Just yesterday I hit free twitch turbo partner on twitch after roughly 5 months of streaming (somewhat) consistently. Today I'm hoping to share some decent advice and give my own (learned) opinion on some of the frequent yet not always useful tips shared around here.
Before writing this I did a cursory search through the subreddit for frequently asked questions so hopefully this answers most of the ones that I myself have any experience to answer.
My simple request: I'm not going to be posting any links to my stream or anything but if you go out of your way to find it please don't follow/subscribe to the channel unless you are genuinely interested. Thanks big boss.

Should you stream?

If I have to read another thread or comment of a person asking if they should stream I am going to scream. What do you people expect to hear? Yes, please stream the world needs you, you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams and have all the clout to have ever been cloutted.
I know people who usually type out questions like that probably don't read posts but here is a hack I've used to answer my own dumb questions through out the years. Say that shit out loud and respond to it like someone asked you the question. Nine times out of ten, you end up answering it yourself and on the off-chance you actually don't you should have a more actionable question.
Example: Instead of asking "should I stream?" you end up realizing the only thing holding you back is having no mic or something. The question then becomes "I want to stream what's a good cheap mic?". Which is a lot better and doesn't make people want to pelt you with rocks.
For those of you who ask "should I stream or is it a waste of time?" please, I BEG YOU, stop. Most of the shit you do is a waste of time, you either want to stream or don't. Make a decision based on that.

Webcam, do you need one?

This question is asked so often that I see it every time I come on the subreddit. Unsurprisingly, the answer is always the same as well, yes you do.
However I disagree.
I have never streamed with a webcam, not a single time, yet I'm still here and somehow managed to get partnered.
Now, I know why every one parrots the same advice, it is because the people making tip threads, youtube videos, etc., all say to use a webcam. Harris Heller said it once and I'm pretty sure that was enough for the people who copy and paste what he says in text threads here to become their mantra.
The truth is, all that matters is the content. Ask yourself do you do/want to do a lot of react/just chatting content? If so, you probably want a webcam since your content will focus around reacting to content. Lirik doesn't use face-cam because his content is his gameplay and commentary, not his face. Corpse literally blew up and is famous for not showing his face (even though he is still a personality).
I know the whole "Lirik doesn't use a face cam" argument is going to be met with people saying "exception not the rule!!!" but seriously, just use your head. Half the people you watch probably don't need face cams. MoonMoon probably doesn't need a face cam, Critikal didn't have a face cam until he already had over a million subs on youtube, schlatt didn't either, Dream doesn't, AdmiralBahroo doesn't, almost every DBD streamer I watch doesn't, just think for yourself.
The point I'm trying to drive home here is not just that a webcam isn't required, but also you need to look at what you want to create and decide for yourself.
Edit: I saw someone say somewhere that you need a webcam for sponsors. That's cap. I've had a sponsor and nobody has seen this ugly mug.

Equipment in general

People like saying that they need this this and that before they start streaming. This is just stalling. Until last month I hadn't owned a desktop PC my whole life. Before that it was just laptops and using my phone to read chat or look up things. You obviously need SOME equipment to start, i.e. a computer and some form of internet connection, but that doesn't mean you need to pick up a shure, a streamdeck, 4 monitors, 6 consoles, and whatnot.
Here is my setup. Keep in mind I literally just upgraded this last month after saving up for several months:

• Blue Yeti: Hell ya baby got a free game with it too so I'm for sure pleased with this purchase. Edit: I recommend shopping around for mics since the yeti isn't as much of a "get this for streaming" mic as it once was. Plenty of good options out there for cheaper
• Two BenQ monitors: Like I said, I was using my phone for chat but that got old fast. These monitors are cheap and 144hz. There are some color issues but eff it I barely notice anymore
• Streamer PC from NZXT: My old laptop was from 2016 and made editing literal hell. Averaged 3 crashes every time I would try and render (and the renders took about an hour). Upgrading to this was the most worth purchase I've ever made. Also, the streamer PC got upgraded since I purchased, so you can grab a 2070 instead of the 2060 ti like I have :)
• Red Dragon Keyboard and Mouse: I'm a cheap ass so when I see light up peripherals for like 40 bucks total I am sold.
• Earbuds: Legit don't know the brand. I stole them from my sister like a year ago. I prefer these over a headset anyway since I don't want that gamer dent lmao

For those of you who are probably saying "GROSS A PRE-BUILT" remember that part prices are actual aids right now, not to mention the availability of even finding good parts. If you have the cash go pre-built that shit is amazing.
My recommendation:
Stay with your shitty set-up as long as possible but make sure to pick up a good mic first. Big streamers (looking at you Ludwig) shit on the Yeti, but straight facts all you need is to EQ that shit a lil bit and nobody will bat an eye. You don't have to pick up the Yeti (there are lots of cheaper options) but that's just the one I and many others have gotten since it is reliably a good ass mic.
Audio <- chat engagement <- pc upgrade

