Log in | EnergyPlus

Source: https://www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/49853
This week at Bungie, the Crow has found a new nest.
Hello, and welcome to the second TWAB of Beyond Light. We’ve got a bit to cover today, so we won’t spend too much time on introductions. Season of the Hunt kicked off proper on Tuesday. If you haven’t jumped in just yet, we have some wonderful web lore to get you prepared. I wasn’t mentally prepared for part 2...

IMMOLANT PT. 1 // IMMOLANT. PT 2

TWO DRINK MINIMUM

Wrathborn Hunts have begun. We still have the Deep Stone Crypt Raid, The Dawning, Trials of Osiris, Iron Banner, and more to look forward to over the course of the Season.
First stop: The raid.

On Your Marks. Get Set. Raid.

Season of the Hunt isn’t the only thing making its grand entrance this week. At 10 AM PST on Saturday, November 21, the Deep Stone Crypt will become available.
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We’ve talked through Contest Mode, shown off some fancy rewards, but we wanted to get in a final reminder before the show begins.
World First Verification Timeline
Once the raid has been conquered, we will announce that the activity has been completed from @Bungie on Twitter. After this, our teams will start diving into the data to verify that the first completion was clean. Our hope is to be able to announce the winners shortly after World first, but we want to ensure our validation efforts are sound. Ultimately, our goal is to have a post congratulating the winning team on Monday, November 23.
Contest Mode Reminder and a Quick Stasis Update
Full details on Contest Mode can be found in the This Week at Bungie – 10/15/2020 article.
Quick bullets that all should be aware of:

• Contest Mode will cap all players at 20 Power below each encounter for 24 hours.
• Artifact Power will be disabled during Contest Mode.
• Your team’s Power Cap goal is 1230 for all the encounters.
• Being above 1230 will not provide any additional advantage in the final fight.

Earlier this week, an issue was discovered where Stasis was doing large (and we mean insanely huge) amounts of damage to bosses. The team worked at lightning pace to develop a fix for Destiny 2 Hotfix 3.0.0.3, thus preventing impact to the upcoming raid! We have a few more notes on general Stasis balancing later in the TWAB, so keep reading if you want to know more! This may not be a piece of Contest Mode, but we wanted to make sure to call this out for those who may have seen an interesting video or two over the last few days.
There Will Be Loot
Now, it wouldn’t be a race if there wasn’t something on the line. While many of you may have seen these rewards on our Instagram or even a preview on the Bungie Store website, we wanted to make sure to show these off in a TWAB before the raid released!

World First Raid Title (don’t call it a belt)
The first Fireteam of 6 to complete the Deep Stone Crypt raid will be declared World First by Bungie from @Bungie on Twitter after verification from our analytics team. Official rules can be found here.
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Day 1 Raid Emblem
Complete the Raid within 24 hours with Contest Mode active (by 10 AM PST on Nov 22) to unlock this unique emblem.
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Jacket Quest: Parka Edition
Complete the raid by 9AM PST on December 1 to unlock the Bungie Rewards Deep Stone Crypt Raid Jacket for purchase.
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Additionally, there are two deadlines that players should be aware of:

• Deadline to Claim Reward Code: December 31, 2020 9 AM PST
• Deadline to Purchase: December 31, 2020 11:59 PM PST

For additional details, please refer to your Bungie Rewards page, or the Bungie Store pre-order page.

Now, only a few questions remain...

• Have you gotten your Power high enough?
• Do you have your raid team assembled?
• Are you prepared for battle?
• …and for those of you who may not be racing, who will you be watching?

See you Saturday. It’s going to be a blast.

Securing the Entrance

Our Security team has been working on a variety of projects to sharpen our tools for cheat detection. In the coming weeks we’ll begin rolling out a new security measure for newly created accounts on PC. Our hope is that this deters some players from breaking the Code of Conduct.
For a quick explanation of what’s coming, our friends from the Security team will be taking the stage to walk you through the process of SMS verification.

What is SMS verification?
Bungie is implementing a quick account validation step for free-to-play players who want to access our high-stakes PvP modes in Destiny 2 on PC. Free-to-play accounts (PC only) will need to link and verify a cell phone number to their accounts via Bungie.net before being able to access those activities.
What activities are high-stakes?
Trials of Osiris, Iron Banner, and Competitive PvP playlists are examples. As this feature rolls out, we will be looking to how it can grow, and potentially expanding it to alternate activities in the future.
Why are we doing this?
Unscrupulous players can negatively impact everyone’s gameplay experience and undermine the hard-earned achievements of others. Bungie takes the threat of cheating seriously. We will continue implementing systems to help verify that accounts engaging in Destiny 2 activities are honoring our Code of Conduct and Terms of Service.
What do you need to do?
If you are a free-to-play Destiny 2 PC player you will receive a notice in-game the first time you try to access a protected activity. This will provide you with a “Verify Now” link to follow to Bungie.net and process your SMS linking. When you enter your cell phone number and request a verification code you will receive a quick text message with “Bungie Code: ######”. Once you enter that code on the Bungie.net page to complete your verification process you can sign back into the game to get immediate access to the activity you want to play.

Once this feature is live, free-to-play PC players will see an image in-game which will walk them through the signup process.
For announcements regarding this security rollout, please follow @BungieHelp on Twitter. We will also release some help articles over the next week to give full details on the upcoming feature!
As a reminder, if you encounter any players that you suspect of cheating or breaking our terms of service, please use the in-game report tool and submit a report using our contact form on Bungie.net.

Game2Give 2020 Fundraising Campaign – Light Keepers

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Over the years, this community has proven time and time again that gaming does good. You've acted as Guardians of the world, providing aid to people in need, no matter the challenge. We’re excited to announce our next initiative, partnering with Game2Give, starting on December 1! Without further ado, we’ll pass the mic over to the Bungie Foundation to run us through this wonderful event.

Bungie Foundation: Gear up for our second annual Game2Give charity event in support of the Bungie Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, benefitting sick kids across the country. We invite the Bungie Community to join us in celebration of what we can accomplish together through games and giving.
Starting today, we invite all of our Bungie Community members to sign up to host your own Destiny 2 fundraising stream between December 1 and December 13. We have some incredible prizes for you all at various fundraising milestones.
On Giving Tuesday, December 1 at 10 AM PST, we’ll be kicking off a 24-hour streaming marathon with some of your favorite influencers from a variety of channels including Twitch and Facebook Gaming. We’ll have featured live streams taking place throughout the entire 2-week campaign, so be sure to follow us @BungieLove to receive the latest information!
We are excited to share the sweet prizes we have to thank our donors for their amazing contributions to help kids. Check them out:
Donation Incentives

• A $25 donation will earn you the 2019 Mist Blossoms Emblem and Gilded Shell Exotic Ghost.
  
  • If you missed them last year, this is your chance to get your hands on them!
• A $50 donation will earn you the above items, plus the new Light Keepers Emblem.
  

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• A $100 donation will earn you the three items above and will enter you to win an item from the Bungie Prize Pool. Prizes include GameStop/EB Games gift cards (U.S. and Canada only), Destiny 2: Beyond Light Digital Deluxe Editions, and Destiny 2: Beyond Light Physical Deluxe Editions.

Best of all, 100% of donations go directly to the charities. All in-game digital incentives will be automatically redeemed via donors’ Bungie.net ID and will appear in the Destiny 2 Collections tab on or after Tuesday, December 1.
This year, we have also partnered with the online fundraising platform Omaze. Gamers from around the world can enter for their chance to win $20,000 to create the ultimate gaming rig and support this fundraising initiative! More details will come leading up to our campaign’s launch.
As we head into the holiday season, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for each and every one of you, who continue to bring smiles, joy, and hope for Little Lights everywhere. We hope you see yourself reflected in this mantra and hold it dear.
We are Light Keepers
Those who dare to ignite hope in the face of uncertainty
By our united, global passion we protect those in need
Making a lasting difference for the Little Lights around the world
We are Light Keepers
Love,
The Bungie Foundation

We’re also planning a few other goodies for you to unlock throughout the event when reaching certain donation milestones. Stay tuned for the full Game2Give 2020 article planned for December 1!

Tuning the Darkness

It’s not often that an entirely new subclass makes its entrance into the ecosystem of Destiny 2. The team has been hard at work over the last year building abilities and Supers powered by the Darkness. Enemies around the solar system are shaking in fear of your Stasis powers, including your fellow Guardians in the Crucible.
Depending on when this article goes live, a hotfix may or may not be in the wild. We have some notes from the development team on what’s changing in Destiny 2 Hotfix 3.0.0.3.

Development Team: We have seen a lot of feedback on Stasis since Beyond Light launched last week. We’ve heard it’s a ton of fun to use, but certain aspects of this new subclass can be frustrating to go up against (looking at you, Shadebinder Warlocks). We have a few minor tweaks planned to go out in Hotfix 3.0.0.3 this week. Our goal here is to do some early tuning to rein Shadebinders back in while still maintaining their overall efficacy and power fantasy.
Stasis Changes:

• Stasis Breakout Damage reduced (110->90hp).
  
  • Adjusted the curve that reduces breakout damage using resilience.
  • Increased the damage reduction effect resilience has so that higher tiers of Resilience are more valuable.
  • Caps out at 90 Resilience.
• Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock Melee) projectile speed reduced by 20%.
  
• Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock Melee) range reduced (was 28m now 16m).
  
• Winter Wrath (Stasis Warlock Super) duration reduced (30s -> 24s).
  
• Winters Wrath Light Attack (Stasis Warlock Super) cost reduced (5% per burst -> 4.5% per burst).
  
• Cold Snap seeker speed reduced by 23%.
  

Against Guardians:

• Cold Snap freeze duration lowered (4.75s -> 1.35s).
• Ice Flare Bolts freeze duration lowered (4.75s -> 1.35s).
• Penumbral Blast (Stasis Warlock Melee) freeze duration lowered (4.75s -> 1.35s).
• Winters Wrath Heavy attack (Stasis Warlock Super) no longer affects players who are not encased.

With all that said, we believe strongly in the “cosmic ice” wizard fantasy in PvE so we’re trying to target changes where we can towards the PvP experience specifically. With Stasis we’ve tried to push the sandbox in new directions and that increases the likelihood we introduce something spicier than normal.
When it comes to crafting new abilities, we believe the risk of shipping something a little hot is better than playing it safe and shipping something that doesn’t get you excited. As always, we’re going to be using data, playtesting, and feedback to help refine our direction and we’re going to keep responding. This will not be the last change to Stasis this Season. As we get closer to future changes, we’ll make another appearance in the TWAB for a patch note preview.
Thanks for playing, and we’ll see you out there in the wild.

Let’s Talk Loot

Since Beyond Light launched, we’ve been working through a whirlwind of feedback. What feels good, what needs work, and most importantly, how are you feeling? Today, we’ll be talking through a bit of player feedback concerning loot, and some short term plans the development team is working on.

