Note: I was technically supposed to post this earlier this week, but noticed that no one was signed up for today (plus I was super busy earlier), so I'm posting a bit late, under a throwaway account! Fair warning: I'm VERY verbose, so this will be long!
Section One: Assets and Debt
As I mentioned above, I make $56k per year as an administrator in higher education. My husband (K) just got a raise to making $155k per year. He works as a lawyer, has been in the workforce for about 12 years. I won't get into too many details but he works for a small boutique firm, not Biglaw. He also sometimes gets a yearly bonus of around $10k-20k but it's not guaranteed or anything like that. K and I have totally combined finances, so the below numbers are for both of us. I have a humanities PhD but I decided to leave academia and find an alt-ac job. My current position has good work-life balance (I never work past 5 pm), but pays terribly and my university is very badly run. I'm hoping to leave higher education all together in the future and am currently enrolled in a certificate program to try to make a career transition to instructional design.
The big elephant in the room is that my husband, K, makes a lot more money than me. When we first met, he was paying off massive amounts of student loans and making much less, and I was debt free with a lot of savings, so we both spent about the same amount. Now he makes 3x what I make and we are both debt-free, so the difference is much more noticeable. We do argue about money sometimes (more in the past), but the reality is that I have a humanities PhD and will likely never out earn him, and he knew that when I married him, lol. Because of all the labor I do around the house and in our lives to support him as he works a much more intense job, I was very clear that I believed we should split our finances equally as soon as we got married. We don't have separate accounts and we generally check in with one another whenever we are planning to spend more than $100. This system works for us for now.
I also want to address the question about parental or family support. Although I technically paid all of my own bills since I got my Bachelor's degree, my parents supported me a lot by paying for my flights home to visit at Christmas or in the summer as Xmas presents/birthday presents. My parents also paid for my undergraduate degree (and K's parents paid for his undergraduate degree as well). They also gave us about $15k to pay for our wedding.
Finally, my parents recently gave me $20k as an "early inheritance." They told me they plan to do this every year (depending on the stock market). We put this money into a brokerage. I don't consider my parents rich, as they both worked hourly jobs in health care my entire life (as a nurse and respiratory therapist - both with only associate's degrees). We never owned a new car, when we went on vacation we stayed in hostels , and shopped almost exclusively at Goodwill. But they scrimped and saved and now they have over $1 million in a retirement account. So I want to acknowledge my financial privilege in that I came from this kind of background. K's parents are similar.
Retirement Balance: $186k (combination of 401k, 403b, 457, 2 Roth IRAs, and taxable brokerage account).
Equity: None, we rent.
Savings account balance: Approximately $45k.
Checking account balance: Right now, around 8k.
Credit card debt: Right now, around $3k. But we pay it off each month with our checking account balance.
Student loan debt: $0. We finally paid off my husband’s law school loans (around $130k), last year. I didn’t have any student loans from undergrad (parents paid) and my MA & PhD were fully funded.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I’ve been working in my current field for 3 years. I started off making about $53k and got tiny 2% “merit increases” twice. Then in July my payroll title was changed, which triggered a required raise of about $2k. (I am dramatically underpaid).
Before my current position, I was in academia. I worked as a visiting assistant professor for one year at my alma mater (made $50k for 9 months of work) and before that I was a graduate student for 7 years. I was paid $18k-21k in stipends each year and my tuition & benefits were covered. Luckily, I lived in a very low cost of living area and this was enough for me to live on without going into debt. I got my PhD in 2017. Before I was a graduate student, I taught English in Japan for three years and made around $36k per year. In high school and college, I had random jobs that provided grocery/spending money, but I was lucky enough to have parents that paid my tuition and my rent in college.
I’m currently trying to make a career change (as you will see in my diary) and enrolled in a certificate program which runs from Autumn 2020 to Spring 2021 in order to help with that.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $7,634. This probably seems low relative to our joint income, but we max out our 401k (K) and 403b (me). I work for the state government, which means I’m also eligible for something called a Deferred Compensation Plan (457b). This is basically the same as a 401k but you can withdraw contributions and gains from the account at any age without penalty (of course, you still have to pay taxes). I also max this out, and the limit is the same as a 401k/403b - $19.5k. Also this number is before K’s raise is accounted for. It won’t increase until his end of February paycheck.
Other deductions - I have health insurance taken out (about $80 a month for me, K’s firm covers his premiums) and taxes. WA has no state taxes, so it’s only federal taxes. I used to have to pay $50 / month for a bus pass (K's was free), but I don’t pay any longer because I’m working from home during COVID.
Final note - the sum I mentioned in the headline includes a variable bonus my husband gets. My base pay is $56k and his is $155k (as of February 1). This year he also got a bonus of $20k, which is set up a bit strangely. About $4k of this was structured as a 3% matching contribution to his 401k and the rest was taxable income. In small law firms, it’s unusual to get any 401k match so this was nice.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: None.
Any Other Monthly Income Here: We get some interest from our savings account… like $25 a month.
Section Three: Expenses
Rent: Rent comes to approximately $2,050 total for a one-bedroom apartment. Rent itself is $1886, then we have pet rent ($25 per month), bicycle parking ($15 a month) and water / sewage / gas, which is usually $120-150 (variable cost).
Renters insurance: $157.76, paid annually. $13 a month.
Retirement contribution: In addition to the 401k, 403b, and 457, which all come out before taxes, we max out our Roth IRAs. That means $500 each per month per person (for a yearly total of $6k each). As I noted up top, we match out our 401k and 403b (19,500 each) and our 457. My employee also offers a 7.5% match. K's employee offers a 3% match but it is included in his yearly bonus so it's not guaranteed (confusing).
Savings contribution: We put $500 per month into our emergency fund. We also put about $860 a month into our “sinking fund,” which covers large and small annual or sporadic purchases such as vacations, gifts, Amazon Prime renewal, car insurance and renters insurance, etc.
Investment contribution: $875 per month into a taxable brokerage at Vanguard.
In total, we save about 47% of our gross income. We can do this because we keep our housing cost low relative to our high income, we don’t have any debt remaining, we don’t have any kids or parents who need financial support, and we’re very privileged in a lot of ways. We are hoping to FIRE within 10 years.
Debt payments: None.
Donations: We budget $100 per month for donations, which includes one-time donations as well as some reoccurring donations. My husband does pro bono work as well. I would like to increase this by quite a bit, but I still have a hard time budgeting for donations because I spent 7 years living on approximately $20k a year. To go from that to making more than 10x that amount within 3-4 years is obviously something that I am very privileged for, but it is still hard for me emotionally to comprehend at times.
Electric: ~$50-100 (billed every other month)
Wifi/Cable/Landline: An extortionate $87.12 for slow internet that only works for Zoom calls about half the time. Do I really live in one of the tech cities of the future?
Cellphone: $170 (This includes both service and paying off two new iPhones. We could have paid them off up front, but it was actually cheaper by like $50 to go on a payment plan.)
Subscriptions: BritBox ($7.70), Spotify ($16.50), HBOMax ($16.50), We Hate Movies Patreon (my favorite podcast - $8.81). My parents pay for Netflix and my sister pays for Hulu, and we all share.
Gym membership: None. K and I both run and do yoga with YouTube videos. Before the pandemic, we went to yoga classes pretty frequently in person. I’d like to do some online synchronous yoga classes but find it hard to make time.
Pet expenses: Varies, but I budget $50 per month and also include an emergency fund for my cat’s vet bills in our sinking fund. She’s 11 years old and probably asthmatic, so I know her vet bills are going to increase over time.
Car payment / insurance: We own our car outright. Insurance billed yearly is $2,097, about $174 per month.
Regular therapy: $0
Paid hobbies: Nothing regular, sporadic language classes and art supplies.
Other expenses: Right now I’m doing a certificate to hopefully help with a career change. The total cost for tuition is about $5k and we already saved it up (included in our 'sinking fund') basically through spending less during the pandemic. I’ve paid two quarters so far, and the last quarter (due in March) will be a bit more - about $2.3k.
__________
Day 1
Morning: I wake up at 5:30 am. Ever since the pandemic, my sleep schedule has been shot. At first, I was so happy not to have to leave the house at 7:15 for my 45 minute bus commute and I slept in a lot. But the stress (and maybe getting old?) has made me an early riser, no matter how much I try to sleep in. I do value my early mornings with just me, my cat, and my coffee, though.
I start work at 8 am and begin by triaging my emails. I have a bunch of deadlines this week, so it’s busier than usual. My job tends to be very seasonal, and sometimes I have a ton of work and sometimes I have none and can work on other longer-term projects. I have a piece of toast for breakfast and place a Whole Foods delivery order for the following day at 10:30 am. We made a meal plan and put everything in the cart the day before ($117.36, including tip).
Afternoon: I have my lunch break from noon to 1 pm. It doesn’t really matter when I take my lunch break, since I’m salaried, but the others in my office are hourly so in the before times we used to always close our office during the same time. I have a piece of leftover delivery pizza and some spinach risotto that I made a few days earlier. I also have half a brownie – the last one from a batch I made a few days ago (K gets the other half). He also has leftovers for lunch.
I should say at this point that both K and I are lucky enough to have been working almost entirely from home since early March. An area near Seattle was one of the first places to get hit by COVID-19, and my state and both of our employers have been taking it very seriously ever since. Working from home hasn’t always been easy since we live in a 600-square foot apartment. Also, there is a three-story townhouse being built directly next door to us and I can hear the pounding in my dreams at this point.
Around 2 pm, I go for a 2-mile run. I feel like some money diarists tend to toss off things like “oh, I went for an easy 7 mile run,” at the drop of a hat, so I want to be clear – running for 2 miles isn’t easy for me; it’s exhausting, annoying, sweaty, and generally gross. Also I am very slow. But it has kept me sane during quarantine.
Meanwhile, my husband goes to our local pet store to get an enzymatic cleaner (our cat peed in one of our suitcases… I think it’s probably a lost cause, but it was basically brand new, so worth a try) and special weight-loss cat food. Our cat is an 11-year-old rescue from the Humane Society and she is a chonky girl. We had to sign a waiver when we adopted her, saying that we understood that she was very overweight, lol. Our vet recommended a special diet food, rather than just restricting her intake as we have been doing, so we will give it a try ($78). My husband also stops buy our local wine store and picks up two bottles. We’ve been doing a dry January, so this will be our first drink for a while ($27.53).
I have a phone interview scheduled for 4 pm – just a preliminary interview with an internal recruiter. It’s the first ‘corporate’ job interview I’ve ever had, since I’ve been in academia my entire life. I’m trying to make a pivot into instructional design / training and development. I’m just excited to get an interview. It seems to go pretty well, but who knows. They tell me they will probably get back to me by the end of this week.
Evening: My husband whips up a random meal of fridge remnants – pesto pasta with sausage and a fridge salad with feta and bell peppers. It’s pretty tasty with a little Sauvignon Blanc. During dinner, we play a card game we call gin rummy, although it bears no resemblance to the actual game. After dinner, I make a chocolate cake with orange buttercream frosting and we watch Cobra Kai.
Daily total: $222.89
Day 2
Morning: Up early again, a piece of toast for breakfast (very exciting). We’re out of eggs until our Whole Foods order arrives. I’m working on creating some tedious but necessary spreadsheets this morning.
Noon: Our Whole Foods order arrives around noon. Excitement! They’ve given us a half-rotten bag of romaine lettuce and substituted pecans for hazelnuts. I should probably just double mask and go to Trader Joe’s myself (our regular spot, only a 5-minute walk from my apartment). I’m just getting anxious about these new variants.
I have leftover meatloaf and spinach risotto again for lunch. Lots of meetings and more organizing spreadsheets in the afternoon. Around 3 pm, I go for my daily ritual - a 20-minute walk around my neighborhood. It’s still raining slightly but I need to get out. Halfway through the walk, I get an email from my apartment manager telling me the apartment will no longer accept debit card payments, direct deposit, or credit card payments for paying rent. In other words, only checks or money orders (?!). Ugh. Our lease is up in 4 months and we will not be renewing our lease. Our last apartment manager was a gambling addict who may have been stealing people’s identities, but by God, he kept things working. Ever since they fired him, this place has been going downhill.
Evening: I check my bank statements to update my budget spreadsheet and realize that I have been billed the wrong amount of rent. They actually charged me less than they should have. I don’t trust my apartment manager not to start charging me a late fee or something for this, so I call them up. They are baffled by how to fix this, which you would think would be the one thing you would want to get right, if you’re renting out apartments.
K cooks dinner – steak with a Roquefort sauce and glazed brussels sprouts. It’s from a French cookbook we recently bought and it is delicious. I work on classwork for my certificate program while he cooks. After dinner, I do the dishes and buy the 13th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I watch the first episode – lots of shocking twists and turns! I’m planning to watch the rest of the episodes together with my younger sister, M ($22.01).
Daily total: $22.01
Day 3
Morning: K has an 8 am dentist appointment, so he takes off early. He already paid for the work last month, so there’s no charge. I have a piece of toast for breakfast and get to work checking my emails. It’s 8:20 am and the construction crew building a townhouse next door is blasting mariachi music. I’m glad someone is having fun. At least the sun is coming out.
Someone at work has made a critical error, but it wasn’t me, thank God. I was the one who found out about it, but it’s still going to cause a big old headache for me. I’m ready to be done with this job. K and I go for a run so that I can exhaust myself enough to no longer be furious about said careless error.
Noon: I have leftover spinach risotto and meatloaf again – exciting. I’m busy at work but frankly, not a lot going on other than that. Still no word about fixing my rent payments. I’m not really willing to pursue this any further at this point.
Evening: I start making chili (Turkey Chili from the NY Times) and cornbread (from my new cookbook, Jubilee). K is doing some work on our investments when he announces that, somehow, a transfer was scheduled from our checking account to our savings account of $55k (?!) We obviously don’t have $55k in our checking account, so we start frantically trying to figure out what’s going on. Numerous phone calls later, we still don’t know if that was a hack, if my husband somehow mistakenly scheduled the transfer himself, or if the bank messed it up. Either way, it doesn’t seem like any harm was done since the bank with our checking account just declined the transaction. But it seems really strange and worrisome. We get to work changing the passwords on all of our accounts, just in case it was some kind of hack.
After dinner (and chocolate cake), I have a Zoom happy hour with a local friend. We occasionally see each other outside but it’s nice to have a longer chat from the comfort of our living rooms. We both love murder mysteries, so we signed up for a service where a company sends us letters with clues and we try to solve the mystery together. It’s a fun way to stay connected and look forward to something during the pandemic. The service costs about $15 per month, but I paid for it in lump sum for 3 months, so it’s not included in my budget above. I drink some wine and we vent about work (we work at the same place) before getting started on the puzzle.
Daily total: $0
Day 4
Morning: I sleep in a bit, which is nice. Get up around 7 am. My parents are both getting their 2nd vaccine today – they’re both in their 70s and I am so relieved. I send my mom a “congratulations on being vaccinated!” text and we chat for a bit. I have leftover cornbread with honey and butter for breakfast – soooo good.
Work is not particularly exciting today, but someone sends me a last-minute request for something that does not need to be so urgent. I feel annoyed. Still no word from the interviewers on Monday, and I’m beginning to suspect I wasn’t selected to move forward. Too bad. K pays for a Wordpress website for the year (it’s a work-related website, but sadly his work doesn’t reimburse him). It costs $92.48.
Noon: The mariachi music is particularly loud today. I stand out on my balcony in the sun for a while and watch the workers. It’s been interesting seeing a house go up next door in real time, especially since I’m at home all the time. The workers are balancing on the top of the third story wall without, as far as I can see, anything like a safety line. It seems unsafe, but I presume they know what they’re doing.
We booked a cabin for the upcoming weekend in the Hood Canal region of Washington to do some hiking and birdwatching. I want to be as safe as possible and not go to any grocery stores or risk spreading COVID in any way while I’m there, so I place another grocery order with Whole Foods just for some special treats for the weekend. The cabin has a small kitchen and a grill, so we’re planning to make a fancy steak salad on Saturday. I order chips and hummus, some fancy cheese and meats, Tate’s cookies (I’ve heard a lot of good things about these), a baguette, and the ingredients for the steak salad. I also order a few staples I forgot in our last order, like sweet potatoes, more coffee, and half and half. It comes to $87.41, including tip, but that does include like $30 worth of steak. For some reason, I can’t order a small amount of steak online, so I’m planning to freeze half of it for later. (I include this purchase in our vacation fund budget, rather than under our regular grocery budget).
Around 2 pm, K makes a quick trip to our local wine store to buy an Oregon pinot noir and some port to enjoy at the cabin ($59.45). This store has an outdoor walk-up counter where you can tell the owner what you’re looking for, and he brings you some options (the store is way too small to allow customers to enter during Covid). It’s fun to chat with another human being, even briefly.
Evening: After work, we spend a little time rebalancing our investing and retirement accounts. We decide to put more money into bonds and a little bit into REIT’s as a hedge against a potential crash or recession in the future. Then I start making dinner – Broken Eggs (Huevas Rotas) from the NY Times cooking site. You basically cook the potatoes in a skillet in water, spices, and olive oil, and then sauté them to crisp them up once the water evaporates. Then you add onion, lots of garlic, and finally some eggs. It is delicious. I eat it with leftover cornbread while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 with my sister – we watch the first two episodes. It’s full of twists and turns. A note about this – we have an elaborate procedure for watching shows together developed during quarantine whereby we start the show at the same with an earbud in one ear, while FaceTiming. I also have chocolate cake, of course.
Later, I get an email that I’ve signed up for HBO on Amazon Prime. I definitely have not. I text my mom, who shares my account, and she tells me she signed up by mistake. I cancel right away and luckily they won’t charge us for it.
Meanwhile, K is doing an online Japanese language class over Zoom. He’s been interested in learning ever since we went to Japan last January. I lived in Japan for 3 years so I was able to take us around to a lot of more obscure places and he really enjoyed the trip – it was a blast.
K starts a YouTube yoga class (from Do Yoga With Me – my favorite channel) and I join him for part of it before bed around 10 pm.
Daily total: $239.34
Day 5
Morning: I get up around 7 am and we go for a run first thing. I prefer running early in the morning because there are fewer people to avoid during COVID. We do a different route today – it’s longer (3 miles) but has fewer hills. It’s a slog, as always, but I feel good when I get back right around 8 am. I jump straight onto my computer to start checking work emails and my husband makes us avocado and egg toast for breakfast - it is absolutely delicious.
We talk about how our bathroom smells distinctly mildewy (yay for being a grown-up because I guess this is what we talk about now) and we buy two big buckets of DampRid on Amazon ($26.60). I’ve found this to be a necessity in Seattle. Mid-morning, I take a break from work and start packing for our trip to the cabin.
Noon: I have leftover potatoes and cornbread for lunch, and my husband has the leftover chili. We finish getting ready to leave and head out right after lunch, taking a half day. The only problem is that I have attend a meeting at 3:30 pm, so we head out hoping to get there in time. Our cabin is near Quilcene in the Hood Canal region of Washington, about a 2 hour drive or a 2 hour ferry ride + drive. We are initially planning to take the ferry both ways, but realize that we mistimed the ferry departure, so we drive the whole way instead. Luckily, there’s little traffic mid-day, and we arrive at our Airbnb around 3:00 pm.
The Airbnb is beautiful! It’s a small cabin handmade by the owner, whose house is next door. It’s very rural, with a beautiful view. It’s tiny, but has a little kitchen and a waterfall-style shower with river rocks on the floor. It’s a great place to get away for a short time. Luckily, it also has good reception and I’m able to sit in on my meeting with no problems. My husband also does a little work, and then at 5 pm we’re free!
In our planning, we decided to get takeout on Friday night, since the little kitchen isn’t designed for any serious cooking. We call ahead to a local restaurant to order burgers (one of only 2 restaurants in the whole town). It’s around 5:30 pm and the place is deserted. It’s a microbrewery, but they tell us they haven’t been making beer since COVID-19 hit. None of the workers are wearing masks when I walk in, but they put them on when they see I’m wearing one. I pick up our order - a few bottled beers and burgers and fries ($49.52 including tip).
Back at our Airbnb, we watch Big Trouble in Little China and enjoy our very messy, but delicious, burgers (it costs $4.39 to rent). The movie is very campy but fun. I love silly action movies, as you will see with my other viewing choices. We wrap up the night in a very exciting fashion, eating chocolate cake and watching old episodes of the original Star Trek.
Daily total: $80.51
Day 6
Morning & noon: When we wake up around 8 am, the weather is looking thankfully clear and even sunny! We were expecting rain, so we’re really glad. We decide to go hiking today, and we head out before even having breakfast, with snacks and lunches packed. Our first destination is a hike called Mt. Zion, but unfortunately, we run into enough snow 2 miles before the trailhead that we decide to turn back. We don’t have any traction for our Subaru and don’t want to risk getting stuck on a very narrow mountain road. Instead, we drive another hour or so to the Lena Lake trailhead, a very popular and less strenuous trail. It’s about 7.5 miles roundtrip with 1200 feet of elevation gain.
By this time, it’s around 11:30, but luckily there is still parking. It’s a great hike up, and we run into relatively few people. We always mask up whenever we pass anyone, as does about 50% of the people we meet. The others… not so much. Around a mile from the lake, we start to run into snow. It’s turned into a beautiful sunny day, and I’m loving seeing all this snow! It’s a bit slippery, but not too bad. We make it to the lake mid-day, and it’s super jammed – there’s only a small viewpoint accessible, so everyone is crowded in there. I feel a bit uneasy with all the unmasked people, but we manage to find a spot away from the crowd and sit down to eat our lunch of apples, chips, and energy bars. There are a ton of robber jays there (Canada Jays) which try to eat our chips. It is fun watching them, but I’m annoyed to see some kids feeding them – it’ll just make them that much more aggressive. Bad trail manners.
On our way back down, we get stuck behind a group of 5 unmasked adults, who refuse to cede the narrow trail to faster hikers. I’m a slow hiker myself, so, to be clear, I’m not angry at slower walkers being on the trail but have some self-awareness and let people pass! especially if you’re going to go hiking in a big group during a pandemic! We finally get back down and head back to our Airbnb.
Evening: Back home, we explore some of the trails our Airbnb host has set up around his extensive property, and then relax on the deck. The sun is breaking through the clouds and it feels wonderful to sit out in nature and feel the sun on my back. We open up a bottle of wine and have a few pre-dinner snacks (more chips and hummus). For this night, we brought ingredients to make a steak salad. Our Airbnb host has kindly set up a charcoal grill for us, so we grilled the steak and toast some bread on the side.
We eat dinner while watching the truly terrible Jean Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport and finish up the very last of my chocolate cake. It’s amazing that anyone ever let Van Damme act… or should I say ‘act.’ I also have a Tate’s chocolate chip cookie or two, accompanied by a little port. My husband and I are truly very old people at heart, so we finish up the night watching a few episodes of Columbo.
Daily total: $0
Day 7
Morning: Unfortunately, K had insomnia last night, so he sleeps in pretty late. I drink coffee in bed and enjoy looking at the view out our big windows. Once he’s up, we get packed up and write a thank you note for our host. It was a great stay.
One of my big hobbies is birding and K enjoys wildlife photography, so we go out to look for some lifers! (The first time you see a new species of bird). Did I mention we are very old people in (relatively) young bodies? We first go to Dosewallips State Park and see some bald eagles, great blue herons, lots of various ducks, and a flock of Canada Geese, which, strangely, includes a domesticated gray goose. He’s much larger than the Canada Geese and seems to be watching over them. It’s kind of cute. Unfortunately, a lot of the birds are too far from shore to be seen clearly.
Our next stop is Point No Point (I love all the sad & disappointed names that early Westerner explorers gave places in the Washington/Oregon coast), a popular birding spot. We see a ton of birds here, and I can understand why it’s so well-known - Red-Breasted Mergansers, Western Grebes, Common Goldeneyes, Pacific Loons, and a few others I can’t identify yet. Most excitingly though, we see a whole pile of otters! They’re lounging around together on a rock just offshore and a ton of people are watching. We watch as they all slip off the rock and go hunting in the shore. It’s my first otter sighting in the wild, and it’s so cool! We also see some seals and possibly a sea lion. It’s a great spot for wildlife. We eat some snacks (hummus, chips, some sliced meat & cheese) before we head out.
I really want to come back to this area another time and explore further, but K has decided that we need to get back home in time for the Big Game. We take the 3:00 pm ferry back to Seattle ($16.40) and get home around 3:45 pm. I veg out at home while my husband watches football. He’s a Patriots fan but he still loves Tom Brady (??) so he’s happy to see Florida win. I don’t understand sports team loyalties at all, but whatever, I’m glad he’s happy. We order from a new Indian place called Spice Box and get vindaloo, roganjosh, and vegetables pakora – so tasty ($53.96). Happily, there’s enough left over for lunch the next day, since I have no plans for what we will eat yet!
I’m really dreading work the next day, as I know that it will be obnoxious. I want to get out of my job so badly, but it doesn’t look like I’m going on to the next interview stage for the job I interviewed no back on Monday. I’m feeling kind of down about it. I try to stay positive and promise that I’ll apply for at least 2-3 new jobs next week. I bake up some frozen cookie dough I had in the freezer and feel sorry for myself. We end the night by watching another episode of Columbo.
Daily total: 70.36
Food + Drink: $395.23
Fun / Entertainment: $26.40
Home + Health: $26.60
Clothes + Beauty: $0
Transport: $16.40
Other: $170.48
Grand Total: $635.11
I think this week was pretty normal for us. Obviously we spent a bit more than usual due to the weekend cabin trip, but nothing outrageous. Our largest consumer spending category is definitely food and drink – we live in a very busy area of Seattle with tons of restaurants and bars so believe it or not, we actually used to spend even more on eating out. We still try to support our local places by getting takeout or delivery during the pandemic and even occasionally getting a few drinks outside. I spent more than usual on groceries due to stocking up for the weekend away.

