A Week In Hornsby Heights, Sydney, As An Architect On $72,000

Occupation: Architect
Industry: Construction
Age: 27
Location: Hornsby Heights, Sydney
Salary: $72,000 plus super (my husband's salary is $86,000 plus super)
Net Worth: $894,066.88. $746,250 in home equity (including $83,850 cash sitting in our redraw facility and $120,000 in capital gains since we purchased our home and had it re-valued). $2,700 cash in separate transaction accounts. $12,932.29 invested in a few broad-based ETFs, tracking different indexes. $42,674.84 in my super. $89,509.75 in my husband's super. All of my finances are shared equally with my Husband. We have all shared accounts, except our separate super accounts and our investment account is in my name but he knows exactly what is in it. I'm also not including our two cars as assets, they depreciate and it's hard to know their actual value.
Savings:
Debt: $723,750 remaining on our mortgage. I'm tempted to start using a credit card and pay it off every month to accumulate points but I haven't actioned this yet or chosen which card would suit us the best.
Paycheque Amount (Monthly): $2,083.23 
Pronouns: She/Her

Mortgage repayments: $4975.06 (our current rate is 6.09%). We bought our home in 2022. It's a four-bedroom, single-storey, detached, brick home. Currently, it's just myself, my husband and our cat living here.
Offset account fee: $10
Council rates (quarterly): $486.10
Water: $100
Electricity: $100
Internet: $60.51
Phone plans: $72.73
Fuel: $150
Spotify: $17.99
Disney+: $13.99 Disney+ (we use the family's shared Netflix and Stan accounts)
Kayo: $11 (this is our share of a joint account)
Extra mortgage contribution: $1,200
Other investments (monthly): $250
Car expenses: $3,700 (insurance, rego, services annually)
Home insurance: $2,300 annually
Vet: $150 annually

Yes, I have received both my bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture. I am very fortunate and privileged to have a family that prioritises education. My family paid for both my degrees, and my brother's, as they knew it would set us up for a good future. The caveat was, if I failed subjects or didn't show I was dedicated, they would stop and I would need to use HECS to pay for future study. It has been a huge head start not having to worry about a HECS debt, and not having STSL payments reduce my pay cheque amount or borrowing capacity. I acknowledge I am extremely lucky to be in this situation.

We were always encouraged to save as much of the money we received as possible. I was never particularly good at this and generally blew it all on whatever the 'it' item was at the time, but my brother saved tirelessly. I'm unsure if this is an older child thing, or if the fact our parent's situation changed for the better between my brother and I being born meant we observed and learned money behaviours very differently. Despite being told by my parents countless times, I didn't have a lot of foresight that whatever money I could save would be far more helpful in the future. I learned this later through my own mistakes.

I got my first job just before I turned 15, it was at KFC. I got it because one of my friends was talking about getting a job, so I wanted one too, although she didn't go through with it. It taught me a good work ethic from a young age and gave me a disposable income and more independence. While I saved very little, it did teach me that earning money means work, and it doesn't come very easily. 

I think I was more worried about not having the things that money could buy and I cared a lot about having the same things as my peers. My family don't really value material possessions, which I didn't understand at the time, but am very thankful for now. I was never particularly aware of any financial struggles growing up. My parents managed to pay off their mortgage before my brother and I were born, so I think this eased a lot of potential financial strain and meant they could be around more when we were young. My dad also was self-employed, so I remember many instances of him having to work late and over weekends. He says it was the best financial decision they could have made, and it more than doubled his income within the first year of starting his business. I would say money still isn't discussed very often, I've never known my parents' salaries or net worth, I just know they are comfortable.

Yes, I would say almost daily. I'm not a natural saver, but I've learnt that I can if I have a clear goal. Although, I never feel like we have enough money, as the goalposts are always moving further away and most of our money is tied up in assets. I find tracking the impact of making extra mortgage repayments and using compound interest calculators motivating, as they allow me to forecast what our future could look like if we save our money now. I do worry about the cost of having kids and us needing to take a step back from work to start a family.

25, when my partner and I bought our house. I was living at home prior, and whilst I bought everything for myself, it was an enormous help having a lot of the housing costs covered. If I had moved out sooner, I doubt we would have been able to save as much for our deposit and we probably would have bought an apartment instead or we would be renting. 

