~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~June 2022 Frugalistas~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[mommyoffive]

13 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

Picked up a shift at one of the libraries. I should get a tiny bonus and a raise next month at my new job (their fiscal year is July-June, so they do those in July). Since I'm the accountant, I see the salary budget early, and I'm slated for a 3% raise. 

DD is still hospitalized, but doing better. Trying to figure out how we're going to work out her return to home. Have not yet received the bills from first hospitalization.

There is going to be free summer meals for the kids, but I haven't been able to find the pickup times available online. I have to make some calls this afternoon, so I'm going to put them on the list to call for information.

Gas is holding steady at $4,97-$5.45, which is good I guess since we're driving 40 minutes to the hospital every day. 

I am still sending some good thoughts to your dd.  I hope she is able to come home soon and is healed and feels good. 

Yay for a raise.  

I hope you can find the free meals.  Those are so helpful.

Yay for gas not jumping overnight.

[mommyoffive]

18 minutes ago, Condessa said:

I went grocery shopping yesterday and honestly, it’s got me worried.  How much longer can this trend continue before most of the population is in truly dire straits?  A month ago the cheapest bread at the bakery outlet store was 4 loaves for 5 dollars, up from 5 loaves for 4 dollars pre-pandemic.  Now it’s at 2 loaves for 3 dollars.  (This is the stuff you take home and either use right away or freeze, because it’s approaching the expiration date.)   The cheapest price for milk around is $3.19, when it generally ran about $1.89 a few years ago.  A large bag of flour has gone from $18 to $29.  When the most basic food staples increase this much, how long can people keep absorbing the hit?  

Yeah it sucks.  I did online grocery ordering and this weekend and noticed a bunch of price increases.  A package of 5  eggrolls went up $1.20.   Just one example.  Milk here in town is $3.47.  It is always high here in town.  Which really stinks because we kids and dh used to drink TONS of milk.  My kids have gone down and in what they drink, but still we go through 8-10 gallons a week.  We try to buy some of it on the way home from other things, but it doesn't work every time.  I would love $1.89.    We are absorbing the increases but it really really sucks.  We drive a TON and that is really killing us.  I have so much stress around this.  I mean the money has to come from somewhere.  So it means making cuts to other things you want to do, savings, or wherever else.   We might end up having to make huge changes come fall.  

[heartlikealion]

The divorce is final now. X asked if we wanted to split a Costco membership as the current one is about to expire. I ran into Costco yesterday and got 2 items ($25) and gas and decided I don’t care about losing Costco. I seldom go there. The gas station has weird pumps that IMO are difficult to use and although the line is shorter than the Sam’s club gas station, I still had to wait in line. 

I love their frozen Asian meals but maybe I can learn to recreate them cheaper. I just never know what sauce/seasoning to get! 

[saraha]

1 hour ago, Condessa said:

I went grocery shopping yesterday and honestly, it’s got me worried.  How much longer can this trend continue before most of the population is in truly dire straits?  A month ago the cheapest bread at the bakery outlet store was 4 loaves for 5 dollars, up from 5 loaves for 4 dollars pre-pandemic.  Now it’s at 2 loaves for 3 dollars.  (This is the stuff you take home and either use right away or freeze, because it’s approaching the expiration date.)   The cheapest price for milk around is $3.19, when it generally ran about $1.89 a few years ago.  A large bag of flour has gone from $18 to $29.  When the most basic food staples increase this much, how long can people keep absorbing the hit?  

I honestly don’t know. 

I took the kids to day camp this morning at a church in the next town. I drive in the morning and pick up niece on the way and bil brings them all home in the afternoon. I stopped and got gas at $4.75 then went into the dollar store next door. When I came out a short time later gas had jumped to $5.09! I have never heard of a jump in price of 39 cents until this year. It is so demoralizing.

To top it off, it is raining again today and the reason I had to go to the dollar store was because my older kids had bought lawn seats to a concert tonight two months ago and I had to go buy 4 umbrellas for tonight. They are still going but are all disappointed about the rain. It was the only major thing they were doing this summer besides going to stay with family in July. Bummer. Dh is taking them and he keeps sending g them texts like, this will be such a fun memory! It’s the first real concert any of them have been too.

