Gambling Addiction - Treatment-Centers.net

Note: I was technically supposed to post this earlier this week, but noticed that no one was signed up for today (plus I was super busy earlier), so I'm posting a bit late, under a throwaway account! Fair warning: I'm VERY verbose, so this will be long!
Section One: Assets and Debt
As I mentioned above, I make $56k per year as an administrator in higher education. My husband (K) just got a raise to making $155k per year. He works as a lawyer, has been in the workforce for about 12 years. I won't get into too many details but he works for a small boutique firm, not Biglaw. He also sometimes gets a yearly bonus of around $10k-20k but it's not guaranteed or anything like that. K and I have totally combined finances, so the below numbers are for both of us. I have a humanities PhD but I decided to leave academia and find an alt-ac job. My current position has good work-life balance (I never work past 5 pm), but pays terribly and my university is very badly run. I'm hoping to leave higher education all together in the future and am currently enrolled in a certificate program to try to make a career transition to instructional design.
The big elephant in the room is that my husband, K, makes a lot more money than me. When we first met, he was paying off massive amounts of student loans and making much less, and I was debt free with a lot of savings, so we both spent about the same amount. Now he makes 3x what I make and we are both debt-free, so the difference is much more noticeable. We do argue about money sometimes (more in the past), but the reality is that I have a humanities PhD and will likely never out earn him, and he knew that when I married him, lol. Because of all the labor I do around the house and in our lives to support him as he works a much more intense job, I was very clear that I believed we should split our finances equally as soon as we got married. We don't have separate accounts and we generally check in with one another whenever we are planning to spend more than $100. This system works for us for now.
I also want to address the question about parental or family support. Although I technically paid all of my own bills since I got my Bachelor's degree, my parents supported me a lot by paying for my flights home to visit at Christmas or in the summer as Xmas presents/birthday presents. My parents also paid for my undergraduate degree (and K's parents paid for his undergraduate degree as well). They also gave us about $15k to pay for our wedding.
Finally, my parents recently gave me $20k as an "early inheritance." They told me they plan to do this every year (depending on the stock market). We put this money into a brokerage. I don't consider my parents rich, as they both worked hourly jobs in health care my entire life (as a nurse and respiratory therapist - both with only associate's degrees). We never owned a new car, when we went on vacation we stayed in hostels , and shopped almost exclusively at Goodwill. But they scrimped and saved and now they have over $1 million in a retirement account. So I want to acknowledge my financial privilege in that I came from this kind of background. K's parents are similar.
Retirement Balance: $186k (combination of 401k, 403b, 457, 2 Roth IRAs, and taxable brokerage account).
Equity: None, we rent.
Savings account balance: Approximately $45k.
Checking account balance: Right now, around 8k.
Credit card debt: Right now, around $3k. But we pay it off each month with our checking account balance.
Student loan debt: $0. We finally paid off my husband’s law school loans (around $130k), last year. I didn’t have any student loans from undergrad (parents paid) and my MA & PhD were fully funded.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I’ve been working in my current field for 3 years. I started off making about $53k and got tiny 2% “merit increases” twice. Then in July my payroll title was changed, which triggered a required raise of about $2k. (I am dramatically underpaid).
Before my current position, I was in academia. I worked as a visiting assistant professor for one year at my alma mater (made $50k for 9 months of work) and before that I was a graduate student for 7 years. I was paid $18k-21k in stipends each year and my tuition & benefits were covered. Luckily, I lived in a very low cost of living area and this was enough for me to live on without going into debt. I got my PhD in 2017. Before I was a graduate student, I taught English in Japan for three years and made around $36k per year. In high school and college, I had random jobs that provided grocery/spending money, but I was lucky enough to have parents that paid my tuition and my rent in college.
I’m currently trying to make a career change (as you will see in my diary) and enrolled in a certificate program which runs from Autumn 2020 to Spring 2021 in order to help with that.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $7,634. This probably seems low relative to our joint income, but we max out our 401k (K) and 403b (me). I work for the state government, which means I’m also eligible for something called a Deferred Compensation Plan (457b). This is basically the same as a 401k but you can withdraw contributions and gains from the account at any age without penalty (of course, you still have to pay taxes). I also max this out, and the limit is the same as a 401k/403b - $19.5k. Also this number is before K’s raise is accounted for. It won’t increase until his end of February paycheck.
Other deductions - I have health insurance taken out (about $80 a month for me, K’s firm covers his premiums) and taxes. WA has no state taxes, so it’s only federal taxes. I used to have to pay $50 / month for a bus pass (K's was free), but I don’t pay any longer because I’m working from home during COVID.
Final note - the sum I mentioned in the headline includes a variable bonus my husband gets. My base pay is $56k and his is $155k (as of February 1). This year he also got a bonus of $20k, which is set up a bit strangely. About $4k of this was structured as a 3% matching contribution to his 401k and the rest was taxable income. In small law firms, it’s unusual to get any 401k match so this was nice.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: None.
Any Other Monthly Income Here: We get some interest from our savings account… like $25 a month.
Section Three: Expenses
Rent: Rent comes to approximately $2,050 total for a one-bedroom apartment. Rent itself is $1886, then we have pet rent ($25 per month), bicycle parking ($15 a month) and water / sewage / gas, which is usually $120-150 (variable cost).
Renters insurance: $157.76, paid annually. $13 a month.
Retirement contribution: In addition to the 401k, 403b, and 457, which all come out before taxes, we max out our Roth IRAs. That means $500 each per month per person (for a yearly total of $6k each). As I noted up top, we match out our 401k and 403b (19,500 each) and our 457. My employee also offers a 7.5% match. K's employee offers a 3% match but it is included in his yearly bonus so it's not guaranteed (confusing).
Savings contribution: We put $500 per month into our emergency fund. We also put about $860 a month into our “sinking fund,” which covers large and small annual or sporadic purchases such as vacations, gifts, Amazon Prime renewal, car insurance and renters insurance, etc.
Investment contribution: $875 per month into a taxable brokerage at Vanguard.
In total, we save about 47% of our gross income. We can do this because we keep our housing cost low relative to our high income, we don’t have any debt remaining, we don’t have any kids or parents who need financial support, and we’re very privileged in a lot of ways. We are hoping to FIRE within 10 years.
Debt payments: None.
Donations: We budget $100 per month for donations, which includes one-time donations as well as some reoccurring donations. My husband does pro bono work as well. I would like to increase this by quite a bit, but I still have a hard time budgeting for donations because I spent 7 years living on approximately $20k a year. To go from that to making more than 10x that amount within 3-4 years is obviously something that I am very privileged for, but it is still hard for me emotionally to comprehend at times.
Electric: ~$50-100 (billed every other month)
Wifi/Cable/Landline: An extortionate $87.12 for slow internet that only works for Zoom calls about half the time. Do I really live in one of the tech cities of the future?
Cellphone: $170 (This includes both service and paying off two new iPhones. We could have paid them off up front, but it was actually cheaper by like $50 to go on a payment plan.)
Subscriptions: BritBox ($7.70), Spotify ($16.50), HBOMax ($16.50), We Hate Movies Patreon (my favorite podcast - $8.81). My parents pay for Netflix and my sister pays for Hulu, and we all share.
Gym membership: None. K and I both run and do yoga with YouTube videos. Before the pandemic, we went to yoga classes pretty frequently in person. I’d like to do some online synchronous yoga classes but find it hard to make time.
Pet expenses: Varies, but I budget $50 per month and also include an emergency fund for my cat’s vet bills in our sinking fund. She’s 11 years old and probably asthmatic, so I know her vet bills are going to increase over time.
Car payment / insurance: We own our car outright. Insurance billed yearly is $2,097, about $174 per month.
Regular therapy: $0
Paid hobbies: Nothing regular, sporadic language classes and art supplies.
Other expenses: Right now I’m doing a certificate to hopefully help with a career change. The total cost for tuition is about $5k and we already saved it up (included in our 'sinking fund') basically through spending less during the pandemic. I’ve paid two quarters so far, and the last quarter (due in March) will be a bit more - about $2.3k.
__________
Day 1
Morning: I wake up at 5:30 am. Ever since the pandemic, my sleep schedule has been shot. At first, I was so happy not to have to leave the house at 7:15 for my 45 minute bus commute and I slept in a lot. But the stress (and maybe getting old?) has made me an early riser, no matter how much I try to sleep in. I do value my early mornings with just me, my cat, and my coffee, though.
I start work at 8 am and begin by triaging my emails. I have a bunch of deadlines this week, so it’s busier than usual. My job tends to be very seasonal, and sometimes I have a ton of work and sometimes I have none and can work on other longer-term projects. I have a piece of toast for breakfast and place a Whole Foods delivery order for the following day at 10:30 am. We made a meal plan and put everything in the cart the day before ($117.36, including tip).
Afternoon: I have my lunch break from noon to 1 pm. It doesn’t really matter when I take my lunch break, since I’m salaried, but the others in my office are hourly so in the before times we used to always close our office during the same time. I have a piece of leftover delivery pizza and some spinach risotto that I made a few days earlier. I also have half a brownie – the last one from a batch I made a few days ago (K gets the other half). He also has leftovers for lunch.
I should say at this point that both K and I are lucky enough to have been working almost entirely from home since early March. An area near Seattle was one of the first places to get hit by COVID-19, and my state and both of our employers have been taking it very seriously ever since. Working from home hasn’t always been easy since we live in a 600-square foot apartment. Also, there is a three-story townhouse being built directly next door to us and I can hear the pounding in my dreams at this point.
Around 2 pm, I go for a 2-mile run. I feel like some money diarists tend to toss off things like “oh, I went for an easy 7 mile run,” at the drop of a hat, so I want to be clear – running for 2 miles isn’t easy for me; it’s exhausting, annoying, sweaty, and generally gross. Also I am very slow. But it has kept me sane during quarantine.
Meanwhile, my husband goes to our local pet store to get an enzymatic cleaner (our cat peed in one of our suitcases… I think it’s probably a lost cause, but it was basically brand new, so worth a try) and special weight-loss cat food. Our cat is an 11-year-old rescue from the Humane Society and she is a chonky girl. We had to sign a waiver when we adopted her, saying that we understood that she was very overweight, lol. Our vet recommended a special diet food, rather than just restricting her intake as we have been doing, so we will give it a try ($78). My husband also stops buy our local wine store and picks up two bottles. We’ve been doing a dry January, so this will be our first drink for a while ($27.53).
I have a phone interview scheduled for 4 pm – just a preliminary interview with an internal recruiter. It’s the first ‘corporate’ job interview I’ve ever had, since I’ve been in academia my entire life. I’m trying to make a pivot into instructional design / training and development. I’m just excited to get an interview. It seems to go pretty well, but who knows. They tell me they will probably get back to me by the end of this week.
Evening: My husband whips up a random meal of fridge remnants – pesto pasta with sausage and a fridge salad with feta and bell peppers. It’s pretty tasty with a little Sauvignon Blanc. During dinner, we play a card game we call gin rummy, although it bears no resemblance to the actual game. After dinner, I make a chocolate cake with orange buttercream frosting and we watch Cobra Kai.
Daily total: $222.89
Day 2
Morning: Up early again, a piece of toast for breakfast (very exciting). We’re out of eggs until our Whole Foods order arrives. I’m working on creating some tedious but necessary spreadsheets this morning.
Noon: Our Whole Foods order arrives around noon. Excitement! They’ve given us a half-rotten bag of romaine lettuce and substituted pecans for hazelnuts. I should probably just double mask and go to Trader Joe’s myself (our regular spot, only a 5-minute walk from my apartment). I’m just getting anxious about these new variants.
I have leftover meatloaf and spinach risotto again for lunch. Lots of meetings and more organizing spreadsheets in the afternoon. Around 3 pm, I go for my daily ritual - a 20-minute walk around my neighborhood. It’s still raining slightly but I need to get out. Halfway through the walk, I get an email from my apartment manager telling me the apartment will no longer accept debit card payments, direct deposit, or credit card payments for paying rent. In other words, only checks or money orders (?!). Ugh. Our lease is up in 4 months and we will not be renewing our lease. Our last apartment manager was a gambling addict who may have been stealing people’s identities, but by God, he kept things working. Ever since they fired him, this place has been going downhill.
Evening: I check my bank statements to update my budget spreadsheet and realize that I have been billed the wrong amount of rent. They actually charged me less than they should have. I don’t trust my apartment manager not to start charging me a late fee or something for this, so I call them up. They are baffled by how to fix this, which you would think would be the one thing you would want to get right, if you’re renting out apartments.
K cooks dinner – steak with a Roquefort sauce and glazed brussels sprouts. It’s from a French cookbook we recently bought and it is delicious. I work on classwork for my certificate program while he cooks. After dinner, I do the dishes and buy the 13th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I watch the first episode – lots of shocking twists and turns! I’m planning to watch the rest of the episodes together with my younger sister, M ($22.01).
