A Week In Washington, D.C. On A $118,000 Joint Income

Occupation: Project Manager/Consultant
Industry: Business Consulting
Age: 31
Location: Washington, D.C.
Salary: around $45,000 (this is an estimate)
My Husband's Salary: $73,000
Net Worth: -$131,000 (Assets: car worth approximately $7,000, seven guitars worth approximately $5,000 (my husband always tells me these are assets and part of a retirement plan as "guitars only go up in value once you start buying nice ones."), savings: $19,000 Debt: $162,000) — My husband and I combined finances shortly after getting married, so everything goes into one joint account. We run big purchases past each other, but other than that, we're pretty autonomous because our money philosophies closely align.
Debt: My student loans: $19,756.98, My husband's law school loans: $142,000
My Paycheck Amount (1x/month): $3,750 (no taxes, health insurance, etc. are taken out. Even when I was full time, the company didn't do any of this.)
My Husband's Paycheck (biweekly): $2,111.99 (after taxes, benefits, etc.)
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $2,150 (includes utilities, going up to $2,300 in February)
Storage/Parking: $160 (going up to $225 in February)
Monthly Loan Payments: Varies, currently we're doing $0 on mine and $2,000 on my husband's because his loans gain so much more in interest
Cell Phone: $102.07 (includes internet and minutes)
Health, Vision, Dental Insurance: $497 (this includes health, dental, and vision for my husband, myself, and our baby, all through my husband's work.)
iCloud and Apple Music: $19.99
Netflix: $14.99
Disney+: $33/year (split with my parents)
Amazon Prime: $119/year
Car and Renters Insurance: $11
Internet: $127(reduced to $81 next month)
Son's 529: $50
Retirement: $150 (right now this just goes into savings)
Peloton: $65.07 for bike and app
NYT: $1/week
Childcare: $0 (We're rocking that no childcare life during the pandemic, which allows us to put a lot of extra money into loans while taking precautions that we're comfortable with)

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I was taught from birth that higher education was a requirement — my dad was the first to attend college in his family, and my mom attended but dropped out after two semesters to support my dad as he finished school so that they wouldn't have to take out loans. My brother was born before my dad graduated and she chose to be a stay-at-home mom, so she never finished college. It was ingrained in me that college was a requirement, but that I could choose whatever job and field I wanted. My parents always supported my various chosen careers. I obtained a bachelor's immediately after high school — my parents had told me growing up that they would cover the cost of living expenses but I would be responsible for tuition, so I worked hard so that I had a good chunk of money saved up and received scholarships. As a result, I ended up paying around $8,000 total out of pocket for my degree that I finished in three years. I was on my own for my master's — my husband and I were married by then. I received a half-tuition scholarship but took out loans to cover the cost of living as my husband was also in school. We lived on around $10,000/year in one of the most expensive cities in the world for two years. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
I got an allowance from an early age. It was always $20/month and if I didn't do my chores, I didn't receive it. My parents taught me to save half, donate 10% to charity, and then the rest was spending money (so I got $8/month spending money, which stayed consistent all the way until college). Money wasn't a taboo topic, but I also don't feel like I ever sat down and had an official education. My mom taught me to balance a checkbook, how to shop sales, etc. My parents gave me $100 every year to buy my back to school wardrobe and school supplies so that I would learn how to budget for what I wanted versus what I needed. We always lived well below our means, and I didn't know until I was an adult how well off my parents truly were. They bought a house worth less than half of what they could have afforded, paid it off in 10 years, always pay cash for cars, etc. As a teenager, our big "treat" was going to the Burger King drive-thru once a month as a family on a Friday night. Money was never a mystery and any questions I asked got answered.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I got my first job in the seventh grade. A family friend hired me to take care of their kids three days a week after school. My mom would pick them up from school, bring them to the house, and I would occupy them until their parents picked them up around dinner time. Looking back, I see how a lot of the money should have gone to my mom since she did the driving and would help, but she was kind and let me feel like I was in charge and doing the work and put all of the money into my savings account. All through high school and college, I worked as a nanny for a family in the neighborhood. I would pick the kids up from school and go back to their house and help with homework/make dinner until the parents came home. During the summer, I would work four days a week doing the same. I made $15/hour and it is what set me up to be able to afford college with no loans, as well as not work during the school year in college.

