u/Mountain-Lunch-9896

So, my gross income is around $81,600. My NET income is $48,000. Huge difference. I’m paying hundreds towards my private insurance every month, and yet I’m still projected to pay about $7600 for a normal vaginal delivery. This is insane. How am I supposed to afford that?? Should I drop my insurance and just get on my state’s Medicare program for assistance?

I would say our healthcare system is a joke but it’s not very funny. I’m anxiety ridden.

Today is my birthday. I am 38! I am six month pregnant and work full time with kiddos, so my day to day life is quite loud and busy. So for today (Saturday), I had a very simple, quiet birthday. Breakfast with husband at local greasy spoon in our neighborhood, walked to the Saturday farmer’s market and bought a small carton of strawberries, came home and did some yard work and laundry. And I’m the happiest and most content I’ve been in years. No big party, no crazy night out, not even a birthday cake with presents to unwrap. Just relaxing and enjoying my home and pets. Grateful for everything I already have.

I spent a few hundred on a Dyson Animal about 5-6 years ago and although it worked great at first, it was primarily plastic and the little bits and bobs eventually became stuck and snapped off here and there. Also, the canister seemed to hold onto a layer of grease no matter how many times I scrubbed it, and there were several crevices that I simply couldn’t reach to clean inside of it.

I want something sturdy for my new vacuum, preferably one that lasts longer than 5 years. Does anyone have anything that they love?

After the initial thrill of paying off the smaller and mid sized accounts has worn off, 8 months in and $12k of paid off debt later, I am so incredibly bored with life. I used to travel, be adventurous and spontaneous. Now the money is gone as soon as it comes in, and instead of feeling joyous about another $1500 paid off, I’m just done with my life feeling so stale. I’ve been “good” and haven’t bought anything unnecessary for 8 months. My birthday is coming up and all I want is a trip where the water is turquoise… sigh.

37, FTM, 20 weeks. My husband and I did things the “right” way; we went to graduate school, have stable, high paying jobs, a house, are happily married in a calm environment. But I am so, so tired.

I need my job for health insurance. Even with decent (read: expensive) health insurance, I’m spending hundreds on medical bills. I used to tell myself that the system was too broken to get pregnant and have a child. And I was right. I’m exhausted. I make a decent salary but I am dead tired when I get home, and still cook dinner, feed the pets, am a clean freak so need to have the house immaculate and make sure we have fresh laundry for clean towels and underwear ... basically doing the job of three people. Working for a paycheck full time, then work for a clean and healthy home for my husband and I. Hubs works full time and has a great job, we both should be able to do this financially. But our system (U.S) is so incredibly broken that two almost-six figure salaries are almost all eaten up by student loan payments and housing. And I’m so, so tired. I don’t regret my kiddo but my god am I worried for our present and future.

Tell me your over-the-top nesting anecdotes.

I’m about 20 weeks and not sure if my nesting instincts are kicking in or what, but I’ve been going HAM cleaning lately. Like, deep clean TikTok cleaning. The kind you pay someone hundreds of dollars to do. And not just cleaning either, I’ve installed two bidets, reorganized the pantry and all the cupboards, got on top of chairs and mopped the ceiling and walls, went outside and tried cleaning the gutters with a leaf blower (did not work, as I have no ladder, but might borrow one from neighbors). I scrubbed the front and back decks with soap and push broom, AND the outside siding of the house.

The whole time I was thinking, is this what they mean by nesting? Not just cutesy little cleaning chores and getting the nursery ready? Everything about pregnancy is absolutely metal, so it wouldn’t surprise me.

What kind of things has everyone done while nesting?

My Verizon bill is always a source of consternation for me. It always varies from month to month based on… whatever excuse they decide to give me. This month the bill is the cheapest it’s even been- $100. Last month was $170. I hate how expensive it is. My phone is paid off and I want to switch to Mint. I know it’s a pay-upfront situation, but honestly, a $15/mo six-month plan up front ($90) is still cheaper than my typical monthly Verizon bill.

Any Mint customers here with a grievance towards the quality of the service? Any suggestions?

I did the math and in the past 30 days I have spent $580 between all my subscriptions and orders on DoorDash. So I just cancelled my $15 Amazon prime subscription, $14.95 Audible subscription, $10 DoorDash dash pass membership, and am going to write the damn letter to Planet Fitness to cancel that membership. I completely removed the DoorDash app from phone since I feel guilty whenever I do use it, and seeing the amount of money essentially thrown away on things I don’t need but just wanted is very eye opening. Here’s to a stronger month of debt pay off in July.

I was in serious delinquency after losing my job a year ago and not being able to secure another one for six months. Then, I secured a new one and within four months was able to pass my boards and find a job paying almost double what I was making so every paycheck I am putting the majority of my pay towards debt. I am current on all the accounts and am making extra payments to make dents in the principal (I HAAATE paying interest). I had a lot of accounts open (8) and now have paid off four of them, and am going to pay off another in two weeks (lowest balance but highest APR). Credit score raised about 60 points. I’m getting tired putting all my money towards debt but if I keep it up I’ll be done by September. So.