These spending diaries are a way for me to be more cognizant of my spending. They’re also a peek into my daily life for those who care.
For those who are new, my style of “spending” is a little convoluted. I have two checking accounts. I keep the majority of my money in the secondary account, transferring $280 a week into the main account. But I charge everything to the card to maximize rewards. As charges accrue, I transfer money out of the main account into the secondary one. Then I make a weekly payment on my credit card.
A tad confusing, perhaps, but it works for me. Anyway, here’s how spending went this week:
Thursday
My doctor called first thing in the morning to let me know he was calling in an albuterol inhaler. So glad I don’t have to go in for an appointment. I’m already doing badly enough about staying at home lately. I didn’t want another reason to leave the house. (Though I’ll have to leave anyway to get the prescription, I guess.)
Emails were light, so I spent most of the morning on social media. I checked the CVS app and found that the two prescription refills I’d ordered wouldn’t be available til after 5 p.m., so I put off my CVS trip and just dawdled all day in between emails.
After work, I started a new puzzle (1,000 pieces this time, so hopefully it’ll keep me busy longer). I kept watching Episodes, which is very funny. Suddenly, Mom was asking me if I was still going to CVS because it was 7:30 p.m. I checked, and apparently the pharmacy was already closed. D’oh!
I started not feeling well a little before 9 p.m. I think maybe I’d just been bent over the puzzle for too long. So I went to bed and was asleep around 9:30 p.m.
Total spent: $0
Friday
I couldn’t believe it was already Friday. This week was a blur.
I got up about half an hour before my alarm and killed time until work. I paid my water/garbage/sewer bill. With a contribution to the utility assistance program, paid $55.
That necessitated the start of a new financial week, so I transferred money in and made a credit card payment as well. Then I started work and got caught up on emails. Pretty quickly. I need email volumes to go up so that a) I worry less about the company and b) I have something to do and don’t shrivel up from boredom.
I scrolled Twitter and tweeted/retweeted a lot about the current outrage about Minneapolis. It probably lost me followers, but oh well. I also made a donation to the NAACP. (No amount noted because I don’t disclose my charitable giving amounts on here.) Between COVID-19 disproportionately affecting black people and, well, everything else… I figured that was the best use of my money.
I checked the CVS app and discovered the inhaler would be $33.60, so I went on GoodRx and found it for $20.69. That site is always saving me money!
I had the $10 in CVS CarePass Extrabux to use plus $3 in regular Extrabux, so I picked up some lotion and candy while I was there for an end total of $2.65. I also put $6 ($10 in Extrabux minus the $4/month I paid for the CarePass) into saved savings. I didn’t count the $3 because I wouldn’t have purchased the candy without the Extrabux.
When I got home, I used the inhaler and noticed a difference. So at least this will help until I can get an official probably-asthma diagnosis from the pulmonologist.
The rest of the workday passed slowly, but after work I settled in to do more of the puzzle. I made some decent headway, and suddenly it was 7 p.m. I went and got ready for the weekly Zoom chat with my trivia group.
The chat lasted from 8 p.m. til almost midnight. I was asleep around 12:30 a.m.
Total spent: $84.34
Saturday
Somehow I slept in until 8 a.m. I might not even have awoken then but the cat was crying for reasons unknown.
I got up and realized I’d forgotten to schedule the weekly spending diary, so I posted that slightly late. Then I did some work on a partially finished blog post.
Mom started a laundry, so $3.50 went into the washer/dryer fund.
I put on Episodes and started working on the puzzle in the afternoon. Suddenly, the final episode was on, and it was the evening, so I took a break. Mom joined me when I started back up again, so we watched Parks and Rec and worked until bedtime.
In other words, I pretty much did nothing all day, and it was glorious.
Total spent: $3.50
Sunday
Somehow, I managed to sleep until 9:30 a.m. Which was great, but it was so much sleep that I woke up very stiff.
With the riots and protests going on, I decided I needed some more comedy. So I started Space Force on Netflix.
On Twitter, things were imploding in the FinCon community. People were very upset with PT Money. He said some very insensitive things in reply to a tweet asking how everyone was doing (in light of the unrest). Essentially, he blamed the media, saying it was hyping things and being divisive. He also said that things were luckily tranquil where he was and he “almost [felt] guilty. Almost.” It was a very poor way of putting it.
When people came out of the woodwork to call him on the comments, he unfollowed several of them. They posted about that, and he deleted the tweets. Then his account disappeared.
In the afternoon, Mom and I started working on the puzzle again, so we switched to Parks and Rec. We worked off and on throughout the day, so really not much else got done. Which I think is a good way to spend the weekend.
I called it a night around 9:15 and was asleep by 10 p.m.
Total spent: $0
Monday
I got up and caught up on emails pretty quickly, so most of the day was spent scrolling social media. The news was hard to stomach, but I can’t stick my head in the sand about what’s happening in this country.
I worked out for the first time in more than a week. I just made sure to use the inhaler right before the workout — I was feeling a skosh breathless — and everything went well. Or about as well as an unpleasant workout can go, anyway.
After work I spent even more hours on social media. Part of the fascination of the day was that the FinCon Facebook community was now the one imploding. People took to Facebook to call out PT further for his comments on Sunday, screenshotting the conversation in question and demanding an explanation.
He issued an apology that, frankly, wasn’t terribly convincing. He also claimed his account went dark because he tried to change the birthdate on his account, which does apparently earn you an automatic suspension for some reason. (Still seems like great timing.)
Meanwhile, multiple people came out on Twitter to say that PT had threatened litigation and generally DMed them repeatedly for a takedown when they said things he didn’t like. To be fair, it’s not clear what the comments were.
