2024 was rough, health wise. I ended the year on antibiotics and started 2025 with it as well. I caught a stomach bug just a week before Christmas and had some joint pains shortly a couple of days after. I woke up with my thumb and my wrist in pain without any trauma. I went to my PCP the day after Christmas and I was put on antibiotics. A couple of weeks later after seeing an Orthopedic, she mentioned that it is possible that it is reactive arthritis. A day later, I woke up with a jaw pain. 4 days later, I was on steroid to calm it down. It was so bad that I can’t even put a teaspoon of food in my mouth. I just completed my steroid prescription. I also changed my diet based on some research on auto-immune disease and started a Tumeric supplement.

I’m still experiencing some joint pains and do not have an official diagnosis until I see a rheumatologist in end of February. I am really hoping that this is a one time thing and not a chronic condition. Suffice to say, I had a pretty lousy mood depending on my body. What gets me the most is the mental challenges that comes with being sick. I get extremely anxious and get depressed. I’m grateful that Mr. MMD pick up all the slack and really carry me through it. He was the one who called my dentist, did the grocery on a Monday night after he coached my kids basketball game and meal prep my food. So far, today is a good day and I am really hopeful.

Now that I think of 2024, there were some rough roads, from my dry eye, 5th disease, a course of antibiotics and now this unknown diagnosis, which I’m hoping is just reactive arthritis. All of it regarding my health that I can’t control. We eat pretty healthy and I exercise. I don’t necessarily have a lot of stress, but it is hard for me to give up control. It’s hard when I can’t and that is the root cause of anxiety. I thought that 2024 will be the healthiest year ever. Turned out, it is a year with some health challenges, that really made me take a step back and accept that there are certain things that I can’t do. I can’t choose my genes and I have one body. I need to accept it, nourish it and be thankful for it.

This also made me reflect on our situation. We really are very blessed to have the time to go to Dr’s appt, take care of my body without worrying about the financial burden it may cost us. We will probably not be buying a new Tesla this year, but I’ll drive our Prius to the ground if it means that I feel good in my body. It also made me think of so many internal battles each individual faces. No one can really see it but your immediate family or worst sometimes its really just in you. I cried a lot this month. I cried in front of my parents and I am pretty sure that it was my first time crying in front of them as an adult. I cried in front of my in-laws, my husband, my kids. It was an emotional battle. I was angry and felt very discouraged. I’m sure that this will be a roller coaster emotion.

On to our financial update. In December we spent $11,996. We ended the year spending $68,880. This is $5,048 less than we spent in 2023 of $73,928. I am sure that we are going to spend at least $80k, so this is a nice surprise. Let’s take a look at our December spending.

Gifts – $ 5,914.39

It’s the season of giving. The biggest one of course is our cash gift to my parents. I also gave an Amazon gift cards to the kids teachers. This also includes our gifts to them. Since I was sick, I basically just bought everything from Amazon. MBP got a NBA2k, Chiefs beanie and gloves and a drum. AHP got a Spot it game, Seahawks beanie and gloves and a piano. They also got more stuff from everyone else. We also did quite a bit for the holidays like going on a Polar Express and visiting Santa.

Home Improvement – $1,861.85

We finally changed our gas oven and stove to induction. It only took us 5 years before finally doing it. We got the oven from Costco and paid for a plumber to cap off our gas. I can’t believe we delayed it for so long. We got the Samsung Bespoke. It takes a bit of time to get used to the touch button but so far we are enjoying it. I also paid for the shipping of our mattress from Latex for Less. I bought this mattress a year ago and notice a sag in the middle. After about 2 months of back and forth we finally got a replacement mattress. We also got some stuff from Ikea.

Groceries – $1,288

This is really just $1,088 since I bought a $200 Visa Gift Card from Staples to be used at WINCO when we shop. WINCO don’t take credit card and I get 5 times points if I buy the Visa GC at Staples. I was already there buying the kids presents to their teachers so I just added it here. It’s fairly high but that’s ok. We don’t necessarily budget for groceries. We just buy what we want. We still buy almost exclusively a Costco and WINCO.

