Section 0: Background
Hi everyone! I’m trying to tailor this a bit more to reflect the UK Money Diary style where I give context on the week before and reflect on it after. I also added in some of the questions from the recent thread about what Refinery29 should ask diarists (see here).
I wrote this the week of Thanksgiving; my partner and I stayed in NYC instead of going home to either of our parents’ homes. We wear masks and stay socially distant when we leave the house. I’m thankful that we live close to a park and live on a block where we know and enjoy talking to our neighbors.
This was a relatively normal week for us during a pandemic, save for me spending a bit more than normal and it being Thanksgiving. We’ve both lived in the city since college and have so-so relationships with our families, so we didn’t leave for “home” when the pandemic hit.
I also just named my boyfriend instead of giving him an initial. He’s the only person I actually saw this week, but the initials always throw me off when I read these.
What do money and success mean to you? What are your end goals?
It helps me to see money as a tool. I never resonate with people who say “money doesn’t buy happiness” because to a certain degree, it does. Money enables me to live the life I want.
I’m pursuing FIRE (financial independence, retire early) and hope to be financially independent (able to live off my investments) by my early 30s. To do so, I save 60%+ of my income per month. I want this because working for 40 years isn’t sustainable for me—I have a very cushy tech job and still get anxiety and rage about waking up every morning to work, the rat race, and being paid inequitably to male peers. I’d like to give myself the option to leave this world as soon as possible.
As an alternative, I could see myself successful if I open a product consultancy, where I advise early-stage startups on product management, what to build for their MVP, and product-market fit. I’m really interested in tech ethics and the questionable practices in venture capital, so I’d love to be in a place where I could be picky about what clients I take and help truly mission-driven businesses thrive. I could see this also working as a small business incubator—why not apply what works in startups to small businesses?
I don’t yet have a firm picture of what I’d like my life to look like when I retire. I’m interested in spending a lot of time reading, traveling to new places for extended periods of time, and potentially writing a book. I get extremely interested in niche topics. Right now if I had to guess, I’d be writing a book about the ways multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) manipulate women.
Are you a spender or a saver?
Definitely a saver. My partner is more of a spender, and we’ve influenced each other well. Seeing him spend money on himself for video games helps me realize I can spend more money on myself for things I just want (see my big purchase for myself this week).
In turn, seeing me save a lot of money has motivated him to up his 401k contribution and overall savings. He’s also interested in FIRE, although I’d say my timeline is more aggressive.
If you could go back in time, what's the one piece of financial advice you would give to your past self?
Learn about investing, look up the terms you don’t know, and start doing it as soon as possible. Ask questions to people you know or on the internet.
On to the diary!
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Section One: Assets and Debt
Investment Balance
$131,175

• Retirement (includes 2 company 401ks and 1 rollover IRA): $55,730
• Brokerage: $27,233
• Roth IRA: $25,439
• Managed account: $17,923
• HSA: $4,850

Equity if you're a homeowner
N/A, I rent in a HCOL city. No plans to own anytime soon
Savings account balance
$10,270
Checking account balance
$3,433 in checking account for bills

• This fluctuates, but I try to invest anything over $2k. I’m pretty conservative with my checking account buffer, and don’t worry much about the interest I’m “losing,” especially because interest rates are so low right now

$2,518 in checking account for rent

• I keep a holdover account that’s connected to Venmo and Zelle to pay rent

Credit card debt
N/A. There’s $1,348 currently on my credit cards, but I pay them all off in full each month. My parents signed me up for a credit card as soon as I was old enough and taught me about how important it was to pay in full. In fact, I think this was so hammered into my brain that doing anything other than that each month was never an option. Because of this, I’ve always thought of credit cards as similar to debit cards—only spend money you have.
Student loan debt (for what degree)
I was fortunate to go to college on a full scholarship, including living expenses. I studied psychology and sociology, and I graduated without any student loan debt.
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Section Two: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $6,570/month
I maxed out my 401k early this year, so for 8 months I was contributing $2,500/month out of my paychecks. That ended in September, so it changed my monthly take-home from about $4,650 to $6,570/month.
Deductions:

• 401k: $0/month (was $2,500/month)
• Medical: $128/month
• Dental and vision: $11/month

Income Progression

• I started in customer support right out of college, making $40,000/year + overtime, which ended up being about $52,000/year (thanks OT!).
• About a year later, I moved into an entry-level product role at the same company and received a raise to $60,000/year.
• The next year, I moved to a new company for a half-step promotion where I was making $82,000/year + 15% yearly bonus. The bonus was dependable enough that it was assumed as part of our total compensation, so let’s call it $95,000/year.
• Early this year, I switched companies again (noticing a theme?) for a promotion and now make $122,000/year.

