Walmart blowers

My A/C stopped working last night, in one of the hottest days in South Florida (95 F max).
I noticed the Wyze Thermostat was offline, so I tried reconnecting it but it required resetting it to factory settings and start from zero, unnecessarily asking for wiring and stuff. Anyway, once I got it online again it I tried lowering the temp but the HVAC's blower didn't start, so I accepted defeat, turned the thermostat off and endured through this really hot night armed only with a fan.
I called a technician today and, after checking it out, he diagnosed the problem was the thermostat that wasn't firing up the blower, so he removed it, installed a cheap basic digital thermostat, and charged me $150 for the job.
I checked at Home Depot and Walmart, to see if they still carried the Wyze Thermostat, but it's no longer in inventory. My only option is buying another directly from Wyze or Amazon, but I think I'm going to pass on Wyze this time and instead buy the Amazon's branded Smart Thermostat, which is similarly priced.

First off, shout out to all you detailing enthusiasts; I appreciate you, pros and DIYers alike. I follow this community with strong interest and genuinely enjoy detailing my car. It relaxes me and sets my mind into a very calm, zen-like state, and I enjoy seeing the finished result (exterior more so than interior)
I thought I'd share my non-pro setup with other DIY newbies, which seems to work really well for me and covers most situations without spending a crazy amount of money on chemicals or fancy towels.
Towels: The Costco yellow microfiber ones. Yes, they have edges. No, they aren't as nice as some people on here rave about, but they get the job done, and you can't beat the value. Just be careful about those edges by folding your towels and keeping them clean and free from grit that can scratch your clear coat.
Soap: I only use car wash soap when my cars are really filthy. When they are, I use whatever I can pick up at Costco on the cheap (currently TW Max Power Car Wash), and the two-bucket method.
Otherwise, I use ONR with the big red sponge exactly the way they prescribe for maintenance washes, and it's such a good answer. I'd say it covers 80% of my washing use cases.
I use grit guards in my buckets in all cases.
Drying (after two bucket wash): A leaf blower was a game changer, well worth it. Followed by microfiber towels.
Prep: I picked up a synthetic clay bar from Amazon, highly reusable and effective. I use ONR in a spray bottle for lubrication. I don't bother with chemical decontamination of any sort
Correction and protection: I'm a big fan of Turtle Wax Wax & Polish Hybrid solution; this lifts up all kinds of small imperfections like hard water spots or light swirls and leaves the car gleaming.
When the clear coat doesn't need any correction, I use Turtle Wax Ceramic & Graphene paste wax. I top both with TW Ceramic Wax Spray. Either way, treatment lasts about 4-6 months. I use a cheap 5" orbital wax applicatopolisher (the kind you see at Walmart with one speed) to apply the above and picked up a 20 pack of bonnets from Amazon for very little. Saves on labor and speeds things up
Windows: AMAZ window cleaner leaves them totally clean, but due to my water and parking outside all the time I'm dealing with more water spots than most people, if my situation was different vinegar and water would be it. Top with RainX.
Exterior Trim: 303 Aerospace Protectant for the win. Looks great, but unfortunately, it doesn't last long. A local detailer and this forum suggest I look into Solution Finish. It's expensive, so I haven't yet. Maybe one day.
Tires & Wheels: I'd like to up my game here, I just use a microfiber and 303 Multisurface to hand clean them then spray with some tire black I picked up at Costco, it doesn't work super well or stay long but I do top with TW Ceramic Spray and that seems to help keep them on the cleaner side though doesn't last as long as on the paint
Quick Detail: ONR! Put some in a spray bottle when you mix up a big batch, grab a microfiber and go. The quick detailers from TW and others are nice, but ONR gets the job done
Interior: I had been happy with Microfibers and 303 Multi-surface, but I switched to Megs Quick Interior Detailer, which I found on sale. I like Meg's a lot, but it can be expensive. Followed by 303 Aerospace in appropriate locations. Otherwise, shop vac it.

Some years ago my friends and I were bored. We remembered a demonstration from a high school science class of a "Solar Balloon". This was just a really thin black plastic bag you'd fill with air, seal, and then set out in the sun. The sun would heat the air in the black bag and the bag would become buoyant and float.
We had the idea to find the cheapest/thinnest black plastic trash bags available and combine a bunch of them to make a huge balloon. We spent a few days driving around to Walmarts and dollar stores trying different brands to find the thinnest possible plastic bag and thinnest tape which would work the best. Finally we took a number of them, cut off the bottom ends, and taped them together into a huge balloon which we filled up with a leaf blower and then tied the end. After sitting out in the sun for a half hour or so we had done it! Shortly after this the balloon got away from us and we forgot about it.
A few years later I happened across this news article. The balloon that got away had apparently blown a town over and caused a big UFO panic. People were calling 911, the police, and local radio stations about it. Our boredom unintentionally created a UFO panic in central NJ. I moved out of the area but when I get together with my friend we always bring this up and have a good laugh.