Automotive – $862.27

We bought 4 new tires for our Prius, in preparation for winter driving and our trip to the mountains. Unfortunately, the trip was canceled because I got sick. I actually felt better when the trip was canceled. I realized that I really don’t like the winter weather and or any winter sports. I took up skiing back in the day and never went farther than a “beginner”. I’m more city type, beach weather and good weather hiking type. I also renewed my license.

Education – $356

AHP’s preschool tuition. 6 more months and he is off to Kindergarten!

Gym – $295.91

Our YMCA membership and Mr. MMD’s hockey fee. We have been enjoying the Y membership, until recently when I got sick. I usually go 3 times a week, but have not gone since Winter break since all of us got sick. That said, we are going to continue our membership. The kids play basketball through the Y and it is a great gym. I just wish that it is a little closer to us.

General Merchandise – $223.31

Everything else that I don’t bother to look at. Mostly some orders from Amazon.

Clothing/Shoes – $220.67

I bought 2 shoes from Xero. It was on sale. One is specifically for winter. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to use them yet. Hopefully, I’ll be back on my feet next week and I’ll be able to walk to and back from school.

Utilities – $204.91

Water, sewer and garbage. I paid our electric and gas using our rewards from our health insurance company so it is not included here.

Restaurants – $172.91

We watched the Snowflake lane and ate out at Cheesecake Factory. I made this reservation 6 weeks ahead and boy I was so glad that I did! The wait was 2 hours and I feel bad for the host as she was navigating a lot of angry customers. Snowflake Lane is very popular during the holidays. Last year, we weren’t able to eat there and have to buy a really bad and expensive Mediterranean pizza. It was definitely a better experience this year. We also had some take outs this year.

Gas – $159.01

It is gas. We probably gas up more last month since I’m going to the gym.

Christmas Card – $103.21

I did buy our photo session from Groupon again and I bought one for next year too. I printed the cards from Staples this time. I also got some stamps. I actually mailed a couple of cards outside the country too. I do like receiving cards so it is nice to also send one.

Entertainment – $100

Mr. MMD withdrew some cash to play some poker with his old roommate.

Pets/Pet Care – $97.43

Food and stuff for our furbaby. She will turn 10 this March!

HOA – $84

This will keep going up.

Home Maintenance – $59.13

Some stuff for the house. Mainly cleaning supplies

Mobile Phone – $25.32

We are still using 2 lines of Xfinity Mobile and used 1 GB this month

Internet – $19.9

This is for 2 months worth of internet

Dues and Subscription – $7.65

Amazon Prime Subscription

Online Services – $2.04

Google Cloud Platform fees for hosting this site.

Healthcare / Medical – ($158.93)

This is a credit because I got an email from Prenuvo during Black Friday that they are having a $400 discount. I already have my MRI scheduled but I called and they gave me the credit. The rest are for our Health Insurance, doctor and PT visit and some prescriptions and supplements.

This wraps up our 2024. Overall our top 3 spending for the year are groceries, healthcare and gifts. Apparently, this shows our priority in life. I think healthcare will increase this year as I’m thinking of seeing a functional doctor in Seattle. I already had my first call. The initial labwork is not bad at $299, including a 40 minute call with my doctor to review results. However, the plan after that will not be cheap and I do expect this line item to increase. That said, health is my priority this year and will gladly pay for this if it makes a difference in how I feel.

I started November feeling relief that elections are over. I was not surprised with the result as I am more realistic this time. We also moved to a somewhat red/purple part of Washington State and I actually met people supporting the other party. We are still neighbors and our lives move on. I’m still hopeful, but of course realistic.

On another note, we celebrated Veteran’s Day with our Campfire Troupe and watched Salmon go back upstream to lay their eggs. It was really fascinating. It was my first time seeing salmon in the river and whoa, we did see a bunch of them.

November also brought us to Central Illinois for our annual visit to my in-laws. Our trip is always pretty relaxing. Life in the farm has some advantages. There was no traffic at all. It was quiet and cozy. But it was cold! I can’t imagine living there during the winter. The wind was brutal. We stick to indoor activities like the Children’s Museum, swimming at the local YMCA and staying inside. MBP, his Grandma and myself also watched the Charlie Brown Christmas. It was a good show and MBP really enjoyed it.

