Stephany Writes

Categories: Life

Quarterly Budget Review | Q1 of 2022

Hi, friends! It’s time for my first quarterly budget review of 2022! This year is shaping up to be a spendier year than I expected between some home purchases, travel expenses, and everything just being overall more expensive than usual with inflation. But I can still be better about sticking to my budget in certain areas and saving money.

One of the things I always get asked when I write these budget posts: does this include health insurance, retirement accounts, etc? The answer is no. I only include the money I am spending (or saving). Money that is being taken out of my paycheck for my health insurance, health savings account, and 401k are not included in this total simply because it’s money I don’t see. It’s taken out before my paycheck hits my bank account.

Here’s what my spending looked like in Q1 of 2022:

Bills (43.3%; +10% from Q1 of 2021) – Well, this category has certainly increased from 2021! My rent increased, obviously, and I added in a car payment. This category includes:

  • Rent ($1,118 per month)
  • Electric (averaging $86 per month, which was the same as last year’s Q1)
  • Phone bill ($112 per month, which is a few dollars extra from last year’s Q1)
  • Water ($48 per month, which is a few dollars less from last year’s Q1)
  • Internet ($80 per month, which hasn’t changed)
  • Student loan ($105 per month, which hasn’t changed)
  • Car payment ($361 per month)

Food (13.5%; +.9% from Q1 of 2021) – The good news is, I stayed within my budget for food this quarter (I budget $600 per month and averaged $596 per month). Here is how my food budget broke down:

  • 62% in groceries ($368 per month)
  • 28% in Ubereats orders ($168 per month)
  • 6% in fast food ($27 per month)
  • 4% in Starbucks ($25 per month)
  • 2% in restaurants ($9 per month)

Shopping (9.2%; +5.7% from Q1 of 2021) – Oof. Lots of shopping happened in Q1. Here’s the breakdown:

  • 33% on clothing (my Stitch Fix box, a new bookish tee from Bookshelf Tees, and underwear)
  • 12% on nail polish (5 bottles of nail polish and a buffing tool—this should greatly decrease in Q2)
  • 11% on office supplies (some pens, a stapler, a new planner, a stand for my laptop, a cable management tray, cord holders, and adhesive cable zip-ties—should also greatly decrease in Q2 as the majority of this was acquired when I got a new desk)
  • 11% on makeup (concealer, finishing powder, mascara, foundation, a makeup brush, and a makeup bag)
  • 9% on skincare (two bottles of cleanser and one bottle of moisturizer)
  • 9% on books (3 e-books, 3 Book of the Month add-ons, and 4 print books)
  • 8% on hobbies (a coloring book, a lap desk for said coloring, and an Etsy purchase for a secret project)
  • 3% on tech (a laptop case and a Kindle charger) Discover functional and stylish laptop cases at Vintage Leather Sydney, designed to safeguard your device with a touch of sophistication.
  • 3% on accessories (two headbands and a pair of earrings)
  • 1% on kitchen tools (a grater)

Home (6.2%; -3.9% from Q1 of 2021) – Even though I bought a new coffee table and sit/stand desk this quarter, I still spent less than Q1 since that quarter comprised a brand-new sectional. This category also includes some things I bought for the coffee table, like a tray, fake flowers, and coasters, as well as a new floor lamp and throw blanket. I included the money spent on TaskRabbit in this category, too.

Travel (5.7%; +5.7% from Q1 of 2021) – Last year, I didn’t spend any money on travel expenses in Q1. This year, I bought our flights for our trip to Niagara Falls in June and had to pay $157 to renew my passport (curses!).

Auto (4.8%; -7.2% from Q1 of 2021) – This quarter, I spent $43 on gas, $552 on car insurance, and $40 on car washes.

Savings (3.6%; -8.6% from Q1 of 2021) – I have to set up automatic deposits into my savings. Otherwise, I just think I have all of this extra money lying around that should be going into savings. I did not meet my savings goals at all this quarter, ugh.

Supplies/Toiletries (2.6%; +.9% from Q1 of 2021) – I try to stick to a budget of $100 a month for my supplies/toiletries category but I went a little overbudget in January and February as I was building up a closet of backup supplies (so I had to buy two of everything). March was on the normal side (under $100) so I should be back to normal for this category.

Spa (2.5%; -2.4% from Q1 of 2021) – This quarter, I spent $99 on pedicures, $200 on my massage membership/massage tips, and $31 on a haircut.

Subscriptions (2.2%; +.8% from Q1 of 2021) – I’m averaging about $97 per month on subscriptions, which includes lots of streaming services (Netflix, Paramount+, and Peacock), Patreon subscriptions, Spotify, Book of the Month, Befunky (photo editing), and Second Nature (bimonthly air filters).