Daily total: $22.01
Day 3
Morning: K has an 8 am dentist appointment, so he takes off early. He already paid for the work last month, so there’s no charge. I have a piece of toast for breakfast and get to work checking my emails. It’s 8:20 am and the construction crew building a townhouse next door is blasting mariachi music. I’m glad someone is having fun. At least the sun is coming out.
Someone at work has made a critical error, but it wasn’t me, thank God. I was the one who found out about it, but it’s still going to cause a big old headache for me. I’m ready to be done with this job. K and I go for a run so that I can exhaust myself enough to no longer be furious about said careless error.
Noon: I have leftover spinach risotto and meatloaf again – exciting. I’m busy at work but frankly, not a lot going on other than that. Still no word about fixing my rent payments. I’m not really willing to pursue this any further at this point.
Evening: I start making chili (Turkey Chili from the NY Times) and cornbread (from my new cookbook, Jubilee). K is doing some work on our investments when he announces that, somehow, a transfer was scheduled from our checking account to our savings account of $55k (?!) We obviously don’t have $55k in our checking account, so we start frantically trying to figure out what’s going on. Numerous phone calls later, we still don’t know if that was a hack, if my husband somehow mistakenly scheduled the transfer himself, or if the bank messed it up. Either way, it doesn’t seem like any harm was done since the bank with our checking account just declined the transaction. But it seems really strange and worrisome. We get to work changing the passwords on all of our accounts, just in case it was some kind of hack.
After dinner (and chocolate cake), I have a Zoom happy hour with a local friend. We occasionally see each other outside but it’s nice to have a longer chat from the comfort of our living rooms. We both love murder mysteries, so we signed up for a service where a company sends us letters with clues and we try to solve the mystery together. It’s a fun way to stay connected and look forward to something during the pandemic. The service costs about $15 per month, but I paid for it in lump sum for 3 months, so it’s not included in my budget above. I drink some wine and we vent about work (we work at the same place) before getting started on the puzzle.
Daily total: $0
Day 4
Morning: I sleep in a bit, which is nice. Get up around 7 am. My parents are both getting their 2nd vaccine today – they’re both in their 70s and I am so relieved. I send my mom a “congratulations on being vaccinated!” text and we chat for a bit. I have leftover cornbread with honey and butter for breakfast – soooo good.
Work is not particularly exciting today, but someone sends me a last-minute request for something that does not need to be so urgent. I feel annoyed. Still no word from the interviewers on Monday, and I’m beginning to suspect I wasn’t selected to move forward. Too bad. K pays for a Wordpress website for the year (it’s a work-related website, but sadly his work doesn’t reimburse him). It costs $92.48.
Noon: The mariachi music is particularly loud today. I stand out on my balcony in the sun for a while and watch the workers. It’s been interesting seeing a house go up next door in real time, especially since I’m at home all the time. The workers are balancing on the top of the third story wall without, as far as I can see, anything like a safety line. It seems unsafe, but I presume they know what they’re doing.
We booked a cabin for the upcoming weekend in the Hood Canal region of Washington to do some hiking and birdwatching. I want to be as safe as possible and not go to any grocery stores or risk spreading COVID in any way while I’m there, so I place another grocery order with Whole Foods just for some special treats for the weekend. The cabin has a small kitchen and a grill, so we’re planning to make a fancy steak salad on Saturday. I order chips and hummus, some fancy cheese and meats, Tate’s cookies (I’ve heard a lot of good things about these), a baguette, and the ingredients for the steak salad. I also order a few staples I forgot in our last order, like sweet potatoes, more coffee, and half and half. It comes to $87.41, including tip, but that does include like $30 worth of steak. For some reason, I can’t order a small amount of steak online, so I’m planning to freeze half of it for later. (I include this purchase in our vacation fund budget, rather than under our regular grocery budget).
Around 2 pm, K makes a quick trip to our local wine store to buy an Oregon pinot noir and some port to enjoy at the cabin ($59.45). This store has an outdoor walk-up counter where you can tell the owner what you’re looking for, and he brings you some options (the store is way too small to allow customers to enter during Covid). It’s fun to chat with another human being, even briefly.
Evening: After work, we spend a little time rebalancing our investing and retirement accounts. We decide to put more money into bonds and a little bit into REIT’s as a hedge against a potential crash or recession in the future. Then I start making dinner – Broken Eggs (Huevas Rotas) from the NY Times cooking site. You basically cook the potatoes in a skillet in water, spices, and olive oil, and then sauté them to crisp them up once the water evaporates. Then you add onion, lots of garlic, and finally some eggs. It is delicious. I eat it with leftover cornbread while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 with my sister – we watch the first two episodes. It’s full of twists and turns. A note about this – we have an elaborate procedure for watching shows together developed during quarantine whereby we start the show at the same with an earbud in one ear, while FaceTiming. I also have chocolate cake, of course.
Later, I get an email that I’ve signed up for HBO on Amazon Prime. I definitely have not. I text my mom, who shares my account, and she tells me she signed up by mistake. I cancel right away and luckily they won’t charge us for it.
Meanwhile, K is doing an online Japanese language class over Zoom. He’s been interested in learning ever since we went to Japan last January. I lived in Japan for 3 years so I was able to take us around to a lot of more obscure places and he really enjoyed the trip – it was a blast.
K starts a YouTube yoga class (from Do Yoga With Me – my favorite channel) and I join him for part of it before bed around 10 pm.
Daily total: $239.34
Day 5
Morning: I get up around 7 am and we go for a run first thing. I prefer running early in the morning because there are fewer people to avoid during COVID. We do a different route today – it’s longer (3 miles) but has fewer hills. It’s a slog, as always, but I feel good when I get back right around 8 am. I jump straight onto my computer to start checking work emails and my husband makes us avocado and egg toast for breakfast - it is absolutely delicious.
We talk about how our bathroom smells distinctly mildewy (yay for being a grown-up because I guess this is what we talk about now) and we buy two big buckets of DampRid on Amazon ($26.60). I’ve found this to be a necessity in Seattle. Mid-morning, I take a break from work and start packing for our trip to the cabin.
Noon: I have leftover potatoes and cornbread for lunch, and my husband has the leftover chili. We finish getting ready to leave and head out right after lunch, taking a half day. The only problem is that I have attend a meeting at 3:30 pm, so we head out hoping to get there in time. Our cabin is near Quilcene in the Hood Canal region of Washington, about a 2 hour drive or a 2 hour ferry ride + drive. We are initially planning to take the ferry both ways, but realize that we mistimed the ferry departure, so we drive the whole way instead. Luckily, there’s little traffic mid-day, and we arrive at our Airbnb around 3:00 pm.
The Airbnb is beautiful! It’s a small cabin handmade by the owner, whose house is next door. It’s very rural, with a beautiful view. It’s tiny, but has a little kitchen and a waterfall-style shower with river rocks on the floor. It’s a great place to get away for a short time. Luckily, it also has good reception and I’m able to sit in on my meeting with no problems. My husband also does a little work, and then at 5 pm we’re free!
In our planning, we decided to get takeout on Friday night, since the little kitchen isn’t designed for any serious cooking. We call ahead to a local restaurant to order burgers (one of only 2 restaurants in the whole town). It’s around 5:30 pm and the place is deserted. It’s a microbrewery, but they tell us they haven’t been making beer since COVID-19 hit. None of the workers are wearing masks when I walk in, but they put them on when they see I’m wearing one. I pick up our order - a few bottled beers and burgers and fries ($49.52 including tip).
Back at our Airbnb, we watch Big Trouble in Little China and enjoy our very messy, but delicious, burgers (it costs $4.39 to rent). The movie is very campy but fun. I love silly action movies, as you will see with my other viewing choices. We wrap up the night in a very exciting fashion, eating chocolate cake and watching old episodes of the original Star Trek.
Daily total: $80.51
Day 6
Morning & noon: When we wake up around 8 am, the weather is looking thankfully clear and even sunny! We were expecting rain, so we’re really glad. We decide to go hiking today, and we head out before even having breakfast, with snacks and lunches packed. Our first destination is a hike called Mt. Zion, but unfortunately, we run into enough snow 2 miles before the trailhead that we decide to turn back. We don’t have any traction for our Subaru and don’t want to risk getting stuck on a very narrow mountain road. Instead, we drive another hour or so to the Lena Lake trailhead, a very popular and less strenuous trail. It’s about 7.5 miles roundtrip with 1200 feet of elevation gain.
By this time, it’s around 11:30, but luckily there is still parking. It’s a great hike up, and we run into relatively few people. We always mask up whenever we pass anyone, as does about 50% of the people we meet. The others… not so much. Around a mile from the lake, we start to run into snow. It’s turned into a beautiful sunny day, and I’m loving seeing all this snow! It’s a bit slippery, but not too bad. We make it to the lake mid-day, and it’s super jammed – there’s only a small viewpoint accessible, so everyone is crowded in there. I feel a bit uneasy with all the unmasked people, but we manage to find a spot away from the crowd and sit down to eat our lunch of apples, chips, and energy bars. There are a ton of robber jays there (Canada Jays) which try to eat our chips. It is fun watching them, but I’m annoyed to see some kids feeding them – it’ll just make them that much more aggressive. Bad trail manners.
On our way back down, we get stuck behind a group of 5 unmasked adults, who refuse to cede the narrow trail to faster hikers. I’m a slow hiker myself, so, to be clear, I’m not angry at slower walkers being on the trail but have some self-awareness and let people pass! especially if you’re going to go hiking in a big group during a pandemic! We finally get back down and head back to our Airbnb.
Evening: Back home, we explore some of the trails our Airbnb host has set up around his extensive property, and then relax on the deck. The sun is breaking through the clouds and it feels wonderful to sit out in nature and feel the sun on my back. We open up a bottle of wine and have a few pre-dinner snacks (more chips and hummus). For this night, we brought ingredients to make a steak salad. Our Airbnb host has kindly set up a charcoal grill for us, so we grilled the steak and toast some bread on the side.
We eat dinner while watching the truly terrible Jean Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport and finish up the very last of my chocolate cake. It’s amazing that anyone ever let Van Damme act… or should I say ‘act.’ I also have a Tate’s chocolate chip cookie or two, accompanied by a little port. My husband and I are truly very old people at heart, so we finish up the night watching a few episodes of Columbo.
Daily total: $0
Day 7
Morning: Unfortunately, K had insomnia last night, so he sleeps in pretty late. I drink coffee in bed and enjoy looking at the view out our big windows. Once he’s up, we get packed up and write a thank you note for our host. It was a great stay.
One of my big hobbies is birding and K enjoys wildlife photography, so we go out to look for some lifers! (The first time you see a new species of bird). Did I mention we are very old people in (relatively) young bodies? We first go to Dosewallips State Park and see some bald eagles, great blue herons, lots of various ducks, and a flock of Canada Geese, which, strangely, includes a domesticated gray goose. He’s much larger than the Canada Geese and seems to be watching over them. It’s kind of cute. Unfortunately, a lot of the birds are too far from shore to be seen clearly.
Our next stop is Point No Point (I love all the sad & disappointed names that early Westerner explorers gave places in the Washington/Oregon coast), a popular birding spot. We see a ton of birds here, and I can understand why it’s so well-known - Red-Breasted Mergansers, Western Grebes, Common Goldeneyes, Pacific Loons, and a few others I can’t identify yet. Most excitingly though, we see a whole pile of otters! They’re lounging around together on a rock just offshore and a ton of people are watching. We watch as they all slip off the rock and go hunting in the shore. It’s my first otter sighting in the wild, and it’s so cool! We also see some seals and possibly a sea lion. It’s a great spot for wildlife. We eat some snacks (hummus, chips, some sliced meat & cheese) before we head out.
I really want to come back to this area another time and explore further, but K has decided that we need to get back home in time for the Big Game. We take the 3:00 pm ferry back to Seattle ($16.40) and get home around 3:45 pm. I veg out at home while my husband watches football. He’s a Patriots fan but he still loves Tom Brady (??) so he’s happy to see Florida win. I don’t understand sports team loyalties at all, but whatever, I’m glad he’s happy. We order from a new Indian place called Spice Box and get vindaloo, roganjosh, and vegetables pakora – so tasty ($53.96). Happily, there’s enough left over for lunch the next day, since I have no plans for what we will eat yet!
I’m really dreading work the next day, as I know that it will be obnoxious. I want to get out of my job so badly, but it doesn’t look like I’m going on to the next interview stage for the job I interviewed no back on Monday. I’m feeling kind of down about it. I try to stay positive and promise that I’ll apply for at least 2-3 new jobs next week. I bake up some frozen cookie dough I had in the freezer and feel sorry for myself. We end the night by watching another episode of Columbo.
Daily total: 70.36
Food + Drink: $395.23
Fun / Entertainment: $26.40
Home + Health: $26.60
Clothes + Beauty: $0
Transport: $16.40
Other: $170.48
Grand Total: $635.11
I think this week was pretty normal for us. Obviously we spent a bit more than usual due to the weekend cabin trip, but nothing outrageous. Our largest consumer spending category is definitely food and drink – we live in a very busy area of Seattle with tons of restaurants and bars so believe it or not, we actually used to spend even more on eating out. We still try to support our local places by getting takeout or delivery during the pandemic and even occasionally getting a few drinks outside. I spent more than usual on groceries due to stocking up for the weekend away.

