Queen and Double Size Bed Frames and Bases - IKEA

Note: I have converted all figures to USD from AUD for this diary at a rate of USD0.70 to AUD1.0 when I wrote the diary a few weeks back – it’s sitting a little lower now at USD0.67, which is tragic for my Everlane addiction.
Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: $80K – my clients mostly have to pay 9.5% of my contract fee towards superannuation and I top it up a bit myself.
Equity: $40K in my apartment purchase from the first 10% deposit paid (balance of 20% down paid on settlement)
Savings account balance: $12K in my emergency fund, $35K in my house deposit fund – in the next few weeks, I’ll settle on my apartment (I will have paid $75K as the down payment/deposit, and the place cost $375K for a 1Bed/1Bath in inner Melbourne)
Checking account balance: $4.5K on average
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it): $0 – pay off in full each month
Student loan debt (for what degree): $45K for undergrad and masters – they are interest-free government loans and our real estate market crazy high so I decided, when I started earning significantly more in the last few years, to work towards buying an apartment and then finish paying down my loan debt. Should have it squared away in the next three years – amount I’ve been saving each month for deposit will now go towards paying off student loans and boosting up my investments and emergency fund.
Investments: $20K in Mutual Fund, $2K in smaller start-up investments
Section Two: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: Varies but around $7000 ($9500 but I set aside $2500 for various taxes)
Section Three: Expenses
Rent / Mortgage / HOA fees: Rent is $1340 (last month!) and new mortgage will be $1400 – though I’ll pay and extra $350 towards it each month. I wanna try and pay it off in 15 years.
Renters / home insurance: $70
Work insurances (Public Liability, Indemnity, Trauma, Income Protection, Equipment, Travel): $370 (deductable work expense)
Retirement contribution – Superannuation fund (additional to employer contributions): $350
Investment contribution: $350
General Savings (Fun, Travel etc): $350
Student Loan Debt (HECS): $400
Annual Expenses Savings (birthdays, Christmas, car registration etc): $350
Donations: $70 monthly split across Medecins sans Frontieres, Red Cross, RSPCA and Women’s Electoral Lobby
Electric, Water, Gas: $90 approx.
Wifi/Cable/Landline: $60
Health Insurance: $0 – cancelled it as I was too healthy and it was extortionate (thanks socialised medical care!)
Cellphone: $129 (deductable work expense)
Subscriptions: Work – Adobe Creative Cloud, Xero, Wix, Wufoo - $110 (deductable work expense); Life – Apple Music, Hulu, Netflix, NYT, Guardian - $60
Gym membership: $110 Pilates, $45 Gym
Pet expenses: $100 monthly for food subscription
Car payment / insurance: $110 insurance (deductable work expense) and car is paid off
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Day 1 – MONDAY
6.30am: Alarm goes. Nope.
7am: brain starts to click into gear. My knee is crazy stiff and cranky from running a half-marathon yesterday morning, so gym is out for today. I read for a while and then jump out of bed a bit before 8am.
Feed the dog and jump in the shower, do my usual morning routine (Rasasara Ayurvedic scrub, Edible Beauty toner, The Ordinary Salicylic Acid, Aesop Mandarin Hydrating Cream and Ole Henrikson Banana Bright eye cream – shout out to my other late-30s ladies who have really had to step up their skincare game of late!) Usual low-key makeup – Clinique BB Cream, Chanel cheek colour and mascara, Aesop lip balm.
Dress in my usual winter uniform of black Madewell jeans, black ankle boots, black long sleeve tee and a mustard cable knit merino jumper. Throw on an olive green Everlane anorak and take the dog for a 30-minute stroll. Super slowly thanks to bloody knee.
8.30am: Grab a cortado from the corner café ($2.80) and settle in to smash email for a few hours. Get an email from my mortgage broker that bank has sent conditional approval – woo hoo! It’s been a mission as a single, self-employed gal so I do some power fists and put on some Queen Bey to celebrate.
11am: Blend up my daily smoothie (banana, blueberries, whole milk, kefir, oats, collagen powder, cinnamon and Amazonia protein powder) and pop it in a flask to take with me. I tend towards intermittent fasting (try and keep my only morning intake to just a single small coffee) so start eating round midday.
11.30am: Jump in the car and drive across town to meet with a colleague for a few hours on some production planning for a gig next year.
1pm: Back in the car, down my smoothie then drive back across town to collect another colleague for a couple of site meetings for an upcoming event. She’s a good mate so it’s lovely to catch up in the car for a bit.
2pm: We knock over a meeting with another couple of our event peeps then stroll around the site with the client to talk them through our plans for the event. It all goes super well. We stop for hot chocolates on the way back to the car as it’s bloody freezing (for Melbourne). I treat my work buddy ($6.30). Broker calls to say bank valuation is booked in. We’re nearly there. What a mission apartment purchasing is.
5pm: Home and take the dog for another half hour stroll. Get home and the bloke I’ve been seeing is just arriving on my porch. We’ve been seeing each other super casually for a few months (both of us travel tons for work so our collective schedule is a bit of a mess). He has brought me wine and a little chocolate trophy in celebration of not dying on the half-marathon. He’s a good egg.
6pm: I feed the doggo and start dinner prep while the bloke plays records. Realise I’m out of eggs so dash down the street to the grocer and get a dozen organic eggs ($6.30). While I’m gone bloke has made negronis. Could be a keeper. We chat while I whip up some pad see ew with chicken and tons of gai lan and broccolini. It is delicious – we devour some and then I pack some away for lunches.
7pm: We chill on the couch, each with a glass of cab franc. I do a few emails and we start the new season of Veronica Mars (he has never seen the original so there’s lots of origin story to catch up on). I am oddly still hungry so I toast a sesame Montreal-style bagel and spread it with peanut butter. That hits the spot. Pack lunch for tomorrow and prep a smoothie in the blender ready to go, then lay out my clothes.
10pm: I do my night routine (Sodashi cleanser, witchhazel toner, The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid, Verso retionol moisturiser). We head to bed.
