. Half the people you watch probably don't need face cams. MoonMoon probably doesn't need a face cam, Critikal didn't have a face cam until he already had over a million subs on youtube, schlatt didn't either, Dream doesn't, AdmiralBahroo doesn't, almost every DBD streamer I watch doesn't, just think for yourself.
The point I'm trying to drive home here is not just that a webcam isn't required, but also you need to look at what you want to create and decide for yourself.
Edit: I saw someone say somewhere that you need a webcam for sponsors. That's cap. I've had a sponsor and nobody has seen this ugly mug.

Equipment in general

People like saying that they need this this and that before they start streaming. This is just stalling. Until last month I hadn't owned a desktop PC my whole life. Before that it was just laptops and using my phone to read chat or look up things. You obviously need SOME equipment to start, i.e. a computer and some form of internet connection, but that doesn't mean you need to pick up a shure, a streamdeck, 4 monitors, 6 consoles, and whatnot.
Here is my setup. Keep in mind I literally just upgraded this last month after saving up for several months:

Blue Yeti: Hell ya baby got a free game with it too so I'm for sure pleased with this purchase. Edit: I recommend shopping around for mics since the yeti isn't as much of a "get this for streaming" mic as it once was. Plenty of good options out there for cheaper
Two BenQ monitors: Like I said, I was using my phone for chat but that got old fast. These monitors are cheap and 144hz. There are some color issues but eff it I barely notice anymore
Streamer PC from NZXT: My old laptop was from 2016 and made editing literal hell. Averaged 3 crashes every time I would try and render (and the renders took about an hour). Upgrading to this was the most worth purchase I've ever made. Also, the streamer PC got upgraded since I purchased, so you can grab a 2070 instead of the 2060 ti like I have :)
Red Dragon Keyboard and Mouse: I'm a cheap ass so when I see light up peripherals for like 40 bucks total I am sold.
Earbuds: Legit don't know the brand. I stole them from my sister like a year ago. I prefer these over a headset anyway since I don't want that gamer dent lmao

For those of you who are probably saying "GROSS A PRE-BUILT" remember that part prices are actual aids right now, not to mention the availability of even finding good parts. If you have the cash go pre-built that shit is amazing.
My recommendation:
Stay with your shitty set-up as long as possible but make sure to pick up a good mic first. Big streamers (looking at you Ludwig) shit on the Yeti, but straight facts all you need is to EQ that shit a lil bit and nobody will bat an eye. You don't have to pick up the Yeti (there are lots of cheaper options) but that's just the one I and many others have gotten since it is reliably a good ass mic.
Audio <- chat engagement <- pc upgrade

YouTube

How many people have to tell you bums to focus on YouTube before you do it? Twitch sucks ass. I'll say it, i'm brave. No discoverability, especially to those of you at the very bottom. Make a goddamn YouTube and start pumping out videos, it is not hard.
Ludwig made a power point on how to be a streamer that talks about a few things but the most important point of all was what he said on creating content for stream/YouTube. This isn't the exact timestamp but it do be close: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/896089267?t=01h24m14s
That advice is coming from a top streamer who also has over a million subs on YouTube by almost exclusively taking twitch vods and editing them for YouTube.
As for getting views on your videos here is my advice from my personal experiences:

Thumbnail and title are important but there are outliers that can thrive without doing shit. One guy I saw has their most watched video (over 250k views) with a title like "[game] [character] gameplay" and the literal default thumbnail that youtube makes. AND to top that off it was just a VOD from their twitch channel.
Audience retention matters. There is a reason massive YouTubers have these weird zoom in pans and flamboyant gestures all the time. Lots of movement and noises keep our tiny attention spans happy and frequently cutting is usually the key to success, although don't overuse it. I do very light edits and have been growing but that's more of my personal preference rather than a growth strategy.
Respond and engage. If you have one comment on your video and they are complimenting you, why aren't you responding? This is by far the easiest way to get someone to continue to engage with you and trust me, that is the most important thing in the algorithms eyes.

My understanding of YouTube

So obviously, clickthrough rate and audience retention are the things that are constantly brought up when talking about gaining more views and what not, but I am fairly comfortable in saying that there are other metrics that you should be paying attention to.
Let me hit you with a something that would make Dream shake in his boots. I don't subscribe to anyone on YouTube. *gasp*
The reason for that being, I almost always have the videos I want to see on my home page. I never have to go, "wonder if x YouTuber made a video" since YouTube knows I watch and enjoy their stuff. The question for most people being, how does YouTube know what people like and how does it suggest it to them? Basically, by seeing how often people engage with your content AND also what type of content you create. (although keep in mind, youtube tries to throw new videos at you a lot as well, these are usually in-line with content you engage with though)
For engagement, think of it as like affinity points in a video game but in reverse. Before you get to bang that smoking hot sim, you got to woo them. Every time someone likes your video they get a point, every time they comment they get two, every subscription counts as like 10, watching an entire video might be 20, etc. Obviously, these are made up values but I hope you follow what I'm putting down here. Once they get enough points you start showing up more in their home page.
I know this because I have a different account on my phone that doesn't have the same suggestions as my main account because I watch different things on my PC than my phone. However, I do like to look at the comments while I'm taking a dump or something. Problem was, my videos were rarely every recommended. I solved this easily by liking a couple videos. I didn't even watch them, just liked and read comments. LITERALLY NOT EVEN SUBSCRIBED AND I GET NOTIFICATIONS ON MY PHONE SOMETIMES WHEN A VIDEO DOES WELL!
In other words, by getting people to like and comment on your videos you are almost guaranteeing they see future videos from you.
Now, keep in mind, engagement is only a small portion of the whole pie. And even though you might engage with a content creator often, there is still a chance you miss some of their videos because of one other reason, the content's genre.

Content Genre

You might have noticed this phenomenon on various different creators YouTubes, but sometimes they create a video that bombs. Usually, this happens when they create something outside of their niche. This could be as simple as changing games, or as radical as changing the entire direction of the channel. Even if you engage like crazy with a creator, if they change the content enough, you won't get that shit recommended to you.
This is the main reason some creators have several channels and why some even get pigeonholed to one type of content. The reality of it is, if you build your audience on one piece of content and then want to change it, you will be fighting an uphill battle. One of the best ways to fight that is to diversify early OR better yet, emphasize your personality over the content. Jschlatt shits views and he does whatever the hell he wants really. Same goes for jacksepticeye, markiplier, Ludwig, Critikal, XQC, and numerous other creators.
That being said, doing one game/genre isn't a bad strategy either. A metric fuck ton of OfflineTv's videos are the same game. DisguisedToast played Hearthstone on repeat, then switched to TFT, THEN switched to among us, and his videos absolutely kill. Valkyrae is one of the biggest streamers period and all she does is play/upload among us and rust. Then of course we have all the minecraft streamers too.
It's really up to you to decide, but I'd recommend going towards personality content since that allows the most flexibility.

Other Social Media (Twitter, IG, etc)

Lots of people here seem to think that they don't have time to do YouTube or some other BS they think up as an excuse, so they think that twitter, instagram, tiktok, etc are all ways to grow. Trust me, they are not good ways to grow.
These are all stupid treadmills that trick you into thinking you're doing something when in reality you aren't moving the needle by much if by any at all. Posting ten dumb tweets and reposting memes on IG seem "productive" if you frame it in the light of "content creation" but the two people that see all of these things don't really give a shit. Spend that time working on a video for YouTube.
Don't give me this "I don't have time" bullshit. Do small videos and work yourself up, become better and faster. Perfectionism is a cute word for procrastination.
Ok, now that I took a shit on them so hopefully, you won't grind on them all day, these are still ways to grow and are important. Having multiple platforms for fans to communicate and engage with you is always a good idea, but don't spread yourself so thin early on when nobody knows who you are. Prioritize the thing that will get eighty percent of your results.
I personally have a discord for people to come and chat in. Thing is, I had no intention of doing so because I don't really use discord that much. The only reason it exists is that people kept asking for it in the comments on my YouTube videos so I made one.
TL;DR: Don't put the cart before the horse :)
Edit: Oh ya I forgot to mention. TikTok is trash for growth. I won't mention names cuz that's probably toxic(?) but there is someone signed on luminosity who has 690k TikTok followers and 95k YouTube subscribers who barely cracks 100 views on Twitch and has a hard time getting over 1k on YouTube. So don't go thinking TikTok leads to immense fame ya darn kids

Hosting/Raiding

Getting hosted/raided means actual jack. I remember pretty clearly when I had like ten viewers, I got hosted by someone with twenty-five or something. I think only one person ended up saying anything in the chat to me about it and although some stayed for the entire stream, by the time I went live again I lost all of the people who were in the host. This seems to be something others have mentioned as well, you won't retain almost any views from hosts/raids.
Edit: Please do try raiding/hosting or otherwise networking with other streamers at least once. Your mileage may vary and it could end up blowing up your channel. Who knows?
Edit edit: Having something that you can do during the stream is huge when getting hosted/raided. Most of the time, if not all of the time, a streamer is ENDING their stream and sending viewers to you rather than timing it for your own content. So if you are doing something uninteresting or are in the middle of something you are going to get less retention than if you did something crazy to impress the newcomers. In other words, having a strategy for hosting/raiding growth is key.

Speaking on stream

This seems to be something a lot of people struggle with on Twitch since so many people ask how to do it when nobody is watching/chatting. Coming from someone who had this problem, the answer is pretty simple, talk for the content not the chat.
What I mean by this is you should be focusing on your content more than the chat. Since I play games, what I do is just say some shit about whats happening on screen and sometimes say something that is hopefully funny. Pick up a garbage item? Say something about how garbage the item is, ez.
If you're streaming to NO VIEWERS you shouldn't be streaming to stream anyway. What you should be doing is making a YouTube video in the hopes of getting viewers to watch your stream. The only way to do that is to have good content planned out that should effectively act as your script. Again, Ludwigs stream on this is good (it'll probably be a video soon) so make sure to check it out.
A more recent problem I've had was just how much I engaged with chat (suffering from success I know). When I went to edit the videos I had to cut large swathes of the video because I was just chatting to people. Make sure to avoid this when you are actually trying to get content out for YouTube as it can mess up the flow of a video and make it harder to edit. You still can chat with people just make sure not to go overboard. Again, Ludwig is a perfect example of this, just look at his videos and streams and notice the difference between the two.

Streaming as a job/hobby

I hate this dumb argument of streaming isn't your hobby or twitch isn't your job. You have 24 hours in the day, subtract 8 for sleeping and depending on your job, 9 for work. All that extra time can be spent doing whatever the fuck you want. Want to get big and make money streaming? Do work. Want to just stream while you're playing games anyway? Do that.
IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL AT SOMETHING YOU PUT IN THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT REQUIRED TO DO SO! So stop telling people it has to be a hobby or it has to be a job. It can be either for christ's sake.

Partner difference

I have a checkmark which makes me a better person.
No, but seriously, partner doesn't really do much other than add more emote slots and some quality options. Also, you don't gain extra cash as a partner either. I don't have the mystical bounty board or god-tier split, just the checkmark to flex baby.

Opinion on affiliate

Devin Nash made a video about how affiliate is a scam, which is kinda true but only for people with no viewers. Having the sub button is huge and even when I was small small, affiliate gave me a couple hundred bucks a month for no effort on my part. Patreon is probably better though, no lie.

Twitch "grind"

If you stream 5+ hours a day without making content that lives somewhere else please form a neat line so I can smack you all. People saying they have no time drives me nuts, but when they also "grind" all day AND say that, it makes me want to punch air.

Stream YouTube friendly content
Stop stream and edit content
Upload and plug twitch in the video
repeat

That is the only "grind" you should be on. Affiliate is stupid if the 3 viewers you have are all just you on a different ipad.

Luck

You know what? Maybe PewDiePie got lucky and that's how he is such a big YouTuber. Maybe early twitch streamers got all their views because they were early adopters. Or maybe these people only got lucky because they showed up and actually put the effort in.
There are plenty of videos on my channel that looked like flops at first. They got like a couple of hundred views and didn't do well. However, after continuously publishing, a whole bunch of them ended up blowing up and becoming some of the most-watched. Without publishing more videos they would have ended up dead in the water. Consistency > luck.
I don't believe too much in luck when it comes to doing very simple things (LIKE MAKING A YOUTUBE VIDEO) but you literally cannot win the lottery if you do not purchase a ticket, it's that simple.

Editing Software

A couple of people asked this so I thought I should add it here. I use davinci resolve for my videos. Previously, I used hitfilm or something like that I can't quite remember the name, but I had to switch because they don't allow you to have split audio channels (i.e. one for desktop audio and one for mic audio).
I've literally never touched any paid software like premier or anything because, again, I'm a cheap ass.

What should you upload to YouTube?

Seriously just look at Ludwig, smallant, DisguisedToast, literally every top Twitch streamer with a YouTube. All three of the people I just mentioned are over one million subs on YT and are top streamers, so they are definitely doing something right.
In terms of off-stream content, guides are king. If you're a small YT channel with ZERO subs you can still get thousands of views by hitting the search algorithm of YT. My first 3 videos were uncut gameplay, guide video, guide video, in that order. Guess which ones have tens of thousands of views and which has less than a thousand? Guide videos are insane for small channels.
Edit: Actually, let's just call it searchable content. Searchable content is king

Ending notes

I think that's about it for this post. Hopefully, I covered everything although I doubt I did. If you have any questions I'll try my best to answer them and will probably edit the good ones into the post.

