Oh what a day!

 Oh what a day! Yesterday was a banner 12-hour day. I woke up before 8a and was in meetings until the afternoon. Apparently our department is undergoing a re-org. It seems everyone has their jobs. They made sure to tell us that plenty of times.

A thought crossed my mind that with the new roles they described, none seem all that appealing. Perhaps it's because I am not yet an expert in my field. Not sure.

I was brave though and emailed my boss about internet reimbursement. Even if I can get $50/mon that would help. 

What prompted this was I decided to go ahead and sign up for regular pest control. I figure I could try it for at least a year. After the gross neighbors that made entry sometime this weekend, I was very motivated to throw money at the problem. I think DIY is not my natural inclination. 

Orkin came yesterday, thankfully. He sprayed and put copper mesh in some cracks he found in the bathroom. I personally think they found their way in through the door or somewhere downstairs but he couldn't find any openings downstairs. I'm too scared right now to go and check if his work was successful. 

My Wyze camera came yesterday so I set that up and does not appear to have detected any motion last night. Again, I have other things splitting my focus right now.

I spent a lot yesterday.

I even treated myself to some Chik - Fil- A. If I didn't have to go downstairs, I'd probably go get a Chicken biscuit. I really could use some fresh fruit and veg, though, at least my colon could.

Anyways, Orkin is estimated to be about $500 for the year. So will have to figure out how to get that monthly payment worked out. Yesterday I just gave them my allowance card but I don't know if there's enough money on there for recurring payments. I think after reading how much value the blogger at I Pick Up Pennies gets out of her termite service and other subscriptions, I felt not as alone on this expense. 

I finally broke down and bought a washer and dryer. I wanted to wash all the things the pest might have crawled on. That should be delivered some time soon. I used some of my work rewards points. 

I went ahead and got a couch as well. I broke my own rule of not buying before sitting on it first. But you know pressure - which makes most of my decisions. 

I think both of these things had a pest factor adding pressure; plus I had been thinking about it for way too long; and with work demands, I think I just needed to feel like I accomplished something.

I spent over $100 at Amazon getting more housing stuff. Some under the door stuff and other supplies. 

Last night I again thought - what am I doing here? Is this the right place for me? But like I was at the studio - where else can I go?

Just the home maintenance part of home ownership is not for me. And of course this neighborhood. 

All in all this took about 12 hours yesterday. 

That's it for now, better do some work. 

Oh, one more thing. I put the couch and appliances on a credit card. I felt a little inkling of bad behavior, but I was sort of in a haze of let's just get this stuff done and think about it later. It was both work stress and home maintenance related. But yeah, knowing it wasn't coming out of my bank account right away was a slippery slope since my accounts right now are pretty anemic.

I'd like to think knowing I technically have about that much sitting in my Hidden Churning Account made this not as reckless of a move, but who knows. But yeah, just another kind reminder to myself to be careful with credit cards. Psychologically, it's just different. The funds seem unlimited when it's not being directly taken out of an account you know you'll need for recurring bills. 

Luckily, 1 credit card rightly only has a $1k balance. The other did not have 0% interest. And so the third had a high limit and 0% interest. But I really need to get that limit down or close it soon! I also tend to keep the cards locked so I'll have to take that extra step to use them after I meet the spend requirement to get the bonus. 

But yeah, another reminder to be careful with credit cards.  Also, to really be mindful of the people you spend money with. My relative was kind of egging me on to buy the washer and dryer and the couch because I "needed" them. Need is a strong word considering I haven't had them for 2 years.  But we all know it's so much easier to spend other people's money. Even when I exclaimed at how much the costs were adding up to me and how it would take months to pay off. She was like stop acting like you make minimum wage.  Obviously that relationship is not a safe money space, sigh. Oh well.