DAILY TOTAL - $15.40
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Day 2 – TUESDAY
7am: Read the news and check email to make sure no fires erupted overnight. Bloke heads out so he can get a run in before he heads back to his place.
Jump out of bed and feed dog, shower and wash my hair, usual morning routine. Tidy the kitchen and blend my smoothie, then pack that with a container of homemade chicken, barley and vegetable soup (bone broth made in the Instant pot is a winter health GAME CHANGER) and a mandarin.
Blowdry my hair with Davines Oi Oil and smooth it out with Davines smoothing cream. Same winter jeans and boots uniform but a cornflower blue merino jumper today. I’m a bit of a capsule wardrobe girl during the week and crack out my fun wardrobe on the weekends!
8am: Take the dog for a long walk - knee is better but still cranky so there’ll be no workout today. Hopefully will be ok by Pilates tomorrow morning.
8.45am: Drop dog home and stop by corner café for a cortado. 10 mins blissfully sipping coffee at the bench is such a nice way to start the day ($3.50). Jump on the tram ($4.20 on my pre-paid travel card).
10am: get to client’s office in the city – I’ll work in town 2 days today and my home office the rest of the week. It’s a good mix. We start the day with a quick all-staff meeting then it’s heads down and documents ahoy.
12noon: I drink my smoothie while making operational briefs for all our venues. Put out a few fires. Have a staff member pull out of a gig – cue eye rolls and sending of recruitment emails for replacement.
1pm: soup time! I heat my soup up and devour it at my desk – I’d rather skip a lunch break and head out early…that said I control my own hours as a freelancer so as long as the work gets done, they’re not too fussed what hours I keep.
3.30pm: Deep in briefings mode, and I realise I’m late to head home for a rental inspection. Will be my last before I vacate so I hustle to the train ($2.80 on my pre-paid travel card) and catch the rental agent as she’s arriving – inspection goes great and there won’t be much to reinstate when I leave. Score. I take the dog for an hour-long walk to make up for no gym time. She’s super happy with this development.
5pm – home, tidying and dinner prep. Starving so toast an everything bagel and top with some sliced comte and sloe berry paste. Heaven. Finish off some emails and documents and run a bath to treat my sad knee. My mate D pops around with some of his homemade kimchi and I swap him for some preserved oranges and zuni pickles I made a few weeks back. Home-grown/home-made food swaps are the bomb. He attempts to draw me out for a glass of wine at the bar across the road but my resistance is powerful! Mainly cos I have a warm bath to get into. He heads out and I soak in the bath for 45 minutes - it’s bliss.
6.30pm – reheat some pad see ew and steam some extra greens to go with it. An AFD is in order so pour a glass of lime lemon mint kombucha.
More Veronica Mars. Foam roll my hamstrings and knees to be stretchy for morning pilates. Lay out gym clothes and work clothes, prep smoothie and pack soup.
10pm – night-time routine and bed. Dog curls up behind my bum knee and is like a hot water bottle that never goes cold. Good work dog.
DAILY TOTAL - $3.50
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Day 3 – WEDNESDAY
6.30am: Alarm goes and I’m up. Woke up a bunch during the night (I’m a terrible sleeper) and listened to podcasts to knock myself out again. Feel oddly rested for so little sleep.
6.45am: Arrive at Pilates – it’s so freezing out, I had to de-ice my car. Boo Melbourne winter. My trainer is on holidays so have a replacement today and she is…not great. There are two of us there and in an hour she only does two adjustments on me (I am not amazing at Pilates and definitely need ongoing instruction/correction!) Smash my program in 55 minutes so that’s something.
7.50am: Home, throw on a beanie and puffy coat and take the dog out. It’s 3 degrees. Ew.
8.20am: Back home, tidy up, morning routine, pack lunch and drink a mixture of prebiotic greens and BCAAs in water, then I’m off. Went for black tights and long sleeve top, olive green dress, black merino hoodie and leather jacket, scarf and fur lined Trippen boots. Toasty warm now! Stop at café for a cortado ($3.50) then onto the tram ($4.20 on pre-paid card).
10am: In the office, make a liquorice tea and start clearing my email. Not many people in today so it’s blissfully quiet.
11am: Head out to a venue meeting, all goes smoothly. Take my reusable ceramic cup with me and grab another cortado and a hump day chocolate pistachio croissant from my fave bougie city coffee shop ($8.40) to break my fast at midday. I love you and needed you, little pastry friend.
2pm: I’m in a site maps hole so take a break to warm up soup. Throw a tantrum to myself at the state of the communal kitchen so clean it. Feel 1000% better about everything post cleaning frenzy.
3pm: one more venue visit then a meeting with another client across town. Jump on the 4pm train home. During event weeks I easily clock up 100+ hours so when it’s pre-production/planning/office time, I try and keep to around 10am-4pm hours to balance it out.
4pm: Home, walk dog and chat to my sister K on the phone. We’re helping my dad move house so negotiating with agents etc cos the digital world ain’t his forte, and the email/online application system confuses the hell out of him (envisage that grandad from the Simpsons shaking his first at a cloud. That’s my dad). Text a bit back and forth with the bloke who’s out of town til Friday for work. Make plans to catch up late Friday night. Search for a new swimsuit online (AKA the world’s worst shopping task) – have lost a bunch of weight the last year and haven’t found one I like yet. Go for an Esther Williams vintage style I love and have owned before cos I trust the style and sizing. Check with a tape measure before I hit go on the order to be sure of my measurements and it’s hello tropical pineapple swimsuit ($106). Tidy up and do a load of laundry.
5.30pm: Meeting a mate for an early dinner so head out and jump on the tram (no charge as I’ve triggered a day pass by commuting). 10 mins down the road to a reasonably new barestaurant for Wednesday schnitzel night!