I am 36 years old, make $100,000 in Chicago, and work in Information Technology

Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balances: Traditional IRA $72k, Pre-Tax 403b $34k, total of $106k
Equity: Approximately $25k based on comp sales in my area, but I haven’t had my condo appraised since I purchased it a few years ago. Planning on looking into this to try to remove PMI later this year.
Savings account balance: $3800
Investment account balance: $6300
Checking account balance: $600 (most extra funds go into debt repayment or savings)
Vehicle Value: $15k
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it): I’m no longer carrying any credit card debt, I pay any balances off each month
Student loan debt: $99k for undergrad + masters, I work for a non-profit employer and I am planning on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). I’m 11 months away from forgiveness based on my work history.
Mortgage Balance: $102k
Car note: $14300 for a 2017 Honda HR-V (purchased used in 2020)
Debt Consolidation Loan: $16500 at 8.49%. I’ve been carrying this debt for way too long…finally decided to stop messing around with credit cards except for a rewards card. This is a 36 month note but I will pay it off much faster (see expenses section).
Consumer Debt: I have a $2100 Care Credit balance for surgery for my dog, which has 0% financing that ends in July 2021.
Net Worth: around $25k
Notes/Goals: In about 2-3 years I plan on renting out my condo and upgrading to a home with a garage and some outdoor space. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get a few hundred dollars of income per month from renting out my unit, which I plan on putting into savings. I’ve never been a landlord, but I will probably hire a management company to deal with vetting renters and collecting rent/doing repairs. I’d also like to move somewhere warm…I hate winter. Not sure if I can do that with my current employer, we’re 100% remote now but that’s not permanent. I’m going to advocate for that option though, otherwise I’ll have to look for a 100% remote job in my field after my student loans get forgiven.
My aim is to have all unsecured debt completely paid off by early 2022. I could probably pay it off faster at the expense of saving any money or reducing my lifestyle, but I think I will have better success with moderation. After that’s all paid off, I plan on saving what I was using for debt to fund a down payment for a new home.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression:
Honestly, my career was a bit chaotic in my late 20s/early 30s. I work in the IT field - I started out in IT support after getting my masters degree, and have progressed into more programming/engineering work. From 2014-2015 I tried out some other career paths that didn’t work out and just went back to IT because it pays well and I’m good at it. I am finally working for an organization that I like and have a role that I mostly enjoy.
2009-2014: $52k-$60k, IT support with a government agency. My role never changed, but I did get increases due to pay schedules.
2016-2018: $50k-62k, various IT positions at a tech startup, starting with desktop support
2018-present: $80k-$100k, IT work at a non-profit, most recent promotion was in November 2020
Monthly take home
$5200, paid once per month. I put 10% of my income pre-tax into my 403b since my employer matches that 10%. Unfortunately the match was put on hold due to COVID, but will start again with my January paycheck. It’s going to be nice seeing $20k going into my retirement this year.
I contribute $216/month into my HSA, since I have a HDHP. I get a match of up to $1000/year in my HSA from my employer, so I get the max pre-tax contribution of $3600. I pay approximately $110/month in premiums for health, dental, and vision combined.
I pay a long-term disability insurance premium post-tax of $10.25/month to increase my benefit amount to 70% of my salary until I hit retirement age, should I become disabled. I feel like this is really important as a single person, to make sure I have funds to cover my care.
Side Jobs/Other Income I will occasionally sell items on eBay or Poshmark. I run all online shopping/curbside pickup through Rakuten and usually get about $150/year in rebates for that. Credit card cash back is usually about $30/month. I get about $200/year in interest from my credit union. My dad gives me ~$500 for Christmas every year.
Section Three
Monthly Expenses
Mortgage + Taxes/Insurance + HOA: $1075, this includes parking, heat, water, trash, and cooking gas
Retirement contribution: I only do pre-tax contributions which are accounted for above
Healthcare: I pay all expenses with my pre-tax HSA funds. I’ve never had to pay more than what I have saved in my HSA, which is a blessing.
Savings contribution: I don’t save a set amount, right now I’m prioritizing debt payoff
Utilities: $71 electric, $66 internet
Cellphone: $156, this is for my phone + plan and another family member’s plan (their phone is paid off).
Subscriptions: $11 Spotify, $10 Kindle Unlimited, $15 Netflix, $13 Hulu, $8 for AppleCare and $3 for iCloud storage. AppleCare came in handy when I cracked my phone screen last year.
Credit Card Yearly fees: $95 annually. I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred for the cash back and travel benefits
Debt Consolidation Loan: $521, I pay $1021 (extra $500/mo) to get it paid off faster.
Student Loans: $0 due to the CARES Act. I estimate this will be $400/month when the forbearance period is over.
Car Payment: $240
Car Insurance: $96
Gas/Ubers/City Street Parking/Tolls: $75, I’m WFH so I’m only driving for errands or the occasional socially distanced get-together with friends. Not sure I even spend this much, but I occasionally have to reload my tollway iPass or my Chicago parking meter app, which both reload in $20 increments.
Groceries & Household Needs: $350 for food and household/cleaning supplies, includes tip/fees for grocery delivery
Dog Expenses: $400/mo because of the CareCredit balance for recent surgeries & related care. Normally I pay around $50/month for grooming and food/treats (she’s a small dog).
Personal Care: $260-ish (monthly average) for hair color, haircuts, skincare and makeup. I get haircuts every 12 weeks, hair color every 6 weeks, and Dysport injections every 4 months or so.
Gym/Fitness: $15 for Peloton app - I own a spin bike that I use 5x/week, plus I have some strength equipment at home.
Paid Hobbies: $50 - budget for new Switch games, iPad apps, books that aren’t available on Kindle Unlimited, etc. Not sure I actually spend this each month but it’s built into my budget.
Yearly Expenses
Amazon Prime: $119
Vehicle City Sticker: $82
Vehicle Registration: $151
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
I got an allowance but there was no discussion of savings or smart spending. My dad was very stingy with money, my mom liked to spend it.
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, I was always expected to go to college. My parents divorced when I was 16 and they didn’t save any money for my tuition.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked at a local restaurant as a server, so that I had money to spend for gas for my car and for fun with my friends. I stopped getting an allowance when I got this job.
Did you worry about money growing up?
A little bit, because when my parents divorced I sensed that my mom’s financial stability was not very stable, even though my dad was paying child support for my sister and I.
Do you worry about money now?
I’d say I’m somewhat vigilant about my money now. I lived paycheck to paycheck until my early 30s, because I never prioritized having savings and I spent more than I should have. I have more breathing room now, despite the debt that I carry. I’ll feel a lot better when it’s gone.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I was basically on my own when I went to college at 18. I did work-study and took out student loans to pay for school, room, and board.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
No
Other notes: I wear a mask in public places. Fair warning that this was a tough week for me personally. 2021 is already roughing me up!
Section Four: Diary
Day 1
7:30a - today is a holiday so I don’t have to work - but I forgot to turn off my alarm. I stay in bed until 8am before my dog starts bugging me to feed her. Since she just had dental surgery, I have to grind up her kibble and mix it with water, and give her meds wrapped in some turkey since that’s the only way she’ll take them. After she eats, we go outside for a walk. I decide I want to go get some iced coffee - I check my Dunkin Donuts app and see that I have a free coffee coupon to use. I put the dog in the car and while it warms up, I scrape all the ice off my windshield (gotta love Chicago winters). We drive to Dunkin and go through the drive-thru. I also get some egg wraps and a donut ($3.53).
9:15a - I do my weekly check of my bank accounts against my banking spreadsheet. I’m very paranoid about fraud (I had my identity stolen when I was in college), so I like to make sure everything looks good. I also have a rewards checking account that gives me 3.09% on my checking account balance when I hit a certain amount of spending on my Visa, and 12 debit card transactions per month. I’m about $250 short on the Visa, and 2 transactions short, but there’s a few weeks left. I remember that I was going to switch some of my autopay bills over to that Visa card just so I can hit the rewards tier, so I do that. I spent a bit checking my personal email, reading Reddit, and texting my sister, who is also off work today.
10:00a - I start my projects for the day - cleaning out my fridge/freezer, and taking out all the storage bins from under my bed and cleaning out what I don’t need to keep. I got a Roomba for Christmas and I really want to use it to clean under my bed, but the bins are preventing that. I will take what I keep down to my storage unit in the basement.
11:00a - A guy comes to pickup an old wingback chair that I put up for free on Craigslist. It was a hand-me-down, so I wouldn’t feel right charging for it. I was going to donate it but I live on the third floor and no one is doing furniture pickups right now. He leaves with it and I go back to cleaning & organizing.
12:00p - Decide I want some more bins/organizers for what’s left after purging what I don’t need. I go to Container Store online and after putting what I want into my cart and decide that instead of curbside pickup which will take a few days, I’m going to just go to the store and get what I need. Change into what I’ll end up wearing to workout later, and put a sweater on over it. Wash my face, put on SPF (I’m pale and it’s sunny out), tinted moisturizer, concealer, mascara, and eyebrow tint. Grab my wallet and a mask and head out.
12:15p - While driving, phone call with my ex. We have been attempting to repair our relationship after we broke up in the fall. He’s been acting distant lately, so I called him to find out wtf was going on. An hour and 10 minutes later, it feels like it’s over - again. I told him that I couldn’t wait for him to figure out what he wants, and said good-bye. I cry in the parking lot of The Container Store for about 10 minutes, then get myself together and go into the store. Unfortunately they don’t have the boot boxes I wanted, but I got everything else ($99.48). I notice that Trader Joe’s is next door so I get in line and buy a few items - butter chicken, mac n cheese, 3 bags of dried mango, soyaki sauce, bell peppers, spinach, and flowers for myself because I deserve it ($40.18). I eat an entire bag of dried mango while crying on the drive home. When I get home, I pull out all the stuff I got at the Container Store and do some organizing. Folding all my leggings Konmari-style is satisfying. I feel a little bit better.
4p - All of a sudden it’s 4pm. I feed the dog and take her outside for a quick walk. I don’t have a lot of energy so I sit on the couch to get some dog cuddles and scroll through social media a bit. Decide to be productive to distract myself - spend the next 2 hours doing random stuff: unboxing an Amazon delivery, moving stuff to storage, taking recycling out to the bin.
6p - Answer a bunch of Instagram DMs I’ve been ignoring. Go back and forth with a friend about her new job and commiserate over having imposter syndrome. Write in my journal. Debate buying another organizer on Amazon, this time for nail polish. Resist, and close the window. I decide to eat a protein bar, I’m not hungry but I need to eat something that isn’t carbs. My ex responds to my IG story. I ignore it.
7p - Convince myself to get on my spin bike and do a workout. I choose a 45 minute pop ride that I bookmarked to take at some point. It’s like God knew what I needed, the playlist was so fun. I definitely sing along to Destiny’s Child “Survivor” - and I feel much better. After the ride, I eat a bowl of Cheerios with skim milk, plus a greek yogurt cup. Take a shower, change into comfy clothes, and use a lot of dry shampoo as I just washed my hair yesterday and don’t want to deal with it again. I coax my dog into taking her second dose of meds with turkey.
9p - I look at my phone and my ex sent me two more messages on IG in response to my story. Men, ugh. I get cozy on the couch with the book I’m reading - We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I finish it and add it to the list of books I’ve read in 2021. This is #5.
10:15p - Take my dog on her final trip outside. We get into bed and I scroll through TikTok until I start feeling sleepy, then lights out.
Daily Total:
Restaurants: $3.53
Groceries: $40.18
Household: $99.48
Day 2
7:45a - I had my alarm set for 8 but I’m up early. Cuddle with my dog for 10 minutes then get up. Make the bed, this is a newer habit of mine but it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something first thing in the morning. Give the dog her meds and while she’s eating, I put on some leggings and a sweater. I walk her around the block and after I come back inside, I wash my face, moisturize, and put on some makeup. I am trying out some new concealer and eye shadow, plus I finally got an eyelash curler (lol). I’m trying to make more of an effort to feel like a human in the mornings so it’s easier to transition back to the office when I have to go back. I straighten parts of my hair that look weird, and add some more dry shampoo. Make some coffee and add collagen protein powder and some cream. Sit down at my desk with a Greek yogurt cup and start reading through work emails and addressing my calendar.
9a - Video call with IT security team and the VP of my department
10a - Scroll through IG while making another cup of coffee. Find out that the shampoo I recently bought is part of a class action lawsuit for hair loss…great. Good thing it’s not open, and I can return it to Ulta and get something else. Go back to my desk and check ticket status and review some project documentation.
11a - Make some food - spinach, egg + egg whites, bagel with cream cheese - then back to work things. I get a new project that I was recommended for by the head of IT, so that’s cool.
11:30a - Quick video call to discuss a project, but it could have been an email. Go back to regular work things.
1230p - Take a break from work to do a live 30 minute Peloton class. Fun and feels good to move! Quick shower and clothing change, microwave the mac n cheese I bought on Monday, and go back to work.
2p - Call with my team, I leave my video off for this one. Review/work some assigned tickets and more emails. Work is kind of light right now. I should look ahead for the week but instead I get on YouTube and watch some videos. I can tell my anxiety is high because I get really unfocused.
4p - I have an application software upgrade I need to monitor - luckily this is kicked off by the vendor and I just need to make sure nothing breaks on our side. I join a conference call just so I’m connected to their technical team, but there isn’t much for me to do. I give the dog her evening meal and then take her outside. Come back in and spend some time surfing the internet while the software upgrades. Watch the COVID memorial service on the National Mall and can’t believe it’s taken this long to do one.
5p - Open a bag of dried mango, eat while checking upgrade status. Discuss some issues with the vendor technical contact, spend the next 2 hours fixing issues and completing upgrades. I email stakeholders to confirm that the upgrades are completed.
7p - Turn off work computer for the night. I setup my Roomba and put it on the dock to charge. I’ve named her Harriet. I decide I should eat something other than dried mango for dinner and put some chicken nuggets in the air fryer. I take some chicken out of the freezer and put in the fridge to thaw for tomorrow’s dinner. I should at least try to eat healthy…
730p - Harriet says she’s charged enough so I run the first cleaning job. She’s noisy but I am very excited about this. I hate cleaning so much. Before now I didn’t realize how many cords I had on the floor. She finishes running after an hour and there’s so much dirt and dust in the trap. Best gift ever.
830p - Give dog her meds. Scroll through IG, get bored, decide to watch a movie. I pick A Star Is Born because I need a good cry before I go to bed, right?
10:30p - Walk the dog, do my nighttime routine, and get in bed. Try to fall asleep but I’m struggling due to anxiety. Decide to scroll through TikTok for a while as that usually makes me sleepy. My plan works and I fall asleep around 11.
Daily total: $0
Day 3
730a - Alarm goes off but I’m already awake. Didn’t sleep well due to being woken up at 2:30am by a snow blower outside my window? That couldn’t have waited a few hours? I snuggle with my dog for 20 minutes and then get up and make the bed. Give pup her food, walk her quickly since it is colder than normal today. I make some coffee and I also take care of all the dirty dishes in my sink and put them in the dishwasher. Change clothes and fix my hair. I leave my glasses on today but still put one some eyebrow tint and concealer. Glasses can only hide so much.
8:30a - Check the news because it’s Inauguration Day and find out that the federal student loan pause will be extended until September 30th! I immediately open up my financial spreadsheet and make some updates to plan ahead. This is going to save me approximately $3000 in loan payments since these months still count towards my PSLF forgiveness. This also means I should defer filing my federal taxes until the October deadline because my income-based repayment certification date gets pushed back several months, and I don’t need my last 4 payments to be higher than they have to.
8:45a - Check work email, review the ticket queue I need to work on today, start tackling those.
1030a - Grab a Greek yogurt cup, spill some on my living room rug, my dog cleans it up. Whoops. I use a bit of carpet cleaner but there’s no stain, phew.
11a - Get a little bit emotional about the Inauguration. Kind of a relief overall.
12p - Start of 4 back-to-back calls that will end at 4pm. I grab a bagel & cream cheese to eat during the noon call, since it’s a lunch & learn. They also give us a $30 UberEats voucher that expires at midnight tonight, so I guess I’m ordering dinner tonight!
4p - Finish up my last meeting, my boss still wants to chat so I need to stay online a bit longer. I feed the dog and take her outside real quick while my boss is in another call. I order a poke bowl and a Fiji water from Uber Eats with my voucher, all I need to pay for is the tip for the driver ($5). Read the emails that piled up while I was in meetings, also check my personal email as well.
445p - Food gets delivered - it’s a really good bowl. My boss calls me and we end up discussing a variety of things for 2 hours. I’m really excited about my career right now.
7p - I write in my journal for a bit. Text back and forth with my sister, we both are feeling pretty emotionally exhausted. I wish she didn’t live so far away. Spend way too long trying to find something to watch on Netflix. I end up watching stand-up comedy - Daniel Sloss “Jigsaw” which I’ve seen before but it hits different tonight.
930p - I give the pup her meds. Do my nighttime routine and crawl into bed because I’m feeling emotionally exhausted. Scroll through social media in bed for a bit. Do a sleep meditation for 10 minutes, then lights out.
Daily total:
Restaurants: $5
Day 4
7a - Alarm goes off, change into workout clothes and walk the dog. I do two 15 minute Peloton workouts back to back. I feed the dog and give her meds, and jump in the shower. I do hair and makeup today because I have a presentation to do. Make some coffee and a bagel with cream cheese.
9:30a - Starting my morning of meetings/presentations. Already looking forward to noon when I can disconnect from video calls.
12p - Make some veggie pasta and chicken nuggets for lunch. Catch up on emails and review my to-do list - it feels like I have way too much to do, trying not to stress. I decide that I want to get outside this weekend and go hiking in Wisconsin. I text my mom and ask if she can stop by my place on Saturday to walk the dog mid-day and she says yes. I order some fleece-lined leggings, wool socks, and a puffer jacket from Target for the hiking trip - the only cold weather stuff I have is not hiking-friendly ($96.19).
1p - Two back-to-back meetings, but these aren’t video calls, thankfully. Work on some tickets and write out my ever-expanding to-do list.
4p - Feed the dog and take her outside. I get in my car to go do curbside pickup for the clothes I ordered earlier. Drive home and decide I should find all my gear for the trip because I’m not entirely sure where I put my hiking shoes.
6p - Make dinner - chicken teriyaki over ramen noodles. I have leftovers, so I will eat that for lunch tomorrow.
630p - Half-heartedly watch a few episodes of House while also scrolling through social media. I kinda fall asleep on the couch at some point.
10p - Walk the dog very quickly, it’s freezing out. Go to bed and crash, I think my emotional exhaustion is catching up with me.
Daily total:
Clothing: $96.19
Day 5
7:30a - Alarm goes off. I lay in bed for 30 minutes because I’m still tired. Change into work-appropriate clothing. Feed the dog, walk. It is FREEZING. I make some coffee and grab a Greek yogurt. Sit down and start reading through emails and chatting with co-workers via Teams.
10a - Two calls back to back
1130a - Lunch - bagel and cream cheese, two eggs
12p - Charging through my to-do list
3p - Last call of the day, ends up being a full hour…gross. Turn my computer off at 4p. Feed and walk the dog. I eat my leftover stir fry from last night for dinner.
530p - A friend calls and we chat for about an hour. We make tentative plans to go skiing as a day trip sometime next month. I’m stoked because I’ve never been skiing and some of the cold weather clothes I bought for this hike would be useful for that too.
630p - Watch Ever After while making sure I’m ready for my impromptu hiking trip for tomorrow. Find out I need to have a park pass for my car to use the state parks in Wisconsin. Buy an annual pass for 2021 ($38) because that’s the only thing you can buy online and it looks like all the park stations are closed due to COVID so I can’t buy a day pass. I’m going to use this as an excuse to go hiking more often.
9p - I’m leaving early tomorrow, so I feed/walk the dog and do my nighttime routine, head to bed.
Daily Totals:
Hobbies: $38
Day 6
6a - alarm goes off - it’s hiking day! I feed/walk the dog, and then get fully dressed. I grab my hiking shoes, a water bottle, a small backpack, and a Nutri-grain bar, and head out.
730a - I get off the interstate in Wisconsin and go through a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru. I get a small coffee and a bagel & egg sandwich ($5.89). Eat while driving the rest of the way to the state park.
845a - find a place to park by the trailhead and make sure my park pass receipt is showing on my dashboard. I discover there’s more snow than I thought there was on the trails, so I decide to just hike in my Ugg snow boots instead of the hiking shoes, since the snow boots go higher on my leg and are pretty comfortable. Grab my pack and start the hike! It’s really pretty with the snow, and the cold isn’t too bad. I’m glad I have my boots on. I do a 7 mile trail loop and it takes me about 3 hours.
12p - Drive home. I stop at a gas station to use the restroom and fill up my gas tank, since gas is much cheaper in Wisconsin than it is in Illinois ($23.44).
230p - Make it home. I take a long shower and then just sorta lay on the couch for a while with my dog - I’m tired from the hike and the driving. I take an accidental nap.
5p - Wake up because I heard my dog whining for food. Feed and walk her, then decide to make dinner. I have no motivation so I just throw a frozen pizza in the oven. It’s a medium size, so I eat the whole thing.
6p - Scroll through social media since I haven’t been on it at all today. Get cozy on the couch with a new book - How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen.
9p - Walk the dog and decide I’m tired enough to just go to bed.
Daily Total:
Restaurants: $5.89
Gas: $23.44
Day 7
10a - Holy cow I slept late. Feels good to do that once in a while. Feed and walk the dog, then I make myself some coffee. Today I just add some milk to it. Check personal emails. I think about working out and decide that I’m better off just doing a stretch class from the Peloton app. I pick a 20 minute one and it was the right decision.
11a - Make breakfast - toast with peanut butter, scrambled egg with egg whites. Shower and start the multiple loads of laundry I need to do. Clean the kitchen and the bathroom - not a deep clean but all the surfaces. I straighten up the other rooms in my apartment as well.
1p - FaceTime with my sister. Today is the only day we both don’t work, so it’s ideal to catch up on Sundays.
3p - I’m hungry again but not enough for a meal. I eat an apple with sliced cheddar cheese. Continue with laundry and play fetch with my dog. I’m glad to see she has some energy back after her surgery.
4p - My ex calls me. Asks if we can meet up and talk. He invites me over for dinner, I say ok. We agree on 6pm. I freshen up my hair and do some makeup. Change clothes into leggings and a long sweater. Feed and walk the dog.
530p - Drive to my ex’s apartment. I listen to my upbeat Taylor Swift playlist on the way there. Spend the evening at his place, he orders dinner for us and I don’t offer to pay, LOL.
930p - I drive home. I text my ex that I made it home safely, since he asked me to. Walk the dog, and do my nighttime routine. Check my work calendar for tomorrow, realize that I have a previously scheduled eye doctor appointment in the morning that I forgot about. Good thing I checked! I go to bed since I want to workout in the morning before the appointment.
Daily Total: $0
Weekly Totals
Restaurants: $14.42
Groceries: $40.18
Household: $99.48
Clothing: $96.19
Gas: $23.44
Hobbies: $38
Reflections: This isn’t a normal week due to the impromptu hiking trip, but my spending wasn’t terrible. I’m really happy that I won’t be paying student loans for the next 9 months. This diary showed me that I may spend too much time on social media and that I should be eating more vegetables. I just really love carbs…haha. I will need to make good use of that state park pass, especially in the spring and fall when the weather is mild!