Hi, everyone!
I was browsing through recommended subs and the moment I saw this, I had to share my experience!
I work for an online gambling firm, rather than having loads of varying departments, we try to resolve as much as possible with one agent to create a better customer experience to save transferring customers.
On my first day, I was listening into someone taking the calls. The line would beep, and then the IVR machine would say the query type 'billing' or 'technical' for example.
Not long into listening in, there was the beep and the IVR said technical. The call was connected, and they started the discussion.
An elderly lady had called up because her screen was flashing lots of different colours, and was making a lot of noise so she had to turn the sound off. The agent asked what she had been doing, and she is navigating around the account details as the lady is detailing what she sees on her screen. She describes what sounds like a broken monitor but it's only just happened.
At this point it sounded like the lady had put the phone down on a surface for a moment as you could hear her mithering in the background. This is when the agent I'm listening into, starts to go white. She taps my hand and on the screen she has highlighted the balance of the customers account.
£297k
Immediately throws her hand in the air to alert of a big win, we have people crowded around the desk. I feel SOOOO pumped at this time.
The lady comes back onto the phone and says she went to get her glasses. The agent says to her really calmly, 'I think I have found the problem, but I need you to turn your sound on'. The sound is duly turned on, and the agent hits the speakerphone button on her terminal, and we all hear the sound of party poppers and general 'celebration' sounds.
The flashing screen and the sounds were the notification that she had won a progressive jackpot. The agent asks her to sit down, and she calmly says 'You've won £297k, I have never been so happy to confirm there is no technical issue'.
The lady is quiet for several seconds before shouting 'Albert, quickly come here, ALBERT, ALBEEEERT! `
At this point a senior had the call to arrange getting the funds sent out, and I carried on listening in for the day.
Edit to change gaming to gambling as easily misinterpretated.

