u/unlimitedtokens

Are you a freelancer or do contract or part time work and have a kid or two, how’s it going? Tell me about it cause I think I’m about to do it. My daycare has a 3-days-a-week option and I have a contract opportunity that’s 10hrs/wk to start and will grow. I’m nearing the end of my maternity leave after kid number 2 and am supposed to go back to a full time job soon. I am dreading it because it’s a tumultuous workplace that I woulda quit last fall had I not been pregnant. The expectation is constant grinding into evening and weekend hours, they’re increasing the RTO, and I can’t do it anymore, I’m so burnt out, and I’d never see my kids with the late nights of work due to poor planning. My husband’s benefits can work for our family (we’re in the US and rely on one person between us to have a full time job with health insurance), so that’s thankfully a non-factor. Pay is a big thing, of course, but we can easily manage even if I have minimal working hours this year. My thinking is I do the bulk of my work during the 3 days a week I have full childcare, leave my preschooler in for 5 days and then have 2 weekdays with the baby where I can do my best to get everything else done as I care for him (errands, house, meals). He’s an easy going baby during the day and can sleep on the go no problem (better than nights lol but that’s another story). Long term, I just want something sustainable for when the kids are in school so I can actually pick them up and see them before they go to bed. I’ve been applying for hundreds of jobs and gotten a handful of interviews but this contract is the only thing panning out that’s realistic (other opportunities had crippling long commutes or more office time and less pay, so I pulled out of the running)!

You are the best and smartest moms I know, so tell me, I just won a $250 Amazon gift card and wanna buy something special to upgrade my life, something I’ll enjoy that’s a bit of a splurge, maybe even a couple things, idk, what should I get?

For context I have 2 kids, I’m about to go back to work after maternity leave, I have all the breastmilk pumping stuff I could ever need, I have a Skylight calendar, I have headphones and a speaker I like, we are all set with our strollers and car seats.

Alright, I hope this isn’t considered cheating in project pan but if this is wrong then I don’t wanna be right, cause I just figured out a huge hack to downsizing a perfume collection that’s out of control: sell your partially used perfumes!

I’ve been on a roll during my maternity leave to declutter a bit every day, to live more of a minimalist way and keep just what we use and need. To do this, I started listing a ton of things for sale while my baby naps. I’ve recently audited my perfume collection down to the 1 scent I like to wear and sold all the rest, even though they’re half full, on Facebook Marketplace and Mercari! It never occurred to me there was a market for used perfume but hey why not, it’s gotten expensive, and this is a great way to make a scent more affordable and accessible to people that want it! I make sure I’m honest and ethical, take a ton of pics and be really thorough about the description so people know it’s not a full bottle and I’ve used up a lot of it! I price according to the percent that’s left, roughly, knocking a few bucks off. Best win was that I sold a nearly full scent that I only sprayed a couple times and decided it didn’t suit me for almost the exact value I paid for it! Wow, it felt sooooo gratifying - the buyer was thrilled to find it since it’s rare and sold out, and I was excited to get my money back and that it went to a loving home to be enjoyed vs sit in my dark closet shelf unused. Win-win!

No joke, even a half used hair product I’ve sold on Marketplace for $5, I mean, let’s be real, I’m not using this heat protection spray for blow drying anymore cause the only blowouts happening around here are in my son’s pajamas lol.

And I’ve gotten rid of random leftover shampoos, conditioners, and sprays that aren’t really sellable on my neighborhood Buy Nothing group. It feels so good to have a lot less clutter and a little extra cash. I used up my favorite scent and then used the cash I made in these efforts to buy a full size to replace it!

Now I just have 1 perfume that I absolutely love and I’m giddy about wearing every day! I was so intimidated to use up all my perfume that I wasn’t crazy about cause it’s like a constant reminder smelling that scent all day, I shouldn’t have overbought, and it made me feel guilty and wasteful. Now I smell amazing and it’s just the 1 smell I like so I don’t have to force myself to use up stuff I don’t love and neither do you! If you’re discouraged in your panning efforts try to list any hot ticket items for sale and set yourself free!