I do know that one was someone calling out Dave Ramsey on some chauvinism, and PT said he was a big Ramsey fan. I think the problem was her response, but she didn’t say what it was. Instead she showed DMs where he nagged her repeatedly to take it down, asked if she was planning on compensating him for the people now threatening not to come to FinCon as a result of her comments. When she took it down, he thanked her and said he was a big fan and she was still welcome at FinCon. Shortly thereafter he apparently issued a refund (unasked) and took her off the FinCon Facebook page.
Another woman (a very successful black woman in the community with a huge following) came forward to say that he had offered her a $2,500 speaker fee when he paid a white woman $10,000 and a white man $50,000. He responded that he’d never paid anyone more than $15,000, even though one speaker specifically claimed in his keynote address to have been paid $50,000.
He also provided a copy of the full offer, which did include other things, like a free booth or session (can’t remember which), a percentage of ticket sales purchased through her link (all speakers get that, but her percentage was higher), and buying a large number of her books. The problem? He was offering $3.50 per book. Apparently, it costs $5 to print them. And the booth/session still wouldn’t have put her anywhere near the white woman’s speaker fee.
Another woman (also large in the community) said that when she and PT had a disagreement, he said some truly awful things to her. She didn’t specify what was said, but apparently she sucked it up and they both apologized for the argument. She thought things were okay, but then she found he’d unfriended her. When she followed up, he said he didn’t want her at FinCon anymore. He also apparently went to one of her sponsors and badmouthed her. (Luckily, the sponsor didn’t believe it and informed her of PT’s actions.)
People on the Facebook FinCon page were demanding he respond to all of this. Some people of color said they were very hurt that someone they considered a friend could be so cavalier about the death of someone that could easily have been them. And generally a large number started asking for their tickets to be refunded because they’d no longer be attending FinCon. It got so bad that later in the day, he turned off comments on the refund request thread.
I’d already decided a few months ago I wouldn’t go to future FinCons, but all of this would’ve been enough to convince me if the decision hadn’t already been made.
So that was fascinating to watch unfold. But I was also just scrolling Twitter endlessly and suddenly it was 7 p.m. and I still hadn’t eaten the meal I normally eat around 3 p.m. So I stopped, ate and then Mom and I worked on and finished the puzzle while watching Parks and Rec.
I was asleep by 10 p.m.
Total spent: $0
Tuesday
I woke up and got through emails pretty quickly. I checked the blog a bit, but mainly just watched social media. There were a lot of upsetting/enraging videos of police brutality being shared.
Around 11 a.m. I was starving and so was Mom. There isn’t a lot of good Thai food up in Anchorage, so I decided we should get takeout again before she went home. That was $23.83 and very satisfying.
I spent the rest of the workday scrolling social media in between emails. Then after work stayed on Twitter for hours. Finally around 6:30 p.m. I decided to go to the grocery store a day early to see if I could get any more cherries before they went off sale.
Unfortunately, they were all out, but I picked up some other items I needed for a total of $26.31.
I came home, watched a little more TV and went to bed around 9:30 p.m.
total spent: $50.14
Wednesday
I woke up and caught up on emails. Then I started scrolling social media again. I can’t seem to stop. The videos of police reacting to peaceful protesters were hard to watch, but they need to be seen. And people are saying a lot of interesting, convincing, well-reasoned things on Twitter in support of the protesters and abolishing the inherent racism in the system.
Unfortunately, seeing the unrest and injustice made me want to stress eat, so I ordered pizza and cinnamon sticks ($36.21 after tip). Yeah, it’s a lot but it’s really good pizza and averages out to about $5 a meal or less, so it’s not too terrible.
After work, I had my therapy session. We talked about what was going on in the world and how I was coping and about how I felt about Mom leaving soon (nervous but optimistic).
My insurance is still covering my copays for telesessions, so I put $25 into saved savings.
I spent a lot of the evening scrolling social media and watching Kim’s Convenience on Netflix, which is very fun, then Mom and I watched some Parks and Rec.
I called it a night at 9:15 p.m. but it took me a while to fall asleep.
Total: $61.21
Total spent: $199.19
Wow, a pretty low-spend week overall. I definitely need to watch it on the takeout, more for weight reasons than financial ones. But it wouldn’t hurt the budget either.
Marcia says
I always enjoy your spending diaries! That FinCon drama though, Wow! I actually know someone who mentioned she got a refund but it was difficult getting the refund. I wonder if it was the same woman? Have a great weekend Abby!
Abigail says
A fair number of people have now gotten refunds. Mine came through Friday (woot!), so that’s a nice boost for my business to get back. And yeah, the FinCon drama was fascinating but a tad exhausting.
Teinegurl says
I enjoyed the spending diaries as well. I’m glad you got a plan. My kids went with their dad for the summer for two months and it’s been two weeks and I think I made the trip last to long. I missed them terribly even though they drive me nuts it’s just not the same without them. I suggested to buy them some puzzles while they are there sort of inspired by you because they are extremely bored being stuck in the house most of the time due to COVID. I’m hoping it will at least get them away from a screens for a *little* while
Abigail says
Well, you can do puzzles in front of the TV so it’s not really a screen escape, but at least it gets them off phones or tablets, I guess. Unless that’s how they’re watching TV.
Sorry you’re feeling their absence. It must be tough. I really can’t imagine. It must doubly suck because it’s not like you can go do a ton of indulgent things now that you’re alone. Still, maybe just try to pamper yourself at home, enjoy watching movies/shows YOU want to see, maybe some face masks and nail painting, etc. Take care of yourself!