YouTube

How many people have to tell you bums to focus on YouTube before you do it? Twitch sucks ass. I'll say it, i'm brave. No discoverability, especially to those of you at the very bottom. Make a goddamn YouTube and start pumping out videos, it is not hard.
Ludwig made a power point on how to be a streamer that talks about a few things but the most important point of all was what he said on creating content for stream/YouTube. This isn't the exact timestamp but it do be close: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/896089267?t=01h24m14s
That advice is coming from a top streamer who also has over a million subs on YouTube by almost exclusively taking twitch vods and editing them for YouTube.
As for getting views on your videos here is my advice from my personal experiences:

• Thumbnail and title are important but there are outliers that can thrive without doing shit. One guy I saw has their most watched video (over 250k views) with a title like "[game] [character] gameplay" and the literal default thumbnail that youtube makes. AND to top that off it was just a VOD from their twitch channel.
• Audience retention matters. There is a reason massive YouTubers have these weird zoom in pans and flamboyant gestures all the time. Lots of movement and noises keep our tiny attention spans happy and frequently cutting is usually the key to success, although don't overuse it. I do very light edits and have been growing but that's more of my personal preference rather than a growth strategy.
• Respond and engage. If you have one comment on your video and they are complimenting you, why aren't you responding? This is by far the easiest way to get someone to continue to engage with you and trust me, that is the most important thing in the algorithms eyes.

My understanding of YouTube

So obviously, clickthrough rate and audience retention are the things that are constantly brought up when talking about gaining more views and what not, but I am fairly comfortable in saying that there are other metrics that you should be paying attention to.
Let me hit you with a something that would make Dream shake in his boots. I don't subscribe to anyone on YouTube. *gasp*
The reason for that being, I almost always have the videos I want to see on my home page. I never have to go, "wonder if x YouTuber made a video" since YouTube knows I watch and enjoy their stuff. The question for most people being, how does YouTube know what people like and how does it suggest it to them? Basically, by seeing how often people engage with your content AND also what type of content you create. (although keep in mind, youtube tries to throw new videos at you a lot as well, these are usually in-line with content you engage with though)
For engagement, think of it as like affinity points in a video game but in reverse. Before you get to bang that smoking hot sim, you got to woo them. Every time someone likes your video they get a point, every time they comment they get two, every subscription counts as like 10, watching an entire video might be 20, etc. Obviously, these are made up values but I hope you follow what I'm putting down here. Once they get enough points you start showing up more in their home page.
I know this because I have a different account on my phone that doesn't have the same suggestions as my main account because I watch different things on my PC than my phone. However, I do like to look at the comments while I'm taking a dump or something. Problem was, my videos were rarely every recommended. I solved this easily by liking a couple videos. I didn't even watch them, just liked and read comments. LITERALLY NOT EVEN SUBSCRIBED AND I GET NOTIFICATIONS ON MY PHONE SOMETIMES WHEN A VIDEO DOES WELL!
In other words, by getting people to like and comment on your videos you are almost guaranteeing they see future videos from you.
Now, keep in mind, engagement is only a small portion of the whole pie. And even though you might engage with a content creator often, there is still a chance you miss some of their videos because of one other reason, the content's genre.

Content Genre

You might have noticed this phenomenon on various different creators YouTubes, but sometimes they create a video that bombs. Usually, this happens when they create something outside of their niche. This could be as simple as changing games, or as radical as changing the entire direction of the channel. Even if you engage like crazy with a creator, if they change the content enough, you won't get that shit recommended to you.
This is the main reason some creators have several channels and why some even get pigeonholed to one type of content. The reality of it is, if you build your audience on one piece of content and then want to change it, you will be fighting an uphill battle. One of the best ways to fight that is to diversify early OR better yet, emphasize your personality over the content. Jschlatt shits views and he does whatever the hell he wants really. Same goes for jacksepticeye, markiplier, Ludwig, Critikal, XQC, and numerous other creators.
That being said, doing one game/genre isn't a bad strategy either. A metric fuck ton of OfflineTv's videos are the same game. DisguisedToast played Hearthstone on repeat, then switched to TFT, THEN switched to among us, and his videos absolutely kill. Valkyrae is one of the biggest streamers period and all she does is play/upload among us and rust. Then of course we have all the minecraft streamers too.
It's really up to you to decide, but I'd recommend going towards personality content since that allows the most flexibility.

