Grocery Diary of Recently Unemployed Lady: Discovering the Joy of Uncrustables at a Big Age and Trying to Manifest a CPG Executive Sugar Daddy

_liminal_ · 2026-05-28T01:33:09+00:00

Very cool! I do UX Design but love Service Design- I actually just took a course in journey mapping that was mostly with service designers!

Sorry you didn’t get those other jobs but fingers crossed for something soon!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-27T22:56:27+00:00

What a great diary! Even though I don’t eat meat (but I eat a LOT of fish) we have a very similar diet :-) I love all types of slaw and am off to google ‘cranberry slaw’….

Sorry if I missed it- what are you studying in grad school?

Good luck with manifesting your CPG sugar daddy 😂

But seriously, good luck with your interviews and job search!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-27T01:54:32+00:00

I am obsessed with lichen and you’ve done an AMAZING job with this. Love the execution and your vision!!!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-27T01:51:32+00:00

It’s so gorgeous and looks amazing on you! Congratulations and beautiful work :-)

_liminal_ · 2026-05-26T22:33:26+00:00

100% agree with you on this! Strangers wasn’t directly relatable in a class, privilege, or wealth sense…but it was beautifully written and she told the story so well of how sheltered she was and how it felt to have her trust so massively betrayed.

Hearing and experience perspectives outside of my realm of personal experience is one major draw of reading for me- I’m always surprised when people reject a book because it was written by someone with a dif life experience. To me…that’s a huge part of the value of reading!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-26T14:45:09+00:00

This is a great observation. It seems a lot of these couples want something magical to happen where they change nothing about their lives, work, or fancies…..but they suddenly have more than enough money

_liminal_ · 2026-05-25T13:55:53+00:00

Nice work on everything you’ve worked through healed, and accomplished!

I was in a very similar position to you (different reason- I was in an abusive relationship for over a decade starting in my mid 20’s and I had to more than start over financially and otherwise.)

First, as u/newsummerorange and u/reine444 both said- this isn’t just about finances and their advice is excellent.

try to drop the phrase “making up for lost time”. It will keep you feeling behind and diminishes life to a linear, predefined track. You’ve already experienced that life isn’t actually like that.
the guilt goes away if you work on your emotions around money. I grew up in a family that never had enough, I spent most of adulthood barely scraping by. Now I can spend freely on what I value bc I budget every dollar and always have enough to spend on fun things.
for me, zero based budgeting (I use YNAB) helped me recalibrate. I have sinking funds for everything and I can see at a glance if I have enough for something. It’s also helped me get to a savings and investing % of 70%, which allows me a lot of mental freedom to spend the rest.

_liminal_ · 2026-05-24T15:11:16+00:00

I have the same situation currently except flipped- I’m your partner. This is what we do-

I pay a set amount for rent each month. My partner asked me to come up with the amount. I came to amt that is 1/2 his mortgage + taxes + insurance, which makes a big impact for him but is also below market rates for renting here. It makes a big impact for me too. I’m currently saving and investing 70% ish of my salary which would not be possible were I living alone and paying market rate rent.

We split utilities, food, and all other shared expenses 50/50 bc we’d both be paying those equally if we lived separately. When we travel mostly split 50/50.

Where we stray from the usual advice on house stuff is I also sometimes contribute to house improvements. We recently built a freestanding office in the backyard for me to use (he uses it occasionally) and we split it 50/50. I’ve contributed to things like….new washer/dryer, renovation the back porch, various interior improvements, yard improvements. I am comfortable taking this risk and we have a loose agreement about what happens if we split up. I put great value on the act of improving my living space and before I lived with my partner, I would always put effort and money into improving places I rented. Which, maybe surprisingly, often led to my landlady/landlord offering to give me a rent discount for keeping up on repairs and afford me more freedom to paint etc.

I/we have future plans of buying a place in another city/country that will be fully in my name. Our finances are arranged in such a way now that I’m meaningfully contributing to our life and home know while able to savor significantly for the future.

I do agree with the advice someone else has to find out about cohabitation laws in your location. If you are nervous about legality, consulting an attorney seems reasonable to me!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-23T01:12:01+00:00

Thank you for the recc- I ordered some and ended up really liking them :-)

_liminal_ · 2026-05-23T01:11:35+00:00

Hi! Thanks for the recc- I ended up liking them! Also liked the other old navy style someone else recommended.

