I feel that, msbelle.
I just redid our CC payoff schedule to be a bit more realistic while I'm still unemployed. I had a really aggressive plan, but when I did the budget again in detail, it was a pipe dream.
It sucks that you actually have to wait for the money to come in before you can pay them off again. I did pay off two last month, though, so we're on the road. One was low balance, and one was medium balance, so... I'll take the W.
Nowadays we are used to much more disciplined spending after our sobering stretch of mutual unemployment, which discipline is good and much needed. I mean I track and budget it -- DH is grateful and will ask before he spends anything of significance.
The thing that has helped us most is the grocery and dining out budget. Man, that gets out of control fast up in here if we don't pay attention. But also, there are a lot of "treat yourself" extras that had become pretty routine that we went cold turkey on and mostly don't miss much, so it's good. Maybe now they'll actually go back to being occasional treats that feel like treats rather than a lifestyle to which we had grown accustomed but really shouldn't have. Ahem.
It'll take us a year and a half of real focus before I feel secure again on the debt, savings, and retirement-building front again, though. And "secure" is a relative term which assumes he remains employed and I find something soon and the country doesn't implode entirely. Oof. I think I just typed myself into an anxiety spiral. Breathe in, breathe out...
Cereal:
Yay, sj! I'm so glad you had so much fun and received the well-deserved compliments -- and took them for such! That's awesome. I love her.
It was just an amazing experience.
Sounds great, sj.
(And I almost never trust compliments, either. Also, some of the ones I've gotten in fact suck, such as "If I had to do what you do, I'd kill myself!" which, I think is supposed to mark my fortitude, but is, honestly, the Absolute Worst. But because they sounded complimentary--if you don't think about the words, I've said "Thank you!" to that more than a few times.
Also, "so brave1!"
I saw your pix on FB, sj, and you did indeed look fabulous!
I’m bad at this because (similar to weight stuff) it is slow progress.
This has been a topic of discussion with my therapist, as both Pilates and Ozempic work incrementally. I have been able to make considerable progress on both fronts, but it's taken months and months. I've been stuck at a frustrating plateau with the weight loss and I'm really trying to bear down and be strictly disciplined to push through.
Fortunately, there's the immediate dopamine hit of just getting my eyebrows down, or the bigger relief of both Emmett and Matilda getting some traction and forward movement after years for them both being stuck. That was a low-lying anxiety that was always running in the background.
As for finances, we were so poor for so long that we couldn't even afford to get in debt as we were struggling from paycheck to paycheck. That did teach me many frugal skills, and I'm only just now starting to unclench from that as my finances are more than secure.
One way I can tell that Matilda is looking forward to college? She's as obsessively focused on putting her dorm room together with her new roommate, as she was packing her trunk for camp. So she's ready to make a change and commit to it.
Last night she came out and wanted me to watch the short movie of the 10 minute version of Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" and discuss the lyrics and how great they are. (Deb would be pleased by this, no doubt.).
She said "All of my friends know all the lyrics to the 10 minute version of 'All Too Well.'" Which would be more impressive to me if I hadn't watched Matilda and all of her friends learning the entire score to Hamilton when they were in elementary school.
She also made me watch Olivia Rodrigo videos with further lyric dissection.
Last night my friend Jes (who is painting my back steps), and her Drag House did a performance at Booksmith, and it was really fun seeing a drag show in that venue. The theme was "classics" and they all did performances based on classic books (Phantom of the Opera, Wuthering Heights etc.). It's going to be a monthly event.
Erika, been there heard that before, as well as the fake happy condescending tone from strangers way too often.
