About Us Archives - Northern Expenditure

A Day in the Life of a Work-at-Home-Mom

On February 22, 2017

If you know nothing about me, you need to know that I have three children (ages 3, 6, and 9) and that I work part-time from home for a behavioral economics firm in the Midwest (I live in Alaska… if that wasn’t abundantly clear). I am privileged to be able to be a stay-at-home mom for my kids, but also earn some income doing something I love. That does not mean my days are easy. Today, I’m going to give you a typical “day in the life of Maggie.” I bet you can’t wait!

The Life of a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) and WAHM (work-at-home-mom):

5:45 AM – Get up, brush hair, throw on a sweater and set up my computer at the table for a 6AM work meeting. I keep my pajama pants on and have a heated blanket in my lap because the heat in the house doesn’t turn on until 7AM.

6:00 AM – Skype with a group in the conference room at the company’s office. (Until last week, I could just phone in to meetings and stay in my bed for them… but unfortunately, they just got Skype working and now I have to pretend I’m put together).

July 2016 Plan Update

By MaggieBanks

On August 1, 2016

In Personal Finance

July has come and gone so fast. We spent the beginning of the month at the Oregon coast with my whole extended family. Then we came home to Alaska and went dipnetting the next week and filled our freezer full of a year’s worth of salmon. Alaska is seriously so amazing. We’ve also been enjoying bowls full of fresh raspberries from our garden.

This month on the blog, we covered how to save money* in both London and the UK in general. We also came clean about being early retirement frauds and I took Mr. T’s company’s retirement newsletter to task for being terrible. We had THREE people take the Roth IRA Challenge this month in awesome posts. First Ditching the Grind talked about being a U.S. military reservist. Then Amber Tree Leaves discussed property management. And finally, The Money Mine offered a great post about couple finances. Are YOU ready to take the challenge?

We’ve also completely changed our email newsletter. I now email once a week on Saturdays and while the email does include links to the posts on the blog from the week, it also includes information I don’t share on the blog and other interesting links of research and random tidbits of information I read that don’t “fit” in the blog format. If you want to give it a try. SIGN UP over on the sidebar! (I don’t plan to annoy you with sign-up pop-ups.)

Northern Expenditure Turns 1!

By MaggieBanks

On June 27, 2016

In About the Banks

The first year of any life simultaneously speeds by and seems like forever. When I think back on where we were a year ago, it seems so distant. But every week on the blog has been such a joy, it’s gone by in a flash.

This blog was born out of a malaise with the norm. Ironically, though our situation hasn’t changed much, the blog has helped us find more joy in the current situation. Why? Because we’re doing something about it while also realizing even more that living in the present is important.

Dutch Ovens, Hockey, & Earthquakes: Another Alaskan Weekend

By MaggieBanks

On January 25, 2016

In Alaska

Living in Alaska, I start taking things for granted. I stop realizing that things we do and experience are actually odd and interesting to people outside of Alaska. Our weekend was exactly that.

The Fill-the-Bucket List

By MaggieBanks

On January 8, 2016

In Goodness

I turned 30 this past year and it wasn’t life-changing. Here’s why:

For the few years leading up to my 30th birthday, I watched several friends hit 30 first. A surprising amount of them wrote up a whole bucket list of things they wanted to accomplish before the big birthday. For most of them, the 29th year meant racing to finish a made-up list by an arbitrary deadline: the 30th birthday. I watched one friend successfully finish all 30 things on her list (which involved a lot of frantic racing the few weeks leading up to her birthday and a few all-nighters). Another friend even started a blog about the 30 things she planned to accomplish before she turned 30. I think she blogged twice that whole year. On her 30th birthday, she wrote about how she remembered how much she hated doing new things. When she turned 30, she felt bad about not hitting her goals for about ten minutes, and then she realized that was dumb. Being 30 meant she was free from the “decade of decision” and she could own who she was. Her goal after that was to have no adventures and fully enjoy what she actually likes to do.

Merry Christmas from the Banks

By MaggieBanks

On December 25, 2015

In About the Banks

We’re spending the Christmas holiday in Hawaii, so we will be taking a virtual break until the New Year when we will return on Monday, January 4 with a December plan update. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends and spend time on what is the most important. Also, I had another post planned about some little-known facts about reindeer, but Mental Floss beat me to it, so I recommend checking that out. Also, we were interviewed over at Even Steven Money so go check us out there!

Northern Expenditure Retirement Soundbite

By MaggieBanks

On November 30, 2015

In About the Banks

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend was pie-filled and celebratory in meaningful ways. This Monday we’re doing something a bit different. Steve over at Think Save Retire issued a challenge to record a one-minute retirement sound bite. He posted an example (so fun to hear voices!). I started recording mine and suddenly it became a full afternoon of recording all the kids being crazy. Laughter ensued. While I cut most of that out to stay close to one minute, the family is all present. Enjoy our voices and we’ll be back to normal on Wednesday with our November plan update!

(music from Bensound.com)

How We Turned Unemployment Into a Game. And Won!

By MaggieBanks

On November 23, 2015

In Personal Finance

January 2009 found Mr. T graduated and thrown into a pool of software developers without jobs. Unfortunately for him, he also had no full-time experience. He found himself applying for the same entry-level jobs for which people with 10-15 years of experience were also applying. Everyone was desperate. I wasn’t much help since I was still a graduate student working on my thesis and Penny was less than one year old. To help expedite Mr. T’s job offers, we moved into my parents’ beach house on the Oregon coast so Mr. T could be within driving distance of the Portland and Seattle metro areas. Within a month of moving in, all the big tech companies in Oregon and Washington had announced layoffs. What we thought would be a 2-4 week stay in the beach house became a more permanent housing situation as we faced the uncertainty ahead. We counted ourselves among the 30+% of millennials living with parents (though not technically with my parents).

Keepin’ it Real: Kiddos

By MaggieBanks

On October 7, 2015

In Kids, Uncategorized

Mrs. Frugalwoods recently admitted that she’s nervous about becoming a mom, but she’s learning to accept we’re all flawed. This kind of thing strikes a chord with me and I had to talk about it. First off, let me just say:

No one should EVER say “It’s so great. Enjoy every minute” to someone with children.

Don’t stop reading if you don’t have kids. This post is for you too. I want to talk about the logistics of having children. As a stay-at-home mom, I am a “professional” in the field. So please listen up.

Why Kids Are the Worst:

Our Next Life: The Series Continues

By MaggieBanks

On September 16, 2015

In About the Banks, Plan Updates

Based on an original series by Think, Save, Retire and continued by Our Next Life (the blog), I’m completing the “Our Next Life” series for Northern Expenditure. This means discussing the transition, the quitting, and the goals and plans for life after “work.” This is an interesting subject for me to tackle because instead of having super definitive plans, we’re sort of all over the place. But here’s where we’re at today:

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The Life of a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) and WAHM (work-at-home-mom):

I turned 30 this past year and it wasn’t life-changing. Here’s why: