Of household items, a socially distanced visit and takeout: A spending diary

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

I woke up around 6 a.m. and inexplicably my right arm hurt when I extended it even a little bit. Full extension caused me to make a small, self-pitying noise.

I worked on moving it, but that didn’t help. So I applied some muscle rub and massaged the area a bit, then kept the arm extended with a small pillow under my tricep to stretch it.

That started getting painful after a few minutes, so I heated up a long rice sock Mom left for me. Then I climbed back into bed and draped it along the length of my arm. The heat was soothing, but it also caused me to fall back asleep. Oops.

So I got a slightly late start on the day, but emails were very light. So I was through those quickly and worked on trying to get some old cases resolved, which meant politely nagging emails to the people who could reach out to the people who could actually do that.

I needed to get some more of my fiber gummies for $27.66. (As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a commission for orders placed through my links.) I also finally broke down and got a heating pad because the one I borrowed from my friend had been better for my back than the usual rice sock. That was $17.22 with a coupon, so an additional $1.80 went into Saved Savings.

Work was initially busy but got pretty quiet, so I messaged with friends and worked on some Zazzle designs in between emails.

Aaron messaged, but he wasn’t feeling well — out of it and weary. This time he had been eating, so we agreed that work stress was probably just getting to him. But he was still thinking about seeing a doctor if it didn’t clear up soon.

After work, I kept working on some designs — I looked at one of the ones I’d already done and decided to make a second version where the graphics were a little smaller — and watched TV and just generally goofed off. Aaron videocalled around 7:30 p.m. and we chatted for a bit. But lying down to talk to him made me sleepy. So I said I was going to get ready for bed.

I got into bed around 9 and was asleep around 10.

Total spent: $46.68

Friday

I got up to another day of light emails, and I got through my secondary duties pretty quickly. So then I got the spending diary ready for the following day.

Aaron messaged saying he was feeling much better, but he didn’t mention coming over. I figured he wanted a little more recuperation time given how off he’d been feeling previously.

The workday passed pretty uneventfully. At night, I worked on some Zazzle designs and watched Emily in Paris. I didn’t tear myself away from designing until about 11 p.m. So I was in bed at 11:30 p.m. and asleep a bit after midnight.

Total spent: $0

Saturday

I woke up around 9 a.m. and lay around for a bit. Then I got up and cleaned the litter box.

I’d wanted to do more cleaning, but I just didn’t feel up to it. So instead I ordered more two 20-lb boxes of Arm & Hammer litter for $23.88 and finished fussing with a design I’d done the day before. (Again, as an Amazon affiliate I am compensated for purchases made through my links.)

Once the design was finished I started investigating another print-on-demand site called Redbubble. I was interested because Zazzle only has loose shirts, whereas Redbubble had some that were a little more form-fitting.

Unfortunately, I discovered that transferring designs would be a pain. While I could download designs from Zazzle, I could only do so if I hadn’t yet applied it to a product. So I had to replicate each design in Zazzle as just a design, download it, upload it to Canva to make the image large enough that I can resize it as I like on Redbubble, download the Canva design, then upload that to Redbubble. Sigh.

The only other issue with Redbubble is that placing a design on one shirt placed them on most of the shirt types. On Zazzle, you can move the design around a bit — which is good because some designs look better higher on the chest for men than for women — but not so with Redbubble. But I did my best.

Midway through this headache, I confirmed with my friend that we were still on for the socially distanced hangout that evening. I was going to bring the makings for two separate Moscow mule kits: two bottles of vodka, two different packs of ginger beer and two bags of limes. That way, we could drink together without touching the same surfaces.

I FaceTimed with Mom around 11:30 a.m. Unfortunately, she had a phone interview half an hour later. So we only chatted for a little bit before signing off.

My friend messaged to say that errands were taking longer than anticipated and the soonest she could be ready for company was 4. I told her I’d assumed we wouldn’t be meeting til at least 7, so whenever she was ready would be fine.