6pm: So great to catch up with my friend S: we both have come late (and somewhat unexpectedly #artslife) to financial security and purchased property in the last year. So great to have female friends I can talk unreservedly about finances with and ask all my dumb questions. We both order a pint of farmhouse ale, chicken schnitzel with summer slaw and chips to share. We finish up by splitting an order of ricotta donuts served with yuzu curd and pistachio cream (I will be back to eat these by myself – they are SO GOOD). $63 split down the middle, so $31.50 each.
9pm: Curl up on the couch with the dog and read (Sloane Crossley’s Look Alive Out There). Lay out clothes, do night routine and then bed.
DAILY TOTAL - $149.40
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Day 4 - THURSDAY
4.30am: Wide awake. Bleugh. Put on a podcast (Room 20) and then doze in fits and starts until 7am.
7am: Wrecked. Read in bed for an hour. Remember I need BB cream and Davines smoothing cream so place an order with AllBeauty ($73). Haul myself out of bed, feed dog and into the shower. Strip my bed and remake it with fresh linen, then wash my sheets. Prep some porridge to eat when I stop fasting.
Today’s outfit is black tights, ankle boots, navy and white patterned vintage a-line dress with merino hoodie, leather jacket and jaunty beanie.
8.30am: Take dog out and stop for a takeout cortado in my ceramic cup on the way back ($2.80). Grab shopping bags, washed milk bottles for return and soft plastic recycling and head out to do grocery shop – I’m going camping on the weekend so going to clean and prep food today ready for that, and for next week.
9.30am: stop at the organic grocery store and stock up on next week’s groceries (I’m a hard core meal planner and love to cook, so this is pretty pleasurable). Grab chicken breasts, ham, toothpaste, compostable ziplock bags, buckwheat soba, wholemeal macaroni, whole milk, kefir, bananas, onions, butternut pumpkin, broccolini, baby spinach, leeks, dill, red cabbage, pak choy, carrots and coconut toffee dark chocolate ($69.30 – get $4 back from returning my milk bottles so $65.30).
Then head to the regular grocer across the road and get kangaroo jerky for the dog, gruyere, cheddar, French’s yellow mustard (the best) and BBQ Boulder Canyon potato chips ($34). Experience mild heart attack at price of cheese but good cheese is 100% worth the expense. I am a cheese fiend.
10.30am: Home, put away groceries and steam pumpkin for food prep. Hang out laundry and then sit down to clear my email inbox, whip up some documents and take some calls. Cook up my vanilla porridge oats at midday and eat these topped with smoked maple syrup, kefir, lime zest and coconut. Pretend I’m on a tropical island.
1pm: Take an hour of power break to clean the house – vacuum, dust, clean bathroom and kitchen. Simultaneously whip up a batch of wholemeal pumpkin mac and cheese for camping and Sunday night dinner. My living room light bulb blows so I swing round the corner shop and grab a replacement along with the last two items on my grocery list – panko crumbs and fried shallots ($7.70).
2pm: back to the grind. Warm up a little bowl of chicken soup to eat while I draw more site maps and wrangle some budgets and risk assessments. Dad pops in and I help him sort out all his house stuff, his phone, his phone email. He’s a full luddite, bless him. Eat a mandarin while I explain i-phone to him.
4pm: change into workout gear and swing to the gym. Throw some Sleater Kinney in my earbuds and get it done – a fast 2km warm-up treadmill run and then 30 minutes of HIIT compound strength training. Back to my joint, grab dog and take her for a 20-minute walk as cool down.
5.30pm: feed dog, drink a shaker of prebiotic greens and BCAAs, then back at my desk for an hour to clear out the last of the email – I get fully uncomfortable when I have more than 10 emails in my inbox, so try and get below 5 each night before I clock off. I realise that’s mildly insane.
7pm: steam some bok choy, baby spinach, edamame and broccolini to add to the last of my pad see ew, topped with a handful of peanuts, fried shallots and chilli oil. Luckily I don’t mind eating the same thing for days on end and so usually only have to meal prep 2-3 meals each week since often I’m cooking for just me.
Wash the dishes, prep lunch and smoothie for tomorrow then tidy the kitchen. Having organisation inspo, so pack all my camping shit and pop it in the hallway ready for the weekend. Eat a salted almond protein bar for dessert. Another buddy, L, pops around with a bunch of preserves and pickles he’s made, as a thanks for some work help: kasundi, harissa, muhammara, pickled salmon, pickled quince and pickled mushrooms. I’m aghast, and immediately start planning how to use it all! We chat for a few minutes then he heads out.
8.30pm: Chill out on the couch and watch some Gilmore Girls (true) and, for balance, Handmaids Tale (so brutal but I can’t turn away). Lay out gym and regular clothes for tomorrow.
10pm: shower, night-time routine and bed.
DAILY TOTAL - $182.80
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Day 5 – FRIDAY
6.15am: awake and feeling oddly well slept. Dog yawns, stretches and curls up on my head. Read the news in bed for an hour.
7.15am: up, dressed, hound fed, out the door for a 4km speed run. Home again and immediately take dog out cos she’s dancing around the front door like she’s literally never been for a walk before. Nutbar.
8.30am: home, showered, hair washed and dried. Dress in charcoal tights, black ankle boots and patterned Gorman dress (Melbourne uniform). I feel oddly hungry – pretty rare since I started IF about a year ago, but I listen to my body and eat a rhubarb muffin with my cortado ($5.5). Decide to work from home as office internet is crap.
9am: desk and deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. Bust out some large format grid maps and a bunch of venue advances – the grid maps slow my dropbox which is hella annoying so it’s fits and starts for the whole day.
12pm: drink my smoothie. Eat the last of my chicken and barley soup about an hour later.
2pm: I finish up work with all my deadlines met and start the weekend free and clear of any lingering tasks. Boom. Gotta wait for all my map files to upload so not too much more I can do now. Realise I have my lil sis coming to stay next week and my spare room is a bomb site, so smash apart my old Ikea bed and build my new fancy bed (it’s been in boxes in the spare room for a few months – was gonna wait til I moved but also don’t want my sister to have to sleep in a box prison…)
New bed is rad, and only requires like 8 screws tightened with an allan key (take that Ikea and your 57-step bed assembly).