Other Social Media (Twitter, IG, etc)

Lots of people here seem to think that they don't have time to do YouTube or some other BS they think up as an excuse, so they think that twitter, instagram, tiktok, etc are all ways to grow. Trust me, they are not good ways to grow.
These are all stupid treadmills that trick you into thinking you're doing something when in reality you aren't moving the needle by much if by any at all. Posting ten dumb tweets and reposting memes on IG seem "productive" if you frame it in the light of "content creation" but the two people that see all of these things don't really give a shit. Spend that time working on a video for YouTube.
Don't give me this "I don't have time" bullshit. Do small videos and work yourself up, become better and faster. Perfectionism is a cute word for procrastination.
Ok, now that I took a shit on them so hopefully, you won't grind on them all day, these are still ways to grow and are important. Having multiple platforms for fans to communicate and engage with you is always a good idea, but don't spread yourself so thin early on when nobody knows who you are. Prioritize the thing that will get eighty percent of your results.
I personally have a discord for people to come and chat in. Thing is, I had no intention of doing so because I don't really use discord that much. The only reason it exists is that people kept asking for it in the comments on my YouTube videos so I made one.
TL;DR: Don't put the cart before the horse :)
Edit: Oh ya I forgot to mention. TikTok is trash for growth. I won't mention names cuz that's probably toxic(?) but there is someone signed on luminosity who has 690k TikTok followers and 95k YouTube subscribers who barely cracks 100 views on Twitch and has a hard time getting over 1k on YouTube. So don't go thinking TikTok leads to immense fame ya darn kids

Hosting/Raiding

Getting hosted/raided means actual jack. I remember pretty clearly when I had like ten viewers, I got hosted by someone with twenty-five or something. I think only one person ended up saying anything in the chat to me about it and although some stayed for the entire stream, by the time I went live again I lost all of the people who were in the host. This seems to be something others have mentioned as well, you won't retain almost any views from hosts/raids.
Edit: Please do try raiding/hosting or otherwise networking with other streamers at least once. Your mileage may vary and it could end up blowing up your channel. Who knows?
Edit edit: Having something that you can do during the stream is huge when getting hosted/raided. Most of the time, if not all of the time, a streamer is ENDING their stream and sending viewers to you rather than timing it for your own content. So if you are doing something uninteresting or are in the middle of something you are going to get less retention than if you did something crazy to impress the newcomers. In other words, having a strategy for hosting/raiding growth is key.

Speaking on stream

This seems to be something a lot of people struggle with on Twitch since so many people ask how to do it when nobody is watching/chatting. Coming from someone who had this problem, the answer is pretty simple, talk for the content not the chat.
What I mean by this is you should be focusing on your content more than the chat. Since I play games, what I do is just say some shit about whats happening on screen and sometimes say something that is hopefully funny. Pick up a garbage item? Say something about how garbage the item is, ez.
If you're streaming to NO VIEWERS you shouldn't be streaming to stream anyway. What you should be doing is making a YouTube video in the hopes of getting viewers to watch your stream. The only way to do that is to have good content planned out that should effectively act as your script. Again, Ludwigs stream on this is good (it'll probably be a video soon) so make sure to check it out.
A more recent problem I've had was just how much I engaged with chat (suffering from success I know). When I went to edit the videos I had to cut large swathes of the video because I was just chatting to people. Make sure to avoid this when you are actually trying to get content out for YouTube as it can mess up the flow of a video and make it harder to edit. You still can chat with people just make sure not to go overboard. Again, Ludwig is a perfect example of this, just look at his videos and streams and notice the difference between the two.

Streaming as a job/hobby

I hate this dumb argument of streaming isn't your hobby or twitch isn't your job. You have 24 hours in the day, subtract 8 for sleeping and depending on your job, 9 for work. All that extra time can be spent doing whatever the fuck you want. Want to get big and make money streaming? Do work. Want to just stream while you're playing games anyway? Do that.
IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL AT SOMETHING YOU PUT IN THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT REQUIRED TO DO SO! So stop telling people it has to be a hobby or it has to be a job. It can be either for christ's sake.

Partner difference

I have a checkmark which makes me a better person.
No, but seriously, partner doesn't really do much other than add more emote slots and some quality options. Also, you don't gain extra cash as a partner either. I don't have the mystical bounty board or god-tier split, just the checkmark to flex baby.

Opinion on affiliate

Devin Nash made a video about how affiliate is a scam, which is kinda true but only for people with no viewers. Having the sub button is huge and even when I was small small, affiliate gave me a couple hundred bucks a month for no effort on my part. Patreon is probably better though, no lie.

Twitch "grind"

If you stream 5+ hours a day without making content that lives somewhere else please form a neat line so I can smack you all. People saying they have no time drives me nuts, but when they also "grind" all day AND say that, it makes me want to punch air.

1. Stream YouTube friendly content
2. Stop stream and edit content
3. Upload and plug twitch in the video
4. repeat

That is the only "grind" you should be on. Affiliate is stupid if the 3 viewers you have are all just you on a different ipad.

