#addition here yes my parents (pre split) took me there when i was a small baby. got babysat by some lesbians (i don't think my parents knew)

[yellowjckets]

so maddening that i can't do screenshots of netflix cause i would be having a field day w/ annie rn

[collectivecloseness]

37) I thought you didn’t love me anymore with kurt where you've just not been in the best mood lately

Kurt definitely feels rejected easily (so does Steve, although I think they handle slightly neglectful parents in... different ways)

Prompt: 37) I thought you didn’t love me anymore

Kurt Kunkle x reader

How had your day been so shitty?

Your phone ran out of battery so you had no alarm, with Kurt not needing one that early. And then Kurt was clinging to you so much this morning, looking all rejected and like a kicked puppy because he woke up and you wouldn’t cuddle with him for even two minutes. Then your car wouldn’t start so you had to decide between booking a spree, or seeing if Kurt was ready to drive you to work in his sweatpants, and literally them alone. Work was just a mess, as usual. And you didn’t even get to eat lunch because you had to catch up on so many things that you wouldn’t have been able to even call Kurt to bring you something, like you did most busy days, or when you just wanted to see him. And then, the heel of your shoe split. So for about three hours you were walking around work with the slapping sound of your shoe accompanying you every single step.

You didn’t ask Kurt to pick you up, because a few days of the week you’d carpool back with some work friends who lived close. Even if Kurt swore he didn’t mind (and that he’d love to pick you up every day) you knew it was better for the environment, and Kurt wouldn’t have to deny clients, and you wouldn’t have to wait for him, and it gave you time to bitch with your colleagues away from bosses ears; it was just a good system.

At least that had gone smoothly. Although you didn’t feel like talking much during the ride. Not even about how your boss had been riding your ass one one of your more infuriating days you could remember in recent history. You wanted to pull your hair out.

But eventually your friends car stopped outside your home, and you waved a tired goodbye to everyone, noisily walking down to your front door. Dropping your keys on the floor.

Great. Just another beautiful addition to the day.

If you hadn’t been zoning out for your own sanity, you would’ve heard the commotion behind your front door.

As soon as you stepped into your home, you had your 5’11 boyfriend eagerly running at you, and a camera right in your face. It literally hit your nose, because Kurt slipped a little.

“Yes! Oh guys. And here we have my beautiful partner- oop- sorry babe.” Kurt tried to brush your nose, in his excitement of filming, kind of just hitting your face.

You only blinked in a small stupor. You were so out of it you didn’t even know if Kurt was livestreaming you, or just filming. God you hoped it wasn’t the first.

“And- yeah- today-!” Kurt placed his arm around your shoulder, and held the camera up at both of you. So you could see your face in the other screen, looking subdued and done, compared to Kurts cool and excited smile, energy always radiating off him. It wasn’t transferrable through touch it seemed.

“Today we’re pranking y/n! Aha, totally kidding babe! Bu-Although, I guess one- you could say that, that’s a prank in itself!” Kurt made a kind of thinking/mind blown gesture to his camera. Having spoken too quickly, his first sentence about pranking you hadn’t even sunk in.

At least you could tell he was only recording now. He used this camera for hand held pre-recording, he said he preferred it for editing with his computer. Your boyfriend had a lot of cameras. You swear you’d end up finding some secretly recording you two, maybe for ‘a year in my life’ or something.

You took a deep breath. Kurt was high energy. That wasn’t a downfall of him, you were just pissy today. You couldn’t ruin his fun. “Hey Kurt?” You gently placed your hand over his arm, Kurt finally looking at you, versus just looking at the camera, or at the image of you on there, which you hated when he was talking to you. You lowered his arm smoothly, getting his big brown eyes on you. “I’m very glad you’re not pranking me. But you think your avid followers could wait an extra day for an upload? Or could you at least go into another room?”

You were either going to binge on the couch, sleep in your bed, masturbate furiously, or have a bath, and you didn’t really want Kurt accidentally recording either of those things.