NEW INFO 5 Results from share redemption are posted. Less than .2% redeemed. Very bullish as investors are showing extreme confidence in the future of PLBY.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/playboy-mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-120000721.html
NEW INFO 4 Definitive Agreement to purchase 100% of Lovers brand stores announced 2/1.
https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Playboy+%28MCAC%29+Confirms+Deal+to+Acquire+Lovers/17892359.html
NEW INFO 3 I bought more on the dip today. 5081 total. Price rose AH to $12.38 (2.15%)
NEW INFO 2 Here is the full webinar.
https://icrinc.zoom.us/rec/play/9GWKdmOYumjWfZuufW3QXpe_FW_g--qeNbg6PnTjTMbnNTgLmCbWjeRFpQga1iPc-elpGap8dnDv8Zww.yD7DjUwuPmapeEdP?continueMode=true&tk=lEYc4F_FkKlgsmCIs6w0gtGHT2kbgVGbUju3cIRBSjk.DQIAAAAV8NK49xZWdldRM2xNSFNQcTBmcE00UzM3bXh3AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&uuid=WN_GKWqbHkeSyuWetJmLFkj4g&_x_zm_rtaid=kR45-uuqRE-L65AxLjpbQw.1611967079119.2c054e3d3f8d8e63339273d9175939ed&_x_zm_rhtaid=866
NEW INFO 1 Live merger webinar with PLBY and MCAC on Friday January 29, 2021 at 12:00 NOON EST link below
https://mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/press-release-details/2021/Playboy-Enterprises-Inc.-and-Mountain-Crest-Acquisition-Corp-Participate-in-SPACInsider-ICR-Webinar-on-January-29th-at-12pm-ET/default.aspx
Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis
!!!WARNING READING AHEAD!!! TL;DR at the end. It will take some time to sort through all the links and read/watch everything, but you should.
In the next couple weeks, Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp is taking Playboy public. The existing ticker MCAC will become PLBY. Special purpose acquisition companies have taken private companies public in recent months with great success. I believe this will be no exception. Notably, Playboy is profitable and has skyrocketing revenue going into a transformational growth phase.
Porn - First and foremost, let's talk about porn. I know what you guys are thinking. “Porno mags are dead. Why would I want to invest in something like that? I can get porn for free online.” Guess what? You are absolutely right. And that’s exactly why Playboy doesn’t do that anymore. That’s right, they eliminated their print division. And yet they somehow STILL make money from porn that people (see: boomers) pay for on their website through PlayboyTV, Playboy Plus, and iPlayboy. Here’s the thing: Playboy has international, multi-generational name recognition from porn. They have content available in 180 countries. It will be the only publicly traded adult entertainment (porn) company. But that is not where this company is going. It will help support them along the way. You can see every Playboy magazine through iPlayboy if you’re interested. NSFW links below:
https://www.playboy.com/
https://www.playboytv.com/
https://www.playboyplus.com/
https://www.iplayboy.com/
Gambling - Some of you might recognize the Playboy brand from gambling trips to places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Cancun, London or Macau. They’ve been in the gambling biz for decades through their casinos, clubs, and licensed gaming products. They see the writing on the wall. COVID is accelerating the transition to digital, application based GAMBLING. That’s right. What we are doing on Robinhood with risky options is gambling, and the only reason regulators might give a shit anymore is because we are making too much money. There may be some restrictions put in place, but gambling from your phone on your couch is not going anywhere. More and more states are allowing things like Draftkings, poker, state ‘lottery” apps, hell - even political betting. Michigan and Virginia just ok’d gambling apps. They won’t be the last. This is all from your couch and any 18 year old with a cracked iphone can access it. Wouldn’t it be cool if Playboy was going to do something like that? They’re already working on it. As per CEO Ben Kohn who we will get to later, “...the company’s casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth.” Honestly, I stopped researching Scientific Games' sports betting segment when I saw the word ‘omni-channel’. That told me all I needed to know about it’s success.
“Our SG Sports™ platform is an enhanced, omni-channel solution for online, self-service and retail fixed odds sports betting – from soccer to tennis, basketball, football, baseball, hockey, motor sports, racing and more.”
https://www.scientificgames.com/
https://www.microgaming.co.uk/
“This latter segment has become increasingly enticing for Playboy, and it said last week that it is considering new tie-ups that could include gaming operators like PointsBet and 888Holdings.”
https://calvinayre.com/2020/10/05/business/playboys-gaming-ops-could-get-a-boost-from-spac-purchase/
As per their SEC filing:
“Significant consumer engagement and spend with Playboy-branded gaming properties around the world, including with leading partners such as Microgaming, Scientific Games, and Caesar’s Entertainment, steers our investment in digital gaming, sports betting and other digital offerings to further support our commercial strategy to expand consumer spend with minimal marginal cost, and gain consumer data to inform go-to-market plans across categories.”
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tMDAA1
They are expanding into more areas of gaming/gambling, working with international players in the digital gaming/gambling arena, and a Playboy sportsbook is on the horizon.
https://www.playboy.com/read/the-pleasure-of-playing-with-yourself-mobile-gaming-in-the-covid-era
Cannabis - If you’ve ever read through a Playboy magazine, you know they’ve had a positive relationship with cannabis for many years. As of September 2020, Playboy has made a major shift into the cannabis space. Too good to be true you say? Check their website. Playboy currently sells a range of CBD products. This is a good sign. Federal hemp products, which these most likely are, can be mailed across state lines and most importantly for a company like Playboy, can operate through a traditional banking institution. CBD products are usually the first step towards the cannabis space for large companies. Playboy didn’t make these products themselves meaning they are working with a processor in the cannabis industry. Another good sign for future expansion. What else do they have for sale? Pipes, grinders, ashtrays, rolling trays, joint holders. Hmm. Ok. So it looks like they want to sell some shit. They probably don’t have an active interest in cannabis right? Think again:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/09/24/playboy-gets-serious-about-cannabis-law-reform-advocacy-with-new-partnership-grants/?sh=62f044a65cea
“Taking yet another step into the cannabis space, Playboy will be announcing later on Thursday (September, 2020) that it is launching a cannabis law reform and advocacy campaign in partnership with National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Last Prisoner Project, Marijuana Policy Project, the Veterans Cannabis Project, and the Eaze Momentum Program.”
“According to information procured exclusively, the three-pronged campaign will focus on calling for federal legalization. The program also includes the creation of a mentorship plan, through which the Playboy Foundation will support entrepreneurs from groups that are underrepresented in the industry.” Remember that CEO Kohn from earlier? He wrote this recently:
https://medium.com/naked-open-letters-from-playboy/congress-must-pass-the-more-act-c867c35239ae
Seems like he really wants weed to be legal? Hmm wonder why? The writing's on the wall my friends. Playboy wants into the cannabis industry, they are making steps towards this end, and we have favorable conditions for legislative progress.
Don’t think branding your own cannabis line is profitable or worthwhile? Tell me why these 41 celebrity millionaires and billionaires are dummies. I’ll wait.
https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2019/07/12/top-celebrity-cannabis-brands/
Confirmation: I hear you. “This all seems pretty speculative. It would be wildly profitable if they pull this shift off. But how do we really know?” Watch this whole video:
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/playboy-ceo-telling-story-female-154907068.html
Man - this interview just gets my juices flowing. And highlights one of my favorite reasons for this play. They have so many different business avenues from which a catalyst could appear. I think paying attention, holding shares, and options on these staggered announcements over the next year is the way I am going to go about it. "There's definitely been a shift to direct-to-consumer," he (Kohn) said. "About 50 percent of our revenue today is direct-to-consumer, and that will continue to grow going forward.” “Kohn touted Playboy's portfolio of both digital and consumer products, with casino-style gaming, in particular, serving a crucial role under the company's new business model. Playboy also has its sights on the emerging cannabis market, from CBD products to marijuana products geared toward sexual health and pleasure.” "If THC does become legal in the United States, we have developed certain strains to enhance your sex life that we will launch," Kohn said. https://cheddar.com/media/playboy-goes-public-health-gaming-lifestyle-focus Oh? The CEO actually said it? Ok then. “We have developed certain strains…” They’re already working with growers on strains and genetics? Ok. There are several legal cannabis markets for those products right now, international and stateside. I expect Playboy licensed hemp and THC pre-rolls by EOY. Something like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/842996758/10-playboy-pre-roll-tubes-limited?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pre+roll+playboy&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1 Maintaining cannabis operations can be costly and a regulatory headache. Playboy’s licensing strategy allows them to pick successful, established partners and sidestep traditional barriers to entry. You know what I like about these new markets? They’re expanding. Worldwide. And they are going to be a bigger deal than they already are with or without Playboy. Who thinks weed and gambling are going away? Too many people like that stuff. These are easy markets. And Playboy is early enough to carve out their spot in each. Fuck it, read this too: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2020/10/20/playboy-could-be-the-king-of-spacs-here-are-three-picks/?sh=2e13dcaa3e05
Numbers: You want numbers? I got numbers. As per the company’s most recent SEC filing:
“For the year ended December 31, 2019, and the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s historical consolidated revenue was $78.1 million and $101.3 million, respectively, historical consolidated net income (loss) was $(23.6) million and $(4.8) million, respectively, and Adjusted EBITDA was $13.1 million and $21.8 million, respectively.”
“In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Licensing segment contributed $44.2 million in revenue and $31.1 million in net income.”
“In the ninth months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Direct-to-Consumer segment contributed $40.2 million in revenue and net income of $0.1 million.”
“In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Digital Subscriptions and Content segment contributed $15.4 million in revenue and net income of $7.4 million.”
They are profitable across all three of their current business segments.
“Playboy’s return to the public markets presents a transformed, streamlined and high-growth business. The Company has over $400 million in cash flows contracted through 2029, sexual wellness products available for sale online and in over 10,000 major retail stores in the US, and a growing variety of clothing and branded lifestyle and digital gaming products.”
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF
Growth: Playboy has massive growth in China and massive growth potential in India. “In China, where Playboy has spent more than 25 years building its business, our licensees have an enormous footprint of nearly 2,500 brick and mortar stores and 1,000 ecommerce stores selling high quality, Playboy-branded men’s casual wear, shoes/footwear, sleepwear, swimwear, formal suits, leather & non-leather goods, sweaters, active wear, and accessories. We have achieved significant growth in China licensing revenues over the past several years in partnership with strong licensees and high-quality manufacturers, and we are planning for increased growth through updates to our men’s fashion lines and expansion into adjacent categories in men’s skincare and grooming, sexual wellness, and women’s fashion, a category where recent launches have been well received.” The men’s market in China is about the same size as the entire population of the United States and European Union combined. Playboy is a leading brand in this market. They are expanding into the women’s market too. Did you know CBD toothpaste is huge in China? China loves CBD products and has hemp fields that dwarf those in the US. If Playboy expands their CBD line China it will be huge. Did you know the gambling money in Macau absolutely puts Las Vegas to shame? Technically, it's illegal on the mainland, but in reality, there is a lot of gambling going on in China. https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/10/19/magic-johnson-and-uncle-buds-cbd-brand-enter-china-via-tmall-partnership/?sh=271776ca411e “In India, Playboy today has a presence through select apparel licensees and hospitality establishments. Consumer research suggests significant growth opportunities in the territory with Playboy’s brand and categories of focus.” “Playboy Enterprises has announced the expansion of its global consumer products business into India as part of a partnership with Jay Jay Iconic Brands, a leading fashion and lifestyle Company in India.” “The Indian market today is dominated by consumers under the age of 35, who represent more than 65 percent of the country’s total population and are driving India’s significant online shopping growth. The Playboy brand’s core values of playfulness and exploration resonate strongly with the expressed desires of today’s younger millennial consumers. For us, Playboy was the perfect fit.” “The Playboy international portfolio has been flourishing for more than 25 years in several South Asian markets such as China and Japan. In particular, it has strategically targeted the millennial and gen-Z audiences across categories such as apparel, footwear, home textiles, eyewear and watches.” https://www.licenseglobal.com/industry-news/playboy-expands-global-footprint-india It looks like they gave COVID the heisman in terms of net damage sustained: “Although Playboy has not suffered any material adverse consequences to date from the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has been impacted both negatively and positively. The remote working and stay-at-home orders resulted in the closure of the London Playboy Club and retail stores of Playboy’s licensees, decreasing licensing revenues in the second quarter, as well as causing supply chain disruption and less efficient product development thereby slowing the launch of new products. However, these negative impacts were offset by an increase in Yandy’s direct-to-consumer sales, which have benefited in part from overall increases in online retail sales so far during the pandemic.” Looks like the positives are long term (Yandy acquisition) and the negatives are temporary (stay-at-home orders).
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921006093/tm213766-1_defa14a.htm
This speaks to their ability to maintain a financially solvent company throughout the transition phase to the aforementioned areas. They’d say some fancy shit like “expanded business model to encompass four key revenue streams: Sexual Wellness, Style & Apparel, Gaming & Lifestyle, and Beauty & Grooming.” I hear “we’re just biding our time with these trinkets until those dollar dollar bill y’all markets are fully up and running.” But the truth is these existing revenue streams are profitable, scalable, and rapidly expanding Playboy’s e-commerce segment around the world.
"Even in the face of COVID this year, we've been able to grow EBITDA over 100 percent and revenue over 68 percent, and I expect that to accelerate going into 2021," he said. “Playboy is accelerating its growth in company-owned and branded consumer products in attractive and expanding markets in which it has a proven history of brand affinity and consumer spend.”
Also in the SEC filing, the Time Frame:
“As we detailed in the definitive proxy statement, the SPAC stockholder meeting to vote on the transaction has been set for February 9th, and, subject to stockholder approval and satisfaction of the other closing conditions, we expect to complete the merger and begin trading on NASDAQ under ticker PLBY shortly thereafter,” concluded Kohn.
The Players: Suhail “The Whale” Rizvi (HMFIC), Ben “The Bridge” Kohn (CEO), “lil” Suying Liu & “Big” Dong Liu (Young-gun China gang). I encourage you to look these folks up. The real OG here is Suhail Rizvi. He’s from India originally and Chairman of the Board for the new PLBY company. He was an early investor in Twitter, Square, Facebook and others. His firm, Rizvi Traverse, currently invests in Instacart, Pinterest, Snapchat, Playboy, and SpaceX. Maybe you’ve heard of them. “Rizvi, who owns a sprawling three-home compound in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a 1.65-acre estate in Palm Beach, Florida, near Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, moved to Iowa Falls when he was five. His father was a professor of psychology at Iowa. Along with his older brother Ashraf, a hedge fund manager, Rizvi graduated from Wharton business school.” “Suhail Rizvi: the 47-year-old 'unsocial' social media baron: When Twitter goes public in the coming weeks (2013), one of the biggest winners will be a 47-year-old financier who guards his secrecy so zealously that he employs a person to take down his Wikipedia entry and scrub his photos from the internet. In IPO, Twitter seeks to be 'anti-FB'” “Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia looks like a big Twitter winner. So do the moneyed clients of Jamie Dimon. But as you’ve-got-to-be-joking wealth washed over Twitter on Thursday — a company that didn’t exist eight years ago was worth $31.7 billion after its first day on the stock market — the non-boldface name of the moment is Suhail R. Rizvi. Mr. Rizvi, 47, runs a private investment company that is the largest outside investor in Twitter with a 15.6 percent stake worth $3.8 billion at the end of trading on Thursday (November, 2013). Using a web of connections in the tech industry and in finance, as well as a hearty dose of good timing, he brought many prominent names in at the ground floor, including the Saudi prince and some of JPMorgan’s wealthiest clients.” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/technology/at-twitter-working-behind-the-scenes-toward-a-billion-dollar-payday.html Y’all like that Arab money? How about a dude that can call up Saudi Princes and convince them to spend? Funniest shit about I read about him: “Rizvi was able to buy only $100 million in Facebook shortly before its IPO, thus limiting his returns, according to people with knowledge of the matter.” Poor guy :(
He should be fine with the 16 million PLBY shares he's going to have though :)
Shuhail also has experience in the entertainment industry. He’s invested in companies like SESAC, ICM, and Summit Entertainment. He’s got Hollywood connections to blast this stuff post-merger. And he’s at least partially responsible for that whole Twilight thing. I’m team Edward btw.
I really like what Suhail has done so far. He’s lurked in the shadows while Kohn is consolidating the company, trimming the fat, making Playboy profitable, and aiming the ship at modern growing markets.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-ipo-rizvi-insight/insight-little-known-hollywood-investor-poised-to-score-with-twitter-ipo-idUSBRE9920VW20131003
Ben “The Bridge” Kohn is an interesting guy. He’s the connection between Rizvi Traverse and Playboy. He’s both CEO of Playboy and was previously Managing Partner at Rizvi Traverse. Ben seems to be the voice of the Playboy-Rizvi partnership, which makes sense with Suhail’s privacy concerns. Kohn said this:
“Today is a very big day for all of us at Playboy and for all our partners globally. I stepped into the CEO role at Playboy in 2017 because I saw the biggest opportunity of my career. Playboy is a brand and platform that could not be replicated today. It has massive global reach, with more than $3B of global consumer spend and products sold in over 180 countries. Our mission – to create a culture where all people can pursue pleasure – is rooted in our 67-year history and creates a clear focus for our business and role we play in people’s lives, providing them with the products, services and experiences that create a lifestyle of pleasure. We are taking this step into the public markets because the committed capital will enable us to accelerate our product development and go-to-market strategies and to more rapidly build our direct to consumer capabilities,” said Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy.
“Playboy today is a highly profitable commerce business with a total addressable market projected in the trillions of dollars,” Mr. Kohn continued, “We are actively selling into the Sexual Wellness consumer category, projected to be approximately $400 billion in size by 2024, where our recently launched intimacy products have rolled out to more than 10,000 stores at major US retailers in the United States. Combined with our owned & operated ecommerce Sexual Wellness initiatives, the category will contribute more than 40% of our revenue this year. In our Apparel and Beauty categories, our collaborations with high-end fashion brands including Missguided and PacSun are projected to achieve over $50M in retail sales across the US and UK this year, our leading men’s apparel lines in China expanded to nearly 2500 brick and mortar stores and almost 1000 digital stores, and our new men’s and women’s fragrance line recently launched in Europe. In Gaming, our casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth. Our product strategy is informed by years of consumer data as we actively expand from a purely licensing model into owning and operating key high-growth product lines focused on driving profitability and consumer lifetime value. We are thrilled about the future of Playboy. Our foundation has been set to drive further growth and margin, and with the committed capital from this transaction and our more than $180M in NOLs, we will take advantage of the opportunity in front of us, building to our goal of $100M of adjusted EBITDA in 2025.”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company
Also, according to their Form 4s, “Big” Dong Liu and “lil” Suying Liu just loaded up with shares last week. These guys are brothers and seem like the Chinese market connection. They are only 32 & 35 years old. I don’t even know what that means, but it's provocative.
https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1832415.htm
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-ii-002600994.html
Y’all like that China money?
“Mr. Liu has been the Chief Financial Officer of Dongguan Zhishang Photoelectric Technology Co., Ltd., a regional designer, manufacturer and distributor of LED lights serving commercial customers throughout Southern China since November 2016, at which time he led a syndicate of investments into the firm. Mr. Liu has since overseen the financials of Dongguan Zhishang as well as provided strategic guidance to its board of directors, advising on operational efficiency and cash flow performance. From March 2010 to October 2016, Mr. Liu was the Head of Finance at Feidiao Electrical Group Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese manufacturer of electrical outlets headquartered in Shanghai and with businesses in the greater China region as well as Europe.”
Dr. Suying Liu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp., commented, “Playboy is a unique and compelling investment opportunity, with one of the world’s largest and most recognized brands, its proven consumer affinity and spend, and its enormous future growth potential in its four product segments and new and existing geographic regions. I am thrilled to be partnering with Ben and his exceptional team to bring his vision to fruition.”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company
These guys are good. They have a proven track record of success across multiple industries. Connections and money run deep with all of these guys. I don’t think they’re in the game to lose.
I was going to write a couple more paragraphs about why you should have a look at this but really the best thing you can do is read this SEC filing from a couple days ago. It explains the situation in far better detail. Specifically, look to page 137 and read through their strategy. Also, look at their ownership percentages and compensation plans including the stock options and their prices. The financials look great, revenue is up 90% Q3, and it looks like a bright future.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF
I’m hesitant to attach this because his position seems short term, but I’m going to with a warning because he does hit on some good points (two are below his link) and he’s got a sizable position in this thing (500k+ on margin, I think). I don’t know this guy but he did look at the same publicly available info and make roughly the same prediction, albeit without the in depth gambling or cannabis mention. You can also search reddit for ‘MCAC’ and very few relevant results come up and none of them even come close to really looking at this thing.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gOvAd6lebs452hFlWWbxVjQ3VMsjGBkbJeXRwDwIJfM/edit?usp=sharing
“Also, before you people start making claims that Playboy is a “boomer” company, STOP RIGHT THERE. This is not a good argument. Simply put. The only thing that matters is Playboy’s name recognition, not their archaic business model which doesn’t even exist anymore as they have completely repurposed their business.”
“Imagine not buying $MCAC at a 400M valuation lol. Streetwear department is worth 1B alone imo.”
Considering the ridiculous Chinese growth as a lifestyle brand, he’s not wrong.
Current Cultural Significance and Meme Value: A year ago I wouldn’t have included this section but the events from the last several weeks (even going back to tsla) have proven that a company’s ability to meme and/or gain social network popularity can have an effect. Tik-tok, Snapchat, Twitch, Reddit, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter. They all have Playboy stuff on them. Kids in middle and highschool know what Playboy is but will likely never see or touch one of the magazines in person. They’ll have a Playboy hoodie though. Crazy huh? A lot like GME, PLBY would hugely benefit from meme-value stock interest to drive engagement towards their new business model while also building strategic coffers. This interest may not directly and/or significantly move the stock price but can generate significant interest from larger players who will.
Bull Case: The year is 2025. Playboy is now the world leader pleasure brand. They began by offering Playboy licensed gaming products, including gambling products, direct to consumers through existing names. By 2022, demand has skyrocketed and Playboy has designed and released their own gambling platforms. In 2025, they are also a leading cannabis brand in the United States and Canada with proprietary strains and products geared towards sexual wellness. Cannabis was legalized in the US in 2023 when President Biden got glaucoma but had success with cannabis treatment. He personally pushes for cannabis legalization as he steps out of office after his first term. Playboy has also grown their brand in China and India to multi-billion per year markets. The stock goes up from 11ish to 100ish and everyone makes big gains buying somewhere along the way.
Bear Case: The United States does a complete 180 on marijuana and gambling. President Biden overdoses on marijuana in the Lincoln bedroom when his FDs go tits up and he loses a ton of money in his sports book app after the Fighting Blue Hens narrowly lose the National Championship to Bama. Playboy is unable to expand their cannabis and gambling brands but still does well with their worldwide lifestyle brand. They gain and lose some interest in China and India but the markets are too large to ignore them completely. The stock goes up from 11ish to 13ish and everyone makes 15-20% gains.
TL;DR: Successful technology/e-commerce investment firm took over Playboy to turn it into a porn, online gambling/gaming, sports book, cannabis company, worldwide lifestyle brand that promotes sexual wellness, vetern access, women-ownership, minority-ownership, and “pleasure for all”. Does a successful online team reinventing an antiquated physical copy giant sound familiar? No options yet, shares only for now. $11.38 per share at time of writing. My guess? $20 by the end of February. $50 by EOY. This is not financial advice. I am not qualified to give financial advice. I’m just sayin’ I would personally use a Playboy sports book app while smoking a Playboy strain specific joint and it would be cool if they did that. Do your own research. You’d probably want to start here:
WARNING - POTENTIALLY NSFW - SEXY MODELS AHEAD - no actual nudity though
https://s26.q4cdn.com/895475556/files/doc_presentations/Playboy-Craig-Hallum-Conference-Investor-Presentation-11_17_20-compressed.pdf
Or here:
https://www.mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/default.aspx
Jimmy Chill: “Get into any SPAC at $10 or $11 and you are going to make money.”
STL;DR: Buy MCAC. MCAC > PLBY couple weeks. Rocketship. Moon.
Position: 5000 shares. I will buy short, medium, and long-dated calls once available.