I only got one design completely set up in Redbubble and two more designs ready to upload there before it was time to leave for my optometrist appointment to see how the new contacts were doing. I told him my eyes were more tired and irritated than with my old lenses. It turns out the cut he had ordered wasn’t rotating enough, causing dry eye, hence my symptoms. So new ones were ordered.

On the way home, I got gas for the first time in about five weeks ($29.18) and picked up some snacks to bring to my friend’s place ($14.88). I got cheese and crackers, plus pineapple. Because the fruit counteracts the fattiness of the cheese. #science.

I got home at 3 p.m. and my friend let me know that 4 p.m. had been overly optimistic. I assured her I had things to keep me busy, so to just let me know when she was ready.

I put stuff away, then washed my hands thoroughly and sliced up the cheese and put it into baggies, divvied up the pineapple into two containers and put the limes in two separate bags. (Halfway through divvying up the pineapple, I speared and slice and put it in my mouth. Then cursed and went and grabbed a new fork so my cooties didn’t get on her pineapple.)

I also packed paper plates, my copper mug, a bottle opener for my ginger beer (the pack I was giving her were cans), a knife for the lime, a fork for my container of pineapple and paper plates.

She messaged me at 5 p.m. to say she was ready for company. So I headed over, and we had a really nice time. It was good to be around her in person — I’ve seen her once in the last 11 months — and we discussed all manner of topics. I ended up telling her some about when I was so sick, relationship issues in general (including ones a lot of women create ourselves*) and of course her own situation.

I did have to use her bathroom a few times, but I put a mask on just to be safe and I had brought wipes, so I wiped down all surfaces I touched.

I didn’t leave until after 11:30. So I fell into bed around midnight and was almost immediately asleep.

Total spent: $67.94

Sunday

Josie partially woke me up by loudly grooming herself, but I just kicked my feet around near her, disturbing her area so she’d jump down. Then I fell back asleep. When I finally woke up, it was almost 11 a.m. Wow.

But I felt great. I got up, took my pills, started a laundry, took out the trash, ordered some more trash bags ($10.85), cleaned up the items from the night before — which included handwashing the copper mug and straw, along with the Ziploc bag I’d had the cheese in — and took pictures of some items I wanted to give away on a Buy Nothing Facebook group. All in under 40 minutes.

Then I sat down to write up the next day’s post about the previous month’s spending.

Aaron messaged to say he was feeling better and was going to do a night flight. He asked if I wanted to come.

Of course I did!

He said he had to do three “touch and go” passes (touch down briefly then take back off without stopping) first but would then come get me from the parking lot. So we agreed that I should show up at 6:30 p.m.

In the meantime, I finished my post, then dyed my hair to get rid of the gray. I always feel much better after I did that.

He apparently got a slightly later start than he’d hoped for, so he didn’t come get me until 7. By the time we walked back to the plane (a good 10 minutes) and he went through his pre-checks again — and talked safety measures with me, it was past 7:30.

The flight itself was of course fun. See pics here, here and here. We just went to another local airport about 30 miles away — but we didn’t finish until almost 9.

I hadn’t eaten a ton and at one point he had to climb a couple hundred feet suddenly, so I was really woozy afterward. But I felt okay enough to drive to his place.

He ordered Chipotle delivered, so it was waiting when I got there. We interacted a bit with the kittens, but there was an outdoor cat that had been coming by and peering in the window and crying.

He was also super friendly when Aaron would come out. Clearly he had been someone’s pet, but the fact that he kept coming by, begging to be let in, told us he had probably been abandoned. Aaron had put up a notice on the apartment complex’s bulleting board a few days prior, but no one contacted him.

That night, the cat thrown up badly and he was feeling skinny when we petted him — and there was a small bald spot forming. So Aaron decided to let him in.