I am 36 years old, make $66,900, live in Portland OR and work as a Data Coordinator.

Section Zero: Background
Hello all, happy hoildays! I stumbled upon this subreddit not long ago and have enjoyed the commentary and experiences everyone's shared. Wanted to add another perspective from a mid-30s first-gen American. I've had some missteps regarding careers and finances, but I feel like I'm in a slightly better place now. I tried YNAB in the past but I wasn't consistent enough with it. These days I use Mint to monitor my finances and have a "Finance Friday" each month to review all my accounts and spending. I currently live with my partner TJ and his dog RR. We do not combine finances, but he has been unemployed since March. I have helped him with some bills and basic necessities here and there until he finds his next job or career.
My current financial goals are to just maintain a status quo and not get any debt until pandemic times are over. Then I will focus on a house remodeling fund and savings for taking care of my parents.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances? My parents taught us about money from a frugal perspective. They are immigrants who worked in food service/factories. There was always this “save save save” mentality. Even when they started their own small business, we saved like there was no tomorrow. In high school, my calculus teacher bought us all “The Millionaire Next Door” book and had us read it as an assignment - that was my first structured introduction to finances.
Did you worry about money growing up? No, there was always food on the table and a roof over our heads. I knew that our extended family would support us if needed.
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it? Yes. My dad didn’t finish the high school-equivalent in their country, while my mom did finish high school, but no college. My older and younger siblings took a different path in life after high school. I am the first and only in my family to graduate from college. My parents covered all tuition for my two bachelor degrees with the agreement that I support them fully during their retirement and send them gifts/extra money whenever I can. I feel very lucky and privileged that they were able to provide that education for me.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net? 24 when I went on a work holiday abroad. My family was always available to help when needed, but the experience abroad helped me stand on my own feet. As an adult, I also inherited that “save” mentality and put a lot of my earnings towards savings. I didn’t date until my 30s, lived frugally, didn’t go out to eat/hangout with people, shopped thrift stores, and had very few hobbies. I am starting to “live a little” now though.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? Aside from the tuition, my parents have helped with a down payment for my first house and living costs during periods of unemployment.

Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance
If the place I was working at offered a 401k, I would always contribute up to the company match. I started my IRA in my mid-20s and would try to contribute the yearly max. I've stopped that the past 2-3 years though. My Other Brokerage is some play money, but I got tired of staring it and switched to index funds. I haven't contributed anything to it in a few years.

401k: $34,127 (5% company match on contributions)
Brokerage: $22,421 ESPP
Roth IRA: $40,615 VTIVX
Rollover IRA: $15,760 VTTHX
Other Brokerage: $7,235 VTI
Coinbase: $1,286 ETH (mostly just playing around with it)

Equity if you're a homeowner
Purchased my first home for $382,000 with 20% down, right before lockdown earlier this year. Perfect timing, right?? I plan to live here until my retirement. My parents contributed $15k while I used most of my savings for the rest.

Current Equity: $80,371

Savings account balance: $3,073
Checking account balance: $7,800
Credit card debt: I charge everything on my credit card for the points, then pay it off each month using my checking account balance.
Student loan debt: Traditionally no student loan debt as mentioned in Section Zero.

Section Two: Income
Income Progression (listed as gross income with cost of living area):
High School

$11/hour MCOL - Helped with small family business.

College and first “career” job

$12-19/hour MCOL - I did events/banquet serving after classes and had an internship doing software administration.
$22/hour MCOL - Junior web developer. I realized after a year that programming was not my calling.

Mental health break

$12/hour LCOL - Work holiday abroad. I got a steady banquet server job for that whole time. It was enough to live minimally in a hostel, do weekend trips, WOOF and figure my life out.

College (again) and second “career” job

$12-15/hour LCOL - Decided to go back to school for a different bachelor's degree. While pursuing that degree, I worked at hotels and events as a banquet server again. I also did “search engine evaluation” whenever there were tasks available.
$36,000/year salary LCOL - Software administrator at a casino after graduation.
$39,000/year salary LCOL - Systems analyst at same casino. I left after 2 years, feeling disillusioned with the casino industry. I moved back home with my parents until I could get back on my feet again.

Third “career” jobs

$20/hour HCOL - Entry level advertising role. I was applying to all types of office jobs and that was my only bite.
$45/hour MCOL - Cold-called from a global company who needed someone with my software administrator experience from the casino job. It was an 8 month contract. Although I was starting to love my advertising job, the increase in pay was no question.
$65,000/year salary MCOL - After the contract ended and a few months of unemployment, I landed my current job at the same company. It is an “early career” role according to their job levels.
$66,900/year salary MCOL - Cost of living and merit increases after 2 years on the job. Pre-COVID we got a $5000 bonus each year. They have now stopped bonuses as well as all COL and merit increases.

Main Job Monthly Take Home:
Monthly Net (paid bi-weekly): $2,758
Deductions:

Taxes: $1214
(Pre-Tax) Insurance (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life) + HSA: $822
(5% Pre-Tax) 401k: $256
(10% Post-Tax) ESPP: $514

Side Gig Monthly Take Home:
No side gigs at the moment, but I am thinking of signing up on Upwork.com and doing Excel/data entry projects to help pay the mortgage.
Other Income: TJ’s friend will be staying with us for a month in January, who will pay rent of $800 including utilities. Depending on how that goes, we may take on a roommate in the spare bedroom long-term.

Section Three: Expenses
Mortgage - when I bought the house, the plan was that I would charge TJ a portion of the mortgage costs as “rent”, but since his unemployment I am now covering it all myself.
Regular Monthly Payment: $1677.57

Principal: $501.31
Interest: $849.74
Taxes & Home Insurance: $326.52

HOA: $30/year
Retirement contribution: Nothing additional than what's been mentioned.
Savings contribution: I used to do $50-100/month, but since COVID I’ve stopped contributing to my savings account.
Investment contribution: None at this time.
Debt payments: $100/month towards TJ's credit card balance of $2,307.
Donations: $10-20/month, usually towards Omaze or Planned Parenthood.
Utilities:

Electric: $45-65/month
Water: $60-90/month
Sewer: $30/month
Garbage: $26/month
Natural Gas: $30-80/month
Xfinity internet: $60/month

Cellphone: On my parents plan.
Subscriptions:

LinkedIn: $29.99/month for TJ’s job search - he’s found it very useful.
Amazon/Netflix/Hulu: We piggyback off family and friends’ accounts.
Nintendo Switch Online: 19.99/year
Costco: $60/year

Gym membership: Pre-COVID I did Orangetheory for a year. I started to pick up free exercise equipment from Craigslist this year, so we have a small garage gym now and utilize YouTube exercise videos instead.
Pet expenses: $10/month. TJ has stockpiled some Costco canned dog food before unemployment, but once that runs out I will likely cover the costs. We also started to make homemade dog food to help supplement.
Car insurance: $460 every 6 months. Car is paid off.
Regular therapy: I will start in the new year. Not sure what the costs are yet, but I will use my HSA to pay.
Vitamins/Medications: $20/month
Groceries & household items: $75/month
Miscellaneous (eating out, house purchases, gifts, etc): $100/month

Section Four: Money Diary
Monday
6:30am Neighbor starts up their truck. We joke that it's our natural alarm clock. They idle for about 15 minutes before heading off. I go back to bed.
9am My real alarm goes off. I put the electric kettle on for some morning tea. While it's boiling, I do my morning routine: drink glass of water, take synthroid, use bathroom, brush teeth, quick shower. I then make tea - Jasmine Pearl English Breakfast with dark forest mix. I started ordering loose leaf tea in large amounts back in March instead of small bags or single serving packets. Seems more economical since I drink it daily. I let the dog out into the backyard so he can do his morning routine.
9:30am I go through my daily tasks for work. They entail checking processes and reports to make sure they ran successfully overnight. I then answer some emails and catch-up on Slack channels.
12pm Lunch is leftover roast chicken and quinoa from Saturday. I heat it up in the instant pot. Love that thing! Almost every meal of ours involves the instant pot. We hardly use the stovetop. We then walk the dog to the business park across from our neighborhood. There's a very short trail that runs along a drainage creek by the business park. It's quite muddy, but has a nice woodsy feeling. Over the summer, we saw sumac trees there as well. Free sumac spice!
1:30pm Department meeting on Zoom. Our director announces his resignation on the call. Everyone is shocked! Layoffs were announced for next year but this was not a part of it. I think it's a good move for him and he doesn't have to have this worry of layoffs over his head.
3pm I meet with an engineer from another team and talk about a data source they are in charge of. He helps me out in understanding it and we identify most of the fields that I need for a project I’m starting.
5:30pm I check in with my partner. He's been watching LinkedIn tutorials on internal recruiting, job coaching and general computeoffice skills. It's a career change that he wants to make - something where he can talk to and help people. He doesn't have a bachelor's, only an associates, and hopes these tutorials will get him a leg up in the job search. I sent him some entry level HR admin roles the other day and remind him to apply. I then heat up leftovers: homemade chana masala and rice. I add some butter and coconut milk to thin it out, so there's enough for both of us.
10:30pm I take some magnesium, vitamin D and Airborne. I say goodnight to the dog who sleeps in the office. Then I say goodnight to TJ. He sleeps in the spare bedroom on weeknights due to his snoring keeping me up. I'm a light sleeper while he is a pretty deep sleeper.
Daily total: $0
Tuesday
9am I check Reddit Secret Santa. My match seems like a really good person. Not sure what to get, but most likely will purchase something off their wishlist. I wish I was more creative with my gift giving.
11am Meeting with business stakeholder. She submitted a few changes to an existing data process about a month ago. I make the change while on the call and have her test. Success! Marking it off the todo list. I love when we can finish things directly on a call.
12:30pm I come out of my office to make lunch. I notice my partner is not home. I check my messages and see that he's stepped out to pick up a few things. I ask for celery, carrots, and kombucha. $17. I make a quick charcuterie board for lunch: Costco salami, cheese, homemade hummus and Triscuits. It's a simple, fast meal that’s always in our rotation.
2pm My partner is back and we take the dog out for a walk and quick round of disc golf at a nearby park. We mask up and play only a few holes. Disc golf is a pretty frugal activity, you only need 2-3 discs to get started. TJ remarks that my throws are getting better, but then again they weren't great to start with. We talk about Christmas/Birthday gifts on the way back home since he was born on New Years Day. He mentioned snowshoeing but asked to not spend that much. I'll do some research!
5pm I think about personal career projects. Should I put up a portfolio of projects somewhere? I decide to try and pull some Yelp data. There’s not a lot of data points that I was interested in. Regardless, I tinker with it for an hour. TJ asks if I'm hungry. I said not so much, but felt thirsty. Maybe some ginger soup tonight?
7:30pm Dinner is served - ginger carrot soup made in the instant pot. We eat some rice crackers with it. Lately I feel like we've been eating more vegetarian dinners. It definitely helps stretch our food budget. We end the evening by finishing Fargo season 3 on Hulu.
Daily total: $17
Wednesday
1:30am I'm woken up by the dog. He's been sneezing a lot and wheezes at random intervals. TJ doesn't have the money for a vet visit but I've offered to pay as long as he calls to make the appointment. I give the dog some coconut oil, rub his belly until he seems better and go back to bed.
7am Garbage day. We usually put it out the night before but I forgot. I get up to go, but TJ handles it. I think, at least. I'm too sleepy to pay attention and go back to bed.
9am I wake up and rinse some dishes that have piled up and put them into the dishwasher. We both grew up in households that had a home dishwasher, but forbade from using it. It was drilled into us that hand washing saves more water, unless you had a restaurant/industrial dishwasher. I think with modern home dishwashers, that's changed, so I wanted to try it out with our dishwasher and monitor the water bill. Don't have any dishwashing pods or powder, so I put some OxiClean in it.
12:30pm I overhear TJ on a call with a recruiting agency. It seems to be going well, lots of laughing. I heat up some taco lasagna that I freezer meal-prepped last month.
2pm Collaborate on a project at work with an engineer. My manager put me on this project since I was asking for an assignment on a more technical team. I'm learning tidbits here and there, but I don't feel like it's structured enough.
5pm I do an Orangetheory-At-Home workout and try to break a sweat. It's not the same as going to their studio.
6pm Charcuterie for dinner. Our fridge is full of store-bought and homemade pickles that go super well on a charcuterie board.
Daily total: $0
Thursday
7am I wake up tired. The house has been feeling more cold, which woke me up a few times. We keep the temp at 72F during the day, at night around 68F since we thought the bedrooms keep the heat in pretty well. My mistake!
9am I do my usual morning routine and login to work. My team mostly spends the morning sending each other emojis.
11:30am Lunch today is mini quiche, frozen chicken and veggie entree, and hot dogs. Not the most cohesive meal, but it fills the belly.
12:30pm TJ heads out to his mailbox that's 30 minutes away. He is still waiting on his tax return and a 401k withdrawal. His taxes had to be filed by mail for some reason, then the IRS office shut down due to COVID. So he wanted to see if it arrived yet at the mailbox. He also takes the dog to the vet's urgent care on his way. They didn't have any regular openings available until the end of the year, and the dog seemed to be getting worse. I give TJ $40 to mail a gift package to a friend in France and also reiterate that I'll cover the vet bill when he gets it.
4:30pm I pay some bills, my favorite activity (not)! Sewer bill: $59.44 (billed every 2 months). Geico bill: $459.60 billed every 6 months. Then I follow up with my mortgage officer over email. I had sent her some documents for a refinance quote last week, but haven't heard back. Rates keep dropping, so I'm told, but what does that really mean? I do some research on realestate.
5pm TJ messages me and says he'll be back for dinner. I ask him to pick up some Popeyes via drive thru since we both don't feel like cooking today. Popeyes is currently our fancy “going out to eat” food. $24.17 for a 4pc dinner meal and a 2pc dinner meal.
Daily total: $583.21
Friday
8:30am Busy morning at work. My phone is buzzing with emails and Slack messages. I try to answer them while I make tea.
10am Zoom Department happy hour. We reminisce about our director and then play those Jackbox party games. Some of them are hard!
11am TJ asks if he can make me anything for lunch. He suggests savory oatmeal, quick and easy. I tell him that I really appreciate him making meals/doing chores/etc without me prompting. We've been having conversations about "house project management" and mental load because I did most of the chores or I had to continually remind/tell him to do it. I'm really happy to see us progress on this front. I decide to work through my lunch break so I can end the day early. I don't often do that, but I'm ready to get the weekend started.
2pm I check on TJ in the spare bedroom and ask if the dog has been fed yet, since he was nipping at my feet. I notice something off about TJ and ask how he is doing. TJ is depressed about his personal life, career, finances. He doesn't know what to do, spends half the day meditating and reflecting on past trauma. I've been prodding him to get a therapist but he is confused about his insurance. He makes an appointment with a primary care doctor first. I feed the dog some homemade dog-friendly beef stew.
4pm My mom swings by the house (but doesn't enter). She currently works at a school who distributes free USDA food boxes since March. There's often many boxes leftover that would go to waste, so she will grab a box for us. Onions, potatoes, beets, turnips, eggs, cheese, butter, frozen veggies and frozen chicken. She also brought her vintage pasta maker. I asked last week if she ever used it these days and her reply was “no, feel free to have it”. I love pasta and noodles and figure it would be great to make it ourselves as a frugal hobby.
8pm We catch up on Mandalorian and watch silly Youtube videos before heading off to bed.
Daily total: $0
Saturday
9am I open up my web browser and look at Craigslist and NextDoor for free stuff. I've been scouring for free landscape rocks, pegboards, and wood for house projects. I had this grand ambition to redesign our backyard. It faces our neighbor and currently the fence is pretty low. They can see into our kitchen and bedroom and we can see them. But y'know, COVID and going from dual income house to single income means it all has to be put on hold. So I've been looking for free items in the meantime. Over the past months, I've gotten planter pots, plant cuttings, a raised bed, stepping stones, all from free listings. I don't see anything worthwhile so I go and make some tea.
11am I look at Amazon and make some purchases for Reddit Secret Santa. A foodie kit, DVD of their favorite movie, and some cute pens for their writing hobby. $54. I hope they like it!
12pm TJ heats up leftover stir-fry for lunch for us. I put on some Binging with Babish and we watch how to make pasta. We have a plan - TJ makes the pasta, I make the sauce. Perfect date night activity at home. We watch some more videos on pasta and noodles to educate ourselves.
4pm I start prepping veggies. Big batch of onions, canned tomatoes, ground beef and butter in the instant pot. Meanwhile, TJ works on the pasta by following Babish's instructions.
7pm We gorge on fresh made pasta and bolognese sauce. It's so good! We end up watching Fargo.
11pm Usually I'll be in bed by now, but it's a Saturday and not tired yet (probably because of all that pasta). We play some Kirby's Dream Course on the Switch.
Daily total: $54
Sunday
10am Quick walk around the neighborhood with the dog. He's on a new routine now with the medicine he's taking. It seems to be helping his breathing issues.
11am The pasta maker and flour is still out since we didn't clean up yesterday. There's some old pie crust in the fridge so I roll it out with the pasta machine for mini quiches. (Sally's Baking Addiction blog is my go-to place for her all-butter crust and quiche recipes btw). TJ helps by mixing up the eggs.
3pm I play some Genshin Impact (GI) on my phone while TJ plays Starcraft in the office. I don't usually play gacha games, but the Zelda BotW-style of GI appealed to me. A gacha game is a game with randomized characteitem boxes that you use real-money to purchase a “pull” or to spin the wheel. I know the gacha parts of the game can be a real money sink if you get addicted to them, it’s almost like gambling. My main team is Fischl, Bennett, Barbara and Noelle. I level up to AR 22 and look up free-to-play tutorials for the game.
6pm There's some leftover pasta from yesterday, enough for both of us. I throw in some roasted beets to round out the meal. We watch more Fargo while eating. Almost done with Season 3!
10pm I find a tour operator who offers a small, socially-distant snowshoeing tour up on the mountain. I reserve for two people - this will be TJ's Christmas/birthday gift. $75. Off to bed for another workday.
Daily total: $75
Weekly Total: $689.79