Luck

You know what? Maybe PewDiePie got lucky and that's how he is such a big YouTuber. Maybe early twitch streamers got all their views because they were early adopters. Or maybe these people only got lucky because they showed up and actually put the effort in.
There are plenty of videos on my channel that looked like flops at first. They got like a couple of hundred views and didn't do well. However, after continuously publishing, a whole bunch of them ended up blowing up and becoming some of the most-watched. Without publishing more videos they would have ended up dead in the water. Consistency > luck.
I don't believe too much in luck when it comes to doing very simple things (LIKE MAKING A YOUTUBE VIDEO) but you literally cannot win the lottery if you do not purchase a ticket, it's that simple.

Editing Software

A couple of people asked this so I thought I should add it here. I use davinci resolve for my videos. Previously, I used hitfilm or something like that I can't quite remember the name, but I had to switch because they don't allow you to have split audio channels (i.e. one for desktop audio and one for mic audio).
I've literally never touched any paid software like premier or anything because, again, I'm a cheap ass.

What should you upload to YouTube?

Seriously just look at Ludwig, smallant, DisguisedToast, literally every top Twitch streamer with a YouTube. All three of the people I just mentioned are over one million subs on YT and are top streamers, so they are definitely doing something right.
In terms of off-stream content, guides are king. If you're a small YT channel with ZERO subs you can still get thousands of views by hitting the search algorithm of YT. My first 3 videos were uncut gameplay, guide video, guide video, in that order. Guess which ones have tens of thousands of views and which has less than a thousand? Guide videos are insane for small channels.
Edit: Actually, let's just call it searchable content. Searchable content is king

Ending notes

I think that's about it for this post. Hopefully, I covered everything although I doubt I did. If you have any questions I'll try my best to answer them and will probably edit the good ones into the post.

So there was that awesome Reddit thread with a bunch of ADHD'ers sharing real tips that have changed their life.
I thought it was a great change from most advice on the internet which is written by non-ADHD'ers (and it's painfully obvious that it is).
I read through the 700+ comments and paraphrased, merged and categorised all the tips.
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The 131 tips are split into the following categories:

• General
• Cleaning
• Memory
• Time Blindness
• Distractions
• Getting Things Done
• Emotional Dysregulation
• Sleep
• Relationships
• Work
• School
• Executive Function
• Nutrition/Medication

General

• Pack things the day before so you don’t forget ~ (u/digi-cow)
• Don’t drink alcohol. Causes brain fog and it can negatively interact with medications. Alcohol can even cause ADHD-like symptoms in non-ADHD people ~ (u/HiTechTek, u/beatadhd)
• Do Cardio before you need to do stuff that requires sitting. It helps you focus. ~ (u/robertaloblaw, u/beatadhd)
• Use text-to-speech generators to help you read webpages/books ~ (u/elliptical_orbit)
• Keep things at eye level (Especially notes/todo lists) ~ (u/asmugone)
• Be stupidly early to places just in case you forget something ~ (u/asmugone)
• Stretch once in awhile. ~ (u/theweirdo_nextdoor)
• Take a deep breath. ~ (u/theweirdo_nextdoor)
• Take a cold shower in the morning or turn it cold just for 30-60 seconds at the end of your shower. Wakes you up, gets your blood flowing and gets you out of the shower. ~ (u/Juan_Creamsicle, u/beatadhd)
• Get a therapist if you can. ~ (u/fineandnormal)
• If you aren’t diagnosed: Actually get a diagnosis and a therapeutic programme that works for you. Don’t spend more time wondering - you’ll still feel like an imposter afterwards, don’t worry… ~ (u/Little_Blue_Shed)
• Most important for me has been telling myself all I need to do is floss. Usually you'll end up chaining the rest of your night routine tasks like brushing onto that. ~ (u/amazona_auropalliata)
• Buy a whiteboard to sketch out things when your mind starts going into overdrive. ~ (u/bkmilli)

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🌟 My Favourite: Enjoy the journey more than the destination, don’t be in a hurry to finish something you are doing, but always at least do something small everyday. Life is not a race, rather, it is an accumulation of smaller improvements to oneself. ~ (u/ksettle)
People are in such a rush these days… You can’t expect to become a superhuman overnight. Focus on sustainability first and enjoy the journey.