Take the dog for a walk and head home to run through the shower and throw some more makeup on – pop Gorman dress back on (changed into shorts and tee for bed building), add hoodie, leather jacket, scarf and fur-lined boots and it’s off to town for French food and French cinema!
4.45pm: Head to meet S at an immensely cool new underground French bistro – two lady dates in one week, what a treat! She’s running late from work so I chill with a rye old fashioned, and when she arrives we split Moules and Duck Frites and each drink two glasses of white wine (split, $53 for my share with 10% tip) and we catch up on everything that has happened since Wednesday (spoiler – very little). Then it’s off to a film in the Melbourne International Film Festival (bought tickets a few weeks back).
8.30pm: film was brilliant. Pop down to visit a mate, R, who has just opened an excellent microbrewery nearby (split an Uber with S who continues home - $9). Drink a half of peach saison and a half of coffee sour. R shouts me, as he knows I’ll be back with mates in tow. It’s super lovely to catch up, and we make a plan to hang out soon for yum cha with his adorable kid.
10.30pm: due to meet the bloke so jump on the tram (really helps that everywhere I go and where I live is along one tram line). Meet him at my local beer palace and we order boilermakers – a local pale ale and a local whiskey each ($28, he pays) – Intermittant Fasting window be damned. We hole up under a heater outside in the courtyard and chat to our mate who is slinging woodfired pizzas in a pop-up out the back of the bar. They are making a special tonight – a nachos calzone – which the bloke is game to try (he’s been sinking pints since 6pm, so…) I have a taste. It is spectacular.
After a while we wander home, a thankfully short walk. In bed by 1am, a pretty good innings for a Friday.
DAILY TOTAL - $67.50
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Day 6 – SATURDAY
5am: Woken by the bloke who is heading out early to drive to the coast for a surf. I snuggle with the dog for another few hours sleep.
9am: Up, dressed and head to the gym for a quick 30-min conditioning workout – mostly boxing bag work, bodyweight stuff, skipping and rowing. Head home and grab the dog to take her out, buy some rolls for hiking sandwiches ($2). I pack all the shit into the car and whip up some sandwiches for today and tomorrow as well as a batch of oats, coconut, milk, maple syrup, vanilla and lime zest to cook for brunch tomorrow.
11.30am: My mates are coming round to check out some garden furniture I no longer need, so I make coffee in my stovetop moka pot and whip up breakfast tacos: baby spinach, ham and shallots sautéed in olive oil, with some scrambled egg, cheddar, avocado, lime juice and hot sauce on corn tortillas. Catch up with my buddies and hear all about their new house, while devouring tacos. Win. They leave and dog and I jump in the car at midday.
2pm: get to the forest and park up. Eat a ham, cheese, pickle and lettuce sandwich as the dog runs in circles. Head off on a 15km loop hike to the falls.
5pm: Back at camp. Set up the tent and have a cheeky nap with the snoozy hound. Forest naps are the best.
6pm: build a fire and then chill with some BBQ chips and a beer. Warm up my pumpkin mac and cheese, devour it. This has been a meal of champions.
7pm: sun is down so I douse the fire and head to my tent to read by torchlight for a while. Snuggle with hound who smells like a wombat while an actual wombat keeps snuffling the outside of our tent. Fall asleep hilariously early.
DAILY TOTAL - $2.00
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Day 7 – SUNDAY
7am: Up, break down my campsite and pack the car. Feed the hound then head out 15 mins down the road to a new trailhead in a state forest.
8.30am: Head out on a new hike – do 10kms in the misty forest and it’s incredible. Chill in the forest for a bit just listening to the birds. See a lyrebird (rare!)
Get back to the car around 11am and break out my trusty camping stove – heat up my oats for porridge.
12noon: on the road and back to town. Eat my premade sandwiches on the way. Get home and immediately unload and clean all my gear – wash the hound blankets and towels and all my muddy gear, and hang the tent fly on the line to dry. Wash the hound as well to remove the wombat smell.
2pm: chill on the couch with a beer and my leftover BBQ chips. Watch more Gilmore girls. Am not sorry. Take a nap.
4pm: run a bath and wash my face before putting on a Sodashi mineral clay mask – my once a week treat. While bath is running, I take my defrosted bone broth from the fridge and start a pot of chicken, vegetable, rice, lemon and dill soup for weekday lunches. I also make jammy eggs in the instant pot and roast some veggies to add to soba bowls for dinners.
5pm: lay in the bath for an hour. So good.
6pm: finish all the post camping tidying, feed the hound, drink another beer. Lay out my workout and work clothes for tomorrow. Decide pizza is in order so order a potato, caramelised onion and arugula pizza from my fave joint ($17). Grab a pint of ricotta and chocolate orange gelato from the store next to the pizza joint ($8) – laze on the couch with dinner and watch The Inventor on HBO (I can’t get enough of insane Elisabeth Holmes – remind myself to order Bad Blood).
9pm: night-time routine and an early night. Rested and ready for a crazy week ahead.
DAILY TOTAL - $25.00
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Food + Drink: $257.60
Fun / Entertainment: $0
Home + Health: $0
Clothes + Beauty: $179.00
Transport: $9.00
Other: 0
TOTAL - $445.60
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So I actually feel this was a low-spend week for me in some areas! About right for groceries and eating/drinking out, cos I love good food, and you can pry my daily coffee from my cold dead hands!! Most weeks I either fill my car ($60) or top up my travel card ($60) – oddly this week I didn’t need to do either. I would also usually have at least $75 in both Entertainment and Home – I’m pretty good about only buying home and clothing items I’ve logged in my long-term shopping list (I use Shop Shop to keep lists of shopping I need to do: Groceries, Long-Term Clothing and House purchases, Records/Books and Beauty) – absolutely stops me from random and unnecessary purchases! Camping on the weekend instead of a few more social gatherings and going to a gig or show definitely kept my spend a little lower. Altogether I’m proud of getting my finances healthy enough to buy an apartment and am excited for the next three-five years of my financial plan to roll out so I can feel really confident about how I’m set up for later life.