Development Team: As Beyond Light has launched we've been tracking your feedback around loot, particularly weapons, and wanted to take a moment to let you know how we are processing it. Today we're going to talk mostly about the short-term, with more information to follow in the future around the long-term as we work through those problems.
Infusion caps are intended to help keep Destiny 2 evolving and ensure that every release the new rewards are exciting and relevant to the meta. However, we agree with your feedback that there’s currently not enough variety in the world loot weapons available to players this season.
To that end we are adding back in a selection of weapons that will help alleviate this issue. We will also be watching to see how the landscape changes with the addition of weapons from Season 12 and this week’s Raid launch. We also agree that getting near-cap weapons from random world drops is frustrating. Thus, we are removing those from the pool, and are weighting drops more heavily towards newer weapons.
Here’s a list of adjustments to the world loot legendary weapons pool you’ll see with our November 24 hotfix:

• Remove all legendary weapons that hit their infusion cap at the end of this season
• Add all of the Seventh Seraph weapons from Season 10
• Add all of the Season 11 seasonal and planetary reprisal weapons
• Weight drop chances so the newer an item is, the more likely it is to drop.

While we are not yet ready to dive into the long-term strategy yet, we are listening to feedback and watching how the player build landscape evolves over these first few weeks of Beyond Light, and incorporating that feedback as we plan out future Seasons.

Feedback never stops, and we’re always excited to hear how you’re feeling about Destiny 2. Keep it coming.

Bashing Some Bugs

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This last week has been a whirlwind. New content, new bugs, and new investigations. Destiny Player Support has a full report of what’s we’ve found, and what we’re still on the hunt for.
This is their report.

HOTFIX 3.0.0.3
Today, November 19, maintenance for Hotfix 3.0.0.3 will begin. Below is a timeline of events:

• November 19, 8 AM PST (1600 UTC): Destiny 2 maintenance for Hotfix 3.0.0.3 begins.
• November 19, 8:45 AM PST (1645 UTC): Players will be removed from activities and won't be able to log back into Destiny 2 until 9 AM PST when Hotfix 3.0.0.3 will be available.
• November 19, 9 AM PST (1700 UTC): Destiny 2 Hotfix 3.0.0.3 has begun rolling out across all platforms and regions. Players will now be able to log back into Destiny 2. Ongoing maintenance is expected to conclude at 10 AM PST.
• November 19 10 AM PST (1800 UTC): Destiny 2 Maintenance is expected to conclude.

HUNT OR BE HUNTED
This week, Season of the Hunt activities and story content unlocked for Season Pass owners. In order to access the Season intro mission, players should make sure to have completed the initial Forsaken and Shadowkeep story missions, which are free to all players.
Players should also make sure to have space in their quest inventory prior to interacting with Spider or the Crow in order to acquire Seasonal quests.
For more information on Season of the Hunt, please follow this link to our Season of the Hunt Guide.
ARTIFACT PICKUP
We are currently investigating an issue causing players who acquired the Seasonal Artifact before completing the full New Light Tower introduction to be blocked from progressing in the Season of the Hunt story and missions.
New Light players should be sure to complete the full Tower introduction prior to picking up the Seasonal Artifact from Zavala’s office.
We are continuing to monitor for reports of veteran players encountering this issue. If you believe you've been impacted by this issue and are not a New Light player, please report to the #Help forum.
DESTINY ADD-ONS
Players who encounter issues with their Season Pass, expansions, or Beyond Light Character Boost are encouraged to view our Purchased Destiny Add-Ons Help article for information and troubleshooting steps they can take. Click here for more information.
PC MIGRATION AND BATTLE.NET LOGIN ENDING SOON
Beginning on December 1, 2020, at 9 AM PST, logging in using Blizzard Battle.net accounts will no longer be possible on Bungie.net or the Destiny Companion app, nor will users be able to migrate their Battle.net account to Steam.
Users who only have a Battle.net account linked to their Bungie profile are strongly encouraged to either link another platform to their profile, or to perform PC migration to Steam (unless you already have a Destiny 2 Steam account). Click here for more information.
KNOWN ISSUES
While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help Forum:

• We’ve identified an issue where the Vanguard strike Playlist difficulty was unintentionally set to 1100 Power.
  
  • We are developing a fix to reduce the Recommended Power of Vanguard strikes Playlist to 1050.
• The Exo Stranger’s weekly challenge is mistranslated in languages other than English – players need to defeat combatants with or affected by Stasis off of Europa.
  
• Sparrows on Europa are not properly despawning.
  
• Meleeing as a Titan while using the Stasis subclass can result in a visual of multiple rapid punches.
  
• The lift tubes in the Warden of Nothing strike can close before all fireteam members are successfully through.
  
• The lift tubes in the Warden of Nothing strike fully drain Super energy.
  
• The Warsat Heroic Public Event in the Mothyards of the Cosmodrome doesn’t count completions for objectives.
  
• Yellow subtitles will appear as white even when the yellow option is selected.
  
• The Braytech RWP Mk. II no longer appears as owned in Collections for some players.
  
• High value target reward chests do not grant the proper amount of Glimmer.
  
• The holograms on the Stella Incognita bond and Bond of Last Departure ornament bounce aggressively.
  
• The eyes on the Phenotype Plasticity Mask no longer glow red.
  
• Adored cannot be reacquired from Collections.
  
• In-game PlayStation friends lists are missing large amounts of online friends.
  
• Player heads may not render when inspecting players in the Tower.
  
• Later Crucible rounds may display an inaccurate round timer.
  
• Vest of the Great Hunt clips through the Moonfang-X7 Cloak.
  
• The Titan Shiver Strike and Glacial Quake melee have inconsistent hit registration.
  
• Reaching Power Level 1200 may result in a “New Adventure” popup even though Adventures are no longer available.
  
• An incorrect amount of Orbs of Power may drop than what is displayed to have dropped when defeating enemies with a Masterworked weapon.
  
• In Survival, players may not enter into overtime when both teams have an equal amount of lives remaining.
  
• PlayStation Remote Play controls may no longer function for some players.
  
• Mida Mini-Tool and Drang cannot accept ornaments for their Baroque versions.
  
• Fallen Empire and Stasis Fragment quests can be purchased even with a full quest inventory.
  
• Participant kill audio plays in the Crucible even when not involved in a player kill.
  
• An increase in ARUGULA errors for players completing the Beyond Light campaign.
  
• In the Insight Terminus strike, Kargen will continuously perform ground slams and not allow players to progress past the conflux space.
  
• Combat Drill bounties say they require Clash kills, but actually requires kills in Elimination.
  
• Players may be directed to reacquire the Seasonal Artifact from Zavala’s office when they already have it in their inventories.
  
• The Garden of Salvation and Crown of Sorrow Warlock armor sets are not visible in Collections.
  
• The Unsecured/Outcry ship has the rocket engine effects floating behind the ship model.
  

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

Always Watching

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We’ve been spending a lot of time over the last week and a half watching players reacting to live events, expansion launches, and more. There have been a few moments where we were watching players taking advantage of some interesting bugs, too. Don’t worry, we aren’t keeping a naughty or nice list. You’re all still winners in our hearts.
Well, sort of. The actual winners for MOTW put out some fun videos that creep me the hell out. Festival of the Lost may be over, but there are still echoes of darkness reverberating through our Creations page.
Movie of the Week: Truth
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Movie of the Week: The Curse of Bad JuJu
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Movie of the Week: Risen (Warning – Strobing Lights/Imagery)
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If you’d like a chance at our new MOTW emblem, make sure to submit your content to the Creations page on Bungie.net. Tag it with #MOTW, and please credit everyone who contributed to the video in its description.

An Artistic Touch

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I will always have great appreciation for those with a green thumb, but even moreso for those with a green thumb for art. These skills are earned through hours, days, weeks, months, and years of practice… but I will always be amazed at the pieces we see shared throughout our community. This week, we have an amazing take on Beyond Light, and more.
Featured Art: Go Beyond the Light

GO BEYOND THE LIGHT! Hope you like my Beyond Light poster! ❄️👾🖌#Destiny2 #BeyondLight #destinythegame #DestinyArt #xbox #XboxSeriesX #SeriesX #PlayStation #ps5 #Halo #Commission pic.twitter.com/vz7powNNPp
— jack 🎨 (@jackdrawss) November 14, 2020

Featured Art: Immolant Pt. 2

🔥☀️ IMMOLANT PT.2 ☀️ 🔥
//In that last moment she seemed
as wholly luminescent as the Sun,
and I wished to be so brave.//#Destiny2 #destinythegame #DestinyArt pic.twitter.com/cvnrsPUXKL
— StellarStateLogic ❄️🧊🥶 { Comm.: Full 3/3 } (@PedanticAuspice) November 17, 2020

Featured Art: Europan Fireteam

ローンチおめ！(再掲) pic.twitter.com/I31Q2e3ARk
— 𝙏𝘼𝙈𝘼𝙈𝙄❄️ (@tmaaaaa3) November 11, 2020

If you have any Destiny inspired art, make sure to tag it with #DestinyArt on Twitter, Instagram, or whatever image hosting site you use! Each week, we pick a few and grant unique emblems to their creators.
I’ll admit, this TWAB has been somewhat difficult to write. Don’t get me wrong, what’s said above is incredibly important! Charity initiatives to help those in need, the upcoming raid race, new security measures, and Stasis tuning are great things to see. It’s always a fun time collaborating with the various teams of Bungie to get you a weekly dose of information.
That said, I’m just itching to get back into the game. It’s about time for me to go hunting. See you next week.
...wait, I'll more than likely see you on Saturday for a raid race. Either way, I hope you are in good health, and wish you a good weekend.
Cheers,
-dmg04