Food + Drink: $41.17
Fun / Entertainment: $75
Home + Health: $59.44
Clothes + Beauty: $0
Transport: $459.60
Other: $54.00

Section Five: Reflections
Aside from the car insurance bill, this was a typical week for me, COVID or not. We make the majority of our meals at home and usually splurge on drive-thru/delivery once every other week. I may have overspent on the Secret Santa gift, but I don't often give gifts out to friends. It's not something our family does either. For TJ’s Christmas/birthday gift, we usually talk upfront about costs. I’ve gifted him fancy restaurant experiences the past 2 years, since we can share that experience, but obviously can’t do that now. Snowshoeing is a nice change of pace.
The conversations with TJ this week have given me thought on how to approach him differently about finances and working together in a relationship. I’m still unsure about the future financially, particularly as my parents near retirement age and that TJ has pulled out his 401k to pay his debts. I don't know if I can support both my parents and TJ together, so I am finding ways to upskill and/or side hustles without becoming a workaholic or bogged down by stress.
Writing this money diary was also the first time where I really paid attention to my past income and current income. I might be contributing too much into ESPP that could go towards the 401k or mortgage instead? I also seem to have been underpaid for what I did in past jobs, even in a LCOL area.

First time poster here, been following a while. I'm mostly active on I Am Sober app but wanted to share my story on Reddit as well. I suffered from alcohol induced dissociation and anxiety back in the days, after that was a craft beer enthusiast and moderate drinker before I quit. Here's my story.

Hello there. I'm 32 years old male, been sober for 160 days. This will be a long story. As my first book is soon ready (with different subject than alcohol though) I have been thinking of writing a book about alcohol. Because I have so much to tell. Anyway, here's my story of sobering up. I hope it's worth your time.
I started drinking when I was 17 years old, mostly because all my friends turned 18 and were in legal drinking age. My birthdate is always at the end of the year so I was usually the youngest. So I was a bit underaged but went along. My first experiences with alcohol were this drink called "Black Cat", it was kinda liquorice liquor which is quite popular here in Finland (salmiakki, a type of salty liquorice they use in candy), nowadays people just drinki salmiakkivodka and equivalent. It tasted like a couch syrup and I remember liking both the taste and effects. Of course we passed out to our friends floor later in the evening. It was "fun".
Anyway, years went by and I was usually the one that could not hold his booze. When I was young and in my twenties I used to drink until I vomited and passed out. I rarely remembered anything in the morning. I took my hangovers like a man and never drank when hungover, I thought that as path to alcoholism. I mostly drank during the weekends like kids used to do here in Finland. Usually it was only one day of the week, Friday or Saturday. We gathered to a place and drank different kind of drinks, played games, laughed, goofed around etc. I was the introverted shy guy who never got along with anyone, least with girls, but with alcohol I had little bit more confidence. Never too much though. I passed out usually early at the point where others were just getting started and barely noticed my disappearance. In later life my drinking got more controlled but it was still crazy. I got really drunk most of the time.
In some point I got tired of strong drinks because they messed up my head so bad, but I never stopped drinking them. I never liked beer and never drank it but one time I bought this Murphy's can out of curiosity. It tasted like roasted coffee and I was amazed - how can a beer taste like this. So I got into craft beer. The scene was already starting to boom in Finland with new beers so I made it a hobby. I purchased all the new beers I could find. I started a beer review blog. In this point I tasted different kind of beers many times a week. Usually I wasn't even getting drunk, I just enjoyed the culture and taste. The binge drinking continued couple of times per year. Then I wouldn't care what I drank as long as it had alcohol in it.
It was year 2013. We went to summer festival to celebrate my best friend's and coworker's bachelor party for five consecutive days. We drank all that time, day after day after day. We had so much to drink, be it beer, vodka, soft drinks with alcohol, wine, didn't matter. It was crazy and it's all blur to me. I was missing days, didn't remember much of it. After I woke up that day we were meant to leave the festival area, I was so hungover I felt like being in hell. Somehow we got the tent and everything packed up. I remember our tent stick was so deep in the ground that it had been stuck in the root of a tree. We had to get the car and pull it out with a rope tied to the car. Our friend was drunk and high and I was lying in unnatural position in the back where all the seats where taken out and below me was all kind of stuff, I barely fit in the car. I remember watching to the horizont from the front window of the car and seeing how the driver was zigzagging in both ways from the centerline of the road... I was in terrible hungover, sweaty and paranoid and fearing for my life. Thank goodness cops didn't stop us and we got home safely but it was a very dangerous ride. I don't know why I agreed to even go.
When I got home to my family I was feeling like coming back from the war. I was seeing things, it was still blurry and I had both physical and mental symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. I wanted to take it easy but instead I was a wreck, I was panicking, depressed and anxious and felt like going nuts. I slept the day, the next day, the next day. The anxiety and "the feeling" didn't go away. I was going on loop to my friends and wife that "I feel funny in the head". You know the feeling that like you are drunk but are not? It was that but even worse, I didn't feel myself, I saw my hands doing things but I didn't feel them as mine. I watched me in the mirror but I didn't recognize my face, or kinda, but kinda not. I watched myself from behind. I didn't recognize my home. It was surreal and horrible, like a nightmare. I thought it was because I binge drank so many days, that must be it, it's just been a short time, these are just the effects of it. But after two weeks I still got that "feeling". After four weeks it was the same. It never went away. Every time I thought about it I got a really bad panic attack and it felt like I snap and go crazy or die soon. I screamed and cried. Weeks went by. A month. Two months. Three months. I tried everything. Started to eat and sleep well, lost weight, excercised, concentrated on work. I never drank during this period. Couple of times I had to go to ER because I thought I had a brain tumor. They didn't find anything. They said my shoulders were a bit tough so they recommended a massage or ciropractor. So I went to one acquaintance of mine who is a well known ciropractor and he got my back in order. Nothing was helping. I still felt terrible.
I was constantly googling my symptoms and listed them out to my blog. The blog bost grew to a multi page manifest about different kind of things it might be. Never found the definitive answer. After that summer I started therapy. After six months I still suffered from "that feeling". The therapist never did an official dianogis but she SAID that I have probably been having a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) for a long time and the circumstances have caused me (and I quote) psychosomatic dissociative disorder induced by binge drinking of alcohol and enforced by anxiety and vicious hypochondriac thinking loop. We went over feelings and events from the summer festival all the way back to my childhood. The "cognitive therapy" as it was helped a lot. In some point I found "The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR" post and it opened my eyes. After about one year it finally lifted of when my mind got out of the loop.
In 2014 I had started drinking again but I decided to keep it under control and drank mostly beer at that time. I wanted to avoid the thing in last year happening again. But in spring I went with friends to a town near Helsinki. We were attending to a black metal festival nearby as I'm a huge black metal fan. We had whiskey and spirits in the hotel room and I guess I didn't care any more and already forgot about the miserable event in the past. I drank for two days like I was young again until I passed out and lost my memory of the days. So the same thing happened again. I suffered half year of the dissociation, again. Only difference this time was that "that's it", I quit drinking spirits and wine and I no longer wanted to drink anything else than beer. I explained it to myself that spirits are no fun to me as I can't hold my liquor, I lose memory, vomit and pass out every time I get them, I simply get too drunk too easy. Wine was not good to me anyway since it triggers migraine. I remember one time we were attending to a fine dining meal and I had red wine that the waitress recommended. After we left by train my headache got so bad I had to pass out to the floor of the train (there was no space). My friends watched me and told the nearby family that he is not drunk, he just has migraine. It was horrible. After that time I never drank red wine again. Anyway, I stopped everything but beer. Craft beer was my thing and consuming it was slow and controlled. For some reason I didn't want to quit for good. From later life perspective I was already hooked, an addict.
We moved after I had gone through 2 years of therapy and the therapy stopped because of the new location. It was very helpful but I didn't want to search another therapist after moving and my dissociation had been long gone in that point so I didn't see any reason for that. I embraced my life as a snobby craft beer enthusiast as I had got a job from the nearby craft beer pub as a reviewer and connoisseur. People would ask my advice what's THE craft beer to drink and I would gladly tell them and taste with them. I would find pine and oaky notes in there, I would comment on mouthfeel and richness of the hops etc. It was just like wine tasters basically but with beer. That's how the scene evolved, there were no longer lagers and schwarzs, there were dozens of whole new beer styles and new ones were invented daily. From all the beer styles in the world I was most fond of dark imperial stouts. I hunted for them. The best ABV was from 10 to 20, the stronger the better. I liked beers like "Imperial Salty Caramel Cookie Dough Double Coffee Fudge Chocolate Milk Hazelnut Butter Vanilla Cocoa Crumble Brown Ale", they were crazy good and had lots of alcohol. Slowly and steadily my drinking habits grew from "just a two on Friday" to "couple of beers every other day". When the ABV was almost always 10%+ I got drunk most of the time. I didn't really suffer from hangovers much but I was always tired and anxious. It was taking a toll on my health, focus at work and so on. I often said to everyone I wouldn't drink if there was no craft beer and that was true. I drank because of the craft beer culture, people, social aspects and relaxing and of course being intoxicated and hooked.
Years went by. I tasted over 4000 different beers. The hobby evolved from rating every beer to the point I was started to get annoyed about the elitism and hobbyist culture where you need to have a certain recommendation, high enough ABV, certain admired style, or score of the beer to even consider drinking it. So I gave up reviewing beers and started "the old way" to drink any beer that had alcohol in it. It didn't even have to be craft beer. I mostly liked "easy to drink" beers and many breweries tend to make beers so that it's like orange juice. New England Pale Ales and Sour Ales were wonderful, it beautiful juice, and deceptive to say the least.
Fast forward to 2020. We went to celebrate summer to our friends' cabin in the middle of nowhere. We got couple of barrels of beer from the local brewery with taps and all. For two days we had fun, played games (it was a forest LAN event). I remember taking it as an experiment, I wanted to try how much I can drink "just beer" to have a bad hangover. As we paid the barrels together based on how many pints everyone were drinking we had a "logger bookkeeping" with lines in the potholder. I must have had like over 30 lines over two days of period. And it was high ABV new england pale ale. I vomited my guts out both days of the event.
It was a bad hangover on Sunday. I never got the dissociative effects from that but there in that day I was seriously thinking about this. I started to make a list of positive and negative list of using alcohol. The negative list got out of hand and I ran out of paper. The positive list had no points. Finally I made the decicion I had thought of so many days in the past. This time it was for good. I signed up for I Am Sober app and it currently says 5 months, 7 days, 13 hours, 11 minutes, 50 seconds sober.
First weeks sober were kinda hard because in Finland alcohol is everywhere. We have about 5 million people in this country and 90% of people drink. I was starting to learn we use alcohol by habit. We use it at work (yes, many jobs have beer in the fridge and it's free to take whenever you want), after work (it's actually called "afterwork" and can happen many times a week but usually on Friday), on weddings, on funerals, on gettogethers, on housewarming parties, during every national holiday, on christmas, new year, on any public holiday, when you assemble furniture (yes, there is even a saying "asennuskaljat" here which is "an assembly beers" to make assembling IKEA stuff more fun), when you go to sauna (in Finland we have millions of saunas and most saunas per capita, it's Finnish pride and invention to relax, almost every apartment has sauna here, myself included), when you celebrate, when you have fun and not have fun, when you eat, when you play computer games many people have beer instead of energy drink. We have many days in the year even MADE FOR consuming alcohol, like Vappu (Walpuri's Night) where it is socially acceptable to drink on the streets. There are so many examples where alcohol is present, I see it even on TV here, yes, some tv hosts drink beer on live TV and it's not even considered odd. Finnish alcohol link site says: "Use of alcohol has increased considerably in Finland over the last four decades. In 2008, statistics showed that annual alcohol consumption had risen to 8.5 litres of pure alcohol per inhabitant. The amount has quintupled since the late 1950's.".
After three weeks I didn't crave alcohol daily any more. Sometimes during Fridays I watched others drink and it kinda made me sad. I wanted to belong, I kinda missed it. It was like breaking up after a long time of abusive relationship. I recalled only the good times and had to remind myself of all the bad alcohol caused me. I rechecked my list of all the negative things alcohol caused me. There were loads of benefits in being sober from money to mental health.
Here's my list of positive things in alcohol: + Are there any? "Good" beers (NOT that good you want to ruin yourself) + Social life (Actually a negative thing as well because what kind of life is the life that needs alcohol? Can I get social without alcohol? Yes I can if I want)
Here's my list of negative things in using alcohol: - Tiredness in the morning - Can't eat breakfast - Uninterestedness (this is the worst for me). I'm not interested in new things, I can't read books, etc. - Mental health problems escalate, my anxiety gets worse, dangers of dissociation - Stomach problems - In general alcohol causes physically bad things, you just don't always feel them because it also numbs you. I had many headaches and muscle pains while drinking. You can ignore them but they are there. - Money and spending out of control. Alcohol costs a lot in Finland. One good craft beer in a pub can be easily from 15 to 20 €. So one night would cost 100 €. I lost from 500 to 1000 € per month during my craft beer habit. That's about 10000 € per year. I often bought fast food or things I didn't need when drunk. Not to mention irregular gambling while under influence. - General Anxiety Disorder. Doesn't do good. - No time for good things. Wasting time in pubs talking trash. And sleeping in. - Hangovers. Didn't have them much during "craft beer stage" but tiredness is also a hangover. Fatique, metal coma and anxiety could last for weeks and weeks without end. - Circadian rhythm. Didn't have any sleep patterns when used alcohol. I could stay up without much sleep or sleep too much. Alcohol messes up the system. - Risk of cancer. My father, grandfather and father's uncle died of cancer. - Risk of heart issues. My mom has some stuff with her heart. - Craft beer culture getting toxic and elitist - Most of the alcohol doesn't suit me (or anyone) anyway, already quit spirits back in 2013 and can't drink wine - Maybe more but here's the key negatives
So here's my story. Glad you made this far! After almost 6 months sober I have noticed some positive things:
- Better sleep - Better focus - No hangovers - Always time for my son and daughter - More time home - More time to do ANYTHING I want - More money, way more than I ever had, we had a wonderful christmas with presents - Found tea, coffee and artesan soft drinks like ginger beer again - Falling in love again with my wife - Less anxiety, GAD is controllable now - Lost some weight - Less stomach problems
Some negatives as well:
- No social life at all but I'm happy with my family

