-$36,829.95 : Well, well, well..

Guess who’s back? After a very long hiatus, I found the password to this blog.

When I last posted, the pandemic had started and we were all plunged into a new time. I managed to find a W.F.H. job and my husband and I were able to work while we were in Lock Down.

In September of 2021, my husband was diagnosed with Colon Cancer and immediately had surgery and chemo treatment. Needlessly to say, the added medical debt derailed a lot of our planned student loan payments. We had been paying extra and taking advantage of the paused payments due to Covid-19 but we have since paused to focus on the medical bills that came with the surgery and chemo.

We have managed to pay some off and the medical debt is almost all paid off. But I am leaving my job at the end of May since my contract is ending. So I’m planning on focusing on No Spend as much as I can.

Money Diaries : January 11 – 17

Monday, January 11

10:00am : Have a quick meeting with my boss to give me an overview of Q1. We have a team meeting later today so I should get my new assignments later.

12:00pm : Make a grilled cheese and put my Slack on busy so I can take lunch and watch Good Morning America 3. 

7:00pm : Video chat with Camille who was in my Mentorship group. We mostly talk about politics.

8:30p : Hang up with Camille and head out to join D for The Bachelor.

Daily Total :$0

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Tuesday, January 12

9:00am : I actually got dressed and put make up on today so I feel much more ready for my work day.

12:00pm : I follow D to our mechanic’s so we can drop off the Buick. The quote is pricy as his car needs a lot of work. Hopefully we will get the stimulus checks soon, which will cover the bill. 

Daily Total : 0

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Wednesday, January 13

12:00pm : Lunch, I make the 4 tamales that my friend gave us and we each have two. MMM. After, I cut up an apple into chunks and drizzle warm nutella on them for a snack.

3:00pm : Therapy!

4:00pm : Put my Slack on Busy and shift over to a Women’s Panel I am attending/volunteering as a Mentor. My close friend Amanda is leading the panel and asking questions. After an hour, they send us to break out rooms and I get 3 different 20 minute sessions 1:1 with a young woman in college who has questions about getting into the entertainment industry.

7:30pm : Meetings are over and I am drained. I go to the kitchen and chop up a whole head of cauliflower. I prepare and bake them into buffalo cauli for dinner. Mm

Daily Total : $0

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Thursday, January 14

11:00am : Meet with the team to officially take over a project from a coordinator that left over the holidays. Gonna take a minute to get myself up to speed this week.

12:00pm : Take lunch. I heat up the leftover cauliflower in a skillet.

5;00pm : Happy hour with a couple former Netflix coworkers. I sip on a whisky on the rocks and we chat for 3 hours!

8:00pm : Wrap up and make a couple grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.

Daily Total :$0

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Friday, January 15

9:00am : I get up. Talk to my brother for his birthday!

12:30p : Heat up some trader joe’s dumpling in a pan. Take out the recycling. This apartment is a hot mess.

4:00pm : Take D to the mechanic’s and we pick up his car. I get McDonald’s on the way home. – $10.70

5:00pm : I check out of work and go hang out.

Daily Total :$10.70

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Saturday, January 16 

9:00am : We make it down to the OC and start our hike. It’s really hard and has a lot of ups and downs. 

1:00pm : We pick up Heritage BBQ and eat at picnic tables outside. Really good! – $67.73

Daily Total :$67.73

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Sunday, January 17

11:00am : Order my 2021 Scrapbook from scrapbook.com and page protectors to replenish my supply. -$ 51.08

12:00pm : Lunch is pizza rolls. We watch the movie, “Little Children”. I don’t love it but it’s really well done. D does really like it. We have a discussion about how our races and socioeconomic backgrounds heavily affected our viewing of this film.

5:00pm : Get some poke bowls for us. We eat and then some friends zoom with us to train us how to use Robinhood. -$49.54

Daily Total :$ 100.62

Weekly Total :$179.05

Money Diaries : January 4 -10

Monday, January 4

7:15am : My alarm went off at 7 and I actually rolled out shortly after. Really trying hard to get back into getting out of bed before 8:49am. 