Hello Snarkers, in a flurry of needed activity on YouTube saving me from a couple of hours agonizing over a basketball game, JimBlessa and OfNostrils both posted their vlogs. I was already in the middle of the Great Value recap, also a JimBlessa work, and here she comes 2 months late with Hank’s Birthday Week. I have a soft spot for the February J’Granddugglets because they’re my birthday buddies with Hank being the 6th, Giddy-Up the 23rd and Bunk Baby #4 Bre-Yell on the 25th. I will probably flip a coin on which recap is after this. Anyways, let’s see what Hank got for his birthday.
JimBlessa opens with the Plants doing sit-ups with their feet under the couch. Plant 1 has a pillow between her leg and the couch. JimBlessa’s captions state they decided to work out all by themselves. And she just happened to have the camera in her hand too, I’ll bet. I mean, I know, phones but seriously. These kids are going to remember the camera instead of their mother’s face. JimBlessa sits on the couch as S. Elliot does a sit-up from under his mother’s left elbow, his pillow is behind his head as Hank does sit ups without anything or anyone holding his ankles down. He says this is the hardest kind as he mimics S. Elliot and holds his bangs out of his eyes. S. Elliot sits all the way up and says he’s sweating already. “19….20” he counts as he finishes his sit-ups. Good job says JimBlessa as she turns the shot to Plant 1, exuberantly bouncing next to a chair as she proclaims she is exercising more. Cherish that energy, child, it will run out. As Hank runs over to do his sit-ups with his feet under the couch, joined by Plant 2, someone says they have to do “these kind of push-ups”. I assume it’s S. Elliot because Hank is frantically doing his sit-ups. Either way, Plant 1 drops into an immediate push-up and starts cranking them out like someone just told her “Drop and give me 20”. She makes eye connection with the camera, stops and says “my arms are getting tired”. Girly over here trying to be G.I. Jane for Jesus at 4 years old. Is Bin slipping protein powder into her sippy or something? Plant 1 jumps to her feet.
Day 1
Bin carries in the Amazon box as Hank sits on the couch flanked by his siblings. He emits a shriek of delight as he pulls a remote control car out of the box. Bin tells him that he can drive it not just on the pavement, but also on the grass. S. Elliot adds in that he can also drive it on the dirt pile. Hank stands outside as his toy flies across the patchy grass. JimBlessa films and says “good night that is fast”. Yeah, it’s not gonna go very far on the grass going slow. Hank runs it over towards where Plant 2 is, but she’s not very scared by it. He whoops and yells and then runs it into his foot. He recovers quickly and gets back to happily driving it.
Day 2 brings an Amazon brown paper bag listlessly handed over from behind the camera. He pulls out a book that he smiles at and then digs into a candy necklace that JimBlessa says “he has been asking for for months”. So let’s see here. Hank’s birthday is roughly 6 weeks or so after Christmas and you’re telling me no one got this child a fucking candy necklace? Weak…they’re like a dollar or two. He digs into his candy necklace and hands his joke book to S. Elliot who opens it before the shot goes to Plant 2 using toilet paper roll binoculars electrical taped together. JimBlessa’s captions credit Plant 1 with the creation of the binoculars before subtitling Hank reading his jokes out loud. The first one is to Plant 1 and goes as follows: “why did the gingerbread man go to the doctor?” “It was feeling crummy”. Not bad. JimBlessa chuckles and Hank shoots her a look of pure confusion as S.Elliot munches on some popcorn. Next is: “Why did the orange get thrown out of the frozen juice factory?” Plant 1 sticks her face in the shot, JimBlessa cuts the shot and asks Hank why. He answers, “because it wouldn’t concentrate.” S. Elliot looks at his mother and chuckles when she does. He leans over see the book as Hank asks “why did the lime go to the doctor?” “Because he wasn’t peeling well” is the answer and Plant 1 walks over with a stuffed animal stuffed into her Christmas stocking to peer into the scene.
Day 3
The Plants and Pastors are gathered in the living room. Bin films as S. Elliot hands over the paper WalMart envelope. The Pastors promptly lose their shit over the Minecraft Bee Set. S. Elliot patiently explains the set to his father and we move on to Day 4.
Day 4
Bin tells Hank this is an early birthday present. What were the other three days preceding this then? A warm-up? JimBlessa films as he opens the box to find a Lego Star Wars set and Bin uncoolly narrates the box’s text. Plant 1 sips her kiddie latte as Bin says something about Kamino. JimBlessa comes over to shoot over Hank’s shoulder as he sits on a couch against a wall. Bin explains that the Lego ship is specifically from “Kamino, where the clone factory is and they find is it Jango Fett?” Bud, you’re not fooling anyone, you have watched a series of movies about telekinetic space wizards and various extraterrestrial life forms, some of whom scientifically fill any quiver you ask them to. Don’t get me wrong, Star Wars is fine, but don’t be all “there is no magic besides God sanctioned magic” then recite 1/3 of Obi-Wan’s plot line in Attack of the Clones like you’ve watched it at least once every year since it came out on DVD. Hank jumps up and yells excitedly. Next is Hank Cam, where JimBlessa lets the 7 year old show up close his favorite parts of his toy. His favorite is R4, and he likes the space to put things. Yeah they totes watch this with the kids. How Christian. He likes Obi-Wan and the scene cuts.
Day 5
All 4 walking children line up on the couch. Bin hands over a box and films as Hank opens up a ZipString, which is basically a motorized silly string lasso. He proceeds to swing it around the room and I’ll admit, it looks kinda cool. In the words of Baby Swiss “I’d rock with it”. He smiles as he points the string at the camera.
Day 6- Hank’s Birthday