Hey guys, it’s Coooolin !!! Wow! It’s finally Friday!! This week has felt suuperr slowww! Was yours!? Let me know how your week was , down beloooww!! :)
Here’s the new cards for today, thanks EA! :)
I apologize I haven’t done everything I normally do, I took a nap, hahah, itll all be filled out soon!! This is what I have so far - refresh this , as I’ll be adding more and more

NHL 94 FLASHBACK!!

Master Set Players - PACKS ONLY!!

Sidney Crosby - 94 OVR - PEN / C - BAR² , SPE¹ , T¹
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - 94 OVR - ARI / LD - SWA² , GLA¹ , WM¹
Dougie Hamilton - 94 OVR - CAR / RD - BAL² , LTL¹ , SH¹
Oscar Klefbom - 94 OVR - EDM / LD - DIS² , PP¹ , WH¹
Joonas Korpisalo - 94 OVR - CBJ / G - 6’3” / 192 lbs - DIS² , H and S¹ , SWA¹
Steven Stamkos - 94 OVR - TBL / C - SPA² , SH¹ , WH¹
Matthew Tkachuk - 94 OVR - CGY / LW - SWA² , HOW¹ , WM¹

Master Set Players - SETS ONLY!!

Sidney Crosby - 93 OVR - PEN / C - BAR¹ , SPE¹ , T¹
Oliver Ekman Larsson - 93 OVR - ARI / LD - SWA¹ , GLA¹ , WM¹
Dougie Hamilton - 93 OVR - CAR / RD - BAL¹ , LTL¹ , SH¹
Oscar Klefbom - 93 OVR - EDM / LD - DIS¹ , PP¹ , WH¹
Joonas Korpisalo - 93 OVR - CBJ / G - 6’3” / 192 lbs - DIS¹ , SWA¹ , H and S¹
Steven Stamkos - 93 OVR - TBL / C - SPA¹ , SH¹ , WH¹
Matthew Tkachuk - 93 OVR - CGY / LW - SWA¹ , WM¹ , HOW¹
—-

Event Cards

Chris Chelios - 91 OVR - CHI / RD - BAL² , HOW²
Cam Neely - 91 OVR - BOS / RW - SPA¹ , SPE²
Mikko Rantanen - 90 OVR - COL / RW - SPA¹ , WH¹
Vladimir Tarasenko - 90 OVR - STL / RW - SWA¹ , MAG¹
Claude Lemieux - 89 OVR - NJD / RW - DIS¹ , WM²
Curtis Joseph - 88 OVR - STL / G - 5’11” / 190 lbs - BAL¹ , H and S²
Josh Bailey - 87 OVR - NYI / LW - H and S¹ , WM²
Matt Grzelcyk - 87 OVR - BOS / LD - BAL¹ , HOW²
Owen Nolan - 87 OVR - NOR / RW - BAR¹ , SPE²
Brian Hayward - 86 OVR - SJS / G - 5’10” / 181 lbs - DIS¹ , H and S¹
Glenn Healy - 86 OVR - NYI / G - 5’9” / 190 lbs - BAL¹ , DIS¹
Guy Herber - 86 OVR - DUC / G - 5’11” / 185 lbs - BAL¹ , DIS¹
Ron Hextall - 86 OVR - NOR / G - 6’3” / 205 lbs - H and S¹ , SPA¹
Kelly Hrudey - 86 OVR - KIN / G - 5’11” / 190 lbs - SWA¹ , BAR¹
Charlie Huddy - 86 OVR - KIN / LD - SWA¹ , HOW²
Uwe Krupp - 86 OVR - NYI / RD - BAR¹ , WH²
Kirk Mclean - 86 OVR - VAN / G - 6’0” / 181 lbs - DIS¹ , H and S¹
Andy Moog - 86 OVR - BOS / G - 5’5” / 170 lbs - SWA¹ , BAR¹
Ryan Murray - 86 OVR - NJD / LD - DIS¹ , WH²
Bill Ranford - 86 OVR - EDM / G - 5’11” / 185 lbs - SPA¹ , SWA¹
Tommy Soderstrom - 86 OVR - PHI / G - 5’9” / 165 lbs - BAR¹ , BAL¹
Chris Terreri - 86 OVR - NJD / G - 5’9” / 154 lbs - BAR¹ , BAL¹
Mike Vernon - 86 OVR - CGY / G - 5’9” / 167 lbs - H and S¹ , SPA¹
Wendell Young - 86 OVR - PEN / G - 5’9” / 191 lbs - SPA¹ , SWA¹
Alex Iafollo* - 85 OVR - KIN / LW - BAR¹ , WM²
— Basically an event full of old goalies, yippy...!!?! —-
———

Primetimes

NHL

Zdeno Chara - 90 OVR - WAS / LD - GLA¹ , SH¹
Denis Gurianov - 89 OVR - DAL / RW - PP¹ , MAG¹
Braden Holtby - 88 OVR - VAN / G - 6’2” / 214 lbs - BAR¹ , SPA¹
Petr Mrazek - 87 OVR - CAR / G - 6’1” / 190 lbs - DIS¹ , SWA¹
Nazem Kadri - 86 OVR - COL / C - LTL¹ , WM¹
Alexis Lafrenière - 85 OVR - NYR / LW - HOW¹ , WH¹
Jonas Brodin - 84 OVR - MIN / LD - GLA¹ , SPE¹
Miro Heiskanen - 84 OVR - DAL / LD - SH¹ , PP¹
Conor Sheary - 83 OVR - WAS / LW - T¹ , WH¹
Christian Dvorak - 82 OVR - ARI / C - SPE¹ , LTL¹
Alexandre Texier - 80 OVR - CBJ / C - DIS¹ , MAG¹

Other Leagues

Julen Sprunger - 78 OVR - HC / RW -
• • • • • • • • • • - - - - - - - - - • • • • • • • • • • • •

Packs Available

2D / 23H
• Jumbo Elite Pack - 50k C / 1k P
20 items, with at least 11 80+ OVR Players
• NHL Players Pack - 30k C / 600 P
10 items, all Gold NHL Players with at least 4 80+ OVR Players
• Premium Players Pack - 22.5k C / 450 P
10 items, all Gold NHL Players, at least 2 80+ OVR Players

P.S.