7:40am : Get out and jog! I set my timer for 30 minutes. I walk a smidge but get through about 1.25 miles before my first break. 

12:30p : Stop by M’s and pick up my house key on the way to Poke for D and I. – $20 to Marie + $32.61 = 57.61

5:00p : A friend swings by and drops off tamales he made with his mom for the holidays! 

Daily Total :$57.61

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Tuesday, January 5

We get dominos -$48.42

Daily Total :$48.42

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Wednesday, January 6

10:00am : Make toast with peanut butter and chat with my co-worker Shaun via Slack. 

11:00am : D and I have had CNN on all morning to watch the certification of the Electoral Votes – Trumpers start rioting and break their way into the Capitol Building. THIS IS WILD. 

12: Therapy

1:00p Back to watching coverage of the riot. This is insane.

7:00p : Leftover mac n cheese for dinner. I try to beat a Boss in Legend of Zelda but die. I guess I’ll have to prepare more. I put it on the charger and switch gears to my laptop. I fix myself a mimosa and catch up on Money Diaries.

Daily Total : $0

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Thursday, January 7

9;00am : Worked

2:43pm : PIck up some sushi for lunch. – $33.23

Daily Total :$33.23

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Friday, January 8

6:00pm : We order Vegan for dinner. LOVE IT. – $38.34

Daily Total :$38.34

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Saturday, January 9

10:00am : D and I pack up and head out to the mountains to hike!

11:15am : We get to the trailhead

3:00pm : We get back to the car. WOOF. That was really challenging. 1,168 ft elevation gain.

6:00pm : This week’s LA TIMES restaurant is Kobee Factory – Syrian food. SO GOOD. – $45.04

Daily Total :$45.05

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Sunday, January 10

3:00pm : My former Co-worker, P stops buy to deliver the coffee I bought from him. He and his wife own a coffee company!

Daily totally. – $0

Weekly Total : $222.64

Money Diary : December 28, 2020 – January 3, 2021

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Monday, December 28

12:16pm : Weekly Reset. I pick up all my stuff and go through and clean. Need to reset my space and my brain to get clear.

1:00pm : Order sushi for lunch. – $42.49

4:00pm : Play Zelda on switch. Eat some of D’s leftover macaroni and cheese.

Daily Total :$42.49

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Tuesday, December 29

9:00pm : Roll out of bed. Feel so sleepy and grab a cup of coffee and log into work. 

Daily Total : $0

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Wednesday, December 30

D and I get McDonald’s for lunch. -$18.15

3:00pm : Get to our campsite up in the mountains!

5:00pm : Grilled ham & cheese and chips for dinner.

Daily Total : $18.15

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Thursday, December 31

7:00am : D makes eggs, bacon, and coffee while we wake up with the sun.

10:00am : We drive down to the PCH and cruise around before relaxing on the beach for a bit. 

1:00pm : Pick up some lunch from a diner. – $40.94

Daily Total : $40.94

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Friday. January 1

2:00pm : Hike through a close Trail.

5:00pm : Warm up the Chili Mac I made and eat cornbread with it for dinner.

Daily Total : $0

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Saturday, January 2 – My Birthday!

2:00pm : Hike!

6:00p : Pick up dinner which is 2 orders of Chicken Lamprais from a Sri Lankan restaurant. SO DELICIOUS. – $38.82

7:00pm : We eat our dinner and watch this very early Tom Hanks movie called “Volunteers”. This is the movie he met Rita Wilson on. It’s super rough and very problematic. Yikes.

Daily Total : $38.82

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Sunday, January 3

10:00am : We stop and pick up bagels from Noah’s – $7.08

4:00pm : Take a bath!

7:30p : Eat sushi and watch The Twilight Zone with D. (Old classic episodes not the new stuff.) – $46.70

Daily Toal : $53.78

Weekly Total : $197.16

Money Diary : December 21 – 27

Monday, December 21

9:00am : “work”. It’s a  weird week for work with most people out. I check on some things and chat with Shaun on Slack. Someone asks me if I’ve been assigned to a different project. One of the coordinators left and they were wondering if I could answer questions about it. I can’t. I know I’ll be handed the project but nothing has been handed over yet. I don’t have access to the folders/drives etc so I can’t even check.