Did you worry about money growing up?
No. We didn't live an extravagant life (read: Burger King once a month as a treat) but I never felt like we were poor or lacking. I grew up in a very affluent area so it would have been easy to feel that way, but we had family friends who actually didn't have enough money to cover the bills, buy food, etc. on a regular basis, so I was aware that while my parents didn't spend like some people around us, they weren't poor. I always assumed we were middle class, but now as an adult, I know that my parents are squarely upper middle class, largely thanks to the frugal lifestyle they live.

Do you worry about money now?
All the time. Since my husband and I graduated from college, one of us has always been in school (or both of us) and neither of us has ever had a job that offers a retirement account. My goal for this year is to pick one out and start saving on our own by the end of January. I'm terrified of not having enough, and now that we're officially done with school, it's time to aggressively put money in to make up for the lost time. We are in a good spot with loans and will be able to pay them off by the end of 2024.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I became fully financially responsible for myself at age 21 when I graduated from undergrad. I was expected to be able to fund my own lifestyle once I had a job lined up. My husband and I got married after graduation and combined finances about six months after we got married. It works for us. We definitely have a safety net in my parents. There have been two instances where we have moved in with my parents. My parents are very generous and would help if we ever needed it financially, but I would feel horrible having to ask. We plan on having my parents move in with us when they get too elderly to live on their own, which hopefully won't be for many years.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
We received $5,000 from my husband's parents when we moved back from living out of the country and needed to buy a car. We were going to buy within our means, but they thought that was unacceptable and gave us this cash present under the condition that we had to buy a car they wanted. Other than that, the only inheritance I've ever received was a piece of furniture from a grandparent. Depending on when my parents die, I will receive an inheritance from them. My sibling and I will split what remains of their retirement account (if any remains) and proceeds from the sale of the house and cars.

4:45 a.m. — I wake up because the baby makes a noise and immediately my body tells me there's no going back to sleep. I head out to the couch and waste some time before I login to work around 5:30. If I'm going to be up, I might as well work on making money. There's a lot of street traffic outside — we live in downtown D.C. and today and tomorrow are big Trump rally days, meaning that our street will soon be closed off to vehicular traffic by the National Guard and police. We're nervous about potential violence given the fact that at the last rally a BLM sign was stolen from the church next to us and burned in the street. My husband, B., joins me at 5:45 to work out while I continue working. A friend of ours' son-in-law passed away unexpectedly so I donate $25 to a meal train to provide some food for their daughter and granddaughter. $25

6:30 a.m. — The baby, V., wakes up and I take my computer into the bedroom to nurse him while I continue working. B. picks a very "me" outfit for V. since I've already warned him that today will be a very tough day emotionally for me due to some ongoing work issues. I work in bed until V.'s breakfast is ready, head out to eat oatmeal as a family, and shower before getting back to work, this time on the couch.

9:20 a.m. — Time for V. to eat. B. gets V. ready for a nap while I set up to nurse him while I keep working. Typing one-handed is a skill I've only recently acquired as my quarantine skill. I nurse V. while formatting an excel spreadsheet for a client and sneaking in some Bridgerton. This show is trash but I can't stop watching.

11:06 a.m. — V. wakes up from his nap and B. goes and changes his diaper and brings him out to play. V. does this cute thing where he peeks around the corner (assisted) after each nap to smile at me until he collapses with laughter. Babies are hilarious. I wrap up an email and then settle in to do some playing with V. while also packing up books for our impending move. I make food for the three of us and we all sit down to eat together (read: watch V. squish food around). B. and I talk politics while I set up a subscribe and save for one of V.'s favorite snacks and order a can of compressed air to clean out my keyboard. $21.42

12:50 p.m. — I hop onto my computer to do a bit of prep work for a meeting at 1 and B. takes V. into the bedroom so that he isn't begging to join my call for the whole thing. Halfway through the call, B. brings V. to me to nurse so I turn off my camera, put myself on mute, and hum to him (which helps stops the biting) while still taking notes for myself. After a very unpleasant hour-long call and follow-up, I'm extremely frustrated and jump straight into a full-body weights workout to burn off some steam.

3 p.m. — V. wakes up. We play for a bit and then I set him up in the window with a snack while I finish up a job application. After an extremely unpleasant few months at work, I've been looking for a new job since July 2020. Unfortunately, this also coincides with tons of other people looking for new jobs, so I try not to be too discouraged, but it's hard. After snack time is done, V. and I head back to his corner to practice walking and play some more.

