Just got June's paycheck. Also, I accidentally edited over my May journal entry above. I believe it is gone for good.
ERE graphs

Net worth has inched back up. However, there's only 1 paycheck left, plus end of year bonus and then I'll be losing some money until the new school semester starts. At least, my net worth has received a positive (in the form of less of a negative


Assets are down because I took that fat chunk of USD from last month and threw it at my loans. ~20% of loans gone.
Personal
Dog: Feels like a zoo as an animal subsection seems to be a monthly occurrence. My girlfriend rescued some pup off the street. After weeks in a cage getting its vaccines and waiting for an adopter, I finally caved in to her persistent begging to bring it home. It pisses all over the spare bedroom every day and screams bloody murder when she leaves the apartment. Thus, I've been spending time at lunch and after class each day coding at the office to give her a little extra time to beat me home (I usually get home 30 minutes before her), mop up all the urine and walk the mut. The deal was if she wanted to bring it home, she'd have to take care of it all, but I didn't foresee it being such a PITA. It is cute, though, quick learner with regards to training, and otherwise quiet. It also has started chasing the smaller cat. I'm definitely not a dog person. Sorry if my horns are showing.
Health-food: I'm back to the Chinese fast food diet. It's really hard to eat healthy here. Food-health alone is one example, where the only nearby restaurant with a passing health-rating is McDonald's. Everywhere else is a B and below, and some don't even post the rating. Simple carbs, pork, and high-sugar drinks are the norm, which you pretty much need to cook each meal or pay a premium eating out to avoid.
Health-other:In other news, still greatly improved sleep schedule, 8 or more hours every night, unable to stay awake past 10-11 unless really determined to work something through. We've started doing 50pullups program twice a week in addition to continuing the 5-3-1. We got our body fat percentage calculated. I'm at 13.3% which is probably the highest in my life. I want to be something like 10%, but the diet is a huge issue.
Housing: We have 10 days to figure out if we'll stay in this apartment or move. We've talked about moving to somewhere with a more inviting and less infested kitchen. We'd likely have to sacrifice some square footage, which we're fine with. The hope is that with a nicer, cleaner kitchen we may be more enticed to cook more. Another thing we have to consider however is that my future work location is potentially up in the air a bit, so we may be considering short-term leasing options as our first criteria.
Travel: I'll be in the US for two weeks at the beginning of July. This will be a chance to count up how much money I have/need for the next 2-3 months before my next paycheck and bring some USD back on the plane. My girlfriend will be taking a separate vacation from me since we both need to go to different states, and so that we can avoid having the cats need a babysitter.
Professional
Public school: 3 more weeks of class, and 1 of those is where I just sit back and let them watch a movie. Then I'm on summer vacation.
Recording: We did 2 more of these last month (and one was a big, 30 page one) but looks like the pay won't be making it on this update. Should come in the next week.
Web-development: Over the last month I've solved 38 JavaScript algorithms and finished 6 projects. I've made things like a JavaScript Calculator, a Pomodoro Clock, and other things that work with APIs like Wikipedia's MediaWorks and OpenWeatherMaps. I've got two more projects to go before I'll start learning a Front-end framework, likely React. FreeCodeCamp just changed their format, but after my next two projects I'll still be able to apply for my Front-end Certificate since I am a "legacy" user. As a funny twist, my algorithm solutions net me one of their new certificates by default, a JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures certificate "representing approximately 300 hours of coursework".
Job-readiness: I consider going self-taught developer the most intensive way to get a web development job, since there isn't really anyone (e.g. a bootcamp instructor, a university, etc) to give your learning any credibility. Thus, in the last few days I've started to dedicate some additional time outside of studying/working on projects to prepare myself as a candidate. I made a pretty awesome-looking resume (based on this one) and figured I might as well start sending it out. Lo and behold, I actually got a reply from a company in Hong Kong. Next up, I want to start a legitimate portfolio website that I'll also have my blog on. The blog will just be my journey as a self-taught developer with the main goal of giving employers a chance (if they want) to better understand who I am.
University: I signed the university job offer when it came. As there's a pretty high potential for a 4-day, mornings only work-week, it would be really a much better schedule for studying. Unfortunately, there's a potential ¥15,000 fee for early termination, so if I manage to find a job, it may come at a cost. As well, you have to sign without knowing which of 4 tracks you'll get. The easiest track is general English, and is only 16 classes, 1 lesson plan/week. The most intensive one is 20 classes, seeing each class 3x/week (e.g. 3 lesson plans), and is business English (more intensive), and since it is 20 classes, there's no chance to fit it in the 4-day, mornings only schedule. Fingers crossed.
Financial
Student loans: My lump-sum paid off 2 of my 8 loans. As you can see above, I certainly still have enough in assets to pay off 1 more, however I am trying to balance my emergency fund. The desired emergency fund value fluctuates since my future employment is so up in the air. If I knew I would stay in China for the next year, I would dump more from the fund onto the loans. Ideally, if it was easier to transfer money, then I would be sending money monthly, thus avoiding my interest increasing each month. This last payment knocked off $150/month of interest moving forward.
No-pay summer: Since we're switching employers, we won't get a housing allowance this summer, which really sucks. Maybe this is a good time for me to turn on my online teaching app.
Final thoughts
The biggest thing on my mind right now is just how crazy it is that someone actually replied to my resume. Originally, I had set a goal of getting a job by August, potentially moving back to the US to get a nice, high-paying one. The idea here is that by August I will have learned a front-end framework (maybe React) and a back-end language (maybe PHP, or Python, the decision is further away and thus less thought about), and have made many more projects to showcase these. When I found a ton of web developer jobs just across the border in Hong Kong, I figured I might as well start sending out my new resume. One of the employers actually responded, though, sending me back a questionnaire to get to know me better. In my eyes, since its only June, I'm two months of studying and projects away from where I think I would actually be employable, so I can't say I expect anything out of it, but it's a nice reinforcement of the idea that I may actually be able to find work in the future.