I received $70,000 in inheritance when my Grandpa passed away, shortly after we purchased our property. He had a very decent share portfolio of blue-chip Australian companies which did very well for him. It solidified my opinion that buying and holding equities is a great means of wealth creation. My husband also held an investment property for eight years, which we sold to buy our place. It was a regional property that more than doubled throughout COVID. He bought it with a $60k deposit while working a minimum-wage job before we met. It was also consistently rented out and was positively geared for more than half of the eight years. Upon settlement, we were left with $290k cash, however $42k of it went to a capital gains tax bill. I'm very grateful that a past decision he made set us up very positively.  

5:47am: Z wakes us up meowing to go outside, I roll out of bed bleary-eyed, let him out and climb back into bed. (For context, we don’t let Z outside when it’s dark, we don’t think it’s responsible as we live very close to the bush and cats are detrimental to native wildlife. Luckily, he doesn’t seem interested, but it’s better to be safe.)

7:19am: Z is meowing at our window to come back inside for breakfast. This is our usual wake-up routine, he’s still pretty young (just over a year) and a fairly clingy cat. I stay up this time and make myself an instant Vittoria coffee. I sit on the couch to enjoy it before I have to log on for the day. It’s a WFH day for me today, although we are normally required to start the week in the office.

7:55am: I make another instant coffee and migrate into the home office to start my day. We have to get a round of visualisations out to the client by COB today for an updated council submission.

9:30am: I take a break to make breakfast, today is scrambled eggs with avocado on toast. I also take my prenatal multivitamin, we found out last Friday we’re expecting a baby! I’m currently five weeks along. J has woken up and is making himself a coffee. He is a barber, and his week is Tuesday-Saturday, so today is his day off. I eat my breakfast at my desk while waiting for my render to process.

12:00pm: I make a flat white using the new Breville machine I got J for Christmas, it’s semi-automatic so it’s nice and easy to make a decent coffee! We bought the beans in bulk so $0 this week.

2:30pm: I made a smoothie for lunch, had a ripe banana, frozen strawberries, and yoghurt already at home.

4:30pm: I wrap up the visualisations and log off for the day. J and I are going to a concert tonight at the Enmore in Newtown and are getting Middle Eastern for dinner beforehand. It’s about an hour’s drive into the city from where we live.

5:30pm: Time to leave for the concert, we didn’t factor peak hour into our travel time so we have to go via toll roads, even though we could have just left earlier than we did and avoided them. Our route ended up being the Northconnex ($10.11), the M2 ($10.11), Lane Cove tunnel ($4.52) and the harbour bridge ($4.82) ($31.56 total, yuck). I’ll never understand people who say driving is cheaper than the train, it’s just more convenient. My e-tag has also stopped working so I got charged an admin processing fee for each toll. I need to enquire about getting a replacement, I don’t use toll roads very often. $31.56

6:14pm: Paid for parking ($10.45), pleasantly surprised it wasn’t $30. We quickly walk the 20 minutes to the restaurant for our 6:30pm booking. $10.45

6:34pm: We’re treating dinner tonight as a date night, so we’ve gone somewhere a bit nicer than we usually would. We ordered the mixed grill (it came with chicken and lamb kofta, lamb rump, shish tawook, flat bread, hummus, garlic dip and chips), Fattoush and tiger prawns. $102.92

8:09pm: Got ice cream from Cow and Moon, I would describe it as a Newtown institution. There is always a huge line, especially when the weather is hot ($16.80) I got Stracciatella and lamington, and I got J Stracciatella and peanutzilla. He let me choose for him because he was minding us a table outside. $16.80

8:40pm: The main act is coming on at 9.00pm so we have our way inside the venue. We didn’t know the support, so we decided to give them a miss tonight.

10:07pm: I bought water ($4.53) because it was way too hot inside the venue, too many people for the air-con to cool it down effectively. $4.53

10:40pm: Time to drive home, I didn’t set our GPS to a no-toll route, so we get onto the Westconnex toll road completely unnecessarily ($5.96). $5.96

11:30pm: Home, time to shower, brush my teeth and go to bed. Z was asleep next to the front door waiting for us to come home.

Daily Total: $172.22

8:20am: Wake up time. Regular coffees, multivitamin and get ready for the day. I have the day off from work today and I’m planning to go to the doctor. 

10:00am: I make my way to the doctor, it’s bulk billing so I won’t have to pay anything out of pocket for today.