Cleaning

• Have a designated spot for every single item (Put it in the same place every time) ~ (u/BrownShoeJenny)
• Have a “misc” basket in each room. If you’re truly unable to put something away, put it in the basket. Have a designated period of time, once a week, when your sole priority is to put everything away, all at once. ~ (u/lexid22)
• Whenever you lose something that you “put away,” start keeping it in the first place you looked for it. ~ (u/FullDisclosureDaemon)
• In order to not get overwhelmed when cleaning, remember there are only 5 things you need to tackle: Trash, Laundry, Dishes, Putting things back that have a place, Put things in a pile that don’t have a place. ~ (u/mmc09)
• If you’re moving from one room to another, take the item with you that needs to go to the other room. It’s already on your way and it’s one less thing cluttering your room. ~ (u/SweetTeaBags)
• If you can afford it: Get a cleaning person; It takes them 3 hours to do what you can do in 3 weeks. While they are there, use them as an accountability buddy and sort out your misc tasks like paying bills. ~ (u/swarleyknope)
• Embrace chaos. Let your brain get distracted when you’re cleaning. Cleaning dishes and stop spare trash? It’s fine go clean that and then get back to the dishes ~ (u/DobbythehouseElff)
• Have a dedicated playlist for cleaning. High tempo songs help keep you moving. ~ (u/DobbythehouseElff)
• Do chores before you go to bed. No matter what your routine is, you have to go to bed at some point. You can “habit-chain” cleaning into going to bed. ~ (u/bkmilli)

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🌟 My Favourite: Listen to podcasts/audiobooks when doing chores. My excitement to listen to a new episode of my favorite podcast motivates me to do boring stuff like dishes or laundry. (I personally listen to podcasts) ~ (u/dani-tp)
Cleaning became so easy once I started using a “side” to stimulate my brain. I’m mostly watching TV shows when I clean right now (this also works for cooking!) .

Memory

• Having a tablet like an iPad Pro is helpful for keeping colorful notes. Avoids issues losing notebooks ~ (u/zombiessalad)
• Park in the same place every time when you go to a common place. You won’t forget where you park that way ~ (u/gibbousboi)
• Keep a spare house key in your car and one outside your house. ~ (u/GoodGuyVik)
• Keep important items in visible and convenient locations. e.g: Take pills when you eat? Keep your bottle beside your table where you eat. ~ (u/girlabout2fallasleep)
• Get a Tile. Bluetooth GPS trackers that are a game changer for ADHD people that lose keys/wallets. ~ (u/fizzzzzpop)
• Tape your most often made recipes to the inside of your kitchen cabinet doors. ~ (Unknown)
• Three point check when you close the front door: Phone, wallet, keys ~ (u/cowboyhugbees)
• Use voice assistants. “Remind me to do X tomorrow at Y time” ~ (u/theviciousfish)
• Use the mind palace memory exercise to help solve retention issues. ~ (u/asmugone)
• Keep forgetting your lunch? Put your keys on it. That way you can’t leave without your lunch ~ (u/Therealdickbut, u/Maktube, u/mismanager)
• If you need to remember to bring something with you the next day, place it right in front of the exit door so you HAVE to touch it before you leave the house. If it’s something in the fridge, put a sticky note on the exit door’s handle. ~ (u/lexid22)
• Buy multiple items that you use often. Setup multiple chargers at work/home (so you have a spare if you lose one). e.g. buy 10 different lip balms so you can always find it when you need it. ~ (u/redbananass)
• Have convenient, labeled spaces for things. It’s hard to forget your phone when you ALWAYS put it beside your charger. (Use a cheap labelmaker!) ~ (u/TotallyLegitEstoc, u/nathanb131)
• Get a tracking tool like Tile and put it on things you lose regularly. (Keys/Wallet) ~ (u/3GrilledJalapenos)
• Have rules for placement of the important things in your life. (it’s too hard to do it for everything) ~ (u/nathanb131)
• Create a second brain for yourself - in whatever way is most appealing to you. (I personally use Notion) ~ (u/significanttoday)
• If you want to remember something, put an object out-of-place whilst thinking about what you want to remember. ~ (u/VectorGambiteer)
• Count your steps as you walk into a new room. It’ll help you remember why you entered that room. It gives you something to focus on but it’s not too much that you’ll get distracted. (This is similar to many forms of counting meditations too) ~ (u/bethknowsbest)
• Use a bowl to throw your keys, badges, and wallet into when you get home. That way you can’t leave without ALL the stuff you need. ~ (u/pockunit)
• ALWAYS have a bag with the essentials. On mine a have my keys, charger, papers and even tooth brush. If I’m going out, I do not waste time searching for everything. Just search for a bag. ~ (u/sdjrp)
• Make a calendar entry for every scheduled thing religiously unless it’s routine like a 9-5 job. Make the calendar entry immediately while making the appointment. Do this for parties, birthdays, dates, finals, med refills, trash night, etc. ~ (u/percyjeandavenger)

​

🌟 My Favourite: Use Spaced Repetition to study for your exams, remember things about people in your life, and literally everything you can possibly make a flashcard for. ~ (u/beatadhd)
Is it narcisstic to put my own tip as a favourite? Well who cares, it works! Spaced repetition is fantastic and honestly feels like cheating*. There are a lot of free tools out there which work great. I’m currently using my own private tool* 😉