Help with a sibling in detox

[Long post] My parents called me (29F) a disappointment because I am getting married to my incredible fiancé (32M).

I'm a [31M] who's never had any romantic relationship in my entire life. What can I do to change that?

I happen to be a 31-year-old man who's never had any romantic relationship in my entire life I recently turned 31 this September. At times I feel hopeless that I will ever have a relationship with a woman, and fantasize about how it would be. And getting older doesn't help as I fear that I would be more ostracized the older I get without any history of a relationship.
Here's some back story about my personal self: I'm from Massachusetts and lived here all my life near the Rhode Island border. I guess I'm labeled a nerd because that what I've been called since I grew up with video games and nerd culture. I do go to conventions like PAX East and Comic-Con here. I went alone for the first time ever in recent years and cosplayed fully as a video game character Snake from Metal Gear. And it was a different experience. So I'm not afraid of trying things as I have aged as I would have never gone alone up to Boston to an event like that prior with anxieties I have faced. I don't talk with people openly about this and keep it to myself so I have to get it out. So this may be a lot to read and I understand that.
I'm also a smaller person in stature with being skinny growing up so I was teased by family about that. So I did join the gym in 2018 at my school but was never so serious about it. And didn't have much help to learn things and need that reassurance I'm doing it right. And recently I signed up for an actual gym and will be using a trainer.
Back in my childhood, I was always the "quiet" one. Not by choice. I was always assigned that title so I kept quiet. I still get called that and not sure why as this is the way I am. I'm not sure if it could have been to the way I was raised as I didn't go out really and my parents weren't so good and abusive. My dad was physically abusive to my mom and brother, as his dad was brutal to him in Portugal. So I was always nervous and still am to an extent. My mom has an addiction issue with gambling and really messed up my path as she would steal the money I worked for to fund her habits for many years. So I am set back compared to others my age but finally reaching my success with my career only starting last year in the IT field. But either way, my parents made me insecure about my feelings and I always kept to myself with fears of being judged and they were in control of my life up until my 20s. I don't talk with them really at this point as it's hard to put past what they have caused me to be stuck.
I didn't get help for any of this until 2016 as I did a post on Reddit for help and therapy was recommended. I've come so far with going back to school, driving on highways, and so many smaller things that affected me not being able to do. I've even brought in my own mother to therapy but she still never fully apologized and even denied any wrongdoing she did. But I'm fine that I just want my personal life to flourish. I've been with female therapists since then for a total of two different ones. I had to leave my first for insurance issues after going for a year. The other I decided to switch as I was going to her since 2017 up until early this year and felt no progress was made with my issue with never having a relationship. And it is more of a male issue that I am a man looking for a woman. So a different experience and mostly better to have a male therapist's point of view for this.
I know very few people personally as I only hang out with close cousins. Most of the others I only talk online with but never had friends I went out with regularly since they don't seem to do anything. So I never went out much and I don't drink alcohol or smoke weed. So it's tough knowing where to find anyone in these current times but it won't even matter if there was no virus. I'd still be stuck here in this spot even without the virus.
Onto my dating life, I've only dated one woman very shortly, about a month just last year. She was the first and only person I dated and it happened in September right when I turned 30. We met off Hinge, the dating app. She happened to message me first with a Hi and my name! She was really into me with the conversation and I was super surprised as I don't have that experience with my time with dating apps. She wasn't exactly a nerdy type also. Anyway, we agreed to meet for a coffee date after about 2 weeks of talking in Providence. I was very nervous as this was going to be my first date ever at 30. I dressed as fancy as I could and she did compliment that. I was pacing for some time as I was so nervous as I awaited her to arrive. And she finally arrived and gave each other a quick hug which made the nervousness tone down. Things went great and we talked for hours despite this being foreign to me. She was awkward at times so I didn't think much of it. Then we said our goodbyes and hugged each other. I was so happy I finally had my first date ever, it was unreal and I remember it so much. I did text her right when I got home as a follow-up and she agreed and liked that it was good. I was even more surprised as I thought I was bad since I had no reference for dating till then.
We agreed to meet again after seeing the pumpkin carvings at the local zoo during October and an impromptu dinner as she texted me if I wanted to get food right about leaving. That’s how inexperienced I am not asking for dinner after that date. It was all amazing to me that these kinds of things were happening, going out with someone, and having dinner. It was something that was so unreal to me. I offered to pay also and she was greatly appreciative of the night as she wanted to cover herself.
So this is where things started to change and finding out more about her. We were planning to meet once again during the week after work. We were texting about it in the AM and she stopped replying. But when it was the end of my workday she finally got back to me saying she passed out at an appointment and got a concussion. So I didn't assume I was going to meet up that night at all so I went home. We texted more later and she became erratic because I didn't come to see her like at almost midnight during a workweek. She became more and more upset. She was giving me an ultimatum to either visit her or whatever was happening between us would end. She became more and more upset. Then she was calling me as we never talked over the phone and she was absolutely terrible to me, swearing at me, telling me I was stupid, and so on, and she told me where to go for nothing I did wrong.
She wasn't the same person I met on the dates we had. It made me so upset I was taking this all in from her call and I never said anything bad to her. She was absolutely a wreck and I tried telling her I'm not sure why she was acting that way. So she hung up after screaming at me. Then again she was texting me to come to her address which she gave thought text or it was over. So at this point, it would have been foolish since it's already midnight and she lashed out at me and still wants me to come to visit her after her concussion. So she called one again and it made me so sad that the only woman so far to give me a chance was treating me like shit. I then told her what would my therapist think of you as I mentioned her to my therapist since dating is something that is focused on during sessions. I opened up about me never having a partner and she was my first date ever and I don't know why she's acting this way and it hurt me.
I guess I calmed her down enough and she wasn't so bad to me. She opened up about herself and she said the concussion caused her to act that way. My therapist later didn't agree and said she saw many red flags with her. Well, we talked into the AM over the phone that night as she told me that she suffers from a rare illness called EDS, and from that illness she has 30 other diseases. I couldn't believe it since you can't see it by looking at her. She told me she is always sick going to appointments and needs major surgery often and she soon was going soon a few weeks later to major neck fusion. I felt for her but still, I didn't think how she treated me was right over the phone that night. So the following day I stopped replying to her.
The following day she was texting me and was worried about me and was thinking I ghosted her but that's something I don't do. I had a therapy session that day I talked to my therapist about it. She did say again that there were many red flags and it was sad that she’s a very ill person and it was my personal choice if I continued talking with her after that. She actually called me during my session and left an apology voicemail for her behavior. And said she regrets acting that way and adored me so far and wanted to continue dating. And text replies mentioning that. So I did reply talking about how my therapist said to set boundaries as that behavior was no healthy and unwanted. She was still kind of upset I brought her up during therapy and texted me her medical papers that yes she wasn't lying about her illness.
Later that week we did agree to meet for dinner and a movie at the mall in Providence. I came early and there was a miscommunication and she was waiting elsewhere in the mall for me and once again her attitude started changing in the texts. I found her and she wasn't seeming to me that she wasn't happy at all based on her face. And she did have that concussion earlier in the week. We sat down for dinner and I wasn't sure how to approach her being as I was afraid she was going to lash out in public and I'm nervous when someone starts shouting at me and it shuts me down. So I barely was saying anything to her at all. Since I didn't know what she was going to do if I said the wrong thing. So after a while, she became upset and was saying this is awkward us not talking and saying I have communication issues. And I don't listen to her and her ex was the same was and they went to couple’s therapy and called me an INFJ over and over. And she got up off her chair and was thinking to just go home after that and I said you are welcome to. I wasn't putting any argument as I'm not the type of person to fight. So she didn't eat her food at all and ended up throwing it out as the mall was closing and the movie was almost starting. So she offered to just watch the movie and we'll talk about what happened another time. So we did watch a terrible movie name JEXI which I had no interest in. She offered to pay for the movie and popcorn as I did for her in the past. I still wasn't talking much with her during the movie as I was afraid if she will lash out. But watching a movie with her was another huge accomplishment as I never did that with a woman as a date.
So this is where more things got interesting. So after the movie, we were leaving and down the escalator, there was an old man that happened to fall down it and his leg was bleeding all over the floor. People were just gathering, and one called 911 for help. She then ran down the escalator to the scene to assist with him. She took her sweater off her back to make a tourniquet for him. She happened to have first aid classes. She didn't want to leave until he was gone by paramedics. She seemed super panicky and I didn't know what to do at that point. I offered her my coat as she only had a tank under her sweater and she declined. We finally walked away when the man was rolled away and there was a large pool of blood near him. So on the way she was super lost and saying she was about to have a panic attack so I gave her a hug to calm her down and she said: "thank you". I walked her to her car in the big parking garage and there was a car driving behind me and she pulled me in as she was afraid I was going to get hit. I was saying it was amazing to see what she did with the man as a hero like that and she told me that sweater had sentimental value and it went to better use to help him.
So on the way to her car, I asked from the help of online prior to what I should do at this point of dates, I said "may I kiss you?" She took off her glasses and she leaned her back against her car as she has balance issues with her spine surgeries. And we pulled each other in and we then made out. It was so super unreal. I felt like I was dreaming. I couldn't believe it was finally happening. I was so into it and super passionate about it. We would kiss and she would bite my lower lip and pull away and look into each other's eyes and do it again. It was something out of a movie. I was caressing her body, her hair, and from her illness, I believe it was her vertebrae was dislocating as her neck in the upwards position. She was in a bit of pain and I was apologizing if I was causing it as I was so into our kiss, my first kiss. She didn't mind and were giving each other neck kisses after and I was saying things into her ear that got her really turned on. She then started digging her nails into my back and pushing her lower body into mines. This all happened while cars were passing but I didn't care we were making out in public at this point in my life. After the kiss we held each other saying nothing, it was so peaceful, she then opened up how she has an aneurism in her heart and it can burst anytime and that's how her mother passed. I felt so bad for her and kept on consoling her with caressing her. I then went home a new man after the kiss as I didn't think it finally actually happened at 30. We texted after and talked about the night and how I enjoyed the kiss and she did for someone with no experience like myself in that. Even the next day I couldn't believe it happened.
Over time we texted and at times she was flipping a switch with her personality. I wasn't sure what to do as she a very ill person and at times didn’t want to talk and still wanted to and said I have communication issues. She was going into surgery the final week I met her for ice cream. She was very scared of going into a life-threatening surgery and I could see it that night. She wasn't mean to me in person that night and we talked for a few hours into the night in the parking lot. I didn't know much what to say to her since she wanted to say goodbye the next day before she left for NY for surgery. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye as we didn't meet the following day. I didn't get to kiss her again that night either as she said she doesn't like PDA when there are people around as there was to people in their car right near us. So we hugged goodbye.
The reason I didn't meet to say a final goodbye before surgery was that she was busy preparing to go and I didn't text her till later in that day and again she was super upset and saying she wasn't going to talk with me and yet she still did. I wished her the best of luck and sent good thoughts as she left. In between then and her coming back I never seen her since last October. Her surgery didn't succeed sadly and she's pretty much disabled now and needs to revise it if possible. I still text with her till this day more of a pen pal. I never asked her if it ended but I was ready to move on as I shouldn't have to have one choice of a person to date and the way things played out. I needed more experiences dating and that's where I am now. But I am grateful she gave me my first dates ever and my first and only kiss, it was more than a peck being a makeout.
All I know are dating apps and I even got photos done for them by a photographer who dating photography. It's the same pics I used when that only woman I dated messaged me. But since then I have not had any success or interest from anyone else. I barely get matches if I am lucky. And I'm on all apps and have subscriptions to Match, Tinder and OkCupid. I try to reach out on the apps that allow to message first and even then I barely get a match after so many sent out. I waste more time and get little to no results. Only one woman back in February agreed to meet for coffee and she wasn't interested after the date. It was a short date too and I'm assuming she wasn't as interested in person versus how she seemed on the app of Facebook dating. So since then, it's been pretty frustrating with the no results.
I've gotten putting so much time and money into it. Only to get nothing much of it. I have a snapshot of my photos I use and bio now off Tinder and I just use the same for all the other apps. Some on here have trashed me for getting a photographer and saying the photos aren't genuine. But I put my trust in the photographer as he is a professional. Others have criticized my appearance and nerdy type. So I'm not sure what else to do as it's mixed responses on my profile as some also say all is good yet I don't have results.
So know I don't know what to do next as with the virus we can't exactly meet people and that was something I wanted to work on this year to go to events to meet people that way. I've done geek speed dating way back in 2018 only to get a blank piece of paper. I tried going to a cosplay meet up at a bar and arcade here and nothing much occurred from them last year. Anything like that isn't happening anytime soon so I only have dating apps or maybe there are ways I still can get something rolling in person? So I am asking for advice or any help to get something that I truly desire a relationship. It hurts at times as so many people have had many at my age and I'm only looking for one to get those experiences in life. My brother and a cousin as examples are just generally terrible and have been abusive to their partners and are wreckless in general and have had many partners. And I don't know how to even be that way and I feel hopeless that I will never experience love as I age older. I was always the outsider growing up and still am. Do I get photos redone by another photographer? Do I try to hire a relationship or dating coach to help? I don't want to give up but it's very depressing that I can't seem to figure out what's wrong and why I can't achieve this. I greatly appreciate any help and thank you very much if you read all this. Thank you.
tl;dr: I'm a 31-year-old man who's never had any relationship in my entire life and I recently turned 31 this September. I only dated one woman shortly off a dating app last year and had my first and only kiss. I am grateful for that experience but really want a relationship with me getting older. And it hurts at times knowing this and unless you were in my position you would know how it feels. I don't know what to do now I am still stuck and can't seem to get any interest off dating apps despite taking photos by a dating photographer. Message me if you want a snapshot of my profile.