EDIT : Thanks for all the recommendations guys and gals, our shopping list nearly doubled in size and it's a good thing ! It's 1AM right now, and I really have to go to bed, since we're moving tomorrow today (!!!!). Keep em going, I'll try to read them on our way to the city. We'll have to stop for gas and toilet breaks, we'll try to go where they have wifi to check on this thread.
For a bit of context, we're Jim and Emilie, an 18yo couple moving to the city (Montreal) on their own, as we're estranged from our bio families (our choice). You can check our post history for more info.
We don't own a lot, and we kind of like it that way. The coming years will be a challenge as we try to survive in the city and get a decent education. We don't want stuff burdening us in case we get better education/work/life opportunities and wants to move. Plus we're poor, like part-time minimum wage poor, and stuff is expensive, so, yeah.
We have compiled a list of what we have and what we need. We know we need what we have, but we don't know if we actually need what we want (well, some things we do, but let's play along). Let's hear your suggestions, advice, tips, etc. please !
Thanks in advance,
Jim and Emilie :)
What we own :

• 1x big suitcase of clothes each (and footwear and outerwear, obvioulsy).
  
• 1x toiletry kit each
  
• 1x hair cutting kit
  
• 1x bike and accessories
  
• 1x 2004 Subaru Impreza Wagon. Jim absolutely needs it for work, we're not getting rid of it.
  
• 2x portable toolboxes (1x mechanic tools, 1x carpentry tools)
  
• 1x sewing machine
  
• 1x laptop and accessories
  
• 2x cellphones and accessories
  
• 1x 22" TV
  
• 1x blu-ray player
  
• 1x binder of Very Important Papers
  
• 1x pencil case of assorted office supplies stuff.
  