Time Blindness

• Set your phone clock 10-15 mins fast on purpose ~ (u/Anonredditthoughts)
• Put appointments in your calendar 10-20 minutes earlier than the actual appointment ~ (u/Alyscupcakes)
• A schedule is only as good as the alarms and info you put in ~ (u/asmugone)
• Set timers for activites you hyperfocus on. BUT set the timer for X minutes less than the task takes. (Give yourself time to wrap up whatever you’re working on) Additional Protip: Use this on a watch rather than your phone to avoid getting distracted. A basic watch/smart watch will save your life. ~ (u/dinamyte519)
• Download an app on your phone that chimes and buzzes every half an hour during your awake time. Keeps you aware of how much time has passed. ~ (u/Frosty172)
• Track your time. Every morning, write out a todo list by hand and track the time taken for each task. (Write down the time whenever you take a break or switch tasks) - I personally use Toggl to track my time ~ (u/ImprovedMeyerLemon)

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🌟 My Favourite: Get an electric toothbrush with a timer. ADHD people have time blindness and it’ll make sure you brush for at least two minutes. ~ (u/insaxon)
Yes. Two minutes can feel like two hours for me. Or I’ll brush for 20 seconds and think five minutes has passed. I can’t trust my brain, so I started using an electric toothbrush with a timer

Distractions

• Disable all your notifications on your phone except for essential apps (Texting, Voicemail, Calendar) ~ (u/kee_kee)
• Use website blockers for distracting websites (I use Cold Turkey, Freedom and News Feed removers for social media + Youtube) ~ (u/elliptical_orbit)
• Get a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones + non-distracting music/audio ~ (u/elliptical_orbit, u/michaeltheobnoxious)
• If you can’t stop yourself from answering that text/email/IM right away but don’t actually have time to deal with it, tell the person you’ll respond when you get a minute. ~ (u/theweirdo_nextdoor)
• Your brain focuses better after some exercise. Cardio works best ~ (u/unofficialuser112)

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🌟 My Favourite: Use a noise-cancelling headset and listen to music/white noise/brown noise. Enables hyperfocus and blocks out distractions (“I don’t regret getting diagnosed late, but I do regret getting noise cancelling headphones that late in life.”) ~ (u/rn7889)
Stop scrolling right now and go buy the noise-cancelling headset. A noise-cancelling headset + some noise like music/brown noise is essential if you have ADHD. Feel free to thank me later once your life changes.
If the headset isn't in your budget: Brown noise + earphones will get you 80% of the way there.

Getting Things Done

• If you have an Android: Put a widget from your todo list app on your home screen so it’s the first thing you see ~ (u/kee_kee)
• Break tasks down into as many smaller tasks as you need for it to feel manageable. ~ (u/theweirdo_nextdoor)
• Learn to plan around transitions. It’s easier to start things if you chain them with another task that is ending. ~ (u/lexid22)
• Use the pomodoro technique for everything. It’s great having a break to look forward to. ~ (u/ontapeina_sthrnaccnt)
• Remember that something is better than nothing. If you only get 26% of a task done then it’s further than if you never started. It’s better to do little bits of every task rather than procrastinating. ~ (u/xxxistentialist)
• Attach numbers to events. e.g: Going to bed (3) - Brush, Floss, Mouthwash. ~ (u/Frosty172)
• Lie to yourself. I’ll tell myself that I’m just going to unload one dish from the dishwasher. Once I’ve started, I’ll at least unload a few, and maybe clean the whole kitchen. ~ (u/coffeeclichehere)
• Decide what you’re going to do each day beforehand, preferably while your meds are at their workingest. Make sure it’s only 1 thing. ~ (u/optimisticaspie)
• Understand that FUTURE YOU IS STILL YOU. If you think you’ll do something later, understand that future you is still you. Future you isn’t more likely to muster up the desire to do the work. f you don’t have the motivation to do it in the next 24 hours then future you probably won’t either. ~ (u/Moon_In_Scorpio)
• When you need to transition between tasks, pretend that you are talking to a friend who is having issues with something. Give yourself a nudge and remind yourself it’s time to switch tasks/get started. (Detach yourself from the task) ~ (u/Gerryislandgirl)
• When you take breaks, make sure your break isn’t too interesting. That way you won’t get absorbed in your break. Just clean during your break or something like that. ~ (u/Treppenwitz_shitz)
• Gamify things and set a limited amount of time to accomplish something. e.g: Brew your coffee and get as many chores done as you can before the coffee is finished brewing. ~ (u/strngrsstpngstngrs)
• Write TODO lists as a brain dump. And then order them in importance or the order you want to do them in. That way you don’t pause while writing down tasks. ~ (u/strngrsstpngstngrs)
• Don’t be afraid to stimulate yourself if you need it. Listen to a podcast or music to get yourself to do something. ~ (u/fineandnormal)
• Reward yourself when you get things done. Positive Reinforcement is good and you’ll feel like getting more things done. ~ (u/prince-ali-but-short)
• Change your environment and work from a place where there are fewer distractions. e.g: Cafe/library. You’ll get more stuff done ~ (u/humbled_lightbringer)
• Set a time to do work, and a time to relax; that way you don’t feel guilty about relaxing during the time you set aside for yourself. ~ (u/talking_face)
• Change your alarm sounds/timer sounds frequently, but use alarms and timers as much as possible. ~ (u/Little_Blue_Shed)
• Treat timers and alarms like non-negotiable laws. When the timer goes off, doesn’t matter what you were doing seconds ago, it’s time to go. Half showered, wet hair, one eye done, whatever it is, you’re out the door. ~ (Unknown)