Title: I am 35 years old, I made $67,665 gross last year (between multiple jobs) and live in Buffalo and work in higher education and retail.
This is my 5th MD update. Previous MDs in June 2019, October 2019, February 2020, and July 2020.
Ref29 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. Both of my parents have bachelors degrees, and it wasn’t even a conversation of “if” I was going to college, but “where”. I ended up going to a private 4-year college, with a 75% merit scholarship. I was able to pay for the first semester with savings bonds/general savings, but took out loans for the remaining semesters. I worked 2 on campus jobs (tour guide and TA), plus at a coffee shop - this was more for spending money/gas etc. Looking back, I wish that I had put more of that income aside for paying for school, but I was definitely headlong into the student loan trap of “it’s ok, this is good debt….blah blah.”
I thought that i had the exact idea of what I wanted to do for a career - and that basically required a masters degree - so I went straight to grad school after undergrad. Private - and took out the maximum student loans for both years. I cannot stress what a terrible financial idea this was. The last half of my MA was in DC, so I used the loans for rent/food, as I had a full time unpaid internship. Long story short, what I thought was my career goal wasn’t.
I am FINALLY nearly done paying off my loans. If I had to go back and give my past self advice, it would have been to not go to grad school directly after undergrad. I still might have gotten my masters, but I would have done it in a much more financially responsible way.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
We had conversations growing up - but it was much more of a conversation now that I’m an adult. I’ve noted in past MDs, but my parents have told us that they regret not being able to help us all more as teenagers/college/young adults, so they’ve been extremely supportive of my focus on debt repayment.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Not really. I remember being conscious about it - we didn’t have new cars (EVER - like it’s still a thing), and we used coupons/budgets/bulk freezer meals for shopping, but I think a portion of that was that there were 4 of us kids. We were all involved in a variety of extracurricular activities as well, but I don’t remember even being like, limited or restricted from doing anything.
Do you worry about money now?
Absolutely.
While I am noting that I’m making progress, it is still very overwhelming. It’s really hard for me not to beat myself up when I either buy “treats” or things that aren’t really treats, but are just home comforts. I finally bought myself 2 sets (!) of decent sheets this past month after having 1 set of crappy sheets for the last 2 years lol. I still have so much work to do, on debt repayment, fully funding my emergency fund, and (massive goal here) saving for a down payment on a house.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I would say I was financially responsible for myself when I moved for grad school in the fall of 2008 (so when I was 22/23).
That being said, I definitely have had a financial safety net - my parents always assisted with grocery money if I needed it - when I was married, that definitely was not only a safety net, but also got me in a lot of bad habits.
Since my divorce, my parents have assisted with cell phone, car insurance, and letting me live with them for a few months when I moved back to the US. I know that if something happened, they would absolutely assist with a place to live if I needed it.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
As previous MDs have noted, my parents have assisted with assorted checks when my dad got a bonus, and they have always been extremely generous with holiday $.
Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance (and how you got there): $33,194.67 (up from $23,800 in February 2020)
This is a combo of Stash Retire ($1721.52), 401K from a previous job ($17,330.01), retirement accounts from my current job ($2807.58 in my optional IRA to which I contribute extra; $2947.46 in the basic retirement plan, to which my employer contributes 7%), and TSP from a previous job ($8,388.10).
Savings account balance: $1000
Checking account balance: $1381.07 (at the start of the money diary)
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it): $7,558.08 (focus has been more on student loans, plus I am a bit guilty of using it at random points) (down from $19,556 in June 2019).
Student loan debt (for what degree): Current remaining balance is $972.57!!!!! This is down from $23,645.37 in June 2019) (combined loans for undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Relations. To give you an idea of how much I’ve paid off - I’ve paid $118,297.81 off up to this point).
*note: December was a PHENOMENAL debt payment month for me (just over $4k).
Section Two: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $2847.53
*after using the IRS refund calculator, it became clear that I was expecting a much higher refund, so I stopped having extra withheld. Eventually I’ll get the hang of it.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: $1442.72 (average monthly take home August-December 2020)
My retail job fully reopened, and I also applied for, and got a promotion, which meant both an hourly raise and more hours)
Any Other Monthly Income Here:

• Christmas $ from Mom & Dad - $1000
• Stimulus Checks - $1200 + $600 (Both of these went mainly to debt repayment)