Something to keep your mind off the red day...

This research was offered for $2k guaranteeing that 2 of the 6 stocks would reach $10 in a year or it was free. I didn't pay for it, rather just tried to figure out the companies from the transcript below. MMED is one of the 6 for sure. See if you can figure them out. I believe this was offered in Sept so the current prices are obviously off. Have fun!

What I’m about to tell you may sound like science fiction...
Yet what’s contained in this eyedropper...
Is so powerful...
The $8 TRILLION healthcare industry is on fire.
A single dose of what I’m holding... could change everything we know about the human brain.
Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, head of psychedelic research at Imperial College London, said...
What it was derived from... is truly miraculous.
Not quite plant...
Not quite living organism...
A rare hybrid species I’ll tell you more about later on.
But from this hybrid species, scientists have discovered a chemical compound... one that’s able to be grown in labs... 100% naturally, without interfering with nature.
The billionaires backing this research... like Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary... and PayPal’s Peter Thiel... are CONVINCED it’s going to be one of the greatest investments of their career.
To the doctors in the lab... it must seem like the next step of human evolution!
I call it “Living Medicine” because the atoms in this substance are truly ALIVE and could be capable of unimaginable regenerative properties.
And if the early findings are correct...
Living Medicine could be as transformative to our society as penicillin, which single-handedly fixed many serious health conditions.
That was making history THEN... What you’re looking at is making history NOW... It’s about to smash every record and scientific development we’ve seen.
Come with me now... inside the human brain.
All of our research shows... our brain loses its strength... its elasticity... That means memory... motor functions... they get worse as we age. You may have noticed this yourself with older friends or family.
Now watch... In time, it may be possible to stimulate growth for those brain cells and rebuild...
In time, it may be possible to stimulate growth for those brain cells and rebuild... perhaps even stronger than before.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg...
Imagine depression gone... forever.
Clinical trials conducted by NYU and Johns Hopkins found it helped cancer patients cure their depression within a single dose.
More research shows it could help completely reverse the battle-induced PTSD for our soldiers.
80% of smokers quit after one single dose! Now researchers testing it on alcoholism.
Another study by 60 Minutes found it’s nonaddictive.
I want to be clear, I’m NOT talking about marijuana or CBD right now. What is in this eyedropper is NOT marijuana or CBD.
Rather, it is a one-of-a-kind substance called “psilocybin.”
This is found ONLY in the unique hybrid species I’m going to show you.
And while this is still in trial research periods, I believe this Living Medicine is at the forefront of EVERYTHING that’s going to accelerate brain science in the next 10 years. I’m absolutely certain of it.
And I’m not the only one who thinks this!
Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal... Palantir... and Founders Fund. One of Forbes’ 1,000 RICHEST men on the planet.
He’s completely backing this industry and one of its leading companies.
And he knows people are going to call him crazy... He recently said...
This opportunity is the most hidden breakthrough I’ve ever seen.
With the track record Peter Thiel has... wouldn’t you want to get in alongside him in this new industry?
Then there’s Christian Angermayer... the hedge fund LEGEND with $365 million in assets. He’s getting in with his buddy Peter Thiel.
Same with hedge guru Michael Novogratz and his $250 MILLION fund!
He’s also a ground-floor investor.
You know who else is getting in? Kevin O’Leary from Shark Tank.
He’s betting big on Living Medicine as well – recently getting in on a $6 MILLION round of funding.
All of this activity among famous billionaires has alerted the attention of investigative reporters.
I’ve known about this alongside these billionaires for years.
I’ve been preparing for this EXACT moment.
When the companies finally see promise to emerge from the trial stage... and prepare for the moment that all of what I’m about to tell you goes mainstream.
Until now, they’ve seen explosive growth... but they’ve been too small for me to recommend to 150,000 Oxford Club Members.
But now, Living Medicine is like a giant awakening from slumber.
The market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 16.3% over the next eight years to reach $6.85 billion by 2027, according to Data Bridge Market Research.
We’re talking massive growth over time!
And while a lot of these stocks are still in their earliest and most volatile phase...
The gains can be absolutely breathtaking when you find the one.
As with any stocks in a new sector, there are those that won’t make it and will end up in the dustbin of history. But the stocks that DO MAKE it have massive upside potential.
Just look what’s been happening to the BEST Living Medicine Stocks we pulled to show you from the market.
Captiva Verde... this company was $0.20 coming out of the Corona Crash in April...
And still, even the WORST crash in financial history couldn’t keep this stock down...
Yet not a shred of media coverage. That’s how hidden from the outside this is, just like Peter Thiel said...
Imagine once it goes mainstream.
As the sector grows at that double-digit rate I mentioned to you before...
We could continue to see opportunities for incredible gains!
Sure, some of these stocks aren’t going to make it – this is a “swing for the fences”-type investment.
So I do NOT recommend you invest more than you can lose.
But when you get it right on Living Medicine stocks... the gains can be more than enough to make up for any setbacks.
Look at a stock like Revive Therapeutics.
This stock was a PENNY in December 2019.
A penny!
Meaning you don’t have to invest much and risk it – a little capital goes a LONG WAY with these.
On May 26, 2020, Revive opened at a high of $0.27. A 2,600% gain in six months.
📷
One more, just because I’m excited for you...
And I’m thrilled I finally get to put this in the hands of our Members...
This is going to be an extraordinary example... and I can’t promise these kind of results.
But this is the kind of grand slam I’m hoping to find for you!
And it also shows you the power of these stocks... and how a small investment can change your life forever...
For $1,500, you could have bought 100,000 shares of the stock.
And that $1,500 flyer...
Would have turned into a MASSIVE payday as the stock moved closer to $0.99.
Now, would you have to be lucky? You bet. And have exceptional timing? Of course.
Stocks like Ehave are rare.
And other penny stocks drop to zero.
BUT...
This is the power of investing in a brand-new market like Living Medicine.
And this is why I want everyone to know about it NOW, when it’s in the beginning stages and the profit potential is the BIGGEST.
When you can put in $500 or $1,000... and see life-changing results. And not risk a lot of capital if a stock doesn’t work out.
Up until now, I’ve been anxiously waiting because these Living Medicine stocks were too small for our hundreds of thousands of Members to get into.
When they were just a penny I couldn’t do it. These companies weren’t even off the ground yet. The risk would have been too great.
And while small caps can still be volatile... the upside potential here is too good to pass up.
Because make no mistake... we are now at a tipping point, which is why your timing couldn’t be better.
Living Medicine therapies could go completely mainstream as soon as 2021 according to two independent sources.
And the six stocks I’ve found... all of which specialize in this... sell for $2 a share on average.
Then again, it’s often been said that neuroscience is in its infancy.
We know more about the moons of Jupiter than our own brain!
That’s all about to change in the next few months... when these six tiny companies take the $8 TRILLION medical world by storm.
Only the true ground-floor guys know about this.
The REAL silicon valley power players like Peter Thiel.
The REAL shark tank investors like Kevin O’Leary.
I want you to get in now... when a small grubstake in Living Medicine... over time... could be one of the greatest investments you EVER make.
I’ve put together a special report on the BEST companies in the world creating this Living Medicine.
There are only six I would touch if I were you.
And they’re still at the absolute cheapest – they’re all $2 or less on average. Some are selling for just $0.20!
I predict these stocks will soon be trading for $10 or higher!
These six companies have the most sizable advantage from my analysis. And they have the lion’s share of this discovery and this market in their grasp.
Imagine the gains you could be sitting on all because you knew about this ONLY when the smart money billionaires knew about it.
I am going to show you how to claim the Living Medicine report that reveals ALL the companies DURING this presentation.
So if you click out and leave, you’ll get nothing.
Your profit opportunity will likely go to someone else.
But if we move quickly... I think we can play this situation just as we’ve done before with NEW and EXCITING investment trends.
My early recommendations from another service gave my readers the chance to TRIPLE their money in six months on Canopy Growth – one of the biggest names in the biz...
And DOUBLE their money on Aphria Growth in four months’ time.
Those successes were a big part of the lead-up to launching our research today... and having something at The Oxford Club completely dedicated to blazing new trails and investing in new trends.
But since 2017, as you may know, marijuana has gone into a steep bear market. The marijuana index as a whole is down almost 69%!
As a result, our track record is negative, and our average position is down 9.9%.
I hate losing money, but that is the nature of the markets sometimes. But in my view, when something goes against you, you don’t just keep following it downward.
Marijuana’s fall was a valuable lesson.
It reminded us not to risk more than you can afford to lose.
And when you have big gains on the table, like we did, take some of them!
Let the rest ride and play with house money if you want!
It also taught us that it always pays to get in at the beginning, not after everyone else is already talking about an opportunity.
BUT... something good also came out of these losses...
They’ve allowed me to build an even BETTER system for picking stocks than before.
I just closed out another MASSIVE 2,710% partial gain on Sea Ltd. in August of 2020! From a position we held for just four months!!
My system is BETTER than ever, and it’s led us straight to this new market.
Where the revenues are trending upward.
Where EVERYTHING is trending upward!
And this new market is one where the billionaires are more excited than ever!
And prices will never be cheaper. You can get in with a Shark Tank investor like Kevin O’Leary... for pennies!
That’s why I’m telling you about Living Medicine today.
It’s the next no-brainer trend...
And sources are predicting that by 2021 it could be in treatment and therapy centers, moving out of the clinical trials we’re in now.
And by 2027, it could be a $6.8 BILLION industry.
We’re talking billions...
Yet these companies barely measure in the millions!
This is why I feel that NOW is the time to get into these stocks – or you’ll regret it forever.
This is the breakthrough moment for investors, which is why the billionaires are going all-in.
For the past two years, I’ve been waiting for this trend to hit the mainstream.
Waiting to replicate these kinds of results yet again in order to lift our track record to FAR outperform anything we’ve done in the past!
I’m hot on the heels of Shark Tank investors and other famous investors... yet as far as I know, I’m the ONLY person who knows about these six stocks!
As for the profit potential...
You could be looking at the chance to turn a couple hundred bucks into major money!
For Starters, on Average ALL OF MY Stocks Are Still Under $2
For starters...
The stocks in my Living Medicine report...
Are selling for an average of LESS than two bucks.
· One is just $0.10.
· Another is $0.20.
· Another is $0.43.
Meaning they’re tiny, and the biggest gains are ahead of them!
Now, there is always risk to investing, and small stocks like this can often be even more volatile. We never recommend you bet the farm on these trades.
But when you get it right on these... you don’t have to. I showed you how $1,000 in a Living Medicine stock like Ehave turned into nearly six figures.
That’s why I actually recommend sprinkling just a little into each stock. That way you ensure yourself the best chance at success without putting down too much!
And a little bit goes a long way when my six stocks are priced between just a few cents and just a few bucks...
📷
With small stocks like these, we expect some losers along the way.
But here’s the thing...
If our best-case scenario plays out...
And we find that play that makes you 1,000% on your money...
It will NOT matter if you struck out once or twice along the way, or even if the losers are more frequent than the winners. All it takes is one big winner when you get in on these trends before everyone else.
The billionaires backing Living Medicine know it... That’s why they’ve gotten in now.
The FDA knows it... That’s why they gave this treatment a breakthrough therapy designation to expedite the development and review of this treatment..
NOW is the time to get in...
I’ve put together a package that shows you exactly what these six stocks are, and I’ve outlined their massive growth potential and profitability.
And I’ll reveal something extra to you, too...
I’ll show you how to become what’s called a "round lot" investor before these companies grow bigger and bigger.
Round lot investors are the highest status of investor.
And I’ll show you how you could accumulate hundreds or THOUSANDS of shares for just a few bucks and become one.
My report is going to walk you through everything. And you can open it on your phone, iPad, computer... whatever you want.
I will show you how to get my report on the six Living Medicine stocks and more in a moment, but first...
Let me finally tell you what this revolutionary discovery is made of.
Because Living Medicine treatment is like nothing else on Earth...
It’s funny how the world’s greatest medical breakthroughs can hide in plain sight!
But it’s truly phenomenal... no other species of plant has this chemical in it.
Literally NOTHING.
And what’s truly remarkable about this species... is that it’s not quite plant... not quite animal. It’s a rare combination hybrid.
Which may be why it’s been holding these secrets right under our noses!
The good news is... scientists have found a way to grow living medicine rapidly in a lab, so there’s no need to wait for nature to produce this miracle substance – that’s a benefit not even marijuana can boast!
And you can decide how to take it.
In a powder, packed into a small capsule, sometimes only 475 micrograms.
You can dissolve the powder into tea or liquid if you don’t prefer to swallow something – which plenty of people do.
Or you can just drop a little eyedropper under your tongue.
A cancer patient revealed to one Colorado news outlet that vials as small as this size contain more than a YEAR’S supply to medicate pain.
A small powder or liquid.
That’s it.
That’s all it takes for Living Medicine to go to work on your body and potentially help treat you within a single dose. And that’s confirmed by CNN as they interviewed doctors at NYU.
But here’s what’s TRULY revolutionary.
It could help rewire and stimulate growth in parts of your brain.
You probably know that, as we age, we become forgetful. We can’t possibly remember every nugget of information.
Basically our brains lose a couple of horsepower with each passing year.
Living Medicine could help reverse that.
Think of your brain like this... before and after Living Medicine...
One of these images looks like it has a few pathways...
The other looks like a neural superhighway.
Studies on this are still in their infancy... but neuroscience itself is in its infancy!
It is said we know more about our solar system... than what is inside our own skull.
But Living Medicine is the tip of the sword when it comes to neuroscience advancement.
This could be the ANSWER neuroscientists have been looking for. How to re-awaken those long-lost parts of the brain!
This potential of stimulating growth of brain cells is why everyone is simply astounded by Living Medicine.
Now let me tell you a little bit about the chemistry behind it.
According to the DPA, the Drug Policy Alliance...
The main active ingredient in Living Medicine.... psilocybin...
“Is not considered to be addictive, nor does it cause compulsive use.”
Johns Hopkins University determined the same thing, citing on its website...
“Research shows that the drug has low potential for abuse and dependence.”
Unlike narcotics...
Or pharmaceutical pills that become addictive...
Or even the folks who enjoy marijuana a little too much...
That’s NOT the case with this Living Medicine.
It really can offer the best possible treatment with the fewest possible side effects.
Think of those affected by Alzheimer’s, PTSD, depression and the countless brain disorders out there. The number is in the hundreds of millions according to the World Health Organization.
Hundreds of millions... that’s a lot of people this could help, right?
So let me give you a glimmer of the profit potential here...
Because I know I just explained a LOT of science and numbers here...
Let’s take a look at a marijuana pharmaceutical stock that made a similar treatment, but only for people suffering from two rare forms of seizures or epilepsy.
Only about 3 1/2 million folks have epilepsy here in the states. That is a fraction of the patient base that Living Medicine could help.
Now, this was also the FDA’s FIRST-EVER drug derived from cannabidiol.
So, even though it was a much smaller market, this treatment was a TRUE ground-floor opportunity, just like Living Medicine. It was a breakthrough! Just like Living Medicine.
This is not one I recommended. At its low, this stock went from $8 and change... to peaks of more than $124 over time.
A 1,450% gain.
14X gains!
And consider, this company’s claim to fame is making a product for just 3 1/2 million people...
Now consider...
If Living Medicine’s research continues to show positive results, someday it could treat 300 million people worldwide with depression.
And here in the States...
· 5.2 million Americans with PTSD
· 5 million people with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