How to get a wired connection?

Files, what products or strategies are you using?

MacBook Pro and iPad Pro vs Surface Pro X

Atari Mini Pong Jr. review

So I was immediately very interested in this when I first heard about it. I thought to myself “I’m so glad someone made this”. It took me a bit to warm up to the steep price tag , but I began to convince myself that it must be designed, engineered and built really well. I mean, it looks really cool. I had high hopes.
I figured that the paddles (spinners) would feel buttery smooth and provide solid control and accuracy with a good weight to them. I had this idea in my head that maybe the display is some kind of monochrome tech (like a kindle) with a high refresh rate and a super-crisp representation of the original 1973 Atari Pong arcade cabinet. Minimal but a perfect emulation in the visual aesthetics, sound and gameplay. Sadly, I was way-off.
Now before I get into it I want to mention that I am not very hard to please. But if I’m going to spend some significant cash on something, I expect to see a high level of quality. I have the Arcade 1up Ms Pac-man Countercade and I love it. That thing is beautiful. The controls are solid and the construction feels like arcade cabinet grade. The gameplay is a perfect accurate emulation of the original arcade game. I’m very happy with it in relation to how much it cost me. Unfortunately, I don’t feel the same way about the Mini Pong Jr. I’ve actually got a lot to say here, so I apologize in advance for how lengthy this post will be, but I wanted to be honest and thorough.

the physical unit

The design aesthetics of the Mini Pong Jr. case is definitely the best part. It looks beautiful and that really caught my eye and made me want it. But you’ll see that despite it's good looks at first glance, it’s still riddled with issues and poor design decisions.
Despite the official description’s efforts to tout this as “extremely portable” - it’s actually a rather large unit - and I actually like that about it. I will say that I have big hands and I occasionally found myself blocking my vision of my on-screen paddle, which can be frustrating when you’re trying to hit a fast moving ball. I wouldn’t mind it if the paddle controls were a little further from the screen.
Once you hold it in your hands, the case feels a bit pla-stic-ey overall. All of the buttons feel cheap when pushed, the layout of the buttons and ports were just slapped on the side without much thought given to ergonomics or aesthetics.
The power button is located right next to the micro USB power port, which means if you happen to have a 90 degree plug on your power cable, it covers up the power button and makes it difficult to get at.
Also, aesthetically it would be nice if the power port was centered on the side (between the two players).
And since we’re talking about the power port, I also noticed that if you wanted to hold it or rest it on a table vertically in landscape orientation, well they placed the micro USB power port on the bottom so you actually can’t do this while it’s plugged in. We know that’s the bottom because the screen has the score at the top of the screen, and the display would appear upside down if you orient it with the power cable coming out the top.
Then there’s a randomly placed ugly standard USB-A port littering the OTHER side right next to the beautiful Pong logo (which I guess is so you can charge other accessories like your phone?). This prevents it from having a nice simple clean looking ‘beauty’ side to have on display (on your desk or bookshelf). Also, it’s strange to me that they felt inclined to print the same line of copyright fineprint on both sides of the unit. It just adds to the clutter unnecessarily.
And let’s not forget to mention that they chose to sell you this without a rechargeable battery - and it takes a rather obscure battery type (one I’ve never heard of). So this means either we’re spending more money ordering one online and then waiting for it to arrive, or we’ll be forced to always play it with the power cord connected. I mean, you’ve got to be really scraping at things to cut corners on to make this cheaper to manufacture to leave out the battery. And it’s not like they were trying to keep the price point low or anything, so it just feels insulting to the consumer. Especially since they clearly advertise this product as ‘portable’, but technically it is NOT portable until you acquire the special battery.
And speaking of the power cable they provide… it’s short… really short. It’s like they didn’t really care about the fact that most people that first open the box will only be able to play this by plugging it in - limiting them to being 3 feet away from a wall outlet. That’s very awkward if you think about it. I know I had to get an extension cord to be able to play it on my kitchen table. All of these little things would probably be easily forgiven if the product was priced more reasonably, but I guess I just expected more at this price.
And then they decided to put the speaker on the bottom, which results in very muffled sound (especially if playing on a carpet or bed).