Section Three: Expenses
Rent / Mortgage $980.00/month (+ $3.95 service charge when I pay online) (no change)
Retirement contribution: $115.58/month Roth IRA from work + $80.00/month into Stash Retire (no change)
Savings contribution: $0/month (Debt payments are the priority)
Investment contribution: None
Health/Dental/Vision Insurance: $76.38/month (Through work, it gets taken out biweekly)
FSA contribution: $27.78 biweekly (I set my annual contribution at $750 this year, up from $600)
Debt payments
Student Loan minimums: $55.54 is strictly the minimum for my FINAL (!!!) student loan, but as you all know by now, I have been attacking these with a vengeance and plan on this being gone no later than March.
Credit Card minimums: Avg. Monthly Payment $300. (as mentioned in the debt section, I have slipped slightly on allowing myself to use the credit card, but still have been able to lower my overall amount)
Wifi/Cable/Landline: $64.99/month
Cellphone: Still on the parental plan, but will be transitioning off. I’m shopping around and have started to budget.
Subscriptions: Apple storage - $2.99/month; Netflix- $8.99; (even though I’ve been able to be at home much much more, we still get a monthly barkbox for the toys; Spotify Premium - $9.99/month. Headspace - $14.99/month. Renaissance Periodization - $16.19/month
Laundry (if you pay per load): $40/month. I put aside $10 per paycheck.
Gym membership $75/month - I budget this much for my ROMWOD and Movement Vault monthly subscriptions. This also covers my monthly subscription for my WHOOP band. My retail side gig also provides $225/month to work out. This covers my monthly membership to my crossfit gym, as well as extra megaformer classes. $32.63/month for WHOOP; $13.95/month for ROMWOD; $9.99/month for Movement vault
Pet expenses: $150/month - includes pet insurance. This is what I put into my budget for insurance, food, grooming etc.) Barkbox 31.54/month; Pet insurance $79.24
Car payment / insurance / average gas:$100/month (as my dad plans on retiring within the next year, he will be signing over my car to me, meaning that I will be taking on my insurance. I fully acknowledge that this has been nice to not have to worry about, and that my parents have been absolutely amazing. The current annual insurance for my car looks like it will be around $450. Future money diaries will take this into account.
Renter insurance: $12.50/month
Average groceries / household supply spend; Looking at YNAB, my average spend has been just over $700/month. This seems insanely high for one person, but I do also follow a RP meal plan, meaning that I tend to eat A LOT to fuel my workouts. I also haven’t gone out basically at all ….
Regular therapy: N/A
Charitable Giving: $75/avg. August-Dec 2020 (Much of this was “rage” donating in the run up to the election)
Annual Expenses:
YNAB (You Need A Budget): $83.99/year
NB: Anytime I leave my house, I am masked, including gym visits. It’s honestly not terrible once you find a mask that works for you!
Day 1: Friday
5:45am: Alarm goes off and I get up to put the kettle on to start coffee. Today is a weigh in and weekly review for my meal/training plan, so I enter my numbers and see what my upcoming week will look like as far as my macros. I notice that my chest/shoulder are sore, and hurt when I take a deep breath, but assume that I just slept on my arm wrong. I take out the dog, feed him, and head out to my weightlifting class.
7:30am: Nope, not just sleeping on it wrong. I make it through the lifting portion, but when we start the metcon, I have to stop because it hurts too much to take a really deep breath, instead stretching and cheering everyone else on. Annoyed, but hopefully it’s nothing too crazy. I think it’s just a strain from my muscle up drills the day before. Once I get home, I make breakfast - a savory oatmeal with oats, cheese, chicken sausage, egg whites, and mushrooms, topped with a fried egg and za’atar seasoning from Trader Joe’s. YUM. I log into work and get settled in for a 2 hour (ugh) staff meeting.
11:00am: Finally done with that. Thank goodness for my camera getting to be off. I take a shower and get into “work” clothes - aka lululemon from top to bottom (align leggings, ebb to street crop tank, and a sit in lotus wrap). Back to work until it’s time for lunch, which I have just after noon (rice, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and ground beef, topped with avocado). Work continues afterwards.
2:00pm: Time for work #2! It’s a fairly uneventful (and slow) afternoon/evening, which is ok after the craziness of the holiday season. And I only have to tell 2 people to put their masks on over their nose and they don’t give me an attitude - woohoo! Around 5 I eat my food on my 10 minute break - another taco-ish bowl, just without the avocado from earlier. I get out from work at 7:30pm.
8:00pm: Home, take the pooch out and feed him and make my casein hot chocolate (casein protein is a slower digesting type vs. whey and it’s my evening “meal” most of the time) plus a couple dark chocolate peanut butter cups. I facetime my Mom briefly and then we each put on our respective Star Wars shows - she and my Dad are watching the Mandolorian (they just got Disney+), and I’m deep into season 4 of the Clone Wars. Bedtime routine starts at 9:30 with a couple of melatonin gummies and I brush my teeth and wash my face (eye makeup remover, then Neutrogena foaming cleanser, and a nighttime moisturizer from Aldi). Snuggle up with the dog and a heating pad with a Headspace night sounds playing.
Daily Total: $0
Day 2: Saturday
5:50am: NO. It’s like 30 minutes before I want to wake up...NO.
6:10am: Uggggggh
6:20am: FINE. Dog outside, then fed. I make coffee and another savory oatmeal (AMAZING - same as yesterday, just no bell peppers). Catch up on podcasts and my YNAB budget. In happiest news, I can take a full big breath without that weird pain from yesterday! Yay!
10:00am: Home from my workout, which went amazingly - I love a good long chipper of a workout! I take the dog out for a little cold weather walk and then make my post-workout meal - Kodiak chocolate chip pancakes with blueberries! (use 1 egg and almond milk to make the pancakes and it fits my post-workout macros: 35P, 10F, 65C). I follow this with a cuddle session with the dog while watching Marple episodes and drinking coffee. I also add items to my lululemon shopping cart and exit out of it before I can spend money. While I get a great discount (especially on markdowns), I know I don’t really NEED anything, so I don’t get anything.
1:00pm: Off to the mall for work. I stop on the way to fill the gas tank ($25). It’s a busy day, but a good one - during my break I eat my taco bowl (rice, sweet potatoes, ground beef, peppers and avocado). I work until 7:30pm.
8:00pm: Home, dog out, casein hot chocolate - the usual. I’m nothing if not a creature of habit. I pull out a Trader Joe’s chocolate croissant to prove overnight in the oven. Bedtime is around 10pm.
Daily Total: $25
Day 3: Sunday
7:50am: Whoooops, I intended to wake up around 7:15, but I didn’t actually set the alarm. Luckily the dog wakes me up with a polite whine - I take him out, make coffee and a bowl of oatmeal (oats, almond milk, egg whites, topped with blueberries), and head to my workout around 9.
11:00am: 2 workout classes later, I’m home - post workout meal is the aforementioned chocolate croissant, and a little egg scramble of egg whites, mushrooms, chicken sausage and broccoli. The afternoon is spent with old Miss Marple episodes on Amazon Prime, combined with laundry and apartment cleaning.
3:00pm: I made a quick loaf of bread (2 hrs of rising, then shaping) and put it in the oven. Happily it turns out pretty damn tasty - I make Trader Joe’s Cippino (seafood soup) and have that with toasted fresh bread around 4/4:30pm. A Clone Wars marathon ensues - the Bills are playing in the AFC championship tonight, so the city is basically a giant ball of nerves. I don’t watch the games (and haven’t all season - mostly because I don’t have all the apps/cable), but I follow the score on my phone while watching many (MANY) episodes of Clone Wars. I facetime my mom and dad around 7 after they finish the Mandolorian and we can all squeal with excitement.
9:00pm: Melatonin gummies, contacts out, teeth brushed, face washed, bedtime.
Daily Total: $0
Day 4: Monday
5:45am: Awake, coffee, take the dog out, head to crossfit.
7:30am: Home, dog out again, then breakfast (homemade toast, everything but the bagel smoked salmon, scrambled egg+egg whites) and more coffee. I login to work at 8am, and get the morning podcasts going (Up First, the Daily, Post Reports, the Intelligence).
10:00am: I place a Target pickup order for the snacks for our break area at the mall (seltzer, peanut butter crackers, cookies, granola bars - all single serving packs). I will be reimbursed for this by the store. ($39.57 - I get a notice that an item isn’t available after I place the order...oh well)
11:00am: I’m traveling out of state for a couple of days - it’s a long awaited tattoo coverup (don’t get a tattoo for a significant other….I knew not to do this...and yet I still did), so I make my list of items to pack and things to remember to do (take out trash, do all my dishes, etc). I will be driving to my destination (Indiana), staying at a hotel by myself, going to the tattoo shop (masked), and back to the hotel. Not telling friends I’m there, not going out anywhere. And I’ve scheduled a test for 4 days after my return, per NYS rules. If I could make the drive nonstop, I would, but your girl isn’t giving herself a UTI lol. I’ll be masked and sanitized anytime I step out of my vehicle. Still super nervous, but getting this tattoo covered up is like….the final FINAL step. I also take a shower (finally, yes I’m gross and have been sitting in my workout clothes since I got home - god help me if I ever live with a human again lol).
2:00pm: Time for head out for work! On the way, I pick up my previously mentioned Target order, and also pick up meals for my trip from a local meal prep place - I get a bunch of great stuff (2 breakfasts, 2 dinners, 1 lunch plus energy bites for the car), plus it means that I can just hermit it up in the hotel room apart from the actual tattoo appointment. ($62.68). I get to the mall early before my shift starts - since I know I’ll have a tub in the hotel room, and I don’t have one in my apartment, I get a couple of bath bombs and lotion from Lush ($25.93) and a whole bunch of sheet masks from Sephora ($25.01). Then time for work - It’s a fairly quick shift, which is nice, not too terribly busy and we get a lot done. And people at the mall are generally not pills today - epic win!
8:15pm: Home from work - take the dog out and have a little evening meal of homemade soup from my co-worker (it’s a kale sausage soup her husband makes and it is AMAZING) and the rest of my homemade bread. I finish packing up and the poor pup definitely knows something is up. Bedtime around 10pm.
Daily Total: $153.19
Day 5: Tuesday
5:45am: Alarm, dog, coffee. Rather than dirtying dishes, I heat up one of the prepped breakfasts I brought (a breakfast sandwich with chicken, which is actually quite tasty - plus some blueberries). I get the car loaded up with my stuff and the dog - he’s staying with my parents while I’m gone - and head out by 7:15am. After I drop him off I top off my gas tank ($14.10), and also get a couple of bubly waters and a can of death wish coffee for the road ($6.25).
12:00pm: Lunch stop at panera - fuji apple chicken salad and a cup of chicken noodle soup - drive thru and eaten in the car ($10.94, but I have a gift card). Road Trip Podcasts: You’re Wrong About and Noble Blood.
3:00pm: Gas stop (there’s also a few bathroom stops, but since I didn’t spend anything, it’s not terribly relevant, right? :) ) ($27.01).
5:30pm: Arrival! Check in to the hotel - masked front desk employee, check. Bring my stuff up to my room, and jackpot - biiiiiiiiig tub. Looks like those bath bombs were a solid choice! Open up the work laptop to see if there is anything urgent - nothing crazy - and decide which meal I want for dinner. Bourbon Chicken with Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes it is. Plus a Sparkling Apple Cider vinegar beverage (ginger and lemon) from Trader Joes. Before I eat, I do a lower body focused stretching routine from ROMWOD since I spent so long in the car.
7:30pm: Bath Bomb, Face Mask, Feet Mask, and finished Night Stalker on Netflix. Since I’ll be quarantining until I get a negative COVID test after my trip, I order 10 meals through the same meal prep company that I got my travel meals from ($88.43 - includes both delivery fee and tip). They will be delivered on Sunday.
Daily Total: $146.73
Day 6: Wednesday
6:00am - I had intended to sleep longer, but my body is like - nope, you’re waking up at the same time no matter what. Coffee (keurig in the hotel room - ick) plus a prepped breakfast (a goat cheese egg white scramble with sweet potatoes - which is delicious). Morning podcasts and I open up the work laptop. Since I’m awake I guess.
7:30am: Hotel room workout - I do yesterday’s workout from my gym, with a few modifications, but it still feels great to move after sitting in the car for so long! Shower afterwards, then food (Mexican Taco Bowl!) and work.
10:30am: Squuuuueeee it’s time for my tattoo. I double mask up, drive through for a Starbucks order ($4.74 - paid for on my Starbucks app with previously loaded funds) and head to the shop! I already paid my deposit and took advantage of a gift card sale before Christmas so I don’t owe anything additional today. We do linework, shading, and partial color. It’s going to take 2 appointments to do the full thing, so we make my next appointment for May (augh, I cannot wait!). My coverup is over black text, so a cover up involves a LOT of layering of color. I’m impressed that I still have stamina after not getting a tattoo for nearly 3 years.This is going to be BEAUTIFUL.
2:30pm: After my tattoo appointment, I make a quick stop at CVS (still double masked!) to pick up aquaphor, orange dial soap, ibuprofen, and toothpaste (cause naturally that’s the one thing I forgot to pack - d’oh) ($22.00). I make a curbside pickup order for Panera - another soup and salad combo ($10.55 - again paid for with gift cards!). I head back to my hotel room, eat, put on more podcasts (Planet Money, Can He Do That, Code Switch) and log onto work. An uneventful afternoon follows.
6:00pm: Facetime call with my mom, then dinner and various true crime documentaries on Netflix and Pinterest browsing because as per usual, now I want allll the tattoos. I also put in an order for a grocery pickup on my way home (coffee, coffee creamer, fruit, etc) ($66.82). I try to make a testing appointment through NYS for my return COVID test on Monday, but the automated system keeps putting me in the first available, which is Friday….I’ll try to schedule again on Friday so that the timing works. Bedtime tattoo routine of wash, aquaphor and ibuprofen, as well as a sheet face mask. Sleep around 10:00pm.
Daily Total: $104.11
Day 7: Thursday
6:00am: Welp, up and at em! I finish packing all my stuff, check out of the hotel and warm up the car. I head out around 7:00am. Top off the gas tank ($12.80) and I also add $15 to my Starbucks card and drive thru a Starbucks (Spinach Feta Wrap + Cafe Misto with almond milk). Then it’s time for podcasts and lots of driving. My mom had suggested a podcast from Serial - S*%*Town. IT’S AMAZING and this drive has never gone so fast!
11:00am: (or sometime around this time) Stop for gas ($27.01) and another Starbucks stop ($15 reload) to get another misto, a bottle of water, and a fruit/cheese/hard boiled egg box.
3:00pm: I was going to try to make it all the way without stopping for anything else, but my stomach is about to eat itself. I stop at a Tim Hortons about 45 minutes away from my parents’ house and get timbits and a hot chocolate (which is gross) ($6.66 - eeep). I get to my parents’ house - my mom and dad stay upstairs and in the basement respectively while I use the bathroom and retrieve a very happy pup. Once I get everything out to the car, my mom and dad come outside (double masked, as am I) and we quickly wave and air hug from a distance. On the way home, I drive through the grocery pickup and get my groceries.
5:30pm: Finally home. The dog is very happy to be home too - my mom said when she would come into the bedroom where he was, he would look at her and be - “oh…..just you…”. Such a momma’s boy :) Dinner is actual food (the rest of the kale sausage soup). I also put together a batch of cranberry almond biscotti (based off the Ina Garten cherry pistachio biscotti) - the apartment smells delicious. Settling in for post-travel isolation lol.
9:30pm: Melatonin gummies, tattoo upkeep, and then bedtime with the dog!
Daily Total: $76.47
Weekly Total: $505.50
Food & Drink: $326.64
Fun & Entertainment: $0
Home & Health: $22.00
Clothes & Beauty: $50.94
Transport: $105.92
Reflections:
First, GODDAMN I AM SO EXCITED TO PAY OFF THIS STUDENT LOAN. Just paid another $200 on it this morning, so we’re under $800!! If you hear an excited scream from the Western New York area next month, don’t worry, it’s just me.
Second, this was a higher spend week than usual, but I’m really proud to have budgeted for all of it. I had basically prepaid for the tattoo (on the gift card) and there’s still leftover for my next appointment. I had also budgeted and saved for the increased amount of gas and food.
Third, hopefully this isn’t too boring. My life pre-pandemic wasn’t terribly interesting, and it certainly isn’t now lol. I’m hoping to continue my debt payoff progress by finishing paying off my credit card debt in 2021, and start saving my 3-6 month emergency fund before starting that house down payment savings! I’m even starting to allow myself to start actually looking at Zillow.
I have been isolating since I got back - just drove through and got my COVID test, so fingers crossed for a quick reply!
Lastly, the coverup tattoo is going to be beautiful. I can’t wait for it to be finished!
Thanks for reading this whole thing!

As a Global 2125 day login player who goes hard every day without fail, I just want you to know that the QoL updates that you just put out have reinvigorated my passion for the game and are so appreciated.
One of the main negative timesinks that players get hung up on is unit search and you just gave us back SO much of our time trying to filter, navigate and select units. I absolutely needed this since i have 90% of the units in the game and finding them was a HUGE ballache.
The Same Captain filter is just a god send, 99.999% of the time thats all we want and having it right up there at the top makes a world of difference to reduce list scrolling times. And for the times when we dont want same captain? It's boosted units and you gave us that, too! Unreal improvement. Also, the extra box space is chefs kiss.
Secondly, this game is so so technical about teambuilding, more so all the time and in order to do that we need information. Giving us 0 stamina tries was the perfect first step to enabling more people to be able to teambuild and not to have to revert to prebuilds. Then the Kizuna guide came in and changed things, it's so important to be told what the gimmicks are in-game! Now with TM getting that treatment PLUS a super cool separate team section let me fully teambuild in the days before TM came out so much easier! I love it again and that's the crux of why OPTC is so fun. All that's left is to roll that out for Colos and Raids too and you've really got a full package on your hands.
Thirdly, the issue of LB material droughts just got a whole lot better with the new TM blue ticket rewards and chest drops! This means I can now enter LB+ territory and experience more units at their full potential where it was almost impossible before. Amazing.
Lastly, the speed at which you guys pick up on bugs that are raised here and on discord and get them fixed really makes me feel that the game is important to you as much as us. This makes me appreciate your efforts in getting content out to us and ensuring any problems are resolved so the impact is lessened.
Although it's a bit silly, I actually really enjoy the new home screen too, getting to show off my various Robin-chwans is a lot of fun in downtime!
With all this positivity, I didn't mind spending on gems for Roger when after Gem Valley I swore I would never. You really turned my sentiment around and I'm sure a lot of others probably felt the same.
Your QoL updates and dev efforts have done so much to improve our community too, I think we're far less upset about things we don't like now because we have some faith that you'll take notice and make improvement. This gives us more energy for quality posts and memes :)
So yeah - please excuse my gushing praise if you managed to read this far - for me at least, OPTC is way more than just a gacha, it's special and I want to keep it going as long as possible.
X