· 38 million smokers.
· 8.1 million alcoholics.
I think 14x gains like GW Pharmaceuticals could be small potatoes.
Remember, that stock was $8.
And its treatment was for a FRACTION of that patient base.
The stocks I’m going to send you in my Living Medicine report are on average $2 per share.
If any one of these six companies follows the same trajectory as GW Pharmaceuticals... we could snag one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for ourselves!
And that rare and extraordinary chance is WORTH taking! That’s why the billionaires are plowing their money into it.
And it’s why Fortune magazine recently published an article begging the question, “Is this Silicon Valley’s next big bet?”
I’m telling you, it is!
This is an incredible time to get in on the ground floor.
When the billionaires like Peter Thiel and his buddies are moving in.
THE BILLIONAIRES ARE MOVING IN
Remember, Peter Thiel was in early on Facebook, SpaceX, Airbnb and Lyft.
He’s worth more than $2.3 billion because he knows how to spot a new market.
And he’s one of the first people moving in on Living Medicine.
Or how about this... do you ever watch Shark Tank or know about it?
Mr. Wonderful, millionaire Kevin O Leary, is moving in on this.
And you know how tough he is to get to invest on the show! One of the – if not THE – TOUGHEST people to convince.
And yet, he is going all-in according to the reports.
In fact, he’s behind one of the six companies I’m going to tell you about today.
So don’t get up from your chair or click out of this video – you’re literally going to get the details Mr. Wonderful invested $6.2 million to find out!
He’s not the only one...
Tim Ferriss, bestselling author and entrepreneur and worth a whopping $110 million, is also getting in on this trend.
Meanwhile, every scientist and doctor in the lab is utterly fascinated by it.
In fact, as researchers dug deeper and deeper into the origins of Living Medicine...
They actually found ancient medical texts referencing it...
They found it’s quietly been used by cultures for hundreds of years!
Throughout History Cultures Have Used This Living Medicine... in More Archaic Ways
Now... many of the world’s best medicines were actually used throughout history before they were fully understood by scientists.
Take aspirin...
It comes from the Willow plant.
And its first documented use dates back to the ancient Egyptians as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever.
The Greeks used it too.
Hippocrates, of the Hippocractic oath fame, used Willow tea to ease the pain of childbirth.
But it wasn’t until 1897, when German chemist Felix Hoffmann discovered the actual compound for aspirin, that it took off as a modern medicine.
Today, 40,000 tons of aspirin are produced annually... generating hundreds of millions in profits every year.
Living Medicine is likely to have a similar story because it’s a natural and effective medicine.
And its use also dates back to ancient peoples.
Celtic Druids called it the “Flesh of the Gods” because of its mental-boosting attributes.
Egyptians reserved the source of the Living Medicine EXCLUSIVELY for royalty. Because they believed it increased longevity, even by their very archaic standards!
The ancient Chinese also knew about it...
Forms of Living Medicine were even documented as early as 29th century B.C. in The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica.
They didn’t have the kind of technology or capabilities we have today.
But we’ve seen time and time again that old knowledge can have transformative modern applications.
Even as recently as 1928...
LESS than 100 years ago...
Nobody realized the mold from an old orange... would become instrumental in developing penicillin... until Alexander Fleming thought to put it under a microscope.
The SAME story is playing out with Living Medicine.
It’s untapped potential has sat for centuries...
Millennia...
Until now.
And that’s why the smart money and billionaires are so excited.
And why I am excited to get you the details on the stocks cornering the market for Living Medicine.
Remember, for less than $2 per share on these companies, we can get shoulder-to-shoulder with billionaires on the BIGGEST trend happening in medicine.
Living Medicine Is About to Go Mainstream
I wouldn’t even be wasting your time right now...
If I didn’t think this was going to go completely mainstream in the weeks and months ahead.
I mentioned before the FDA has given Living Medicine BREAKTHROUGH STATUS.
But that’s not all.
Across the country, on a state-by-state basis...
New bills are being written to start moving to allow folks to have Living Medicine.
From the West Coast and California... to the midlands like Colorado... to the southwest of New Mexico... it’s spreading everywhere like wildfire.
For instance...
A program called “Initiative 301” in Colorado was signed into effect late in 2019...
The proposal received more than 89,320 VOTES.
And with that historic vote... Initiative 301 was signed into law! These laws are paving the way for this new treatment as Living Medicine gets the necessary greenlights from the FDA and the government
But Colorado isn’t the only one!
Just a month later, California followed suit.
New Mexico has almost completely given the greenlight, and they’re ready to go.
The FDA has also allowed doctors in Texas to start researching...
Oregon is in the process of starting a program as well!
As are the researchers I told you about at Johns Hopkins in Maryland...
And Florida’s getting on board – with half a million people with Alzheimer’s in the Sunshine State, this could be huge for the state!
It’s spreading rapid-fire across the country and for good reason.
The mental health crisis... is estimated to cost the world $16 TRILLION in the next 10 years.
We are DESPERATE for something that can help treat chronic pain, pill addiction, depression, PTSD and these debilitating diseases of the mind.
To me, the writing is on the wall...
If these states can get their best scientists...
Their best schools...
Their best doctors...
Their best state legislators...
All working toward the SAME goal...
I think it’s obvious...
The main companies in this space are going to reward shareholders with once-in-a-lifetime gains.
Millions of folks are going to finally start catching on in 2020...
It’s about to hit that breakout moment. When folks start talking about it like they do their favorite show on Netflix.
That tipping-point moment... when regular folks in the mainstream start asking... how do I invest in this?
And I think these stocks are going to SKYROCKET over time.
Which is why I want you to know about them now.
And why I want to send you my report on Living Medicine which reveals the stocks.
Because this is the moment...
It could feel like watching the same movie twice.
You know how it’s going to end.
Just like when cryptocurrency got popular... just like when marijuana stocks got popular.
This is when a mega-trend emerges from the shadows.
My expertise is on finding new investment markets as they develop.
I’m quite literally the Chief Trends Strategist at The Oxford Club, with more than 100,000 Members counting on me to find it before everyone else.
And I think this Living Medicine is going to create the third new booming market of the past decade.
Think for a second...
Five years ago, people thought you were smoking pot if you told them about marijuana stocks.
Ten years ago, nobody knew what a cryptocurrency was.
People looked at you like you were insane.
Trading paper money... for digital money?
That’s how it always is.
Peter Thiel, Michael Novogratz and Christian Angermayer all jumped into crypto very early.
Now these same guys are doing it again with Living Medicine.
They’re pushing their chips back into the middle of the table...
Novogratz recently told Bloomberg reporters, “It just feels like a cultural shift is going on.”
And he’s absolutely right.
A shift is going on.
This is a HUGE moment in our culture when folks get introduced to Living Medicine.
When hundreds of millions of people worldwide have their lives changed.
It’s a before-and-after moment for all of humanity, just like penicillin or aspirin.
Kevin O’Leary, the famous Shark Tank investor, said this about Living Medicine:
“As an investor, I am attracted to [This Living Medicine Company] because they are solving health problems through federally authorized clinical trials.”
But here’s what I REALLY love about Living Medicine compared with cryptocurrencies or pot stocks or other trends I saw...
Living Medicine can actually SOLVE the problems we are facing eventually.
Sure, crypto might one day have a clear purpose. We’re still waiting for when that day will come.
And medical marijuana is helping a LOT of people.
But I told you those stories only to show you the power of early adoption...
And how it pays to get in early with the smart money.
Now here’s why Living Medicine is so much better than those short-lived trends...
The companies creating this Living Medicine are working to help thousands of people right now with chronic pain, depression, brain function and more.
This is a LONG-term trend that will only get bigger.
This is a $34 BILLION potential market... and the companies I’m sharing with you have market caps in the mere millions.
They could grow 10... 20... 50 times in size and still have room to go.
They could grow 1,000 TIMES in size... and still be worth only a billion.
And the most breathtaking part of it is...
You can get in for an average of $2 a share on these companies I’m going to show you.
More than that...
You get to be a part of history and helping people.
Veterans with PTSD...
Cancer patients with depression...
Alzheimer’s patients who have trouble remembering their friends and family.
This is a chance to actually do some good in the world by backing these companies as they explode in value.
Living Medicine can help countless people within a single dose.
Get this...
80% of smokers who took Living Medicine... were able to quit the habit cold turkey within three doses.
This stuff is UBER-powerful.
Which is why an eyedropper of this Living Medicine could rewrite history books and medical journals on treatment.
It’s kind of how medical marijuana played out for investors...
Remember when they started realizing marijuana could treat disorders? And it suddenly blew up?
From Parkinson’s...
To helping folks who abused prescriptions...
That’s why when you look back at history, you see how the companies that were FIRST to try this revolutionary idea... were rewarded handsomely...
Abattis Pharmaceuticals launched from $0.03 to $2.21.
That’s a peak gain of 7,226% in three months’ time!
If you had been lucky enough to time it perfectly, it could have turned $500 into more than $36,000!
Sure, plenty of marijuana stocks were busts.
But I can’t even count how many weed stocks blasted off back then, when it was still a brand-new industry.
That’s why I think it’s important to at least give yourself a chance here with a small investment.
Yes, you could lose it. But the potential reward is so big that in my opinion, it is well worth it.
Ask yourself...
Do you want to get in on an opportunity like those again?
An opportunity accepted by billionaires and the people pouring money into it?
The medical professionals testing it?
The FDA giving it breakthrough therapy status?
That’s what’s in front of you right now.
Living Medicine is the FUTURE!
Now, I said before that I love this development because it can actually HELP people.
More and More Research Is Coming Out... Living Medicine Is the Next Big Thing!
When something starts to become big, everyone acts like they have a hand in it.
Every company suddenly latches onto the trend, even if they aren’t in on it!
That’s why you can’t just pick a Living Medicine company all willy-nilly.
But I think these stocks...
All at an average under $2 a share...
Represent the best opportunity in this space.
And don’t worry, you do NOT need to be a private accredited investor like Peter Thiel and his buddies to get in on these Living Medicine companies.
I’ve identified the only publicly traded ones investors should be looking at.
Bloomberg reported on February 11, 2020, “Move over pot. [Living Medicine] companies are about to go public.”
MarketWatch expects the IPO market at large to “crank into high gear.”
And I can’t help but think it’s because of this MASSIVE new development...
Green Entrepreneur published a report saying...
“[Living Medicines] are following a similar trajectory to cannabis – and investors are taking notice.”
Remember the tech boom, when companies like this would IPO nonstop, and it lifted the well-established companies EVEN HIGHER?
You’re watching the same show twice... You should know what’s going to happen.
It’s a telltale sign this market is about to enter its next massive growth phase.
Let Me Detail the ONLY Publicly Traded Companies Worth Looking at... Trading Under $2 on Average
The first company sells for less than a quarter.
It just inked a $500,000 deal with another group that wants the right to grow Living Medicine here in the United States.
It actually has a proprietary extraction technology it first perfected in the hemp industry.
It’s a proven system, something I love to see. And now it’s applying its extraction technique to Living Medicine.
A few more bullet points that come from my own analysis include...
· Its majority-owned subsidiary just completed the design for a preclinical study for using Living Medicine for weight loss and food craving. Obesity is a global epidemic killing 2.8 million people each year.
· The company has more than 200 wellness formulas in various stages of commercialization with 14 patent applications filed.
· The company currently has retail operations in three countries but plans to expand to 12 more.
· The global wellness market is a $4.2 trillion opportunity.
· The company’s management team includes people who cut their teeth at Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble as well as Skechers and Aritzia. This, to me, legitimizes this company BIG-time.
My Second Living Medicine Company...
The second company is testing easy-to-use Living Medicine drops...
Now, I told you before you could get in with a Shark Tank investor...
Mr. Wonderful is an investor in this company. He was part of a $6 MILLION investing round.
And shares are just $0.44.
As if that wasn’t reason enough to get excited...
On the board of directors is none other than legendary Bruce Linton, who took Canopy Growth to the mainstream.
That stock launched to $50 at its peak!
Imagine what this Living Medicine stock could do with Bruce at the wheel again.
Even if this stock went to only HALF that – $25 a share – that would be a 5,581% increase!
Of course, we’re going to have to time it just right and nothing is guaranteed in investing... but we’re swinging for the fences, and we’ve already got Mr. Wonderful on third base!
My Third Living Medicine Company
The third company is just a buck and change.
Thirty percent of shares are held by insiders – a great sign!
Yet just 1.7% of institutions know about this.... It’s on only 1.7% of banks’ radars.
And here is what has me on the edge of my seat...
As I mentioned before, the billionaires and hedge fund guys are among the ONLY ones who know about Living Medicine...
And they’re certainly going to do whatever it takes to profit from it.
You better believe when this company gets discovered by the other institutions and ownership increases, it’s going to send the share price even higher!
This is what I mean when I say NOW is the time to get in... when the gains are set up to be the easiest... when the shares are this cheap!
And that brings me to the next breakout company I’ve identified...
My Fourth Living Medicine Stock Is Near and Dear to Me...
The cool thing is... this was one of the FIRST companies I ever found dabbling with Living Medicine. It kind of sent me down this journey.
It’s the $5 stock I told you about. But while this one might cost a little more, I think it’s well worth it.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, this company reported record revenue of $33 million, an increase of 152%. And this was its 10th consecutive quarter of record revenue.
So these guys are hanging in there while countless businesses are closing up shop forever.
That’s what you want, a company that can weather the storm!
It also has a partnership with the blue chip company 3M, further legitimizing this company’s product.
In my opinion, this is one of the most solid companies in the space.
This Fifth Living Medicine Company Is Off the Charts!
My fifth company is expanding globally and growing its operations. It’s based in Canada but now has operations in Australia and Malaysia.
This is pivotal because you want those companies that are capturing global markets, not just here in the States.
We forget that there are billions of people out there with the same problems as the 300 or so million Americans in our country. It’s a BIG global market, and these guys are chasing it down.
The CEO of this company has 15 years of pharmaceutical experience, including a division of Johnson & Johnson.
Best of all, shares are less than two bucks on this company.
My Sixth and Final Living Medicine Company
My sixth and final Living Medicine stock is also a sub-$2 opportunity.
But I’ve saved this one for last for a very important reason.
It just completed a massive acquisition of a fellow company.
And with this acquisition, it gets the RIGHT to three separate Phase 1 trials and a preclinical trial.
This is a HUGE advantage out of the gate – securing the right to try a medicine.
It also secures this company a partnership with InterVivo Solutions, Canada’s largest neuroscience-focused preclinical contract research organization.
As I’ve told you today, Living Medicine is considered a breakthrough therapy by the FDA – that’s a very high status designation.
And this company already has the right to trials for its medicine.
That’s like getting a 30-second head start in a foot race. You can’t beat that advantage.
The bottom line is...
I really think this company, along with the other five I just told you about, is the best of the best.
And Living Medicine is the single most powerful investment I’ve ever seen.
I’ve put together a report called “Living Medicine: The Next Big Thing” that will show you the ticker symbols, the growth potential and the massive industry at the fingertips of these six stocks.
I also mentioned I’ll show you how to buy “round lots.”
Showing you how to possibly get hundreds or thousands of shares for just a few hundred bucks.
Because that’s the beauty of this research package I’ll be sending you.
Even if you put, say, only $500 in these stocks... we’re talking just $3,000 total to get started.
And that $3,000 could hand you LIFE-CHANGING results.
Even if we’re ULTRA-realistic and we don’t think too greedily...
A fraction of gains like that could improve your life.
I want to send you this report on all six stocks right now.
No waiting!