the controls

And then there are the paddles (or spinners) - this is really the main reason anyone would need to buy a standalone product for this game. In my opinion this is the most important thing to get right about Pong, and it can really make or break the whole experience.
All of the original versions of Pong dating back to the 1973 arcade cabinet were controlled by analog potentiometers, basically dials or knobs that had very smooth action to them. My memory of playing even the Atari 2600 version of pong with the paddle controllers was that your on screen paddle kept up perfectly with the speed in which you turn the dial. It felt like a direct connection with zero lag. It also had a level of sensitivity such that you could get from one side of the screen to the other side of the screen with a simple twist of the wrist. It was not necessary to roll the controller more than 180° and you did not need to adjust your grip on the knob (which would cost you valuable time). It was so sensitive that if your hand was a little shaky, you could see the on screen paddle shaking as well.
So the actual control the Mini Pong Jr.’s paddles provide is just terrible. It does NOT keep up with how fast you spin the paddles! The speed in which you can move your on-screen paddle is definitely CAPPED. This really throws everything off. Think about it, if you get into a groove playing and you know when you turn the paddle to a certain angle, the paddle should move to a consistent location onscreen, right? Well, once you hit that cap on how fast the paddle will move, you’ve thrown all of that off and there is no consistency, so you have to keep adjusting your grip on the paddle to be able to turn the knob further than you had to moments ago.
The movement of the onscreen paddles isn’t smooth either. It moves in chunky steps. It feels less like an analog input and more like a series of keystrokes that can only be pushed so fast before the speed is capped. Seems like the paddle moves in 5 pixel chunks. Very janky feeling. Very disappointing.
This is really the breaking point for me. If they kept everything else as is but got this part right, I’d ultimately be okay with it… but this is really completely unacceptable. I’m not sure if this is something that can be fixed with future firmware updates, or if the limitation lies in the paddle controller hardware. Only time will tell when folks start doing tear-downs on it.
Also aesthetically speaking, I was hoping for a high quality premium feel, but unfortunately the paddles just feel like cheap plastic. I mean how much would it have cost them to use a material with a little more weight to it, or a higher-quality true analog potentiometer? This was not the right place to cut corners.

onscreen gameplay / interface

The number one problem I have here is that overall it’s just not true enough to the original Atari Pong. If someone is willing to spend good money for a Pong game like this, it’s because of the nostalgia value it has. Pong is historically significant, as it is the first arcade cabinet ever produced and one of the first home video game systems you could buy. That’s a big deal. It’s important to represent it accurately. I feel like everything that they’ve done here to jazz it up is a step in the wrong direction. I wasn’t buying this because I wanted a fancy flashy new pong experience. In this case, less is more and it feels like they tried too hard to refresh and update the look and feel of the game.
Now, I don’t mind a refresh if they also include an accurate, minimal emulation of the original 1972 Pong as an option. If they do that, they can go hog-wild for all I care with fancy graphics and explosions and colors. But we are given no such options for different ‘skins’. There are also very limited gameplay options as well. No paddle size handicaps, no speed variations. Only 10 AI difficulty settings and up to 99 points to win the match. The Atari 2600 version of Pong had more game modes.
One of my biggest problems is… the music. They’ve added music to this. Bad music. Why. WHY? They really didn’t need to add music to Pong. It’s PONG. It’s not Tetris. It’s supposed to be minimal and dull. That’s it’s charm! I feel like they don’t get it. And of course, it wound’t be much of a problem if they gave us some control over it like a music volume so we can completely mute the music, just like every game in modern history has… but nope. You have to hear the music or nothing at all. It’s inescapable. From the moment you turn it on, to the moment it is turned off, you get this repetitive, low-fi cheesy, god-awful music. The music runs on a very short loop and becomes tedious very quickly. Nothing about he music is desirable, appropriate or relevant. Again, this is such a bad decision that could have been easily avoided or fixed. They could even put a music folder (it is an Android device, after all) so we could put our own MP3’s in it and it could shuffle them. A missed opportunity that wouldn’t be hard at all to implement.
The product’s page claims “User friendly controls / Easy to understand interface”. On the contrary, the interface for this is pretty bad. It’s very awkward and not obvious how to navigate the options the first time using it. Also, the overall presentation onscreen is just pretty weak and not polished - as if it were designed by programmers rather than artists. The screen that displays while waiting for a game to begin is just just plain ugly and confusing. You have to attempt to navigate it in person to understand how awkward and not-user-friendly it is. And it really wouldn’t take much to make this clean, simple, and more retro feeling.
Let’s talk a little about the flourishes. There are a number os special effects that are added during gameplay when the ball impacts the walls or the players’ paddles, kind of like particle effects or sparks. I don’t mind this so much, they’re kind of fun - but again I really do wish we had this available as an option and we could also play a simple no-frills emulation of the original 1972 game. I thought that was what I was buying based on the photos. The “YOU WIN” animation that plays is just awful. Colorful confetti rains down on the winning side with the most boring all-caps Helvetica text that says “YOU WIN!” accompanied by a really cheesy low sample rate female voice that sounds like they just asked the office bookkeeper to say it into the microphone. This totally breaks any retro immersion you might be experiencing with unnecessary color and speech and it just doesn’t feel very appropriate to the era (It looks more like it’s from the Windows 95 era). If they’re going to do something like this, it should be more tastefully done.
And speaking of breaking the retro immersion with color… there is a very ugly little green battery level indicator that is pretty much permanently positioned in the middle of the top edge of the screen, even during gameplay… and even if you don’t even have a battery installed! It’s completely unnecessary, it’s an eyesore, it clutters up the beautiful retro low-res monochrome simplicity of this game. It’s as if this Android device thinks it’s a phone. They could have easily put the battery level indicator in the options screen, and hidden it entirely if no battery is detected. It’s just sloppy UI design and it takes away from how clean and simple and beautiful this game could be.
Also, it looks like someone was trying to get creative with the score numbers that are prominently displayed on the screen during gameplay. Instead of going with the look of the original Pong, which was big fat blocky squared-off numbers, they tried to give it a more 80s LCD number look. Not true to the original at all, it really doesn’t make much sense and I really just wish they didn’t try so hard to jazz things up. Less is more when it comes to Pong.

there’s really no excuse

So this handheld console plays Pong - a video game that was invented nearly 50 years ago. That’s all it does. That’s all it’s built to do. That’s all it needs to be good at. And it costs $129. You might assume that it’s going to provide a premium Pong experience at that price. So how could it fail on so many levels. I mean, this is the year 2021. How is it possible that they could not produce an accurate emulation of a video game that was made in 1972.
I looked on the app store and downloaded a Pong game on my iPad last night called “Super Pong”. It’s fantastic It doesn’t have music during gameplay - only when you’re in the home screen, and that music is actually pretty awesome. There’s also a music button to shut it off (even though it only plays in the menu, they understood that it might annoy some people). There are several modes including “Retro 1972, Classic, Super, and PingPong”. Most importantly, you can move the paddle as fast as as you want to with zero lag or speed limiting. It was free (with ads). To remove the ads it cost me 99 cents. It even comes with an iPhone version, and an Apple Watch version (which is the only game I can think of that would be great on an Apple Watch because the digital crown is essentially the perfect paddle controller). This 99 cent app provided an infinitely better and accurate retro Pong experience than the $129 Mini Pong Jr. The only reason I would want to buy a standalone Pong game over the iPad app is to play with the paddle (spinner) controllers (which is how it should be played). I just wish that Unis got it right with this game. I really wanted to love this thing.
It feels like they were rushed to get this product out in time for Christmas (a deadline they ultimately missed). That’s the only explanation I can think of for having so many bad decisions. My only hope with this unit is that either the company Unis is dedicated to the ongoing development of this product by releasing software and or firmware updates, or the internet / YouTube community starts to publish guides and tutorials for various ways to hack, side load, and otherwise tinker with this device to improve the way it functions.
Thanks so much for sticking with this ridiculously long post/rant. I hope you found it useful, and I hope the developers are listening and willing to continue it's development, make software improvements, and refine the on-screen interface and design styling. It still might have the potential to be a fantastic little stylish piece of retro tech, but it's definitely not there yet.

A students review for an M1 MacBook Air 16+256.

I am 25 years old, make $122,000, live in New York, NY and work as a product manager.

Section 0: Background
Hi everyone! I’m trying to tailor this a bit more to reflect the UK Money Diary style where I give context on the week before and reflect on it after. I also added in some of the questions from the recent thread about what Refinery29 should ask diarists (see here).
I wrote this the week of Thanksgiving; my partner and I stayed in NYC instead of going home to either of our parents’ homes. We wear masks and stay socially distant when we leave the house. I’m thankful that we live close to a park and live on a block where we know and enjoy talking to our neighbors.
This was a relatively normal week for us during a pandemic, save for me spending a bit more than normal and it being Thanksgiving. We’ve both lived in the city since college and have so-so relationships with our families, so we didn’t leave for “home” when the pandemic hit.
I also just named my boyfriend instead of giving him an initial. He’s the only person I actually saw this week, but the initials always throw me off when I read these.
What do money and success mean to you? What are your end goals?
It helps me to see money as a tool. I never resonate with people who say “money doesn’t buy happiness” because to a certain degree, it does. Money enables me to live the life I want.
I’m pursuing FIRE (financial independence, retire early) and hope to be financially independent (able to live off my investments) by my early 30s. To do so, I save 60%+ of my income per month. I want this because working for 40 years isn’t sustainable for me—I have a very cushy tech job and still get anxiety and rage about waking up every morning to work, the rat race, and being paid inequitably to male peers. I’d like to give myself the option to leave this world as soon as possible.
As an alternative, I could see myself successful if I open a product consultancy, where I advise early-stage startups on product management, what to build for their MVP, and product-market fit. I’m really interested in tech ethics and the questionable practices in venture capital, so I’d love to be in a place where I could be picky about what clients I take and help truly mission-driven businesses thrive. I could see this also working as a small business incubator—why not apply what works in startups to small businesses?
I don’t yet have a firm picture of what I’d like my life to look like when I retire. I’m interested in spending a lot of time reading, traveling to new places for extended periods of time, and potentially writing a book. I get extremely interested in niche topics. Right now if I had to guess, I’d be writing a book about the ways multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) manipulate women.
Are you a spender or a saver?
Definitely a saver. My partner is more of a spender, and we’ve influenced each other well. Seeing him spend money on himself for video games helps me realize I can spend more money on myself for things I just want (see my big purchase for myself this week).
In turn, seeing me save a lot of money has motivated him to up his 401k contribution and overall savings. He’s also interested in FIRE, although I’d say my timeline is more aggressive.
If you could go back in time, what's the one piece of financial advice you would give to your past self?
Learn about investing, look up the terms you don’t know, and start doing it as soon as possible. Ask questions to people you know or on the internet.
On to the diary!

Section One: Assets and Debt
Investment Balance
$131,175

Retirement (includes 2 company 401ks and 1 rollover IRA): $55,730
Brokerage: $27,233
Roth IRA: $25,439
Managed account: $17,923
HSA: $4,850

Equity if you're a homeowner
N/A, I rent in a HCOL city. No plans to own anytime soon
Savings account balance
$10,270
Checking account balance
$3,433 in checking account for bills

This fluctuates, but I try to invest anything over $2k. I’m pretty conservative with my checking account buffer, and don’t worry much about the interest I’m “losing,” especially because interest rates are so low right now

$2,518 in checking account for rent

I keep a holdover account that’s connected to Venmo and Zelle to pay rent

Credit card debt
N/A. There’s $1,348 currently on my credit cards, but I pay them all off in full each month. My parents signed me up for a credit card as soon as I was old enough and taught me about how important it was to pay in full. In fact, I think this was so hammered into my brain that doing anything other than that each month was never an option. Because of this, I’ve always thought of credit cards as similar to debit cards—only spend money you have.
Student loan debt (for what degree)
I was fortunate to go to college on a full scholarship, including living expenses. I studied psychology and sociology, and I graduated without any student loan debt.

Section Two: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $6,570/month
I maxed out my 401k early this year, so for 8 months I was contributing $2,500/month out of my paychecks. That ended in September, so it changed my monthly take-home from about $4,650 to $6,570/month.
Deductions:

401k: $0/month (was $2,500/month)
Medical: $128/month
Dental and vision: $11/month

Income Progression

I started in customer support right out of college, making $40,000/year + overtime, which ended up being about $52,000/year (thanks OT!).
About a year later, I moved into an entry-level product role at the same company and received a raise to $60,000/year.
The next year, I moved to a new company for a half-step promotion where I was making $82,000/year + 15% yearly bonus. The bonus was dependable enough that it was assumed as part of our total compensation, so let’s call it $95,000/year.
Early this year, I switched companies again (noticing a theme?) for a promotion and now make $122,000/year.

I don’t have any other sources of income outside my main job. My partner makes a similar amount to me—about $117,000/year with bonus.