He accepts a brown paper bag with handles and pulls out a can of sour cream and onion Pringles, what appears like a ring pop, a party blower and another candy necklace. S. Elliot is as supportively awed by his brother’s gifts as Hank was for his birthday. Hank responds to Plant 1’s request to blow the party blower into her face. JimBlessa puts an end to this and gives everyone else their own party blower and candy necklace. Now, it’s off to the Birthday Tradition that seems to be more of an available on request situation. That’s right, it’s the Chocolate Mess. Hank grips his spoon as the rest of the family sings to him. S. Elliot also readies his spoon as Hank finally gets to blow out the birthday candle. Bin takes custody of the candle and they say “look what you’ve got” to Hank, who with his brother is busily digging into the giant dessert. Bin also digs in and films, pulling double duty. He moans in delight at the copious amount of chocolate. Anybody else like chocolate syrup? Bin digs into the ice cream and Hank works his way through his dessert. Bin says “well, happy birthday” to his second born. And the scene cuts to Plant 1 explaining The Go-Kart Game. The rules are “if you touch a tire, you’re out! That’s the judgement. But if you’re doing the game and you crash, it just doesn’t make any sense, you just keep getting to do it.” Bin answers “mmhmm”. Plant 1 goes on to say she is going to ride the motorcycle. She punctuates the sentence with “eee” and then says “motorcycle, motorcycle” as her brothers are filmed circling the go-kart track. Inside at the arcade, Plant 1 sits atop a motorcycle game and races Hank. S. Elliot waits on the side next to Plant 1. Bin switches over to see Plant 1 revving the game like a pro and sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth as she concentrates on absolutely owning this motorcycle race. Hank plays a game with plastic balls and a bulldog’s open mouth as S. Elliot and Plant 1 look on. The scene ends as they all look toward where the tickets spit out.
Day 7
The captions inform us that the last gift came late as Plant 1 solemnly walks up with the Amazon paper bag and hands it to Hank, who tells her to take her place on the couch next to him. S. Elliot sarcastically drawls “you got a box”. Well, he inherited that smart mouth from his mother, there’s no doubt about that. Hank digs in to the box and says “come on piggy bank, oink oink” which damn near made me spit out the drink I had just taken. (not booze, although I probably should have). It is indeed a neon green piggy bank and he excitedly looks it over. The next shot is of Hank with what is actually a pretty bitchin pompadour a-poppin as he sits nervously at an old style school desk. He holds a tooth in his hand and says he almost swallowed it. Giddy-Up would like a word about this flossless tooth loss. It’s only Hank’s second tooth and S. Elliot says he pulled it out. Hank said he didn’t. JimBlessa explains that that’s called losing the tooth. He probably just pushed it and it came out. He shows off his teeth to JimBlessa as Plant 1 tells him to suck his breath in with his jaw shut. Well, she demonstrates it. “Wow bud, now you don’t have to worry about losing it in your sleep”. That sentence feels icky. And if anyone wanted proof Bin is inhaling some Devil’s lettuce salads, the fact they are saying “bud” is it. I once spent a weekend with the rest of a wedding party full of stoners and they having entire conversations composed only of the word “bud”. It was like “This bachelobachelorette weekend sponsored by the word ‘Bud’.” I’m mostly joking. Okay 60/40 joking vs not joking. 6 out of 10 tots joking. The scene goes to the supper table. Plant 2 points and babbles at JimBlessa as Hank slurps what looks like apple juice out of a plastic cup. There is asparagus and chicken on the table. I wonder if she still uses Hello Fresh for 6 people. Bin is filming his wife laugh and then says “let’s eat, let’s pray”. He puts the phone down to pray then the footage comes back to show S. Elliot standing up to serve his dad asparagus to go with his bacon strips, chicken and rice as Bin holds his plate up. He has let his pompadour deflate and hang over his forehead. JimBlessa asks for the same amount of food as her husband got. The rest of the children dig in with little Valentine’s day candies next to their plate. Plant 1 pipes up “MOMMY!” “yeah…” JimBlessa replies. Plant 1 says “gracious me, good night” then she mumbles something as she picks up her fork to get another bite. JimBlessa tells her to be careful and move her cup away from the edge. Plant 1 then yells her thanks to S. Elliot as the camera swings back across the table as everyone eats. Next, we are zoomed in on Plant 2, being asked if she is a pirate because she is holding the chocolates to her eye. JimBlessa tells Plant 2 she is funny and to eat them. Plant 2 bites off a third and holds the rest of the candy up for JimBlessa to see.
The kids go outside to make use of their rainboots as they trudge back and forth across a giant puddle in their yard. One of the Pastors sticks the water with a stick. As JimBlessa fires up the nostalgia filter she recalls a giant puddle in their backyard when they were young Duggalos and Duggalettes and these childhood memories are the best memories. She realizes raising the rest of your parents offspring for them isn’t a childhood right? She says the kids’ birthdays make her super sentimental and she was looking through old pictures and videos of Hank. I just want to know if she sneezed when she finally managed to dig out Hank’s pictures etc out from all the dust.
Hank’s Greatest Hits 0-7
Sitting in a tree fort next to JimBlessa as a roly poly toddler, waving to “grandma”.
Eating pinches of peanut butter from a paper popcorn tray as the caption says “that peanut butter was good to the last drop” with a heart in a nod to Perm. My god does this one kiss ass.
Being held by Bin by a lake, when a dog barks, Hank starts to make sounds back at it. As Bin talks to Hank about it being a dog, JimBlessa is distracted by the moon.
Bin wrestles with S. Elliot and Hank when they were roughly 1.5 and 3 years old.
Bin holds a 2 year old Hank and tries to get him to say “Zebra”. Hank smiles shyly at the camera and attempts it. Bin then calls S. Elliot over and asks if he sees the zebra.
S. Elliot sees his mother coming to where he and Hank are having a blast in the mud. He locks and loads his giant T-rex toy as he turns away. Hank is sitting by the mud being asked if his red monster truck is dirty. He takes the truck to the bucket of water and submerges his truck in the water, ignoring JimBlessa’s questions.
Hank dumps cups with dirt and gravel into a Tonka truck. He counts as he does, tossing in cups 8 and 9. He smiles and looks at the camera. The wheels turn as he confidently dumps the cup into the truck and announces 9, proudly and for the second time. The caption says “back when ‘9’ was his favorite number.” Another 9th cupful goes in and JimBlessa insists 10 is the right number. Well actually by now its 11 but who’s counting. Not JimBlessa. Hank walks to the front of the Tonka and dumps it out with a silent but insistent “9”.
S. Elliot laughs as Baby Hank places a piece of food into S. Elliot’s mouth. JimBlessa narrates “someone said to cherish the small moments because you look back and realize they were the big moments”. Well, yeah. Hindsight is 20/20 and you don’t remember the sleepless nights and the stress 20 years after the fact. Human memory is a crazy thing.
Well, Snarkers, that’s all for Hank’s birthday. Now that JimBlessa has gotten around to remembering it’s his birthday. Who wants to bet the Plants’ birthday vlogs will be right on time. On a Friday, when her sister is releasing her weekly vlog. You know how she does. Have a great weekend and good luck on the brackets!

Bought a house a few months ago, it came with the cheapest mower Walmart sells, and a Craftsman string trimmer. I used them a little bit in the fall, they work fine for now, but I'm going to need other stuff soon.
Disclaimer: I work at Lowes so I'd like to stick with our brands so i can get discounts and such (Skil, EGO, Toro, Craftsman, Kobalt).
My yard is pretty small, so ideally i would like to go all electric. We just got Toro, no idea how good it is... EGO sells pretty well and i don't see it returned very often. Kobalt and Craftsman are more budget oriented options.
Whatever brand i get I'm going to end up getting the stuff i don't have first (blower, edger, etc)... But i would like to have all the batteries and chargers work together. Opinions?

Hello all,
As the title says, Im looking for powertool suggestions. Something that works hard, but is also not insanely expensive. My grandpa loved his Black and Decker, but I've read reviews on how they went downhill.
I live pretty close to a Home Depot, Walmart, and Harbor Freight, of course online shopping is an option too.
My criteria I'd like to meet is:

• Vast amount of products. (ex: Chainsaws, Blowers, Drills, Ratchets, etc)
• Inexpensive
• Can work on automobiles with said tools, and I've been doing some lawn and gardening too lately.

I was thinking perhaps Ryobi, or HF, but again Im not too sure about these brands, and I would love for your guys' inputs and suggestions.

