Just Gravy
Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 3:35 pm
The previous owner of my little bungalow painted the kitchen a bright, cheery orange and laid down terracotta red tile. The counter tops are original to the 1940s--tiled a light baby blue with the grout redone who knows how many times. I built a cabinet to go between the odd space between the fridge and the stove and I tiled it in loud talavera tiles. There are two windows--three if the door is propped open--and the kitchen is always warm and happy and colorful. I really love that kitchen. I love the gas stove and the cabinets that won't close all the way. The dumb Ikea lights some previous owner installed. The way my cutting and prepping station looks out into the backyard. It was at this station that I stood yesterday, having just taken a picnic lunch out to the kids. I stood, chopping vegetables for a homemade veggie and lentil soup (my oldest is sick), and watched my son, the spitting image of my father, pick up blueberries one by one with his chubby little fist and shove them into his tiny little mouth. I watched my daughter fussily pick apart her sandwich and eat just the ham. I watched their father sitting just behind them, playing on his phone. The base of the soup was already on--garlic, onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, olive oil--and the fragrance permeated my happy little kitchen. I'd spent the majority of the morning in that room. I had already made sausages, eggs, coffee, french toast with challah bread for breakfast and now their lunches--ham sandwich for my daughter and french toast sticks for my son (he wouldn't touch them), both plates laden with fresh carrots and blueberries and strawberries. I had done the dishes, swept the floor a few times, unloaded the dishwasher. Every time a kid ran through I'd pester them with, "are you hungry? do you need something to drink?" and wipe their faces. It was, I pondered, as I stood chopping potatoes for the soup, a very Americana morning.
I'm waiting to hear back from a realtor on a house I made an offer on. It's a couple of doors down from my mother, about $80k cheaper than my current home, and almost twice as big. It has a utility room, people, a utility room. The kitchen is a drab grey, but it's big and open and sunny and I can fix it. I can fix pretty much anything. I thought the one downside would be losing the ability to commute to work by bike, but the longer I stood looking out the window at the kids, the worse I felt about the decision. It's a very low bid, so maybe they won't accept it. Maybe they'll make my decision for me (a tactic of which I am very fond, apparently).
But I'm talking to you like you know me. Some of you may remember me--previously I had a journal on this site and went by Gravy Train (as in, ride the gravy train of dividends, yo). I deleted that journal due to some upset in my personal life, but I've wanted to rejoin the community for awhile. Y'all are my kind of weird, after all, and some great things have come into my life by virtue of this site. I'm not sure I have much to contribute, and my path doesn't align very well with the ERE path, mostly because I chose to have children (which I wouldn't recommend), but, yeah, here I am, all up in your condo, sittin' at your table with you.
I guess lemme [re]introduce myself. I'm 32 years old, the sole earner for a family of four, a devout atheist, and a frugal mom that is prone to swearing and drinking. My hair is too long and I have very unresolved issues about my mother. I like to bike and run and hike and get funky tan lines and brag about asphalt dives. I cherish the simple pleasures of life: Belgian tripels, fresh coffee with a splash of milk, early morning sex, stringing words together in clever configurations, and reading books to my kids. I believe that life is utterly meaningless. I enjoy the occasional jigsaw puzzle. I work in the legal field and my current position ticks most of the boxes for me: good pay, boss, benefits, flexibility, commute, coworkers, and an almost perfect blend of boring/interesting and easy/difficult. Due to COVID and my boss's magnanimity, I'd say I'm physically in the office around only 20-30 hours a week now. I try to bike to work at least three times a week (for the other days I take public transit paid for by my job), but I recently had wrist surgery so I won't be able to bike for another two weeks or so.
Here are, approximately, the numbers (all in USD):
Retirement Account: $65,000
My half of the Home Equity: $40-50,000
Brokerage*: $4,500
Kids' College (or whatever, braces, who the fuck knows) Fund (Roth IRA): $3,000
Cash on hand: $6,000ish
Daily net income: $142
Car Value: $1
Weight**: 141 lbs.
Days Sober***: 14
*I liquidated a joint brokerage account in late February because: 1) shit was gonna hit the fan; and 2) my husband and I decided to split our finances. I blew $6,600 of my "sale proceeds" on a six-month lease for an apartment down the street. I've been slowly buying back in to some stocks since May.
**I had two babies in two years, but I'm back to my pre-baby weight. Shooting for 135.
***To quote an esteemed Supreme Court Justice, "I like beer." (Kavanaugh, J.). I'm attempting to stay sober for six months.