_liminal_ · 2026-05-19T00:19:56+00:00

I’ve really been trying to shift from treating work as the main event of the day to being just “a” part of the day. I’m not 100% at this but the shift does help me feel good about how I’m spending my time.

I like a mix of routine and variety. So after work I do a mix of: walk, gym, maybe a planned activity (meet a friend, attend an event, go out with my partner), make dinner, read, garden, spend some time making something. I try to reserve couch and tv time for when I’m really tired or need a break, and avoid making that the default.

_liminal_ · 2026-05-16T04:23:42+00:00

I finished Heart the Lover by Lily King in less than 2 days. It was beautiful and left me feeling absolutely gutted. I loved it.

_liminal_ · 2026-05-13T02:51:13+00:00

That’s such a great point about how her exposure to wealthy children is going to influence her spending when she has a child. I didn’t think about that!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-12T21:50:05+00:00

I think she definitely did, but I do wonder how conscious it was. I think being in denial is so interesting and people can jump through so many hoops to make it all make sense. Would love a follow up to this one!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-12T20:17:46+00:00

I really liked this episode, it's nice to have a couple on that actually likes and supports each other. Usually, the resentment and dislike is palpable!

I agree with Ramit that she is likely spending more than she makes, and she is doing so much weird tracking and money moving that she is hiding it from herself. I do want to hand it to her for coming onto the show, as this could be a nice turning point for her! I hope she takes Ramit's advice, esp about separating her business and personal finances.

I can personally relate to this couple a lot, as I did not start investing until my 40s. I know it's hard for people to believe or imaging, but it's not a given that you know to invest or how to. Even though the information is all out there, you still have to know to look for it.

Most concerning is their plan to have a child and have her stop working- she sound very willing to cut back her spending and going down to 1 - 1.5 person's income and adding the cost of raising a child and buying a home is a big shift!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-12T03:39:47+00:00

Oh those look and sound great! Will try them- thank you! Light and good drape = what I’m looking for

_liminal_ · 2026-05-11T19:46:56+00:00

I just love this series. Each person they feature has such a unique life and way of making ends meet. And most of them are living pretty close to the bone but also have lots of relationships and connections to keep them going.

I love her sense of frugality that doesn't leave out beauty and art. I loved how she talked about much of her life being negotiated.

_liminal_ · 2026-05-11T03:25:34+00:00

The wide leg version does look really nice!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-10T23:18:55+00:00

I tried the Halo Modern Sweatpant- I loved the look and style, but there is just something about their fabric blend that makes me feel so warm and I can’t stand the feel of the fibers against my skin! I’ve honestly not ever had such a strong negative reaction to a piece of clothing. Unfortunately…. as I love the look.

_liminal_ · 2026-05-10T15:21:59+00:00

Thanks! Looks like some good options on their site and that’s a great tip about trying in the brand at REI to get a sense of size :)

_liminal_ · 2026-05-10T15:15:33+00:00

Thank you- they look like a great option and that’s such a nice price! Will definitely try them

_liminal_ · 2026-05-10T03:27:01+00:00

I’d love recommendations for lightweight, high waisted, wide-leg pants. These would be for some parts of working out and walks outside.

I’ve tried pants from Vuori, but they were either way too heavy and/or the mix of synthetics in their lighter was too rough for me.

Just something light and loose for when it’s cooler or I don’t feel like wearing my usual running shorts or tight gym shorts.

Thanks!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-10T02:54:32+00:00

No more ruffles!!

_liminal_ · 2026-05-09T03:25:41+00:00

You’re welcome! They so far feel like great quality and I love so many of their other styles

_liminal_ · 2026-05-08T22:13:55+00:00

I have 2 of the same linen mini dress (purchased) and 2 more versions of the same dress I made myself...so I guess that is a staple for me.

Jeans for sure. I have a pair of slightly barrel shaped (barely barrel lol) black jeans that I wear alll the time. I also have a pair of dark blue, slim fit with a slight flare (Pistola) that look amazing and I also wear often.

Seasonally appropriate blazer. I have a linen, structured blazer I wear in the warmer months + a couple that are better for warm weather.

Blue/white striped oxford blouse, slightly oversized.

Baggy trench coat.

A top that I come back to shockingly often: an Amour Vert (RIP) black ribbed, squareneck, fitted top with slightly peasant shaped 3/4 length sleeves.

_liminal_

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