A Week In Eastern Oklahoma On A $350,000 Income

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Occupation: Emergency Physician
Industry: Medicine
Age: 31
Location: Eastern Oklahoma
My Income: roughly $350,000
My Husband's Salary: $86,000
Paycheck Amount (Biweekly): It varies wildly — generally $7,000 to $10,000 per paycheck, after deductions. I make $175/hour, but $195/hour on night shifts.
My Husband's Paycheck Amount (Monthly): $5,600 from his main job and $2,000 from his second job. We have separate checking accounts but joint savings; we find it's much easier for each of us to keep track of our individual spending that way.

Monthly Expenses
Mortgage: $1,700 (comes out of my account)
Student Loan Payment: $6,627 (My husband pays $700 of this.)
Auto Loan: $600 (My husband pays. We have three cars, and two are paid off.)
Utilities/Gas/Electricity: $250
Internet: $80 (We don't have cable.)
Cell phone: $99 for my husband and $50 for me. (I'm still on my parents' plan and just pay them for my share.)
Lawn Care: $80 per week, about three times a month
HelloFresh: $59.99 per week about three times a month
Gym Membership: $36
Life & Disability Insurance: $73.38
Malpractice Insurance: $0 (My work pays.)
Health Insurance: $222 (My husband pays.)
Home/Car Insurance: $289 (My husband pays.)
Tithe: Roughly 10% of whatever we make after tax — we each pay separately out of our separate checking accounts.
401(k): 6% of my paycheck with a 3% employer match
Savings: Anything over $6,500 per paycheck gets automatically dumped into a high-interest savings account.
Donations: $285 (to charity and supporting missionaries)

5 a.m. — I get home after working the night shift. I have trouble settling in and I buy what turns out to be a really dumb romance novel — but hey, it helps me fall asleep. $12.99

11 a.m. — I wake up. I feel really weird, which is par for the course post-night shift. My husband, B., makes black bean chili and I have half a bowl and save the rest for later. I try to take a nap but am unsuccessful.

3 p.m. — B. and I have sex, and he ruins me. Ahem. I have just enough time to catch a short post-coital nap (finally! We should've done this hours ago!) before it's time to get up for work. I decide my eyeliner from yesterday looks okay enough, but swipe off my mascara raccoon eyes with micellar water, and then moisturize. I get some coffee from our coffee pot, put 2% milk in it, kiss my husband (he's leaving for a short business trip), and I'm off to work at 5.

6 p.m. — Work is busy but not insane. The crew decides on food from the local Japanese place and I order a sushi roll. My charge nurse warns me that the cake in the break room is super disappointing. A little later, I get coffee from the break room. That cake looks awesome! I grab a bite, and...it is exactly as disappointing as my nurse said it would be. She laughs at me when I get back to the desk. $13.07

1 a.m. — Things are starting to calm down, so it's time to eat. I have the rest of my bean chili and some sweet peppers. There are tortilla chips sitting at the nurse's station and I grab a handful...or two.

4:30 a.m. — I finish my shift on a super sad and frustrating note after diagnosing someone with cancer. They were devastated and I felt helpless and I'm so tired and just — ugh. I cry all the way home. Then I can't fall asleep because B. isn't home. I finally drop off at around 7 a.m.

11:30 a.m. — I claw my way out of sleep. I'd meant to wake up earlier to go to church, but that obviously didn't happen. As I'm brushing my teeth, my boss texts and asks if I can come in to work for a few hours. (Sigh.) I make toast with peanut butter and have coffee with 2% milk and honestly, avoid texting her back. After a little bit I feel guilty enough that I do respond, and she tells me that she's going to try to get someone else to come in. I do our work schedule, so I work on that instead.

1 p.m. — She found someone else to cover! Yes! We are understaffed right now and everyone is having to pitch in, and I don't mind doing my part, but the thought of working today makes me want to cry again. I do a couple of chores and text friends, then chip away at the work schedule some more.

4 p.m. — B. is home! I'm so happy to see him. We chat for a couple hours and I order us sandwiches from Jimmy John's. We eat, then he starts playing video games (we are both gamers), and I pass out on the couch around 9. $17.18

11 p.m. — Aaaand I'm awake. I take melatonin, brush my teeth, get in bed...and lay awake for several hours. Great.

4:50 a.m. — It is too early to even be alive. I got maybe three hours of sleep and now I have work at 6 a.m. I drag myself into the shower. I use Origins Checks and Balances face wash and it is the main thing that keeps my skin clear. As I'm putting on my scrubs, I contemplate making breakfast...yeah, no. Fuck it, I'm going to Starbucks this morning. I get a hazelnut latte and some breakfast sandwich or other, and a chicken wrap for later. $19.66

10 a.m. — I come up for air at work, and it's time for more cafe au lait. I take a moment to order groceries through my Walmart app. I gave in to the whole grocery pickup thing a while back when my neurologic condition got bad. Not having to push a cart or manipulate items was a lifesaver for a while there. I'm doing better right now, but I'm admittedly hooked on the convenience. It charges me when I order, and I'll pick it up tomorrow. $61.79

1 p.m. — Oh my gosh, work is so busy! I shove my chicken wrap and cucumber and apple slices in my mouth one bite at a time between patients. Somewhere in there, B. texts me that the little addition we are planning to our house will start construction next week. Boo, money. But yay, patio!

3 p.m. — Drugs are bad, kids. Especially bath salts. Don't do those.