5 p.m. — B. finishes up work and we bundle up and head outside for a family walk. The Trump supporters are out in full force so we spend the walk heading away from the White House and peering around corners to avoid the roving crowds. We get back around 6, V. waves hi to the doorman and flashes him a toothy smile, and we head upstairs where I make V. dinner while B. calls his family. V. eats, has bath time, and I nurse him while reading. He is asleep by 7:15 and we eat salad for dinner. I fall sleep on the couch and my alarm wakes me up at 8:45. I get ready for bed and then watch more Bridgerton (still trash but so addictive) until B. joins me. We're both asleep by 9:40.

4:37 a.m. — My body randomly decides it's time for me to wake up. I move out to the living room and respond to the 46 text messages I received overnight (my two best friends both live in more western time zones, meaning this is a common occurrence on our group text). I take a look at the Senate run-off and see one has already been declared! So far D.C. is still standing, so the Proud Boys must not have gotten the news yet. We're officially behind the police/national guard line now, so it's eerie/quiet out, even this early. I set myself up on the couch and log in to work around 5:15. B. wakes up and hops on the Peloton around 5:45 for a quick ride. I eat a bowl of granola.

6:15 a.m. — V. wakes up for the day so I move to the bed to nurse him while I keep working. B. is feeling very anxious/depressed (he's struggled with/been diagnosed with both and is currently searching for a new therapist). I tell him we're using some gift money we've been saving to order dinner tonight, which cheers him up some.

6:45 a.m. — I'm about to hop in the shower when I get news from my mom (who is watching D.C. news closely even though they live elsewhere) that protesters are already out for the day. What a weird and nerve-wracking time to live in the District. Mayor Bowser warned everyone in the area to stay clear of downtown D.C., but it's hard to do so when you live here. I go around and quickly take photos of the apartment and everything in it, just in case. I reflect on the fact that V. was born in the first week of lockdown — in his short life so far he's only known quarantine (so the number of people who have been willing to quarantine prior to meeting him can be counted on one hand) and protests. D.C. has been boarded up for the majority of his life. What kind of world have we brought a baby into? This certainly wasn't what we had imagined when finally finding out that we were expecting. I shower while continuing my existential crisis.

8:20 a.m. — B. gets V. ready for a nap (grump master supreme) and I nurse him on the couch while working. I take a quick work break to order a belated holiday present for one of my two best friends who is finally returning home from a months-long car trip out west to stay with family. I order her the same succulent and pot I already have and got for our other best friend so we can have friendship plants. $22.35

10:10 a.m. — V. wakes up. I finish Bridgerton while I do a bit of work busy work. Trash. So good. V. drives a small tractor that my parents sent him around the apartment while I prep for an 11 a.m. meeting with clients. B. generally takes the lead with V. in the mornings and I take it in the afternoon, so I try to complete all my work in the morning so that I can apply for jobs, work out, and play with V. in the afternoon.

12:20 p.m. — Finally off my call, I have a migraine and a million more things to do for work (that all need to be completed yesterday, obviously), and V. is losing it. I grab myself a few crackers as a snack and set up on the couch to nurse. B. heats the oven and the pizza stone while I nurse so we can break for lunch afterward. We eat pizza for lunch while watching MXC on Amazon Prime and chatting. Today is already turning out to be the kind of day where you need something mindless on TV because the world is too much. We skim Trump's remarks from the Ellipse. What a dope.

2 p.m. — V. wakes up from his nap. I'm trying to finish up the last dregs of work so I set up shop in his play area with my computer while I finish up a few e-mails.

2:14 p.m. — We start hearing lots of sirens. My mom texts that rioters have stormed the Capitol. We turn on CNN on my iPad and start watching the mob a mile away from us. I can't believe this is real. We see the bomb squad and hazmat team leave from the fire station by our house and tear toward the Hill. The police guarding the church next to our building head over that way, but the National Guard stays put. It's eerie here like an end of the world movie. No sound but sirens and occasional Trump supporters running past and cheering and whistling. We watch out our front windows as our doorman runs out of the building and crosses the street to his car between a line of police cars. I hope the evening doorman doesn't come in for his own safety.

3:45 p.m. — It must be nice to be a baby and be completely unaware of the chaos that is going on outside. I set up in the rocker and nurse V. while streaming the news on my iPad. I multitask by picking the fruit on B.'s Animal Crossing island while V. sleeps on me and I keep watching in shock. Thinking of all the hatred V. has seen in his first few months of life, what will he see in the rest of his life? We get an alert that we have a city-wide curfew of 6 p.m. No exiting the building, even via car after that. B. and I have a quick text conversation about whether or not we need to drive somewhere to stay safe. Will it get worse overnight? We decide we feel safe enough for now, and that if need be, we'll get in the car and leave in the middle of the night, curfew be darned.

