July 12

$1 Free Fries

$116 Groceries

I noticed no other household spending (MH) the last several days.  Other than this grocery run.

I took my mom out, and got some french fries to supplement my lunch.  She really enjoys getting out of the house, and I felt much more comfortable with it this time.  We drove by all the places from my childhood.  All my schools are still there, but most the rest has been replaced with housing.

July 13

$70 Birthday cake

$11 Evgo car charge

MH bought a birthday cake for his mom.  Will split the cost with his sister.

I took my mom out to the car charger.  I wasn't expecting this to be all the charge that I needed.  Was picking my aunt from the airport later.  I swear I looked it up and google said it was '10 miles' away and I thought maybe I'd charge up another 20 miles later (10 x2).  But it wasn't that far.  & then we ended up waiting in a nearby parking lot with the A/C running for an hour because my aunt's flight was stuck on the tarmac and then they lost her luggage.  But none of this made a dent in the car's range.  Probably because we mostly were stuck in traffic.  In the old days when I dropped kids off at activities, I'd notice an hour in extreme heat running the A/C might run through '1 mile' of range.  We probably used less power in mild weather land.  All this to say, this was the only charge I needed to get home.

For reference, it's $5 (at home) to charge up 250 miles.  So most of the charging for this trip was done at home.  The fast chargers are equivalent to the cost of gas.

My mom handed me $200 cash and said my Dad wanted me to have it.  I was very skeptical and texted my Dad about it before I left.  He told me, "It's okay".  Which I interpret that he didn't 'want me to have it' but he wasn't going to make me give it back.  & I mean, my mom talked about giving me money for a car, and things like that.  It adds another layer to how people with declining mental health are taken advantage of.  (I had a friend whose MIL bought a car for her nurse!  She did not have the money to give.  They found out after the MIL passed away.)  Anyway, my mom gave me $200 cash because that's all she had access to.  (Being handed anything more than gas money would be extremely out of character.  & even then, I don't remember the last time my parents gave me 'gas money'.  I don't know if that's because we are older & richer, or if it's because they've heard so much how cheap our fuel is.)

July 14

$3 Coffee

$9 Bridge toll

$9 Movies

I left my mom at 10am Tuesday.  My nurse aunt took over my mom's care for the rest of the week.  It sounds like it went pretty well.

On a whim I spent $2.50 on a fancy McDonalds coffee.  It was pretty good.  What is weirding me out is I have no idea how I got the coffee for $2.50.  When I checked back later it was $3.50?  I thought, "It couldn't possibly be cheaper in the Bay Area."  But I haven't been able to recreate this deal.  I think I must have used some app discount?  

& then I checked the bagel place where I get $2 hot chocolates.  Their fancy hot coffee is $5.50!  So that gave me a reality check.

MH & I went to the movies in the evening.  I guess it's $7 night?  I didn't realize, was just thinking that I had some extra time.  I think it was a $2 service fee to buy my ticket ahead (might have included some tax).  Which was smart because the place was packed.  As opposed to us usually being the only people in the theater. 

I almost forgot, I did spend $9 on bridge toll.  I generally will always favor a bridge toll over driving an extra 10 miles and wasting that extra time.  But it's an absolute no-brainer now that we don't have to spend $30+ on gas for this drive.