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Ok with in dropshoping there are three main "types" of stores (I am ignoring POD for this discussion). Single product stores
General stores
Niche stores
First Lets talk about the single product stores. I prefer to avoid these full stop. Now most people that run single product stores and actually know what they are doing they do this as a cash grab. They are not interested in building a brand, and there is nothing wrong with this. But here are the reasons that I think most people should avoid this kind of store, especially starting out.

1. You need to know your target market, and honeslty most of you don't know your target markets nor what kind of information you need to know.
2. Interest in your product WILL slow down, most of these one product stores ride a trend or a fad and then fade out
3. When the interest wears out you have to build a new store, spend more money to get a domain name, business email the whole nine yards and plus there is more research involved trying to find a possible "winning product"

Next up General stores. Now general stores are both a good thing and a bad thing. I personally don't care for them BUT they are an ok way to start. Now the reason I do not care for general stores are for the following reasons:

1. It's can be hard to build a brand around a general store, now having said that its not impossible if you build the store around a theme, like a dollar general or Walmart style of store
2. Marketing can be a bit of a pain in the ass as each product, each category needs its own target market, which means more research. Yes AI can help in this research but it still takes time. Lets say as an example you sell a set of carving knives and a leaf blower, not everyone is going to want a leaf blower and not everyone is going to want a carving knife so you need to find a target market for each product/category. Tip for those that want to start a general store make sure that your products are in categories and they make sense within that category, you are not going to sell a pink tutu and a Hell's angel leather jacket together.
3. Its harder to bulid a social media following that actually converts to sales simply because of the wide range of target markets you have, sure you can have a broad target market but again it can be difficult, not impossible but difficult.

Now my preferred type of store is a niche store. Now this is not a "perfect" ONLY type of store but its a personal preference for me. The reasons are as follows

1. You KNOW your target market, and in general you will only have one target market (note i said general as I currently have a store that has three target markets but all three are tied in together as they all three use nail polish and false nails)
2. Its easier to build a social media following because you know your niche, and know where they hang out which means you can target them easier
3. You have a better idea of what kinds of products to offer your target market. There is less guess work involved.
4. Easier to build a brand around a niche than a general store (again its not impossible to build a brand around a general store) as you have a better understanding of what the target market with in the niche is looking for, what they want and it makes it easier to use their pain points when you are not spreading yourself out trying to chase the latest and greatest product.

So there you have it the reason I avoid two types of stores and prefer a niche store. Now there are people that will disagree with me and that is cool we are all allowed to have our own opinion but the one thing you NEED to know is this. No matter the type of store you run, even POD, you need to KNOW your target market. And no not everyone is going to be your customer so saying that you sell to 18-99+ is a waste of your money and more importantly a waste of your time. So KNOW your target market folks do a deep dive on them even before you start looking for products!

The answer is that that welfare money goes to large public companies and a little goes to mom and pop shops as so many have faded away with Amazon, etc.
POLITICS Walmart and McDonald’s are among top employers of Medicaid and food stamp beneficiaries, report says
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/walmart-and-mcdonalds-among-top-employers-of-medicaid-and-food-stamp-beneficiaries.html
What do you think the government did after the last depression or in any other financial disaster in the past in America? They nationalized shit until things could be fixed. The main problem I see is that no one trusts the government. I think we should amend the constitution (The founders also specified a process by which the Constitution may be amended, and since its ratification, the Constitution has been amended 27 times. source: Whitehouse.gov) and set up the most transparent independent department ever so that people are aware of what is happening with their tax dollars, nationalized dollars etc. along with some great whistle blower programs, etc. Someone needs to be trusted to put more beans in America's Debt jar than go out, along with a few left over. It is completely fine to have a huge debt, only if you have the income (GDI in this case) to offset it.

