Rae Takes a Breath

I feel kinda bad that I've been neglecting this blog for over a week. This time, though, the main issue is that there hasn't been that much to write, really. Work is work (aka stressful and tiring but doable), and I'm finally moving officially into my new position pay-wise starting this coming week. There's still room to grow there, but I know I'm well-suited to the work. I'll be making less than the average local Account Manager salary, but the fact of the matter is that if I become a really kick-ass Account Manager, I'll be able to get enough experience under my belt to become competitive in the field. And in the meantime, I have really decent benefits and vacation days. Plus this is a 3-day weekend, which is nice.

And hey, check out that crazy new background. I finished one of my $4 coloring book pages. It's not super professional, but I think it looks kinda cool.

There is some other good news on the horizon, in that husband has a decent job prospect. Nothing crazy, but it's full-time at a local independent toy store, which means he can get more pay + potential benefits + he might actually enjoy his job/life a bit more. He also doesn't have to wear a uniform, which he enjoys. And we are pretty confident about his chances, because he found out they were hiring on Thursday afternoon, immediately went to fill out an application, was told to call back Monday when the hiring manager was there, but then got a call Thursday night to interview on Friday afternoon (gotta love next-day interview offers). And though their hiring manager is still out, he interviewed with the owners, and loved them as well as the interview process - he told me about it and them, at length, with a grin on his face. Apparently, the interviewers are like an older, business-owner version of us. They invited him to call or come in on Monday to check back with them.

So, fingers crossed, he'll get a job upgrade in June, and I should be getting my first higher paycheck either June 15th or 30th - I should be getting $100 extra per paycheck before tax, so it'll definitely be something. And then we can finally beef up our savings account!

I did ask Reddit one thing recently, specifically about my car loan. Look for the post with AntiPixie, asking if I should work on my emergency savings or pay off my loan faster. The one reply I got advised me to put money into emergency savings first, since my interest rate is so low. While I want to be out of debt faster, I do agree with them. And once I can get to the point that we're able to save over $100/month, I'd like to transfer anything over $1000 into an online high-yield savings account. Specifically, I'd like to look into a dream account for the interest bonuses - it's got good reviews, so I'm really hoping it's something we can do soon.

Then once we are done with the emergency fund, transfer that to a regular high-yield savings account or a small CD ladder (whichever gives more interest), finish paying off our one debt, and then finally open a new dream account to start saving for a house downpayment. I still love the idea of paying "extra rent" every month towards a pretend mortgage so that we can be budgeted for a real one when the time comes.

I was also thinking about doing that transcription side gig, but Corey doesn't think it's such a good idea, with my day job being the way it is lately. I was so exhausted from the stress of this past week that I ended up sleeping most of Saturday. I need to focus more on where I'm putting my time, so that I can have more of it and waste less. For the past week or more, I've been basically working and then getting home and watching Korean dramas. While they're great, it's kind of a waste, and I do not have time to waste right now. I haven't been dieting at all (bread!!), so I need to press the re-set button on my dragon, and focus my time on getting healthy. If I do that, and make it into a habit, I'll actually be fit and energetic enough to do a side gig.

Oh, btw, sorry about never updating re:the sourdough starter. I kinda... gave up on it. Making from-scratch sourdough takes more patience and time than I have. On the other hand, working with commercial yeast has been a dream. I've made two batches so far, and I love love eating fresh-baked from scratch bread - and I actually just really like kneading dough! I gave a loaf to a coworker for her birthday. Here's a comparison of the sourdough attempt to the commercial yeast loaf:

You can see that the sourdough yeast did work - there's 2 whole bubbles! But it didn't work well. On the other hand, the commercial yeast packet bread was amazing, and my second attempt (not pictured) was even better and made more bread with an equal amount of yeast. And let me tell you, making french toast out of homemade bread = heaven. Another reason I haven't been feeding the dragon... gotta fix that. But kneading bread IS a workout, I can tell you that much!

Anyway, long story short, I'm doing better mentally, and now I have to do better physically. With my raise that's finally about here, plus Corey's potential new job, we can worry less about money and we might even start making a bit of progress soon. I'm looking forward to a nice healthy coloring page update to share with you wonderful people.