Pets (2.1%; +.2% from Q1 of 2021) – Lila had her yearly checkup ($141) and I also bought food ($31), treats ($48), litter ($37), and some fun extras like a new water fountain ($37).

Gifts (1.5%; +1% from Q1 of 2021) – There were a few birthdays to buy presents for (the dogs, a cousin’s daughter, and my youngest nephew) as well as gifts for my friend who just had a baby.

Entertainment (1.2%; -.3% from Q1 of 2021) – I bought a premium subscription for an app (Sleep Cycle) as well as spent money on Candy Crush. And then there were some adventures such as book club, a reading date, and Galentine’s Day.

Health (.7%; -2.4% from Q1 of 2021) – In Q1 of 2021, I bought a spin bike so that made this category a lot spendier than usual. This quarter, this category included my monthly Peloton subscription ($15) along with some medication (some OTC, some prescribed).

Charity (.6%; +.1% from Q1 of 2021) – Every month, I donate $25 to an organization I care about. In January, I donated to my local humane society. In February, to a Ukranian relief organization. And in March, to the Florida Democrats fund (because god willing, we will kick DeSantis out of office this November).

Categories: Life

My Phone Habits

For the month of March, I tracked my phone usage. I wanted to see exactly where I was spending most of my time on my phone because my daily usage is on the high side when compared with others (like Elisabeth, who regularly spends just 1-1.5 hours on her phone daily, which is astonishing to me!) Even if my phone usage is high, does that really matter if I’m spending it doing things that bring me joy, like listening to podcasts and playing Happy Color? How does my phone usage really break down when I take an entire month into account? These were the questions I wanted to answer.

Each day, I wrote down the overall time spent on my phone as well as the number of pickups I did and notifications I received. And then I broke down every app and how much time I spent on them that day. Here’s what March 1st looked like:

Then, I started another tab in my spreadsheet where I listed out my apps in specific categories and would input the total number (in minutes) per day. Yes, it was a very intensive process and I was very happy when April 1st rolled around and I didn’t have to worry about continuing detailing my phone usage in this way!

At the end of the month, I tallied up all of my numbers and it gave me this breakdown:

Here is what all of these categories entail:

  • Phone Games (41%) – Happy Color, Candy Crush Soda, Match 3D, 1010!, and Wordscapes. (These are my favorite phone games to play!)
  • Listening Apps (24%) – Overcast (podcast app), Libby (audiobooks), YouTube (ASMR videos to fall asleep), and Spotify.
  • Social Media (12%) – Instagram, Facebook, Feedly, Goodreads, Messenger, and Patreon.
  • Reading (8%) – Serial Reader, CNN, and Chrome (which I use as my web browser).
  • Social (8%) – Marco Polo (video app I use to keep in touch with friends), Messages, Mail, Phone, and Maps. (Funnily enough, FaceTime is not counted as “screen time” by Apple.)
  • Productivity (3.5%) – Apps that I only really use for a purpose, like Notes, Clock, Calculator, Settings, and Todoist.
  • Photos (2%) – Lightroom (how I edit photos), Camera, and Photos.
  • Shopping (1%) – Starbucks, Ubereats, and Target.
  • Health (1%) – My Wahoo app, which is what I use to track my cadence on my spin bike, and Sleep Cycle, my alarm clock app.
  • Work (>1%) – Just some work-related apps I have on my phone that I will use throughout the day if needed.

After looking over my data from March, it became clear to me that I spent a lot of time on very few apps. It also became clear that my phone was counting my time as double if I had a podcast playing on Overcast (or an audiobook on Libby) while also doing something on my phone like playing a game. And I spend a lot of time playing games while listening to a podcast. So that can skew my overall screen time.

There are five apps that I spend my most time on:

It’s not surprising that Happy Color is where I spend the most time. Most days, I spent over 2 hours on that app! (Happy Color is a coloring app and it brings me immense joy and comfort, lol.) It’s also not surprising that Overcast was my second-most-used app. I love listening to podcasts and listen for hours every day.