Hi Money Diaries Community! This is my second money diaries post, the first being on the actual website back in 2017 when I was single and making a low wage at our local government. I love seeing how things change, but really, I'm still a stickler about where every dollars goes and making sure that matches my/our priorities. This is from last week, so ask away, if you have any questions!
Section One: Assets and Debt
My husband and I combined finances when we bought our house in early 2021, after we’d been engaged for about 6 months. Currently, the majority of our paychecks go into our joint account, and then we each get $200 a month in our personal accounts as our “allowance.” Before that, we decided on a set amount from our paychecks to go into a joint account (I think it was around $500/paycheck) when we were just dating. Then our mortgage, bills, and groceries came out of that account, and we split everything else.
Our incomes have fluctuated heavily over the last couple of years, and this is the lowest we’ve made annually since 2019. While we had higher incomes, we used that excess to put a large amount down on our house, pay for our destination wedding in cash, pay off our vehicles, and furnish our home, and fill some retirement buckets so we are not feeling the pinch as hard.
I have used the You Need a Budget software for my finances and to track every purchase since June of 2016 so I am pretty in tune to our average expenses.
We very likely will not have children, we keep say that we’ll make that choice when I turn 35, but that’s a year and 2 months away and after writing this diary, it confirms I (we) will have a very hard time changing our lifestyle. Being the fun aunt and uncle is the best though!
CURRENT FINANCIAL PICTURE
Retirement Balance - $66,200 (hers) and $76,400 (his) – we have both saved for retirement since we started working at 22 but with the bare minimum. In 2020, we ramped it up. We both have the standard-ish matched with our current employers – 3%. In other jobs, it has been more. Currently, he is putting 10% into his 401k and I am putting in 6%.
Equity – we have about $140,000 in equity; it was appraised in mid-2022 at $510,000, we owe about $368,000. Our PITI is $1,873; we have a 3.125% interest rate
Savings account balance - $2500 in a HYSA and $9500 in brokerage accounts
HSA - $2700 in my husbands account, $1100 in my account, both our employers put in $1000 each year
Checking account balance – we keep at $1000 buffer and this fluctuates but averages around $5000
Credit card debt - None
Student loan debt - $58,000 for my masters degree, my husband had no student debt
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I started as a 5th grade teacher in 2012, my first salary was $36,000. As a second year teacher, I made $37,500 and realized very quickly teaching was not for me so I quit to go back to school for my masters in nonprofit management.
2014 – working part time at a nonprofit, going to grad school - $16/hour, 20 hours a week. I fully planned on taking advantage of the public service loan forgiveness and was not worried about paying for school in the slightest
2015 – moved to a different nonprofit, full time - $18/hour
2017 – moved to local government, $41,500 salary, and they took out 12% of my income for a pension account, this was my first big step in retirement savings
2018 – promoted to a different department - $48,000
2020 – went back to nonprofit after the most toxic boss of my life, 3 days before covid shut down the world - $50,000
2021 – COLA raise - $52,500
2022 – the nonprofit undervalued my job, even though I was doing 3 jobs in one, typical nonprofit. My CEO strung me along for a year, promising a salary and title adjustment. Once it finally happened, she offered me an insulting amount. That coupled with my husband’s job/industry looking very shaky and with the $10k in student loan forgiveness (RIP), I decided I was over nonprofits, so I moved to a corporate job - $80k
2023 – I took on a team and got a raise - $90k
We shall see what 2024 holds.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $5,286/ month for me, $2,488 for my husband
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: none really, occasionally we’ll sell things here and there, do a couple secret shopper things, but that’s less than $500/year
Any Other Monthly Income Here: about $2,000 a year in credit card cash back, about $1,000/year in Christmas and birthday cash
Section Three: Expenses
Monthly expenses:

• Mortgage: $1,873 (includes taxes and insurance, about $750/month actually goes towards principal)
• Savings contribution: $385 each a month to our separate HYSA
• Investment contribution: none
• Debt payments: my student loan payments start in March at $558
• Electric: $150 (fluctuates deeply, from $60 in the winter to $350 in the height of summer)
• Wifi/Cable/Landline: $61
• Cellphone: $90
• Subscriptions: $115 (Peloton, Hulu, Spotify, iCloud, Costco, Unlimited Car Wash, annual YNAB, etc)
• Pet expenses: averages $175 for a large dog and a grey cat
• Car payment/insurance: no car payment, $510/6 months was my last payment. My husbands family pays for his car insurance
• Gas: $140
• Paid hobbies/Fun Money: $200 each ($400 total) for our allowances – this includes his golfing, my shopping, any miscellaneous things like that
• Groceries: $525
• Household items: $200 (a misc bucket of house crap, could be a new kitchen gadget, could be toilet paper)
• Eating Out: $500
• Miscellaneous: $500 (can be anything from parking fees to concert tickets to random target trips, etc)

Annual expenses (these are averages from 2023):

• “Fun for Others” bucket: $5,000 (includes birthday gifts and celebrations, Christmas, misc gifts, holiday hosting)
• Travel: $15,000
• Home projects: $5000 (last year was putting grass in the backyard and a new fridge, this year hopefully it’s a new LoveSac!) – we did take it out of our savings, trying to cash flow this year
• Charity: $841 (we each pick a charity and split this amount)