• New Event - Today at 5pm EST !
• SUN SETS!!!!!

Hockey News

• Hockey in History
• NHL Rumours

Stock Market News

• What is happening!?
• Huge Selloff!
——————

What’s to Come?

• Weeekendddd !!!
• FEBRUARY !!
—————

Summary of the day

Quick Read
Best Forward of the Day - EVENT - is CAAAMM NEEELYY OVR 91 with the syn SPEEEEDSTERR and DOUUBLEE SPARKK
Best Defence of the Day - EVENT - is CHRISSS CHELIOOSS OVR 91 with the syn DOUUBLEEE HOWITZZERRR AND BALANCEDD
////
Best Forward of the Day - PT - is DENISSS GURIAANOV OVR 89 with the syn PASSSINN PLAYMAKERRR and MAAGICIAAN
Best Defence of the Day - PT - is ZDEENNOO CHAARAA OVR 90 with the syn GLAADIATORR AND SHUUUTTT DOWNN
———— —— ———

Important Notice

If you believe in a stock, but you’re unsure of where it will go, start a position. It is better than NO position. You will only lose what you put in that position. If it goes up, you can always add more if you believe in the company. If it goes down, you can choose to opt out, or get the stock on “sale” . Don’t give up for what you believe in.
A position is always better than none.

Interested in Stocks?

EA’s Stock Price, after hours - Jan 29
$ 143.20 (usd) —- Currency Converter
we looked at the stock at $137.54 usd
—— That is a difference of ( $5.66 / 4.12% ) —
Disclaimer - I am not a financial advisor. It is your money, please do your own due diligence. I am not responsible for your money. This is *not** advice. I added this section for an added educational purposes only. Thanks*
—— —— —— —-

NEED A SOUNDTRACK TO LISTEN TO?

• I made this for everyone. I’ll update it whenever I feel like it, but its been often!

WE’RE AT 1200+ SONGS! WOW! How are you not listening to this playlist already!?
Comment songs to add, and please give feedback! It’s much appreciated!!
I currently have “Driver’s License” by “Jxdn” stuck in my head.... which you can play, recently added to the playlist!
Sidenote - How do you guys like the playlist!? I have a friend who makes music...and I really want to surprise him with some new people listening to his music... if you wanna help me, please click Here!! it would mean a lot to me!!
———-

Sites To Bookmark!

If you click here you will be redirected to bilasport. Bilasport is the best Online Streaming site for your entertainment needs for all sports! (Not affiliated)
A great streaming source recommended by NHLStreams is SurgeSport. Click on Hockey and you’ll be good to go!
Want to make your dream team, and show others what you’ve been working on, and much more? I will redirect you HERE!.
Here’s a helpful pack guide for you! Click!
Want to know how the market is holding up? With a simple TAP! you will be on the newly fresh made website for the HUT market, made by one of the guys on the sub!
.... what do the stats on a card mean? Is my card I want / pulled good? Click here to find out!!
When is my favourite team playing? When do they play!? Here you can click on this link, and tap on your favourite team. From there, tap “Schedule” . You can add this to your homescreen on iPhone by clicking the square with the upwards arrow, scrolling down, and tapping “Add to Home Screen”
——- —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —- —— —-

Fighting a Gambling Addiction?

Don’t feel scared to click here. Winning is SO much louder than losing. Know that you are NEVER alone. We are all here for eachother, and it is never too late to get help. I am here for you.
This is a VERY important thread, especially if you are new to HUT. Here!

Video about New Cards

Click here —- from u/wuster17 ! Check it out if you wish.
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29 / 365
—— —— —— —- —- ——- —- —— ——
Thanks for reading.
I’m always welcome to feedback, please let me know what I can improve on.
If there’s anything missing, please let me know!
Take care, happy gaming! **TODAY IS NATIONAL
• Coolin Killin It
(Life is like a puzzle, you just have to find the right piece.)

Hello JUSTNOMIL!
I never thought I'd be posting to this subreddit, but here I am. Here's the brief version of the backstory - Husband and I have been together for 14 years and married for 10. We have one son, age 8. Husband's family is a from a small town about 4 hours away. It has more horses than people, drug use is common and the support systems aren't great. When things go wrong, a family member steps in more often than not. It's rare for teachers, counselors or sheriffs to get involved. FIL died from cancer 6 years ago. MIL lives on a large piece of property with two houses. SIL lives in the second house, rent free, with her son, age 8. SIL's husband died of pneumonia 7 years ago.
MIL always had some issues. She's a bit of a micromanager and struggles to see the big picture, but up until recently we always got along. She was basically kind, took "no" for an answer and was generally a good grandmother. My husband was always clear eyed about his parents and appreciated their good points and challenged their not-so-good points when he needed to.
MIL and FIL always took in people from their respective families when they ran into trouble, so there has been a string of pretty terrible people in and out of their property. Three years ago we went up to evict the last of the cousins because her 17 year old son tried to molest SIL's son. We got SIL to file charges, which resulted in an investigation and then nothing much happened other than small town drama. This last one angered my husband so much he told his mother and sister that they could not bring anyone else into the house without talking to him first and that he would not be cleaning up any more messes if they did bring someone in. Of course, MIL brought in someone and tried to hide it from my husband. Eventually she confessed and the new guy's a doozy.
This man, whom I'll call "Toothless", is 15 years younger than MIL, is verbally abusive to SIL's child, brought in his ex-girlfriend to stay with him and constantly steals from everyone and tells everyone that will listen that he owns MIL's property. He tried to coerce me into verbally abusing my nephew and was surprised when I read him the riot act. We hired a private eye to look into Toothless and discovered that he'd been in jail for almost a year for trespassing, was arrested for stealing utilities, has a bad rep among the local meth users, likes to empty out garages and storage containers when no one is looking, constantly gambles, proudly claims he can't work because he couldn't afford his child support bills and is a serial manipulator of older women.
Husband took this to his mother and it did nothing. I went to her and it did nothing. Both of us tried with SIL and it mostly did nothing. This plummeted him into the first genuine depression I've ever seen my dear husband have. I completely understand why and have been completely supportive. This is why the term "situational depression" was coined. Fortunately he's coming out of it now, with the help of time and therapy. My husband worked hard to be fair minded about his parents and now here is his own mother proving that she loves being taken advantage of so much that she went out and found a guy living in a trailer at the dump to prove it. The worst part is since Toothless has been around MIL's been cranky and mean-spirited. I miss old MIL!
We haven't seen them in person since Christmas of 2019, when we made one more attempt to talk some sense into MIL. MIL has medical conditions that make her more vulnerable to covid and we've been using that as an excuse to get distance. Husband and I both agree that we have no reason to go visit them and that our son is never to be left alone with his family. Our son's safety (and sanity!) is our first concern and I love that my husband is completely clear on that point.
Which brings me to the parts I really need advice on. The most important one is what to do about our nephew. Husband and I have been trying to work with SIL to get her son into a safer place. He's basically been in the crossfire of all of these bad decisions his grandmother and mother make around him. SIL is afraid of change and doesn't want to lose her rent free house, so she's making excuses and doing nothing. Three months ago nephew broke his arm. Husband and I questioned SIL and MIL extensively and decided that nephew really did trip and fall onto the edge of the wood burning stove. Nephew's feet turn in somewhat and he trips often. Nephew and my son had a weekly online Minecraft time to keep in touch during the pandemic. My husband, son and I have tried to talk to nephew on the phone but he's unwilling to talk much . According to SIL nephew's arm is healed enough for him to play but nephew doesn't seem to want anything to do with his cousin, even though they've always been with each other. I'm worried about him anyway and this change strikes me as being very bad news and I'm starting to wonder if something really did happen other than nephew tripping. Short of calling the sheriff or child protective services for a check, I could see if someone local would go check on nephew.
Secondly, MIL's apparent need to keep terrible people in her house with her is a trend that has been going on for decades. She's always loved to show how wonderful she is by trying to help people! But this new version, combined with the personality shift make me wonder if she's had a minor stroke or is using drugs (most likely pot) that are combining badly with her prescribed medication. I have no idea if something can be done on this front. I'm worried.
Husband is still dealing with his emotions and isn't sure how involved he wants to get. I understand that and thought if I could get some ideas he and I could talk them over. Any ideas would be appreciated!

I don’t really have anybody to speak to right now but I’m absolutely feeling super low, I suffer from depression and anxiety among other things.
At the moment I’m not working, struggling to find a job and pay off a loan I took more than four years ago.
I play video games because they help me not feel so alone, however one game in particular has really put me on a downward spiral.
Fifa 21 ultimate team, a game I play often enough, not necessarily because I like the game but because I find it beyond addictive in many different ways.
Ive had my issues with gambling in the past, but when I put this game on I just don’t know how to turn it off especially when it comes to packs in the game.
I struggle to control my self when i see promo packs and I end up paying money for them, today is a prime example of this.
The team of the year was announced with new players in packs, and I jumped at the chance without hesitation to buy some and open them.
It’s not about the players or who I get in them it’s the feeling I get when I open them up it’s like a trance it’s near impossible to stop.
Today I spend £71.99 on fifa points, I didn’t want to do this but I literally couldn’t help myself it’s like something inside me just made me do it.
Now I’m left with £84.00 to my name that’s all I have.
Ive been unemployed for the better part of a year now with me only working three months in the past 13.
Ive spent more then £400 pound on fifa since I last got a job which was around 4 months ago now.
I don’t know why I do this and I just need some help I don’t want to throw my own hard earned cash to some stupid game when I need this money for myself paying bills like my phone etc.
I feel so stuck and ashamed right now after what I’ve done but I just want to go ahead and do it now - why does the game have to be so damn addictive with the packs - it just brings me back to when I used to play online roulette, horses, etc.
Part of me just wants to hurt myself again for being so stupid but another part of me just wants to spend the last of my money so I can watch the packs open.
I don’t know what I’m looking for here? I don’t know if anybody even cares. I guess it would be nice if there was someone out there to talk to.
Thanks for your time
Ryan
(Update) - Thank you all for responding to this and I really appreciate the help.

Hi there, I just need some advice as I’m in a bit of a weird situation. For some context will explain the situation up until now.
I (34F) live with my younger brother (30M) after he got evicted from his house just before the first lockdown because he had stopped paying his rent for about a year. Apparently the landlord just forgot he existed. My parents were out of the country so he was supposed to stay with me before moving back with them. When they returned they just said he’s my problem. He refuses to leave.
My brother is really laid-back and I mean to the point he just doesn’t care. He doesn’t get stressed over anything and so doesn’t care about anything. He failed all his GCSES, he failed all his A-levels, somehow got into university in which he failed so badly he got the lowest score on his course ever. After that he did a bunch of low-paid office jobs like filing. He got sacked from his first because he just didn’t turn up to work for 2 weeks then rang up to ask why he hadn’t been paid. This becomes a recurring theme with him.
Me and our parents have to bail him out all the time but he just doesn’t care, as far as he’s concerned there’s always more jobs available. He’s racked up huge, huge debts (6 figures) because he just doesn’t pay bills and gambles all the time. He’s taken out numerous payday loans and just blows it on buying drinks for everyone in the pub. Whenever he gets a letter he just throws it in the bin because he thinks all bills and debts work like student loans where they get wiped when you’re 50 so he just has to wait it out. He has a job right now answering the phones for a takeaway but the moment he gets his paypacket it goes into one of four things: dominoes, porn, games or booking a theory test. He’s failed it upwards of 20 times now but he doesn’t bother revising because he says one day he’ll “fluke” it and pass. He pays 100s of pounds to get the most softcore porn imaginable (Usually a girl flashing her thighs in stockings) and he’s got subscriptions to online games he doesn’t play but is too embarrassed to unsubscribe from. He has no bearing on his finances and anything I do to help just gets a laugh and “Life goes on.”
Anyway I’m asking because we recently had a visit from some private debt collectors. I didn’t let them in but they’ll definitely be back. He’s also had letters from the county court and apparently it’s gone to the high court. I showed it to him and he just binned them and said they’ll never send someone out because he thinks they work like TV licensing. I’m terrified he’s going to let them in and they’ll take my stuff, he doesn’t own anything in this house beyond his laptop. Thanks for any help!
PS I’m in North-East England
PSS Please don’t say to reason with him or that he needs to speak to an expert about his finances. I once told him we need to go speak to a financial planner and he just laughed and said he’s not paying money to be lied too.