As I predicted, he didn’t like the kittens coming near him, so we shooed them away and tried to give him some attention while Aaron figured out what to do. In the end, he decided to take the cat to the vet in the morning.

About 10 minutes after we got in bed, the cat plopped himself on the bed too. Definitely someone’s pet.

We got in bed around 11:45 p.m. (Ugh)

Total spent: $10.85

Monday

Unfortunately, my Restless Leg Syndrome acted up most of the night, so I didn’t get a lot of sleep. I think I finally got about three hours’ solid rest before the alarm went off.

I was exhausted and had a crazy craving for donuts. I hadn’t had one in probably almost a year. So I stopped on my way home and got half a dozen. It was $7.51 after tip.

I got home, caught up on emails and was working on some of my other duties when I got too woozy to sit up. I took a brief nap and then worked from bed for the rest of the day.

Aaron said that the vet confirmed the cat didn’t have a microchip. Aaron paid for vaccines for the cat, even though he wasn’t sure whether he was going to keep him.

The vet told him to isolate the cat from the kittens to be sure he didn’t give them feline leukemia or FIV. Aaron said he was going to contact the group he got the kittens from to see whether they could take him. He just wasn’t up for owning three cats. Plus the new guy demanded a ton of attention.

After work, I worked on a new design and watched Staged, which my friend had recommended on Saturday. It’s David Tennant and Michael Sheen deciding to rehearse a play over Zoom during the lockdown. It was freakin’ hilarious.

My friend Jen called to catch up around 7:30 p.m. and we talked until 10 p.m. I got ready for bed quickly and fell asleep around 10:30.

Total spent: $7.51

Tuesday

I got up and dealt with the few emails there were, but the other part of my job kept me busy for a bit.

At 11:15 a.m. I left for my appointment with the psychiatrist. The copay was $25. He agreed to increase the dosage on one of my meds, since I’ve been struggling.

I got home and killed time until the workday ended. Then I finished watching Staged (damn those Brits and their short seasons!) and worked on migrating some more designs to Redbubble.

Suddenly, it was almost 8 p.m. Aaron called to check in and we agreed we’d try to see each other ASAP.

I had eaten a few hours before but still hadn’t felt full and was actively hungry again. So I got some takeout using a gift card, meaning $9.83 went to Saved Savings.

After I ate, I went back to migrating designs, and suddenly it was 10:30 p.m. I got in bed a little after 11 p.m. and was asleep by 11:30 p.m.

Total spent: $34.83

Wednesday

I got up and got through some work. Then I called Safeway to have them get the new dosage of my med transferred from CVS. With GoodRx, it was about $50 less than with my insurance. Our system is so messed up.

The annual payment for my CVS CarePass hit the card ($52.13).

The first part of the day went quickly, and around noon I checked in with Aaron. I wasn’t feeling so hot and he had a few things he wanted to get done, so we agreed to shoot for seeing each other the next day.

The rest of the day went relatively quickly. After work, I visited multiple pet websites to post the pictures of the new cat Aaron had taken in. The organization he was hoping would take the cat said they can’t do anything until there have been online posts for at least 10 days without anyone coming forward to claim the animal.

Aaron values his online privacy, so I knew he wasn’t eager to put contact information online. Also, I just have a ton of free time. So I offered to do it. That took probably an hour, and I spent more time looking at lost cat postings on those websites. I thought I might have found matches twice, but nope. Sigh.

Around 8 p.m. I went and got some Dairy Queen ($12.03). I stayed up a little later than I wanted to make sure I digested enough before going to bed, so I didn’t fall asleep until almost midnight. Eesh.

Total spent: $64.16

Total spent: $231.97

Okay, spending was much higher than in previous weeks, but other than takeout it was all pretty basic spending. So I don’t feel too bad about the jump in expenditures.

Related reading:

Of takeout, secondhand breakup drama and a whole lot of Zazzle designing: A spending diary

Of gifts, overtime and KITTENS!!!: A spending diary