I don’t have any other sources of income outside my main job. My partner makes a similar amount to me—about $117,000/year with bonus.
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Section Three: Expenses
I live with my partner and we don’t have combined finances, but split many expenses 50/50. We use Splitwise to log transactions. He’s more laid-back about being paid back, but I’m much more “I don’t want to owe anyone anything, and I don’t want anyone to owe me anything” (I know, rigid, but I’m working on it!).
Splitwise is nice because it’d be ridiculous to Venmo request each other for a $4 coffee, but we can see how expenses are adding up. If someone has racked up a few hundred dollars of spending for both of us, the other person will cover our expenses for awhile. It works for us!
Rent
$2,200 for a 2 bed, 1 bath apartment in Brooklyn. We split rent 50/50.
Renters insurance
About $7/month for my portion. This covers all our possessions plus my boyfriend’s watches. He pays 75% of it because half of the monthly cost comes from the extra watch overage.
Savings contribution
I try to have about $10,000 sitting in my savings account at any given time, because it makes me feel safe in case of an emergency. I also like the freedom it enables, in case I wanted to leave my job and take a significant amount of time off. This is already at the $10k I want, so I don’t contribute to it monthly.
Investment contribution
It varies but on average I contribute $2,500/month to my brokerage account and Roth IRA (combined).
Donations
I try to donate about $200/month, but it’s pretty sporadic. This month I donated to the Yellowhammer Fund and Northwest Abortion Access Fund. One of my major goals for 2021 is to step up my donations and create an actual strategy around them, potentially involving a donor-advised fund.
Gas/electric
Our gas is $20-25/month and electric is $50/month. I pay gas and Will pays electric, both go in Splitwise. About $37/month total for me.
Wifi
Our wifi is $60/month, which goes into Splitwise—I pay $30/month.
Cellphone
I’m still on my parents’ phone plan—sheesh! This is convincing me that I should Venmo them for it each month.
Subscriptions
I pay for Hulu with ads, $5.99/month. My boyfriend pays for Netflix and we share a Spotify family plan with a couple of his friends, which I chip in $4/month for.
I also pay for the budgeting software YNAB (You Need a Budget) which is $84/year. I only pay it once a year in September.
Medical
I recently had to go to the emergency room for an overnight stay and follow up with some specialists. (I’m okay!) Because of that whole shindig I’m expecting to max out my deductible (and potentially my out-of-pocket-max) right at the end of the year. This will be about $4,000, but none of the claims have come through yet so I’m not sure of the exact total. I have a category in my budget for my deductible, and the rest will come out of my emergency fund.
Physical therapy
This month I’m starting pelvic floor physical therapy for dyspareunia (pain with intercourse).
I’d tried everything the internet suggested (“just relaaaaaax”) before getting the courage to find a new ob-gyn and ask her about it. She had some recommendations, but ultimately physical therapy was the “last resort” option that I’m now exploring.
My new physical therapist comes highly recommended but is out of network with insurance. Each session is $250, and I’ll go once every 2-3 weeks for the next few months as part of treatment. If you’ve worked through this problem (or are experiencing it now!) I’d love to hear your experience.
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Section Four: Additional Questions
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?
Absolutely. My dad was the first in his family to attend college and my parents made pretty calculated decisions about where they would live so I could go to the absolute best public school possible. Over 90% of students at my high school attend a 4-year college, and we start talking about it freshman year. To say college was encouraged in my environment is an understatement.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My dad has worked in finance since I was about 10. He’s always been really knowledgeable about both higher-level economic concepts and the minutiae of personal finance. My family is frugal, too: we clipped coupons and got clothes on super-sale at Kohl’s and Goodwill. I know there was a period of time when he became self-employed and money got very tight for a few years, but the bulk of those worries were largely kept from me.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Yes. While we were comfortable, we lived in such an affluent place that our family was in “the middle class” of the town and it made me worry more about money than I probably needed to. Think The Stepford Wives for context.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
In college, I became maybe 80% financially independent as I had a scholarship and worked part-time during school and over the summer, but I was still on their insurance.
I remember being frustrated in college because even though I knew I was extremely privileged, my friends in college had their parents pay their summer apartment rent and gave them an “allowance” of spending money, and I was “limited” by the options I could afford with the job I had. My dad told me at the time, “This is frustrating but it’s preparing you for actually having to live off the money you make in the near future.” (Great, great advice Dad.)
I’m technically still financially dependent on my parents for my cell phone bill, but otherwise I pay for everything: rent, insurance, utilities, food, therapy, and all wants in the form of clothing, workout classes, etc. I could ask my parents for money if I absolutely needed to, but would use it as a last resort.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
I have an account (mentioned above) that a family friend who’s a hedge fund manager, well, manages. I believe the initial deposit was $1000 over 10 years ago, but that money wasn’t mine either, it’s all a gift. It’s not very liquid—it’d take me several months (and some very good reasoning) to get any of that money withdrawn, since it’s supposed to be for “the future” (which I guess I could argue is now?).
I might receive a small amount of money when my grandmother passes, but it’d probably be around $1-2k, if at all.
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Day 1 Wednesday, November 25, 2020
8:30am Wake up and shower, take my vitamin C gummies, then make coffee. I wasn’t much of a daily coffee drinker until my offices had it for free, and now I’m definitely addicted. I don’t really care if the coffee is shitty or not, I just put some milk in it and it’s great. Right now I’m trying to drink half or three-quarter cups so I can attempt to pull back my addiction a bit. I log onto work at 9am.
11:30am Eat leftovers from last night for lunch—quesadilla + Spanish rice. There’s an incredible Mexican restaurant by us, and now I am ruined for the tacos, quesadillas and nachos from any other place.
12:30pm Will picks me up in the U-Haul. We’re driving about 20 min away to pick up a butcher block desk he bought off Craigslist, which ends up being from a small office that’s downsizing. The desk is $150 which he pays for. We love the office’s style (and the owner is super nice!) and walk around while he shows us what else he’s trying to get rid of.
We end up buying an extra-large ZZ plant and two side tables from him for an extra $120, way less than we would have paid for the quality elsewhere. My half will be $60, and I’ll split the U-Haul too, $44.51. $82.26
2:45pm That ended up taking a lot longer than we expected! We get back and unload the van, then I bring stuff inside while Will returns the van to the U-Haul location. I jump back onto work—so much for a slow afternoon before Thanksgiving. AWS is down, which powers a lot of our engineering work (and a lot of the internet!) so a lot of our teams are basically twiddling their thumbs. We chat about how to message the outage to customers.
5:45pm Will starts making dinner (braised chicken and veggies) and I sit down to read with a strawberry Chobani, but I end up just reading Reddit and searching for new podcasts to listen to.
7:45pm Dinner was great! Now…ice cream.
9:43pm I remember that my mom sent me ideas for her and my dad’s Christmas presents, so I order on Etsy and Amazon. My dad gets a mug with an Ernest Hemingway quote (“write drunk, edit sober”) ($21.54) and a book on writing ($16.63), and my mom gets this food warming tote contraption she wanted ($43.52). We’ve been paring down Christmases over the years—this year I asked for the Europe version of Ticket to Ride. $81.69
11:15pm I finish up the first episode of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City with some white cheddar Cheez-Its to snack on. After, I start on the dishes from dinner. I listen to the Product Market Misfits podcast while I do dishes—the episode with Kristen Anderson from Catch is great, highly recommend if you’re tired of just hearing stories about stereotypical Silicon Valley tech companies.
Day 1 Total: $166.69
Day 2 Thursday, November 26, 2020
10am Wake up super late since I stayed up scrolling on my phone too late last night. We make coffee and set out for a long walk around 11:15am.
12:05pm At the end of our walk, we swing by our local liquor store and buy 4 bottles of wine (red, white, rose, champagne). Will pays, total is $63.15 for everything. We haven’t had wine in the apartment for ages and I’m excited to have some stocked up. $31.57
12:30pm Get back from the walk, shower, then turn on football. I actually don’t really care about any NFL teams (I like college football a lot more), but it’s such calming background noise for me that I find myself looking for games when I have downtime. We also recently found out that Will’s friends’ dog only has a few months to live, so we order some jerky treats and a squeaky toy for him. $14.07
2:30pm We head out to the restaurant we’re going to for Thanksgiving lunch, a local place a short walk from our apartment. They’re doing a prix fixe menu of the classics—turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and a phenomenal tarte Tatin with ice cream for dessert.
We eat outside under heat lamps. It’s super cozy. With our bottle of wine and tip the total is $208 (I try to tip over and above the norm because it’s a pandemic and Thanksgiving). My half will be $104.
5:53pm Get back from the restaurant. We have a ton of leftovers which is awesome (I think it’s excessive frugality, but I almost expect to stretch takeout or restaurant meals into two meals). Exchange some texts with my friends about their socially-distant Thanksgiving celebrations.
I turn on the Washington vs. Cowboys game right at the halftime show, which is Kane Brown with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. They’re all wearing masks (except for Kane) and it’s so odd to see them dancing in masks. I mean, I’m glad they’re wearing them, but it just seems like we could have gone without the halftime show this year.
9:21pm I order contacts from Contacts Direct. I got a new prescription but didn’t have a great experience with the eye doctor, so I’m hesitant about this order—only ordered one box of 90 lenses for each eye instead of a year’s worth of lenses. I’ve been getting headaches pretty frequently, so I’m hoping getting a new pair of glasses and alternating those (instead of wearing my contacts for 16 hours a day, every day) will help. $29.98 after insurance benefits
Day 2 Total: $179.62
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Day 3 Friday, November 27
8:56am Wake up super last minute, run to sign onto Slack and then start grinding coffee beans. I’m online and drinking a big mug of coffee by 9:10. (So much for half cups.)
10:45am Come up for air from work and grab the stuff to make a bagel. Everything bagels and plain cream cheese are my go-to combo.
12:03pm I grab a bag of clothes to drop off at the donation bin and a couple library books to return. The library is about a 25 minute walk so it’ll be a nice lunch break diversion.
12:56pm After the library I stop by the grocery store for some paper towels and sponges, since we’re almost out. Total is $22.62, my half is $11.31
1:09pm When I get home I jump back into work and put the USA vs. Netherlands game on my second monitor. By the 75th minute, the US is up by 2 goals so they start putting in some younger players—it’s fun to see Midge Purce and Sophia Smith play! I also throw some bagel bites in the oven for a quick snack and promise myself dinner will be healthier.
4:23pm I zone out of work and start playing Among Us. I end up playing for over two hours. We open a bottle of wine at some point and I get super tipsy.
6:50pm Turn on the tail end of the Notre Dame vs. UNC game. It turns into Jeopardy, which turns into Wheel of Fortune, which I’m not mad about. P isn’t as into the game shows and leaves to microwave a plate of leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner and play video games.
8:40pm Finally getting hungry after my bagel bites and Cheez-Its this afternoon and make a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers—turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and cauliflower. Yum.
Will and I end up getting in a tiff about the mess in our apartment so we take a break, cool down and talk it through. I watch a couple episodes of Sister Wives and go to bed around 1:30am.
Day 3 Total: $11.31
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Day 4 Saturday, November 28, 2020