• 1x set of camping nesting pots (3) with pans/lids (3) (nifty!) Given to us. Doubt they will last long with regular use, but we'll replace them as/if needed.
  
• 1x set of cheap cooking utensils (ladle, flipper, big spoon, tongs and spatula) Also given to us
  
• 1x picnic set/insulated tote for 4 Also given to us. Actually a high-quality set, we'll definitely keep it when/if we upgrade. Plus the tote will come handy for grocery shopping.
  
• 1x rigid coolelunchbox
  
• 2x insulated travel mugs
  
• 3x reusable water bottles (1x stainless steel, 1x sport/bike style bottle, and 1x 2gal jug).
  
• 2x school type backpack
  
• 1x gym bag
  
• 1x double size sleeping bag. We'll use it as a comforter for now.
  

And that's about it. It fit all very nicely in the back of the Subaru. We have two toolboxes, two suitcases, two Costco bags of outerwear, the gym bag hold our extra footwear and our two backpacks (with our personal things, the laptop, and our binder of paperwork). Everything else fits in a plastic bin, save for the sleeping bag that has is own stuff sack.
We're getting the keys first thing tomorrow morning then going shopping for essentials. Our new apartment is a tiny studio, and comes with an oven, fridge, and on-suite laundry.
Shopping list (budget : ~$1,000) :
At Ikea :

• Bed frame (queen size)
• Memory foam mattress (queen size)
• Pillows
• Mattress protector
• Pillows protectors

Things we buy at Ikea are our "splurge" items or things we don't trust to get second-hand (BEDBUGS!!!!). We don't want our mattress directly on the floor, as it's old carpet and the floor is really uneven. We'll need to shim the bed to make it level. Plus we need the storage space underneath the bed. Jim will build low-profile rolling platforms so we can store bins underneath since the apartment has no built-in storage, save for the kitchen cabinets. Also Jim really needs a queen size bed, due to his size (a king would be better, but it won't fit in the apartment).
Then we'll hit the second-hand stores to find the following :

• 1x bed sheet set
• 2x towel set (as we're currently showering in our friend's house and using their towels)
• 1x shower curtain (probably just a liner from the dollar store)
• 2x over-the-door hook things (one for the entry door, the other for the bathroom door).
• 1x slow cooker
• 4x bowls and regular drinking glasses (we only have tiny plastic wine glasses in our picnic set).
• 1x kitchen knife set (or just a few loose ones, depending on what we find)
• 4x steak knifes
• 1x colander
• 1x can opener
• 1x electric kettle (we actually both prefer instant coffee, and Emilie loves tea).
• and assorted kitchen/cooking stuff : colander, can opener, baking sheets, baking pans, measuring cups and spoons, whisk, etc. (we're meal-planning and batch cooking to save time and money). And freezer safe container for said batch-cooking
• small table and two chairs (maybe, if we find something great for really cheap, if not we'll try to find one in the local classifieds).
• small dresser (again, if we find something great for really cheap, if not we'll try to find one in the local classifieds).

For a bit of context, we're Jim and Emilie, an 18yo couple moving to the city (Montreal) on their own, as we're estranged from our bio families (our choice). You can check our post history for more info.
We don't own a lot, and we kind of like it that way. The coming years will be a challenge as we try to survive in the city and get a decent education. We don't want stuff burdening us in case we get better education/work/life opportunities and wants to move. Plus we're poor, like part-time minimum wage poor, and stuff is expensive, so, yeah.
We have compiled a list of what we have and what we need. We know we need what we have, but we don't know if we actually need what we want (well, some things we do, but let's play along). Let's hear your suggestions, advice, tips, etc. please !
Thanks in advance,
Jim and Emilie :)
What we own :

• 1x big suitcase of clothes each (and footwear and outerwear, obvioulsy).
  
• 1x toiletry kit each
  
• 1x hair cutting kit
  
• 1x bike and accessories
  
• 1x 2004 Subaru Impreza Wagon. Jim absolutely needs it for work, we're not getting rid of it.
  
• 2x portable toolboxes (1x mechanic tools, 1x carpentry tools)
  
• 1x sewing machine
  
• 1x laptop and accessories
  
• 2x cellphones and accessories
  
• 1x 22" TV
  
• 1x blu-ray player
  
• 1x binder of Very Important Papers
  
• 1x pencil case of assorted office supplies stuff.
  
• 1x set of camping nesting pots (3) with pans/lids (3) (nifty!) Given to us. Doubt they will last long with regular use, but we'll replace them as/if needed.
  
• 1x set of cheap cooking utensils (ladle, flipper, big spoon, tongs and spatula) Also given to us
  
• 1x picnic set/insulated tote for 4 Also given to us. Actually a high-quality set, we'll definitely keep it when/if we upgrade. Plus the tote will come handy for grocery shopping.
  
• 1x rigid coolelunchbox
  
• 2x insulated travel mugs
  
• 3x reusable water bottles (1x stainless steel, 1x sport/bike style bottle, and 1x 2gal jug).
  
• 2x school type backpack
  
• 1x gym bag
  
• 1x double size sleeping bag. We'll use it as a comforter for now.
  