🌟 My Favourite: Body doubling - if you need to do some work that requires focus without much fun, have someone in the room with you. They could be working too, or not. Just having them there makes everything just a little more interesting and a little more accountable. ~ (u/Creebjeez)
I feel like a lot of people are missing some sort of accountability system in their lives. I don’t do body doubling but I use Beeminder to keep me accountable.

Emotional Dysregulation

• Brain dump in a notebook by your bed every night. ~ (u/ALyscupcakes)
• Don’t feel bad about sucking at school/work. You’ll get better as you learn more strategies for coping with ADHD. Things get better ~ (u/astrozork321)
• Use writing/journaling as cognitive therapy to defuse emotional history ~ (u/Tman1307)
• Remind yourself that the world won’t end if a few things fall behind. ~ (u/theweirdo_nextdoor)
• Write a reverse todo-list. Write down the things you have accomplished for the day. That way you won’t feel overwhelmed and it’ll make you feel better. ~ (u/SuspiciousEchidna)
• You’re allowed to let things go. Forget irrelevant things and forgive yourself. Ignore the awkward thing you did last week. Life will move on. ~ (u/bitetheboxer, u/optimisticaspie)
• Forgive yourself for your limits. ~ (u/3GrilledJalapenos)
• Meditation. Active breaks for people that struggle to take breaks. Use a meditation app when you’re starting. Like Headspace ~ (u/Juan_Creamsicle)
• Start working on letting go of shame. It depresses your motivation and only makes things worse. You wouldn’t shame someone in a wheelchair for not getting things done, your difficulty is in your brain instead of your legs but it’s no less real. ~ (u/percyjeandavenger)
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy + meditation ~ (u/beatadhd)

🌟 My Favourite: You’re allowed to let things go. Forget irrelevant things and forgive yourself. Ignore the awkward thing you did last week. Life will move on. ~ (u/bitetheboxer, u/optimisticaspie)
Stop hating yourself. Don’t look at the future. Don’t look at the past. Look at the present. I used to always hate myself for being so unproductive. I realised how pointless that was and I started to focus on improving myself in the present.

Sleep

• Put your phone on the other side of the room and make your alarm super loud. Gets you out off bed and will make you turn it off so you don’t wake other people up. ~ (u/Valendr0s)
• If you’re having trouble getting out of bed then set a timer on your phone for 5 minutes and chuck it across the room. It’ll force you to get up and turn it off. ~ (u/PMDicksInTinyClothes)
• Buy 2 bright lamps and 2 timers. Set them up to turn on automatically 5-15min before you want your alarm to go off in the morning. The lights help your body know its daytime ~ (u/lexid22)
• Change your thermostat so the temperature goes down an hour before bedtime and gets warmer 30 minutes before you wake up. The cooler temperatures get your body to sleep and the warmer temperatures help you wake up ~ (u/lexid22)
• Use a reminder app for starting your bedtime routine, not just your bedtime. (And have a bedtime routine) ~ (u/3GrilledJalapenos)
• Try setup meetings/commitments early in the morning. They'll force you to get out of bed ~ (u/beatadhd)

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🌟 My Favourite: Set two alarms when you get up in the morning. One to get out of bed and one for your medication. e.g: 5:30 AM wake up and take medication and then fall back to bed. By your 6AM alarm you’ll have waken up and your meds will have kicked in ~ (u/BizzarduousTask)
What a great lifehack. I’ve been doing this the past few days (except I don’t wake up at 6AM) - it works pretty well. Also I throw my phone on the other side of the room so it forces me to get out of bed.

Relationships

• It’s okay to be in a room with people and just let people breathe. You don’t need to fill the silence. ~ (u/asmugone)
• When having a conversation or learning something, repeat every word the person says in your head. It’ll help you not drift off as much. It also makes it so you’ll interrupt people less. ~ (u/TheNocturne)
• Try to avoid the word 'but' when faced with a conflict. Instead try be constructive towards arguments/discussions with the word 'and'. ~ (u/beatadhd)

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🌟 My Favourite: For maintaining eye contact: Imagine a red dot on someone’s nose for intense focus. Bridge of the nose for paying attention. ~ (u/asmugone)
Haven’t tried this one but I used to have trouble with eye contact a few years ago so this stood out to me. I’m pretty good with eye contact now, but I’ll be trying it over the next few weeks anyway.