Want some other maybe-fun stats? I gotchu:

  • On average, I pick up my phone 86 times a day.
  • On average, I get 43 notifications a day.
  • My highest phone usage day was Saturday, March 19th—8 hours, 58 minutes (!!!)
  • My lowest phone usage day was Monday, March 14th—4 hours, 22 minutes

All in all, detailing my phone usage throughout the month was a good exercise and it helped me to better understand my phone habits. (For example, as much as I love Happy Color, I sometimes use it as a crutch to not do the things I need to do.) After seeing my phone stats, there are a few changes I made:

  • I put time limits on Instagram (30 minutes) and Happy Color (90 minutes). These are two of the apps that I can sometimes spend too much time on, and it’s been so, so helpful to give myself this time limit.
  • I limited notifications. I used to get push notifications for so many things, especially things I didn’t need. Now, I only get notified for CNN/ESPN breaking news alerts, my dating apps, phone/messages, and Ubereats.
  • I changed my Do Not Disturb parameters to turn on from 9:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., dim my lock screen, and hide all notifications. When it turns on at night, it’s a signal to my brain to get to bed and in the morning, it’s a signal to not use my phone first thing.

I also want to get better about putting my phone in my bedroom to charge at night. It’s so easy for me to get sucked into coloring a page on Happy Color or scrolling through Instagram when I should be getting ready for bed.

What I learned most from looking at my phone usage throughout the month is to not beat myself up too much for how much time I spend on my phone. I spend a lot of time alone, and it makes sense that I would be on my phone during that time. When I get lonely, it helps to scroll through Instagram (sometimes) or to listen to a podcast and play Happy Color. If I had a partner or kids, I’d (hopefully) be on my phone a whole lot less. When I’m with friends or my family, my phone is always in my purse. One of my pet peeves is people who are on their phones (especially people who are texting on their phones!) around me, so I try my best not to do the same. If my phone is out, it’s usually because I’m taking pictures.

I’m glad I did this exercise and I’ve now turned off the Screen Time alerts that tell me how much phone usage has increased or decreased from week to week. I’m doing just fine.

Do you feel like you spend a lot of time on your phone? What is your most-used app?

Categories: Life

Time Logging | March 21-27, 2022

I spent last week time logging, and I really enjoyed the project! I downloaded Laura Vanderkam’s 168 Hours time management worksheet to log my time. I chose the worksheet that was broken down into 15-minute increments and while that made it very, very tedious to log my time, I think it allowed me to dig into the nitty-gritty of my week. I kept the worksheet up on my laptop so I could easily log my time during the day. When I was away from my computer, I made simple notes in my Notes app. I also tried to keep track in my head as I was doing things. (i.e., “OK, you woke up at 6:15,” or “You started reading at 3:00.”) It really wasn’t that difficult and I also didn’t put too much pressure on myself to get everything exactly perfect. I am not a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like this, so it helped me just enjoy the process and not take it too seriously.

One thing to note is that I tend to dual-task throughout my day, but this week, I tried to not do that just to make categorization easier. Plus, since I was working in 15-minute increments, that was the right amount of time to do one task before moving onto something else. (For example, 15 minutes of cleaning and then 15 minutes of computer time.) There were times when I did dual-task (like eating dinner while watching TV) but I would categorize the time as my main task. For example, if I watched TV while eating dinner, eating would be the category since I was watching TV because I had dinner in front of me.

All in all, it was a very rewarding process and think it would be a really fun exercise to do on an annual basis. My goal is to log the same week every year and to see how things change (or don’t change).

Here’s how my week broke down in categories:

I won’t go through every single category since most of them are self-explanatory. Instead, I’ll give you guys some big picture thoughts:

I spent 37% of my week unconscious.

Between my nighttime sleeping and my near-daily naps, I spent over a third of my week asleep. What can I say? I love to sleep! I regularly logged around 7 hours of sleep a night, and also logged many afternoon naps. There were some cat naps during the workday (45 minutes, on average) and then some really long naps on the weekend (4 hours). And no, taking a 4-hour nap during the day does not affect my sleep at night. I think I must be part-cat, with how much sleep I need! If I don’t set an alarm during my weekend nap, I will sleep for a really long time. Hence why I spent so much of my week unconscious!

I spent 21% of my week on my hobbies (reading, computer time, playing on my phone, blogging, watching TV, watching ASMR videos).

I broke down my hobbies into a few categories:

  • Reading – The hobby that got the most attention this week. Yay!
  • Playing on my phone – Most of this is playing Happy Color or phone games while listening to a podcast.
  • Computer time – Reading blogs, reading Reddit, reading emails (I subscribe to a lot of e-newsletters), responding to blog comments, working on my blog recategorization project, etc.
  • Blogging – I only worked on two blog posts last week (one published on Thursday, the other the following Monday) but it still amounted to 5 hours of my week!
  • Watching TV – Just over 4 hours of TV watching this week. That’s probably lower than average.
  • Watching ASMR videos – I spent about 30 minutes almost every night watching ASMR videos before going to sleep. They calm me down so much! (The exception was Saturday as I was exhausted when I went to bed and didn’t need any help falling asleep!)

