A Whirlwind

The busiest summer I’ve had in years

Hello, it’s been a while. Yes I’ve rebranded and you’ll read more about it at the end.

A photo of the picture window at the cottage in northern Wisconsin I took on my canon t50. Getting into film photography has been interesting.

This summer has been filled with much fun. From Indy Car at Road America, to going up north to my Dad’s family’s cottage (shared with many in my Dad’s family so planning is a must), to purposely staying home for a weekend because there’s powerboat races on the lake a block away from our house.

But it’s also been incredibly trying.

I began working again, part time, a year ago now. That year ebbed and flowed between testing everything and going by in the blink of an eye. Somehow now, my second calendar is turned to August and my kids return to school August 20th. How is the end of summer already here? It feels so sudden, yet the sweet time at the cottage earlier this month felt so long (although it was our shortest stay to date). All through this time, though, I’ve been feeling like I’m constantly battling my body. Either through aches, swelling, dealing with the aftermath of getting an IUD (even though I’m sterile, more on that another time).

I should be thankful to only work 4 hours a day Monday- Friday, but instead I just keep feeling the weight of society lately. Feeling like we can’t get ahead in life. I fell off the wagon a bit earlier this year with tracking our expenses and the debt came back quickly (not because we spent a lot, because we truly haven’t). The weight as well being felt with increasing utilities, grocery prices and just stepping outside your door feeling more expensive. There’s been a few ways that I’ve combat that recently but the last two weeks, it hasn’t felt like enough (I blame that on the three year old being in her screaming phase and it truly triggers my fight or flight to exhaustion).

A few things that I’ve done that are cheap/free:

• Borrowing more from the library. We canceled Netflix because we were not getting our use out of it. Let peacock non-renew for the annual amount. We’ve been borrowing more books and DVD’s from the library and it’s been a lot of fun going as a family.

• Using thrift books. I’ve rebuilt a decently large library after a “let’s downsize” moment by using thrift books. I’ve also been buying my kids DVD’s from there that I know they enjoy and we want to own. The DVD’s are far cheaper usually then buying them elsewhere.

• Buying audiobooks on sale. Have I ever mentioned how good Libra.fm’s book sales are? They’re so worth it. I can easily get 3-4 audiobooks at a time for under $15. It really is worthwhile for me being a monthly subscriber with the 1 credit per month plan just for the sale prices alone.

A photo of my bookshelf taken on my handed down Canon AF35M from my Mom.

I really & truly have so much to be thankful for in life, but lately my brain has been telling me all the negative things. I know I need to journal more but I feel guilty for taking time away from my spouse and kids to indulge in my hobbies (all the parents can come scream at me in the comments).

Thank you for hanging around while I’ve been quiet. If you’re getting this message and confused about what’s with the rebrand, I can’t stay on personal finance forever. You’ll still get some of that throughout my writing but I wanted to show up in a space where I didn’t feel pressured to only talk about one thing.