My brother (46yo) has recently been released from prison in China after being caught for a hit and run accident there (he hit and ran). He was, and still is heavily in debt with the banks from years of gambling (he refuses to settle this debt), has no cash, and definitely no credit card. He divorced his wife to be with his mistress (who is from China), and who he gave all his money to.
Throughout his trial, I (32F) had a very hard time fighting his mistress (gf now, since he's divorced...) to get her to pay the compensation amount to the victim’s family (in Chinese law, the perpetrator has to pay the victim's family in order to get a lighter sentence). He also left a bunch of issues unsettled from his business, which I had to attend to, because his company is set up in my father's name, and my father's old and retired and didn't have the capacity to deal with those issues.
In this time, I've forked out immense amounts of time to tend to his issues, flying to China thrice to tend to matters there, liaising with the authorities, settling his business issues, etc. I've helped service his phone bills so as to keep his phone number (on his request), as well as pay his healthcare insurance (so that he wouldn't have to re-do a health check again once he's back and risk having certain illnesses excluded). He used to pay his daughter's phone bills, and I took over that duty too in an attempt to salvage whatever little relationship they had. My parents have bailed him out several times in the past on his gambling debts, and had forked out tens of thousands of dollars for his court case (because the gf claimed the money my brother gave her was all tied up in properties that she couldn’t liquidate).
But, since he's been back, I've not heard a word of thanks from him. Instead, he's raised his displeasure at us having sold his rolex watche to raise cash for a medical bill for one of his workers, which is the employer's obligation here. I'd asked him about selling the watch when it happened, but he's apparently forgotten all about it. His gf also has not liquidated any properties to return the cash to my parents, which she’d said she would.
I am angry with him for being so ungrateful, but my parents are berating me for it. Instead, they want me to extend grace and forgive him because we are christians. My dad, in particular, keeps asking me to help my brother with things, even things as simple as booking a cab ride, paying bills for his swab test online.
Am I an asshole for not wanting to help my brother any further? I do not want to have anything to do with him, and I do not want to talk to him. My parents, my dad in particular, thinks he's mending for the better, but I don't think so. He still thinks his gf is the best and isn’t just after money, blames his ex-wife for the divorce (he doesn't think it's because he cheated), and has no intention of clearing his debts with the banks.

Summary:
Are you interested in saving money and getting similar features compared to Verizon? Then look into getting an iPhone with TotalWireless. You may not be able to move your existing number, but call 1-866-806-1840 rather than using their website you may be able to save lots of money on your cell phone bill. If you're an Android user, then be ok with the following features being disabled:

• Ability to use 3G/LTE data while on a phone call
• Wireless calling
• MMS messaging
• Visual Voicemail

If you don't need these features, then this could be a money savings for you. Otherwise, save yourself time and money (4+ hours of time and $120) and go with another MVNO
Now onto the main post:
I'm not one to usually post much online, I tend to read more than I usually share. However, after spending hours (4 hours just the past two days) with Total Wireless, I figured I would save someone else the pain of trying to move numbers to this carrier.
I actually explored using TotalWireless back in in Apr of 2020. Just looking at the plan costs and features, this seems like the best deal for a Verizon MVNO. So, I took an Samsung J7 phone, got a number with TotalWireless, used a BYOD SIM card and off I went. The phone had great coverage, data speed good, could use a mobile hotspot, and best of all visual voicemail! Basically, this is what I had with a postpay Verizon account, but much cheaper! I went ahead and purchased some TotalWireless Gift Cards and off I went to move my actual phone number to Total wireless. And that's where the euphoria left for this company, because moving numbers, features, failed to meet my expectations.
At the time I was using a Note8 from Verizon. It was unlocked and so I went ahead and moved it over to a 2-line plan. I had issues porting the number over, but a call to TotalWireless and it moved over. I then put in my SIM card and viola, I was on their network. Except, there were some major issues:

1. Unable to txt message*
2. No MMS messaging
3. Unable to use 3G/LTE data while on a Phone call
4. No wireless calling
5. No visual voicemail

*was fixed by adding in an APN and then that fixed that issue)
The killer for me was the inability to use data while on a phone call. That was an absolute show stopper for me. That is a feature I need, because when I have an issue I'm dealing with on the phone, I need to be able to access the internet while on the move. I contacted TotalWireless and was basically told that "my phone doesn't have those features". Excuse me? I just came from Verizon where I had all those features! So, no, it isn't the phone, it is your network that is restricting this. And besides that, I had a Samsung J7 phone (cheapo android phone), and it HAD all those features.
Now, many months later, in Jan 2021, I decided to get it a shot again, except using an unlocked Note 10+. As much as I wish I could say I had the same issue, I couldn't even get past porting a number. I went to their website, entered my IMEI, put in the BYOD SIM card number, and used another one of my TotalWireless Gift cards. Low and behold, unable to port. I called customer service, and basically, after 4 hours of being told "We're doing everything we can to get your number moved", I was told that it couldn't move. I told them to stop the port, and I would just go elsewhere. Somehow, the system had the wrong IMEI, then I couldn't use my SIM card, then the TotalWireless gift card I had couldn't be used. Essentially, I'm out another TotalWireless Gift card.
At this point, I want to point out, to anyone looking at TotalWireless what are realistic expectations. If you're wanting to use Android and want the features I listed above, you're gambling. You might come out ok, or you may be limited. If you want those features, then you can ONLY use an iPhone. That is guaranteed to work. Now, if you're someone who just needs Verizon coverage and don't need the features I listed above, then sure, this will work for you. Just make sure you don't move a number to their service, or just know you may be on the phone for several hours trying to get a number moved.
If someone is having issues, make sure and call their porting line, so you get direct support, rather than trying to chat and wait for a callback (which doesn't happen on schedule, it will be at random times). 1-866-806-1840.
At this point, I've burned through 2 - TotalWireless Gift card (ie, $120), and I still have 2 more gift cards ($85 - 3 lines) left. If anyone at TotalWireless would give me the $120 back, I would greatly appreciate it.

Intro
My name is Zach 28 years old, I am a compulsive gambler from the Gold Coast, Australia. I have been gambling for close to 10 years now. My losses would be somewhere in the hundreds of thousands now without a doubt. I live a good life, I live close to the beach, have a fantastic border collie called Switch, and I have my dream job for where I am at in my career at the moment that pays me six figures. I also have a fantastic family, that are somewhat aware of the gambling problem, but definitely have no idea as to how bad it truly is.
But due to gambling, I have basically not a cent to my name, and I have lost a lot of good friends, especially over the last 3-4 months. So a lot of the above has been what has been able to keep me going in life, and not look to drastic measures.
I have been trying to stop gambling for the better part of three years now.
Where it began
Gambling started for me back when I was about 18. I had some mates that I would go down to the pub with and we would have some beers together and then go to the pokies(slot machines) and put maybe $20 through, and it seemed fun and innocent at the time. Little did I know that my addictive personality would take a hold of this and drive my life to where it currently is.
My biggest weakness would be the pokies, especially once I discovered online casinos.
But it was never really an issue through my early 20’s, as I usually only gambled what I could afford to lose and it never affected my day to day life such as paying bills or anti social behaviour. It was just a “casual” gamble at the time.
Where it got bad
It was probably around the age of 24-25 where it got really bad. I was dating a girl at the time, where from the early stages I would manage to weasal money out of her to feed my addiction of the pokies. She would lend me money or give me money not realising what the problem was. I truly took advantage of her in this situation. There were even a couple of nights where we had been drinking with friends, and she passed out to go to sleep and I would take her bank card and go withdraw $1000 or so, just so I could go play the pokies.
She forced me to go to GA at one stage, I went once, but I was no where near ready to give it up. I mean why would I when I could keep syphoning money out of her?
After that relationship ended, things calmed down a little bit. I was still gambling in a bad way, but I wasn’t stealing money to feed the addiction. I did it through my own means. From time to time I would need to borrow money from friends or family to keep my head afloat, but I always paid it back to them.
In the last 2-3 months is where the addiction has got me real bad. I was living a bad living situation with a housemate that basically forced me to keep to myself in my room or the study. This is where I really discovered online pokies.
I put $300 in, over the course of about 3-4 days I managed to get that up to around $80k. I said alright I am gonna withdrawal at least 60k of this, but going to see if I can use the other 20k to see if I can turn it into more.
As online pokies have it, they really draw out the verification process. They do not make it easy to get your money. It goes without saying that within 3 days I managed to take that $80k and turn it into $0. Because I am a compulsive gambler and self control around gambling is not something that I have.
The follow on effect
Having gotten up to $80k, I was convinced that I could easily get up to like $10k or something. This resulted in me using money I didn’t have and borrowing money, and lying to borrow money in order to gamble.
As I sit here now and write this up. I went from having no debt, to now about $5k in debt and having blown around $15-20k over the last 1-2 months.
Going forward
Now I sit here contemplating the road ahead of me. Here is what I have done so far
- Called my bank and banned any form of gambling transactions
- Installed Gameban on my phone and computer
- Told a friend about my gambling and the true extent of it.
- Looking into counselling and GA meetings around me.
It’s a long road ahead, but I have to start somewhere.

I f35 don't know what to do. My boyfriend m47 has made me unhappy for some time now. Hes made cry alot cause of things he's said or acted like. Called me a liar one night because I didn't want to watch something he got me that very moment. He stopped talking to me at all another time because i didn't follow him round shop like a puppy. He upset me on my birthday. And he's lazy he works part time but hasn't had any work lately so he's been in the house constantly so I tried to tell him how I feel and he just said I'm being miserable that he's sick of hearing about me when I've got headache or period pain. So we had an argument and I cried again. He went to pack his things but we sorted it out. Then the next week he hinted he wished he was at home. 😒 so he could do what he likes. But he does anyway. I get mad when I see him watching online women hitting each other. He must like it but he Denys watching it. Job wise, when i kindly asked why if he says he's smart to get a better job with better hours? He said people who work long hours are greedy for money 🙄😮 and then started criticising me on my bills which I can afford. He does pay for the electric or WiFi sometimes because he lives here and I pay everything or gives me money for food. I feel like I have to happy all the time. And it's only today that he is in a good mood. He hardly ever wants to do anything but sit on ps4 or gambling on his phone. Today he's in a better mood and saying we'll have a nice day on valentines day but thats rare. On our 1st anniversary we had tea and was forced to watch footy and then he went upstairs.

EDIT DISCLAIMER: I posted this as a reply to a commenter here but adding it to the main post to ensure maximum clarity for the point I'm trying to make here; ".. it seems people seem to think I was saying "jeans will always be a better choice than gacha". That isn't what I was driving at. The point I was trying to make is to think long and hard about each individual virtual swipe of your card. Sometimes you may find that the cost is something you can live with. Other times simply looking around at some other things you might want or need, and how their price points compare to the money you were about to spend, can be enough to stop you from spending too much. Which is what I was really trying to help people with. Not to stop them from spending entirely, but to try and help people consider what is too much for them personally."
I've gone back and forth, sometimes in a very toxic manner, on this sub with people talking about the ethics behind gacha mechanics. This isn't going to be a post where I drag that horse out publicly and beat it again for the hundredth time. At this point, you know which side of that debate you stand on and if you're still here, and you're still playing the game, you have either come to terms with it or support it. Either way, in light of some recent posts about someone's card being blocked for spending $5K and almost draining his bank account, and also Mtashed's video where he says he will no longer use a whale account to promote the game, I thought I might offer up my own way of keeping myself from spending a ton of money on this game, or any game like it with a similar MTX model.
Little bit of background; I have some major addiction issues. Smoking, drinking, drugs...I've been there done that. I even spent $1K on fuckin Boom Beach back when it came out, and my wife spent an almost equal amount on Clash of Clans. There was a day where we realized what we were doing, and sort of looked at each other in awe and disgust with ourselves. We both deal with things like ADHD and depression, which can have a severe impact on our ability to control impulsive decisions. Since we have developed our own coping mechanisms to help us moderate things like substance use, spending habits, etc.
One of the tools I use to keep myself from dropping more money than I have, or should, on a game like Genshin is, and I'm sure I wasn't the one to come up with this term, "value assessment". I'll explain how this works for me and hopefully it can help some of you as well.
Any time you start feeling like you want to drop some money on this game, or any game like it, even if its "just" $20 or $50, create the habit of stopping just short of actually selecting the option to buy whatever the in-game item/currency is you are thinking of buying. Take that same dollar amount, and start looking at your expenses. Is there any other monthly expenditure you have that is the same amount? This is the place to start. Let's say your monthly electric bill is at a minimum $50. That is $50 you absolutely need for your apartment/home. If you take $50 away from your bank account to spend on the game, will you have an extra $50 left over for your electric bill? Is it possible your electric bill could be higher? Will you make enough in the next 2-4 weeks to cover this cost? What about your other bills and living expenses? Groceries, gas, gas bill, rent...
If you do have some disposable income, and you definitely know that you will have all the money you need to cover your necessities and then some, its time to start assessing the value of that hypothetical $50. Open up Google or Amazon. Take a look at some of the things you have wanted for awhile. Things you have been putting off buying because they are "too expensive" or you "just didn't have the money right now". Does the item(s) cost more than $50? How much use would you get out of the item(s)? For instance, if you needed a new pair of jeans, that is something you would be able to wear for years potentially. What if it was another full priced game that is out, or is about to come out? How many hours of game time would that game be able to give you?
Once you have started comparing the dollar amount you were about to spend on the game to the equivalent price of the item(s) you know you need or have wanted for some time, does the inherent value of those item(s) outweigh the value of a single character in this game? For instance; $300 would get you a Switch. $400 would be more than enough for a Switch and a game. Is the value of that whole console and one game greater than the perceived value of one or two characters in this one game? How long do you think you will be playing Genshin Impact? How long do you think a Switch would provide value to you over time?
The point of this exercise is not to say that Genshin Impact is not worth your time or money. The point is to create a habit that runs counter to the habit (spending) that Mihoyo is trying to instill in you. If you consistently do this every time you want to spend money on this game, you will find that almost every single time, having compared the potential expenditure to other items that would cost the same amount of money, that the value proposition is not as good as you first thought it was. Hell, maybe you even knew that the value in the gem pack you were about to pull the trigger on wasn't that high, and just needed a quick reminder.
People often defend gachas, and in this case, Mihoyo in general because the concept is that they are simply working within the confines of capitalism. It really doesn't matter if what they are doing is ethical, they are using a tried and true business model that will make them the highest return in the shortest possible amount of time.
Following that train of thought, use the concept of a free market against them. When you don't know what something should cost, companies get to fill that information in for you. They call this "anchoring". Before Apple released the first iPhone, no one would have been able to tell you with any certainty what a smart phone should cost. They didn't even know what the hell a smart phone would look like. So Apple got to set the price of their product, and that became our anchor. The cost of any smart phone is then compared to that. $400 for a phone? That would be perceived as a value, since the iPhone costs way more than that. We perceive the iPhone to be the highest quality device in its field, and compare the cost of other phones based off the features/pricing of it.
Before Genshin Impact, many people didn't even know what a gacha was. So these people had no idea what a "10 pull" should cost. $20? $50? $100? Mihoyo got to set the price of their in-game currency because it isn't something that existed before. Those gem pack costs are our anchor in this situation. Therefore the cost of any of those packs, should they be discounted in the future, will always be compared to the price they are set at now.
Don't just accept it as is. If $100 sounds insane to you (and it is really) don't spend that amount of money on the game, and when you feel close to just giving in and spending it anyways, step away for a few minutes to see what other products there are that cost around the same amount. Compare the value of these products with GI, and make your determination from that point onward.
FOR PEOPLE WITH GAMBLING ADDICTIONS: This is in no way meant to be advice for you. I am not a trained psychologist or therapist. I am sure there are other methods they have, that have been empirically tested, to help you with your addiction. If you find yourself feeling completely unable NOT to spend hundreds of dollars on this game, you need to seek some sort of help. Even if that help is just an online support group. Learn to start seeing yourself as a victim (because you are) and stop thinking of yourself as someone who has failed. This community, and the gaming community at large, dismisses people with gambling addiction, and absolves companies like Mihoyo of their culpability. This just isn't doing anyone any favors though. It just reinforces the feelings of worthlessness and shame that people with gambling addiction already feel. Get help.
EDIT: Some of the things I talk about here are things that I got from this video. I became aware of it when Jim Sterling made his (lengthier) video on the addictive nature of video game monetization awhile back. Again, I'm not trying to start yet another debate on the morality of these concepts, but the video itself is relatively short and just about everyone playing this game should watch it. It helps to know the tactics being used against you, and to take them to heart, so you are more aware of the myriad ways the game is attempting to work on your psychology. It makes the difference between making a poor choice and being an informed consumer.