Howdy folks, the company I work for is looking to bring on one US-based entry-level remote (work from home) helpdesk technician. I'm not the hiring manager - just a Level 2 tech assisting with vetting candidates. I hope it's alright that I post here. I'm leaving out the company name so that the hiring manager doesn't get blasted with resumes before I can review them.
We're a small MSP of 20+ years comprised of six technicians and a few managers. We handle a variety of clients, from medical offices to cryptocurrency traders. We've brought on a few new clients recently and have found that we need one more Level 1 technician to assist with the influx of tickets. We vet our clients carefully and set strict expectations that they treat our techs well. As a result, we have a friendly yet professional relationship with our clients and know most folks on a first-name basis. You won't be yelled at or berated by a client here.
We're looking to bring on someone who meshes with the culture and is hype to move up the ladder. We focus on the fact that we can teach technology skills but cannot teach a good personality or professional drive.
Basic info:

• Hours: 10a-6p PT, M-F, with a 1-hour break
• On Call: Rotation of one week per tech, usually works out to once every 6 weeks. The schedule is laid out well in advance so you can plan around it.
• Pay: $40,000+ starting. (This is based on the average US salary of a L1 Helpdesk Technician according to Robert Half reports. Pay may be higher if you have previous experience.)
• Benefits: Medical, PTO
• Location: Anywhere in the US
• Travel: Optional occasional on-site travel around the country
• Culture: Nerdy

​
Responsibilities:

• Level 1 support via phone and an Email-based helpdesk. Average of 4 calls per day. When not on the phone you will be constantly working on tickets, researching issues, or learning.
• Virtual Desktop (VMWare) troubleshooting including login issues, Group Policy woes, printers, etc.
• Basic server issues
• Escalate tickets and prioritize high-impact issues
• Be friendly and personable with our clients. Personality is more important than technical skills.
• Learn. You will have plenty of opportunity to move up the ladder. An ideal candidate will jump on this and learn as much as possible. You will be given all of the resources you need and have a dedicated mentor. Your pay increases in line with your skillset.
• Read through existing documentation to find answers, compile new documentation as needed

​
Ideal candidate:

• Computetechnical hobbyist with an eye for troubleshooting
• Nerdy and hype for new technology, constantly learning
• Familiar with Active Directory and virtualization
• Familiar with troubleshooting Windows, MacOS, and cellphones
• Personable, high-energy, friendly, patient
• Has a solid Internet connection
• Has worked in a professional environment such as an office or IT internship, or has worked in a PC repair shop. Previous helpdesk experience is a plus but as this is entry-level it is not a requirement.
• Master of Googling for answers
• Driven to move up the ladder to either senior technician or technical manager
• Volunteers in their local community

I can't stress enough that I love this job and this company. We take care of each-other. We're hype for new technology. We're a bunch of friendly nerds doing what we love every day. Level 1 technicians are our lifeblood and as such are well-respected by everyone in our company.
Feel free to ask any questions here and I'll do my best to assist. If you'd like to apply, shoot over your resume and a cover letter to my DMs and I'll vet it before passing it along to the hiring manager. In your cover letter please include an answer to the question "What's a recent technical achievement you are proud of?"
Disclaimer: The info here is to the best of my knowledge but I cannot guarantee that it will remain unchanged.

Apologies in advance, this is a bit of a long post.
So, during my last year of university, I was renting a maisonette flat with two others (plus two more downstairs) and there was a bit of a problem with my energy supplier. There was a gas meter mixup and it turns out that my energy supplier were not actually supplying my gas meter, but instead another gas meter in the same building for a different flat. This created a problem because we were getting letters from another company saying payment for gas was overdue, so evidently it seems that this other company were supplying our gas, when we believed that our own selected dual-tarriff was supplying it instead. I emailed my supplier for clarification and they told me there had indeed been an error and put me back on the correct meter for my property straight away, apologising. They told me that they would "request for the incorrect gas supply to be sent back" and I took that as them resolving the issue by reimbursing the other company or something to that effect. That was the end of it, and on we went with our lives.
All seems fine, then one day a man shows up at the door claiming to be from the other company and asks to take a meter read. After that, I continued to get letters demanding payment from this other company, so I took it upon myself to ring them and try and get it sorted. I gave them my name and email over the phone - obviously now they have my phone number as well. As I tried to liase with them, it all got a bit confusing, and there was alot of back-and-forth and flip-flopping about who was actually supplying who in the maisonette. They told me to pay the outstanding amount owed for gas charges, except the amount they were quoting me was way higher than what was actually owed (presumably due to late payment charges which they did not deduct). They also repeatedly told me that I had an 'account' with them, even though I had never heard of this company before and never once set up an account with them, and that in order to pay them the money they are owed, I had to 'log in to my account' and pay that way. I tried explaining that I have never opened an account with this company and that the only account I've opened is with my actual energy supplier. They seemed to acknowledge this but every time I would liase with them after that, they kept saying to log in to my account and pay. And so the letters kept coming, the price kept rising and became more threatening in tone.
Eventually we reached an agreement over the phone that I would make a bank transfer and that they would freeze my 'account' in the meantime until they sent me their bank details (im not sure how to look these up myself if I even can) so I can transfer the money over for the gas charges owed - then I actually got a physical bill in the post that included electric as well as gas. This started to make me think that something fishy is going on here as they repeatedly told me that only gas charges were owed from a period between August and December. Yet they were continuing to add up. I started to feel as if I was being taken for a fool by this company, and I reminded myself of a few salient facts:
- I never entered into any contract with this company- I never opened an account with this company- I never shared any personal information with this company, including bank details or anything like that- It wasn't our fault that the wrong meter was assigned.- Late payments are still being charged and now electricity is being added on as well- I have always paid the supplier I chose in full, so I haven't actually broken the law by deliberately not paying utilities. I have fulfilled my legal, contractual obligations to the supplier that I signed up to.
I started to think this company was being deliberately predatory and given the level of confusion surrounding the whole situation and the fact that I never even heard of this company until I had that knock at my door asking to take meter reads, I decided to stop liasing with them. I'm starting to wonder if this is a debt I'm even obligated to pay given that I opened no account, have set up no payment plan with this company, and had no prior knowledge of the meter mixup - it was a mistake I had nothing to do with. As far as I'm concerned, I've done as I'm bid - by choosing my supplier, agreeing to a plan, agreeing to pay for that plan and then paying in full for the year, I've done what's expected of me. Now we're all expected to cover the inflated charges of this other company on top of my already fairly paid energy charges for gas and electric to my chosen supplier?
I've since moved back home to my parents place, and I've left no personal details with anyone with which to trace me. Yet I'm still getting threatening voicemails demanding that I pay, I've considered changing my phone number just to make them go away. They have my email address but I've had no correspondence from them since September anyway. I'm starting to wonder if its safe to just let this thing fade away on its own, because frankly I'm really not keen to pay the extravagant amount that they're asking and given the confusing and strange way its been handled, plus the fact that I've made no legal agreement with this company anyway - they were not the supplier I chose. Also, there's the fact that I alone am not the sole person responsible even if I was totally liable - there's also my other flatmates too, but since I'm the one who tried to resolve the situation, I'm the one who is getting the threatening calls. They claim the account is under my name which is strange, I've told them I have no login details or password since I've never opened an account. The whole thing just smells sour to me.
So I guess what I'm wondering is - can I leave this safely, or will this become an issue if I continue to ignore it? What are my rights in this situation? Will I get bailiffs trying to trace where I've gone to and will it affect my credit score? I'm young at 22 and this whole thing is a little frightening and I want to pay if its something I really should do, but I also dont want to be taken advantage of.
Any advice anyone can give would be appreciated - I'm in the dark here!

Just wanted to apologize for not being that interactive in the comment section. I do read every comment that I get, and I enjoy them, I just don't know what to say in response most of the time.
Suit rankings, A Psalm of Time through Beat of Abyss
Suit rankings, Beautiful Agent through Cherry Youth
Suit rankings, Chief Dresser through Chocolate Housemaid
Suit rankings, Chocolate Story through Chubby Lucky
Cinderella- 4/10
Cinderella is solid and concrete proof that being impressive, dynamic, and well-drawn is far more important than... actually having a good design. I know, I guess it’s unfair of me to judge this suit’s design when it wasn’t really created by LN, and when they did such a superb job on all the details they could control. Still, shame on LN for capitalizing on exclusivity, novelty, and familiarity! (Well, not really, they still have to make their money and people can buy these items if they want). If they’re going to earn a good rating, they’d better collab with a source that allows them to make a quality design, like those lovely Mucha suits <3. The parts they did well are great. The art is phenomenal, I suppose that’s to be expected from Love Nikki. The different textures and details are just magical, though I can’t help but feel- and I can’t believe I’m saying this- that there are too many sparkles. The color is fine, this icy blue is radiant and pretty easy to work with, but the yellow hair is too bright and I’m not a fan of the color combinations on the carriage. And the shape of the clothing… ugh. Sure, the tall sleeves, low-necked bodice, and the dress ‘curtains’ (I’m sure they have a name, but searching for fashion terminology is more annoying than you’d expect) are classic and recognizable, but they’re just so standard and boring. Nothing to look at here, nothing clever or creative or fun. The carriage looks genuinely atrocious, from the tacky decorations to the lack of an interior to the… tacky decorations. God. LN, I know you did your best, but good art can only carry a suit so far. Buried under all that glitter is a lifeless design and lack of soul.
Cinnabar Cloud- 2/10
I was really excited for this suit when I first got it, and really, why shouldn’t I have been? Clean, crisp, and modern, a stylish shape, a couple of nice decorations, scores well. And I was disappointed to find that the monthly login suits after that weren’t really suits at all, just collections of items that went together. But now, I’m thinking that was probably the right call. Limited to six items per, it’s natural that the suit will feel bare, and that’s certainly not improved by LN’s obsession with giving us fiddly, useless accessories rather than actual pieces with substance. Cinnabar Cloud is a little all over the place. The color scheme consists of a strong red that shows up in the dress, bracelet, hair ornament, and heels, a dark mauve-crimson in the socks and the neck of the dress, a… gold? in the hair ornament and a thin knot on the shoes, and inexplicably a white in the shoes that doesn’t go with anything. I’m fine with these colors being used together, but the integration is poor and few of these pieces look like they belong in the same suit. Ideally, a suit should be designed with a sense of cohesion, with items distinct enough to be recognized and have a presence, but not so distinct that they can’t be matched with items from other suits. But for all I know, Cinnabar Cloud could be some random items drawn from a permanent pavilion. It’s probably emphasized the most by the lack of theme. Is there a flower, or animal, or food, or even some random pattern or motif that’s repeated throughout the outfit? No, not really. Anyway, it’s not like the suit is up-to-date enough for me to consider using it, so I don’t know why I bother.
Circles of Moon Shadow- 6.5/10
Oh, talk about creative! I guess my ancient Egyptian hole has been filled by the gorgeous Legend of Tulans, but for a while, Circles of Moon Shadow was its predecessor. She’s not half bad, really. The detail’s not as delicate as I’d like it to be, and the pieces tend to have too much color to be easily paired, but there are plenty of lovely, useful, and unique items here. I see the jackal mask often, it works great with alternate skin tones that you don’t own makeups for, because it covers up Nikki’s soulless eyes and looks cool to boot. I usually don’t say this, because we’ve got an infinite supply of delicate necklaces and bracelets in every color imaginable, but the jewellery is actually unique. I remember reading about this (yes I’m a fashion nerd irl too), I think the necklace is gold filled in with colorful enamel. It’s got way more substance and power than your average string of beads. Enough about the amazing versatility, what about the actual design? Well, I’m not cultured, so I can’t tell you about the accuracy (don’t expect much, though), but from a fashion standpoint it’s rather well-done! It’s mainly white, gold, and dark indigo-navy, with spots of red and blue. The color is well-balanced, the detail can be rather overwhelming and hard to follow, but the mask, veil, and coat are all solid blocks of color and create visual emphasis. The gold fringe stands out and adds a delicate border to the simple fabric shapes. The top and skirt are pretty slim, but the coat, hair, and veil make up for the volume. I think this suit would have done well with large, basic geometric patterns, they’re very bold and memorable, but I still appreciate the effort put into making this suit brim with rich, gilded decorations.
Circus Night- 3.5/10
Don’t know what I was expecting out of this, man, but I had a certain image of her in my mind and I was completely thrown off when I opened up her actual image. She’s so simple that she could be a character in an animated show. Like, she’s so simple that her model wouldn’t even be that painful to make. I forgot how unbelievably old this suit is. Despite their best efforts, it shows. The shading’s there, and the lineart isn’t heavy, but everything looks so dull and flat and lifeless. The color scheme consists of your classic circus shapes: red, yellow, and white, but it barely seems to exist because of how small the pieces are. There’s no volume, and because of that, she’s hardly impressive. I’m not asking for big dresses from everything; in fact, just the opposite: I love variety in my sizes, but there’s no piece here that really stands out, nothing to draw attention, nothing that’s been exaggerated, and it’s just boring. Blank. Bare. Not enough detail for it to feel busy and exciting. Not enough drama in the pose for there to be a real sense of energy. Maybe she’s pulled you through a few Competitions, I don’t know what she’s like for styling- I suppose the separate top and bottom are a bit friendlier than an entire dress, the pieces might work for circus or animal themes… thing is, LN has provided us with a decent supply of clown suits, which make Circus Night not worth getting.
City Dream- 3.5/10
I like city skylines, I like bright, energetic colors, and I like cute snacks. So City Dream should be a great suit, then, right? Well, the concept is. I wouldn’t mind if this suit got revamped- not just the art, though, the actual design. Something like this needs to be bustling with distinct detail, and City Dream has some solid parts, but she doesn’t cut it. The color scheme needs to lose the pink. Yes, it looks nice with the brown, and yes, the aesthetic of not-really-strawberry-flavored-but-the-bright-pink-still-conjures-up-the-image-of-strawberries Pocky can’t be replicated, but it doesn’t work well with the red, and since that’s the main brand color, the pink has got to go. Plus, it’s not even well integrated: just in the hair and hair accessory. I also don’t know how I feel about the white. The palette should have more than just three colors, yes, but it doesn’t feel suitable and takes up too much space. The way they used Pocky as laces on the dress is fun and creative, but it’s still pretty minimal, and I wish they’d pushed harder with the theme to make the suit more cohesive and the pieces more unique. Most of the accessories could belong to other suits, and are loosely tied together through generic patterns and a weak color scheme. The deep brown of the socks looks appetizing in context, but doesn’t convey the food theme and looks like an off-black night sky, which is weird. What I really yearn for in this suit is some layers of texture and different materials. It has no depth, the details are limited to fabric patterns and the occasional ribbon, making her feel lacking and dry.
***wc/1469/cc/8220***
next

