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Happy Friday! I keep having these grand visions of working from home, eating healthy meals, and doing something productive with my downtime. In reality, I’m just trying to get through the day and eating sleeves of Oreos. I keep looking at my phone as if its going to tell me something good. I’ve started caring a bit less whether I log into my work account at 9 or 9:15. I wear clothes that are pajamas at all hours. My free time is spent playing Tetris 99 on the Switch. I’m not as productive. I was supposed to write a book review and I’ve been putting it off. So really, having all this free time is not an indicator of productivity.
I feel like my response (as well as many people) to outside stressors is related to the collective trauma of 17 million people losing their jobs, of 60,000 people in the US estimated to die, and seeing images of mass graves being dug. I’m trying to do my best by saving money, cuddling my cat, and posting weird pictures on Instagram because it makes me feel like I have a bit of control over something.
This week in our household, we finally caved and got an Amazon Prime subscription so we could order food through Amazon’s Whole Foods market (it’s free delivery–among the other perks of having a Prime Membership). The reason we went with Prime was because the other delivery options for Peapod or Fresh Direct did not offer delivery to our area or the deliveries were so many that we couldn’t get our order through. Our first attempts at ordering through Amazon Fresh were not successful. We haven’t seen any delivery windows open up! We were able to order from Whole Foods for same day delivery. It was a good experience. We did tip double the suggested amount because those workers deserve all the extra income for working as much as they are now (trying not to be like these assholes). I’m desperately craving Pop Tarts right now and I have to settle for different brands!
I want to take a second to acknowledge the immense privilege we have to even consider food delivery or getting a Prime membership. I feel very lucky that I still have my job and Josh is able to receive unemployment benefits without issues (unlike other people we know who are stuck in unemployment purgatory).
Later, we did order some snack items from Target and that experience was less than ideal: the box came a day late, it was damaged, the food boxes inside were damaged, and we were missing a bag of chips. Josh was desperate for Takis and those were cancelled before they even reached the door.
As suggested by the Mayor and city of NY, only one household member should go shopping at the local stores. Even though we ordered food and had packages delivered, we forgot bread. And I wanted some extra ingredients for making chili mac n’ cheese. So I went to the store on Monday? (what day is it!). I wore a mask. There was barely anyone there. I didn’t spend much time looking around since there was barely any food on the shelves. Notably, they were also out of Pop Tarts.
Updates from last week: 1) we were able to find a laundromat—thank goodness, but we don’t know if this one will be open the next time we need to wash our clothes, 2) I am having my prescription delivered instead of walking a mile to get it so we’re still staying indoors as much as possible, 3) Josh did receive the stimulus money in his unemployment check this week. (Though we have not received the big check…has anyone?)
In non-food related news, I received an official written notification from my student loan service provider that payments are suspended until September 30th because of the CARES Act. My auto-debit of my monthly payment will stop for 6 months and I’m going to use this time (for as long as I have a job) to move the money I would normally pay in loans into a high-yield savings account at Ally. I have a couple of other savings accounts there (specifically named “emergency fund” and “Jada fund”), so I made another account specifically for this money. The APR on these savings accounts as of this post is 1.50% (but I’ve seen it as high as 2%), which is obviously better than the APR at a savings account with a brick mortar bank. Of course, Ally is backed by FDIC so the money is safe—I mention this because I know some people worry about online banking. With this account I’ll have more of a buffer in case I need it, but also will get a little bit of interest added by keeping it in this type of savings account.
In a previous post I said I was going to keep my pre-tax commuter benefits program active, but I decided that it made more sense to suspend this for the next month (at least). The money that was going towards my subway card will be back in my paycheck ($127!). I also have two months worth of money on the commuter card already so when we finally do return to working order it will be ready to use. Always need more cash on hand!!
Some joys I found this week:
1. This tik tok creativity is stellar.
2. Going to try to make these Lemon Crinkle Cookies this weekend 🙂
3. Anyone want to contribute to my new desk fund? haha
4. Our Marvel movie week has turned into Marvel movie month! We did end up renting Spider-Man: Homecoming because it’s not available on Disney+, it was a small expense, but sometimes its okay to give yourself small joys. We just watched Black Panther again and it still is one of the stronger movies of the MCU. We’re not emotionally ready for Infinity War or Endgame, but we have to do it!
5. Hello, spring Work From Home wardrobe:
See Vol. 3 | See Vol. 2 | See Vol. 1
Stay safe and STAY HOME! ♥
Heather Allen 