And that's about it. It fit all very nicely in the back of the Subaru. We have two toolboxes, two suitcases, two Costco bags of outerwear, the gym bag hold our extra footwear and our two backpacks (with our personal things, the laptop, and our binder of paperwork). Everything else fits in a plastic bin, save for the sleeping bag that has is own stuff sack.
We're getting the keys first thing tomorrow morning then going shopping for essentials. Our new apartment is a tiny studio, and comes with an oven, fridge, and on-suite laundry.
Shopping list (budget : ~$1,000) :
At Ikea :

• Bed frame (queen size)
• Memory foam mattress (queen size)
• Pillows
• Mattress protector
• Pillows protectors

Things we buy at Ikea are our "splurge" items or things we don't trust to get second-hand (BEDBUGS!!!!). We don't want our mattress directly on the floor, as it's old carpet and the floor is really uneven. We'll need to shim the bed to make it level. Plus we need the storage space underneath the bed. Jim will build low-profile rolling platforms so we can store bins underneath since the apartment has no built-in storage, save for the kitchen cabinets. Also Jim really needs a queen size bed, due to his size (a king would be better, but it won't fit in the apartment).
Then we'll hit the second-hand stores to find the following :

• 1x bed sheet set
• 2x towel set (as we're currently showering in our friend's house and using their towels)
• 1x shower curtain (probably just a liner from the dollar store)
• 2x over-the-door hook things (one for the entry door, the other for the bathroom door).
• 1x slow cooker
• 4x bowls and regular drinking glasses (we only have tiny plastic wine glasses in our picnic set).
• 1x kitchen knife set (or just a few loose ones, depending on what we find)
• 4x steak knifes
• 1x colander
• 1x can opener
• 1x electric kettle (we actually both prefer instant coffee, and Emilie loves tea).
• and assorted kitchen/cooking stuff : colander, can opener, baking sheets, baking pans, measuring cups and spoons, whisk, etc. (we're meal-planning and batch cooking to save time and money). And freezer safe container for said batch-cooking
• small table and two chairs (maybe, if we find something great for really cheap, if not we'll try to find one in the local classifieds).
• small dresser (again, if we find something great for really cheap, if not we'll try to find one in the local classifieds).