@historically accurate I hope your dd comes home soon and feeling better

Edited June 7, 2022 by saraha
Autocorrect dd into dad 🤦‍♀️

[mommyoffive]

Gas prices surge again to record high but the driver is refineries, not oil prices (msn.com)

She predicts the national average for gas will rise to $6.20 per gallon this summer. 

 

 

And this is higher than the prediction I heard on the news YESTERDAY about the thought of prices gas would get to by the end of summer.

Edited June 7, 2022 by mommyoffive

[prairiewindmomma]

The gas article doesn’t mention that the oil companies aren’t increasing refinery capacity in the US because there are three large new refineries set to open elsewhere in the world in 2023 and gas is a global market. Repairs/expansions to current US facilities would require environmental upgrades and they would rather stay grandfathered in with their old facilities. It’s also why they haven’t reopened a lot of the shale beds for fracking—it’s a conscious decision to keep capacity limited to focus on profitability.
 

Also a lot of oil is being diverted into jet fuel right now rather than gasoline as travel picks up. 

[prairiewindmomma]

More on the gasolinehttps://www.cnn.com/2022/06/06/energy/record-gas-prices-causes/index.html…. 
 

I am trying to figure out how to link from my Economist subscription, but this is close to the same info…the beginning part reads the same as the other link, but midway through the content starts to differentiate.

[heartlikealion]

No wonder why I felt ripped off. According to this link the box of noodle dishes I bought used to cost $12. I know, I know, everything has gone up. https://www.costcontessa.com/costco/costco-yakisoba-noodles-anjinomoto/

I will pass an Asian market on the way to the office Thursday, so I'll see if they sell Yakisoba noodles. If not, maybe I could create a similar dish with Ramen noodles. It sounds like it's mostly soy sauce used, but I'm not confident I can get the flavoring right. 

[Condessa]

I discovered a great deal the other day.  Tillamook extra creamy sea salt butter was 98 cents a pound (normally $4.60).  Not close to expiring.  There were no special sale signs or anything.  I more than half expected to get to the checkout and be told that there was a mistake.  I bought 18 pounds of butter and froze it.  I was tempted to get more, but wanted to leave enough for others.

This week is an expensive one mainly on gas.  We’ve been trying to avoid driving when possible, but ds has two days at the hospital in the city this week and we drove out to help thin peaches at the church orchard yesterday.  It was a win to get ds’s seven appointments arranged onto just two days, so we only have to go out twice.  He will probably ask for Chic-fil-A when we’re over there, and even though we have mostly not been going out to eat, he will get it, because anything that will get more calories into that boy is worth it.

[mommyoffive]

Has anyone noticed this?

No, you're not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking (msn.com)

 

I think this is so sneaky.  I know I would never notice or remember the previous sizes.

[heartlikealion]

I think my babysitting job may have ended already. 😬 I would normally babysit this weekend but the dad is already leaving town this weekend to start his new job and they have other family coming to town the end of this week to help Mom finish packing. I don’t think they’ll need me at all with all the adults there. 

I applied for a couple more side jobs online. 

I think I will end up bartering with my current landlord when I move out to see if I can sell him my portable dishwasher… the place I’m moving to just got a brand new one. But he’s so cheap I won’t hold my breath. Online selling is crap here and I’ve already asked a local if she or anyone she knew would be interested. They don’t have dishwashers but no interest. This area is so poverty-striken I think people are just used to not having one/can’t justify buying one. I don’t know. Could also be a space issue. I haven’t decided if I’ll take my window unit with me or try to sell to current landlord. Just trying to help myself cover costs of moving. 

[heartlikealion]

16 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Has anyone noticed this?

No, you're not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking (msn.com)

 

I think this is so sneaky.  I know I would never notice or remember the previous sizes.

I haven’t noticed on every item but yes, I’ve been aware of downsizing for years. They had a whole thing about it on 20/20 or something years ago. I think the last can of Lay’s Stax I got had less chips. I know when I was a kid kudos were like a full size candy bar and now they’re wimpy. If anyone is wondering the price of the Asian meals that used to be $11.99 are currently $14.99. 

I have to think twice when I shop at Dollar Tree since the prices went up. Sometimes it’s cheaper to just stick to Walmart. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by heartlikealion

[HomeAgain]

28 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Has anyone noticed this?

No, you're not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking (msn.com)

 

I think this is so sneaky.  I know I would never notice or remember the previous sizes.