10:05am I stayed up late (again) so it’s nice to sleep in. I play Among Us for awhile and have a couple rounds where I’m the impostor and get some great kills and wins. I run out into the living room and celebrate with Will. We laugh because it’s silly how much we love the games we play. Around 10:45 I start making coffee.
11am We desperately need new sheets because our fitted sheet has a huge hole at Will’s feet (and it’s growing). I search a women’s personal finance group I’m in on Facebook for recommendations and we end up buying a queen sheet set from Belk. Total was $100.71 with their sale. $50.35
1pm I was planning on returning a package to the post office today, but forget it closes at 1pm on Saturdays so I decide to run to Target instead. I have a lampshade to return and want to look for a shower caddy as well. I also have an old iPad to return, which Will tells me I can do at Best Buy. He finds an old iPod and flip phone I can take too.
Take the MTA there ($2.75 for a single fare). When I get there, it’s a madhouse and I remember that I have sillily (is this a word?) decided to come on the weekend of Black Friday. I stand in the returns line for about 15 minutes and get $10.89 back, but ditch the idea of trying to look for a shower caddy. The checkout line looks like 100 people long. -$8.14 because of return
Next I go to Best Buy, but who am I kidding—the line to get in the store is even longer than the Target checkout line. I walk back to the subway and get on to go home. $2.75
2:30pm Since Best Buy was a no go, I search for electronic recycling around me on the way home just to see where I could drop off the devices I have. Apparently there’s an EcoATM not too far from my subway stop. It’s more for selling devices, but if they can’t give you money for something, they’ll recycle it, which is exactly what I wanted. I put each of the pieces in the scanner, and end up getting a whopping $2 total (for Will’s old iPod). Still cool because I was just expecting to recycle it all. I’ll give Will the $2.
2:44pm There’s a Dunkin nearby so I pop in to grab a couple donuts ($2.90). There’s a woman outside asking for money, so I give her $5 cash. $7.90
3:00pm Last stop—our favorite deli is nearby and Will mentioned he wanted to get bacon there recently. I get a 1/2 lb and salivate on the way home. This is one of those things I won’t put in Splitwise because it’s small and because it’s fun to get for P as a tiny little present. $3.50
3:45pm Once I’m home I’m super hungry from only eating carbs all morning so I have a snack of carrots, hummus and some pepperoni. I head back out to drop off a bag of clothes and shoes at a drop box a few blocks away. The neighbors are outside at the park near our house so I stop and chat with them for a few minutes. Their kids are the cutest.
6:47pm For dinner I make a ham and cheese sandwich (panini style with rosemary butter) and more carrots and hummus. I put on another episode of Sister Wives. These people are so fascinating to me—first off, I think the husband is completely full of himself. But I’m also so curious about the wives. There are a lot of talking head testimonials where the parents explain that they’re “oppressed” because they’re different and want to go public so the world can see polygamy as a valid family style (I’m only on season 2).
I know they’re probably playing up the “we love our other sister wives and have so much fun together even without Kody” aspect because people expect sister wives to be catty and hate each other, but I can’t help but wonder why they need to be in plural marriage to get the same friendship they seem to value so much. I also doubt they’d extend the same grace and tolerance they want to people who are “different” because they’re LGBTQ, or “different” because they’re in an open relationship or marriage.
9:15pm I mix together oatmeal chocolate chip cookie batter and put some cookies in the oven. While I’m waiting, I browse Zocdoc for well-reviewed providers—I want to make a podiatrist appointment for a lingering toe issue and an audiologist appointment for a routine hearing screening. I got the idea to make these appointments since I’ll hit my out-of-pocket max with the hospital visit, making them free or very discounted. I make two appointments for next week.
I also lust over a Farm Rio puffer jacket that feels overpriced but I just love. Maybe I’ll buy it tomorrow since they’re having a 30% off sale.
Day 4 Total: $64.50
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Day 5 Sunday, November 29
8:58am Wake up and switch between scrolling on Reddit and playing a few Among Us games. After a bit Will gets out of bed and makes coffee for us.
9:45am Will finishes the movie he started last night and we start on breakfast. We’re making the bacon I bought yesterday, breakfast potatoes with onions, and a fried egg for Will (I can’t stand the taste or smell).
11:00am Yum! Breakfast was great. I watch a couple episodes of Sister Wives and mull over buying that ridiculous but amazing puffer jacket from Farm Rio. I’ve still been thinking about it since last night and I might take the plunge.
1:25pm I get a jolt of motivation to work out and do a 20 minute Sydney Cummings video on Youtube. I heard about it from a recent Money Diary posted here! After it’s done I’m so, so tired. I stretch and unpause my episode of Sister Wives.
2:22pm I help Will move the butcher block slab for his desk out to our backyard. We live on the first floor of a single-family home that was converted into apartments, so we get the backyard too—it’s awesome to have outdoor space in the city. P works on sanding it and applying poly for the next couple hours.
5:07pm Will suggests pizza for dinner and I am always, always down for pizza. I order pickup from the spot down the street—one grandma, one cheese and 2 orders of garlic knots come to $38.60. We’ll have leftovers for tomorrow too. $19.30
5:50pm We pick up the pizza and dig in. While we’re eating we turn on the Chiefs vs. Buccaneers game; Will has a few players on his fantasy team in this game.
6:57pm I sign up to write letters to Georgia residents encouraging them to vote in the Senate runoff elections in January. This is through Vote Forward—I did 20 letters for the general election in November and want to participate again. I’ll print the letters at a local coffee shop since we don’t have a printer at home.
Will sends me this Reddit comment about campaign finance since we’ve been talking about it recently. I decide I’m convinced by the argument and set up a $5 monthly donation to Brand New Congress. $5
8:19pm After texting back and forth with my friend all day, I buy the puffer jacket—so excited. She encouraged me to get it and is pumped for me too. $228.64
I also notice my paycheck has started processing in my checking account (I get paid tomorrow), so I enter the amount in YNAB and budget it all. I earmark about $1500 to go into my brokerage account tomorrow. I won’t include it here as “spending” since it’s included in the overview section above.
Day 5 Total: $252.94
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Day 6 Monday, November 30
8:43am Wake up and turn on my Slack. Will started the coffee process and I finish it up by pouring the water into our Chemex and letting it steep (I know there’s a coffee-centric word for this...).
8:56am I check my Citi card and my YouTube TV trial rolled over—I was going to cancel it this morning, which I thought was the last day. I email support to see if they’ll refund me, because (I promise I’m not just saying this!) I did have a pretty bad experience. The Roku app was glitchy for us every time we watched something. Maybe they’ll feel nice today! $64.99
9:35am After responding to a few work messages, I run out the door to the post office to avoid a long package line. I did the Warby Parker 5-day home try on and have to return my box of glasses today. I found a pair I really like and am excited to get in the habit of wearing glasses again, instead of just my contacts.
Thankfully the line is only a few people long. The employees are also super nice every time I go, so I try to be really pleasant too. The lines are usually long and I’ve seen more than one adult have a fit at this post office. It’s rainy today and I couldn’t find our umbrella, so my flimsy rain jacket gets pretty soaked through on the walk back.
11:35am My podiatrist appointment is supposed to be tomorrow morning, and they call me to tell me since I haven’t hit my deductible, I’ll have to pay out of pocket for the visit. I explain that I’m 100% going to hit my deductible, the claims from the hospital just haven’t processed yet. I ask her to bill my insurance first for the visit, then I can pay whatever ends up not being covered (if anything). She agrees!
Maybe this is standard, but I’ve never had it happen before—even if I haven’t hit my deductible, I’ve always been to offices that bill insurance first, then I pay the remaining balance.
1:05pm Lots of meetings today. I break for lunch and heat up the braised chicken with veggies. It’s definitely on its last good day, so I’m glad I used it up. Still yummy!
2:20pm Woohoo! Get an email that my YouTube TV charge was refunded. -$64.99
Will ran to Home Depot today to buy some tools for his desk and also got a shower curtain liner since ours is ripping. I go to put it up in the bathroom but my arms are so sore—like I got my flu shot type of sore.
5:05pm Sign off work after trying to wrangle a supremely frustrating SQL query. I don’t get it but figure I can ask our analyst team for help tomorrow. Will will have a late night working, so pizza and Sister Wives is in my near future.
While watching, I update YNAB to reflect the end-of-month balances for my investment accounts. I get a huge dopamine hit by seeing my net worth number go up. I’m also anticipating it going down a bit next month because of my medical bills, so I relish the moment.
8:09pm It suddenly dawns on me that my arms are sore because I worked out yesterday. It’s so rare now that I literally forget when I do it. Ha!
9:15pm We watch the Eagles vs. Seahawks game and I absentmindedly play Among Us. I end up getting ...bullied by a person playing it? They get mad that I figured out they were the imposter and start saying all these schoolyard-type digs throughout the next couple rounds, but level 100 of cruel.
I’m embarrassed by how sad it makes me but think maybe it’s a good thing I don’t immediately know what to say to bully people back. Such a weird experience. I end up going to bed around 11:30.
Day 6 Total: $0
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Day 7 December 1, 2020
7:07am Wake up late for my alarm at 7. I’m up a lot earlier today because my podiatrist appointment is first thing. I get dressed in the dark, kiss P goodbye, grab my water bottle and run out the door to the subway by 7:30. $2.75
8:10am Get to my stop and swing by Starbucks before the appointment. I get a vanilla latte and the bacon cheddar and egg sandwich. Total is around $10 but I have a gift card loaded onto my Starbucks app.
My spending here went way down when I switched jobs to an office not close to a Starbucks, and then stopped going into an office at all.
8:30am My appointment goes great, if a little painful when she numbs my toe. I had to get an ingrown toenail removed. I danced ballet and pointe for years so I’m (unfortunately) used to them, but this one was terrible. The doctor and I bond over both being dancers with bad feet and they schedule me for a follow up two weeks out.
She actually says there’s been a rise in these procedures because people aren’t getting pedicures since the pandemic and aren’t cutting their toenails well! Wild.
I look silly on the subway in December wearing Birkenstocks and socks with a huge toe bandage. It looks like one of those cartoon characters who stubs their toe and it becomes 10x bigger than their other toes. $2.75
9:40am I get off at the stop before mine to stop at Rite Aid. I grab Neosporin, band-aids and epsom salt and check my notes for anything else she mentioned about caring for my toe. $12.97
10:00am When I get home, I hop into work and working with our engineers on a promotion for the New Year. I also catch up with Will since he stayed up late last night and I got up early for my appointment. He says he ended up staying up until 3:30am (!!) cleaning up his tools, working on his desk and putting up the shower curtain. I’m floored that he is functional right now after waking up at 8.
12:15pm Heat up the last of the pizza for lunch, along with hummus and carrots.
5:20pm Work is average-paced for the rest of the day. Not doing nothing, not totally over my head. Will puts in potatoes for baked potatoes to have later, which we’ll pair with a salad. We’re getting close to needing a grocery run again, so the meals are becoming more of a mishmash.
We listed a couple things on our local Buy Nothing group last week, so a woman comes by to pick up a wifi router we can’t use anymore. Would totally recommend looking up if there’s a group in your area—they’re usually on Facebook.
6:30pm After dinner I watch more Sister Wives and look up RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit one of my friends shared for Giving Tuesday. They buy unpaid medical debt from collections, so $1 ends up paying off $100 of someone’s medical debt. I give $50 to the Arkansas campaign, which will clear $5,000 of medical debt.
As Will said earlier today, “medical billing in America is a racket” so I really hope this helps clear a burden from an individual or family. Doing this reminds me to check my insurance portal, which is steadily going up as each separate claim comes in. Ahhhh, modern healthcare! $51.49
At the end of each day please tally up your daily expenses. Then at the end of your diary please tally up all expenses in the following categories:
Total: $719.33