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2015-02-24
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
Can you discuss what it is like 'behind the scenes' on the show? I've read some posts from other AMAs, but rarely does anyone talk about the actual taping of the episodes.	You get flown into Los Angeles and stay at a middle of the road no frills hotel (like Fairfield Inn range). The show gets taped at Sony Pictures Studios, which is cool to be at... it's where so many TV's and movies are filmed. You get stuck in a waiting area with your own "ready room". You get to hang out with other entrepreneurs during this time and everybody is exchanging stories -- but you are not supposed to talk about your pitches. I had make-up and hair done just like any movie/tv person would before walking on stage. You get to see the set before the whole thing goes down, which is really cool. It looks just like it does on TV, although a little smaller in real life. You wait in front of the door for it to open -- in my case, they were patting down my face every minute with powder to dry off the sweat. It's a very heart pounding adrenaline racing moment. Then you walk down the hall and stand there on the set for a full minute while everyone stares each other down, nothing being said. This is so they can get all the camera angles and get some stock shots as filler. After the pitch ends, the Q&A starts. In my case, after our product demonstration, the Q&A was loud, hectic and very unstructured -- everyone was yelling out questions.
	I can say the production staff at Shark Tank were great people. They took awesome care of us, gave us thoughtful advice and were generally very supportive. While I don't know how the Shark's may be coached or guided before each segment, I can tell you that everything on my side was absolutely real -- I got to be me, say what I wanted to say and be exactly who I wanted to be. There were no re-shoots or moments where the producers stopped the filming and asked me to do anything differently -- it was all off the cuff, live and uninterrupted until I walked off the stage.
	When you walk off the stage, they usher you to another filming area where you get to share your last words.
	Crazy, fun, exciting, depressing, heart pounding -- loved every minute of it but left thinking the Sharks clearly don't get it right every time.
How much of it was edited? Do you feel like what they aired was manipulated in any way to make you or the sharks look betteworse?	It was generally in line with what happened -- I think they actually toned down a few parts via editing. The part with Lori going out was actually even more dramatic on the set -- and they cut out a few of the comments from other Sharks during that moment, as I think they didn't want one of their stars to look worse than she already did. Barbara Corcoran had a very snarky comment to me during one moment that never made it past editing. But I can't say that they intentionally used editing to give an unfair picture in either direction -- the final cut was a good representation of the big picture of my experience there.
What was the snarky comment?	Really love to tell you but can't talk about things that were not aired, it's part of the contract.
How would you rank the Sharks on what you thought of their attitudes? 5 being nicest and 1 being the absolute worst? Btw, awesome product.	Lori: 1 Mr. Wonderful: 1 (Jerk) Mark Cuban: 3 (he just wasn't that into it) Robert H: 3 (same here) Barbara Corcoran: this one bears a special note. From the editing and the way she came off on the aired segment, she gets a 4. From the actual conversation while I was there that got edited out, I give her a 1. I can't tell you what she said because I'm not allowed to talk about things that aren't aired. But I'm just curious on obviously unrelated topics, how would you feel about somebody's attitude towards you if they insulted your mother?
What inspired you to make the bed jet?	My mother was stuck in bed for a few weeks from a surgery. She lives in a 100 year old house that is always drafty and cold in the winter. We tried everything to keep her comfortable, including electric blankets, heating pads and space heaters. Everything was either too hot, or too cold, or too many wires in the bed. At that moment I realized, wait a second, I've helped keep astronauts perfectly warm/cool in SPACE as an engineering in a prior job, and this is just a bed! I designed and built the first few BedJet prototypes on my kitchen table.
Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?	The chasm between an idea and a manufactured product sitting in your warehouse that you can sell is enormous -- it's far bigger, deeper and more difficult to navigate than people can imagine. Whatever you think it's going to cost you, multiply that by 3. However long you think it's going to take you before you done and making money, multiply that by 3. And for heavens sake, don't quite your day job until you come very close to being able to generate revenue with the new business.
What were some of the things when bringing your product to life that you couldn't believe the cost of? Patents, molds, etc.? I'd love to hear some of the moments when going to manufacturing that you couldn't believe or were shocked about.	Cost of electric appliance Underwriters Laboratories certification -- got to have that to sell anything through large retail stores or they won't carry you. The first quotes I got were like $40,000. The other was the injection mold tooling -- these are the large machined metal blocks that stamp out the plastic pieces in high volume. We had close to $200,000 in plastic tooling mold costs for the BedJet! I had to mortgage my house and empty out my entire life savings to finish the product out.
Is Mr. Wonderful your favorite Shark?	Mr. Wonderful was a bonafide jerk during my segment. On top of that he displayed some massive ignorance about our product and the market we are in. During my segment on Shark Tank, he seemed to think the entire world should be sleeping on $500 mattresses. I'm a middle class guy... not wealthy but not broke... and I don't know anyone who owns a house that sleeps on a $500 mattress!!
Is $500/cheap or expensive for a mattress?	$500 is the cheapest mattress you can possibly buy. think springs sticking in your back and lasts only a few years before you need a new one.
Me and my $120(new) mattress disagree with you...	There is no such thing as a $120 queen size mattress set, so thanks for the humor. You can barely buy a quality inflatable air mattress for that price.
As a student, me and my $150 ikea mattress disagree with you. As a working software engineer which i'll be in 2 months, my future-self agrees with you.	I love all these comments. Some helpful statistics on the world of mattresses: 25% of American bedrooms have a mattress >$1000 8% of American bedrooms have a mattress > $2000.
Not with that attitude we won't. Dick. But in all seriousness, how long did the whole pitch last for you?	Hanging out on camera during the pitch is like an out-of-body experience. In watching the segment finally air, there were actually parts I didn't even remember (like when Robert got in the bed). I'm guessing I was out there for maybe 45 minutes for whole session... could have been a bit longer.
Is the product loud?	Quieter than any bedroom window fan and any air conditioner. It has special acoustic damping technology built in to make it the quietest source of air of any consumer appliance. 37dB measured in a bedroom with the machine off, 39dB measured with it on! That's no louder than your household HVAC vent. We were really proud of this as an engineering achievement.
How does it heat the sheets? Also, how does it connect to the bed? Does it blow air between the sheet and the mattress?	You got it -- there is a video on it at www.bedjet.com. It uses air and it gently blows warm and cool air right in between the sheets and mattress. It uses a specially designed ceramic heating element that operates at very low temperature -- below the flashpoint of dust, so you don't get that "electric heater" smell like you do with low cost room fan heaters.
Those tests exist for a reason, they hold certification up to a very high standard. Not trying to be a shill for this guys product but how old was the fire detector? Do you have ant problems sometimes? They have killed a couple of fire detectors by chewing through wires in my '95 home.	Very sure. In fact our product liability insurance company (The Hartford) sent out a special product review engineer to look at the BedJet. They had never insured anything like this before so they wanted a close look before writing the policy. After taking the cover off and showing him all the safety features (including flame proof enclosure), he walked away telling us it was well engineered, insurable and very safe.
How did your sales/traffic do after the segment aired?	We got ~90,000 hits on the website that we can attribute to the Shark Tank airing. The interest in the product has been phenomenal. We aren't posting the weekly sales numbers, but having just started shipping in volume the first of February, we are on track so far to break $1M in revenue in our first full year of production.
What are the dangers of having the heating/cooling unit under your bed? I would be afraid of starting a fire, is that possible and has it happened in any of the prototypes?	The BedJet is Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certified as a safe electric appliance. The system was designed to be PART OF your bed and is certified to the same UL standards as electric hospital beds! On top of that, the whole machine is wrapped in a flame proof enclosure, so there is no possibility of any fire being started from the machine.
Three part question: What company did you work for when doing spacesuits 2)can this be integrated in existing beds or will this require a new mattress 3) what is your favorite Shrimp Recipe?	I worked at the company the designed and built the suits for NASA for the space shuttle, Hamilton Standard, Space & Sea Systems division. This company is now called Hamilton Sundstrand and is a division of United Technologies. The product works on any size bed and any type mattress -- it's an accessory add-on to your existing bed.
	I like Killer Shrimp out of Los Angeles.

Last updated: 2015-02-28 03:08 UTC
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