Like so many others, I wrote a NOVEL and I’m sorry!! I love reading this community’s MDs and am so thankful for this supportive sub and for the opportunity to share.
Section 1: Assets and Debt
My husband and I share all finances except for our retirement and savings accounts (we each have savings accts in our own names but realistically we share the funds within them). We have separate credit cards as well.

• Retirement Balance: My 403b - $47k, I put in 3% and my employer matched 10% (ah-mazing), but COVID put that on pause. Spouse’s 401k - $285k, he also has a generous company match.
• Equity: about $110k. We bought a house last September; it was listed for 440k, we bought for 435k, and it was appraised at 455k. We put 20% down with money from my husband’s savings + 30k in cash as a gift from his parents. We currently owe 342k on the mortgage.
• Savings account: Currently 18k. This took a hit due to some home maintenance costs and a new car purchase.
• Checking account balance: About $2500, typically between 1k-3k. We also currently have about 3k in a piggybank fund that’s technically a savings account but is linked to our checking account and has an abysmal interest rate. We use that for house/auto maintenance, dog expenses, holiday/birthday gifts, vacation, etc.
• Credit card debt: 0 down from 10k, no excuse for the credit card debt except lifestyle creep and stress spending. We floated a balance for a while and then buckled down early last year to pay it off in 5 months.
• Student loan debt: 57k down from 110k (principal was originally 90k ugh) for my BA. I refinance every 6 months or so for better interest rates. I had a lot of shame and buried my head in the sand with these for a long time and only really began aggressively attacking them in the last 4 years. I also have an M.Ed that was paid through tuition remission from my job (60%) and academic scholarships (40%). My husband has a BA but no student loans thanks to his parents.
• Car loan: 29k (we put 5k down in cash + 8k for our trade in) We made it 7 months with 3 kids and a dog in our compact SUV before we finally buckled and bought a minivan in September – it’s a plug in electric/hybrid minivan so we save a lot on gas plus will get a $7500 tax credit, which we’ll put on my loans. Plus, you know, the world is on fire and everything so we weren’t looking for a gas guzzler.

Section 2: Income

• · Income Progression:

- My first jobs were babysitting and working as a camp counselor in my teens. Throughout my late teens and early 20s I mostly worked as a bartender and/or barista, as well as tutoring (I lived in France for a little bit in high school so tutoring rich kids in French was always a moneymaker), dance teacher for budding ballerinas, and a bit of writing/editing. I graduated college over the course of 4 years but took a circuitous route (didn’t love college tbh), including taking two semesters off to travel and taking a full year leave of absence to live and work in Santa Fe when I was 20. When I wasn’t enrolled in college I was responsible for my all of my expenses. When I was enrolled in college my parents paid for housing and tuition as much as they could, and I covered my personal expenses.
- After graduating I continued to bartend for about a year and then I got a job as an advisor in higher ed, because it was one of the few industries hiring during the recession. I made 40k but with no benefits besides PTO. After 2 years, I moved to university where I currently work with the same salary but far better benefits including healthcare, retirement, paid family leave and tuition remission.
- My job hasn’t changed much in the last 8 years -- salary increases were mostly inflation adjustments masked as bonuses -- but it’s ideal for me right now. I enjoy the people I work with and have a lot of flexibility (outside of meetings I mostly work when and how I want) with great benefits that allow me to contribute to retirement and stay in the workforce as a young mom. When my daughter was born 8 years ago, I went part time and then PT with 90% telework when my son was born 5 years ago. I went back to full time while teleworking 2 years ago. So I was doing the work-from-home-parent thing for a while before COVID, but uh at least with some childcare.
- I met my husband in my early 20s and we knew within a few months (excuse the mush) we were it for each other. He’s 8 years older and we were both in a place where we wanted to start a family, so I had kids about 7-10 younger than most of my social group. This could be pretty isolating at times, but overall I don’t regret it and recognize that I'm fortunate to be able to make the choices I have. We’re putting the baby (8 months old) in full time daycare next fall and I plan to begin to start my career in earnest then (I’m very interested in the intersection of education policy and law especially w/t the equity gap). My friends lovingly refer to my approach as the Nancy Pelosi method – I’ll take it.

• Monthly Take Home:

Mine- $2,760 (paid biweekly after taxes, healthcare, 403b, savings transfer)
Spouse - $5900 (paid 2x/month after taxes, 401k and savings transfer)
Total HH - $8660 ($9260 incl. savings contributions)
Section 3: Expenses

• Savings - $600… more focused on student loans right now
• Mortgage - $2035, includes escrow payment that covers taxes and insurance
• Car - $550 (min payment is $450 but we pay extra to shave a year off the loan term)
• Student loans - $2000-2500 (min payment is $1045 but we’re trying to rid us of these in 3 years or less)
• Cable/internet - $120
• Phone - $210 for a 4 line family plan with my parents (we pay)
• Utilities - $320 average for water, electricity, gas, and sewage
• Hulu/Spotify/Disney+ - $22 we share with fam
• Netflix/Prime/HBO – $0 we take from fam
• Yearly Subscriptions - $19.50/month (YNAB $84, Washington Post $90, Costco $60)
• Life insurance - $75 (750k policy for my husband & 500k for me)
• Farm CSA - $70/month for weekly veggies
• Meat CSA - $65/month for 15lb meat delivery every other month
• Car insurance - $70 (monthly cost, we pay premium in full every 6 months for savings) This covers the minivan and our 2003 Corolla which is still chugging along like a champ.
• Kids Activities fund: $150/month --for sports, camps, classes, etc., padded right now due to COVID
• Piggybank funds: $600
• Donations: about $200. We donate $100 to a small charity we run that raises money for treatment scholarships for people seeking recovery from substance abuse and addiction after my brother in law died from an overdose a few years ago. We usually spend between $50-100 in other donations per month, but nothing regular.
• College funds: We aim for $2500/year funded through gift money, selling things, and minor side gig money I get from writing/editing. My in-laws started 529s for our kids when each was born with a seed of $30k. We are immensely lucky, and I’d like to shout very loudly that both my husband and me have benefitted greatly from generational wealth, as will our children. Our privilege is well noted, and we center many conversations about this with our kids.