Section Four: Money Diary
SATURDAY
8:30 - I wake to a dog snout in my face. As soon as my husband left, the dog climbs up in his spot to snooze on his pillows until I wake up.
8:45 - we get out of bed and my husband makes coffee. I start putting together a breakfast casserole; it helps to get rid of all the bits and pieces leftover for the week. The “crust” is shredded hash brown, baked to get crunchy. Then I top it with roasted red bell peppers, green chiles, and leftover freezer ham from Christmas. The custard mixture is 8 eggs, some rogue sour cream and half and half with some spices. I top with cheddar and it bakes for an hour. After 2023, we are really trying to get our grocery bill back down to $500/month, that means we are leftover people. But I try to repurpose them. While it cooks, my husband plays video games on his hated PS4 and I scroll TikTok.
11:00 - we empty the dishwasher and clean the kitchen, then take the dog for a mile and a half walk
11:15 - after breakfast, I make our meal plan for the week so I can schedule grocery pick up for Sunday morning. Since I am in the office Tuesdays and Thursdays, my husband meal plans and cooks on those days. I have some random things I need to use up in my fridge (cabbage, kimchi, tortillas) so I incorporate those as well.
12:30 - I make a quick salad of iceberg, 1/2 can of chickpeas, pepperoni, shredded mozzarella and a lemon Dijon vinaigrette for lunch, it’s the same salad we had last night for dinner. The fridge is now 90% empty from the week. We scarf it down, and my husband gets ready for his tee time and I get ready to run some errands and meet some friends. His tee time fee comes from his allowance.
1:00 - I run to Ulta for a pick up order from earlier in the week (paid for from my allowance) and a target order. I run inside Target to pick up deodorant for my husband, bird seed, and a water bottle. I had a random $10 gift card so I spent $17.
1:30 - I drive the 30 minutes downtown to meet my friends at a fun place made of shipping containers, each container is its own concept. I pay $3 for parking. I find my friends and order a Bloody Mary, $16 after tip. Insane. $19
3:00 - I grab a beer. $9 after tip.
4:30 - I run back to my meter and pay another $3 for 3 more hours. The group migrates to a pool bar. The guys play unlimited pool while the girls chit chat.
5:30 - I grab a beer at the pool bar $6 after tip.
6:30 - my husband meets us downtown and he pays for his parking and puts more money in my meter $5, he grabs a beer at the bar we are at and plays some pool with our friends $6.
7:45 - we walk to another brewery for dinner. I get chicken tenders and fries, he gets a hot chicken sammie with fries and we each get a beer, $59 after tip.
9:00 - we drive home separately
9:30 - home with the dog, husband makes us whiskey sours and we lay in bed to watch big brother 17 until it’s bedtime.
Day 1 Total: $119
SUNDAY
8:00 am - I wake up and my husband makes coffee, video games and phone scrolling again.
8:15 - I get a bunch of notifications that some Amazon subscriptions were charged - Brita filters, dog treats, and cat anti-hairball goo, and a 6month sub of my deodorant $68
9:30 - I heat up some breakfast casserole for us that we have with OJ.
10 - we drive a mile down the road to get our grocery pick up $47
10:10 - we get home and do some yard work, my husband cuts back some vines that died over the winter, we use the leaf blower, etc etc. we spend a lot of them outside so we try to keep things looking pretty.
11:15 - he cleans the grill for the season and I repot 2 plants that are horrifically root bound and should have been replanted 6 months ago
12 - we putter sound the house the rest of the afternoon. I make egg salad sandwiches for lunch, we watch Selena + Chef, my husband reads his book, there are naps involved, and I order a couple pairs of new jeans from American Eagle $83
4:30 - husband makes us some Tom Collins and we sit on the patio in the sun with the dog and the birds.
6:00 - I start dinner, green Pozole, I realize I forgot poblano peppers in the grocery pick up so my husband runs to grab them $2
7:30 - we eat the soup with all sorts of fun toppings while watching the Grammys.
10:00 – We get in bed and watch Big Brother until it's bed time.
Day 2 Total: $200
MONDAY
7:30 – The alarm goes off, Monday is here, why are we not financially independent and have to work? My husband makes coffee and it is laundry day – I have 3 loads to do, who know what my husband has to do, I throw my first load in.
8:00- the dog and I sit on the patio, I enjoy my coffee and the birds. I look through YNAB and see that our Hulu sub came out - $19 but our Amex gives us a $7 credit.
8:30 – I heat up the last of the breakfast casserole for us and scarf it down. I get ready for the WFH day, comfy clothes, minimal makeup, for my first 9am meeting.
10:30 – It is my husbands lunch break so he quickly goes across the street to get the dog a birthday cupcake (he’s 3!) and a summer sausage treat for the humans. $15
12:00 – I spend most of my morning in meetings, throwing more laundry in the washer and dryer. I stop here to heat up leftover soup for lunch. I text our dog sitter for a trip we have coming up in May to Europe, he’ll be with her for 12 nights and she requires a 50% deposit, so I venmo her $280
2:00 - I move from my office to the dining room for a few meetings so my husband can work out. He was up on the roof checking a leak he repaired since it is supposed to rain heavily the next couple of days. He ordered some weatherproofing tape on Amazon just in case. $14