11:40am: I’m done at the doctor, I had to have a fair few tests done to confirm the pregnancy. Both the nurses who helped me with my pregnancy test and blood test were lovely, but after confirming I was positive, the doctor did ask me if I was married and if I wanted to keep the pregnancy? I’m a bit baffled that he thought they were appropriate questions to ask someone nowadays. I haven’t had breakfast yet, so I stop at Coles and grab a carton of eggs, a half loaf of bread and some spinach ($10.30). $10.30

11:50am: I’m home and making the same breakfast as yesterday.

12:00pm: I need to make an exchange at Bunnings for some paint I bought last weekend, we only need the smaller size paint tin for the remaining area. It comes out $15 cheaper so (+$15 for the week). We’ve been painting the house over the last month or so, we made of lot of progress when we had time off after Christmas, but it’s slowed down a bit now that we’re both back at work full-time.

1:05pm: I’m back home and I make a flat white and have a slice of banana bread that I made over the weekend. I’m trying to stick to one stronger coffee a day to limit my caffeine intake while pregnant, from what I’ve read, the amount I’m having is within the range of what is considered ‘safe’. I switch on Prime Video to finish the second episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty while updating today’s diary entry. I’m not sold on this show, but it is very easy to watch, and I want to ask J’s little sister what she thought then I finish it. I’m using the 30-day free trial of Prime so, free!

4:10pm: I make a cheese toastie with tomato ketchup.

6:50pm: Time to start prepping dinner. We’re having oven-roasted salmon fillets with salad and a side of roast potatoes that we bought on the weekend ($0 this week). J doesn’t get home until after 7, so plenty of time to get it ready.

8:30pm: Dessert!! Ice cream and Ice Magic I bought last week, Ice Magic is underrated and not just for kids. I am very pleased with past me’s decision.

9:50pm: Time for bed, I have to go into the office tomorrow so I prep my lunch and snacks for the day.

Daily Total: $10.30

6:00am: My alarm goes off, I need to go to the office today. I get out of bed, feed Z and let him outside. I then put on some sunscreen and makeup, get dressed and make a coffee.

6:40am: I pack my lunch and walk out the door ready to drive to the station

7:04am: Time to get on the train ($2.86), I feel a bit nauseous on the train today, this is the first time I’ve felt sick since finding out. $2.86

7:52am: I arrive at town hall; I work a block away from the station so it’s an easy commute. I make a coffee when I get to the office and start working through a report for a different project.

10.00am: It’s time for the office coffee run, I go along for the walk but don’t buy a coffee, I’ve been trying to cut back the amount of coffee I buy to save some cash.

10:12am: We get back into the office and I make some toast for breakfast. I finish the last of the office peanut butter, and resort to almond butter for my second slice. I’m using the office supplies so $0.

12.27pm: The morning has dragged on but now it’s time for lunch! My mum only works in the office on Wednesdays, so I walk to meet her. We walk towards Darling Harbour, through The Rocks, and back down towards the QVB. The lobby in Mum’s building is giving out lolly bags but we decide to pass, the selection doesn’t look that exciting. We didn’t stop to buy anything on our walk because we both brought our lunch with us. When I get back to the office I heat up my lunch and eat at my desk. Today is my attempt at the TikTok salmon rice bowls. I use some leftover rice, a tin of tuna (I had no salmon), avocado, sriracha kewpie mayo and seasoned seaweed sheets, it tastes pretty good!

3:30pm: I jump into a briefing meeting about a project kicking off tomorrow. It’s a feasibility for a client who is performing due diligence before potentially purchasing a development site. These projects normally have a very quick turnaround, but they can lead to future opportunities if the client goes ahead with the site. 

4:20pm: The meeting is wrapped up, and I know what I need to start working on tomorrow. I finish up for the day and head to the station. I manage to make an express train ($2.86)! It always feels a lot nicer skipping stops and getting home a little bit faster. $2.86

5:15pm: Back home now, Z greets me as usual, I think he gets lonely when he’s home alone all day. I eat a slice of banana bread. J and I have dinner with my family on Wednesday, so I don’t need to prep anything. I have a quick shower and wash my face, ready to go out again later.

6:20pm: Mum messages me that my brother is running early, which is unusual because he’s usually late. I pack up my things and jump in the car to drive over, they live about 15 minutes away from J and I.

6:37pm: I get to my parent’s house; everyone is sitting around in the kitchen chatting. Mum is making a chicken roast with veggies and gravy for dinner. Always delicious, I swear food tastes better when other people make it!

7:15pm: J arrives and tucks into his dinner too, we usually wait until everyone is here, but sometimes J is later than usual and he doesn’t mind. Mum has some leftover Christmas pudding, so we have that for something sweet after dinner.