Luckily, to Kurts testament, and probably from being used to dealing with you, he switched off the camera straight away. Or maybe he knew it just wouldn’t make good content. He finally turned to you, his face significantly more downtrodden than before you’d walked in the door, which only made your chest feel heavier.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, seeming much more like himself now. Which you did prefer. You thought about kissing him on the cheek, but you were too tired, and in a split second decision you moved over to the couch, brushing your hand over his arm instead. “It’s just too much, today.”

“Well- what’s too much?” Kurt asked, still standing there, dumbly looking down at you.

“The fucking camera, Kurt.” You quickly but not harshly got out, only swearing after a long day, not at him. Rubbing your face in your hands, which meant Kurt didn’t get a chance to see what you were thinking much more than that.

When you did peek through your fingers, sliding your hands down your face, you saw your boyfriend still standing there. Lips pursed, all twisted up, and breathing a little heavily. He looked like he didn’t know what to think. Although when Kurt started to feel just that less open, you found it much harder to tell what he was thinking.

But Kurt’s heavy breathing was getting to you. Just like the sound your shoe had been making all day. Just like the way he was staring at you, looking so... fuck, you didn’t know what! And like how every little thing had been getting to you all day. And now your heart was loud in your ears and you couldn’t stop feeling sweaty and Kurt was still just looking at you and-

“Kurt if you have something to say just say it!”

That felt good for about two seconds. Some sort of release. But then it felt awful.

When you looked back up to Kurt you knew your eyes would’ve been sharp, and Kurt’s face shifted. He looked stoney faced again, like he did when he was really not letting anything slip by, and without saying a word, Kurt stormed to his room, shutting the door behind him.

You sighed loudly, it slipping into a groan as you threw your head back against the sofa cushion, whining.

He probably knew to just give you some space.

After about ten minutes of having the tv on loud enough to block out any of your own thoughts, but not to overstimulate you further, you felt better. Calmer. And you felt bad for snapping at Kurt.

You decided now was probably the right time to go and apologise, maybe get a snuggle in with him on the bed, if he wasn’t mad at you.

You switched the tv off and started walking towards your shared bedroom. You remembered that stoney look on his face and you knew what it was. You knew he bottled up his emotions sometimes. So with a sigh, you went down the hallway towards your room.

...Panicking, when you heard the sounds coming from it. You opened your door wide, and saw Kurt bundled under the sheets, facing your door, crying.

The bottle had spilled.

Kurt was looking up at you with drowned brown and red eyes, hurt clear in them. He’d tried to bury of much of himself under the blankets as possible, with his head still poking out, hair a mess. And his sleeves and collar were wet with tears and snot, wrecked cries coming from his heaving chest.

“Kurt!! Honey!” You ran over to him, squatting down by his side and placing your hand on top of his that was gripping the quilt, Kurt still sniffing at you, crying.

“I- I thought... maybe you didn’t love me anymore.”

Shock overtook your face. Gripping his hand in yours, your other hand pushing back the quilt just a little so you could stroke through his hair. “No baby! Never.”

You two didn’t have many real arguments, and it was tearing Kurt up.

Kurt sniffled, little hiccups going through him. “I know I can be annoying, I’m sorry.”

“No.” You stood very firmly on this. Kneeling on the ground instead so you were more steady, your hand holding his cheek, and shaking his held hand with your certainty. “No you’re not annoying. I promise you Kurt, don’t say that.”

Kurts cries were quieter, but tears still slipped past his face. Past his nose, and cheeks, and down his pouting lips. “I know I can be too much for you.”

“No, Kurt baby, I love your energy. Your enthusiasm for the world.” You stroked his cheek, squeezing his hand so he knew you were still there, even if his eyes were set on you. “I love that about you, I love it so much. I’ve never thought you were too much, never.”

Kurts fingers moved a little to be able to tap at your wrist, his lips screwing up like a fresh wave of tears were about to overtake him. But quickly breathing when you mimicked a big breath, getting him to breathe with you, which he did. Letting a shaky blow of air out, before continuing. Voice still a bit wobbly, but flipping his hand up so he could hold yours now.

