Why does everything cost money?!?

Posted on October 11, 2020 by A Dreamer

I know, I know, capitalism, money must be exchanged for goods and services, etc, etc.

I probably wouldn’t be stressing so much about this dental bill if we hadn’t had those pay cuts this year. The difference wouldn’t cover the entire bill, but it sure as hell would have helped.

It’s amazing how it’s 100% OK to reduce what *I* am given in exchange for my services, but no one on the other end of my checkbook will do the same for me.

Had to buy groceries today, cause I gotta eat, and gas up the car. Granted, the car only needs to be filled up about once a month, but that was $75 out the door in 20 minutes.

I’m just kinda UGH about all of it. I already factored in the worst case dental bill into my finances – you can pretty much see where it hit when I got the estimate on Monday:

That Net Worth looks good cause it also includes my house – a big ol’ asset that is very not liquid. :/

The good news is that our next paycheck will be at pre-cut levels, so I can start trying to make up for some lost money. I’ve got my tax set asides figured out for the rest of the year (I am currently underwithheld, but I am also not changing it) and maybe I’ll get super lucky and get the low end on the dental costs and IDK, win the lottery or something.

I know other folks have it way worse, but these are my problems and they are real and mine.

I also have to drop off my car today for its safety inspection – let’s hope there is nothing worse happening than a dead light bulb or something… (Amazing fucking timing on that, huh?)

But, it will all work out some way or another…

Posted in Finances, Medical Costs, Results | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Another good day yesterday

Posted on October 11, 2020 by A Dreamer

Entry hall – Done!! (I’ll do another quick sweep/pickup Friday night, but for now, it’s as good as it’s gonna get between now and Saturday.)

Hallway to basement stairs – Done!! (Also, same as above.)

Kitchen:
– Dishwasher: Unloaded! Reloaded! Unloaded! Reloaded!
– Counters: Clear & wiped down!

Breakfast Nook/Side Entrance/Don’t know what else to call it, aka, where Amazon boxes go to die: Several boxes broken down and put to recycling, handful of things that shouldn’t be there put away.

Living Room: Replacement lamp for old dead one assembled and plugged in, yay, light! Light is good!

That’s as far as I got yesterday, but it’s pretty decent in my mind – all told, a little less than an hour & a half, and I don’t feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.

Yay!

Today’s focus will be on the living room, kitchen floor (there is stuff all over the place…), and getting last night’s dinner mess undone.

Posted in Goals, Household, Results | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Plan for today

Posted on October 10, 2020 by A Dreamer

Kitchen – already got the dishwasher unloaded & reloaded, but alas, last night’s dinner turned out to be a two-load affair, so there will be another unload & reload.

The dishwasher is already running and thanks to yesterday’s work, this is easy and manageable.

Oh, and I got the baskets done for the counter from hell yesterday!

I’ve ordered a few more, as I’m seeing other spots where this will work well. (I know what you’re thinking: Lady, didn’t you JUST say you needed to spend less? Yes. But this is an investment in my sanity.)

Another couple rounds of the entry hall (it’s not in terrible shape, but not done.)

Go to town on the living room.

Then finish the kitchen stuff that is in progress.

Feeling good about today.

Posted in Goals, Household | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Today goes solidly in the win column.

Posted on October 9, 2020 by A Dreamer

Worked for a little over an hour in the kitchen – just little blocks of 10-20 minutes, and damn if it didn’t look (and feel) 1000x better for the effort.

Granted, I messed it all back up making a bigassed dinner – BUT – all that is needed to get it back to the pre-dinner state is empty & reload the dishwasher and wipe down the counters.

Mind you, I’m done for the night, cause I ate to much and am bordering on a food coma, but the morning will be easy enough.

Didn’t make goal for the week – ~7% of “fucking off time” – but I also felt like crap, so I’m not going to beat myself up over it.

Tomorrow starts a new week.

Onwards!

Posted in Household, Results | Tagged , | Leave a comment

OK, let’s give this another shot

Posted on October 9, 2020 by A Dreamer

Good night’s sleep, errands already run, no reason to leave the house again, and generally feeling decent, which is a pleasant change!

Gotta get the kitchen cleaned up anyway since I’ve got some cooking to do tonight, so it’s on.

LET’S DO THIS!

Posted in Goals, Household | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Struck out today…

Posted on October 8, 2020 by A Dreamer

Got a couple very tiny things done around the house, but I basically did too much other stuff today and ran out of steam.

I am at least not feeling terrible, but my energy and motivation levels aren’t awesome on a good day, and I’m still feeling kinda worn down. Probably some pandemic depression in the mix as the cherry on the shit sundae that is life in 2020.

I do wonder how folks seem to have so much energy all the time. WHAT IS THE SECRET?!