For our spending, in November, we spent $3,816. This was on the low end of our spending. Let’s take a look.

Travel – $849.57

We rented a van from O’Hare to Central Illinois. Mr. MMD was in charge of renting the car and he paid Enterprise $12/day for the toll fees. It was a mistake because he thought it was for the entire trip. We also paid for gas on our way back.

Healthcare/Medical – $613.84

Our health insurance was high this month. I updated our income based on the previous stock sale so we paid $468.84. I also paid for 4 PT sessions and and a Dr. visit copay. Apparently, I’m still paying for my eye insurance. I didn’t realize that it automatically renew and they make it hard to cancel it. That will be on my to do list.

Education – $356

This is for AHP’s preschool tuition.

Groceries – $445.05

This is really low because we were out for 10 days of the month. We also tried to eat as much of our food in the fridge before we leave for our trip.

Gym – $313.91

This is our monthly membership for the YMCA and Mr. MMD’s Hockey games.

Utilities – $236.27

This is for our electric and gas, water and sewer.

General Merchandise – $256.88

This is catch all for everything else that buy. I should probably try to track this closer.

Restaurants – $217.73

We ate out for during our trip and before our trip. On our way to Central Illinois, we stopped by the Old Route 66 Family Restaurant.

Kids Activities – $145.57

We signed up the kids for the basketball league at the YMCA.

Automotive – $102.25

This is for our annual registration of our Volkswagen Jetta.

HOA – $84

Monthly HOA for our trail maintenance

Gasoline / Fuel – $75.75

Three trips to Costco Gas Station for our Prius.

Home Improvement – $43.96

A trip to Lowes and Ikea. I’m returning some stuff from Ikea.

Mobile Phone – $25.32

This is for our 2 lines of phone using 1GB of data from Xfinity Mobile.

Home Maintenance – $15.9

Mr. MMD ordered a camera that can go on our walls.

Clothing / Shoes – $14.2

We got AHP a Seahawks Beanie from Costco. We will probably get him the youth version.

Christmas Card – $11

We also had our annual picture taken. This is for “shipment fees” of one hardcopy that was included in our package.

Dues and Subscription – $7.65

Our monthly Prime Subscription

Online Services – $1.99

Payment for online hosting for this blog from Google Cloud Platform

On to my update. We settled into routine during October. The boys were back in school and sports activities during the weekend. They did soccer, swimming and Campfire. This actually ended up being too much for me. Soccer have weekday practice and Saturday Games. Swimming is also every weekday after school. There were a lot of driving involve. They missed some of it because of the inevitable illness that comes when school starts.

I also managed to get in a hike this month and visited Mt. Rainier. The fall colors were lovely. This was my only hike during the season because of some back and neck issues I’ve been dealing with. I was surprised that I was not winded on this hike. I managed to keep up with my father who is also surprisingly fit.

This month, we also had our annual tradition of visiting a pumpkin patch. We’ve been going to the same patch every year since MBP started the coop when he was 2 years old. We did it as an annual field trip. Now that none of the boys were no longer in the coop, we visited it with our Campfire Families. Four families were there with 8 kids and fun were had! The boys were big enough to enjoy the big slide, apple sling and we even did the corn maze. The corn maze was hard, but we had a lot of fun doing it. We paid $30 for our family visit. This is cheap because we went with a group. Otherwise, the cost of entry is $20 per person.

Halloween was long this year. We started celebrating a week before the actual day and went to the YMCA and the kids schools for the fall festival. Then there was the actual Halloween day. I coordinated MBP’s class halloween party and the kids went trick or treating at night. We went to our neighbors 55+ lodge and another retirement home’s lobby. They had enough candy during the visit. AHP didn’t want to go house to house so MBP and I went. We managed to go to 2 houses until he got scared and wanted to go home. MBP watched football and AHP gave candies to trick or treaters. I bought over $100 worth of candy. About half of it went to MBP’s school. We went through 1.5 bags of Costco candies. I ended up returning 1 bag because we didn’t open it.

On to our expenses our total expenses for October was $10,488. Wow that is a lot of $$$ in one month. Let’s take a look.