“Because you left without letting me hold you this morning too.” Kurt whined. “A-And, and you got a Spree that wasn’t mine. And you never even called me all day.”

It was like Kurt had been waiting for you to get home, and you didn’t even want to see him!

Kurts words were almost breaking, but definitely warming your heart. You felt bad all these little things today had been adding up for him as well, but at the same time the way he whined, the way he just wanted to hold you. “Kurt, baby, you were so tired this morning, I didn’t want you to crash.” You smiled gently, cupping his face between both your hands, which you could tell Kurt loved.

You leaned up to kiss him, even if his lips were all salty, and when you came back down Kurt had stopped sniffling, stopped whining, stopped crying. Finally calm after you reassured him, after you held him. Still looking at you though, with those big wet eyes.

“I promise you Kurt, I’ll let you cuddle me as much as you want from now on. Because I love you.”

Kurt tackled you with a hug. His front half bursting out of the bed, and clinging his arms around you anywhere he could get. His warm cheeks pressed to the top of your head as you caught him, in a hug you eagerly returned.

At this point, it was just easier to fall. So you let Kurt slip out the bed, holding his lower back carefully, as you helped him ‘fall’ on top of you, bringing your own back down to your bedroom floor, and letting your boyfriend lay his full weight on top of you. And by the happy murmuring’s right in your ear, you could tell it was a decision Kurt enjoyed.

You giggled, hugging his waist back tightly, as your other arm held his shoulders, your hand moving up, and stroking through his brown hair, massaging your poor boyfriends head. Who lay a wet kiss on your shoulder, in thanks.

“I’m sorry I was a grumpy pants, I love you Kurt.” You kissed his flamed cheek, hugging your soft boyfriend close. “Never forget it.”

[fictional-affliction]

Under Pressure, Chapter 2

Rating: T

Words: 2,400

You can find this story on AO3 and ff.net as well but here is the link to the first chapter if you missed it!  https://fictional-affliction.tumblr.com/post/185575372490/under-pressure-chapter-1 

Duncan was the absolute worst to tutor. She’d tried before. In second grade, when he had gotten sent to the principal’s office so many times that he’d missed most of the lessons on multiplication. In middle school, when he stopped writing papers for English and almost had to repeat seventh grade. Even freshman year, when he got sent to Juvie for the first time.

It wasn’t that Duncan was stupid, he just didn’t want to apply himself to school, which made tutoring him frustrating and pointless.

“But-” Courtney tried to reason with her teacher, but she didn’t budge.

“Do you want the extra credit?” Mrs. Hanover asked.

“I do but-”

“Then it’s settled.” Mrs. Hanover ended the conversation abruptly and left to use the copy machine before class started.

“Looks like we’re gonna get to spend more quality time together, Princess.” Duncan teased and put his arm around Courtney’s shoulders. She scoffed and shrugged him off. Frustrated, she stomped down the hallway in the direction of her first period class. He followed, much to her dismay.

“You better at least try to do better in this class Duncan, because if my Chemistry grade goes down because of you I’m going to murder you.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Duncan looked off down the hallway. Courtney was going to berate him for not giving this important matter his undivided attention but then understood when she saw Geoff, Bridgette, and DJ coming towards them.

“Dude! You’re back!” Geoff took his arm from around Bridgette’s waist so that he and Duncan could pound fists. DJ was more enthusiastic with his affection and hugged Duncan, even going as far to lift him a foot off of the ground. Bridgette and Courtney exchanged a knowing look that came with years of knowing the three boys. They were inseparable, except for the times that Duncan got himself sent to Juvie.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to get out for another two weeks?” DJ asked when he put Duncan down.

“I was, but my mom made my dad pull a few strings.”

“That’s awesome dude, you know what this means?” Geoff hinted at, Duncan and the other teens already knew what Geoff was thinking.

“Party this weekend?” You could already see the mischief on Duncan’s face at the idea.