Section Three: Expenses
I live with my partner and we don’t have combined finances, but split many expenses 50/50. We use Splitwise to log transactions. He’s more laid-back about being paid back, but I’m much more “I don’t want to owe anyone anything, and I don’t want anyone to owe me anything” (I know, rigid, but I’m working on it!).
Splitwise is nice because it’d be ridiculous to Venmo request each other for a $4 coffee, but we can see how expenses are adding up. If someone has racked up a few hundred dollars of spending for both of us, the other person will cover our expenses for awhile. It works for us!
Rent
$2,200 for a 2 bed, 1 bath apartment in Brooklyn. We split rent 50/50.
Renters insurance
About $7/month for my portion. This covers all our possessions plus my boyfriend’s watches. He pays 75% of it because half of the monthly cost comes from the extra watch overage.
Savings contribution
I try to have about $10,000 sitting in my savings account at any given time, because it makes me feel safe in case of an emergency. I also like the freedom it enables, in case I wanted to leave my job and take a significant amount of time off. This is already at the $10k I want, so I don’t contribute to it monthly.
Investment contribution
It varies but on average I contribute $2,500/month to my brokerage account and Roth IRA (combined).
Donations
I try to donate about $200/month, but it’s pretty sporadic. This month I donated to the Yellowhammer Fund and Northwest Abortion Access Fund. One of my major goals for 2021 is to step up my donations and create an actual strategy around them, potentially involving a donor-advised fund.
Gas/electric
Our gas is $20-25/month and electric is $50/month. I pay gas and Will pays electric, both go in Splitwise. About $37/month total for me.
Wifi
Our wifi is $60/month, which goes into Splitwise—I pay $30/month.
Cellphone
I’m still on my parents’ phone plan—sheesh! This is convincing me that I should Venmo them for it each month.
Subscriptions
I pay for Hulu with ads, $5.99/month. My boyfriend pays for Netflix and we share a Spotify family plan with a couple of his friends, which I chip in $4/month for.
I also pay for the budgeting software YNAB (You Need a Budget) which is $84/year. I only pay it once a year in September.
Medical
I recently had to go to the emergency room for an overnight stay and follow up with some specialists. (I’m okay!) Because of that whole shindig I’m expecting to max out my deductible (and potentially my out-of-pocket-max) right at the end of the year. This will be about $4,000, but none of the claims have come through yet so I’m not sure of the exact total. I have a category in my budget for my deductible, and the rest will come out of my emergency fund.
Physical therapy
This month I’m starting pelvic floor physical therapy for dyspareunia (pain with intercourse).
I’d tried everything the internet suggested (“just relaaaaaax”) before getting the courage to find a new ob-gyn and ask her about it. She had some recommendations, but ultimately physical therapy was the “last resort” option that I’m now exploring.
My new physical therapist comes highly recommended but is out of network with insurance. Each session is $250, and I’ll go once every 2-3 weeks for the next few months as part of treatment. If you’ve worked through this problem (or are experiencing it now!) I’d love to hear your experience.

Section Four: Additional Questions
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Absolutely. My dad was the first in his family to attend college and my parents made pretty calculated decisions about where they would live so I could go to the absolute best public school possible. Over 90% of students at my high school attend a 4-year college, and we start talking about it freshman year. To say college was encouraged in my environment is an understatement.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My dad has worked in finance since I was about 10. He’s always been really knowledgeable about both higher-level economic concepts and the minutiae of personal finance. My family is frugal, too: we clipped coupons and got clothes on super-sale at Kohl’s and Goodwill. I know there was a period of time when he became self-employed and money got very tight for a few years, but the bulk of those worries were largely kept from me.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Yes. While we were comfortable, we lived in such an affluent place that our family was in “the middle class” of the town and it made me worry more about money than I probably needed to. Think The Stepford Wives for context.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
In college, I became maybe 80% financially independent as I had a scholarship and worked part-time during school and over the summer, but I was still on their insurance.
I remember being frustrated in college because even though I knew I was extremely privileged, my friends in college had their parents pay their summer apartment rent and gave them an “allowance” of spending money, and I was “limited” by the options I could afford with the job I had. My dad told me at the time, “This is frustrating but it’s preparing you for actually having to live off the money you make in the near future.” (Great, great advice Dad.)
I’m technically still financially dependent on my parents for my cell phone bill, but otherwise I pay for everything: rent, insurance, utilities, food, therapy, and all wants in the form of clothing, workout classes, etc. I could ask my parents for money if I absolutely needed to, but would use it as a last resort.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
I have an account (mentioned above) that a family friend who’s a hedge fund manager, well, manages. I believe the initial deposit was $1000 over 10 years ago, but that money wasn’t mine either, it’s all a gift. It’s not very liquid—it’d take me several months (and some very good reasoning) to get any of that money withdrawn, since it’s supposed to be for “the future” (which I guess I could argue is now?).
I might receive a small amount of money when my grandmother passes, but it’d probably be around $1-2k, if at all.

Day 1 Wednesday, November 25, 2020
8:30am Wake up and shower, take my vitamin C gummies, then make coffee. I wasn’t much of a daily coffee drinker until my offices had it for free, and now I’m definitely addicted. I don’t really care if the coffee is shitty or not, I just put some milk in it and it’s great. Right now I’m trying to drink half or three-quarter cups so I can attempt to pull back my addiction a bit. I log onto work at 9am.
11:30am Eat leftovers from last night for lunch—quesadilla + Spanish rice. There’s an incredible Mexican restaurant by us, and now I am ruined for the tacos, quesadillas and nachos from any other place.
12:30pm Will picks me up in the U-Haul. We’re driving about 20 min away to pick up a butcher block desk he bought off Craigslist, which ends up being from a small office that’s downsizing. The desk is $150 which he pays for. We love the office’s style (and the owner is super nice!) and walk around while he shows us what else he’s trying to get rid of.
We end up buying an extra-large ZZ plant and two side tables from him for an extra $120, way less than we would have paid for the quality elsewhere. My half will be $60, and I’ll split the U-Haul too, $44.51. $82.26
2:45pm That ended up taking a lot longer than we expected! We get back and unload the van, then I bring stuff inside while Will returns the van to the U-Haul location. I jump back onto work—so much for a slow afternoon before Thanksgiving. AWS is down, which powers a lot of our engineering work (and a lot of the internet!) so a lot of our teams are basically twiddling their thumbs. We chat about how to message the outage to customers.
5:45pm Will starts making dinner (braised chicken and veggies) and I sit down to read with a strawberry Chobani, but I end up just reading Reddit and searching for new podcasts to listen to.
7:45pm Dinner was great! Now…ice cream.
9:43pm I remember that my mom sent me ideas for her and my dad’s Christmas presents, so I order on Etsy and Amazon. My dad gets a mug with an Ernest Hemingway quote (“write drunk, edit sober”) ($21.54) and a book on writing ($16.63), and my mom gets this food warming tote contraption she wanted ($43.52). We’ve been paring down Christmases over the years—this year I asked for the Europe version of Ticket to Ride. $81.69
11:15pm I finish up the first episode of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City with some white cheddar Cheez-Its to snack on. After, I start on the dishes from dinner. I listen to the Product Market Misfits podcast while I do dishes—the episode with Kristen Anderson from Catch is great, highly recommend if you’re tired of just hearing stories about stereotypical Silicon Valley tech companies.
Day 1 Total: $166.69
Day 2 Thursday, November 26, 2020
10am Wake up super late since I stayed up scrolling on my phone too late last night. We make coffee and set out for a long walk around 11:15am.
12:05pm At the end of our walk, we swing by our local liquor store and buy 4 bottles of wine (red, white, rose, champagne). Will pays, total is $63.15 for everything. We haven’t had wine in the apartment for ages and I’m excited to have some stocked up. $31.57
12:30pm Get back from the walk, shower, then turn on football. I actually don’t really care about any NFL teams (I like college football a lot more), but it’s such calming background noise for me that I find myself looking for games when I have downtime. We also recently found out that Will’s friends’ dog only has a few months to live, so we order some jerky treats and a squeaky toy for him. $14.07
2:30pm We head out to the restaurant we’re going to for Thanksgiving lunch, a local place a short walk from our apartment. They’re doing a prix fixe menu of the classics—turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and a phenomenal tarte Tatin with ice cream for dessert.
We eat outside under heat lamps. It’s super cozy. With our bottle of wine and tip the total is $208 (I try to tip over and above the norm because it’s a pandemic and Thanksgiving). My half will be $104.
5:53pm Get back from the restaurant. We have a ton of leftovers which is awesome (I think it’s excessive frugality, but I almost expect to stretch takeout or restaurant meals into two meals). Exchange some texts with my friends about their socially-distant Thanksgiving celebrations.
I turn on the Washington vs. Cowboys game right at the halftime show, which is Kane Brown with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. They’re all wearing masks (except for Kane) and it’s so odd to see them dancing in masks. I mean, I’m glad they’re wearing them, but it just seems like we could have gone without the halftime show this year.
9:21pm I order contacts from Contacts Direct. I got a new prescription but didn’t have a great experience with the eye doctor, so I’m hesitant about this order—only ordered one box of 90 lenses for each eye instead of a year’s worth of lenses. I’ve been getting headaches pretty frequently, so I’m hoping getting a new pair of glasses and alternating those (instead of wearing my contacts for 16 hours a day, every day) will help. $29.98 after insurance benefits
Day 2 Total: $179.62

Day 3 Friday, November 27
8:56am Wake up super last minute, run to sign onto Slack and then start grinding coffee beans. I’m online and drinking a big mug of coffee by 9:10. (So much for half cups.)
10:45am Come up for air from work and grab the stuff to make a bagel. Everything bagels and plain cream cheese are my go-to combo.
12:03pm I grab a bag of clothes to drop off at the donation bin and a couple library books to return. The library is about a 25 minute walk so it’ll be a nice lunch break diversion.
12:56pm After the library I stop by the grocery store for some paper towels and sponges, since we’re almost out. Total is $22.62, my half is $11.31
1:09pm When I get home I jump back into work and put the USA vs. Netherlands game on my second monitor. By the 75th minute, the US is up by 2 goals so they start putting in some younger players—it’s fun to see Midge Purce and Sophia Smith play! I also throw some bagel bites in the oven for a quick snack and promise myself dinner will be healthier.
4:23pm I zone out of work and start playing Among Us. I end up playing for over two hours. We open a bottle of wine at some point and I get super tipsy.
6:50pm Turn on the tail end of the Notre Dame vs. UNC game. It turns into Jeopardy, which turns into Wheel of Fortune, which I’m not mad about. P isn’t as into the game shows and leaves to microwave a plate of leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner and play video games.
8:40pm Finally getting hungry after my bagel bites and Cheez-Its this afternoon and make a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers—turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and cauliflower. Yum.
Will and I end up getting in a tiff about the mess in our apartment so we take a break, cool down and talk it through. I watch a couple episodes of Sister Wives and go to bed around 1:30am.
Day 3 Total: $11.31

Day 4 Saturday, November 28, 2020
10:05am I stayed up late (again) so it’s nice to sleep in. I play Among Us for awhile and have a couple rounds where I’m the impostor and get some great kills and wins. I run out into the living room and celebrate with Will. We laugh because it’s silly how much we love the games we play. Around 10:45 I start making coffee.
11am We desperately need new sheets because our fitted sheet has a huge hole at Will’s feet (and it’s growing). I search a women’s personal finance group I’m in on Facebook for recommendations and we end up buying a queen sheet set from Belk. Total was $100.71 with their sale. $50.35
1pm I was planning on returning a package to the post office today, but forget it closes at 1pm on Saturdays so I decide to run to Target instead. I have a lampshade to return and want to look for a shower caddy as well. I also have an old iPad to return, which Will tells me I can do at Best Buy. He finds an old iPod and flip phone I can take too.
Take the MTA there ($2.75 for a single fare). When I get there, it’s a madhouse and I remember that I have sillily (is this a word?) decided to come on the weekend of Black Friday. I stand in the returns line for about 15 minutes and get $10.89 back, but ditch the idea of trying to look for a shower caddy. The checkout line looks like 100 people long. -$8.14 because of return
Next I go to Best Buy, but who am I kidding—the line to get in the store is even longer than the Target checkout line. I walk back to the subway and get on to go home. $2.75
2:30pm Since Best Buy was a no go, I search for electronic recycling around me on the way home just to see where I could drop off the devices I have. Apparently there’s an EcoATM not too far from my subway stop. It’s more for selling devices, but if they can’t give you money for something, they’ll recycle it, which is exactly what I wanted. I put each of the pieces in the scanner, and end up getting a whopping $2 total (for Will’s old iPod). Still cool because I was just expecting to recycle it all. I’ll give Will the $2.
2:44pm There’s a Dunkin nearby so I pop in to grab a couple donuts ($2.90). There’s a woman outside asking for money, so I give her $5 cash. $7.90
3:00pm Last stop—our favorite deli is nearby and Will mentioned he wanted to get bacon there recently. I get a 1/2 lb and salivate on the way home. This is one of those things I won’t put in Splitwise because it’s small and because it’s fun to get for P as a tiny little present. $3.50
3:45pm Once I’m home I’m super hungry from only eating carbs all morning so I have a snack of carrots, hummus and some pepperoni. I head back out to drop off a bag of clothes and shoes at a drop box a few blocks away. The neighbors are outside at the park near our house so I stop and chat with them for a few minutes. Their kids are the cutest.
6:47pm For dinner I make a ham and cheese sandwich (panini style with rosemary butter) and more carrots and hummus. I put on another episode of Sister Wives. These people are so fascinating to me—first off, I think the husband is completely full of himself. But I’m also so curious about the wives. There are a lot of talking head testimonials where the parents explain that they’re “oppressed” because they’re different and want to go public so the world can see polygamy as a valid family style (I’m only on season 2).
I know they’re probably playing up the “we love our other sister wives and have so much fun together even without Kody” aspect because people expect sister wives to be catty and hate each other, but I can’t help but wonder why they need to be in plural marriage to get the same friendship they seem to value so much. I also doubt they’d extend the same grace and tolerance they want to people who are “different” because they’re LGBTQ, or “different” because they’re in an open relationship or marriage.
9:15pm I mix together oatmeal chocolate chip cookie batter and put some cookies in the oven. While I’m waiting, I browse Zocdoc for well-reviewed providers—I want to make a podiatrist appointment for a lingering toe issue and an audiologist appointment for a routine hearing screening. I got the idea to make these appointments since I’ll hit my out-of-pocket max with the hospital visit, making them free or very discounted. I make two appointments for next week.
I also lust over a Farm Rio puffer jacket that feels overpriced but I just love. Maybe I’ll buy it tomorrow since they’re having a 30% off sale.
Day 4 Total: $64.50