Yes, very much so.

I got McD's chicken nuggets a while back for the first time in forever and was struck by how thin they are now.  It wasn't an area I would have thought there would be shrinkage, but here it is.

Do you remember a while back, when Cadbury tried to convince the public that their cream eggs were always that size and hadn't shrunk?  It was only after people pulled ones from their freezer from the previous year and showed the comparison that they admitted it.

There's only so much shrinkage that can happen.  The worst part is the companies blaming it on inflation but their profits are exponentially going up as they do it.

[Condessa]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Has anyone noticed this?

No, you're not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking (msn.com)

 

I think this is so sneaky.  I know I would never notice or remember the previous sizes.

Yup.  It's especially annoying when it messes with established recipes.  

[prairiewindmomma]

1 hour ago, Condessa said:

Yup.  It's especially annoying when it messes with established recipes.  

Yes, the shrinking of Rotel cans especially annoys me. It changed the taste profile to use the smaller can size.

[mommyoffive]

You guys are way more observant than me!  🙂

[prairiewindmomma]

@Condessa, were you at a chain store when you found the Tillamook butter on sale? My jaw is DROPPED! That's an amazing deal!!

[mommyoffive]

Here is the next shortage

We've had baby formula and toilet paper shortages. Now tampons are getting hard to find (msn.com)

[heartlikealion]

6 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Here is the next shortage

We've had baby formula and toilet paper shortages. Now tampons are getting hard to find (msn.com)

Oh my gosh! I hope the women that rely on them can use an alternative (I know everyone has personal preferences and/or physical  issues that determine what they can use). 

[heartlikealion]

I make no sense… I saw a call for volunteers at a local comic con (includes free entry and chance to meet celebrities)… and inquired. it would literally be cheaper to buy a ticket. But I wonder if you get a better experience? 

[Shoeless]

58 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Here is the next shortage

We've had baby formula and toilet paper shortages. Now tampons are getting hard to find (msn.com)

I noticed a few weeks/months ago that the tampon aisle seemed sparse. I really want menopause to hurry up. I have been kinda sorta thinking about going on bcp just so I can stop getting a period. I am so over the whole thing and this ain't helping my mindset 😕

[heartlikealion]

Celebrities charge an arm and a leg for a photograph and you get one free celebrity voucher per day (what the celebrity gives you is up to their discretion. Can be autograph, selfie, or photo with DSLR camera). So I guess that’s the main perk to volunteering. They emailed me back and want you there 12 hr shifts!!! Plus I literally could not attend Mass because of the hours (all day Sat/Sun). Oh well. Might be good opportunity for someone else. 

[HomeAgain]

5 hours ago, heartlikealion said:

Celebrities charge an arm and a leg for a photograph and you get one free celebrity voucher per day (what the celebrity gives you is up to their discretion. Can be autograph, selfie, or photo with DSLR camera). So I guess that’s the main perk to volunteering. They emailed me back and want you there 12 hr shifts!!! Plus I literally could not attend Mass because of the hours (all day Sat/Sun). Oh well. Might be good opportunity for someone else. 

Those are long days!

I don't mind volunteering but it has to be something I am emotionally invested in.  We spent about 12 hours total over the two days, but both were causes we wanted to see succeed so we didn't mind.

 

We may be able to keep the AC off for the next week if the weather holds.  We're looking at 70-78F highs.

I snagged a free ticket to hear Nathaniel Philbrick speak.  If you don't know who he is, your history shelf probably does. 😄 I only got the one ticket so I have a night to myself, but I'm trying to decide if it would be too forward or awkward to send the information to my college history professor.  He lives in the next town over and had a passion for the books himself. 

[heartlikealion]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

Those are long days!

I don't mind volunteering but it has to be something I am emotionally invested in.  We spent about 12 hours total over the two days, but both were causes we wanted to see succeed so we didn't mind.

 

We may be able to keep the AC off for the next week if the weather holds.  We're looking at 70-78F highs.

I snagged a free ticket to hear Nathaniel Philbrick speak.  If you don't know who he is, your history shelf probably does. 😄 I only got the one ticket so I have a night to myself, but I'm trying to decide if it would be too forward or awkward to send the information to my college history professor.  He lives in the next town over and had a passion for the books himself. 