8:37pm: Time to go home, we say thank you for dinner and leave. When we get home, I put on this week’s episode of Death and Other Details on Disney+. I’m enjoying it so far, it’s a murder mystery set on a cruise ship.

9:40pm: Time for bed! 

Daily Total: $5.72

5:05am: Z is awake, so I let him outside and climb back into bed

7:20am: J is getting up for the day, so I do too. I’m working from home again, so I don’t have to wake up super early. I have my usual coffee and multivitamin and get ready for my day.

8:00am: I log in to work and start on my tasks for the day, we’re starting to prep the feasibility study I had the briefing meeting on yesterday.

10:20am: Breakfast time, I’m having scrambled eggs with toast and avocado… again ($0).

12:00pm: I have a client meeting about another project which is going to competition. We are discussing the preparation of the briefing pack for the other competitors but want to limit our IP being included.

1:05pm: The client meeting is over, so I have a quick catchup call with the team about the progress of the feasibility. 

1:40pm: Time for my lunch break, I have to go back to the doctor for my blood test results from Tuesday. I’m feeling a bit rushed, but I’m hoping it’s a good time of day to go with shorter wait times than usual. The doctor I’m going to doesn’t allow you to book appointment times, so it’s first come first served.

2:20pm: I’m all done at the doctor, the wait was surprisingly short, I suspect it was because this was a follow-up appointment, and I was only in his office very briefly. I didn’t realise I have to wait six weeks to get my first ultrasound and another blood test before I can get the hospital and obstetrician referral from the GP. I drive back home and throw together a cheese toastie and a banana and strawberry smoothie for lunch.

2:30pm: I eat my lunch at my desk while getting back into work. I get distracted and check the recipe for what I’m planning to make for dinner, we’re having one pan butter chicken, the recipe is from RecipeTinEats. I realise I have forgotten to buy Greek yogurt and a lemon.

4:40pm: I log off for the day and quickly go to Coles for the extra items I need for dinner. I grab the yogurt and lemon but also some naan bread, ice cream, turmeric ($18.55). It always shocks me how much a few items cost! The ice cream was unnecessary, but it was half-price, so it would be rude not to, right? $18.55

5:30pm: I start prepping dinner, I’m pleasantly surprised at how easy this recipe is and that it predominantly uses pantry staples. I also love any recipe with minimal washing up, so anything one pan is a win!

6:40pm: Dinner takes a little longer to cook than anticipated but looks and smells great. I serve it up with rice and naan bread. J works later on Thursday, so I have my serve before he gets home while watching Stay Close on Netflix. It’s not great, but it’s watchable. 

8:05pm: J is home so I plate up his serve for him, I put on this week’s new episode of Bob’s Burgers on Disney+. J is asking about the results at the doctor and is relieved nothing negative has popped up so far. He’s a bit surprised we have to wait longer for an obstetrician referral, neither of us really know the process so we’re just taking it day by day.

9:20pm: I have a quick shower, brush my teeth and get ready for bed.

Daily Total: $18.55

6:00am: No surprises here, same morning routine as Wednesday, Friday is a compulsory office day because it’s more of a team bonding day. I get up, put some sunscreen and makeup on, get dressed and make a coffee. I have my multivitamin (we’ve hit six weeks today!), brush my teeth, clean up my hair and I’m out the door for the day. 

7:04am: I get on the train ($2.00), Friday travel is always cheaper, but my concession card is also still active from my Master’s, I’m not sure when they cut if off but I’m going to make the most of it while it still works. While on the train, I cave and decide to buy two skirt and dress I’ve been eyeing on The Iconic ($257.90). I’m thinking I’ll try them all on and just keep whatever I like the best and send the other two back, I really don’t need more clothes! They also aren’t stretchy so I don’t know how much wear I will get out of them before they don’t fit. I look at my Flo app, which tracks the pregnancy and gives us helpful information week by week. Today’s update is that the embryo is the size of a lentil and looks a bit like a tadpole, tail and all. The rate of growth and development is wild to me! $259.90

8:01am: I get into the office and use the office coffee machine. It’s just a Nespresso pod machine, but I like the hazelnut-infused pods the best. I chat to some of my co-workers who are also in the office early. It’s Lunar New Year-eve so I’m interested to hear what their plans are for this evening and over the weekend. 

