A Sub-$500 Week At Last! | How Much Did I Spend Last Week? April 7-13, 2025

Is this the beginning of a major change?!

Monday

I have quite a full calendar this week – for me – in that I’m meeting two friends and I have book club midweek, so it feels slightly less boring than usual that I’m staying home with Roman and Atlas today, as Atlas has a bit of a cough and I’m sure his teachers would rather I be the one listening to him coughing all day.

I make Atlas a breakfast of toast and fruit snacks, then I make myself porridge while Roman complains in the swing. I make my porridge with half milk, half water, and then add a little brown sugar and some fruit on top (right now I’m going between strawberries and bananas, depending on what we have in stock that isn’t mouldy) and drizzle it with heavy cream. Very delicious.

The three of us mooch around for the morning, which looks a lot like me trying to get Roman to settle anywhere that isn’t on me (swing, bouncer, jumperoo, mat) and then eventually giving in and putting him in the wrap where he immediately falls asleep while Atlas plays with his dinos. I’m trying to get into Onyx Storm, but having a lot of trouble because (a) I’ve no idea what happened in the first two and also (b) I bought the book in chunky hardback and it’s very hard to hold while an 18-pound baby is strapped to you.

Eventually, I give up on Onyx Storm and read The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren instead (free on Kindle Unlimited! – maybe only in the US, unsure).

At some stage, I give in to my baser instincts and, despite knowing that it won’t make a difference, order a volumising shampoo and conditioner duo that has good reviews on Sephora ($51.36), along with an eyebrow gel and mascara from Thrive Causemetics ($42.80), whose relentless advertising has finally won me over.

I tell a friend – who’s suffered from thinning hair for a while – about this moment of weakness, and she tsk-tsks at me. “The only thing that works is the minoxidil 5% foam,” she says, like a regular sage. I add to cart (but, crucially, don’t check out just yet).

Our Walmart subscription – for creamer and baby wipes – comes out. ($45.03) I had been buying baby wipes from Amazon but (a) am trying to avoid Amazon but also (b) realised I was paying $6.99 shipping for Brandin’s stupid creamer as we weren’t reaching the threshold for free delivery. This way, I get free shipping and to avoid funding Bezos’ dodgy forays into feminism.

When Brandin and the boys get home, we have homemade pizza for dinner, then get started into the routine of baths and bedtime.

Our oldest has joined the track team at school, so I’m trying to push for daily showers as a result — I mean, also because, as I explain to him one day (barely resisting the urge to sing You’re Not a Boy, Not Yet a Man! at him), he’s almost in his teens now and his body is changing, sweating more and growing hair, and he’ll probably want to start showering more than every other day.

He seems to disagree.

After bed, Brandin and I sit down to watch some Shogun (why did I wait til now to watch this frankly amazing show?! And why do I always fancy the absolutely boring vanilla man in every TV show ever?!) and then go to bed ourselves.

Daily total: $139.19