4 - I finish up work and we run some errands. Target for a new CO2 cartridge for our soda water maker ($17), gas at Costco for me ($29) and we go into Costco for our monthly trip.
I try to keep us at once a month for Costco because it’s so easy to go wild in there. Usually we spend about $300/month there but it’s light this month. We got 4lbs of frozen shrimp, 7lbs of ground beef, mozzarella sticks, syrup, crackers, cat litter, and bird seed ($125)
5 – I get home and we take the dog for a walk. Afterwards I start making dinner, a tomaty kimchi shrimpy sauce situation over rice. We watch the Bachelor while eating dinner, wind down for the night, and get in bed around 10.
Day 3 Total: $485
TUESDAY
6:45 – I wake up early because it’s a commute day. I get up and ready, pack my lunch of leftover soup, grab a protein shake and an off on my 1 hour drive at 7:45.
9 – I am running through my accounts and see the water bill has come out of our account $78
12:30 – I stop for lunch and eat my leftover soup with my coworkers.
4:25 – I wrap up for the day; with the rain and local events, it takes me an hour and 10 minutes to get home.
5:40 – Walk the dog in a hurry before the rain starts again.
7 – My husband makes loaded baked potato soup for dinner and we watch some reality tv and chat about our Europe trip.
9 – We decide to purchase our tickets home. We purchased our tickets to Amsterdam about 2 months ago with points and hadn’t decided where we would come home from. We decide to fly home from Madrid and I have been keeping my eye out for tickets. I have about $900 in rewards points so I use that to buy 2 tickets home. The rest of the balance is $755.
10:30 – We head to bed with visions of Europe dancing in our head.
Day 4 Total: $833
WEDNESDAY
7:15 – I wake up and my husband is up making coffee and settling into his work for the day. I work from home for the rest of the week so it’s pretty chill.
9 – I have my first meeting of the day and after it, I make some toast and 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast.
11:30 – I take an early lunch after some heavy meetings to run some errands: return something to UPS, get cash, and drop by the pharmacy for some garden gummies. $46
12 – I eat some leftover baked potato soup and a quesadilla for lunch and return to the grind.
3 – My husband runs to Walmart for some Draino and some toiletries he needed. $19
5 - I finish work and we have our usual evening routine: 1.5 mile walk with the dog, hang out on the patio for a bit, I cook a gingery like beef and rice bowl for dinner.
8 - I have little garden gummy and we watch some travel YouTubers for some Switzerland inspo.
9:30 - I make some buttery stove top popcorn and after that, I get ready for bed and we watch tv for a bit
Day 5 Total: $65
THURSDAY
7:30 – General routine, I wake up, the coffee is being made, the dog and I sit on the patio.
8:30 – I start work with a meeting and then look through the budget, tomorrow is payday for my husband so I allocate that out.
12 – Not much to report for the day, just a rainy work day. I stop for some lunch and make a little homemade appetizer sampler platter: chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, and fries with a little jalapeno aioli and some bbq.
4 – My husband runs to the pet store to get a small bag of food, since the dog ate more than his fair share for the month. His 50 pound reoccurring subscription comes next Monday and we are just short so get get a 6lb bag to supplement for the weekend. $23
5 – We take the dog for a walk since the rain is done, about 1.5 miles, a classic route.
6 – I have a late meeting and once I am done at 6:30, I come out to my husband making shrimp and grits for dinner.
7:15 – We eat dinner and then sit out on the patio with a cocktail, watching the dog and the birds.
10 – for the rest of the evening, we watch an episode of Big Brother and head to bed around out usual time
Day 6 Total: $23
FRIDAY
7:30 – There is nothing like waking up on a Friday morning. I have an early meeting I hope on and my husband brings me coffee
9 – I eat 2 hard boiled eggs and toast for breakfast, I check the budget software for the weekend and make sure everything is allocated where it should be.
12 – It’s a rare day where we both break for lunch at the same time. I get out all of the leftovers we have, some shrimp and kimchi, some leftover rice, some shrimp and grits, as well as some raw veggies and we each make our own little smorgasbord for lunch.
4 – We end the workday and drive over to a local taproom for a little happy hour date. He gets 2 beers and I get 2 glasses of wine. We had a coupon for one beer, so the total was $32 after tip.
6:30 – We head home and I put a Motor City frozen pizza in the oven for dinner. I have heard these were the superior frozen pizza and I can confirm they are superior.
8 – We watch a couple episodes of Severance and head to bed around 11. The End!!!
Day 7 Total: $32
Weekly Totals:

Food + Drink	$287
Home + Health	$245
Clothes + Beauty	$83
Transport	$40
Travel	$1083
Other	$80

Reflections:
This was a really purposeful diary. I like being able to showcase a regular couple, without kids, doing our best to live a fulfilling life! I did not expect us to pick back up on our travel expenses this week, but I had been keeping my eye on tickets for a bit now. This is pretty accurate to how we plan trips, we do a little bit here and there because it is easy for our budget.
Overall, I know that this level of granularity is important, otherwise I completely spend willy nilly. Now that I have been tracking my expense for so long, it is very automatic and really only takes about 5 minutes a day.
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