If I thought he’d want to know, I’d just matter-of-factly pass the info on. 

Yes those hours are crazy and I’m also nervous my plantar fasciitis would act up. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by heartlikealion

[Condessa]

14 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

@Condessa, were you at a chain store when you found the Tillamook butter on sale? My jaw is DROPPED! That's an amazing deal!!

Our local Waremart, which is owned by Winco, but I don’t know if they keep the same pricing as Winco.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Condessa

[mommyoffive]

great fares to Hawaii if you are interested.  A lot of $300 or under from all over the country

Deal basics

Airlines: United and Southwest.
Routes: Airports across the continental U.S. and Hawaii.
How to book: Search via Google Flights and then book directly through the airline.
Travel dates: July to April on United, August to November on Southwest. Exact dates depend on the route.
Book by: One to two days.

 

[mommyoffive]

Exterminator came today to deal with all the wasps nests.  $100

Finally got a thing resolved with a business that had a lot of my money.  Got it refunded and credited. 

 

[heartlikealion]

They actually do want me to babysit Saturday. It'll help offset some of the gas I've used this week. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Have I talked about my quest to wean myself off of expensive makeup? I'm thinking about this because I just replaced my Clinique Black Honey lipstick--a shade I've been wearing since the 1990s.

It started off by swatching all of the lipsticks, and I discovered that I basically wear just a few shades but had varieties of those aplenty. (My teen daughter wanted to start wearing makeup, which started this whole thing--dealing with allergies, etc.)

The closest dupes I had:

Maybelline 015 Born with It is a dupe for Clinique Think Bronze

Mac Mehr, Buxom Influencer, Buxom Dolly Dreamer, Maybelline Touch of Spice and Bare Minerals Pout are all very close in shade. Bite's Pastille is a tad browner, but very close.

Tartiest Birthday Suit, Clinique Blush Pop and Revlon Rose Velvet are all very close to each other. 

So, like 6 months ago, I thought the clear answer was to buy the Revlon, Maybelline, etc. and ditch the expensive brands. But, after wear testing, I don't know that it's that easy. The nicer makeup does wear longer, smear less (generally), and leaves my lips feeling nicer. If my budget only allowed for Revlon and Maybelline, I think I would be fine. But, I don't wear lipstick much these days (one bonus of masking in public?) and as I age the bright stuff doesn't look as good on me (farewell Mac Ruby Woo!) so I think I'm actually dropping down to just 3 lipsticks over time.  I lived that way for decades, went through a splurge time during our Texas years, and I'm headed back to minimalism again with re: to makeup now that I have the allergy situation sorted out.

Also, fwiw, Urban Decay's Naked 2 eye shadow palette is VERY close to Tartelette. I only have two large eye shadow palettes--but I had to find a replacement when Naked 2 stopped being sold.  I swatched a ton of eyeshadow palettes when my girls used their fun money on makeup for a couple of years---it is absolutely worth it to buy nice with re: to eyeshadow. The drug store stuff did not have as good of pigments or go on as smoothly.

[Brittany1116]

@prairiewindmomma I got an ELF lip color in Black Cherry that is a great dupe for Clinique BH and cost like $4.

[Shoeless]

@prairiewindmomma I am a fan of going for carefully chosen quality over quantity. So I would pick the makeup where you absolutely notice a quality difference. 

I used to be into expensive, vintage purses, but have sold all off except a few that would be hard to replace if I changed my mind and wanted them back. I sometimes browse eBay and feel a pull to buy something, but have mostly resisted the temptation. It makes me appreciate the purses I have that much more. 

[mommyoffive]

Rakuten has 3x cash back for 3 days starting today.

[mommyoffive]

This is freaking me.  Who am I kidding, so much in the economy (and world for that matter) is freak me out.

Truckers Warn Skyrocketing Diesel Prices Will Impact Industry (businessinsider.com)

[historically accurate]

8 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

This is freaking me.  Who am I kidding, so much in the economy (and world for that matter) is freak me out.

Truckers Warn Skyrocketing Diesel Prices Will Impact Industry (businessinsider.com)

My cousin is a trucker. He has said this. It costs him $970 to fill up his truck yesterday - that'll be about 26 hours of driving.

[HomeAgain]

Well, small wins today.