5 p.m. — V. wakes up. I change and do a Peloton ride to burn off some steam and some stress. We normally would be on a walk right now but it isn't safe to do so. We have our blinds drawn and are staying away from the windows, but I can't resist a peek every once in a while. Bands of jubilant MAGA people are starting to come back to their hotels. We feed V. his dinner, do bath time, get him ready for bed, and I nurse him. After we put him down, we head out to the living room. Tonight is a night for comfort food and stress eating. B. makes himself a quesadilla and a big bowl of Amish popcorn in our WhirleyPop (clearly not ordering in tonight as was previously planned). He flavors the popcorn with homemade buffalo ranch seasoning. It's incredible. We eat while watching the news as Congress reconvenes. I eventually have to cool the burning fire on my tongue by finishing off the last of our TJ's soy dark chocolate cherry ice cream. We watch until 9 then get ready for bed. We're both asleep by 9:40.

4:07 a.m. — My body tells me to wake up. I put on my glasses and check that everything is still standing outside. All looks good. I see that Biden has officially been confirmed. I start reading Trump's statement and shake my head in disgust. I'm so stressed that I decide I can't start work this early. I go back into the bedroom and read the news on my phone until 4:45, then sit in the dark until 5:30 when I fall back asleep.

6:44 a.m. — V. wakes up. It's rare that he sleeps in this late. B. gets him ready for the day and I nurse him. I work while I nurse V. He is in a bad mood today. I hop in the shower and then work on the couch while B. showers and V. plays next to me.

9:15 a.m. — I set up to nurse V., who is having a full-on meltdown. I think he can sense that we're still on edge. I nurse him while I continue working and then hop on a call for an update with the team on a project I'm managing for a client. The call ends at 10:45 and I'm extremely frustrated.

11:45 a.m. — I log off work to hopefully do some networking before I prep lunch. Instead, my boss calls. When he's done talking, I hang up and prep lunch. Chicken, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and mayo sandwich for B., chicken, tofu, lime-cilantro rice, hard-boiled egg, spinach teething wafer, and pear for V., and a veggie bacon BLT for me. We fill in the holes with salt and pepper chips. I play with V. for a while, we FaceTime to say hi to grandma, and I nurse him around 2:15 and put him down for a nap. During nap time, I do some networking, finish applying for a job, take a 20-minute power nap, and read the news.

4 p.m. — V. wakes up and he joins me while I do a strength workout. B. wraps up work at 5 and we head out on a walk. On our way to the store, we're accosted by three Trump supporters not wearing masks. They tell us that they don't bite and we can get closer and we politely tell them we're social distancing because of the baby and just waiting to cross the street. They ask where we live and we tell them D.C. We're trying to be polite because we don't want them to follow us anywhere or do anything scary. They tell us they're sorry we live in such a hell-hole. We tell them to have a nice day and cross the street a bit shaken. B. runs in to the grocery store and picks up mayo and tater tots, which he tells me are essential. We take the long way back home to avoid the same intersection where the Trump supporters were. $8.06

6 p.m. — We feed V. dinner, do bath time, and I nurse him before putting him to bed. B. makes a salad for us while I do all of this, as I have a networking/job search event at 8 to attend via Zoom. We watch MXC while we eat to avoid the relentless news cycle and the stress of being here and then hop on the job search event. We all have our cameras turned off, which is a relief since I'm in pajamas and not wearing a bra. It's a testament to how tired I am at this point in the week that I fall asleep sitting in front of my computer for the last 12 minutes of the event. B. wakes me up at the end and tells me he took notes for the last bit while I was sleeping. We get ready for bed and are asleep by 9:45.

4:12 a.m. — My body wakes up. I'm way too tired for this. I sit in bed in the dark after reading two chapters of my book. V. wakes up at 6:12 and suddenly everyone else has joined me in being awake. I nurse him, shower, eat breakfast, and hop on to work. I try to set up a genius bar appointment since my computer keyboard still isn't working after doing their recommended compressed air cleaning, but none are available within 40 miles in the next week. I chat with an Apple specialist who tries to set me up with an appointment at a store that their website (and the signs outside the store) says is temporarily closed. She tells me to stay up until midnight and try to set up an appointment then, as that's when new ones become available. Guess that means I'm stuck using my Bluetooth iPad keyboard for the foreseeable future.

9:15 a.m. — Nurse V. and put him down for a nap.