6:30 p.m. — I finally leave work. My shift "ended" at 5, but you can't just abandon people because it's quitting time. I pick up Panda Express for dinner on the way home — black pepper chicken and chow mein for me, and steak and chow mein for B. I eat, and then work more on this blasted work schedule. I think it's finished now. Maybe. Please. $14.65

9 p.m. — B. and I watch some YouTube videos and talk for a couple hours. Then I wash my face, put on a sleeping pack, and climb in bed around 11:30.

8 a.m. — I wake from a nightmare just as B. walks in the bedroom to kiss me goodbye. He has a regular 9 to 5 job, so he's headed to work. I lay around in bed for a while and pet our cats — we have three, which is both too few and way too many. My hands are feeling weak from my messed up schedule the past few days, and I can't decide if I need more sleep or not. Changing from nights to days is the fucking worst.

10 a.m. — I have dry cereal and some coffee (with milk obviously) while I watch an episode of The Ancient Magus' Bride. It's an anime, and in true anime fashion, most of the episodes are sad, but this one is adorable and sweet.

11:30 a.m. — I go pick up the groceries: 2% milk, orange juice, old-fashioned oats, a big bottle of Excedrin Migraine, raw honey, mango chunks, crudite, a Nourish Bowl, cheese sticks, and two Evol frozen meals. There were two things I ordered that they didn't have, so they don't charge me for those. I always feel a little bit guilty when I get my groceries these days because I used to be a dedicated meal prepper, but I can't manipulate cooking utensils with my hands reliably anymore, due to my condition. I realize I forgot peanut butter, which is a big problem in my house, and toilet paper, which I assume would be a problem in anyone's house. Whatever. I feel like crap, so I just go home. By the time I unload the groceries, my hands are exhausted.

2:30 p.m. — I realize I haven't eaten, so I have my Nourish Bowl. Then I spend some time studying, since it's easy on the hands and you never, ever stop learning in medicine! Today I learn more about how to put a big IV in the neck, which is a fairly new procedure the way they're doing it. B. gets home after work and isn't feeling well, poor guy.

8 p.m. — I go get Chili's for us for dinner ($31.38). While I'm out, I finally get peanut butter and toilet paper, and impulse buy Nutella and hard-boiled eggs ($23.19). I have salmon, broccoli, and rice, and B. has chicken, broccoli, and rice for dinner. We watch an episode of Salt Fat Acid Heat, chat for a while, and head to bed around 11. $54.57

6:45 a.m. — Loving my job makes it a bit easier to get up, considering I'm anything but a morning person. My hands are feeling good today, and I decide to be fancy and put makeup on. Then B. informs me that after today we're out of coffee beans, which feels like a personal failure considering the only thing I accomplished yesterday was getting groceries. Twice. I make my usual peanut butter toast and coffee, and run.

7:30 p.m. — I drag my ass home from work. It was extra chaotic today AND my period started today, which is the worst combination. I know I ate...things...during the day. Slice of pizza. Mango chunks. Pecans. A cookie, I think? A lot of ibuprofen, I know that. To amuse myself, when I get home I shake my boobs at my husband while he's on the phone and cackle when it distracts him.

8:30 p.m. — My hands are still feeling good, so I decide to be wild and cook! I make one of our HelloFresh meals: tilapia tacos. All their stuff is delicious, and this is no exception. We talk about the day over dinner. Then I rot my brain on Facebook while B. plays video games for a while before bed. I decide to pay a little extra on one of our student loans — I hate our loans and I just want them gone, but it'll be another five years or so. $300

6:45 a.m. — The alarm goes off and holy cramps, Batman. My insides feel like they're eating themselves and I have a vicious period headache. I can't do this today. I roll over and put my face on my husband's chest.

7:10 a.m. — I finally decide maybe I can get out of bed. I shower and get ready in a rush since work is at 8. I make my standard peanut butter toast and coffee with 2% milk, and take a big dose of ibuprofen.

2 p.m. — Goodness, we really have a lot of critically ill patients today. It's interesting, but it means everyone needs me constantly. I take a moment when no one appears to be actively dying (literally) and heat up my mushroom ravioli and break open a container of pecans. I also take more Advil. I need more coffee as well, but there's no time to go down the hall and get some!

9:30 p.m. — I end my workday with a medical mystery and two post-shift hours of charting. I get Chick-fil-A on the way home — spicy chicken sandwich, fries, and lemonade. I get home and feel a bit lonely, since B. left on another business trip today. To distract myself, I poke around on Netflix for a while. Somehow I end up watching Afflicted. I thought it would be a documentary, but it seems biased and reality TV-ish. I don't get tired enough to go to bed until 2 a.m. $8

10:30 a.m. — I wake up feeling pretty good! With a migraine and bad cramps again, but emotionally, I feel good. I get in the shower and decide to try putting in my new menstrual cup. It is comfortable and it works perfectly. Hallelujah! I learned about cups in college and have never looked back. They're so much cleaner and easier.

1:30 p.m. — I realize I haven't eaten anything, and also that we are still out of coffee. I put on the kettle, make peanut butter toast, and then make a delicious caramel black tea with a splash of milk and a little rock sugar. Then, I spend a few hours doing some writing (well, dictating into Word) and finishing up a blog post for publishing. Somewhere in there, a box of coffee beans arrives! My husband got us more and didn't even tell me it was coming.

6:30 p.m. — I finish a nice long phone call with my brother, and then check my email, where I find a medical bill from my neurologist. I pay that real quick before cooking. $143.27

8:30 p.m. — It took a really long time for me to cook even though it's just chicken sausage with orzo and zucchini mixed in, mostly because my hands were getting so weak and tired by the end. But I made dinner! I rest my hands by watching the rest of Afflicted, and the production just gets cringier and cringier. Then I put on some music and tidy a bit before bed.

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