Elsa Are you feeding your kid handmade artisan noodles? So noodles from a box are pretend?
Fancy kid you got there.
No! I feed her kraft mac and cheese! The instant kind, not even the GOOD kind from a box!
Hmm. Cheetos. That had not occurred to me. To get her to stop fucking talking about it, I'm going to have to take her to the store again, which I normally avoid doing. This was just the weekend that my H had to work. lol
Can you please update? I'm irrationally invested in what she wants.
I'd be pissed, but mostly at your H for not making sure she understood this was something she needed. I was reasonably independent in college, but I think this is still something my parents would have walked me through. I mean, she insured the car, yes? It's possible I knew about the different types of insurance at the age of 20, but very possible I didn't.
I had wine twice during my pregnancy, both special occasions. What I found most interesting about it is that I asked the NP during one of my routine appointments about having a glass of wine and she basically shamed me for even asking. The following appointment was with my OB and I asked her the same question. I didn't even finish asking before she was telling me it was totally fine and not to worry about it.
There's just such a stark contrast, even within the same practice, about what is and isn't ok during pregnancy. And that extends way beyond alcohol to what women eat, how they exercise, etc.
When the story first broke, it was reported that the source of the lead was old pipes that had leached lead due to lack of corrosion inhibitor injection at the treatment plant. I haven't read this in any of the more recent articles. Are they now suggesting that the river itself was the source of the lead?
I could be mistaken, but I believe the pipes are still the source of the lead, but that the water from the Flint river was more corrosive than other water sources, leading to faster erosion of the pipes.
eta: Ok, read more about it. Lead did not come from the river itself. It came from corrosion of lead pipes. Flint was advised not to use a non-corrosive agent until they knew how much they would need for the chemical makeup of the river water. They never bothered to add anything to the water to keep it from corroding the lead pipes.
Also, I feel like I need to say that although I hated being pregnant, it was not in any way a reflection of how I felt about my kids when they got here.
What you're feeling is totally normal.
This is so true. Really didn't enjoy pregnancy, save for feeling DS wiggle around, but I was in love with him immediately.
He wants to go to those, he's totally on board with going. He hates baby showers as much as I do and isn't excited about going to ours. I'm not either. I'm uncomfortable being the focus of attention. I felt the same way about my bridal shower, even though it was very nice. He went to that one too, so I know he'll go to this one.
Ah, gotcha. I thought that would be a little odd.
I'll echo others, but the baby moving and watching my stomach wiggle when he moved around was really awesome. That's what got me excited about meeting him.
I am still bitter I have a sick visit scheduled for next Monday. I will be better by then!
That's so annoying!
I wish I could go see my kids pedi when I'm sick! I can always get them in that day if they're sick.
An appt. a week later doesn't help if I'm sick NOW.
And this is I don't bother having a PCP. I go to my gyn annually and urgent care or a Walgreens clinic if I am sick. No PCP can ever get you in the same day, so what's the point?
My mac battery isn't charging so I took it to the Genius Bar. It's 4 weeks out of warranty and they wouldn't do anything about it, so I left without having them fix my computer. Now that I've simmered down, I'm going to have to take it back in. I'm annoyed with apple and myself.
Poor DS is draining from his cold and there's just snot everywhere all the time. He hates it but gets so upset if you go near his nose. My poor dude.
I really need to get my ass in gear. Need to feed the chickens this morning, which is not part of my usual routine.
Do you use the boogie wipes? DS is much more tolerant of those, even when he's really sick. He's also now obsessed with blowing his nose, which works out well since he always seems to have a constantly-runny nose these days.
No, but I've seen them. I'll have to pick some up. DS does this thing where he wrinkles his nose and snorts, which is hilarious, but I'm looking forward to using that to my advantage when trying to teach him to blow his nose.
My mac battery isn't charging so I took it to the Genius Bar. It's 4 weeks out of warranty and they wouldn't do anything about it, so I left without having them fix my computer. Now that I've simmered down, I'm going to have to take it back in. I'm annoyed with apple and myself.