It’s fun that I was able to devote almost a quarter of my week to my hobbies! The benefit of being single and childless, haha.

I spent 4 hours total on the phone with my mom.

I was curious as to how much time I spent talking to my mom on the phone on a typical week. We FaceTime each other constantly, usually a few times a day just to catch up. (Keep in mind: We live near each other and I also see her in person multiple times a week.) This week, it was 4 full hours of random chats throughout the week.

I spent 10 hours being social.

It was a big week for being social! I don’t think I normally spend 6% of my week being social, so this is likely an anomaly. It will be interesting to compare this category from year to year. There was lots of mom time, game night with my brother and nephews, and a reading date with a friend.

I spent 4% of my week on my morning/nighttime routines.

It was surprising to me how much time I spent on my morning/nighttime routines. Obviously, I know it takes me a while to get through my nighttime routine, but my morning routine can be just as long. It was definitely eye-opening to see how long these routines take me, and to give myself a friggin break!

All in all, this was quite a fun exercise for me. I enjoyed detailing out my time in this way and learning how much time I spend in certain areas of my life. This was a pretty normal week in my life, although it was a week when my workload was much lower than usual and when I had more social plans than usual, but nothing will be 100% normal during any week, will it? It will be fun to compare this week to the same week in 2023!

Are you a napper?

Categories: Life

Stitch Fix | Spring 2022

It’s time for my quarterly Stitch Fix post! I was really happy with this Fix, even though I only kept 3/5 items. This time around, I bumped down my sizes by one and I thought most everything fit really well. The shirts were a little on the small side, but I think that may have to do with my stylist choosing petite tops. Petite sizing is a must for me in dresses and pants, but not so much in shirts. So I hope that by switching to regular sizing in tops, my stylist will choose shirts that fit me much better. I’m also considering adding some beautiful sorority tops and tunics to my wardrobe.

For now, let’s take a look at everything that was in my Fix this month.

Ribbed Knit Jumpsuit ($58)

I was incredibly excited when I saw this jumpsuit. I’ve never owned a jumpsuit, mainly because finding one that fits me right is hard for someone who is fat and short. This jumpsuit fit perfectly! It was the perfect length and didn’t pull weird in any way. It was sooo comfortable, too. Even still, I was torn on whether or not to keep it. Would I really wear this? (I’m usually a jeans-and-tee kinda gal.) And we’re firmly entering summer season here in Florida so wearing long pants is growing more and more uncomfortable. I decided to wear it around for a bit to see how I felt about it, and gradually, I discovered that the waist was quite heavy and sat awkwardly on my stomach. In the end, I decided to return it.

Brushed Knit Dress ($48)

I asked for a fun dress in this Fix, and I was thrilled with the piece my stylist selected. It’s lightweight and I love the flirty skirt. I felt really good in it. It’s a little “booby,” which is what I call anything that has a low neckline and shows off a bit too much of the girls, but I’d probably wear a lightweight jacket/cardigan over it if I were to wear it out somewhere. This was a very easy keep! However, I’m planning to buy red dresses for HOCO online that I’ll be wearing in our next homecoming.

Khaki Cargo Shorts ($78)

I loved these shorts so much! I only have two pairs of shorts right now and one of those pairs is quickly developing holes. So I need more shorts! I was really excited to see these in my Fix and even more excited when I put them on. They fit perfectly and feel great. While they are way more than I would ever spend on a pair of shorts, I know I will get a ton of use out of them. Keep, keep, keep!

Knot Front Knit Tee ($34)

I wasn’t sure about this shirt before I tried it on, but once I did, I was in love. It’s so comfortable and fits great. The little knot at the front is a fun detail. And I love the scoop neckline. This one was a very easy keep for me.

Ruffle Back Knit Tank ($48)

I was pretty sure this shirt wasn’t going to fit me and it didn’t. I think the shirt is a smidge too small for me, but I also think it’s supposed to be a tighter fit with the sides hitting right above the hips. I prefer my shirts to have a looser feel and hit me a little below my hips. I didn’t even have to think about this one—an easy return.

While I didn’t keep everything in my Fix, the pieces I did keep are going to be lasting additions to my wardrobe, and that’s all I can ask for! In my next Fix, I asked for another sundress, maybe a romper, and another pair of shorts. It should come right before my trip to Niagara Falls, so hopefully I get a few pieces to take with me!

Categories: Life

Two Years Later

For me, March 16, 2020 was the start of the pandemic. It’s when things got really real. It was a Monday and the Friday before, my company held a company-wide meeting to discuss shifting to remote work for the time being. At first, it was only going to be for a week… and then maybe a month… and then maybe until July… and now, here we are, two years later. Still in a pandemic, still working from home.