Section One: Assets and Debt
Hello! Like others before me, I have written a small novel about my finances. Enjoy!
Retirement Balance: $655,724.99 (my 401k) + 262,817.64 (spouse 401k) + $52,020.06 (two IRAs, identically invested) = $970,562.69

• I max out my 401k plus get a 5% employee match from my organization. In a previous role, I got a 5% employee match + 5% automatically for being an employee. At my first job, I contributed in very small amounts to my 401k but cashed it out to pay off serious credit card debt. It was only $6k, but I would not recommend cashing out any part of a 401k. I have maxed out every year for at least a decade now, possibly even longer.
• My partner made significantly less than me for most of his career and was not able to max out until recently, hence the drastically lower 401k balance.
• I didn't open up IRAs for either myself or my partner until a few years ago. But I am maxing out both of the IRAs every year now.

Brokerage Accounts: $245,752.89

• We started investing in 2014. A relative left my husband a bit of money after they passed (approx $200k). We put half of that into paying off student loans and our home remodel immediately after we bought the house, and we invested the rest of this money.
• For many years I put a significant chunk of my annual bonus into the brokerage account.
• Now we invest biweekly in order to "set and forget" and this avoids any market timing thoughts that cross my mind (more on those contributions in expenses).
• Included in this figure is a Robinhood account with about $3k in it. I don't routinely fund my Robinhood account. Instead, I use it when I want to buy specific company stock (very rare).

Home Equity: $327,100.23

• We purchased our home for $425,000 in 2012. We did significant remodels on two floors.
• We borrowed $100,000 from my parents to remodel the house. We pay modest interest to them to make it worthwhile.
• We put about $20,000 down and had to pay PMI. After we completed our remodel we were able to prove equity and get rid of PMI. Right now we owe about $322,000 on the loan.
• Our home equity is so high because we bought a house that had great bones but wasn’t flipped yet in a central location in DC. I based our equity on $750,000 which is a combo of Redfin, Zillow, and DC property tax estimates. It’s probably still a little low, but I err on the side of caution with money.

Misc. Joint Savings Account Balance: $71,816.55

• This includes several accounts: (a combo of high interest and CD accounts when possible):
  • Emergency savings for six months (about $25k bare-bones for us)
  • Pet emergency savings (approx $3k in case of emergency surgery, we save $25 a month for this account)
  • Savings for a home remodel project makes up the rest of the money. We didn't remodel one floor of our home when we purchased it, and it's time to make it nice instead of "okay."

Joint Checking Account Balance: $37,706.45

• Because of COVID-19, we have not spent very much money this year. I use YNAB, so I am padding all of my categories and that money is adding up in the checking account. Right now my money is about 115 days old, which is too old to not have a job. I'm planning on moving some of this money to one of the high yield savings account listed above, CD, or funneling it towards my mortgage.

Health Savings Account: $6,283.17

• My prior corporate job allowed us to join a high deductible health plan, and so I opened a health savings account. I was only there for two more years and lost access to the account for many years. I have only recently started investing in the bulk of the funds here.

Credit Card Debt: $0

• I got into trouble with credit card early on when I first moved to DC and had a terribly low paying job. As mentioned, when I got a corporate job, I liquidated my retirement account to pay off a huge chunk of the credit card debt.
• For the remaining balance, I joined a credit card debt consolidation program and paid down that debt every chance I got. All credit cards are paid in full every month now.
• My husband also paid off any credit card debt several years ago.

Student Loan Debt: $0

• My undergraduate loans were nominal as I went to an in-state public university, and my parents paid my $10,000 a year tuition for the first three years, while I paid for my rent and expenses.
• My first job provided tuition reimbursement, which overpaid my undergraduate student loan for many years. I paid off the remaining balance after I got my corporate job.
• I attended a private university to get my Masters degree and took out loans to pay for that cost, about $50,000, all unsubsidized as I was still at my corporate job.
• My company had a generous tuition assistance program, so I paid the bulk of my loans/tuition off using that program, and the remaining balance we paid off using the inherited money.

Car Loan Debt: $0

• We bought a new car in December 2018 and paid it off in early 2020, we own it free and clear. Bluebook on the model is $27,000

Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I have been working in my field for 17 years, and my starting salary was $25,000. Currently I make $198,000 + Spouse Salary is $150,000 = $348,000 + bonuses.

• My first two jobs were minimum wage and in high school and college, I didn’t include them here.
• First Organization - Public Service
  • $25,000 a year (I did a cartwheel when I was told my starting salary, I thought I was rich!) - After one year I was promoted…and my pay raise was basically COLA. I ended my public service at $28,500.
• Second Organization - Corporation
  • I started making $55,000 a year + performance bonus and stock options, plus raises every year.
  • I was promoted twice during my decade with the company, and left making about $145,000 with a performance bonus, stock options, and raises as listed above.
• Third Organization - Association
  • I began making $180,000 + performance bonus. After one year I was promoted, and I currently make $198,000 + performance bonus. I expect a slight raise this year and an above-average bonus in the $15 - $20k range. I am not getting a promotion this year to my knowledge (and I would know).
• Spouse Salary: $150,000 + small bonuses annually, though as mentioned previously he has only made above $100k for the past five years.

Monthly Take Home from Myself and Partner:

• After all is said and down, my partner and I take home about $17,000 per month. This is after maxing out our 401k, IRAs, and health insurance is removed from the equation.
• We claim 0 for tax purposes, and actually, we withhold extra money on our taxes. After the so-called U.S "tax reform" we had to write a big check to the government, and I live in fear of underpayment. I like paying taxes as I believe in public services, social safety nets, and good governance in general, but I detest that our system makes it so difficult to understand if you are withholding the proper amount.

No Side Gig or Other Monthly Income: I used to sell things through Poshmark but that wasn't exactly a lot of money.
Section Three: Expenses (monthly averages when needed)

• Mortgage: $2470.01
  • No HOA or other fees - home insurance and property taxes all rolled into an escrow account
• Savings contribution: $1500 (towards home remodel)
• Investment contribution: $1200 (brokerage)
• Donations: $125 is an average monthly donation. We contribute $25 to a left-leaning grassroots organization targeting young voters in our home state. The other $100 supported important political candidates (two of which lost, BOO), charities close to my heart like my neighborhood homeless shelter, one of only TWO women's health clinics in my home state, food pantries, or other local organizations doing good in the world.
• Connectivity (2 Cell Phones, iPad data, WiFI): $263.38
• Utilities (Gas, Electric, Water): $221.01 monthly average
• Subscriptions:
  • Rent the Runway: $147.44, 4 slot plan
  • Blog/Social Media Related Subscriptions): $1y
  • Job Board: $5
  • Patreon: $5
  • Media: HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, CBS, Extra could storage, Apple protection plan ($65.04)
  • Amazon Prime: $119
  • YNAB: $85
• Gym membership: $0
  • During normal times I did Pilates frequently, but we are no longer spending money outside the house for exercise. We have a treadmill but don’t use subscription services.
• Pets: $75, this includes food, toys, and vet bills on a monthly average
• Car insurance: $57.43
• Allowance: $800
  • My spouse and I have combined finances, but we do get an "allowance" of $200 per paycheck for each of us. This money goes to our old personal, pre-marriage, checking accounts.
  • We use this money to fund purchases that aren't really for the benefit of both of us. For example, I recently started getting Botox. I thought that since it wasn't medically necessary and it basically vanity, I would pay for it out of my allowance. Though I could make an argument that my profession requires "keeping up appearances" but hey, I already pay for my haircuts and skincare products out of our joint account!
  • He uses his account for things like golf fees, gambling, etc. It's just money we don't want to ask each other questions about, as we feel there should be some privacy with money!

Monday:

• 5:30 am wake up today. I woke up and savored the fact that it's my birthday and Joe Biden/Kamala Harris won the presidential race. This was a great improvement over my birthday four years ago, which was the worst birthday to date. I know the election was called two days ago, but I am still riding the high. And yes, I turned 40 today. I thought this would be horrible but really it's no different than being in your 30s. It's society that makes us feel old, not us! My only sadness is that we couldn't take the 40th birthday trip I planned.
• 8:00 am: My very thoughtful husband made me coffee and gave me a collection of small gifts that reminded us of our past travels. Traveling is/was our main hobby before COVID-19 and we miss all of our trips. It was a really thoughtful gift.
• 8:30 am: Before work, I walked to FedEx and dropped off a Rent the Runway package. Yes, I still do Rent the Runway, even during a pandemic. I was very conflicted to continue my subscription, especially since I am working from home and have been since March 9. But honestly getting fun new clothes is a bright spot in these bleak times. I have been renting WEIRD items of clothing because who cares!? Time to wear fake leather pants that no one sees!
• On my way back from work, I stopped and got a Grande Coconut Misto from my local Starbucks. I redeemed my free birthday drink. - $0
• 10:00 am: Finally after weeks of resisting, I bought a "mystery" box of four plants from Rooted, an online plant store. I had a membership discount from The Lounge for 15% off. Total including my discount, taxes, and 33 cent carbon offset for shipping (why not): $41.94.
• 2:00 pm: Received flowers and candy from my big sister! That will satisfy any sugar cravings for a while!
• 5:00 pm: My in-laws sent me a $50 gift card to Sephora. I wanted to get that 20% off so I ordered today, the last day of the Sephora sale. I purchased frivolous items including two Selena Gomez eyeshadow palettes and a replacement Fresh sugar lip Total cost after gift card: $12.75
• 6:00 pm: After a busy day at work, my husband made fondue for my birthday dinner. It’s one of my favorite meals and is so easy! We already had the supplies on hand aside from the bread, which was purchased yesterday.
• 8:00 pm: Got on Reddit and saw that a local fave artist made a new print featuring the celebrations on BLM plaza when the election was called. I have been waiting to order one of the pieces and this was the right time. I also picked up a cool one of the Taft Bridge in the rain. I love supporting local artists. $74.20
• Total spending: $128.89
  Tuesday:
  
• 6:00 am: I slept terribly last night, and it was one of those nights of waking up for two hours and not falling back asleep.
  
• 10:00 am: We are doing intermittent fasting, which is a nice change of pace. We both ate some birthday cookies when our fasting window ended. I tried intermittent fasting in the early days of the pandemic and I really benefitted from it, and it's great that he wants to do it together. It is much easier when you have a buddy when trying new habits!
  
• 12:00 pm: It was a very busy day of work. For lunch, we had some Chinese food that my CSA delivered, plus we got some amazing cinnamon bread. I ordered this last week but we got the bill today. Chinese food will feed two of us for at least three meals. It’s not very cost-effective but it can be hard to fix meals around zooms. $66.75
  
• 5:00 pm: Happy hour with three friends at an oyster restaurant, outside, complete with masks, social distancing, the works. We each had one drink, a few oysters each, sliders, calamari, and tacos. We don't socialize often these days because we are trying to stop the spread, but we trust these three friends. This is my second to last social engagement for…the foreseeable future. Total for both of us: $56.44
  
• Total spending: $123.19
  

Wednesday:

• 5:00 am: My habit of waking up is still going strong! I woke up at 5:00 a.m. which was 30 minutes before my alarm. To ease into the day I read more of my book, which is trying my patience as the plot moves too slowly.
• 12:00 pm: Work was nuts today. Ate a cookie for lunch while on a zoom call (with the camera off and mic muted, of course, I'm not a monster)!
• 6:00 pm: My husband brought me some frozen pizza for dinner while I still worked.
• 7:00 pm: Then I panic subscribed to Sling so I could watch the series premiere of RHOSLC. Three-day free trial…and then I figured out it doesn’t start until 10 pm? Yeah, I don’t need to watch live, I can watch in the morning if Hulu has it! Total cost: free trial, so $0
• 8:00 pm: Found out that Bath and Body Works 3 wick candles were BOGO and immediately stocked up on four candles. Look, I started with 11 in my cart so this seems fine. I have been burning candles regularly while I work from home. Bonus, I found an old gift card and used it to fund this totally useless but self-care focused purchase. The total was $58.29 but $0 cost to me!
• 9:00 pm: After finishing Season 3 of the Crown, we went to bed.
• Total spending: $0

Thursday:

• 5:00 am: Another terrible night of sleep. I stayed up until 11 finishing that boring book, and then woke up well before my alarm again.
• I sat down to watch RHOSLC but it’s not uploaded yet. I drink my coffee and find something else to watch at 5 am. Watched an episode of Schitts Creek, I’m about to finish the season! Such a good show.
• 6:00 am: While looking through Instagram, I was finally influenced to buy a sweatshirt from Phenomenal Woman. I bought the pink “I’m speaking” sweatshirt for me, and the “Vice President Aunty” sweatshirt for my BFF. She is Indian and recently had a baby, and we are so excited that her daughter gets to grow up with a phenomenal woman VP who looks like her! These are very nice presents, but my friend is really going through it right now with work, being a new mom, and everything else 2020 is throwing at us all. I'm putting together special care packages for some of my close friends, and the sweatshirt will be the centerpiece of her package! Total cost: $135.68
• I canceled Sling asap, as apparently, I couldn't watch RHOSLC on it. Why am I so obsessed with watching a Housewives show? Honestly, I never watched any of these series until this pandemic made me unfit to watch anything with a difficult ploy. After canceling, I upgraded our Hulu subscription to add on the "live tv" option, which means an additional $34.62 on top of my normal subscriptions listed above. Total cost: $34.62
• The mailman delivered a Rent the Runway rental with an adorable cropped tie-died shirt! The shirt was in great condition so I checked the price…it was worth it to buy. I don’t buy things from Rent the Runway often but sometimes I can't resist. Total cost: $33.39
• 7:30 am: Finally, I was able to watch RHOSLC while I got ready for work. Yes, I still do makeup and I try to put on an outfit each day. And by an outfit I mean either a jumpsuit (So into them during the pandemic) or a cute top (generally from RTR) and athleisure bottoms with my fave pair of New Balance sneakers. Yes, I wear shoes too. It helps my mental outlook and that was a lesson I finally figured out this summer. Getting ready changes my whole mood. And I get to be FUNKY with my eyeshadow since it’s hard to see over zoom!!! My new palettes from Sephora came in (thank you in-laws) so I am going to get weird today.
• 9:00 am: Once again, work was just…crazy! The number of zoom meetings is overwhelming and I just have so many things to write and work on constantly.
• 12:00 pm: Finally we came to the end of our birthday cookies, and we ate some sad toast from the CSA for lunch with some eggs!
• 5:30 pm: I worked until about 5:30 and had the rest of the CSA Chinese food. Turns out we only got four servings out of it, a little less than I thought.
• 6:30 pm: We watched some Golden Girls and then did our own thing before collapsing to bed.
• Total spending: $203.69
  Friday:
  
• 6:30 am: Woohoo, Friday is my sleep in day! I woke up and had a leisurely time getting ready. I try to treat myself to a nice Friday morning before starting my workday.
  
