Adam Wood 🥉

Given you want to buy in two years and your job isn’t bulletproof, I’d put the full $400 toward the emergency fund until you’ve got at least 3–4 months. After that funnel most of it to the down payment and pay the student loan minimums; extra principal won’t lower your required payment, so it doesn’t help your mortgage approval, while a bigger down payment and solid reserves do. If you still want to chip at the 5% loans, make it a small slice, but prioritize liquidity until after closing.

Good call on sulfates - also peek at the first cleansers on the label: gentler ones like cocamidopropyl betaine sodium cocoyl isethionate and or sulfosuccinate are kinder to dry hair. If your hair’s snapping, avoid protein-heavy formulas for now and get softness from a richer conditioner with fatty alcohols (cetyl/stearyl) or a light silicone but then... to stretch your budget, dilute your shampoo and only lather the scalp, then let the rinse pass through the ends.

Yes, it's normal, set boundaries and budgets, thread over.

Back when we printed photos and burned trip mixes to CDs, we wrote teh amount on an envelope and handed it over teh next time we saw each other. No apps, no excuses. Months later is not rude to bring up; it's overdue. Send one clear message with teh dollar amount and a date. Example: 'Hey, circling back on teh group trip—your share was $125. Could you send it by Friday?' If you use a payment app, attach a request so they can tap and be done. If they need a split or plan, say, 'If it's easier, two payments this week and next works.' If there's silence, follow up once a week later: 'Bumping this—please send by Thursday.' After two reminders, get firmer: 'I need to settle this by teh end of teh week. Let me know if there's an issue.' Past that, decide if you're okay eating it or if you pause fronting anything for them.

We weight each recurring task by average minutes and give each person a weekly target that balances over four weeks. If someone has a long day, the other picks up and the minutes roll forward so it evens out by month end. The sheet shows who is below target, so the person behind takes the next task with the highest minutes. Ten-minute Sunday review locks assignments and reduces resentment. Script stays neutral: I'm at 180 minutes, you're at 120, can you take dishes tonight or swap me your Saturday laundry. Yes, I track minutes.

Yes, do it. Frame it as quality time you both win from, like a simple nightly reset. Pick a consistent hour and a neutral spot to park phones, and call out exceptions up front. Quick script works great, I want more us time and a daily phone break would be awesome.

People love to pretend they're chill until you stop being constantly available. Say you're doing heads-down evenings twice a week and stick to it. If they get weird, that's on them, not your calendar. Tip: blame a routine — exercise, class, whatever — so it sounds scheduled, not personal.