• Grocery + Dining Out: $157.77
• Fun + Entertainment: $0
• Home + Health: $164.67
• Clothes + Beauty: $228.64
• Transportation: $11.00
• Gifts + Giving: $157.25

​
Reflection This week felt like a big spending week for me. I checked YNAB and since January, I’ve spent about $1600 per month, not including rent—so about $400/week. That’s why this week’s $719 feels so high!
Writing this diary helped me understand how many things I have going for me. I’ve recently been in a huge funk—about my health, my performance at work and my relationships with family, friends and P. Going to the hospital, needing physical therapy to have sex and being in a pandemic will do that to you.
I was able to zoom out a bit and understand how stable and gratifying my life is. That being said, I’m so glad this community exists. I really love it and learning about all your spending and saving habits. Thanks for being here and sharing :)

Bitwala is a fantastic Euro Account that is available to people in the UK and Europe.
If you would like to have a free European bank then Bitwala are offering a €15 sign up bonus for opening an account with them and creating your Bitcoin wallet in their app.
Many BeerMoneyUK's recommend using Bitwala to take advantage of the many different offer that are avliable here in Euros such as money transfer and investment.
I have been using Bitwala for 3 months and their service is fantastic. It is a really useful bank to have to access Euro payments and buy and sell crypto. I highly recommend Bitwala, if you have not got an account yet you should consider signing up for one to take advantage of more offers in 2021.
Currently Bitwala are offering new customers a €15 bonus that sign up for an account and make their first purchase on Bitcoin using Bitwala. The bonus is paid out to both the new user and refer within 15 days of them making their first purchase of Bitcoin.
I really like Bitwala and use it a few times a week for sending/receiving Euros and buying/sending Bitcoin.
Links:
My Referral link €15 bonus (make sure you do this from your phone)
Non-referral link No bonus
Refer a friend Terms and conditions
Invite your friends to Bitwala
Benefits of Bitwala
Other benefit of Bitwala is a German bank account with following features:

• Free German IBAN XXXX
• Free SEPA transfers and withdrawals
• European deposit insurance scheme for up to 100,000€
• Built in Bitcoin exchange
• Built in Bitcoin saving 4.5% APR
• Bitcoin wallet (with you own keys)
• Mobile app for iOS and Android
• Online Banking
• Free debit card (if required)

Steps to get your €15 bonus
Follow these two simple steps below to ensure your bonus:

1. Sign up using My Referral link (make sure you do this from your phone)
2. Verify your identify - this will involves a short video call for which I'd recommend preparing your passport and driving license (or proof of address). The call can be made any time as they are open 24 hours (whoever it might take a few mins to connect).
3. Create a bitcoin wallet in your account. You must do this step. Only takes a few mins (you just need paper and pen to write down some words).
4. When you have your new account set up. You will need to transfer €35 into it by a SEPA transfer. This can be done using; TransferWise, WorldRemit, Startling, Monese, Revolut, or any other account with a Euro account.
5. Once you have received the €35 you then need to purchase at least €30's worth of Bitcoin. Once you have done this you will receive an email to confirm your purchase and your balance will be updated within10 min in the app.
6. The free bonus €15 will then be credited to your account within 15 business days.
7. You can then withdraw the bonus or leave it in Bitwala.

A note on fees. Bitwala will charge you a 1€ trade fee for purchasing the €30 of Bitcoin, they will also charge you the network fee of about €1, you will also need to pay the network fee again when you send your Bitcoin to a different address. So profit all together will be about €12.00. You can maximize this buy buying / sending / moving your Bitcoin only on the weekends when the network fees go down to about €0.20.
Bitwala also do not payout if you tell them you got the link on Reddit. Therefore make sure you sign up using My Referral link on you phone.
Let me know if you have any questions.

Hi all,
TLDR: I am about to move back to the UK after been in the US for the past 10 years. I was heavily invested (literal and figurative) into the ins and outs of the Fire movement in the US but need to relearn some of the intricacies in the UK now.
Description: I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to move back to low cost of living city in the UK while working remotely for a tech company. I will move (C-19 permitting) In february so getting my ducks in a row before then. Here's my plan (in order) from reading the flowchart and doing research over the past week- please feel free to poke holes.

1. I am fortunate enough to have no debt and an emergency balance (again, very lucky to be in this position), so I am skipping a few steps on the list
2. Bank account - I will need to set up a new bank account. I am looking at simple online accounts - so leaning towards Monzo / Starling bank for basic Direct Deposits and paying bills. (Would love feedback on Monzo/Starling - I won't be keeping too many funds in here so not focused on rates / bonuses - focused on experience)
3. Pension - my new company offers a pension which I will certainly fund. The only questions I have here is whether you can fund beyond the monthly contribution suggested by my employer (They said they will put in 3% if I put in 5% monthly - does that mean 5% is the maximum I should put in?)
4. LISA/ISA - reading suggests if you have extra cash (that you don't need access to until retirement) then the LISA is a great idea for free money (I am not a first time buyer). With the remaining $16k put into a S&S ISA.
5. Investments - Anything above this I would invest. I have a background in finance / tech so do almost all investing myself currently, so not looking for roboadvisors or anything where I cannot control where the investments are going. I am looking for an institution where I can have my LISA/ISA as well as my post tax investment funds in one platform. I really like the look of Freetrade, but it doesn't seem to have a LISA available. Any recommendations here would be great!
6. SIPP - I am less focused on this given my salary will cause the maximum contributions to be fairly low but I would look into this after exhausting the above. Again - seems like I would need to use a different institution for this although Freetrade may have it coming soon.

Would love any feedback on any of the above or anything I missed. Particularly regarding institutions I should be looking at. As you can probably tell I like simplicity so would ideally have as few accounts set up as possible. I like the idea of a Monzo+Freetrade holding current accounts, ISAs and Investment accounts but open to suggestions.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Okay so I decided to create this guide with the hopes of it becoming a sticky thread for all newbies to the online slots world, to read as we deal with the same topics repeatedly and the same answers/advice are given repeatedly. Not that we do not want to help, but these would prevent you from getting into situations before its too late, or blaming casinos when you were in the wrong.
Signing up or Registration
Registration – Please carefully read the general terms and conditions about every "Right" the casino has and please note that you accepted these terms upon signing up, which means you are saying you are okay with it and agree with what the casino state about what they can and cannot do.

• No Deposit bonuses/Signup bonus – Many players are still NDB (No Deposit Bonus) hunters and register simply for these reasons. Please read the NDB/Signup Bonus terms carefully to make sure your country is eligible to receive the NDB/Signup bonus. We had many players getting upset about this factor and then end up closing their accounts immediately out of anger which leads to SE (Self Exclusion) at times. which I will address later in this thread. However, we do have instances where a casino does not list the eligible countries that can or cannot receive the NDB/Signup bonuses.
• More than one player in 1 house Hold – Many casinos only allow one player per house/IP address to register at a casino. You can ask a casino if you and your partnesibling who stays together can both signup and some casinos would give the "Ok". Just make sure you have this in written confirmation via email or something and not live chat.

Claiming Bonuses
Read the bonus terms carefully before claiming any bonuses and look for the following pointers when reading the bonuses rules:

• Wagering – Many casinos have increased their wagering on bonuses lately which makes bonus wagering very difficult to complete these days. Decide whether the wagering attach to the bonus is high or low for you since you know your game play and strategies. Many factors can influence whether you will be able to meet wagering, which is the x amount of wagering, game providers availability and deposit amount just to name a few. Also note that wagering for "certain countries" are higher than others. For me personally I think wagering between x35 – x50 on the "Bonus" amount "Only" is reasonable and fair.
• Max Bet – 99% of casinos have a max bet rule in place when claiming a bonus. Note what the max bet is for the specific casinos as it can range anything from 1 – 5 euro/$ per Spin. Deposit methods can affect the max bet as well as some casinos limit the max bet rule between 1 – 2 euro per spin for deposits using e-wallets, however that same casinos allow a max bet up to 5 euro per spin for credit card/Alternative deposits. Even though a casino state the max bet rule another tricky rule in the terms that we tend to miss is the coin value. Some casinos state that the max "Coin domination/value" should be $0.20 or $0.50 per spin which means if you want to bet higher you would need to adjust the "Level" portion in the slot if the coin domination/value limit is reached according to the terms. If you breach the Max bet rule and it is stated in their terms, you do not have a case, period. There are some casinos who you can explain your situation if it was a mistake and they do sometimes make exceptions.
• Deposit methods – Many casinos lately have restricted the claiming of bonuses using e-wallet deposit methods such as Neteller, Skrill etc. Note they mention these 2 as they are most popular, but that also means any other form of e-wallets are not eligible to claim bonuses. I have seen a lot of players complain that they did not receive the bonus simply because they did not read the terms before claiming the bonus and the deposit has already been made. Also make sure you deposit using your own card, do not use your parents or any other siblings credit card to make deposits as this would cause a problem during verification which in the end results in to winnings not being paid out.
• Deposit Methods Additional Info – Many deposits are available from Casinos or let's say most casinos have the same deposit methods available, however the country that you reside in has the influence on what deposit methods are available and the same counts for withdrawals. So, for instance if AskGamblers website state deposit by phone which is "Boku" is available at that specific casino it does not mean that it will be available for all players, as that is depending on your country. Deposit by phone is mostly available for the UK players basically as an example.
• Max Cash-Out – Many players claim bonuses and after they complete wager, they tend to withdraw immediately. Some players are left with substantial amounts only to find out they can only get x2 the bonus amount (Casinos like "Viks" casino and "Quasar Gaming" have this rule) or x10 their deposit. I understand this is frustrating and upsetting, but the problem is with the player itself. Stop blaming casinos because you could not do the simplest thing in the world which is just take 5 minutes to read the bonus terms.
• Restricted games – Please check which games are allowed and not allowed to be played with bonus funds. Some casinos have a feature where bonus money is not even visible on the restricted games, but other casinos bonus money will show on restricted games. In many instances these would not lead to confiscation of winnings, it just that it would not count towards wagering. They also have a term where they would say that bets place on all "Other" games other that "Slot machines" will be deemed in violation of the terms and condition and your bonus winnings will be voided – So watch out for this one.
• Double up feature – The only thing to say here is that this will not counts towards wagering.
• Cashable and Non-Cashable bonuses – This one is another tricky one, some people call it a "Sticky bonus". This just means where you receive the bonus you can use it to place bets and for wagering purposes, but the bonus amount can never be withdrawn. I find this term ridiculous and always avoid this type of bonuses.
• Bonus Abuse – This is a very complex/broad subject but mention the basic ones (Thanks for forum members tips which I included on this one), the rest you can do your own research about the rest associated with bonus abuse as we all have different opinions
• Bonus per player, per account, per IP address etc. If you take that same bonus twice or more times, using different accounts under your name, then it's an abuse.
• Claiming free spins offers – Deposit to get free spins and withdrawing deposit after claiming free spins but continue to play free spins is also some form of bonus abuse.
• Accumulating bonus rounds and start playing them when your bonus balance reach zero, and you win those money as real cash.
• Anything you can think of that disadvantages the house (Casino).
• Bonus wagering period – This never really is a problem, but just make sure you complete you bonus wagering with the set time frame the casino provided. This can range anything from 3 – 30 days otherwise winnings will be voided.

There are other bonus terms that I have not mentioned but I think the above ones are the most important as these could affect you in terms of confiscation of your winnings should you breach any of them.
Verification
This is pretty much standard for a casino to ask for some form of Identification, proof of address and proof of deposit when requesting a withdrawal. Depending on the amount win, some casinos might not need documents, however when a substantial amount has been won additional verification or security checks might be done which means a longer withdrawal time frame. Verification or KYC is necessary, however I feel when casinos ask for selfies with your ID next to you etc. in my opinion is just ridiculous. Also, I have noticed some casinos requesting your source of income to see where you get the money to make deposits etc. This seems standard and you would need to do it to get your withdrawal, however all of us have different opinions about this verification procedure.
Withdrawals
Many casinos have different withdrawal time frames and when you accept the general terms and conditions you have to a abide by them, by this I mean stop being impatient and complain that the casinos withdrawal time frames are the worst etc. As you knew this before you started playing provided you have read the terms and condition. You decided to deposit and play so then wait for your money, eventually it will come unless you breached some rule, or the casino is a rogue casino.
Here are some of the tips you should note when it comes to withdrawals at casinos:

• Verification – This is standard procedure and you have to do this if the casino request it.
• Time-frames – This one I feel can be interpreted in many ways but let me give you my version of how I View things. When a casino says e-wallets 0 – 1 or 0 – 24 hours. This means that the casinos use that time-frame to process your withdrawal and after it being processed your money should be instantly available. Credit cards that state 3 – 7 business days and this is where some newbies get this wrong – This simply state the time frame they take to process the payment to your card, it does not mean you will get your money within 3 – 7 days, however this is possible. Prepare yourself for the longest waiting period to avoid becoming impatient and upset – So if a casino says 3 – 7 days expect to get it in 10 days max, however you can get it within 4 days, but sometimes casinos just stretch it to process it on the last day possible with the hopes you would reverse the withdrawal and continue to play. This technique of casinos sometimes works. So, if they process your withdrawal it can take another 3 – 5 days to hit your account based on your location and the banks in your country as they have internal controls with foreign currency. There are however hiccups with payment providers/processors etc. but these are at times out of the casinos control. My best is advice is "Patience".
• Reversing Withdrawals – With the timeframes explanation I just gave above and being impatient, players tend to reverse their withdrawals. They continue playing and end up losing their winnings. Stop blaming casinos as this is your own fault that you Lost the funds. You made the decision to reverse the withdrawal. If you really need to play, make a deposit at another casino or sister website and play there while you patiently wait for you withdrawal. Some casinos have the lock feature, so lock down your withdrawal so you do not reverse the withdrawal or play at other casinos which has quicker withdrawal time frames of 0 – 1 hour instead of days. The key here is "Patience".

Self-Exclusion
Self-Exclusion is a big thing these days and most cases substantial amounts are involved that are being confiscated. There are at times very little that us forum members or even AskGamblers can do when a player self-excluded and played at a sister website or similar, as we know the result and of course the house is kind of right. However, I think it's bad that a casino only realizes the self-exclusion portion on a player profile once it reaches withdrawal stage, because I feel they should have something in place that can detect that you self-excluded upon registration or before you even make your first deposit. People with gambling problems tend to self-exclude but the alternative is to read this guide - https://www.askgamblers.com/forum/topic/2152-sos-i-am-addicted-to-gambling-what-to-do/ . My advice is to keep your casino account open and do not play there anymore, because even if you request a permanent account closure, some casinos tend to self-exclude you without you knowing it and this would cause problems in future since you opened another account at their sister website or something.

Bitwala is a great Euro Bank Account that is available to people in the UK and Europe.
If you would like to have a free European bank then Bitwala are offering a €15 sign up bonus for opening an account with them and creating your Bitcoin wallet in their app.
Many BeerMoneyUK's recommend using Bitwala to take advantage of the many different offer that are avliable here in Euros such as money transfer and investment.
I have been using Bitwala for 3 months and their service is fantastic. It is a really useful bank to have to access Euro payments and buy and sell crypto. I highly recommend Bitwala, if you have not got an account yet you should consider signing up for one to take advantage of more offers in 2021.
Currently Bitwala are offering new customers a €15 bonus that sign up for an account and make their first purchase on Bitcoin using Bitwala. The bonus is paid out to both the new user and refer within 15 days of them making their first purchase of Bitcoin.
I really like Bitwala and use it a few times a week for sending/receiving Euros and buying/sending Bitcoin.
Links:
My Referral link €15 bonus (make sure you do this from your phone)
Non-referral link No bonus
Refer a friend Terms and conditions
Invite your friends to Bitwala
Benefits of Bitwala
Other benefit of Bitwala is a German bank account with following features:

• Free German IBAN XXXX
• Free SEPA transfers and withdrawals
• European deposit insurance scheme for up to 100,000€
• Built in Bitcoin exchange
• Built in Bitcoin saving 4.5% APR
• Bitcoin wallet (with you own keys)
• Mobile app for iOS and Android
• Online Banking
• Free debit card (if required)

Steps to get your €15 bonus
Follow these two simple steps below to ensure your bonus:

1. Sign up using My Referral link (make sure you do this from your phone)
2. Verify your identify - this will involves a short video call for which I'd recommend preparing your passport and driving license (or proof of address). The call can be made any time as they are open 24 hours (whoever it might take a few mins to connect).
3. Create a bitcoin wallet in your account. You must do this step. Only takes a few mins (you just need paper and pen to write down some words).
4. When you have your new account set up. You will need to transfer €35 into it by a SEPA transfer. This can be done using; TransferWise, WorldRemit, Startling, Monese, Revolut, or any other account with a Euro account.
5. Once you have received the €35 you then need to purchase at least €30's worth of Bitcoin. Once you have done this you will receive an email to confirm your purchase and your balance will be updated within10 min in the app.
6. The free bonus €15 will then be credited to your account within 15 business days.
7. You can then withdraw the bonus or leave it in Bitwala.