• 10:00 am: We decide to order breakfast tacos from our local taco shop. We are obsessed with keeping them open through the pandemic. Four tacos and one oat milk cappuccino later, the total cost is: $26.87
  
• 1:00 pm: At lunch, I walk to see my co-worker who lives about 5 minutes away. We grabbed a coffee from a local corner coffee shop (with the cutest walk-up window) and we walk around for a bit (with masks) and settle on a church lawn so we can chat. She is starting a new job, and she was my closest co-worker. I am glad we found time to connect as I know this was a tough decision for her, and this was a last-minute outing. Total cost: $6.67
  
• 5:00 pm: After work, we drove to a friend's backyard. 8 of us were gathering for one last time outside before the weather gets too cold, and again, these are very safe and strict friends so we trust they abide by safety protocols. On the way up we discover we need gas, so we fill up. Total cost: $44.03
  
• While we are getting gas, my friend texted me and asks if I can pick up some ice and two bundles of firewood. As I said, we are going to be outside and it gets cold. We picked up the supplies at our local grocery store. Total cost: $14.80
  
• We brought some leftover seltzers and a gifted bottle of wine for me to drink, so we did not purchase anything new to bring to the party. In a pandemic, there isn't a lot of buying for other people.
  
• We left around 11 pm, thoroughly cold but absolutely thrilled to get our last social gathering in before winter truly arrives.
  
• Total spending: $92.37
  

Saturday:

• 7:00 am: I woke up early because my body hates sleep. It's so frustrating that I can't sleep in like I could when I was younger! Let that be a warning to you younger ladies here…sleep is elusive!
• 9:00 am: We were very low on some groceries, and I decided to order some supplies by using Amazon Fresh. I do this for staples probably once a month. We still go to the grocery store for meat, produce, and other specialty items. The order will arrive Sunday morning. Groceries + tip: $127.84
• 12:00 pm: My Saturday plan was to do NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. And I succeeded. I played some stupid computer games, did some chores, we watched some tv, I read part of a new book. It was glorious.
• 5:00 pm: Since we aren't getting more groceries until tomorrow, we ordered pizza from a local fancy pizza restaurant that we have been meaning to try. We get two small-ish pizzas, a pasta dish, and some bombolini. Everything looked too good and of course, we had leftovers for the next day. Total cost + tip: $81.63
• Total spending: $209.47

Sunday

• 7:00 am: Today I planned to be slightly more productive, and I succeeded. We did some laundry, put away all the groceries, and I went through my budget on YNAB. I try to reconcile my budget weekly because I find it strangely soothing to see all my dollars playing a role. And also I can look at my frivolous spending (which um, is pretty bad this week).
• 11:00 am: My Rooted plant mystery box arrived! I repotted all the plants, and I was pleased I got some new to me plants. Sadly, I looked at my existing plants and realized one of them was completely dead. He lived a good life. In other plant news, I occasionally get a monthly plant of the month club box from The Sill. I don't count this as a part of my subscriptions because I routinely skip shipments depending on how many plants are alive in my home. However, I wanted this month's delivery. Total cost: $42.10
• 2:00 pm: While doing laundry, I realized that several of our masks are starting to break. I'm surprised they lasted so long, considering we bought them in the spring. My friend who I had coffee with had a great looking durable mask, so I texted her for the brand. Of course, it was Rothy's. I order a set of two masks. Total cost: $26.50
• 4:00 pm: Okay I said I was productive but we also managed to tear through four episodes of The Crown, plus watch two episodes of The Undoing. I like that I have what some consider to be high brow taste with prestige tv, and crap taste with reality tv. We all need balance.
• 5:30 pm: Dinner is a fridge/leftover cleanout from the week: leftover CSA Chinese food, leftover pizza, and other random fridge items.
• 9:00 pm: We decided to go to sleep early to get a jump start on the last full week before Thanksgiving. I am thankful in advance that it will be a short week for both of us. We will not be seeing family or friends this year for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I recognize that we are both very lucky to have family who all wants to stay safe this winter and no one is pressuring us to travel.
• Total Spending: $68.60

Total spending for the Week:

• Food + Drink: $366.20
• Fun/Entertainment: $49.42
• Home + Health: $158.24
• Clothes + Beauty: $140.44
• Transport: $44.03
• Other: $67.84

Some Reflections:

• When I reflect on my purchases this week, I saw that I spent a lot more on frivolous purchases. I think my birthday aligned with the Sephora sale put me in a "spendy" mood and I managed to press the purchase button on a lot of internet shopping carts. I can curb that spending for a while and be perfectly happy.
• Additionally, I was reminded that we spend lots of money on food and eating out. Part of me doesn't care, because we order from local restaurants who are trying to survive the pandemic and stay in business. But I was raised to be thrifty and rarely eat at restaurants, so this is still a conflict for me.
• Looking at my big picture numbers, I feel pretty good. I have worked really hard to get to where I am in terms of financial success, and it's been a long, hard road. I am very grateful that my mother taught me how to balance a checkbook and about compound interest. However, I wish she would have taught me that compounded interest can be BAD, like when it's interest on credit card debt. That was a hard lesson to learn in my mid-20s, and I am very grateful I was able to pick up the pieces after so much debt.
• While I am an excellent budgeter and confident with my finances, I still learned a lot from logging every purchase as it happened. With YNAB I am used to reconciling my purchases several days or weeks after I bought an item. With a money diaries exercise, I was forced to think about my purchase when I bought it, and know that strangers on the internet may judge me!

to keep on pushing.
Many people visit this sub and post after a bad loss. I’ve been there ... we all have. What’s going to happen is after 5-10-20-50 days of not gambling you’re going to feel so accomplished that you’ll have the urge to reward yourself by playing a few hands or betting a couple bucks (or thousands) on the Super Bowl. You need to remind yourself why you are here.
Take control of your future and your finances. When you are gambling the difference between $1 and $1000 means nothing as you are so numb to monetary value. “What’s another $1000 bet considering I have already lost 40 times that?” is something I would say to myself before unloading on another game. I am not a financial advisor, but I have experience in economics, finance, and life and feel I can provide some insight as a recovering addict.
My situation is a bit different so I will give some insight and feel it’s best to explain my situation.
I’m 25 years old and live at home (COVID). I have lived on my own in the Big Apple and have seen both sides of life. One where your parents cover everything and one where you have daily and monthly expenses like rent, utilities, and food. Currently I’m lucky enough where I don’t have expenses, but being the dumbass I was, my expense was paying the bookie. I know many people don’t have the same luxury as I, but it doesn’t mean you can’t still save. I’ve given up the last 2 years of saving and instead gave into this disease.
1) first thing first, personal ban yourself from casinos or online sites. My vice was sports and I had a chat with my bookie and let him know I was struggling. We were able to settle the debt for about half of what I owed. Just ask, it can’t hurt.
2) before you can save you need to pay off whatever outstanding debt you have. Credit cards and fees will continue to build. Once these are at or near $0 you can begin the rebuild. I have (thankfully) never been in debt, but this is certainly where I would start if I was.
3) create a budget. A tight one, to the dollar. Mortgage? Phone? Car? Food? High level looking at the entire month, decide what you can spend and what you can save.
4) CONGRATS!!!! You are debt free. For whats it worth, I will consider phone bills and car payments for what they are, monthly expenses. Factor these into a budget. For some, this step might take 1 month or 10 years. Patience is key.
5) the first exciting part of this whole thing is quitting, the next is clearing of any debts, and now for the grand finale. You can now start to build wealth and add to your future. Depending on your financial security you can decide to add to your savings or opening an investing account (I use Fidelity). Investing in low risk ETFs will continue to gain and gain and gain.
6) if your company offers 401k and match, DO IT. I can’t stress this enough, it’s free money that you can’t touch. Over 3 years of working my 401k has absolutely ballooned. My company matches as well and I can’t withdraw, only add. It’s the perfect scenario for someone still learning how to control their financial future.
7) sit back and watch your money grow. Once you see gains in your investing accounts, you will become invested in learning about different ETFs that it will become a low risk way to “gamble”.
Hope this helps. Be patient. The damage is done and the recovery will take some time. Use your new time wisely, you’ll have a lot of it. As someone who constantly bet on sports, I’d sometimes spend 6-7 hours a day watching college basketball games I normally wouldn’t care about or sweating doing research on how to make back the money I lost. Spend this time to learn new things, pick up a new hobby, and apply to new jobs/opportunities to advance your career and increase your salary.
Most of all, be excited. Be excited about a life without lying to loved ones, chasing loses, owing people or institutions money. Be excited for a life of stability, even if it takes years to arrive at that point. Don’t let the past you define your future. It is never too late to recover. There will be a point where you’ve made so much progress you think you can go back as a changed person. You can’t. Use whatever you can to remind yourself.
One thing I want to add. The most difficult part for me is dealing with the constant regret of losing money. My parents certainly think I’m better off than I am and my bank account could look far better. What helps me is thinking about how fast time flies and how fast you can rebuild if you set your mind to it. Another thing is not comparing myself to others. I always think about how far ahead my friends and classmates are, but in reality everyone deals with different vices. I’m not big into buying material things or smoking, but many people do. These cost money. A lot of it. You really don’t know what other things people are dealing with. I look at gambling as an investment gone wrong.

It’s good to be back!

Comments have been collected at 5:00 UTC.
In Case You Missed It:

• This is done every month, we will be doing this again in March and every month in 2020! If you would like to be reminded, set a calendar reminder for August 21 at 7 PM ET, or click here to be reminded through the RemindMe bot via PM!
  
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Information

• REQUIRED: Leave only one (1) top level comment in reply to this thread! (Replying to other comments will not qualify. You must be thirty days old or older to comment.)
  
• A random user who commented will be chosen, and everyone donates a dollar to make a millionaire.
  
• June 17 at 7:00 PM ET (epoch timestamp: 1592434800) is the cutoff for accounts. If you have created your account after this point, you are not eligible to enter and your submission will be disqualified automatically.
  
• July 19 at 12:00 PM ET (epoch timestamp: 1595174400) will begin the process of selecting the winner. At this time, the [Draw] post will be online and start the process of waiting for the blockchain, in order to select the winner randomly and verifiably.
  
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Major Announcements

Rule Changes:

• Increasing the account age: This one is more of a suggestion, but I would like to hear what everyone has to say regarding this one.

I personally believe 90 days is adequate for account age, as there’d be enough data towards a Reddit account to make a good summary of their activity without resorting to assumptions. However, this could also discourage newer users from signing up for Reddit for the subreddit, and decrease participation. This will not be in effect for [Drawing Thread #56].
If you are interested in discussing this, please head to /millionairemakersmeta.

• One account per person per entry: This one should be obvious, but for clarity’s sake, this will be made official. You can only use a single account for entry.

If there is evidence that arises that suggests the account is a bot or an alternate account, and that the accounts were used to earn multiple entries starting with [Drawing Thread #56], this will result in a consultation with the moderation team, and could lead to a disqualification.

• The selectee has 48 hours to respond: As demonstrated in [Drawing Thread #55], failure to respond to an activity check following a personal message will result in a disqualification.

Honestly, this has been an inconsistent rule, sometimes being 48 hours while other times being a full week depending on the winners you choose to ask. There are, and I’m certain there will be occasions where it won’t apply since the winner would’ve already made a comment before our official announcement. Of course, the purpose here is to make it official, much like the rule above.
In any case, to make sure you get notified, there are many options at your disposal, from using the RemindMe command, to signing up on Discord when the [Draw] gets posted, to simply setting a calendar reminder, and making sure you have notifications enabled on your accounts to be directed to your phone or email address.
The goals of these new rules is to prevent a situation like [Drawing Thread #55] from happening again, and for transparency between the mod team and the participants.
If you have any suggestions, please head over to /millionairemakersmeta.

Conclusion

Sunday at 12 PM ET (16 UTC), we will be picking our winner, and you won’t want to miss it. The post will be labeled [Draw], and one comment will be selected out of the many made here to make a winner!
Remember, this is about generosity, making an impact, and uniting to make someone's life better. It takes three minutes to donate a bit to the winner, whether you're well off and want to donate a couple bucks, or going through tough times and can only donate a few coins. Every cent makes cents, and counts!
If a lone $1 can get you a mask for obvious reasons, then imagine the possibilities with $1,000,000. For starters, you can gamble invest it into the ever-growing stock market.
A million dollars can make someone’s night. Spread the word: have your friends and family comment, post the link to your friendly-neighborhood social media network, and share it to anyone interested.

Let’s make a millionaire!