“Yes!” As Duncan and Geoff immediately began planning, with DJ brought into it without a choice; Bridgette kissed Geoff on the cheek, then headed down another hallway with Courtney.

“So...how does it feel?” Bridgette kept her voice down incase of eavesdroppers.

“How does what feel?” Courtney kept looking straight ahead with a blank expression on her face.

“You know...Duncan being back?”

“Am I supposed to feel a particular way?”  Bridgette almost rolled her eyes at Courtney’s denial.

“Really Court? Are you going do this every time?” Courtney didn’t respond, hoping that Bridgette would drop the subject. She didn’t.

“Just tell him alread-”

“Shh!” Courtney quieted her and looked around to make sure no one had heard. Courtney’s jaw clenched. Bridgette, the caring friend she was, always meant well but couldn’t she just leave her be? The pair of girls stopped where their paths divided.

“I’m sure he missed you as much as you missed him.” A corner of Courtney’s mouth twitched for just a split second. It wasn’t a lot, but they had been friends long enough that Bridgette noticed when she was fighting a smile.

“I plead the fifth.”  Then Courtney disappeared into her English class.

-

“In combination chemical reactions, two or more reactants form one product...Duncan are you even listening?”

“No.” Duncan continued to doodle in his notebook as they both sat at the desk in Courtney’s bedroom. She’d been trying to get Duncan back on track with the rest of his Chemistry 1 class for over an hour, but had made no progress. She tried a different approach and yanked him by his dog collar so that they were face to face.

“I’m not playing around with you Duncan, you might think this is stupid but I don’t, so could you please pull yourself together and be serious!” Instead of being bothered by her physical force, Duncan grinned.

“You’re lucky I’m into the kinky stuff.” Courtney huffed and pushed him back into his chair. “You wanna be serious?” He continued.

If Courtney’s raised eyebrows could speak they would say ‘obviously’.

“Then let’s get serious. Tell me why you hit yourself again.” Brown eyes widened at his blunt words. She was relieved that her parents weren’t home and that Cate was at a friend’s house. The last thing she needed was for them to overhear.

“We have a lot of work to get done.” Courtney turned away and flipped through the Chemistry textbook, closing herself off. He wouldn’t get it, no one would.

“You’re not changing the subject this time Princess.” He swiveled around her desk chair so that their knees were touching. She stared down at them and wouldn’t make eye contact.

“What’s going on?” He asked less forcefully this time. Courtney knew how this worked by now, until she told him, he wouldn’t leave her be.

“I got an B minus on my Chem test, if you need to know so badly.” She spit out and tried to turn herself back around but he held her chair steady.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it? Sure for you it’s nothing, you don’t give a damn about school, but some people care about their grades. Getting a B minus isn’t good enough.”  

“It’s not worth hurting yourself.” It wasn’t often that Duncan was this openly concerned and quite frankly it was making her nervous with the way he was looking at her. Besides, Courtney didn’t like to think of it as hurting herself, it was just something she did sometimes.

“Don’t try to tell me what to do!” She got defensive and raised her voice.

“It’s not like you’d listen. No one knows better than you Courtney.” He yelled back sarcastically.

“Don’t. You have no idea what it’s like to be me.”

“Then tell me! Oh, wait that’s right! You have to be fucking perfect all the time! Can’t let anyone know that you have feelings!”

“What’s the point of telling you! You’re just going to leave again!” She yelled across the small space between them. A moment too late Courtney realized what she’d said. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.” Duncan still kept her chair facing him but Courtney looked anywhere but at him. Duncan suddenly felt remorse for getting sent back to Juvie. To him it was more of a nuisance more than anything. A sentence that was a pain in the ass but it would pass, and then he’d go back to doing the same shit that got him sent there in the first place.

“Why can’t you just stay out of trouble...” Courtney sighed. “You don’t have to convince everyone that you’re a bad guy.”

“I am a bad guy.” Duncan insisted and Courtney gazed up from their laps to look at him skeptically.

“I am!”