I told my parents I had booked a date for my wedding (after telling them for months I would be planning this soon) and they told me I was a disappointment.

gambling addiction therapy near me video

Gambling addiction is the uncontrollable urge to continue gambling despite the toll it takes on one’s life. Gambling is addictive because it stimulates the brain’s reward system much like drugs or alcohol can. In fact, gambling addiction is the most common impulse control disorder worldwide. There are many factors that can contribute to the development of a gambling addiction, including Gambling addiction is a serious disorder that destroys millions of lives every year. No less dangerous than a drug or alcohol addiction, gambling addictions have the power to strip individuals of everything they hold dear, including self respect and their will to live. Along with the problems of gambling addiction itself, the consequences and potential fallout of severe cases of gambling Gambling Therapy is a global service offering free practical advice and emotional support to anyone affected by problem gambling What is Problem Gambling? Do I have a problem? Support Groups. Do you want to talk to others who are in a similar position to you? Are you looking for advice, support and information from people who have been free from gambling for many years? Why not try our online Although gambling addiction is a serious, potentially dangerous disorder, it can be treated with a combination of therapeutic modalities, recovery resources, and supportive psychosocial services. These therapies and services are available through professional treatment programs that specialize in addressing compulsive gambling, with or without a co-occurring substance use disorder. Treatment And the more I was getting asked questions and getting more involved. It was that that helped me in my recovery." Watch Joanne's story . 1 — 6 Tips and advice. How to help someone who gambles. Want to help someone with a gambling problem but not sure what to do? Find practical advice and support services below. Find out now . Tips and advice. Advice for safer gambling. Some people gamble for Gambling addiction treatment program options include other therapeutic methods as well. Psychotherapy, or the practice of dealing with gambling triggers through individual and group counseling sessions, can lead to many of the same results as cognitive behavioral therapy, including isolating causes and reversing misperceptions. Gambling Addiction. Any form of addiction can take a serious toll on the person who suffers from it and those who care about that person. Gambling addiction is perhaps unique in that it has a potentially more immediate effect on personal financial security and stability. At its root though, are the same problems as any other addiction: a compulsion to commit an act that is destructive. American Addiction Centers does not treat gambling addiction at any of our facilities. The information below will provide a brief overview of gambling addiction, but if you need help with this addiction, please go to FindTreatment.gov, an official page of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Gambling addiction is a form of impulse-control disorder where sufferers cannot control their urge to gamble - even when they are aware of the consequences and the hurt it may be causing themselves and their loved ones. Compulsive gambling arises out of an uncontrollable urge to experience the natural anticipation and thrill of making large bets and potentially gaining large returns. Gambling addiction can make you feel as though you are losing control. The main approach to gambling therapy is by using some form of psychological support or intervention. This may involve getting gambling addiction treatment from professionals at Priory and joining a self-help group such as GamCare or Gamblers Anonymous; these groups offer

gambling addiction therapy near me top

Rehab for Korea's Gaming Addicts - YouTube

Near death experiences and close calls captured by gopro and camera compilation. Best of 2018. All people survive. Don't forget to drop a like and subscribe... This Tennessee Drug Rehab Addiction Treatment Center located near Nashville, Tennessee provides treatment for drug addiction, substance abuse, alcoholism, chemical dependency, gambling addiction ... A demonstration of interpersonal group therapy for clients in recovery from addiction. Powerful drama combined with expert commentary to show how this model ... In this video, we revisit a good friend of mine who was first featured on AfterPrisonShow over a year ago. This friend of mine suffers from a very bad drug a... If you have concerns with gambling, there is help available: Ontario Problem Gambling Helpline1-888-230-3505www.problemgamblinghelpline.ca CAMH: Child, Youth... This is a shocking story of how a free £5 bet led to a full blown addiction to online gambling. How someone who had it all could loose everything, including ... Some teens in South Korea are so addicted to gaming, they can no longer distinguish what’s real and what’s not. Dateline follows them as they go through inte... https://www.freehypnosissessions.com/stop-gambling-hypnosis-session.htmlThis stop gambling hypnosis session, is packed with positive suggestions that will he... Mitch: Someone who is addicted to gambling will do anything to get their substance of choice whether be it gambling, um, in this case, you lie, you'll steal,... Whether you know a problem gambler or treat clients with a gambling addiction, this program is an eye-opening look at a serious mental health concern and the...