Property Tax – $3,149.8

This is the second half of our property taxes. We live in a suburb of Seattle and the cost of living here is higher than average.

Other Expenses – $2,000

We finally met up with an estate lawyer to get our Wills and other estate documents taken care of. We should get the documents around December.

Groceries – $953.49

Our family of four continue to shop at WINCO and Costco with some shopping here and there at Walmart.

Automotive – $907.69

I paid for our 6 months auto insurance for our 2 cars for $623. Our 2011 Toyota Prius also needed some new batteries, which cost us $284.69.

Education – $876

AHP’s monthly tuition was $356. MBP also had his annual PTA fundraising and we contributed $520 for it. We decided to match any donations that he gets. We pick which fundraising we support for the kids school. We really like this annual “fun run” event that the PTA put together. The kids don’t need to sell anything, but it is really just fun for the kids. We are lucky that the kids schools have a good PTA and parents are involve for the most part.

Healthcare / Medical – $635

I paid $250 for my Physical Therapy sessions. I have been going to a physical therapist twice a week since September and my copay is $25 per session. I really like my PT but found out that he was leaving this December. I only have it until November. Mr. MMD paid for some contact lenses. We paid $99.48 for our health insurance, $77.52 for dental and $5 for my vision. I also paid $20 for a blood test copay.

Kids Activities – $357.11

MBP is playing basketball for the rest of fall quarter. We also got him some inline skates because he has been asking to play hockey. He can’t really play hockey if he doesn’t know how to skate. Mr. MMD got him some inline skates so he can easily practice at home and we don’t have to take him ice skating. The rest are some photos for soccer and items for activities for CampFire.

Utilities – $322

This is for Electric and Gas, Water, Sewer and Garbage.

Gym – $313

Our YMCA monthly membership were $166 and Mr. MMD plays hockey for $147.91 per month

Restaurants – $232

We’ve been eating out almost every week after the boys soccer games. We tried out 2 local restaurants in the neighborhood and we were pretty happy with it. We also got some take outs and ate out when we were at the Pumpkin Patch. I’m enjoying it and will probably continue for some good local eats going forward.

General Merchandise – $225

Some stuff that I don’t want to itemize.

Gas – $149

We’ve been driving more for the kids activities, PT sessions, gym and hockey. As much as I hate driving, there are really no other choice. We live in a very non-walkable area with almost zero utilities. In fact there are only two stores here, Wendys and 7-eleven.

Pets – $86

Our furbaby’s food

HOA – $84

Monthly HOA for being here in our neighborhood. This will probably go up next year.

Clothing – $73

I got some winter gear for the kids at Costco and MBP got some Dallas Cowboys socks when we went to the mall.

Home Maintenance – $39.62

Bulbs and some Halloween Decorations

Mobile Phone – $25.26

This is for our 2 lines of data from Xfinity Mobile. We used 1GB of data this month.

Christmas Card – $22.49

I got a Groupon Deal for our holiday photos from JC Penney.

Internet – $19

This was posted for 2 months, one in October and one for November.

Dues and Subscription – $7.65

Our subscription for Amazon Prime

That’s our October. It’s expensive but it evens out through out the year.

The kids went back to school this September and we happily adjusted back to some routine. This month was full of back to school activities arrange by our wonderful PTA. I was also able to see a dermatologist, had an acupuncture and some physical therapy while the kids were in school. I have some mole that I wanted to get check and luckily found a dermatologist that can see me within a month time frame. I drove about an hour for this, but at least I have some sort of a baseline and will just need to have an annual routine exam.

I’ve also been dealing with some back and neck pain. I spent all of August doing some yoga stretches. My doctor recommended some form of physical therapy after my X-ray showed some form of arthritis. So far, I really liked my PT. I also went back to the gym for some strength training. I try to go 4 times a week, with an upper day and a lower day. I think the gym and the PT combination is going really well. I’m feeling less and less aches and pain. I have this goal of being able to do a pull ups by the end of the year. I’m optimistic, but we will see.