“Sure you are.” Duncan sat up in his chair. Sometimes Courtney did this thing where she would throw it in his face that she knew who he really was. That she knew him better than anyone. In those moments Duncan always felt like he had to ruffle her feathers a little bit. Courtney sat back in her chair until there was no where else to go as Duncan caged her in.

“Want me to prove it.” He threatened, and lowered his voice, making it hard for her to find her’s. This wasn’t the first time they’d toed the line between just friends and more. This wasn’t the first time that the tension that was always there came to the forefront.

“Go ahead.” Courtney countered calling his bluff. She batted her eyelashes innocently and dared him to do something. Duncan kept his eyes fixated on her face, trying to tell if she meant it. She was right where he wanted her and yet, he couldn’t.

He slumped back into his chair and ran a hand threw his mohawk.

“You’re such a pain.” Courtney’s face glowed with victory and Duncan couldn’t find it in him to be mad because she was so beautiful when she smiled.

“Now, what’s it’s going to take for you to learn any of this.” She gestured to the textbook open on her desk.

Not only did Duncan have no interest in learning any more Chemistry for the day, but it was his first day back to school and he already couldn’t wait until the weekend; which gave him an idea.

“I have a proposition for you, I will be your star pupil for the rest of the week if...”

“I’m listening...” Courtney was wary of what his terms were, Duncan’s good behavior never came free.

“If you go to Geoff’s party.”

“No.”

“I thought you wanted that extra credit?” One thing that Courtney didn’t count on was that Duncan knew her just as well as she knew him. He could see her weighing what was at stake.

“You have to get an A on your Chem quiz on Friday.” She gave him her terms.

“C.” He countered.

“A minus.”

“B plus.”

“Deal.” Courtney solidified the wager and put her hand out. Duncan gladly shook it and smirked. She should really know by now not to underestimate him.

-

It was turning out to be a good day. The stress that had started on Monday, from how poorly she had done on her exam, had mostly dissipated. In addition to tutoring Duncan, Courtney had done an extensive amount of studying for her own Chemistry class, making Mrs. Hanover’s usual Friday quiz an easy A. Everything was starting to feel like it was falling back into place. As she took the appropriate books out of her locker, she planned how to manage her time this weekend so that she could finish her English paper, study for the SATs and still catch that documentary on cold cases. Courtney almost had it all pre-scheduled in her head when something that was dangled in front of her face interrupted her.

“Take a good look, Princess.” She grabbed the paper out of Duncan’s hand, confused for a moment at what she was looking at, then saw the big numbers written on top of the page in red ink.

“No...” She said with dread. Eighty-eight percent. Shit.

“How?” Courtney looked over the quiz in disbelief and doubled checked that there wasn’t a mistake.

“Guess I have a pretty good tutor.” Duncan leaned his shoulder against the lockers and watched Courtney soak it up.

“Now you have to hold up your end of the bargain.”

“But, but-”

“But what?” Duncan taunted her, a giant smile on his face.

“You weren’t supposed to be able to do it!”

“Wow, I’m hurt Courtney, have you no faith in me at all.” Courtney ignored his act and finished acquiring the books she needed and shoved them into her backpack. She slammed the door hard, the metal shaking with its force.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Bridgette and Geoff, like the matched set they were, stopped in front of Duncan and Courtney. Duncan was the one to answer Bridgette.

“Princess and I made a bet and now she doesn’t want to pay up.”

“What was the bet?” Geoff asked, amused to what Duncan had gotten Courtney to agree to. Courtney’s jaw was clenched so hard that she couldn’t speak.

“If I did good on my Chem quiz-”

“Done well!” Courtney corrected, Duncan gave her the side eye and continued.

“Then she had to go to your party.”

“Court, you’re coming to the party?” Geoff was thrilled, Courtney hadn’t gone to one of his parties since eighth grade and now they were into the spring of their junior year of High School.

“It’s not fair! I was tricked!”

“C’mon Court it will be fun!” Bridgette interjected and put a hand on Courtney’s shoulder to calm her down.

“She’s just afraid she’ll like it and it will ruin her good-girl image.”