Oh well, tomorrow is another day, with only one small errand to run in the morning, so I shouldn’t be taking a nap at 4PM…

Posted in Results | Tagged | Leave a comment

Gotta make this weekend count…

Posted on October 8, 2020 by A Dreamer

Cause I haven’t managed SHIT this week. This infected tooth has knocked me on my ass – I have meds for it and I am feeling better than I did on Monday to be sure, but I have been essentially non-functional after work so far this week.

The good news is that I’ve got today and tomorrow off, and while I have some other things that are going to take up my time besides the house, I will have *time* and I am feeling quite a lot better this morning and I think I will be able to get a fair amount done before next Saturday.

And I’ve figured out how to pay for the worst case outcome of this fucking dental work, so that’s something. I mean, I’ll be totally fucked financially for several months (depending on how much insurance covers and I am counting on that to be a big fat zero – seriously, they cover one crown every 7 years*) – but I can pay for it.

Please say a prayer to the dental gods that we can get away with the not worst case treatment plan.

Hell of a year to take a six month pay cut, have raises & promotions suspended, and have bonuses pretty much go out the window. Before it all hit the fan, I was supposed to be getting a promotion/raise this month. (For reasons I cannot fathom, we do all raises/promotions at the same time every year, and this promotion was a given since I came into this position this time last year.) And out of cycle stuff is pretty much unheard of – so, I’m stuck for another year. 😦

Obviously, gonna have to be even more diligent with my spending (but the bills aren’t changing…) and set up a special savings account just for medical shit. (I do have an FSA, but given that it’s use or lose, I am reluctant to max it out any given year, cause I don’t want to throw that money away – I do enough to cover dental cleanings and part of a pair of new glasses and that’s pretty much it.)

Well, I’ll muck through somehow. And I was so looking forward to being able to put money *away* for a change.

*Update – I have realized that the one crown/seven years is probably for the same tooth, not my entire mouth, and considering I’ve only had this insurance for under two years, there may be some reimbursement, cause I definitely think the last time this tooth was worked on was more than 2 years ago. Not counting on it, though, but fingers crossed.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

One Step Forward

Posted on October 5, 2020 by A Dreamer

5K-12K steps back.

Yeah, that’s the range of what I’ll be spending at the dentist, on top of the $750 today.

I can absorb the 5K, it won’t be pretty, and I really would rather not, but OK.

12K? Fuck my life, that is going to be colorful.

Really wish that pay cut hadn’t happened.

Posted in Medical Costs | Tagged | Leave a comment

May have to throw in the towel on today.

Posted on October 4, 2020 by A Dreamer

I had to run a couple more errands that took WAY longer than I anticipated (like, near two hours longer than I thought they would) and it’s kinda knocked me on my ass between the needing a root canal & the fact that having to be hypervigilant when you go out is just fucking exhausting.

I did get a tiny bit done before an early dinner (which was procured, not cooked, amazing planning ahead on my part for tacos given how tired I am) so the day wasn’t a total wash.

And who knows, I might have an energy spurt later and get a little more done, but right now, it’s not looking good – not going to kick myself if nothing happens.

Better to take care of myself, go to bed early, and hope the dentist can do something tomorrow that will make my head feel slightly less like it’s on the verge of exploding.

Posted in Miscellany | Leave a comment

Not a half bad Saturday

Posted on October 4, 2020 by A Dreamer

14 items knocked off the Tody list, and made the time goal of 10% of fucking off time spent cleaning – hit 13.2%. (Stretch goal is 20%, but as much as I am feeling like a bit of dogshit due to a bad tooth, I am happy with hitting over 10%.)

See that teal-ish block under the orange? Me getting stuff done! (Yes, I have a chart. I like charts.)

But, yeah, I am keeping track of the time, as it does help me see how much time I spend just fucking off. Sleep, work & errands are self-explanatory. Personal is cooking, eating, writing, reading (taking time to read these days is definitely *not* fucking off for me, it’s actually really challenging) showering, etc, etc.

Basically, I spend way too much time doomscrolling Twitter.

Sadly, there isn’t a ton of *visible* progress from yesterday, as I worked in multiple spots over the course of the day, but the hallway to the basement is cleared and swept and off the list, and the powder room is in really good shape, the stairs going up that you see the moment you come in are about 75% there (the landing is still a mess) and the entry hall is coming along.

But, I just need to keep plugging along, as I know it will be better to do a little every day than being up until 2AM the night before the water meter person comes around.

And then, the real trick – DON’T FUCKING STOP AFTER THE WATER METER IS FIXED.

Just gotta pick a new deadline and keep going. Halloween? Yeah, that works.

Posted in Goals, Results | Tagged , | Leave a comment