10 a.m. — I'm way over on my hours for work this week (I went down to part-time a few months ago for my mental health and to give me more time to job hunt) so I decide to get some tasks out of the way for our upcoming move. I call Xfinity and transfer over our service as well as cancel all TV (we only had it because of the sign-up offer) and get our bill down $40/month. I call our rental insurance agency and get our policy transferred over to the new location and updated. I make our first month's rent payment on my credit card (rack up those points, we'll take a bar trip someday is what I keep telling myself). Before I know it, an hour has passed and V. is awake and pounding on my leg while I try to get back to work.

12 p.m. — We sit down for lunch. V. throws blueberries and rice all over while I eat mushroom soup and B. eats a sandwich. We decide to use our gift card on dinner tonight and place an order for vegan nachos and decidedly not vegan wings from one of our favorite local joints. I play with V. until it's time to nurse him. I hop on a work call at 2. It goes great (not) as the client is upset. I get off around 3 and do some wrap-up work from the call.

4 p.m. — V. and I go on a walk. We get back and I prep his dinner, then do a bath, nursing, and bed. B. picks up dinner from the lobby right as V. falls asleep and we dig into our vegan nachos and chicken wings. While doing so, I try to boot up my computer and it won't even start! This doesn't bode well… I hope that I'll be able to get a Genius Bar appointment ASAP since it sits in the start-up phase with fans running for a full hour before we give up. We put on the Da Vinci Code on Netflix and snuggle until I fall asleep at 8:45.

4:15 a.m. — My body, once again, betrays me. I log on to Apple and see that by some miracle there's a genius bar appointment available at 1:20 in Georgetown. I snag it, text B. so that we both remember that it's happening, and read in the dark until I'm tired and can fall asleep again around 5:45. V. wakes up at 6:15 and we're off! I nurse him and then head into the kitchen to make a breakfast with lots of leftovers that V. can eat for the next few days. I also start my puff pastry for our traditional galette des rois. It was supposed to happen on Wednesday, but with everything going on and work, I didn't start the puff in time so our galette got moved to this weekend. I pound out the butter before nursing V. and putting him down for a nap around 9:30. B. and I are both in a funk and get in little tiffs all morning before we decide to do a reset.

9:30 a.m. — Cleaning time. I start assembling the puff, put it in the fridge to chill, and then clean the countertops, appliances, toilet, and shower while B. does the dusting and floors. I do another turn on the pastry while B. starts the laundry. I pack some boxes for the move. We sit down to relax and V. wakes up at 11:15. I prep lunch, and after we eat, we walk the two miles to the Apple store in Georgetown. I drop off the computer for diagnostics per their modified protocol. I call B. when I'm done and we start heading back home. B. ducks into a CVS on our route and picks up two bottles of water and a box of cheerios for V. $9.06

4:30 p.m. — I prep the rest of the galette and get it in the fridge to chill prior to cooking. I prep dinner for V. and we sit down and talk to my parents while he eats. The apple store calls and the news isn't good — it'll be $478 and at least a week. They won't bill me until the work is done. They tell me to buy a new MacBook and then return it when I get mine back from their repair center and they'll give me a full refund. I go online and reserve one for pickup tomorrow — there's one rose gold, souped-up MacBook air available 26 miles away from us. I'm more of an all-black-all-the-time type of girl, but whatever. I pay the fee out of pocket but will be returning the computer per their instructions once I have mine back. $1,323.94

6 p.m. — I pop the galette in the oven, I make V. dinner, and he eats while we FaceTime my parents. We do bath time, I nurse him, and we put him down for bed. Then, we have a dinner of popcorn with a nice healthy helping of galette. It's my absolute favorite dessert in the entire world and I think we should have it all the time. We finish The Da Vinci Code and start in on Angels and Demons while folding the various loads of laundry that we did throughout the day and then snuggle up on the couch for a bit before I fall asleep.

4:22 a.m. — Up and at ‘em. I read for a while in bed before falling back asleep around 5:45.

6:30 a.m. — V. wakes up for the day. After I nurse him, we get him dressed in a tiny tuxedo because it's the weekend so why not. We eat breakfast together while talking to my parents on FaceTime. After we're off with my parents, I hop in the shower and B. calls his parents. I then do a tiny tux photoshoot with V. I nurse him and put him down for a nap.

10:00 a.m. — We attend Zoom church. Someone who isn't a member of our congregation gives a wonderful sermon on acceptance and love — B. and I can't stop talking about how inspiring it is and how much we loved his perspective. V. wakes up around 11 and we do a quick lunch for him and some snacks for us before we head out to the Apple store. We get back home around 12:45 and B. and V. play for a while while I set up my computer for work tomorrow before I nurse V. and put him down for a nap around 2.