A note on fees. Bitwala will charge you a 1€ trade fee for purchasing the €30 of Bitcoin, they will also charge you the network fee of about €1, you will also need to pay the network fee again when you send your Bitcoin to a different address. So profit all together will be about €12.00. You can maximize this buy buying / sending / moving your Bitcoin only on the weekends when the network fees go down to about €0.20.
Bitwala also do not payout if you tell them you got the link on Reddit. Therefore make sure you sign up using My Referral link on you phone.
Let me know if you have any questions.

Bitwala is a great Euro Bank Account that is available to people in the UK and Europe.
If you would like to have a free European bank then Bitwala are offering a €15 sign up bonus for opening an account with them and creating your Bitcoin wallet in their app.
Many BeerMoneyUK's recommend using Bitwala to take advantage of the many different offer that are avliable here in Euros such as money transfer and investment.
I have been using Bitwala for 3 months and their service is fantastic. It is a really useful bank to have to access Euro payments and buy and sell crypto. I highly recommend Bitwala, if you have not got an account yet you should consider signing up for one to take advantage of more offers in 2021.
Currently Bitwala are offering new customers a €15 bonus that sign up for an account and make their first purchase on Bitcoin using Bitwala. The bonus is paid out to both the new user and refer within 15 days of them making their first purchase of Bitcoin.
I really like Bitwala and use it a few times a week for sending/receiving Euros and buying/sending Bitcoin.
Links:
My Referral link €15 bonus (make sure you do this from your phone)
Non-referral link No bonus
Refer a friend Terms and conditions
Invite your friends to Bitwala
Benefits of Bitwala
Other benefit of Bitwala is a German bank account with following features:

• Free German IBAN XXXX
• Free SEPA transfers and withdrawals
• European deposit insurance scheme for up to 100,000€
• Built in Bitcoin exchange
• Built in Bitcoin saving 4.5% APR
• Bitcoin wallet (with you own keys)
• Mobile app for iOS and Android
• Online Banking
• Free debit card (if required)

Steps to get your €15 bonus
Follow these two simple steps below to ensure your bonus:

1. Sign up using My Referral link (make sure you do this from your phone)
2. Verify your identify - this will involves a short video call for which I'd recommend preparing your passport and driving license (or proof of address). The call can be made any time as they are open 24 hours (whoever it might take a few mins to connect).
3. Create a bitcoin wallet in your account. You must do this step. Only takes a few mins (you just need paper and pen to write down some words).
4. When you have your new account set up. You will need to transfer €35 into it by a SEPA transfer. This can be done using; TransferWise, WorldRemit, Startling, Monese, Revolut, or any other account with a Euro account.
5. Once you have received the €35 you then need to purchase at least €30's worth of Bitcoin. Once you have done this you will receive an email to confirm your purchase and your balance will be updated within10 min in the app.
6. The free bonus €15 will then be credited to your account within 15 business days.
7. You can then withdraw the bonus or leave it in Bitwala.

A note on fees. Bitwala will charge you a 1€ trade fee for purchasing the €30 of Bitcoin, they will also charge you the network fee of about €1, you will also need to pay the network fee again when you send your Bitcoin to a different address. So profit all together will be about €12.00. You can maximize this buy buying / sending / moving your Bitcoin only on the weekends when the network fees go down to about €0.20.
Bitwala also do not payout if you tell them you got the link on Reddit. Therefore make sure you sign up using My Referral link on you phone.
Let me know if you have any questions.

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This is my first MD, a little scary! I've been reading Refinery29 for ages and found this group after the disappointing, fake lawyer MD from "Salt Lake City".
Section One: Assets and Debt
I'm single so all amounts are my own, although I've had help from my parents at various points in my life (which I'll note) and I'm very lucky to also have them to support me if life goes completely to the gutter. Everything in this diary is converted into USD and rounded (to the nearest cent for the diary, but nearest $1k more generally) for simplicity using google's exchange rates when I was writing this over the last week.

• Retirement balance: $273,000 I worked for the first 7 years of my career in the US and maxed out my 401k every year, none of my employers matched. After leaving both employers, I've rolled them over into IRAs totalling $227,000. I've worked for 3 years in the UK and my employer contributes the minimum required by law ($2,200 per month). I have two "pension pots" in the UK totalling $46,000.
• Home equity: $622,000 I own a 2-bedroom in Vancouver (my parents gifted the deposit of $175,000, I pay for the mortgage) and a 1-bedroom in London (I saved up for the deposit of $165,000, and my other one-time costs to purchase (property tax when buying is most of it but also includes lawyers fees, surveys, etc) totalled $40,000). I have been aggressively paying down my mortgages as I have no idea how better to use my money, I calculated the home equity by taking the purchase price of the apartment minus the remaining mortgage. The apartment in Canada should have appreciated a bit as it was purchased 5 years ago, but the London apartment was purchased last year (not sure this was a good "investment" in terms of money, but it's been an amazing investment for my mental health during COVID -- makes WFH much better).
• Investment account balance: $208,000 in a US account invested in ETFs that track a variety of sectors. I don't buy individual stocks, both because when I used to work in a law firm it was very hard to get clearance to do that (because we had material information) and because it feels too risky to me.
• Checking & savings account balance: $267,000 I don't think of these as much different (I just think of it as very very liquid cash). I keep a couple of thousand pounds in an account that I use for daily purchases on a debit card and this is also where my paycheck goes into, and just transfer money into and out of the account as needed into a separate savings account in the UK. I also have two random checkings accounts in the US and one in Canada which I should probably consolidate but unsure. I probably need a financial or tax advisor . . .
• Credit card debt: None, I don't have a credit card in the UK. In the US, I only used a card to accumulate points (I'd pay off the balance at the end of each month)
• Student loan debt: None, my parents paid for both my undergraduate education in Canada as well as law school in the US (crazy cost difference though, 4 years in Canada was the same as 1 year in the US)

Section Two: Income

• Main Job Monthly Take Home: $15,000 per month, after taking out $1,400 pre-tax to go into my UK retirement fund and after taking out $11,500 for taxes and national insurance contributions (this is like social security). No deductions for health insurance, because it's the UK :)
• Side Gig Monthly Take Home: None
• Any Other Monthly Income Here: Sort of None My baby brother lives in the 2-bed in Vancouver rent free (I figure it's my way of paying back my parents, he can live here for $0 until he's in the workforce). But he collects about $600 from a roommate, which he then uses to pay the building fees (it is a doorman building with a gym) and property taxes, he also takes care of small maintenance costs.

On income progression, I've been working as a lawyer for 10 years:

• Year 1 at big law firm in NYC: $165,000 annual salary + $7,500 bonus (bonus was guaranteed unless you were a terrible performer)
• Year 2 at a law firm: $170,000 + $10,000
• Year 3 at a law firm: $185,000 + $20,000
• Year 4 at a law firm: $210,000 + $27,000
• Year 5 at a law firm: $230,000 + $70,000
• Year 6, I moved in-house to a private company: $135,000 (no annual bonus) + some stock options (which are pretty much worthless today). 6 months in, my pay was increased to $175,000 as my boss acknowledged I was performing above what he had envisioned when hiring for the role
• Year 7: $185,000 (no annual bonus)
• Year 8: $215,000 (no annual bonus)
• Year 9: $290,000 (no annual bonus), big jump due to significant promotion
• Year 10: $335,000 + $135,000 target bonus (I don't think of this as earned money at all until it's in my bank account), big jump due to promotion / move laterally

Section Three: Expenses

• Mortgage: $3,800 for 1 bed in London (I intentionally pay more since I can right now, my actual mortgage is $2,500 per month), $2,800 for 2 bed in Canada (similar, the actual mortgage is $1,400 per month)
• Retirement: See Income section
• Savings/Investment contributions: See Assets & Debts section
• Debt payments: Nothing other than my mortgage
• Donations: Varies by month, I think I donate about $1,000 to $1,500 per month but I don't do a good job tracking because I do not take the charitable tax deduction (in the UK, when you donate, you can click a box which allows the charity to claim your tax relief instead of you personally taking the deduction -- this means that, if you're in the 40% tax bracket, every £1 you donate is worth £1.25 to the charity). I give $250 per month to the ACLU, about $300 per month to two different dog shelters, $100 per month to a mental health crisis line and then donate to causes as they come up primarily through GoFundMe (usually climate or dog related causes).
• Utilities (Electricity, Gas, Water): $150 per month
• Council Tax: $150 per month (this is additional tax in the UK that goes to your local government and used for things like rubbish collection, maintenance of local roads, parks and libraries, and social services)
• Wifi & Cellphone: $75 per month
• Pet: $35 per month for dog food (I feed half kibble and half fresh food), $90 per month for insurance, $80 per month for a dog walker until October (this is $20, once a week). I only need a dog walker once a week because pre COVID times I usually took Doggo to work three times a week, worked from home one day and had a dog walker one day. Now that I'm WFH, when COVID cases were really bad in London, I continued paying the dog walker but we stopped the walks. We re-started the walks when lockdown lifted and I now use the hour to go grocery shopping. See my diaries below for why this is only until end of October, we'll restart in the new year.
• Other: $60 for cleaner (3 hours, once a month); $20 per month for Netflix, Apple storage and Amazon Prime. I don't have a car or gym membership.

Section 4: Diary
DAY 1 SUNDAY - $33.50

I wake up at 7 am . . . My biological clock in COVID times is all sorts of messed up, and I feel like I've been sleep deprived for months. Doggo hears me moving in bed and jumps up for a 15 minute cuddle. I then put on a coat and take her outside for a bathroom break. I feed Doggo and make a cup of tea for myself and then go back to bed.
By bed, I mean I scroll through IG and the news for an hour. I doze off eventually and then wake up at 10:30 for a second cuddle session. I finally get dressed while listening to NPR's Consider This. I'm 4 episodes behind, it's the perfect start to the morning. I make avocado toast with a fried egg at 11:15.
I head out to walk Doggo for an hour at noon and regret it 15 minutes in. London has skipped Fall, it feels very much like Winter and I'm not prepared. By the end of the walk, I'm sniffling behind my mask. I treat myself to a blueberry financier from my local cafe ($4.72). I eat half of the cake at home with a second cup of tea, decaffeinated this time, and also eat a box of cherries. Doggo eats her lunch and then passes out.
I spend most of the afternoon decluttering, I go through and organise, swapping out seasonal clothes. I have been watching the Home Edit on Netflix and am obsessed!!! I'm thinking of placing an IKEA/Amazon order for "Product" but hold off. Amazon delivery guy drops off a parcel at 3 pm -- I bought a plant saucer and a trio of pots last week. I've been growing some plants on my patio but now that it's getting cold, need to bring them all in. I spend an hour repotting some herbs. I place a second order for the pots and saucer as they're perfect for the remaining herbs ($28.78).
At 6:30, I make myself some skillet pizza with a side salad for dinner, and eat while addressing some weekend work emails for about 30 minutes. I hop into the shower at 7:30 and spend my evening with a face mask and the Home Edit. Doggo gets her last walk at 9 pm, and then we head to bed. I have a hard time falling asleep so I light a candle, move the phone to another room, and lie in bed for hours.

DAY 2 MONDAY - $0

I wake up at 7:30 am and take Doggo out, make myself a cup of tea, and eat the leftover cake along with strawberries for breakfast. I start work at 8 am, replying to emails and reviewing memos until 10, when I have an hour call with one of my direct reports.
After the call, I take Doggo out to the park for an hour. I keep an eye on emails, but nothing too exciting comes up as I work for an American company and it's still early there. When we get back, I heat up leftover pizza for lunch at noon and dive back into work. I start a marathon of calls from 1:30 pm to 4 pm, and then finally turn to other work.
The Amazon delivery guy arrives at 5pm, I take a 30 minute break to repot the remaining herbs before the sun sets, and then head back to work until 7 pm. I feel lazy so make myself avocado toast, peel an orange and eat a spoon of nutella for dinner. I spend the evening listening to the How I Built This podcast and watching the last episode of The House Edit. I'm in bed by 10.

DAY 3 TUESDAY - $46.27

I wake up at 7 am and take Doggo out -- big mistake not wearing a raincoat, so we make it as quick as possible. Doggo gets her breakfast while I make a cup of tea and eat two portions of strawberry yogurt. I work from 7:30-8:15, and then head out to take Doggo to the vet. I'm back home at 9:30, but sadly without Doggo who has been having leg issues this year. The vet recommended that she stay with them until the afternoon for x-rays. Thank goodness for pet insurance, the x-rays cost $940 but it is all covered by the insurer as I've already met my deductible.
I work from 10 to 12 before taking a quick 15 minute break to make some noodles (Thai inspired peanut noodles -- I made the sauce last week and defrosted overnight). I eat my meal while browsing Reddit and various blogs, and then spend another 15 minutes vacuuming the flat (Doggo sheds!).
I restart work at 1 pm until I pick Doggo up at 5 pm, she's lethargic from being sedated and the vet recommends booking her in for surgery (another £2,600 covered by the insurer). I join a call from 6-7 and then finish addressing other work emails that are time sensitive.
I stop work at 8 pm and let my friends, family and the dog walker know about Doggo's upcoming surgery next week. I'm stressed and decide to place an order on Glossier for cloud paint, balm dotcom and stretch concealer. I use a 10% coupon and it comes out to $46.27. I wash up, browse through the news, and go to bed at 10:30 pm.

DAY 4 WEDNESDAY - $59.02

I wake up at 7:30 am and take Doggo out, the morning is lovely today (bright blue skies, air nice and crisp!). I work for 45 minutes from 8 while eating granola with milk, and then head to the farmers’ market for some groceries. Meanwhile, the dog walker comes by at 9 to take Doggo to the park (cost is included in my monthly expenses). I ended up buying daikon, coleslaw, brioche rolls, pork ribs, roast turkey, gouda, and salmon ($26.97).
I come back from grocery shopping to see a delivery of flowers ($32.05). This is a subscription service where I get a delivery about once every three weeks (approximately how long they. last), but I’ll skip if I don’t like the arrangement. I used to not buy flowers, but it's given me such joy this year. This weeks’ arrangement includes pale pink roses, snowberries, bright pink alstroemeria, purple irises, white lisianthus and eucalyptus.
Doggo comes back from her walk, and she goes to sleep while I restart work. I do a load of laundry at noon, take a 30 minute yoga break, and then make myself a sandwich with coleslaw, turkey, sliced cheese (thank you to the CupofJo blog for the idea, delicious). I finish off the rest of the nutella. Doggo also gets her lunch and a bit of playtime. I dive back into work at 1 pm after putting my clothes in the dryer. I'm on back to back calls from 4 to 6, and then end my workday at 6:30. I make myself some ramen spruced up with bok choi and salad onions from my indoor herb garden.
I decide to shower early at 8 and then watch Schitt's Creek while reading up on the news (last night's debate, omg). I decide to go to bed at 10:30 and pop Doggo into her crate and try locking the door. It's a disaster, she cries and whimpers until 2 am. I wasn't expecting it to be this bad: she used to sleep in a locked crate as a baby and, even as an adult, alternates between sleeping in the crate (unlocked) and on my bed. Once she has her surgery, she'll need to sleep in a locked crate for two months while her legs heal as jumping will undo all the good work. It's devastating and I can't sleep either, I think I fall asleep at 3 am but who knows when.

DAY 5 THURSDAY - $123.76

I'm exhausted but my body wakes up at 7 am anyways. Doggo is quite happy and seems not exhausted at all. I take her for a short walk, give her breakfast, make myself some tea and get to work at 7:30 -- I'll nap later if I can. I catch up on emails, review some documents, and look at candidate resumes for a role that's open on my team. I break at 9:30 to fry an egg to eat with toast and a second cup of tea. I take a 45 minute call at 10, which results in a massive headache (mostly because of the 4 or so hours of sleep, but the call was a mess too). I decide to take Doggo out so we can both get some fresh air.
At noon, I get a delivery of plants that I purchased last week! This makes me so happy and motivated to work again. If anyone else is as plant obsessed, I bought Zamioculcas zamiifolia, polyscias fabian, sansevieria moonshine, clusia princess and a new pot. I take a break at 1 pm to eat a lunch of daikon soup and ribs (leftover, defrosted from last week), which watching Criminal on Netflix. It's the French series, I've already finished the UK set. I also feed Doggo her lunch inside her crate with the door locked, a little bit of whimpering but so much better.
Back to work at 2 pm with back to back calls from 2:30-4:30 (way too many calls in COVID times). I finish work at 6:30 after my last call is cancelled. At 7 pm, the doorbell rings again -- my groceries are here! I order online once every two weeks and supplement with weekly trips to the farmers market. Today's grocery bill is $82.27 for baby wipes (for Doggo), toilet paper, hand gel x2, shampoo x2, kleenex x2, toothbrush heads, decaf tea bags, soy sauce, chilli oil, sugar, peanut butter, rice noodles, tomatoes, onions, chicken thigh, melon, salad onions, pizza, mandarins, green beans, bananas, grapes, broccoli.
After unpacking my groceries, I buy a box of roasted cauliflower and greek salad from the cafe downstairs for dinner ($9.67). I place an order for Doggo from Amazon: some powder for small cuts to add to our first-aid kit and a raised dog bowl (supposedly better for her spine) totalling $31.82. We do some training in the evening (tricks for treats!) so she's nice and tired, cuddle in the bed while watching Schitt's Creek, and then I place her into the crate (minimal crying for about 10 minutes tonight, thank you Doggo).