I traded mint varieties with a friend for our gardens.  I also brought home 2 bags of greens from hers that wouldn't hold during their vacation. 

I also find myself becoming more choosy due to our Buy Nothing page.  It's a "do I really want to bring it into my house?" question when beautiful things come up, and if I can't find a mental place for it, I don't throw my hat in the ring.

Went to our bike shop and did NOT find shorts for a tall kid.  Adults were too wide and children's only went up to about a size 10.  We ended up ordering online and got a pair for half the cost of the bike shop prices.

Also decided against getting the family themed t-shirts for our vacation, something that had been on my to-do list.  We realized, we just aren't theme tee type of people.  When we looked at our packing list, we realized the 12yo wants to wear all his lightweight polos, I'm in simple dresses, and dh & oldest ds have their own styles.  Forcing ourselves into an Instagram-worthy look just wasn't worth the weird.

We're taking that money instead and buying two beanbag chairs for the basement.  Seating has been a struggle down there where there extra tv is, so no one uses it much. But it's cooler in the summer for ds and his friends to hang out.

 

[prairiewindmomma]

12 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

This is freaking me.  Who am I kidding, so much in the economy (and world for that matter) is freak me out.

Truckers Warn Skyrocketing Diesel Prices Will Impact Industry (businessinsider.com)

Inflation is typically driven by one or a combo of three things: an increase in money supply that all of the payments people received in the form of child tax credits and covid cash releases increased the money supply and that people went out buying a lot of goods they otherwise wouldn't have creating a demand-pull for goods, that this spending increased the velocity of circulation. They argue that this demand-pull lead to built-in inflation where wages and housing went up because the cost of goods went up.

I actually think we're more on the cost-push end of things.....where the increased cost of the production and transportation of goods get passed along to the consumer. There are a LOT of factors playing into this end of things: lack of cheap goods from Asian markets, cost of spin-up for selected domestic production, increased transportation costs (rail lines are full, diesel prices are high, highly profitable goods are being flown in--look at Chicago's cargo loads at their airports!!), increased cost of basic materials....

Transportation costs have been artificially low for a long time, and profits have been racking up with a lot of companies. The market is unhealthy. Right? It's like all of the meat companies that are paying pittance amounts to farmers, and charging an arm and a leg to consumers. If consumers get fed up enough and stop buying so that there's a surplus of goods on the market, we should see some correction. The problem is that we're still in that death spiral of not having enough goods to meet demand.  Where we can consume less, we should.....but we should also be addressing the fact that we've allowed a lot of corporate monopolies to develop.

I agree we're headed into a bumpy correction time, and it's scary. 

Honestly, it's stuff like this that keeps me up at night: https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@W.1

[mommyoffive]

5 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Inflation is typically driven by one or a combo of three things: an increase in money supply that all of the payments people received in the form of child tax credits and covid cash releases increased the money supply and that people went out buying a lot of goods they otherwise wouldn't have creating a demand-pull for goods, that this spending increased the velocity of circulation. They argue that this demand-pull lead to built-in inflation where wages and housing went up because the cost of goods went up.

I actually think we're more on the cost-push end of things.....where the increased cost of the production and transportation of goods get passed along to the consumer. There are a LOT of factors playing into this end of things: lack of cheap goods from Asian markets, cost of spin-up for selected domestic production, increased transportation costs (rail lines are full, diesel prices are high, highly profitable goods are being flown in--look at Chicago's cargo loads at their airports!!), increased cost of basic materials....

Transportation costs have been artificially low for a long time, and profits have been racking up with a lot of companies. The market is unhealthy. Right? It's like all of the meat companies that are paying pittance amounts to farmers, and charging an arm and a leg to consumers. If consumers get fed up enough and stop buying so that there's a surplus of goods on the market, we should see some correction. The problem is that we're still in that death spiral of not having enough goods to meet demand.  Where we can consume less, we should.....but we should also be addressing the fact that we've allowed a lot of corporate monopolies to develop.

I agree we're headed into a bumpy correction time, and it's scary. 

Honestly, it's stuff like this that keeps me up at night: https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@W.1

I know everyone loved all the "free money" that was being handed out during the Covid lockdowns.  I was freaking out in my head thinking, this isn't free.   What do you guys think happens when you pump tons of cash out?   It has to come from somewhere.  