We also took the kids to their very first husky game. I forgot how much I enjoy watching live games. We stayed in Seattle for the weekend as well and stayed with our longtime friend. We took the kids to the University bookstore and got our purple gears on. MBP already had a jersey that I got from goodwill. He got a football instead. We had lunch at a Gyro place that I frequented back in the days and then we got some bubble tea. We walk from the campus to the stadium so the kids had a “tour” of the campus. It was a beautiful day, the fountain was up, the sun was out and both kids walk the entire time. We didn’t even have to carry AHP. During the game, AHP was giving high fives to other husky fans. MBP decided to root against the husky and had a melt down when the huskies got a touch down. Huskies eventually won and MBP decided to cheer for them after half time.

On to our expenses. It was an expensive month that costed us: $8,301. Let’s take a look.

Healthcare/Medical – $2,814

The main expense is for a full body MRI from Prenuvo. They are opening up an office in Seattle this December and I signed up for it. This is mainly to appease my anxiety and to address some aches and pains and constant sickness that I’ve been having. The cost of the exam is $2,499. It is fully refundable, 72 hours before your appointment. Mine is not until December, so I have a couple of months to think if I will push through it. The main complications is having a false positive diagnosis. I also spent $150 for 6 sessions of physical therapy. I have a $25 copay, every session, up until 25 sessions. I also spent $145 for various copays from doctors, dermatologists, and x-ray. I paid $15 for an acupuncture copay. I paid $99.48 for our health insurance and $5 for my eye insurance. The vision insurance should end this October.

Travel – $937

I booked our flights for our annual visit to Illinois, this November. This is always a fun visit and we spend Thanksgiving there.

Groceries – $686.52

This is a little lower. Maybe because we ate out more this month.

Home Improvement – $664

Mr. MMD replaced our pedestal sink downstairs. It cracked. We purchased a vanity from Lowes and paid to dispose the old sink. He also built some shelves for the shed.

Kids Activities – $584

These are various kid activities like soccer, ice skating, Campfire dues and other school related items. The non school related item that is here are the tickets to Polar Express Holiday train ride. I’ve been meaning to check this out and a bunch of family from Campfire will do this with us. This should be fun!

Gym – $516

Our monthly gym membership for the YMCA is $166. The rest are for hockey for Mr. MMD.

Restaurants – $454

We’ve been eating out almost weekly. For September, we were in Seattle for a husky game, so we ate out for lunch, dinner and brunch the next day. We also pay for concession foods at the husky game.

Education – $377

Monthly preschool tuition for AHP for $356. He goes everyday for 3 hours. I also paid for our PTA membership for MBP’s school.

Clothing/Shoes – $294

I bought some shoes for MBP, and clothes for me from Amazon. We also went to the mall and got the kids some clothes from a brick and mortar store. It actually feels weird buying things from an actual store now since I buy almost all of our clothes online or at Costco.

General Merchandise – $249

The biggest expense is our merch (t-shirt) items for the husky game. Mr. MBP, myself and AHP got some husky gear and MBP got his husky football. These are not cheap. I got MBP’s husky jersey from Goodwill for $3.99, while our t-shirts from the University Bookstore were $30 each. The rest of the items are various stuff from Amazon, Walmart and Costco.

Dues and Subscription – $137

We renewed our Costco Executive Gold Membership for $130. Costco is our nearest grocery store and we go at least once a week. We get 2% back which pays for the cost of the membership. The other $7 is for Amazon Prime.

Utilities – $126

This is only for sewer and water. I think I forgot to pay our electric and gas last month.

Automotive – $122

Oil change for our Prius and a $40 parking payment for the husky game.

HOA – $84

Neighborhood HOA to maintain our trails and playgrounds.

Gasoline / Fuel – $77

3 trips to Costco for gas. I’ve been driving more lately with the trip to PT and the gym. The kids also has more activities this year outside the neighborhood.

Home Maintenance – $30

Some stuff from Amazon for our house.

Mobile Phone – $25

Our monthly cell phone bill for 2 lines using 1gb of data. This used to be under $20, but Xfinity Mobile increase their rate. This is still way cheaper than our old T-mobile line 5 years ago.

Internet – $9.95

This is our monthly internet bill.

Gifts – $5

MBP’s friend broke his knee while playing in the monkey bar. We got him some get well balloons and coloring book.

Other Expenses – $2.04

My bill from Google Cloud Platform for this blog.