Day 5 Sunday, November 29
8:58am Wake up and switch between scrolling on Reddit and playing a few Among Us games. After a bit Will gets out of bed and makes coffee for us.
9:45am Will finishes the movie he started last night and we start on breakfast. We’re making the bacon I bought yesterday, breakfast potatoes with onions, and a fried egg for Will (I can’t stand the taste or smell).
11:00am Yum! Breakfast was great. I watch a couple episodes of Sister Wives and mull over buying that ridiculous but amazing puffer jacket from Farm Rio. I’ve still been thinking about it since last night and I might take the plunge.
1:25pm I get a jolt of motivation to work out and do a 20 minute Sydney Cummings video on Youtube. I heard about it from a recent Money Diary posted here! After it’s done I’m so, so tired. I stretch and unpause my episode of Sister Wives.
2:22pm I help Will move the butcher block slab for his desk out to our backyard. We live on the first floor of a single-family home that was converted into apartments, so we get the backyard too—it’s awesome to have outdoor space in the city. P works on sanding it and applying poly for the next couple hours.
5:07pm Will suggests pizza for dinner and I am always, always down for pizza. I order pickup from the spot down the street—one grandma, one cheese and 2 orders of garlic knots come to $38.60. We’ll have leftovers for tomorrow too. $19.30
5:50pm We pick up the pizza and dig in. While we’re eating we turn on the Chiefs vs. Buccaneers game; Will has a few players on his fantasy team in this game.
6:57pm I sign up to write letters to Georgia residents encouraging them to vote in the Senate runoff elections in January. This is through Vote Forward—I did 20 letters for the general election in November and want to participate again. I’ll print the letters at a local coffee shop since we don’t have a printer at home.
Will sends me this Reddit comment about campaign finance since we’ve been talking about it recently. I decide I’m convinced by the argument and set up a $5 monthly donation to Brand New Congress. $5
8:19pm After texting back and forth with my friend all day, I buy the puffer jacket—so excited. She encouraged me to get it and is pumped for me too. $228.64
I also notice my paycheck has started processing in my checking account (I get paid tomorrow), so I enter the amount in YNAB and budget it all. I earmark about $1500 to go into my brokerage account tomorrow. I won’t include it here as “spending” since it’s included in the overview section above.
Day 5 Total: $252.94

Day 6 Monday, November 30
8:43am Wake up and turn on my Slack. Will started the coffee process and I finish it up by pouring the water into our Chemex and letting it steep (I know there’s a coffee-centric word for this...).
8:56am I check my Citi card and my YouTube TV trial rolled over—I was going to cancel it this morning, which I thought was the last day. I email support to see if they’ll refund me, because (I promise I’m not just saying this!) I did have a pretty bad experience. The Roku app was glitchy for us every time we watched something. Maybe they’ll feel nice today! $64.99
9:35am After responding to a few work messages, I run out the door to the post office to avoid a long package line. I did the Warby Parker 5-day home try on and have to return my box of glasses today. I found a pair I really like and am excited to get in the habit of wearing glasses again, instead of just my contacts.
Thankfully the line is only a few people long. The employees are also super nice every time I go, so I try to be really pleasant too. The lines are usually long and I’ve seen more than one adult have a fit at this post office. It’s rainy today and I couldn’t find our umbrella, so my flimsy rain jacket gets pretty soaked through on the walk back.
11:35am My podiatrist appointment is supposed to be tomorrow morning, and they call me to tell me since I haven’t hit my deductible, I’ll have to pay out of pocket for the visit. I explain that I’m 100% going to hit my deductible, the claims from the hospital just haven’t processed yet. I ask her to bill my insurance first for the visit, then I can pay whatever ends up not being covered (if anything). She agrees!
Maybe this is standard, but I’ve never had it happen before—even if I haven’t hit my deductible, I’ve always been to offices that bill insurance first, then I pay the remaining balance.
1:05pm Lots of meetings today. I break for lunch and heat up the braised chicken with veggies. It’s definitely on its last good day, so I’m glad I used it up. Still yummy!
2:20pm Woohoo! Get an email that my YouTube TV charge was refunded. -$64.99
Will ran to Home Depot today to buy some tools for his desk and also got a shower curtain liner since ours is ripping. I go to put it up in the bathroom but my arms are so sore—like I got my flu shot type of sore.
5:05pm Sign off work after trying to wrangle a supremely frustrating SQL query. I don’t get it but figure I can ask our analyst team for help tomorrow. Will will have a late night working, so pizza and Sister Wives is in my near future.
While watching, I update YNAB to reflect the end-of-month balances for my investment accounts. I get a huge dopamine hit by seeing my net worth number go up. I’m also anticipating it going down a bit next month because of my medical bills, so I relish the moment.
8:09pm It suddenly dawns on me that my arms are sore because I worked out yesterday. It’s so rare now that I literally forget when I do it. Ha!
9:15pm We watch the Eagles vs. Seahawks game and I absentmindedly play Among Us. I end up getting ...bullied by a person playing it? They get mad that I figured out they were the imposter and start saying all these schoolyard-type digs throughout the next couple rounds, but level 100 of cruel.
I’m embarrassed by how sad it makes me but think maybe it’s a good thing I don’t immediately know what to say to bully people back. Such a weird experience. I end up going to bed around 11:30.
Day 6 Total: $0

Day 7 December 1, 2020
7:07am Wake up late for my alarm at 7. I’m up a lot earlier today because my podiatrist appointment is first thing. I get dressed in the dark, kiss P goodbye, grab my water bottle and run out the door to the subway by 7:30. $2.75
8:10am Get to my stop and swing by Starbucks before the appointment. I get a vanilla latte and the bacon cheddar and egg sandwich. Total is around $10 but I have a gift card loaded onto my Starbucks app.
My spending here went way down when I switched jobs to an office not close to a Starbucks, and then stopped going into an office at all.
8:30am My appointment goes great, if a little painful when she numbs my toe. I had to get an ingrown toenail removed. I danced ballet and pointe for years so I’m (unfortunately) used to them, but this one was terrible. The doctor and I bond over both being dancers with bad feet and they schedule me for a follow up two weeks out.
She actually says there’s been a rise in these procedures because people aren’t getting pedicures since the pandemic and aren’t cutting their toenails well! Wild.
I look silly on the subway in December wearing Birkenstocks and socks with a huge toe bandage. It looks like one of those cartoon characters who stubs their toe and it becomes 10x bigger than their other toes. $2.75
9:40am I get off at the stop before mine to stop at Rite Aid. I grab Neosporin, band-aids and epsom salt and check my notes for anything else she mentioned about caring for my toe. $12.97
10:00am When I get home, I hop into work and working with our engineers on a promotion for the New Year. I also catch up with Will since he stayed up late last night and I got up early for my appointment. He says he ended up staying up until 3:30am (!!) cleaning up his tools, working on his desk and putting up the shower curtain. I’m floored that he is functional right now after waking up at 8.
12:15pm Heat up the last of the pizza for lunch, along with hummus and carrots.
5:20pm Work is average-paced for the rest of the day. Not doing nothing, not totally over my head. Will puts in potatoes for baked potatoes to have later, which we’ll pair with a salad. We’re getting close to needing a grocery run again, so the meals are becoming more of a mishmash.
We listed a couple things on our local Buy Nothing group last week, so a woman comes by to pick up a wifi router we can’t use anymore. Would totally recommend looking up if there’s a group in your area—they’re usually on Facebook.
6:30pm After dinner I watch more Sister Wives and look up RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit one of my friends shared for Giving Tuesday. They buy unpaid medical debt from collections, so $1 ends up paying off $100 of someone’s medical debt. I give $50 to the Arkansas campaign, which will clear $5,000 of medical debt.
As Will said earlier today, “medical billing in America is a racket” so I really hope this helps clear a burden from an individual or family. Doing this reminds me to check my insurance portal, which is steadily going up as each separate claim comes in. Ahhhh, modern healthcare! $51.49
At the end of each day please tally up your daily expenses. Then at the end of your diary please tally up all expenses in the following categories:
Total: $719.33

Grocery + Dining Out: $157.77
Fun + Entertainment: $0
Home + Health: $164.67
Clothes + Beauty: $228.64
Transportation: $11.00
Gifts + Giving: $157.25

Reflection This week felt like a big spending week for me. I checked YNAB and since January, I’ve spent about $1600 per month, not including rent—so about $400/week. That’s why this week’s $719 feels so high!
Writing this diary helped me understand how many things I have going for me. I’ve recently been in a huge funk—about my health, my performance at work and my relationships with family, friends and P. Going to the hospital, needing physical therapy to have sex and being in a pandemic will do that to you.
I was able to zoom out a bit and understand how stable and gratifying my life is. That being said, I’m so glad this community exists. I really love it and learning about all your spending and saving habits. Thanks for being here and sharing :)

The Daily Check-In for Wednesday, September 23rd: Just for today, I am NOT drinking!

Check-in
We may be anonymous strangers on the internet, but we have one thing in common. We may be a world apart, but we're here together!
Welcome to the 24 hour pledge!
I'm pledging myself to not drinking today, and invite you to do the same.
Maybe you're new to stopdrinking and have a hard time deciding what to do next. Maybe you're like me and feel you need a daily commitment or maybe you've been sober for a long time and want to inspire others.
It doesn't matter if you're still hung over from a three day bender or been sober for years, if you just woke up or have already completed a sober day. For the next 24 hours, lets not drink alcohol!
This pledge is a statement of intent. Today we don't set out trying not to drink, we make a conscious decision not to drink. It sounds simple, but all of us know it can be hard and sometimes impossible. The group can support and inspire us, yet only one person can decide if we drink today. Give that person the right mindset!
What happens if we can't keep to our pledge? We give up or try again. And since we're here in stopdrinking, we're not ready to give up.
What this is: A simple thread where we commit to not drinking alcohol for the next 24 hours, posting to show others that they're not alone and making a pledge to ourselves. Anybody can join and participate at any time, you do not have to be a regular at stopdrinking or have followed the pledges from the beginning.
What this isn't: A good place for a detailed introduction of yourself, directly seek advice or share lengthy stories. You'll get a more personal response in your own thread.
This post goes up at:

US - Night/Early Morning
Europe - Morning
Asia and Australia - Evening/Night

A link to the current Daily Check-In post can always be found near the top of the sidebar
___________________________________________________
Self-Gratification and Life Clutter
Living with addiction can be described as a world of excess and self-gratification. And self-gratification is mindlessly fulfilling your own base desire, which is pretty easy to do when surrounded by alcohol.
I chased a lot of external excitement, lust, and distraction. By externals, I’m generally talking about things like alcohol, drugs, gambling, buying stuff, eating junk food, excess phone use, video games, etc. And one thing these externals are great at is creating more pain and anxiety. These distractions are what I will call, life clutter. Some of it is ok in small doses, but all of these can get out of control in a hurry and suck up all of your time.
I used alcohol to combat my pain and stress, which only added to it. So, I found other things to chase. I ate junk food and destroyed my health. I cluttered my home with stuff and my credit cards with debt. I gambled on sports and elevated my stress. I played video games instead of spending time with my wife and son.
This is where creating habitual behavior to combat Resistance has come in handy for me. If I create habits that work for me, it replaces that distraction with a meaningful practice. I realize I'm beginning to sound like I may have a computer chip inside of me. I still have my time set aside to watch football or movies, but only after my practice.
Succumbing to life clutter is the easy way. Creating thoughtful habits is hard work, but it’s work that brings real joy and fulfillment to our lives. And I really try to use these habits to work different areas of my life.
One of my favorite Tony Robbins’ contributions is the Pyramid of Mastery, which covers the 7 major facets of everyone’s life. From the bottom to the top of the pyramid these are the layers:

Physical Body
Emotions / Meaning
Relationships
Time
Work / Mission
Finances
Contribution and Spirituality

