the money tools you need to be set free
September started off right with a visit from my sister, who just finished her Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and is prepping to start a new job in Europe! We relaxed our strict quarantine to see some family this month. However, with COVID-19 still in full swing in the States, we still had to be careful […]
I finally felt settled in August. The long days and daily sunshine helped improve my daily moods. We’ve established a comfortable routine, and we are checking off things to do in Santa Barbara, from exploring beaches to going on long hikes. Early in the month I picked up a couple dog-boarding gigs that went great. […]
I blinked and July disappeared. At least, that’s what it felt like. The news cycle blares bad news and rising COVID-19 cases every day, and I sometimes feel like a straight-faced duck– calm and serene above the water but paddling like crazy underneath. As you know by now, we moved cross-country and spent a good […]
We did it! We moved from the East Coast to the West Coast, from New York to Santa Barbara, from sea to shining sea. This included selling all of our furniture, shipping our car, packing our stuff, and — last-but-not-least — trundling our cat along for the ride. Are you curious how much it cost […]
Black Lives Matter I’m a couple of days late on this post because frankly there have been more pressing concerns in the world right now. Cities all over the country are rising up, a century of fury whipped up and foaming into the streets. It was a long time coming. We live in a country […]
For the first few weeks of April, Mr. Mechanic is working a night shift. He comes home just as I wake up, falling into bed after a 14-hour shift. I work quietly in another room as he sleeps, and when I log off, he’s already in his scrubs, popping in to kiss me goodbye before […]
March is usually the harbinger of spring, but this year the world got a wakeup call as it ushered in a new disease instead. Yet if we rewind to the beginning of the month, we only had a faint inkling of what would come. First Week: Portland, OR and Santa Barbara, CA In fact, March […]
I’m so curious to see what a month of (mostly) solitude did to my spending in the month of February.
Wow, I just realized that I completely forgot to write up my expense report for January. I had to wrack my brain a bit to remember what we did! Mr. Mechanic had a rotation in surgery which meant that I didn’t see him much. I didn’t see much at all, really, as it started getting […]
It’s the time of the year for reflection, and looking back on my expenses for the year reminds me of all of the adventures I’ve had. This year I said goodbye to friends and family in Portland, Oregon and moved with Mr. Mechanic to upstate New York. Note: some links in this article are affiliate […]