12:00pm : Eat lunch while I facetime with my friend, Amelia. We work on career goals.

1:43pm : Purchase “Give and take” for my Kindle. – $14

5:30p : Dan made chicken salad so eat it for dinner on crackers.

6:20p : Lazer appointment.

9;00pm : D’s fave episode of the Bach season is tonight- Overnights! He likes the drama of will they/won’t they bang.

Daily Total : $14

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Tuesday, December 22

9:20am : I laid in bed long, playing Zelda on my Switch. I get up to check my work computer but it is quiet. Yesterday I put Slack and my Netflix Gmail on my personal computer. Normally I would not but since it’s slow, this will alert me to anything but I can pretty much do my own thing.

11:00am : I get up and tidy the kitchen. Then make toast with pb, hashbrowns, and bacon. I look over some work stuff but it’s super light this week because of the holiday.

3:00pm : Drop off a bag of papers for shredding at Staples. I miss having an office to do this for for free. D’s work has the confidential shredding bins and we had them at the office. – $5.00

8:00pm : Relax on the couch with D and my cat to watch the Bachelorette finale. I make a smorgasbord of pizza rolls, a cheese stick, chips, and half of a brownie.

Daily Total : $5

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Wednesday, December 23

9:00am : I roll out of bed with my alarm after scrolling through Reddit and cuddling with Cat for about an hour. I pour a cup of coffee then load and start the dishwasher before logging into work.

1:00am : Therapy.

1:55p : I pick up a large pack of Templates to use with Notion. I’ve loved using it to organize my 2019-2020. Ready to give my Notion a facelift. – $19

2:10pm : I take a shower and listen to ”Year of Magical Thinking” audio book.

6:00pm : We’re treating tonight like the weekend so we order some sushi. -$49.21

Daily Total : $68.21

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Thursday, December 24

1:00pm : Meet up with M on her island in Animal Crossing. We play together for a while.

7:00p : Dinner is leftover pasta. We watch the original Miracle on 34th, which we’ve both seen several times.Then follow it up with It’s a Wonderful Life.

Daily Total : $0

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Friday, December 25 – Merry Christmas!

9:00am : Mosey out of bed.

12:00pm : My brother S and sis in law J call and we chat. They have snow in Northern Washington!

1:00p : zoom with D’s family.

3:00pm : Eat pot roast and watch Wonder Woman 1984. It was really fun. (But honestly, as a film it was very bad.)

6:00pm : After going for a walk around Toluca Lake to check out Christmas lights, call my sis and chat for a while.

7:00pm : We go to KFC and split a 3 piece chicken combo while watching “Uncle Buck”. It’s been a while since we’ve both watched this. – $6.60

Daily Total :$6.60

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Saturday, December 26

9:00am : Dad calls which is wild bc it’s nearly midnight back home! We chat then I do my night time wind down routine. 

6:00pm : We get dinner from Ayara Thai. We got $50 from Dan’s grandma and use it on the bill. –  $18.74 

Daily Total :$18.74

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Sunday, December 27

7:00pm : Do a load of laundry then clean the kitchen. Load our laundry app with $20.

3:00pm : Late lunch from poke place with Dan. – $32.61

8:00p : Wind down.

Daily Total : $52.61

Daily Total : $165.16

Money Diaries : December 14 – 20

Monday, December 14

9:00am : Work. Make toast with pb.

12p : Go for a walk.

1pm : Have some soup for lunch.

3:00pm : Dropped off my library books and picked up some sushi. – $33.23

9:30p : Lay in bed and read til I fall asleep.

Daily Total : $33.23

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Tuesday, December 15

7:22a : Kelly Purkey releases this month’s scrapbook designs under her new brand, Paper Person. So cute. I pick up a couple stamps – $33.58

7:30am : I make 2 big Scrapbook.com orders a year for necessities that I use a lot. This is one of those orders. – $102.97

12:00pm : Make a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with some popcorn for lunch.