“No, I’m not! I just don’t want to. It’s immature.”

“Sure.”  Bridgette knew exactly what Duncan was doing. If he challenged Courtney that she wouldn’t do something, then she would be hell bent on proving she could. It had been this way since they were in daycare.

“Please, like it’s hard to go get drunk and act like Neanderthals.”

“Hard for you.” Courtney couldn’t back down from the challenge.

“Ugh! Fine! I’ll be there, but I’m only staying for an hour!” Geoff held up his fist and Duncan bumped it.

“Where are you going?” Cate asked a she approached the juniors. Usually Courtney would be waiting for her by the car by now and when she wasn’t there she wondered if she had some club meeting Cate had forgotten about.

“She’s going to Geoff’s party.” Duncan answered smugly. Cate’s face lit up.

“You are? Now I have a ride!”

“You’re not going.” Courtney hissed at her.

“What? Yes, I am! Geoff invited me!”

“Yeah, of course little sis is allowed to come.” Geoff assured.

“Last time I checked she’s MY little sister, and she’s only fourteen.”

“I’ll be fifteen in like a month!” Cate argued.

“I don’t care. You’re not going. End of story.” Courtney was used to discipling Cate, with how much their parents worked, she often took on the job of being a third parent.

“Are you kidding me?” Cate all but stomped her feet.

“Maybe I should run it by Mom and Dad that you want to go to a party where there will be drugs and alcohol.”

“And I’ll tell them that you’re going!” Cate had her there and she knew it.

“Please Coco?” Cate pouted and used the nickname she made for her when she was a baby and couldn’t say Courtney. A few moments passed where Courtney weighed the pros and cons.

“We’ll talk about it in the car.” Courtney ended the conversation, but Cate knew that meant that she’d get her way. Courtney pulled her younger sister down the hall, knowing that her perfect plans for weekend were ruined.

“I’ll call you later Court!” Bridgette yelled down the hall then turned to Duncan.

“You’re the worst.” She joked, grateful that for once her best friend would act her own age.

“I know.” Duncan replied triumphantly. Suddenly, tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.

[heynells-blog1]

May Money Diaries // The Spending Habits of a [Sick] Babysitter & Digital Strategist

For the month of May, I’ve decided to chronicle my spending habits through weekly “Money Diary” posts. I’ve seen the “Money Diary” series on Refinery 29 and The Luxe Strategist, so I thought it would be interesting to see how I hold up against my budget and long-term financial goals. I think I’m quite disciplined with my spending, but I ocassionally have slip-ups - these usually occur around food (eating out with friends) and coffee shops.

 Some things to know before I go into my financial down-low: 

I live with my parents in Jersey City, so I save $$$$ on rent, utilities, and my phone bill. Given my fluctuating income, it’s not wise for me to move out. 

I take care of about half my own groceries since I’m vegan and my family is not. I prepare my own meals.  

My parents pay for my Jersey City light rail pass and PATH 40 trip pass because they know my small income would “die” (my Dad’s word, not mine) if I took on all my expenses. Thank you, Mom & Dad, for putting up with my stubborness to work in the nonprofit sector. 

I work as a part-time babysitter for 22 hours a week. Sometimes, I get extra hours through date night gigs. 

My *real job* is being a part-time Communications and Development Coordinator for a local arts + human rights + youth development nonprofit based in Brooklyn. Truthfully, this feels like a full-time position because there’s always so much to do and I am underpaid. 

I pay for my own eating out expenses, shopping, and art supplies. 

My average monthly salary is $1,700. 

Here’s a breakdown of what I spent this week. I pride myelf on being a dedicated meal prepper and aspiring frugalista, but this week was rough because I ended up getting sick with a sore throat and a bad cold - thanks to two kids I babysit. 

On Mondays I babysit my Upper West Side child, so I take the subway to and from her neighborhood. 

Monday was also when my throat started feeling sore. As a preventative measure, I decided to eat soup and vegan dumplings at my favourite NYC restaurant. I wasn’t feeling well enough to make soup at home for myself and I needed time to plan social media content for work. 