I drive around and I feel like nobody is paying attention or caring what is go on around them.  Then I think I am nuts for being so stressed about everything.

[mommyoffive]

On 6/1/2022 at 11:27 PM, mommyoffive said:

How about a June check in about gas prices near you. 

I last drove last Tuesday and prices were 4.39 then.  Today 4.77-4.89

Just had to quote myself so I remember this and just stress myself out.

Gas today 4.99-5.39

[heartlikealion]

Put $76 in my tank. Earned ~$75 babysitting. Used probably ~$19 on travel today? 
Ugh. 

Redeemed BK app points for a free hamburger on the way home. 

[HomeAgain]

Compared our mortgage statement to the big picture today.

We are 10 months ahead after 3.5 years.  It should be nearly a full year at the end of this year.

Our long term plan is this:

1. Continue paying our rounded up method for the next 3 years while I finish school (paying cash)/we pay off ds's student loans.

2. Devote $1,000/mo extra to it when I start working full time, with the rest of my paycheck split between what we want to do to the backyard and savings.

3. Pay it off in 16 years total.

So far we are on track.

 

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

Compared our mortgage statement to the big picture today.

We are 10 months ahead after 3.5 years.  It should be nearly a full year at the end of this year.

Our long term plan is this:

1. Continue paying our rounded up method for the next 3 years while I finish school (paying cash)/we pay off ds's student loans.

2. Devote $1,000/mo extra to it when I start working full time, with the rest of my paycheck split between what we want to do to the backyard and savings.

3. Pay it off in 16 years total.

So far we are on track.

 

You guys are doing awesome!!!

[saraha]

Never mind, just belly aching. You guys are doing an amazing job of figuring things out! 😊

Edited June 12, 2022 by saraha

[prairiewindmomma]

Hugs, saraha.

[prairiewindmomma]

Thanks for the tip, @Condessa. We stopped into Winco this weekend for our usual weekly shop and they were running the Tillamook butter deal. 🙂 

[mommyoffive]

5 hours ago, saraha said:

Never mind, just belly aching. You guys are doing an amazing job of figuring things out! 😊

I missed your post, but I am sending some hugs.  I hope you guys are alright.  It is such a tough time right now too.

[saraha]

To cap off a crappy end to a crappy week oldest dd just made some fancy trail mix with some ingredients I splurged on, handed the bag to youngest ds who for some unknown reason shook it and dumped half of the the freshly made trail mix on the floor 🤦‍♀️

[heartlikealion]

I forgot xh gets the kids next weekend too for Father’s Day so I told the family that is moving soon if they need me one more time I’m available. 

I thought about trying to get a second job after I move because the town has a few stores but after this week I realized for sure I can’t be on my feet long at all before they hurt even with my insoles and the months of sleeping in splints. Most brick & mortar PT jobs I can think of require long hours of standing. 

[mommyoffive]

53 minutes ago, heartlikealion said:

I forgot xh gets the kids next weekend too for Father’s Day so I told the family that is moving soon if they need me one more time I’m available. 

I thought about trying to get a second job after I move because the town has a few stores but after this week I realized for sure I can’t be on my feet long at all before they hurt even with my insoles and the months of sleeping in splints. Most brick & mortar PT jobs I can think of require long hours of standing. 

Have you heard from the online jobs you applied for?

[heartlikealion]

4 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Have you heard from the online jobs you applied for?

No. Even the one I had the interview with that had all the weird fees never followed up with me. 

I think I’ll reach back out to the place that said they don’t need the employees til school starts. I applied to help with ACT prep stuff and they kept saying we have to make a decision and let you know either way. We spoke a few times. I finally stopped calling them after the last message I left. There’s a slight possibility they never made a decision. 

I’m on the nanny site now and got an alert this weekend for a sitter needed this morning but another sitter claimed it first. It’s ok… I was exhausted. 

[historically accurate]

10 hours ago, saraha said:

To cap off a crappy end to a crappy week oldest dd just made some fancy trail mix with some ingredients I splurged on, handed the bag to youngest ds who for some unknown reason shook it and dumped half of the the freshly made trail mix on the floor 🤦‍♀️

I splurged on gluten free tortillas for youngest this week. Went to pull one out of the bag to warm it, and 3 more stuck to it and slopped smack onto the floor. So, I understand the pain of lost expensive ingredients.