7:00p : D and I pick up Dog Haus then watch Bachelorette. – $33.23

9:00pm : Booked a private camping site in Los Angeles for my bday. (All national parks are closed to camping due to Covid.) – $312.49

Daily Total :$482.27

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Wednesday, December 16

8:00am : Therapy.

11:00am : Do two loads of laundry. – $5.50

5:00p : I pour a glass of red wine and fire up google hangout to have drinks with my co-workers Phil (whose last day is Friday) and Meghan (whose last day was last Friday). Vent-session ensues. I’m gonna really miss these two. 

7:30pm : Wow, that was so nourishing! I eat leftover spaghetti but I’m still hungry so I order sushi because I’m horrible. – $38.43

8:30p : My new apple watch came in the mail while I was hanging with Meghan and Phil. I watch National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation while I set it up. 

Daily total : $38.43

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Thursday, December 17

9:00am : Work!

12:30p : Kind of a busy day. I decide I’m finally feeling well enough to go for a run. But I feel like I’m starting from scratch again.

3:00pm : After doing some work and an obnoxiously long shower, I make mac n cheese for lunch.

Daily Total : $0

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Friday, December 18

9:00am : Work!

1:00pm : Meet up with a friend at Griffith Park and we hike the Boy Scout trail to the Observatory. We hang out and chit chat for a while before heading back down.

6:00opm : We order Something Vegan. I get a blackbean burger and fries while Dan gets a Beyond Burger and Garlic Fries. We get it delivered. – $48.91

Daily Total : $48.91

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Saturday, December 19

9:00am : Lay around most of the day and play video games.

1:00pm : D and I go to the Home Alone pop up in Studio City, across the  street from Aroma Cafe. We get a couple cokes and a large “Buzz” aka Pepperoni. When we get home I finally watch last year’s Christmas present from D. Home Alone with the tarantula scenes edited out. -$37.35

6:00pm : Dinner is leftovers!

Daily Total : $37.35

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Sunday, December 20

10:30am : Eat a banana for breakfast.

6:00pm : For dinner, D and I prepare the Women in Film recipe that was provide for the holiday party cooking class. Shrimp Linguini and stuffed mushrooms. Yum!

Daily Total : $0

Weekly Total : $640.19

Money Diary : December. 7- 13

Monday, December 7

9am : Work

6:00pm : Got sushi – $38.83

Daily Total : $38.83

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Tuesday, December 8

9am : Work

10:00am : Pick up breakfast from Good Neighbor. D and I split pancakes and all the sides. – $21.75

3:00pm : It’s weirdly slow, so I take a 2 hour bath.

8:0pm : Bach!

Daily Total : $21.75

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Wednesday, December 9

9am : Work

12:00p : McDonald’s for lunch. – $10.70

Daily Total : $10.70

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Thursday, December 10

12p – lunch. Make grilled cheese and soup.

1p : meeting with my friend Amanda! We chat for 2 hours, good thing work is slow today.

6pm : Order sushi. – $46.70

Daily Total : $46.70 aka too much.

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Friday, December 11

9:00am : Work!

6:30p : Log off work. D got a grubhub giftcard from work. We order a pizza, wings, and mac n cheese bites from Pizza Man. Also order a 2 liter of Coke. – $28.43

Daily Total :$28.43

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Saturday, December 12

1:00pm : After binging the final 3 episodes of the doco series, “Murder on Middle Beach” I log into Animal Crossing and Meghann and I play together on our islands. It’s really fun to be able to chit chat and virtually spend time together playing video games.

6:00pm : D and I drive to Candy Cane Lane to see Christmas lights and try to feel festive.

8:00pm : We pick up Islands for dinner. I get a burger, fries, and root beer and D gets Island Nachos. – $37.13

Daily Total :$37.13

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Sunday, December 13

9:00am : D gets us McDonald’s breakfast  – $14.43

10:02am: I download All Trails to my phone and pay for a 1 year Pro membership and then download it also onto D’s phone. We talked it over and will be doing the 52 hike challenge in 2021. – $29.99

1:00pm : D and I go hike George’s Gap up in Angeles Forest.