Section 4 – The rundown

• Food + Drink: $264.86
• Fun / Entertainment: $4.95
• Home + Health: $103
• Clothes + Beauty: $50
• Transport: 0
• Gifts: $477

Total: $899.81
Day 1, Wednesday:
8am -- The baby cooing wakes me up after a rough night of sleep. I nurse him a little and then hand him off to his almost-8-years-old sister (J.) who happily takes him to her room to cuddle and play before virtual school starts up at 9.
My husband wakes up around 7:00 to clean up the kitchen and basically take care of everything house or kid related before heading to work around 8:30, but I get breakfast for everyone and make sure the kids are (mostly) dressed. My five year old son (C.) settles on “bee cereal” i.e. Honey Nut Cheerios, and that’s good enough for the group, except for the baby who gets sweet potato puffs and a blueberry-banana breakfast bar. The big kids play video games for about 10 minutes before school starts at 9am.
C. should be in Kindergarten, but he was having meltdown after meltdown trying to stay logged into virtual school for 5-6 hours a day, so he watches the recorded zoom meetings on his own time and spends most of the day playing outside or watching tv. We try to do one academic-ish thing a day outside of listening to the zoom lessons (playing alphabet games, practicing writing, making an art project, or finding patterns). Schools in our area have been closed for in-person learning continuously since March. This morning C. turns on the Netflix du Jour, a riveting show called “Trash Truck” about - you guessed it - a trash truck, and I sit down to catch up on work e-mails while the baby crawls around investigating the bucket of toys I overturned for him. Or maybe those are the dog’s toys? Whatever, he’s entertained.
10:30am -- I finish up my work emails in between letting the dog out (and back in) and tending to the baby a bit, and then make a payment on two of our credit cards to cover spending in the last week. We use reward credit cards for everyday spending, so I make payments a couple of times a week to make sure we don’t carry a balance. I also reconcile YNAB.
$0, but a lot of money management (I didn’t include the credit card payments because I count that spending when we actually… spend it…)
11am -- Baby is down for his morning nap, C. is climbing trees outside, and J. is finishing up her homework at the end of the school day (Wednesdays are half days). I turn on Price is Right and throw a load of laundry in, straighten up a little, and then make lunch. Usually my husband makes the kids’ lunches in the morning, but C. complained of too much redundancy yesterday, so today I offered to make them a hot lunch: dino nuggets, Annie’s mac and cheese, and ants on a log. My plan is to make myself an everything bagel breakfast sandwich with prosciutto, cheese, fried egg and a side salad and sit down to work before the baby wakes up. Sounds great, right? Well just as I’m finishing the big kids lunch, our meat CSA is delivered so our dog goes bonkers and wakes the baby up. I try to nurse the baby back to sleep while responding to a work email on my phone but the big kids each interrupt twice, so he’s up for good. I haphazardly slap some cream cheese on my sad bagel and throw some olive oil and Parmesan on some greens and try to scarf down something while managing chaos.
1pm - I give the baby lunch (puréed carrots and shredded provolone cheese). After clean up he wants to nurse for about 10 minutes. A full belly did the trick and he’s down for his nap again.
3pm - We make some slime with a kit our neighbor gave us. My daughter complains it’s too slimy
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We then sit down to plan her birthday party for next weekend, which will be a virtual tea party. I buy a $5 digital invitation template on Etsy to send out to family and friends and try to make it a little more fun since we can’t do a normal birthday party for her this year. When I check out, I still have in my Etsy cart a wooden train set I was planning on buying for my new baby niece for Christmas. I buy that too. Total - $54.95
4pm - I heat up some tomato soup as a snack for the big kids and nurse the baby. We head out to run some errands — I have to drop off a birthday card in the mail and it’s the veggie csa pick up day at the farm (curbside so no contact). I swing though McDonald’s and get two ice cream cones for the big kids and a coffee for me as a treat since the farm is about an hour round trip. The baby takes a nap during the drive. Total - $4.64
5:30pm - Home again and I switch the laundry, straighten up, nurse the baby and check in on work.
6:30pm - I throw some personal pizzas into the toaster oven and serve them with carrot sticks and dressing for dinner for the big kids. They watch a show about a flamingo that delivers baby animals to animal parents.
7:30pm - I nurse the baby (he loves his milk and his mama) and then head downstairs to straighten up and ask the big kids to clear their plates. My daughter does; my son plays video games. We spar; I’m tired. My husband is trying to work on leaving for work earlier in the day so he can get home earlier because honestly after 6pm I’m spent, and my patience reserve feels especially low today. My husband finally arrives a little before 8 and immediately takes over baby duty and feeds him dinner (green beans and sweet corn) while entertaining the big kids. I heat up some leftovers and scarf them down while chatting with my friends on WhatsApp.
8:30pm - bedtime routine for all kids start. I spar with C. again over brushing his teeth. It escalates and I get pretty angry. C. is smart and spirited and strong willed and this pandemic has been so hard on him. It’s been hard on me. We sometimes take it out on each other. I put J. and the baby to sleep and then sneak into C.‘s room while my husband is reading to him to give C. a hug and apologize to him for my temper.
9:30pm - I have a beer and some hummus and pita chips while finishing up some work. My husband eats some leftovers and we watch an old season of The Amazing Race, and then go to bed around midnight after I dream feed the baby.
Daily Total: $59.59
****
Day 2, Thursday:
8:30am - I wake up to our 45lb shepherd mix lying on top of me for a snuggle and quickly get out of bed and for some reason get dressed in real clothes. Jeans even. Amazing. My husband has just left for work, so I take the baby and get him dressed. In the living room, C. has already poured cereal and milk for him and his sister, but is also totally naked. I bring him some clothes. I give the baby some plain Cheerios, help J. log into school, and cuddle a little bit with C. while he watches a Disney Nature show before getting up to make some toast and eggs for myself. I’m planning on trying to get some work done but end up making hand turkeys with the kids instead.
11am - I nurse the baby and put him down for a nap. I get the big kids a snack (chips and hummus), do the breakfast dishes, and give J. some encouragement in virtual learning. Then I refill my coffee and finally sit down to work.
11:30am - Baby’s awake. So I guess half hour naps is a thing now.
12:00pm- I’m on lunch duty again so I make some cheese quesadillas with apple slices and grapes while trying to finish a report I need to send out before my 1pm meeting. I reheat my coffee for lunch and send the kids outside to play while I nurse the baby and text with my sister after the report is out.
1pm - I give the baby a bit of butternut squash for lunch and log in for my meeting with him in tow because he doesn’t seem sleepy yet. I have two meetings and a parent/teacher conference today so I asked (/demanded) my husband work from home this afternoon and he’s on his way now. My employer is much more flexible and accommodating than his — babies on zoom don’t phase them— but it’s almost worse this way because it means less boundaries and more stress/shuffling for me. He is pretty isolated at work (masked with his own office, no in person group meetings), so it’s kind of ridiculous he has to go to the office at all, but he doesn’t have much of a choice.
2pm - my husband got home a half hour ago and my first meeting is done, so I nurse the baby to sleep for his nap. I grab a cliff bar and my husband and I log in to a zoom parent teacher conference with C.’s Kindergarten teacher. He hasn’t attended virtual school live in 6 weeks, but she’s not worried about it and neither are we. I straighten up a little bit and then am back in the office for my 3pm meeting.
4pm - The big kids are having a tea party and request tea snacks so I make them s’mores and peppermint tea and then stress eat a s’more (or maybe two) myself because skipping lunch is a terrible idea when you’re constantly breastfeeding a giant baby. I send out J.’s virtual tea party invites and finish up work e-mail and then straighten up a little bit.
6:30pm - My husband stops working and says he’ll make dinner and watch the kids so I can take a much needed shower and relax a little. He starts on the ingredients for an epic taco bar dinner with roasted corn, and I throw together a spinach salad before getting in the shower. I take a long shower and savor the silence. When I emerge I can hear the baby screaming, but (mercifully) my husband is never phased by crying children so I take my time getting into PJs and submit my answers for a daily trivia league I play in.
9:00pm - Kids are all in bed. I clean up the house, which is a disaster zone, because I hate clutter. My husband and I then eat our tacos and salad, and I make myself a hot chocolate. I tell myself I’m going to get some work done but instead I spend two hours updating my fantasy football teams and texting with my sister.
11:30pm - we watch the end of an episode of David Letterman's Netflix show and then the daily show. I fall asleep on the couch and then migrate to bed.
Daily Total: $0
*****
Day 3, Friday:
8amish - I’m slow to get out of bed. The baby and C. are both cranky and my husband (who works at home on Fridays) and I play chicken to see who’s going to get up first to do stuff. Eventually he’s up to change the baby and then clean up the kitchen and make ice and coffee. I pull on some sweatpants and a tshirt and get breakfast for the big kids. They want a bagel and cream cheese (daughter) and a bagel with peanut butter (son), so I oblige because friyay. My daughter logs into school, and is sad I made the wrong kind of bagel for her (everything instead of cinnamon raisin, the horror). I pop the right bagel in the toaster and eat her everything bagel instead. The baby eats a few blueberry bars and shares what he can with the dog.
11am - Baby down for his nap. I got paid last night so I budget that money in YNAB and work.
1pm - Baby awake. I make dino nuggets and carrots for kids’ lunch and I’m starving but don’t have the energy to make anything, so I just start eating prosciutto and goldfish by the fistful. #momlunch (FYI you can buy like 1lb of prosciutto at Costco for $8).
3pm - There is a mega kids consignment sale that happens in our metro area at a few locations several times a year. I frequently consign old kids clothes and toys at these and also buy a lot of the kids’ stuff here too (the steals on really nice quality things is amazing… plus seeing one of these sales reinforces the insane amount of things already in the world. We don’t need to make/buy more.). With COVID they started an online model for their sales which includes curbside drop off for sold items and pick up for bought items. I have to drop off my sold items this afternoon. Due to time and stress I wasn’t able to consign as much, so it’s only about 18 items. I make $52.00 (70% of the total price, sale organizers keep 30%). I pick up a latte from the neighborhood coffee shop on the way and jam out to Betty Who in the minivan. ($5.64 + tip = $7.64)
5pm - Pandemonium when I get back. C. had a couple of rage fits, the baby was asleep but had been crying most of the time (I never set out to be an attachment parent but being born at the start of a pandemic kind of forced it on us, and the baby is really, really attached to me.) My husband looks exhausted from juggling all the kids and wrapping up a few projects from work. We know it’ll be a take out night for us. Take-out is our biggest weakness. I don’t mind cooking but I also don’t love it, so it’s something that I easily pass on if I can. I’m trying to shift to cooking dinner midday when I have more time and energy, and I do meal plan (though it’s more like meal opportunities… I grocery shop and stock the kitchen for scheduled meals at the start of every month but I often hop around the schedule). But take out is one of our few indulgences, and it calls to us far too frequently. It doesn’t help that we live in an area with phenomenal food choices.
7pm - After straightening up and getting the big kids an easy dinner (my daughter actually wanted spaghetti and not take out), I run out to pick up steak fajitas and sopapillas for my husband and me; I order online and do curbside pick up. $49.65. I also run into a beer and wine store to get a 12-pack variety IPA for my husband and a 12-pack of Guinness for me. $45.76
Total: $95.41
9pm- Home, bedtime for kids, clean up as much as I can. While my husband tucks my son in I lay out our Mexican food feast in the family room. He logs into a virtual call with a bunch of his college friends and we eat and catch up with them as we relax. My husband has opted for straight vodka instead of a beer tonight (thanks, pandemic parenting), and I savor a nice cold Guinness. The call ends around 11pm and we watch an episode or two of the Amazing Race, clean up dinner, and then slink to bed around 1am.
Daily Total: $103.05
****
Day 4 - Saturday