I’ll be honest with you: The pandemic hasn’t been too hard on me. There are a variety of reasons for that, all of which point to my incredible privilege:

  • I was able to easily do my job from home.
  • I didn’t lose my job or even worry about losing my job.
  • I genuinely enjoy being alone and didn’t have trouble adjusting to a WFH lifestyle.
  • Nobody close to me got seriously ill or died from Covid.
  • As far as I know, I did not get Covid. If I did, it was an asymptomatic case.
  • I don’t have kids, so I didn’t have to worry about remote learning or trying to work when daycares were closed.
  • I was able to easily access the vaccine when it became available to me.
  • I am not immunocompromised so I know the vaccines and boosters protect me pretty well.
  • My mom lives close by and is not in a high-risk group, so I was able to keep her in my bubble and see her regularly. (Same goes for my brother.)

Another thing to note is that my anxiety disorder hasn’t been impacted too much by this pandemic. I don’t know why, but after the first six months of the pandemic when things felt especially dire and the medical community kept changing guidelines constantly, I entered this state of “what will be, will be.” Again, this is likely because I’m not high risk and do not have high-risk parents to worry about. I am very, very lucky in this regard. I understand my role in protecting the immunocompromised community, however, so I wore my mask even when mandates were lifted. I got vaccinated and boosted. And I tried to be as safe as possible when I was out in public (no big gatherings, quarantining when necessary, etc). I know a lot of people struggled with a fear of being in public where even a trip to Target could trigger an anxiety spiral, and that had to be so hard. With the way my anxiety can be, I am very grateful this wasn’t something I had to worry about too much.

One of the most difficult parts of the pandemic for me has been weighing decisions. At one point, everything I did felt like a moral decision. If I go to that restaurant, does that make me a bad person? If I expand my circle just a little bit, does that mean I’m not taking Covid seriously? If I attend this event, will people judge me? Is it ok to travel, or will people think I’m being selfish for being on a plane during an outbreak? Everything felt so fraught, every decision delivering a moral implication.

It’s been two years and it finally feels like there’s a light at the end of this very long tunnel. I’d like to believe we will enter an endemic phase of Covid sometime this year, but of course, that’s hard to predict. Most scientists don’t seem to think that’s coming anytime soon, especially with variants continuing to circulate. I am hopeful, though. And that’s something I didn’t have this time last year.

It’s been a hard two years for so many people. My heart aches for the people who lost loved ones to this virus, for the immunocompromised population who still feel really scared and unsure of how to protect themselves, for the kids who had their lives upended (graduations and school dances canceled, rites of passages put on hold), for the healthcare workers who took care of Covid patients at the detriment to their own health, for the frontline workers who delivered our food and supplies when we couldn’t leave our homes. I don’t know how we heal from the trauma of these past two years. The scars of the pandemic are going to live in us for a long, long time.

For me, the scars have less to do with the function of living during a pandemic and more to do with watching how people I know and love have reacted. Those who have refused to get vaccinated, citing conspiracy theories and unproven research. Those who didn’t take the pandemic seriously at all, not because they thought it was a hoax but because they just wanted to live their lives without taking into account other people. It was especially disheartening to see how churches reacted to the pandemic. Not all churches of course, and I’m not sure why I expected better from Christians (many of whom still support Trump), but adhering to CDC guidelines is not “living in fear.” Trying not to spread a deadly virus by masking and not gathering in large groups and getting vaccinated is the least we can do.

It’s been a long two years. It’s hard to remember what life was like before COVID-19. Sometimes, I think about the end of 2019 and how we kept hearing about this strange virus making its way through China. I never thought it would be something that would kill millions of people, put life on hold, and change the world as we know it. I never thought I’d live through a global pandemic. I never thought it would become normal to see people in masks as I’m grocery shopping or to meet up with friends and not be able to hug them.

I have a lot of hope that when March 2023 rolls around, we won’t still be living through the pandemic phase of this virus. Normalcy has begun to slowly return to our lives and it’s starting to feel less and less weird to walk around without a mask on, to gather in larger groups, to travel, to make plans. So, here’s to two years and to no more crazy variants to worry about and hopefully an endemic distinction from the WHO. Who knows what this next year will bring, but I’m going to hold on to my hope that things will be better than they are today.

(Of course, I wrote this whole post over the weekend, only to find out on Tuesday that a new variant similar to Omicron has caused massive lockdowns in China and is already circulating globally. So. I guess we’ll see what happens.)