Poor DS is draining from his cold and there's just snot everywhere all the time. He hates it but gets so upset if you go near his nose. My poor dude.
I really need to get my ass in gear. Need to feed the chickens this morning, which is not part of my usual routine.
As much as I value security, I think I'm leaning toward option 4. We've lived in a location we weren't happy in and we moved back to our current city after H quit his job. I lined something up, but he hadn't and he's the breadwinner. So, we've sort of done this in a way. Everything worked out and it was totally worth it. Anecdote for you.
I think mine stopped around 6 or 7 months. It was pretty awful for awhile though. I was pulling out clumps of hair every time I took a shower and my clothes were always covered in hair. I hope your shedding ends soon!
Purina is not a good quality food. I'm less concerned about the fact that it contains grain and more concerned about the fact that the content is mostly fillers (corn, wheat, preservatives, etc.) instead of meat and vegetables.
As others have said, CostCo makes a high-quality grain free food that is inexpensive. I honestly think you're going to spend more making food for your dog than you do on Purina.
eta: Just saw your response about the Purina. I would just start to really slowly transition her to a new food with a chicken base (like 80 old/20 new for a few days, then 70/30, 60/40, etc.). You can do it faster if you feel like she's comfortable and not showing any issues with eating. Keep the protein the same for now and change it up later if you need to.
So, I am guessing take home would be around $4,500. I'm going to assume for the purposes of the poll that this is one income and one of us stays home.
We would pull Lu from her Catholic school ($850/month) and Ella would just go to a really part-time preschool in mornings. I tried making our current house work, but it would be a no-go for the new budget.
Budget:
Rent: $1,800 (we'd have to move way out of our current neighborhood) Kid activities: $100 Misc (shopping, personal care, gifts, etc.): $400 Food: $800 Student loans: $250 Home/car insurance: $96 Life insurance: $80 Utilities: $350 Gas: $150 Internet: $50 Phones: $130 Preschool: $250
Well, and actually this wouldn't be realistic as we'd have to pay for health insurance if one of us was no longer covered via work. Fudge.
For the purpose of this, you can keep the 660 rent and utilities and play with the rest if you want
That's not reasonable! If we all make the exact same assumptions about fixed expenses as what you have, then we're all going to have the same damn budget. The whole point of your thread is a hypothetical "could you and your family live on an income of $60k?" It's totally pointless to ask the question unless you assume there are variables, like, you know, people living in different places with different costs of living!
There are very few people in the world with an income of $60k who also have a 6-month e-fund and a paid off house. Your parameters are unrealistic.
I guess I don't get the incredulity. My family has lived for 8 years with a take home income of around $5K a month, sometimes less. We rarely have credit card debt and we do take vacations. As I said before, we are fairly happy and do not feel pinched.
You can totally do it, OP. Places I see where you could save are car payments, your insurances, phones, entertainment, and cable (just get Roku and Netflix for half the price). Places where you might want to budget more are gifts and clothes.
But it's got nothing to do with the money! Lots of people live on $60k. The problem here is that none of us can tell her whether or not it's doable. I don't know what a gallon of milk costs where she lives. Same for gas, typical daycare expenses, the cost of a kid playing t-ball for the season, etc. She adjusted her budget to what their new income in. She needs to try it out for a month and decide for herself if it's sustainable. I can't tell her if she's going to feel stressed out staying on budget with this new income because I know nothing about the COL there.
OP, you now have $60k per year to live on. Period. You created a budget based on that amount and the amounts you put in for fixed expenses are accurate for your life, and your life only. Of course other people live on $60k per year, but it doesn't mean it's easy or comfortable. It also very much depends on location.
You don't have a choice about whether or not this is sustainable until you get a new job, so try it out for a month and shift things around if you need to. None of us know whether this is sustainable for your life.
My fucking computer won't charge. It's literally like 3-4 weeks out of warranty. I will be raising hell at the damn Genius Bar if they don't fix it for free. Stupid thing is only a year old!