DAY 6 FRIDAY - $45.61

I wake up at 7:30 am, take Doggo out quickly and start a laundry cycle for my sheets, duvet cover and pillow covers. At 8 am, the cleaner comes to do a much better job than I can (included in monthly expenses) and also makes my bed (is anyone else useless at putting duvets in duvet covers?). I give Doggo her breakfast, make myself a cup of tea and I eat some leftover carrot cake. I work from 8:30 to 11, when the cleaner leaves, with a break in between to put the laundry into the dryer.
Doggo gets a 15 minute walk (it's pouring!) and then we both eat lunch. I make an arugula salad, with tomatoes, mozzarella and mint & balsamic dressing. I read Lean In for an hour while eating. Yes, I know I'm late to the book club but was curious after seeing all of the comments!
I restart work at 12:30 and end at 5:30 to quickly walk Doggo in the rain and then play with her. I leave her with dinner at 6 and then take an Uber to Boy's place (it's our 4th date). I've been disappointed with Londoners on the tube as many people don't wear masks or don't do it properly so prefer to walk or take Ubers even though it's obviously more expensive.
Boy has been cooking up a storm, we polish off a bottle of wine and then some more, a tomato salad and pasta with lots of cheese. I Uber back right before midnight ($45.61 for two Ubers), I'm not concerned about the Uber turning into a pumpkin but I would never leave Doggo by herself. Sorry Boy (and boys generally), I don't do sleepovers without Doggo. Doggo is the happiest girl and I'm feeling pretty good myself, so we go on a long midnight walk and then some playtime at home. I'm not in bed until 2 am.

DAY 7 SATURDAY - $17.96

I wake up at 10 am and Doggo and I head to the park. The skies don't look great, so we keep the walk relatively short and choose not to take a detour into the farmers market. It's the right decision as it starts pouring at around 11 once we're home. Doggo gets her lunch, while I make myself a BLT with some grapes. I then spend an hour catching up on work emails that came in Friday (evening London time, but business hours America time). I draft a couple of responses so they're ready to go, but wait to send them until Monday. Weekend emails are the worst.
I text Boy to say thank you again for the dinner, we flirt a bit and then I get on a call with a group of my best friends at 2 pm to catch up. We all turn the video off because of Zoom fatigue but just hearing their voices is perfect. I spend the afternoon reading up on surgery aftercare for Doggo and place an order for a cold press and an inflatable pet collar that looks soft so that Doggo won't need to wear the cone of shame ($17.96). I then finish Lean In and also go through Criminal (France) on Netflix.
At 7 pm, I start making dinner (salmon with honey and sriracha plus a side salad) and call my brother in Vancouver in the evening to catch up over my dinner and his breakfast. I shower early, put on a face mask, and watch When Harry Met Sally. Doggo joins me during the movie to enjoy some belly rubs, takes her last walk and then we're both in bed by 10:30.

TOTAL SPEND: $326.12

• Food + Drink: $123.63
• Fun / Entertainment: $0
• Home + Health: $60.83
• Clothes + Beauty: $46.27
• Transport: $45.61
• Other: $49.78

This week wasn't too unusual apart from Doggo's costs. Apart from food and treats when we're running low I rarely buy anything for her anymore as we've accumulated a ton of toys, leads, etc. Pre-COVID times I spent more money on transport and food (as I used to eat out for my lunch almost every day in the office), but less money on home and health (I have bought so many plants and spruced up some of my decorations). The beauty purchase is a once a month cost, but I would spend that money in other categories other weeks.

Hi all,
TLDR: I am about to move back to the UK after been in the US for the past 10 years. I was heavily invested (literal and figurative) into the ins and outs of personal finance in the US but need to relearn some of the intricacies in the UK now.
Description: I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to move back to low cost of living city in the UK while working remotely for a tech company. I will move (C-19 permitting) In february so getting my ducks in a row before then. Here's my plan (in order) from reading the flowchart and doing research over the past week- please feel free to poke holes.

1. I am fortunate enough to have no debt and an emergency balance (again, very lucky to be in this position), so I am skipping a few steps on the list
2. Bank account - I will need to set up a new bank account. I am looking at simple online accounts - so leaning towards Monzo / Starling bank for basic Direct Deposits and paying bills. (Would love feedback on Monzo/Starling - I won't be keeping too many funds in here so not focused on rates / bonuses - focused on experience)
3. Pension - my new company offers a pension which I will certainly fund. The only questions I have here is whether you can fund beyond the monthly contribution suggested by my employer (They said they will put in 3% if I put in 5% monthly - does that mean 5% is the maximum I should put in?)
4. LISA/ISA - reading suggests if you have extra cash (that you don't need access to until retirement) then the LISA is a great idea for free money (I am not a first time buyer). With the remaining $16k put into a S&S ISA.
5. Investments - Anything above this I would invest. I have a background in finance / tech so do almost all investing myself currently, so not looking for roboadvisors or anything where I cannot control where the investments are going. I am looking for an institution where I can have my LISA/ISA as well as my post tax investment funds in one platform. I really like the look of Freetrade, but it doesn't seem to have a LISA available. Any recommendations here would be great!
6. SIPP - I am less focused on this given my salary will cause the maximum contributions to be fairly low but I would look into this after exhausting the above. Again - seems like I would need to use a different institution for this although Freetrade seems to have something coming soon.

Would love any feedback on any of the above or anything I missed. Particularly regarding institutions I should be looking at. As you can probably tell I like simplicity so would ideally have as few accounts set up as possible. I like the idea of a Monzo+Freetrade holding current accounts, ISAs and Investment accounts but open to suggestions.
Thanks in advance for your help!

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If you would like to have a free European bank then Bitwala are offering a €15 sign up bonus for opening an account with them and creating your Bitcoin wallet in their app.
Many BeerMoneyUK's recommend using Bitwala to take advantage of the many different offer that are avliable here in Euros such as money transfer and investment.
I have been using Bitwala for 3 months and their service is fantastic. It is a really useful bank to have to access Euro payments and buy and sell crypto. I highly recommend Bitwala, if you have not got an account yet you should consider signing up for one to take advantage of more offers in 2021.
Currently Bitwala are offering new customers a €15 bonus that sign up for an account and make their first purchase on Bitcoin using Bitwala. The bonus is paid out to both the new user and refer within 15 days of them making their first purchase of Bitcoin.
I really like Bitwala and use it a few times a week for sending/receiving Euros and buying/sending Bitcoin.
Links:
My Referral link €15 bonus (make sure you do this from your phone)
Non-referral link No bonus
Refer a friend Terms and conditions
Invite your friends to Bitwala
Benefits of Bitwala
Other benefit of Bitwala is a German bank account with following features:

• Free German IBAN XXXX
• Free SEPA transfers and withdrawals
• European deposit insurance scheme for up to 100,000€
• Built in Bitcoin exchange
• Built in Bitcoin saving 4.5% APR
• Bitcoin wallet (with you own keys)
• Mobile app for iOS and Android
• Online Banking
• Free debit card (if required)

Steps to get your €15 bonus
Follow these two simple steps below to ensure your bonus:

1. Sign up using My Referral link (make sure you do this from your phone)
2. Verify your identify - this will involves a short video call for which I'd recommend preparing your passport and driving license (or proof of address). The call can be made any time as they are open 24 hours (whoever it might take a few mins to connect).
3. Create a bitcoin wallet in your account. You must do this step. Only takes a few mins (you just need paper and pen to write down some words).
4. When you have your new account set up. You will need to transfer €35 into it by a SEPA transfer. This can be done using; TransferWise, WorldRemit, Startling, Monese, Revolut, or any other account with a Euro account.
5. Once you have received the €35 you then need to purchase at least €30's worth of Bitcoin. Once you have done this you will receive an email to confirm your purchase and your balance will be updated within10 min in the app.
6. The free bonus €15 will then be credited to your account within 15 business days.
7. You can then withdraw the bonus or leave it in Bitwala.

A note on fees. Bitwala will charge you a 1€ trade fee for purchasing the €30 of Bitcoin, they will also charge you the network fee of about €1, you will also need to pay the network fee again when you send your Bitcoin to a different address. So profit all together will be about €12.00. You can maximize this buy buying / sending / moving your Bitcoin only on the weekends when the network fees go down to about €0.20.
Bitwala also do not payout if you tell them you got the link on Reddit. Therefore make sure you sign up using My Referral link on you phone.
Let me know if you have any questions.

Metro Bank are currently offering new customers that sign up with a refer a friend link a free £50. This must be done be done before 18th December 2020.
Links:
My Referral Link £50 switch bonus
Non Referral link No bonus
The £50 pay out will be made Within 30 days of meeting all of the terms and conditions in this offer.
I can confirm Metro have started to make payouts :)
I have received £100 from referrals so far Payment Proof and the two people that used my referral link have been credited with their money .
If you are quick you can signup now and potentially get a friend signed up to double your bonus to £100!
I have used Metro Bank for a while. My experience with their app, online banking and support has always been positive.
You do not need to switch your main account. If you like you can switch an account you do not use much. Even an empty bank account would work. If you have a bank account not doing anything at the moment sign it for a swithc and get a free £50.
Steps to get your free £50:

1. Sign up with my My Referral Link (unlimited referrals)
2. Apply for your new Metro Bank Current Account
3. Switch to Metro Bank using the Current Account Switch Service.
4. Within 30 days of your account being opened you need to deposit at least £500 into your new account for both of the first two months, and make 10 debit card purchases in that time. If you open it this month you can pay in your Decembers' salary and use your card over Christmas to be sure of the bonus.

Let me know if you have any questions.