10:00am: After getting my head into the feasibility we’re still working through, it’s time for the office coffee run. We generally go to the same place because they offer Shopback, so it’s 10% off your order and every 10th coffee is free! I just go for the walk today and to catch up with some of my other co-workers.

10:20am: When we get back into the office, I need to run through some of the project details with the team so we’re all on the same page with how the numbers are stacking up. I’m starving so I eat a slice of the banana bread I made last weekend.

12:00pm: I realise the office groceries arrived yesterday when I was at home, so I make a piece of vegemite toast as we have butter again.

12:38pm: I’m still hungry after the toast so I decide it’s time for lunch, and I feel like fish and chips. I walk up through the QVB to the light rail stop, wait a couple of minutes, and jump on one heading to Circular Quay ($1.12). The food court under Quay Quarter Tower has a decent Costi’s so that’s where I’m heading. I order fish and chips with half salad and tartare sauce ($15.03). $16.15

1:30pm: Back in the office, the light rail was free on my way back. I could have walked, but I didn’t want to go over my hour lunch break. I grab a tim tam from the fridge, I feel like something sweet after lunch. Our office has very good snacks, it’s a huge bonus!

4:00pm: It’s time for a coffee catch-up with a work friend, who is also my new mentor. We grab coffee from Babette in the QVB because it’s one of the few cafes still open late in the afternoon. He very kindly pays for my small flat white. We sit and chat about how everything is going. 

4:38pm: We head back to the office; I wrap up and save my work from today. Still plenty to finalise on Monday, but this report should be ready for the client early next week.

5:00pm: Friday drinks and cheese time! I can’t have the cheese or the drinks, but there are also Maltesers, cookies, fruit, dip and biscuits, yum! 

6:10pm: Train home ($1.33) J is only 1 train behind me today, which seems silly, I would have waited for him if I knew he was so close. $1.33

7:15pm: Z is waiting for me so we both head inside. Dinner tonight is very easy, it’s chicken koftas I’ve pre-made with flatbread and salad ($0). I also made them from a RecipeTinEat’s recipe, but I subbed out the lamb mince for chicken this time.

7:25pm: J is home, he quickly sweeps our front path while I finish dinner, he knows my parents come over on the weekend sometimes, so he wants the house to look presentable. We sit down to eat and choose to watch Paranoid on Netflix. So far it’s okay, a pretty standard Netflix murder mystery, we’re both pretty uninspired by the shows to choose from recently.

9:30pm: Time for bed 

Daily Total: $277.38

6:10am: J gets up for the day, he starts early on Saturday and drives in because parking is free on the weekend

7:19am: Z is meowing so I get up for the day and give him breakfast while I make a coffee. I have my multivitamin and sit down on the couch with my coffee, I start scrolling Instagram, which is a habit I would like to stop but it’s also nice to have a slow morning.

9:00am: It’s raining today but I still have some washing I have to do; it’s going to have to be a dryer day. I call Mum to check if she and Dad are still up for a coffee this morning.

11:08am: I’m getting brunch with my parents; they come and pick me up and say hi to Z. Mum brought a usb with her because she would like a copy of all our wedding photos from last year. 

11:38pm: We get to the café, Mum and I order coffee, I get a small to limit my caffeine somewhat, and Dad gets a milkshake. I also get the vegetarian breakfast (it comes with scrambled eggs, toast, mushrooms, avocado, tomatoes, and haloumi), Dad gets a Rueben with chips and Mum gets a toastie, Mum ends up paying so ($0). There’s a long-haired dachshund at the café, his name is Beans and he’s very fun. I think we’d like to get a dog if we were home more, currently I don’t think it’s very feasible. My parents are currently looking into buying a new lounge, so they show me some photos of ones they have seen for my opinion. We all have different tastes so I’m not sure I was particularly helpful in narrowing it down. My breakfast is too much to finish, so I end up leaving half a piece of toast and we decide to head off.

12.40pm: I’m back home, I put on another load of washing and fold the first one to put away. Saturday is normally the day I like to get chores done, as J is home on Sundays.

2:30pm: I decide to have a quick bath and feel relaxed and refreshed. I didn’t make it too hot, which is another thing I’ve learnt pregnant women should avoid.

3:41pm: I walk up to J’s mum’s house; she sent me a message asking how I was feeling and if we needed anything. She’s only a two-minute walk up the street. J’s sister and uncle are also there so we make tea and sit around chatting. I let J know so he can drop in on his way home too.

4:50pm: J has arrived, along with his middle sister, her partner, and his smallest niece. This is typical for J’s family, there are always people around. J’s uncle’s new thing is he wants to get into drop shipping to become a millionaire, so we listen to his plan.

