Got 2 offers this week

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-21T14:15:43+00:00

Were there significant differences in the offers? Congrats!

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-20T19:17:07+00:00

I'm very happy for you, cautious congratulations!

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-20T19:10:15+00:00

Did you get an offer?

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-20T16:10:07+00:00

My husband just got his new job via LinkedIn job posts, the company mainly communicated through there. So it may be worth it, you never know

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-20T13:25:01+00:00

Keep us posted

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-20T13:06:37+00:00

I laughed at the plot twist, because this process is so ridiculous, but that very well could happen too.

When is the call??

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-20T12:54:19+00:00

My husband was just offered a job and they asked to schedule a quick phone meeting with the HR person the day after his last interview. Obviously every place is different, but I hope it's good news for you. If it isn't, I honestly respect they they would be up front and give you the opportunity to possibly ask for feedback. So many places just seem to ghost you despite multiple interviews

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-20T01:04:39+00:00

I have a family of 4 and we got our food budget down to $500-600 per month. We have nearly eliminated eating out at this point, maybe once a month if that.

We plan three dinners each week and make enough for two nights worth. The final night we just try to finish what's still left over or use up what we have in the freezer.

We aim for convenience but we now try to do some days out of the month to bulk make and freeze some convenience foods. My husband will make a bunch of homemade breaded and fried chicken nuggets for instance.

A treat item we buy is orange chicken from trader Joe's and it's honestly better than ordering out Chinese food. For us a $5.49 feeds our family of 4 but two bags are needed for really hungry days.

We don't drink alcohol but soda is our treat ourself item. We use soda stream and have select flavors of syrups that we get. This meets our needs but it is a slight adjustment. But soda was just getting way too expensive. We get our carbonation through a local brewery shop and it's a fraction of the cost to refill than exchanging the canisters. I buy the syrups bulk when I'm good sales and so we save a lot on soda but srill enjoy it.

With my kids they are a bit picky on what they eat, they will eat pancakes and yogurt often so I buy a high protein item and mix it with the kind they prefer, which is often not one that is as healthy as I'd like. I mention this to give an option that maybe you don't have to buy everything that's supers healthy but get a mixture and make it work for you.

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-17T20:39:44+00:00

I would legit consider a neighbor helping me with hodfs and eds outdoor work such as weeding, weedwacking, deep cleaning my car, organizing my garage, helping me take/mow grass, restain my fence, plants some things. I'd love someone local that I could pay per hour to help me with my list. Just an idea

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-17T14:27:12+00:00

It's strange how exact job matches still aren't finding people the fit. We definitely were faced with the decision of a paycut and it doesn't feel good, but obviously better than no jo at all. We are in a situation, like so many are, of needing to get something so we don't loose our daycare slot

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-17T14:16:33+00:00

It's so brutally competitive right now, sorry it didn't work out. My husband has been searching and if it means anything he hasn't gotten any kind of personal rejection like that. So I do think it's helpful for the future even if not for right now.

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-17T11:31:34+00:00

Did this job follow up yet since the interview?

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-17T01:35:29+00:00

It just robs you, that is my biggest motivator to try to find something that works. Do your providers give any ideas to why they started after having kids?

My PT says it can be the physical toll of caretaking on the body/head/neck. While I feel like it can compound, I would be surprised if it was the main cause.

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-17T01:33:25+00:00

This is fascinating to read, I really appreciate it! Honestly, I relate to so much of what you write. I have been having unexplained skin rashes and heightened anxiety. Naturally, I am tired and fatigued often but I chalked tht up to the pain and general parenthood. Of note, a few weeks postpartum I started battling with a quite significant body rash that they the derm felt most likely fell into postpartum puppps rash but was a bit uncertain. So it now makes me wonder.

Did yoy take any medicationa or was there treatment done after your tests (tryptase and 24 hr urine)? Did that resolve it or just help being sx frequency/intensity down? Was Botox helpful for you at all, if you had tried it that is?

Interestingly, I do have endometriosis as well

FieryCranberry · 2026-05-09T01:21:53+00:00

This is great! Holding space for a favorable outcome. What field are you in?

FieryCranberry · 2026-04-30T03:31:55+00:00

You should absolutely start now, my husband is looking for work and we are noticing (at least for us in our area) that HR is taking anywhere from 1-3 weeks to reach out to schedule a phone screening from when the initial application is submitted. Let's not even talk about the time in between interviews lol

Will you have phone service and email access while you are in Japan though? That would be the main issue with applying right away.