8am - Baby awake. The big kids take him into their rooms to play. I get up thirty minutes later when I hear the big kids banish the baby to the hallway, because he started annoying them. Poor baby. He’s smelly because he pooped overnight and the poop is now encrusted on his legs under his PJs, so it’s bath time now. Kids are fun.
10am - I’m starving and the baby is cranky from teething so I have chips and queso for breakfast because it’s 2020 and idgaf. I make my daughter a bagel and cream cheese and give my son cheerios before making a mental note to order a grocery delivery for tomorrow because we’re out of milk. My husband pours me a coffee and we relax a little bit as I nurse the baby. I catch up with my sister via text.
12pm - Baby is asleep and the big kids and my husband are playing video games, so I sit down to do all the things - Work! Bills! Grocery delivery! -- first I make myself a couple fajitas from last night’s leftovers.
I reconcile YNAB transactions and then pay a $25 co-pay bill from a doctor’s tele-visit last month. I’ve had mild to moderate anxiety most of my adult life, and it’s gotten particularly bad in the last few months (um obviously), so my doctor prescribed me low dose Zoloft and it’s been wonderful. Social media likes to tell parents (read: moms) about all the things they should do to raise children (“stop using negative language!” “be supportive of big feelings!”) … but I’m a working mother with three kids in a pandemic, and you know what helps me be a better parent? Medication. Because maybe the pressures of modern American parenthood are unrealistic, and we just need more help. (Descends from soapbox…)
Baby awake before I complete the grocery order.
3pm - I’ve been nursing the baby and doing housework (there are 7 loads of laundry so help me god) before I finally get a chance to finish the grocery order while the kids are outside playing with my husband. I order milk, sprite zero, broccoli, blueberries, queso, cereal, oatmeal, tea (to send out to the virtual party guests), and chai concentrate. Plus a $3 delivery fee = $51.17 We usually do a large Costco trip once a month for staples (about $400), and then I make 2-3 grocery deliveries throughout the month like this to re-stock.
6pm - Somehow the big kids got turned onto this game where they call me The Queen and my husband The King and they’re the maids who have to do whatever we say. I assume it’s divine intervention that they came up with this so I never tempt fate. While they play (slash clean up the house) the King makes dinner - shrimp scampi and a big broccoli, arugula and lentil salad - while I read the paper. I eat a big portion of the salad topped with just a few shrimp because I need the greens like whoa.
9pm - Bedtime routines and the rest of the night is a bit of a blur to be honest. We watched the Great British Baking Show and had a couple beers and cuddled probably. Not sure when we went to bed.
Daily Total - $76.17
****
Day 5 - Sunday
2am - While “awake” nursing the baby I suddenly snap up and remember that the Best Buy and Game Stop Black Friday sales started at midnight. The kids currently play a retro Super Nintendo complete with games from the mid 90s (what can I say, they’re awed by my donkey Kong skills), and we finally figured they were old enough now it’s probably time to bring them into the 21st century. I snag a Nintendo Switch bundle with Mario Kart for $299 from Best Buy after waiting a few minutes (they released stock in waves to prevent an immediate sellout), which we’ll give them for Christmas. Total with tax - $317
9am - up for real now and we’re late. We hurry out the door with a pitstop at Starbucks for coffee, peppermint hot chocolates, pumpkin bread, and bagels ($32). We’re headed up to do a curbside pickup of the stuff I bought from the consignment sale. For Christmas, we try to keep the kids gifts to one big gift (often to share, like the Nintendo Switch), one medium gift, and two small gifts per kid. I managed to finish all the kids Christmas shopping in one fell swoop at the online consignment sale (including gifts for my nephew and two nieces). We also got a bike trailer for kids for about $50 that retails new at REI for $400, plus a lot of clothes. All in I spent $196, and Christmas shopping is mostly done.
11am - after picking up the consignment sale goods, we head to a drive thru covid testing site. I was around a larger group of people (20 or so) for a memorial last week, and I’ve been isolating to household as much as possible since then. I had a negative covid test last Monday, but both my husband and I are getting tested again today. The testing line is looooong in advance of Thanksgiving, and it takes us just under 2 hours to get through. Yikes. The kids are screaming for lunch so we zoom home and I make a quick grilled cheese and serve it with bunches of grapes.
2pm - my brother, sister and I are chatting about a vacation at the lake (about 2 hours away) we had booked for all of us and my parents over New Years. It’s looking increasingly like that would be an irresponsible trip to take given the current covid climate, so we decide to move it to the end of April. My sister and her family live in Canada and we’re going to have to miss it anyway, so at least this way they have a chance at joining us. My brother will call the rental company and move the dates and pay the new deposit ($300). We lose the old deposit, but my card’s travel insurance should reimburse us. I make a mental note to call their claim center this week.
4pm - We log onto zoom for a Friendsgiving get together with friends - there’s about 20 participants, many with young children - and it’s a little crazy. By the time we log off it’s too dark to take the bike ride my son was hoping for, and he has a meltdown.
6pm – I take a shower and then start a K-pop dance party in the kitchen to try to brighten up C. who is still angry about not being able to bike. He eventually succumbs to the BTS beat. Once upon a time I was that music snob that would only go to concerts in tiny venues with obscurely known indie bands, and now I’m moonwalking to Dynamite. Life comes at you fast, friends.
7pm - We decide on takeout again because we definitely fall into a “it’s the weekend, treat yo self” trap and decide to order Thai for lots of leftovers as a way of lessening our guilt over ordering. Our local Thai restaurant will deliver to us. We get curry puffs, yum watercress, pad Thai with shrimp, pad see ew with chicken, and massaman curry. ($74 with tip and tax)
9pm - Kids are all in bed. I do about an hour of work and then tell myself I’m going to fold laundry or do something else productive, but we’re exhausted so we just watch an episode of the Queen’s Gambit and then go to bed around 11:30.
Daily Total - $619 ouch
*****
Day 6 – Monday
8:30am - I’m going to get up early and get some work done today, I told myself last night. Spoiler: I did not do that. I emerge from bed and find my family in the kitchen — my husband finishing up chores and all the kids eating oatmeal with blueberries. I get my daughter set up with school as my husband departs. She’s out of underwear, so it looks like that seven loads of undone laundry is starting to be an issue.
10:30am - baby down for nap. I feel very unproductive. I put a load of laundry in and sit down to work but instead somehow end up browsing political memes on Instagram instead.
12pm - by the time the baby wakes up I have gotten a little more work done. I nurse the baby and then play a few rounds of Crazy 8s with my son. I text my husband the info for our zoom parent/teacher conference with my daughter’s teacher so he can login from work. Conference is at 12:50. I heat up leftovers to eat for lunch and get the kids lunches out (husband made them this morning). I give the baby some apple sauce and rice for lunch.
3pm - Baby is down for another nap. I make myself a chai latte and switch the laundry before sitting down to do more work. It’s half days for my daughter this week because of Thanksgiving, and she and her brother are actually getting along well, so they spend a lot of the afternoon playing outside together. I take a 20 minute break to prep dinner, which is Ina Garten’s Turkey Hash, so it should only take about 20 minutes to throw together at dinner time. I get a good chunk of work done, possibly motivated by the announcement that we get Wednesday off. My husband texts to say his boss gave the green light to go back to full time telework after thanksgiving due to the surging covid numbers. Micro good news, macro bad news.
6pm - I do some more laundry and ”pretend” to sleep in a fort J. and C. built before getting dinner together. I make a few eggs to throw on top of the Turkey hash and toss together a big salad as well. We all eat dinner when my husband gets home a little after 7. Baby has bananas and strawberries for dinner.
8:30pm - Bedtime for all kids. I do a little work and we watch our old standby, the amazing race, while I have a Sprite Zero and a s’more for dessert. The baby isn’t sleeping well tonight so I spend a good chunk of time trying to get him to settle before heading to bed around midnight.
Daily Total - $0
******
Day 7 – Tuesday
8:45am - I’m up! I’m up. I help the kids all get dressed and change the baby. I make a few eggs for myself, a bagel and cream cheese for J., and oatmeal for C. The baby has cheerios and a few slices of banana. I do some housework and try to motivate myself to get some work done.
10am - The baby broke my glasses when playing with them -- probably should have seen (ha) that coming. I hop on Zenni and they have a Black Friday sale (oh no) for 20% off $30 or more. I get two pairs of glasses for me, plus a pair of prescription aviator sunglasses for my husband to put in his stocking. Total with $5 shipping - $48
12pm - Baby is napping and I’m trying to get some work done. The big kids eat their packed lunches and I see my husband has also made a sandwich for me, so I scarf that down over reports. I’m really sluggish again today. I make a chai but it feels like I can’t concentrate. The dog and I usually go for runs 2-3 times a week on a local trail, but since semi-isolating I’ve stayed in and I think it’s starting to really affect my overall state. It probably doesn’t help that I often catch the pup looking longingly at her running harness and then back at me, disappointment evident in her eyes.
1pm - I set up Zoom Thanksgiving for my family. It’ll just be us with my mother and father in law, who live 20 minutes away, for Thanksgiving in person. I spend 40 minutes making a Jeopardy game to play online for my family and then immediately text everyone about how excited I am to play it. I continue to do no legitimate work.
2pm - The baby wakes up the very minute a team meeting is supposed to start. I grab him, turn my video off (no Toobin slips here thanks) and nurse him for the first half of the meeting that goes for about an hour. Afterwards I officially say sayonara to work until next week. During my meeting the big kids have gotten into an argument over video games and it gets uglier than it should. When people ask how it’s going with the kids in quarantine, I relay it this way: imagine you’re a kid again and your sibling(s) are your only playmate or social contact for 8+ months. Even if you get along with them, that’s batshit insane. Sometimes I’m shocked they haven’t done more damage to each other. I’m feeling particularly kumbaya-like and crunchy today so after I calm them down I make us all tell each other two things we love about each other. They tell the baby the two things they love about him are his sweet personality and his fat thighs; better him than me.
4pm - My daughter got a baking cookbook and utensils from my brother and sister in law as an early birthday present in the mail today, and she’s been hankering to make brownies all day. We make a pan and afterwards we veg out and watch tv together for a bit while playing with snapchat filters until my husband gets home.
6pm - I throw together a mongolian beef-esque marinade and toss that with some sirloin cuts in the instant pot, steam some rice, and roast broccoli and green beans for dinner. It’s pretty good but the marinade is a little too sweet for me --- my son eats all the vegetables and none of the beef and rice. He truly is an enigma.
7pm - My husband and the kids go outside to play some catch (in the dark, whatevs), and I work like a tasmanian devil cleaning up the house. When unencumbered by children I think I could set records for how quickly I clean up. I finish by changing out sheets on all the beds, and then take a shower.
8:30pm - Bedtime for the kids; they’re down by 9.
9:30pm - I indulge in one of my favorite teas - African Nectar by mighty leaf; I’ve loved mighty leaf since I worked at a coffee shop that carried their collection, but I try not to drink them too often since I find it’s pricier than your everyday tea. We watch the rest of the Queen’s Gambit. I fall asleep on the couch around 11:30, I’m told, and zombie walk to bed around midnight. I fall asleep reveling in the wonderfulness of the sensation of fresh sheets on shaven legs.
Daily Total: $48
Total Spent: $899.81
**********
Section 5: Reflection
This was a bit of an atypical week for me, because I bought a lot of Christmas presents, which mostly come from our piggybank fund. Gifts and food are for sure my weakness; if I could eat take out all day while shopping for other people I’d be good for life, and I think that was reflected this week a little bit. I was definitely more conscious of my gift spending this week since I had to record it all though. Throughout this year I’ve struggled to find the right balance between giving myself a little grace on spending because oh em gee does my day-to-day feel stressful sometimes, while also being mindful of overspending. Recording everything this week definitely hit home for me that sort of guilt trap I fall into with money (but also how I feel guilty about pretty much everything).