May came in two main parts: before my Series 65 exam, and after catching Covid. On May 6th, I took the Series 65 exam, which required lots of studying. I passed the exam! Here’s some stats on how I studied.

I started studying in October, but I was juggling a full-time job and OMD until January, and was only studying essentially one afternoon a week from October – December. I started really picking up steam in January, then my exam date for March was delayed. April I studied more than all the previous months. Total studying was 212 Hours. 

I studied using Kaplan (purchased by my firm) and I used this great spaced repetition flashcard app called Remnote, which brings back flashcards you’ve made based on how long it’s been since you’ve studied them and how confidently you recalled them.. This is how I spent time in my flashcard queue.

This is how my studying for the Series 65 broke down. “Q-Bank” is the massive database of practice questions from Kaplan. I went through a total of 2500 practice questions, but only did two full-length practice exams.

In the end, I passed the exam. Unfortunately, they don’t tell you what your final score is, but I felt pretty confident that I had passed when I hit submit, so I’m happy with my studying.

After I passed the exam, I had a happy hour to celebrate. I picked a bar that had a covered but open-air space, but the day I took my exam it was POURING rain. And therefore they had to close the roll-up garage windows in the back of the bar. So…that’s probably where I got covid.

Here’s my covid data. I got paxlovid, the covid anti-viral, on day 3 of symptoms, day 2 of testing postive. I had a pretty mild case other than a very high fever the first day, but I ended up having a paxlovid rebound where I tested positive again after testing negative for several days and had to re-isolate.

Full May 2022 Spending Report

Total Spent: $1,645.99

On track! 29.5% of my total annual budget at 41% of the way through the year.

Household & Insurance – $756.62

• Rent: $615
• Water, Commons, Garbage, Sewer: $32.50
• Trash: $7.50
• Electricity: $31.43
• Household Items (detergent, TP, toothpaste, razors, etc): $28.95 razors, TP
• Transit/Bike: $41.24
• Internet at Home: $0 This is now paid for by SSO’s employer due to being remote employee, was $20 per month.

Basic Food – $192.69

I am so freaking sick of grocery inflation 😭

• Basic Groceries: $150.11
• Treats (non-essential snacks): $40.09 (okay this was very high compared to usual because….covid + studying cramming)
• Delivery Fees: $2.49 (my mom bought herself a Coke as a treat for getting my groceries when I had covid)

Extra Food & Drink – $90.75

• Restaurants: $67.00 This was my post-exam Happy Hour (likely where I caught covid), a pre-exam “studying outside” treat, and a mother’s day dinner with my mom.
• Bars: $18.50 Nonalcoholic drinks at my post-exam Happy Hour
• Coffee $5.25 – Post-covid celebratory coffee

Travel – $48.00

• Flight Taxes/Fees: $48.00 – For a trip to New Zealand

Health/Fitness – $21.44

My health insurance premium is now covered under my SO’s employer plan and comes out of their paycheck. It comes to $110 per month pre-tax, but we’ll likely settle up at tax time rather than me paying my SO each month because of the complexities of our taxes and my health care costs.

• Skin Care:  $7.45 – Signed up for Curology
• Medical: $13.99  – Cost of drugs

Figure Skating $120.98

• Coaching: $80 Coaching! this is two privates.
• Ice Time: $24.00 Two sessions at the “big rink”
• Training Clothing: $16.98 

Indulgences – $303.37

• Clothes: $119.96 finally got a bunch of used clothing to celebrate exam
• EGL Clothing/Cosplay: $183.41 got 5 things from a used Lolita shop including a winter coat
• Entertainment: $65

Flotsam: $47.14

• Spending Money: $7.14
• Gifts/Mutual Aid: $40

Savings: $100

Retirement savings: $488.38

Cash savings: $0

YTD Total Savings: $1,000.94/$10,000

(10% Total of goal at 32.8% of the way through the year)