6:00pm: We decide to head home. When we’re back, I make J a coffee with the Breville machine and he sits down on the couch, he doesn’t feel great after work. We’ve both been trying to learn how to do latte art, J is getting better at it and I’m still terrible. I palm my art off as abstract.

6:45pm: We’re having nachos for dinner tonight, I’ve already made the chilli con carne, so it’s an easy dinner to throw together. J goes outside and cleans up in the garden while dinner is in the oven. 

7:00pm: I serve our nachos with guacamole, and we sit down to watch another episode of Paranoid on Netflix.

8:30pm: We both have some ice-cream and finish off the bottle of Ice Magic. 

9:40pm: I end up falling asleep on the couch, which is embarrassingly standard for me on Saturday evenings. Normally when J realises I’m asleep, he switches the TV over to Kayo to watch the basketball, or whatever sport is in season.

11:50pm: I wake up, brush my teeth, and relocate to bed. 

Daily Total: $0

6:00am: Z Is awake so I let him outside and go back to bed.

8:00am: He’s back at our window meowing for his breakfast, so I get up for the day too. I make a coffee, have my vitamin, and sit on the couch. Z walks over and jumps on the cushion next to me for a morning nap. 

9:19am: I message J’s little sister, she wanted to walk up to the local café and get a coffee this morning, but she didn’t mention a time. We agree on 10:30am so I have plenty of time to get ready, and for J to get up for the day too.

10:30am: We walk up to J’s mum’s house to all walk to the café together, it’s only about a 15-minute walk to the cafe. It ends up being J’s mum, sister and niece coming to the café. The adults all get coffee, we get a toasted banana bread to share, and his niece gets a bacon and egg roll. They have decent deals when you buy food with coffee so our share is only $14.18. $14.18

12:00pm: We head back home, J’s sister pops over to our place quickly for a haircut, and J’s niece plays with Z.

12:30pm: We say bye as they walk back home. We’re heading to Bunnings quickly to get a drill bit and some command strips. We’re planning to hang frames in our bedroom today. We also ordered new shutters last year which arrived during the week, so we would like to install them too.

1:00pm: We are very quick at Bunnings, we choose a small 2mm hex head drill bit for the job ($5.50) and buy the pack of command strips we need for the frames ($127.24, ouch). We have both decided we prefer command strips over picture hooks, as the frames stay level and don’t shift with any house movements. $132.74

1:30pm: On our way home we stop at Coles to do the weekly shop ($132.40). We buy bread rolls, iced vovo finger buns (they sounded too good not to try and we’ve been seeing Instagram reviews of people trying them), coleslaw, avocado, mushrooms, cabbage, bananas, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, pizzas, chicken mince, salmon fillets, chicken thigh burgers, milk, tinned tomatoes, stir fry sauce, pickles, frozen vegetables, and frozen chips. $132.40

1:40pm: Back home to quickly clean up inside and vacuum before J’s uncle comes over for a haircut (+$30 for the haircut). He brings over a slice as a thank you too, it’s J’s aunt's signature chocolate and coconut slice, and it’s delicious. He’s asking how I’m feeling as his daughter is currently two months ahead in her pregnancy and is struggling with nausea and tiredness. I’m excited we’re having kids so close together so they will have family a similar age to them growing up.

2:30pm: J and I try one of the iced vovo hot cross buns, they are quite good, the reviews are right that they’re like finger buns without icing. We start measuring where to hang the frames and mark out the level we are going to hang them at. We’re hanging 12 frames in a grid, so it takes a bit over an hour. 

3:40pm: We move on to assembling and hanging the shutter for our bedroom window. First, the frame has to be put together and screwed into the window frame. Then we secured the shutter doors with the hinge pins provided. We’re pleased with the look of the shutter, and it seems to block light well. I’m interested how well it will work tomorrow morning.

6:15pm: It’s dinner time, we’re having the fresh pizzas you can buy at Coles for an easy Sunday dinner. We got a BBQ chicken and bacon and pepperoni pizza. We added mushrooms and extra BBQ sauce to the chicken one, makes it more interesting. We turn on Bob’s burgers while we eat, it’s our go-to if we don’t feel like choosing a series to start.

9:20pm: I have a shower, wash my hair, brush my teeth and it’s time for bed. 

Daily Total: $279.32

In case anyone is wondering, The Iconic order arrived and it's all getting sent back!