I was feeling 5% better on Tuesday, but my throat was sore and beginning to ache. I didn’t take that as a bad sign because I could still talk, though I should have heeded that as a warning that I could become more sick. 

On Tuesdays, I babysit in the morning (Jersey City), work from home for 3-4 hours, and then leave for my afternoon babysitting gig in Chinatown NYC. On that Tuesday, I had a date night gig in Jersey City with a new family; I packed myself a salad for dinner because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to eat anything in their household. I was glad I did that because their dinner was beef stew. 

Wednesdays are my busiest days of the week. After babysitting in the morning, I went to my team meeting in Brooklyn. I was feeling #blessed because my boss gave me a student fare subway card loaded with 2 pre-paid trips - I didn’t have to pay for my subway ride! I used only 1 trip on the card because I decided to walk the Williamsburg bridge to get to Chinatown. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to save the remaining trip. 

I felt like death on Wednesday and I knew I could only power through work and babysitting by fueling myself appropriately. I drank an Immunity juice from Joe & The Juice to console my immune system, and I ate soup and vegan dumplings for lunch (yes, I am addicted to Buddha Bodai). My sore throat wasn’t satisfied with the soup so I went to Silk Road Cafe and orderd a vanilla lemongrass tea; the store owner noticed I had a sore throat, so she added extra honey to the tea. I almost cried at that random act of kindness. 

I was exhausted after my afternoon babysitting gig, so I decided to eat dinner at Thanh Hoai 1. I ordered a large vegetable pho, and I had to order a cup of soy bean milk so that I could meet the restaurant’s credit card limit of $10. I was annoyed I had to purchase an additional item that I didn’t need, but it was the cheapest thing on the menu that I actually liked. 

I woke up with a throbbing headahce, feeling dizzy, and throwing up phlegm every minute, so I cancelled all my babysitting gigs. I eventually stopped throwing up halfway through the day, but I was still light headed and I didn’t feel safe going outside by myself. I worked from home and made food from groceries I purchased last weekend. 

I woke up feeling 70% rejuvenated, so I was able to babysit my Upper West Side child. After, I had a surprise lunch date with my partner. I paid for my split pea soup. He paid for his food, and our pizza squares and sweet chili soy nuggets. I tried to pay for the chili soy nuggets, but my partner was faster than me getting to the cashier. 

After work, my partner and I both craved something sweet so we got bubble tea. My partner paid for that too. We had separate plans for dinner, so he dropped me off at home and I made dinner from last week’s groceries.

Saturdays are usually my grocery days. But since I ate out a lot this past week, I still have a ton of leftover food from last week’s grocery haul so I didn’t go grocery shopping. 

My parents surprised me by taking me out to watch The Avengers: Infinity War. As our usual Saturday custom, we had family lunch together and they paid for my salad. Since we were already at the Jersey City Gardens Outlet, I could not not visit Under Armour and not leave empty-handed with a sale going on, “additional 40% clearance items.” I thought the sale was perfect timing since after spring cleaning my closet, I have a small list of exercise clothes that need to be purchased. I went inside with a goal of only getting items I really needed. I purchased socks (my work-out socks are ratty thanks to babysitting), 1 tank top appropriate for babysitting and work, and a different colour of my favourite sports bra.

Keeping in mind that I was sick and unable to make food for myself, I’m not so anxious about the $65.39 I spent on eating out. It sucks a bit because my budget for eating out this month is $90, so I’m going to have to be careful about eating out for the next three weeks of May. 

I don’t have the flexibility to easily adjust my budget because I’m committed to mailing a $1,200 cheque this month for my monthly student loan payment. If I want to eat out more, that means I’ll have to decrease my grocery budget; I don’t want to do that because I know I get more value for my dollar by making meals at home and I know the food I make is much more healthier. 

Next week’s goal: To stay vigilant on my spending habits and only eat out once or twice. Since I’m feeling 90% better, I think next week’s spending will balance out last week’s eating out patterns.