I'm not sure what this iteration of the journal will be. I'll probably start with good intentions and keep it mostly generic and boring with lots of quantitative measurements, and then I'll devolve into philosophizing about most everything and ham-handedly warning people not to have children. I don't see a point in putting up my budget right now. We've gone from a two income household to a one income household, and every dollar that I don't spend on supporting the family I'll put into a retirement account for my currently-stay-at-home-husband, because that only seems fair. There won't be, like, globs of money left over, though, so he's not getting such a killer deal.
Anyway. I'm still figuring my life out and just trying to enjoy as much time with my little "biscuits" as I can while they're still young and cuddly. I'm thankful to my younger self for very consciously putting away money and maintaining a relatively frugal lifestyle. I learned a few tricks from this site and maybe I, in turn, can pass along some knowledge, wisdom, or tricks to some young gun. Day at a time.
I'm waiting to hear back from a realtor on a house I made an offer on. It's a couple of doors down from my mother, about $80k cheaper than my current home, and almost twice as big. It has a utility room, people, a utility room. The kitchen is a drab grey, but it's big and open and sunny and I can fix it. I can fix pretty much anything. I thought the one downside would be losing the ability to commute to work by bike, but the longer I stood looking out the window at the kids, the worse I felt about the decision. It's a very low bid, so maybe they won't accept it. Maybe they'll make my decision for me (a tactic of which I am very fond, apparently).
But I'm talking to you like you know me. Some of you may remember me--previously I had a journal on this site and went by Gravy Train (as in, ride the gravy train of dividends, yo). I deleted that journal due to some upset in my personal life, but I've wanted to rejoin the community for awhile. Y'all are my kind of weird, after all, and some great things have come into my life by virtue of this site. I'm not sure I have much to contribute, and my path doesn't align very well with the ERE path, mostly because I chose to have children (which I wouldn't recommend), but, yeah, here I am, all up in your condo, sittin' at your table with you.
I guess lemme [re]introduce myself. I'm 32 years old, the sole earner for a family of four, a devout atheist, and a frugal mom that is prone to swearing and drinking. My hair is too long and I have very unresolved issues about my mother. I like to bike and run and hike and get funky tan lines and brag about asphalt dives. I cherish the simple pleasures of life: Belgian tripels, fresh coffee with a splash of milk, early morning sex, stringing words together in clever configurations, and reading books to my kids. I believe that life is utterly meaningless. I enjoy the occasional jigsaw puzzle. I work in the legal field and my current position ticks most of the boxes for me: good pay, boss, benefits, flexibility, commute, coworkers, and an almost perfect blend of boring/interesting and easy/difficult. Due to COVID and my boss's magnanimity, I'd say I'm physically in the office around only 20-30 hours a week now. I try to bike to work at least three times a week (for the other days I take public transit paid for by my job), but I recently had wrist surgery so I won't be able to bike for another two weeks or so.
Here are, approximately, the numbers (all in USD):
Retirement Account: $65,000
My half of the Home Equity: $40-50,000
Brokerage*: $4,500
Kids' College (or whatever, braces, who the fuck knows) Fund (Roth IRA): $3,000
Cash on hand: $6,000ish
Daily net income: $142
Car Value: $1
Weight**: 141 lbs.
Days Sober***: 14
*I liquidated a joint brokerage account in late February because: 1) shit was gonna hit the fan; and 2) my husband and I decided to split our finances. I blew $6,600 of my "sale proceeds" on a six-month lease for an apartment down the street. I've been slowly buying back in to some stocks since May.
**I had two babies in two years, but I'm back to my pre-baby weight. Shooting for 135.
***To quote an esteemed Supreme Court Justice, "I like beer." (Kavanaugh, J.). I'm attempting to stay sober for six months.
I'm not sure what this iteration of the journal will be. I'll probably start with good intentions and keep it mostly generic and boring with lots of quantitative measurements, and then I'll devolve into philosophizing about most everything and ham-handedly warning people not to have children. I don't see a point in putting up my budget right now. We've gone from a two income household to a one income household, and every dollar that I don't spend on supporting the family I'll put into a retirement account for my currently-stay-at-home-husband, because that only seems fair. There won't be, like, globs of money left over, though, so he's not getting such a killer deal.
Anyway. I'm still figuring my life out and just trying to enjoy as much time with my little "biscuits" as I can while they're still young and cuddly. I'm thankful to my younger self for very consciously putting away money and maintaining a relatively frugal lifestyle. I learned a few tricks from this site and maybe I, in turn, can pass along some knowledge, wisdom, or tricks to some young gun. Day at a time.