The $76K Project: Reboot

Before my son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I was generally aware of the overblown price of insulin but admittedly hadn't paid much attention to the details of this particular issue. Now that it's become personal, that has, of course, changed. According to the JDRF, insulin can cost upwards of $300 per vial and $1000 per month , which is bananas considering that a) people with Type 1 diabetes literally depend on insulin for their survival and b) back in 1923,  the inventors of insulin sold their patent for just $1  because they believed everyone who needs it should have access to this lifesaving drug.  Keep in mind that insulin is not optional when you have T1D, an autoimmune disease that as far as we know is unpreventable. Before insulin's invention, people diagnosed with T1D lived for only months, maybe a year at most. You can't lifehack your way out of this chronic illness and insulin is a must. Nowadays, drug companies make big bucks off insulin. Are there pr

My 15-year-old son started feeling sick at the beginning of April. First he had a cold (or maybe allergies), which morphed into relentless exhaustion and general malaise. He cut back on his favorite hobby, climbing, as his energy dipped. He was constantly hungry and always thirsty. Several missed school days, one visit to urgent care, and a handful of negative diagnostic tests (mono, covid, and strep) later, he still felt terrible. When he developed sudden and excruciating stomach pain, we rushed him to the ER, where he received IV fluids and had his blood drawn. The immediate verdict: Type 1 diabetes.  Also, he was in diabetic ketoacidosis, which can lead to coma and death, so he had to be admitted immediately. I've never seen medical professionals go from 0 to 100 so quickly! He spent a couple of nights in the PICU and another two days in the general pediatrics ward. While in the hospital, our whole family received an intensive crash course in diabetes: what it is, why and when i

A bit of good personal news: I found out I earned a 10 percent raise after my recent performance review, bringing my salary to $55K!  This follows on the heels of the 11 percent raise that came with my promotion at the end of last year. In total, my earnings are now approximately 20 percent over what they were a year ago. I hope that doesn't sound braggy. I've struggled with almost every job I've ever had, so to be in this position for this long and to be doing well in a role is a real triumph for me. I'm proud of myself. A recap of my recent job history: until the end of 2020, I was working part-time as an adjunct faculty member at a local college. The flexibility was nice, but like many folks who teach at the college level, I was paid a pittance and received no benefits whatsoever. When COVID hit and my partner quit his teaching job, I busted my butt to get a full-time position, which eventually led me to customer service for my current company.  They offered me $45K

Almost exactly five years after starting our debt payoff journey, it looks like we're finally -- FINALLY! -- in the home stretch. We're aiming to be completely debt-free by the end of this summer! Taking a look back: In April of 2017, we were in debt to the tune of more than $76K: One car loan ($1,800) Two student loans ($53,000 combined) Three high-interest credit cards ($22,000 combined) Plus a campground membership that we didn't discuss much ($5,000) Soooooo yeah, more like $82K-ish, if we're being completely honest. That's a substantial number, but we were all in on bringing the total to zero. At first, we made relatively quick progress: The car loan was paid off in October 2017. We paid off all of our credit card debt in July 2018 . I paid off my student loan (approximately $12K) in January 2019 . We obliterated the campground membership in November 2019 . That left the last remaining item: the student loan elephant in the room, which accounted for nearly half

Last week was a mixed bag from a weather and training perspective. It was cold and rainy! It was warm and dry! Running was easy! Running was a slog! The best of times and the worst of times! All the things. 3/28 - 5.25 mile run in the rain after work. Temps were just above freezing so it was chilly but not slippery. This is my ideal running weather, in part because I run well when it's cool and in part because precipitation keeps other people off the trails. I had the park almost entirely to myself, with the exception of a few dedicated walkers who stop at nothing and another woman who sped past me and called out, "I see there's another crazy runner out here! It's not just me!" Definitely my favorite workout of the week. 3/29 - Day off (from running, not work, unfortunately) 3/30 - 5.40 mile run 3/31 - 5.5 mile run after filing taxes 4/1 - Day off from working out 4/2 - 15 mile long run. I was looking forward to this workout, but for the first hour, I may as

March is over! How?!?  Time is flying by, but when I stop to reflect, I realize that quite a bit has transpired in the past few weeks: 1. My kid and partner took a trip across the country for spring break! This was our (well, their - I stayed home because a. I had to work and b. plane tickets are breathtakingly expensive) first travel-heavy adventure since the autumn of 2019.  Although the airfare was pricy, they were able to stay with our relatives the whole time. My generous father-in-law even lent them his car so they wouldn't have to rent one. In the end, the cost evened out to something reasonable.  By all accounts, much fun was had with the parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, and pets.  Definitely worth the time, the travel hassles (including one major delay and a subsequent sprint to a connecting flight), and the money. 2. I read eight books: The Searcher - Tana French Mirrorland - Carole Johnstone And Then She Disappeared - Lisa Gardner One Step Too Far - Lisa Gardner