4:00pm : I get a poke bowl. – $25.91

 $9:00pm : I re-watch The Family Stone and then go to bed.

Daily Total : $70.33

Weekly Total : $260.87

Thoughts on the week : Well, it was not great for take out – which is one of my big goals coming up. I should not be getting delivery every day of the work week when I have so many financial goals. That’s something I’m working hard to improve

Report Card : $43,992.34 – A Decade of Nothing

I graduated college back in 2010. I served in AmeriCorps, I worked several jobs at the same time, and I’ve barely paid my debt off. I’ve struggled a lot. I’ve moved across the country and scrambled to make minimum payments over the last 10 years.

Some of the balance is in 1 Parent Plus Loan in my mom’s name (But I make the payments) The parent loan has increased about $7,000 since I took out the loan! I’ve barely paid anything on that and what started as a $10,000 loan is now about 50% more. It’s wild.

And despite the fact that I’ve paid off a few of the sub-loans with my Federal servicer, Mohela, I’ve still made enough back in interest to not make a dent.

When I graduated I had $20,980.00 in debt in my name with Mohela. Now the balance of those 8 loans is $26,770.44.

I’ve been married now for 3 years to D. He was an only child and so fortunately his parents were able to pay for his college education. He brought a small credit card balance into our marriage which we immediately paid off. When I say small, I mean like, a few hundred. He’s always been responsible though I would say neither of us were ever taught much about personal finance and brought up very financially literate.

When I was in AmeriCorps I had a $1500 balance on my credit card because I needed a new laptop desperately when I graduated college. I charged it and as a National Service Member was making about $4 an hour and getting food stamps. I got really into Dave Ramsey’s basic principles and did the baby steps to pay the card off during my term. It was really really difficult. At the time, I just wasn’t making much money and barely scraping by.

Now, we charge a lot of our bills for the points and pay off our card every month. With the pandemic, we’re being careful but I’ll admit we haven’t been baking bread and learning how to make gourmet food. We’ve been eating a lot of take out. This is something I really want to roll back and gain control of.

How do you control your takeout consumption and stay responsible?

Choose Your Own Adventure..

I’m a writer. I write stories, scripts, and journal every day. But if the last year has taught us anything, it’s that time is precious and I want to document all of it.

When California put us all under Stay at Home orders back in March, my husband and I thought that it would be a matter of weeks of working from home and staying in our pajamas all day.

Boy, were we wrong.

It’s now mid-December 2020 and we’re both still working from home and hunkered down here in Los Angeles. We’ve canceled trips, missed out on flying back home to Michigan to see our families for Christmas, and watched the news cover the thousands of heart-breaking deaths.

This blog isn’t about anything in particular but about my journey to live more of my life with less. I want less debt and less things and more memories and laughs. Every day at home since March has created a weird vacuum for time and for memories – all the days seem to flow into each other. Did we watch that movie last week or 3 months ago?

In an effort to live each day that I’m giving to the fullest I’ll be paying down my debt to zero, not like my things own me, and hiking 52 times in the new year.

Yes, I love myself but every day is a new day to be a better me. This is Angie Improved.

Here I go..

I don’t want to just jump into a blog with a million goals and no aim. I want to work a little bit each day towards my future.

I’m happy with myself. I love myself. But we’re all always improving every day and can make the most of life. That’s what I’m looking for. With all these months staying at home and trying to stay safe, I want to keep developing and work on my goals.

• 52 Hike Challenge – My husband, D and I will be doing the 52 Hike Challenge in 2021. Every Saturday for a year we will go for a hike. The goal here is to get out in a way that can be socially distant and safe. To grow muscles, endurance, and spend some time together away from screens and in nature.
• Finances – I still have student loans. A lot. We have been defering payments due to several hardships in our past and I want to focus on paying down debt aggressively this year. This will bring down stress levels and create healthier finances for us.
• Writing – I want to focus on finishing my feature and polishing my pilot. The goal is to have a portfolio that I’m proud of.

This is not a list of New Year’s Resolutions or a #NewYearNewMe version. I want to be the same me but make healthy choices that will enhance my current life and the blessings that I always have.