This appears as an order, but we work through all facets simultaneously. Think of it as a stool with individual legs we are working to strengthen and balance. If your focus is limited to a couple legs of the stool, it will be wobbly and topple over. All the legs should be as strong as they can be.
Alcohol was a destructive force to each of these legs like termites working their way through the wood framing on a house. I enjoyed all of my clutter too much. And it wasn’t until I quit drinking that I could see the destruction done to each leg of the stool.
Building new habits is what created a practice to strengthen each of these legs.
Physical Body: Drinking was a major trigger point of a poor diet for me. I had high blood pressure, I was overweight, and I was never consistent with exercise. Once I quit drinking, I started eating healthier. I lost weight and was able to get my blood pressure under control. My fitness level improved with gradual change in my routine. It’s not all perfect, but my energy has improved drastically, which helps me in all other facets.
Emotions / Meaning: Negative emotions were a force permeating through my life when I drank. Fear, anxiety, and anger were emotions made worse through alcohol. My anger was ubiquitous and expected. My fear and anxiety were only hidden with alcohol and subsequently increased when hungover. I still experience all of these emotions, but in a way that I can face and manage now. I face my fear with courage. Anger is a work-in-progress, but I’ve come a long way. I give thanks for what I have. This has given me more joy in life than I ever experienced with alcohol. It has helped me to find meaning over chasing some high.
Relationships: Alcohol was an excuse to choose drinking buddies over my wife and son. I spent a lot of time at the bar and really not with people I care about all that much. Before I quit drinking, I always imbibed before seeing anyone outside of the house. Now we are spending quality time together and with our families. Not time filled with booze or thinking about where my next drink will be.
Work / Mission: My work has been one of the primary drivers of why I drank so heavily. It supported my anger. And it led me to drink daily to get my mind off the job. I even tried sports gambling to replace my income. Hint: it wasn’t the answer (as if you were guessing the other way). This pandemic has taught me some valuable things. One of them is being more conscious with how I spend my time. Especially on what is fulfilling to me. I still have to make money, but I can do a lot better than chase money 50 hours a week in a job that negatively impacts my mood.
Finances: I was consumed with buying needless crap during my drinking life. We filled our house with junk that would get donated or thrown away. Because I did well in my job, I thought I could afford to spend money carelessly. And maybe I could, but at what cost? All of the movies that were purchased, the Apple Watch that serves little purpose other than recording workouts, the iPad that doesn’t get used. None of these things bring me joy. As nerdy as this sounds, I have more fun seeing how many days I can go without spending a dime. Books will always hold a special place in my heart. But beyond the essentials, I don’t need many other physical items to enjoy life.
Spirituality: Whether you are religious or not, all of us are spiritual creatures. For some this is a relationship with God or other higher power. For some this is a connection with nature. For others it’s a mediation practice or your philosophical principles. Spirituality is how you find meaning and purpose in your inner life and connection to others. All of us can define what this means to us individually. For me, a relationship with God is like the foundation of my house. When booze was at the center of my life, I never spent time in prayer. Today, it’s an important daily practice and one that I can’t skip. Whatever your spiritual practice may be, the externals of the physical world will never bring us the happiness or joy we desire. And none of what we accumulate in the physical world can be taken with us when we die.
Time: I left time for last because it permeates throughout every facet of our lives. We have to choose how to spend our time in the right way and on the right things. If we don’t choose, we settle for what is easiest. It is far easier to sit around debasing ourselves in lustful thought because we are bored and uncommitted to doing something better for us. I have to consciously decide to spend my time in a more purposeful way.
I get it, all of this sounds unsexy compared to playing video games or buying stuff on Amazon. But this is more about a commitment to the process. These externals are nothing more than dopamine hits and even that happens more in the anticipation of than the actual activity.
The practice and process is about delaying gratification. In the long-run, I know my writing practice will bring far more happiness than buying one of these new video game systems and devoting unnecessary time to playing every day. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t or I shouldn’t buy the system. It’s more about being conscious of how that time spent affects what you could be doing. If it affects my ability to put in my daily writing practice and daily weight training practice and the time it takes to prepare healthy food, then I am sacrificing something far more important for a virtual figure on a screen.
Delayed gratification is a muscle that must be exercised. Otherwise we will find ourselves on the couch eating a bag of Doritos every day. No one else? Ok, don’t mind me.
As long as I am focused on my daily practice, I keep self-gratification at bay. I don’t use my money on junk. And I don't procrastinate away large chunks of my time.
Today, think about the areas of your Pyramid of Mastery and in what way you can strengthen each leg.
Not drinking with you today in San Antonio.

I am 40 years old, I make $198,000 a year, live in Washington, DC, and I work in government affairs

Section One: Assets and Debt
Hello! Like others before me, I have written a small novel about my finances. Enjoy!
Retirement Balance: $655,724.99 (my 401k) + 262,817.64 (spouse 401k) + $52,020.06 (two IRAs, identically invested) = $970,562.69

I max out my 401k plus get a 5% employee match from my organization. In a previous role, I got a 5% employee match + 5% automatically for being an employee. At my first job, I contributed in very small amounts to my 401k but cashed it out to pay off serious credit card debt. It was only $6k, but I would not recommend cashing out any part of a 401k. I have maxed out every year for at least a decade now, possibly even longer.
My partner made significantly less than me for most of his career and was not able to max out until recently, hence the drastically lower 401k balance.
I didn't open up IRAs for either myself or my partner until a few years ago. But I am maxing out both of the IRAs every year now.

Brokerage Accounts: $245,752.89

We started investing in 2014. A relative left my husband a bit of money after they passed (approx $200k). We put half of that into paying off student loans and our home remodel immediately after we bought the house, and we invested the rest of this money.
For many years I put a significant chunk of my annual bonus into the brokerage account.
Now we invest biweekly in order to "set and forget" and this avoids any market timing thoughts that cross my mind (more on those contributions in expenses).
Included in this figure is a Robinhood account with about $3k in it. I don't routinely fund my Robinhood account. Instead, I use it when I want to buy specific company stock (very rare).

Home Equity: $327,100.23

We purchased our home for $425,000 in 2012. We did significant remodels on two floors.
We borrowed $100,000 from my parents to remodel the house. We pay modest interest to them to make it worthwhile.
We put about $20,000 down and had to pay PMI. After we completed our remodel we were able to prove equity and get rid of PMI. Right now we owe about $322,000 on the loan.
Our home equity is so high because we bought a house that had great bones but wasn’t flipped yet in a central location in DC. I based our equity on $750,000 which is a combo of Redfin, Zillow, and DC property tax estimates. It’s probably still a little low, but I err on the side of caution with money.

Misc. Joint Savings Account Balance: $71,816.55

This includes several accounts: (a combo of high interest and CD accounts when possible):
- Emergency savings for six months (about $25k bare-bones for us)
- Pet emergency savings (approx $3k in case of emergency surgery, we save $25 a month for this account)
- Savings for a home remodel project makes up the rest of the money. We didn't remodel one floor of our home when we purchased it, and it's time to make it nice instead of "okay."

Joint Checking Account Balance: $37,706.45

Because of COVID-19, we have not spent very much money this year. I use YNAB, so I am padding all of my categories and that money is adding up in the checking account. Right now my money is about 115 days old, which is too old to not have a job. I'm planning on moving some of this money to one of the high yield savings account listed above, CD, or funneling it towards my mortgage.

Health Savings Account: $6,283.17

My prior corporate job allowed us to join a high deductible health plan, and so I opened a health savings account. I was only there for two more years and lost access to the account for many years. I have only recently started investing in the bulk of the funds here.

Credit Card Debt: $0

I got into trouble with credit card early on when I first moved to DC and had a terribly low paying job. As mentioned, when I got a corporate job, I liquidated my retirement account to pay off a huge chunk of the credit card debt.
For the remaining balance, I joined a credit card debt consolidation program and paid down that debt every chance I got. All credit cards are paid in full every month now.
My husband also paid off any credit card debt several years ago.

Student Loan Debt: $0

My undergraduate loans were nominal as I went to an in-state public university, and my parents paid my $10,000 a year tuition for the first three years, while I paid for my rent and expenses.
My first job provided tuition reimbursement, which overpaid my undergraduate student loan for many years. I paid off the remaining balance after I got my corporate job.
I attended a private university to get my Masters degree and took out loans to pay for that cost, about $50,000, all unsubsidized as I was still at my corporate job.
My company had a generous tuition assistance program, so I paid the bulk of my loans/tuition off using that program, and the remaining balance we paid off using the inherited money.

Car Loan Debt: $0

We bought a new car in December 2018 and paid it off in early 2020, we own it free and clear. Bluebook on the model is $27,000

Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I have been working in my field for 17 years, and my starting salary was $25,000. Currently I make $198,000 + Spouse Salary is $150,000 = $348,000 + bonuses.

My first two jobs were minimum wage and in high school and college, I didn’t include them here.
First Organization - Public Service
- $25,000 a year (I did a cartwheel when I was told my starting salary, I thought I was rich!) - After one year I was promoted…and my pay raise was basically COLA. I ended my public service at $28,500.
Second Organization - Corporation
- I started making $55,000 a year + performance bonus and stock options, plus raises every year.
- I was promoted twice during my decade with the company, and left making about $145,000 with a performance bonus, stock options, and raises as listed above.
Third Organization - Association
- I began making $180,000 + performance bonus. After one year I was promoted, and I currently make $198,000 + performance bonus. I expect a slight raise this year and an above-average bonus in the $15 - $20k range. I am not getting a promotion this year to my knowledge (and I would know).
Spouse Salary: $150,000 + small bonuses annually, though as mentioned previously he has only made above $100k for the past five years.

Monthly Take Home from Myself and Partner:

After all is said and down, my partner and I take home about $17,000 per month. This is after maxing out our 401k, IRAs, and health insurance is removed from the equation.
We claim 0 for tax purposes, and actually, we withhold extra money on our taxes. After the so-called U.S "tax reform" we had to write a big check to the government, and I live in fear of underpayment. I like paying taxes as I believe in public services, social safety nets, and good governance in general, but I detest that our system makes it so difficult to understand if you are withholding the proper amount.

No Side Gig or Other Monthly Income: I used to sell things through Poshmark but that wasn't exactly a lot of money.
Section Three: Expenses (monthly averages when needed)

Mortgage: $2470.01
- No HOA or other fees - home insurance and property taxes all rolled into an escrow account
Savings contribution: $1500 (towards home remodel)
Investment contribution: $1200 (brokerage)
Donations: $125 is an average monthly donation. We contribute $25 to a left-leaning grassroots organization targeting young voters in our home state. The other $100 supported important political candidates (two of which lost, BOO), charities close to my heart like my neighborhood homeless shelter, one of only TWO women's health clinics in my home state, food pantries, or other local organizations doing good in the world.
Connectivity (2 Cell Phones, iPad data, WiFI): $263.38
Utilities (Gas, Electric, Water): $221.01 monthly average
Subscriptions:
- Rent the Runway: $147.44, 4 slot plan
- Blog/Social Media Related Subscriptions): $1y
- Job Board: $5
- Patreon: $5
- Media: HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, CBS, Extra could storage, Apple protection plan ($65.04)
- Amazon Prime: $119
- YNAB: $85
Gym membership: $0
- During normal times I did Pilates frequently, but we are no longer spending money outside the house for exercise. We have a treadmill but don’t use subscription services.
Pets: $75, this includes food, toys, and vet bills on a monthly average
Car insurance: $57.43
Allowance: $800
- My spouse and I have combined finances, but we do get an "allowance" of $200 per paycheck for each of us. This money goes to our old personal, pre-marriage, checking accounts.
- We use this money to fund purchases that aren't really for the benefit of both of us. For example, I recently started getting Botox. I thought that since it wasn't medically necessary and it basically vanity, I would pay for it out of my allowance. Though I could make an argument that my profession requires "keeping up appearances" but hey, I already pay for my haircuts and skincare products out of our joint account!
- He uses his account for things like golf fees, gambling, etc. It's just money we don't want to ask each other questions about, as we feel there should be some privacy with money!

Monday:

5:30 am wake up today. I woke up and savored the fact that it's my birthday and Joe Biden/Kamala Harris won the presidential race. This was a great improvement over my birthday four years ago, which was the worst birthday to date. I know the election was called two days ago, but I am still riding the high. And yes, I turned 40 today. I thought this would be horrible but really it's no different than being in your 30s. It's society that makes us feel old, not us! My only sadness is that we couldn't take the 40th birthday trip I planned.
8:00 am: My very thoughtful husband made me coffee and gave me a collection of small gifts that reminded us of our past travels. Traveling is/was our main hobby before COVID-19 and we miss all of our trips. It was a really thoughtful gift.
8:30 am: Before work, I walked to FedEx and dropped off a Rent the Runway package. Yes, I still do Rent the Runway, even during a pandemic. I was very conflicted to continue my subscription, especially since I am working from home and have been since March 9. But honestly getting fun new clothes is a bright spot in these bleak times. I have been renting WEIRD items of clothing because who cares!? Time to wear fake leather pants that no one sees!
On my way back from work, I stopped and got a Grande Coconut Misto from my local Starbucks. I redeemed my free birthday drink. - $0
10:00 am: Finally after weeks of resisting, I bought a "mystery" box of four plants from Rooted, an online plant store. I had a membership discount from The Lounge for 15% off. Total including my discount, taxes, and 33 cent carbon offset for shipping (why not): $41.94.
2:00 pm: Received flowers and candy from my big sister! That will satisfy any sugar cravings for a while!
5:00 pm: My in-laws sent me a $50 gift card to Sephora. I wanted to get that 20% off so I ordered today, the last day of the Sephora sale. I purchased frivolous items including two Selena Gomez eyeshadow palettes and a replacement Fresh sugar lip Total cost after gift card: $12.75
6:00 pm: After a busy day at work, my husband made fondue for my birthday dinner. It’s one of my favorite meals and is so easy! We already had the supplies on hand aside from the bread, which was purchased yesterday.
8:00 pm: Got on Reddit and saw that a local fave artist made a new print featuring the celebrations on BLM plaza when the election was called. I have been waiting to order one of the pieces and this was the right time. I also picked up a cool one of the Taft Bridge in the rain. I love supporting local artists. $74.20
Total spending: $128.89
Tuesday:
6:00 am: I slept terribly last night, and it was one of those nights of waking up for two hours and not falling back asleep.
10:00 am: We are doing intermittent fasting, which is a nice change of pace. We both ate some birthday cookies when our fasting window ended. I tried intermittent fasting in the early days of the pandemic and I really benefitted from it, and it's great that he wants to do it together. It is much easier when you have a buddy when trying new habits!
12:00 pm: It was a very busy day of work. For lunch, we had some Chinese food that my CSA delivered, plus we got some amazing cinnamon bread. I ordered this last week but we got the bill today. Chinese food will feed two of us for at least three meals. It’s not very cost-effective but it can be hard to fix meals around zooms. $66.75
5:00 pm: Happy hour with three friends at an oyster restaurant, outside, complete with masks, social distancing, the works. We each had one drink, a few oysters each, sliders, calamari, and tacos. We don't socialize often these days because we are trying to stop the spread, but we trust these three friends. This is my second to last social engagement for…the foreseeable future. Total for both of us: $56.44
Total spending: $123.19

Wednesday:

5:00 am: My habit of waking up is still going strong! I woke up at 5:00 a.m. which was 30 minutes before my alarm. To ease into the day I read more of my book, which is trying my patience as the plot moves too slowly.
12:00 pm: Work was nuts today. Ate a cookie for lunch while on a zoom call (with the camera off and mic muted, of course, I'm not a monster)!
6:00 pm: My husband brought me some frozen pizza for dinner while I still worked.
7:00 pm: Then I panic subscribed to Sling so I could watch the series premiere of RHOSLC. Three-day free trial…and then I figured out it doesn’t start until 10 pm? Yeah, I don’t need to watch live, I can watch in the morning if Hulu has it! Total cost: free trial, so $0
8:00 pm: Found out that Bath and Body Works 3 wick candles were BOGO and immediately stocked up on four candles. Look, I started with 11 in my cart so this seems fine. I have been burning candles regularly while I work from home. Bonus, I found an old gift card and used it to fund this totally useless but self-care focused purchase. The total was $58.29 but $0 cost to me!
9:00 pm: After finishing Season 3 of the Crown, we went to bed.
Total spending: $0

Thursday:

5:00 am: Another terrible night of sleep. I stayed up until 11 finishing that boring book, and then woke up well before my alarm again.
I sat down to watch RHOSLC but it’s not uploaded yet. I drink my coffee and find something else to watch at 5 am. Watched an episode of Schitts Creek, I’m about to finish the season! Such a good show.
6:00 am: While looking through Instagram, I was finally influenced to buy a sweatshirt from Phenomenal Woman. I bought the pink “I’m speaking” sweatshirt for me, and the “Vice President Aunty” sweatshirt for my BFF. She is Indian and recently had a baby, and we are so excited that her daughter gets to grow up with a phenomenal woman VP who looks like her! These are very nice presents, but my friend is really going through it right now with work, being a new mom, and everything else 2020 is throwing at us all. I'm putting together special care packages for some of my close friends, and the sweatshirt will be the centerpiece of her package! Total cost: $135.68
I canceled Sling asap, as apparently, I couldn't watch RHOSLC on it. Why am I so obsessed with watching a Housewives show? Honestly, I never watched any of these series until this pandemic made me unfit to watch anything with a difficult ploy. After canceling, I upgraded our Hulu subscription to add on the "live tv" option, which means an additional $34.62 on top of my normal subscriptions listed above. Total cost: $34.62
The mailman delivered a Rent the Runway rental with an adorable cropped tie-died shirt! The shirt was in great condition so I checked the price…it was worth it to buy. I don’t buy things from Rent the Runway often but sometimes I can't resist. Total cost: $33.39
7:30 am: Finally, I was able to watch RHOSLC while I got ready for work. Yes, I still do makeup and I try to put on an outfit each day. And by an outfit I mean either a jumpsuit (So into them during the pandemic) or a cute top (generally from RTR) and athleisure bottoms with my fave pair of New Balance sneakers. Yes, I wear shoes too. It helps my mental outlook and that was a lesson I finally figured out this summer. Getting ready changes my whole mood. And I get to be FUNKY with my eyeshadow since it’s hard to see over zoom!!! My new palettes from Sephora came in (thank you in-laws) so I am going to get weird today.
9:00 am: Once again, work was just…crazy! The number of zoom meetings is overwhelming and I just have so many things to write and work on constantly.
12:00 pm: Finally we came to the end of our birthday cookies, and we ate some sad toast from the CSA for lunch with some eggs!
5:30 pm: I worked until about 5:30 and had the rest of the CSA Chinese food. Turns out we only got four servings out of it, a little less than I thought.
6:30 pm: We watched some Golden Girls and then did our own thing before collapsing to bed.
Total spending: $203.69
Friday:
6:30 am: Woohoo, Friday is my sleep in day! I woke up and had a leisurely time getting ready. I try to treat myself to a nice Friday morning before starting my workday.
10:00 am: We decide to order breakfast tacos from our local taco shop. We are obsessed with keeping them open through the pandemic. Four tacos and one oat milk cappuccino later, the total cost is: $26.87
1:00 pm: At lunch, I walk to see my co-worker who lives about 5 minutes away. We grabbed a coffee from a local corner coffee shop (with the cutest walk-up window) and we walk around for a bit (with masks) and settle on a church lawn so we can chat. She is starting a new job, and she was my closest co-worker. I am glad we found time to connect as I know this was a tough decision for her, and this was a last-minute outing. Total cost: $6.67
5:00 pm: After work, we drove to a friend's backyard. 8 of us were gathering for one last time outside before the weather gets too cold, and again, these are very safe and strict friends so we trust they abide by safety protocols. On the way up we discover we need gas, so we fill up. Total cost: $44.03
While we are getting gas, my friend texted me and asks if I can pick up some ice and two bundles of firewood. As I said, we are going to be outside and it gets cold. We picked up the supplies at our local grocery store. Total cost: $14.80
We brought some leftover seltzers and a gifted bottle of wine for me to drink, so we did not purchase anything new to bring to the party. In a pandemic, there isn't a lot of buying for other people.
We left around 11 pm, thoroughly cold but absolutely thrilled to get our last social gathering in before winter truly arrives.
Total spending: $92.37

Saturday:

7:00 am: I woke up early because my body hates sleep. It's so frustrating that I can't sleep in like I could when I was younger! Let that be a warning to you younger ladies here…sleep is elusive!
9:00 am: We were very low on some groceries, and I decided to order some supplies by using Amazon Fresh. I do this for staples probably once a month. We still go to the grocery store for meat, produce, and other specialty items. The order will arrive Sunday morning. Groceries + tip: $127.84
12:00 pm: My Saturday plan was to do NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. And I succeeded. I played some stupid computer games, did some chores, we watched some tv, I read part of a new book. It was glorious.
5:00 pm: Since we aren't getting more groceries until tomorrow, we ordered pizza from a local fancy pizza restaurant that we have been meaning to try. We get two small-ish pizzas, a pasta dish, and some bombolini. Everything looked too good and of course, we had leftovers for the next day. Total cost + tip: $81.63
Total spending: $209.47

Sunday

7:00 am: Today I planned to be slightly more productive, and I succeeded. We did some laundry, put away all the groceries, and I went through my budget on YNAB. I try to reconcile my budget weekly because I find it strangely soothing to see all my dollars playing a role. And also I can look at my frivolous spending (which um, is pretty bad this week).
11:00 am: My Rooted plant mystery box arrived! I repotted all the plants, and I was pleased I got some new to me plants. Sadly, I looked at my existing plants and realized one of them was completely dead. He lived a good life. In other plant news, I occasionally get a monthly plant of the month club box from The Sill. I don't count this as a part of my subscriptions because I routinely skip shipments depending on how many plants are alive in my home. However, I wanted this month's delivery. Total cost: $42.10
2:00 pm: While doing laundry, I realized that several of our masks are starting to break. I'm surprised they lasted so long, considering we bought them in the spring. My friend who I had coffee with had a great looking durable mask, so I texted her for the brand. Of course, it was Rothy's. I order a set of two masks. Total cost: $26.50
4:00 pm: Okay I said I was productive but we also managed to tear through four episodes of The Crown, plus watch two episodes of The Undoing. I like that I have what some consider to be high brow taste with prestige tv, and crap taste with reality tv. We all need balance.
5:30 pm: Dinner is a fridge/leftover cleanout from the week: leftover CSA Chinese food, leftover pizza, and other random fridge items.
9:00 pm: We decided to go to sleep early to get a jump start on the last full week before Thanksgiving. I am thankful in advance that it will be a short week for both of us. We will not be seeing family or friends this year for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I recognize that we are both very lucky to have family who all wants to stay safe this winter and no one is pressuring us to travel.
Total Spending: $68.60

Total spending for the Week:

Food + Drink: $366.20
Fun/Entertainment: $49.42
Home + Health: $158.24
Clothes + Beauty: $140.44
Transport: $44.03
Other: $67.84

Some Reflections:

When I reflect on my purchases this week, I saw that I spent a lot more on frivolous purchases. I think my birthday aligned with the Sephora sale put me in a "spendy" mood and I managed to press the purchase button on a lot of internet shopping carts. I can curb that spending for a while and be perfectly happy.
Additionally, I was reminded that we spend lots of money on food and eating out. Part of me doesn't care, because we order from local restaurants who are trying to survive the pandemic and stay in business. But I was raised to be thrifty and rarely eat at restaurants, so this is still a conflict for me.
Looking at my big picture numbers, I feel pretty good. I have worked really hard to get to where I am in terms of financial success, and it's been a long, hard road. I am very grateful that my mother taught me how to balance a checkbook and about compound interest. However, I wish she would have taught me that compounded interest can be BAD, like when it's interest on credit card debt. That was a hard lesson to learn in my mid-20s, and I am very grateful I was able to pick up the pieces after so much debt.
While I am an excellent budgeter and confident with my finances, I still learned a lot from logging every purchase as it happened. With YNAB I am used to reconciling my purchases several days or weeks after I bought an item. With a money diaries exercise, I was forced to think about my purchase when I bought it, and know that strangers on the internet may judge me!

ipad games that don't need internet connection video

Definitely one of the best offline games for iPad, Fruit Ninja has a reputation to be one of the most fun games for iPad. Slice every single fruit that is being thrown at you by sliding your finger on the screen. For every fruit sliced you will earn some points. You will be given three chances at finishing the levels. Everytime you sliced a bomb you lose a life. Run out of lives and you have to start again. Play games that don't require an Internet connection. Many iPad games do not require an Internet connection for play. To see a selection of such games, open the App Store app, tap Search, then start typing "offline games" in the search bar. Tap "offline games" when it appears as a search category. Scroll down to see the selection of suggested offline games. At the top of the list of free iPad games for kids that don’t require internet is a game all about cats. In this game you assume the role of a cat named Alex and your objective is to reunite him... However, while online games are great, you must have an active internet connection before you can play. And you can’t connect to the internet if you don’t have access to a wifi or cellular data plan. So what happens when you exhaust your data plan, or you lost network signal? You definitely won’t be able to play, and that’s when offline iOS games become helpful in fighting boredom and ... Into the Dead, besides being free and allowing us to play without the need for an Internet connection, is one of the best action games for iPhone and iPad. In this free zombie game , the player is immersed in a post-apocalyptic world where the undead are the kings. When you're somewhere the internet is not, it's hard to know if your kids' apps will work. And while many apps -- once downloaded -- don't require Wi-Fi or data, some do, and it's hard to tell which is which. If you're looking for games that don't need Wi-Fi, there's something for everyone here: puzzles, number games, even multiplayer party ... 11 Best Games That Don’t Need Wifi or Internet Connection. 1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4; 2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive; 3. Fallout 4; 4. Need for Speed Payback; 5. Assassin’s Creed: Origins; 6. The rise of the Tomb Raider; 7. Dark Souls III; 8. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3; 9. Bioshock Infinite; 10. Grand Theft Auto 5; 11. Deux Ex: Mankind Divided. Conclusion Racing Games That Don’t Need WiFi. Here are some of the awesome bike racing games that you can play without an internet connection. #1 Need for Speed: Most Wanted . Need for Speed: Most Wanted is undoubtedly one of the best offline racing games for Android out there. Even when you don’t have an Internet connection, this game lets you enjoy matches, missions and the long-enough career mode ... Free games without WiFi also known as “No WiFi games” that are free is hard to believe. Most of the Android or iOS games are developed in such a way that you need an internet connection to upgrade levels if not to play them on your device. All you need is an Internet connection to enjoy the excitement of playing on mobile wherever you may roam. There are two main gadgets that run on iOS and are portable enough to meet the demands of mobile enthusiasts: the iPhone and the iPad. Both are more than capable of running even the most demanding games glitch free, but the tablet has a certain advantage over the smartphones. This is self ...

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Tik Toks That Prove You Don't Need Sleep😅😂 - YouTube

Register now at whatoplay.com: https://bit.ly/2yZFomFhttps://whatoplay.com/ios/free/ - Complete list of all free-to-play iOS games.Our updated ranking of the... To troubleshooting the issue, please try follow methods below:Method 1: Power Off and On your deviceMethod 2: Turn of and on Wifi (Steps shows on this Video)... Ranking of the best free-to-play iOS mobile games that you can play even without an internet connection; the top-rated free offline iPhone, iPad & iPod games... Fix No Internet connection.Make sure that Wi-Fi or mobile data is turned on that try again-no internet connection make sure wifi or cellular data is turned o... Here's a list of the best free iPhone & Android games from the month of June available on Apple's App Store & Google's play store. Subscribe for more: http:/... New best offline (play without internet connection no wifi needed) for Android & iOS 2019 l GameZone Top 20 OFFLINE Games for Android under 100MB 2019, Top 1... Ranking the 25 Best FREE ANDROID OFFLINE mobile games that are currently available on the Google PlayStore. These are the free-to-play Android games that you... After an update to the latest iOS software, my iPad 3 stopped connecting to the internet. Here is a possible fix to this issue. Thanks for watching, Subscribe & Like for more!Stardust LEDS: https://stardustleds.com/?ref=1tbw1k24d4v 💡 👾 FREE shipping is included with ALL items! 🚀I... *Update 2018: This still applied to latest 6.00 firmware Just to show you guys, that there's no need to connect the internet to play digital games. Just make...

30 Best Offline Games For iPad (Play Without Internet ...

ipad games that don't need internet connection

ipad games that don't need internet connection - win

Flying 11 hours to Hawaii in a couple of weeks for our honeymoon. Please suggest a few great games for the iPad that don't need an internet connection.

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Speaking on stream

Streaming as a job/hobby

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The Daily Check-In for Wednesday, September 23rd: Just for today, I am NOT drinking!

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ipad games that don't need internet connection video

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Tik Toks That Prove You Don't Need Sleep😅😂 - YouTube