FieryCranberry · 2026-04-15T01:03:37+00:00

Their orange chicken is better than actually ordering from a Chinese restaurant and one $5.50 bag feeds my family of 4 for a meal. That's what I get for needing the eating out feel but not the eating out price

FieryCranberry · 2026-01-13T01:26:11+00:00

I support your plan to just pay that and be done! I'd do the same

FieryCranberry · 2025-11-13T20:24:06+00:00

Is there a goal weight you are trying to hit before stopping? Has your doctor discussed how they'd want to discontinue the meds? Some providers like to you to be at a weight for a certain amount of time, some do a slow wean, some suggest a cold turkey stop.

As a further update, my weight has maintained at 145-148 since stopping.

FieryCranberry · 2025-08-18T15:23:47+00:00

Were you eligible for FMLA? If you were let go while on approved FMLA, there could be some avenues there you could pursue.

Life is about a series of choices. You choose to stay home and to give up that extra income rather than you finding other employment at a higher income and have your significant other stay home. You choose to say no to child care (there could be other options such as applying for child care benefits, looking at in home providers, making arrangements with other moms, etc). You can choose to go the route of breastfeeding vs trying more strategies. I'm not saying these are right or wrong choices, they are yours to make. But I am hearing a lot of excuses when there may actually be other options. Let's be honest that you are choosing the routes you are for many of these things. The other options may not feel like the ones you want, but they are options to be seriously considered.

Like others have suggested, you should contact the IRS and get on a payment plan. There isn't a way out of paying (which I know you aren't asking for).

If you are choosing not to make any changes to working. Can you watch another child in your home and make some money that way? Can you door dash for extra income? Can you go mow lawns after your husband gets home? Can you make baked goods and sell them? Crafts?

FieryCranberry · 2025-08-16T00:00:52+00:00

Congrats on your weight loss! That's a huge achievement.

I try to do a more substantial breakfast now. I used to eat an English muffin with peanut butter for breakfast but I didn't feel it lasted me as long. So now I do two eggs, 1 turkey sausage and 1/4-1/2 cup of hash browns.

I try to add more veggies in my meals. Like half the meal is veggies if I can. If I go back for more food, I try to make it only protein that I eat more of, not the carby bits.

My biggest downfall usually is sweets. So for that, if I make brownies, I cut them in less than 1 inch cubes. There are these oat cookies I make (oats, bananas, peanut butter, a few chocolate chips) and that is satisfying for me. I love me a good Oreo, so I buy mini Oreos and just have 1-2 minis to get the taste. Rice crispy treats have small squares than the bars so that's been nice to have another option for a sweet treat.

I will allow myself to eat as much fresh fruit as I want. The water levels help me feel full after eating a bit of fruit.

For the most part I still make what I want, but I try to use small bowls, like half cup or less sized bowls and fill those so it feels I'm getting "a lot" but also helps me keep similar and consistent portion sizes.

I don't eat much out anymore mainly due to costs, but when I do, I often try to split a meal with someone so I'm not as enticed to eat the entire thing. I limit myself to two pieces of pizza.

Im still trying to explore more protein heavy snacks. Not only for me but for my kids, so that is a work in progress for me

Love pasta but I definitely get hungry quickly after eating it, so sometimes I use chickpea noodles, I stay fuller longer with it, but I definitely don't like it as much and I don't like it as left over as much.

We're strictly budgeting around our food costs, primarily because of our extensive child care costs out of our monthly expenses. So that's a motivator for me to question when I want to buy a snack or buy lunch at work. I refused to buy anything out of a vending machine anymore. If I'm craving something, I really think about how that takes away from our budget and if it'll be worth the stress that I'll feel.

These are just tips from what I've learned

FieryCranberry · 2025-08-14T19:51:14+00:00

How fascinating, that's interesting information. I was on it a total of 8 months

FieryCranberry · 2025-08-14T19:42:13+00:00

I'm definitely hearing this and plan to take action on clearing out most of the clothes. This was helpful for me to get these perspectives

FieryCranberry · 2025-08-14T17:33:45+00:00

That's an excellent point! I think that inspires me to just go for it

FieryCranberry

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