2 p.m. — B. and I eat a lunch of Moroccan stew that we heat up from the freezer. We talk for a bit and then lie down on the couch to finish Angels and Demons. V. wakes up around 3:30 and I give him a quick top-off nurse and we head out on our normal Sunday afternoon walk. Every Sunday, we sit on the Mall and play with V. We get down and the entire Mall is fenced in so we can't do our normal picnic play. It's unsurprisingly much more crowded than normal in front of the Capitol for a Sunday afternoon. We take in the new unscalable fence and the newly filled reflecting pool. There's a memorial toward the side for the Capitol police officer that was killed and tons more National Guard, Capitol Police, and MPD than normal. We head back home and hang around for a while.

6:20 p.m. — I make V. dinner and then we call my parents again. V. loves to show them what he's eating for dinner. After dinner, we do bath time. V. poops in the tub (become a parent, it's fun!). Then, while I'm holding him in his towel as B. scoops out the poop, washes the tub, and refills it to wash off V., V. pees on me. After a much longer bath than anticipated, I nurse V., and then B. and I eat a dinner of galette and carrots with hummus and start Strike, which is based on one of our favorite book series. B. refuses to let me fall asleep. We head to bed around 9:20, excited for an early night.

9:40 p.m. — V. has foiled our plans. He's up, screaming, and pounding on our feet from his crib. B. gets up to soothe him. One hour later and it isn't working. I give him some Tylenol — he must be working on those molars. One hour later and it still isn't working. Finally, at 11:30, we get him to fall asleep through a magic combo of rocking, snuggles in bed, and singing. We put him in the crib and both fall asleep exhausted.

1:30 a.m. — V. wakes up screaming again. It's about 45 minutes before we can get him back down. If my body decides to wake me up at 4 again I may keel over.

Daily Total: $0

6 a.m. — V. wakes up. So do I, and by some miracle, I didn't wake up at 4 this morning. We're all exhausted. We do our morning routine and then I start work. I break from work for breakfast, shower, and then get back to work with a tiny helper sitting next to me on the couch. I decide that I feel like an Instagram influencer with my rose gold MacBook. All I need is someone to take a totally not staged photo of me sitting, perfectly coiffed and staring off into the distance with my trendy computer in hand while I perch casually on the couch.

9:02 a.m. — V. is losing it. B. gets him ready for his nap and I nurse him on the couch while I continue working. My parents shoot us a text offering for us to come quarantine with them prior to our move so we can escape any potential violence in D.C. for the inauguration. The internet is abuzz with people planning things, and it's making us nervous. My parents both work from home and were already quarantining so that they could come help us with the move so that we're not exposed to anyone, so it isn't the worst idea out there. They're comfortable assuming the risk of us going to the Apple store. We have to decide if we want to accelerate my slow pack method into a quick get-it-all-done-this-week method and head to their house this weekend and then come back after the inauguration for the day of the move.

9:48 a.m. — I get a text that my birth control subscription is ready to pick up. It's free, and I get a notice that it's eligible for free delivery. Even though CVS is in the building behind ours, I'm still all about that free delivery life if it means I don't have to potentially expose us to COVID.

10:20 a.m. — V. wakes up. I was really hoping he'd have a monster nap so that he was in a better mood after the horrible night's sleep. No such luck. He roves the apartment like a wild animal, randomly biting various pieces of furniture and toys that he's strewn about. He's in a mood, so around 11:15 B. straps him into the seat in front of the window, gives him some toys to chew on, and sits next to him while he watches the cars go by from his perch high above the intersection.

1:30 p.m. — After eating lunch, I nurse V. and put him down to sleep and then change into workout clothes. Of course, he won't fall asleep. I give him some time while I prep chili for dinner, but when he hasn't fallen asleep after 45 minutes, I bring him out to the living room to rock him to sleep. He sleeps for 45 minutes and I close my eyes and listen to an audiobook to relax since I can't do anything else.

5 p.m. — B. finishes up work so we head out on a walk. D.C. still feels weird. We get home and have dinner. B. talks to his parents and then we do bath time (V. pees all over me tonight right after we take him out of the bath and I put him in his towel) then I nurse him and put him down. We pack some boxes and finish up folding the last few loads of laundry we did today. I put my pee clothes in the washer and we relax while eating Oreos. We're in bed and asleep by 9:30.

Daily Total: $0