Work

• If you hate your job. Make a job switch. It’ll help you make positive changes in your life. ~ (u/Mooberry_)
• Find a job that works WITH your system. If you can’t wake up and be functional in the morning then stop trying. Find a job that doesn’t need you to wake up in the morning. Stop beating yourself up over things your brains isn’t designed for ~ (u/obxunseeker)
• Be self-employed and start a business. “No matter where I worked or what I did, I was constantly watching the clock, hating every single second of it. On Saturday I worked 27 straight hours to finish a job on time and it was still less painful than working an 8 hour shift as an employee. Those 27 hours disappeared and left me feeling gratified because I made someone’s house beautiful and I got to see how happy I made her the first time she saw her new home.” ~ (u/jake7697)
• When promising a timescale to a client, double or triple the amount of time that you initially think it will take. That way worst case scenario, you will finish it on deadline and meet expectations or best case, finish before and exceed expectations. ~ (u/Somewhereonabike)
• The moment you know you aren’t going to make a deadline, let the client know and again give them an overestimate of time for new deadline. People are always understanding and appreciative for this quick communication. ~ (u/Somewhereonabike)
• Reply to emails and messages when you read them. 99% of the time, days and weeks will go by if you tell yourself that you’ll reply later on… ~ (u/Somewhereonabike)
• Be honest about your limitations and own your shit. Most people have no idea how much adhd affects so many things and therefore can’t understand our inability to do basic things at times. Especially if you come across as smart and creative, they can misplace our struggles for laziness and lack of care. If you fuck up own it, explain why and apologise. It doesn’t have to be long winded but it is important to state how you aim to rectify the situation and again. ~ (u/Somewhereonabike)
• Stop comparing your output and motivation to others and embrace a slower, more considered, creative one. You are not other people. You are you. Trying to jam your freeform, 12 sided shape into the round hole is painful and won’t work. You don’t need a hole, you need self acceptance. ~ (u/Somewhereonabike)

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🌟 My Favourite: Learn to say no to taking on things that you know may cause you stress and excess pressure just because it’s money. It is not worth it, just put the boundaries that will save your mental health in the first place and you won’t have to deal with the fallout later. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. ~ (u/Somewhereonabike)
God yes… ADHD people have a dangerous habit of overcommitting to stuff. Personally I think I just forget that I’m already working on X, Y and Z. Sustainability is important - don’t overcommit.

School

• Use Active Recall + Spaced Repetition to study for all your exams. I've seen countless people go from C's to straight A's after adopting them ~ (u/beatadhd)
• If you're finding it difficult to start assignments early then ONLY read + annotate the assignment brief early and go take a break after that. Your subconscious should process the information and it'll be easier to start later on. ~ (u/beatadhd)
• It’s better to turn in an assignment that is 75% done. It’ll drag your grades down less than if you never turned it in ~ (u/bitetheboxer)
• Print out lectures and powerpoints in advance (ask the teacher for them). That way you won’t need to listen and write at the same time. You can annotate the printed versions instead. ~ (u/strngrsstpngstngrs)

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🌟 My Favourite: Visit your school's inclusivity and disability team. They will hopefully have policies for helping people with ADHD ~ (u/beatadhd)
This is something I never took advantage of while at University, but I probably should have. A few assignment extensions when my meds stopped working would have saved me from countless all nighters…

Executive Function

• Setup a morning routine + a reset routine. A reset routine is something you do when you're feeling super unfocused. Mine consists of meditation, exercise, journaling, playing music and making some tea. ~ (u/beatadhd)
• If it takes less than ten minutes to do the task, just do it immediately. ~ (u/Zzazu)
• Have a uniform for work, social and casual scenarios. Don’t mix your work clothes with your casual clothes. ~ (u/3GrilledJalapenos)
• If you start to feel frustrated for no reason, eat something and keep yourself hydrated. (Self-care flowchart) ~ (u/enjakuro)
• it’s better to half-ass most things than it is to not do them at all. ~ (u/coffeclichehere)
• Set alarms using music rather than the default alarm sounds. It’ll help you get going. (And music releases norepinephrine in your brain!) ~ (u/redditraptor6)
• Make yourself kits for common repeated household tasks. e.g: Cleaning Kit, Package mailing kit… Reduces the friction needed to get started on a task ~ (u/sonjavalentine)
• Refine your routine and rituals to reduce the overall time it takes to get them ready. Reduce the friction needed to start your morning routine. e.g: Prepare a filled pot of coffee the night before. ~ (u/lazyoracle)
• Set just a few non-negotiable standards and laws for yourself. Pick those that improve your life the most. e.g: No phone in bed at night or in the morning. Not even a quick email check. And read your goals every morning. ~ (u/AllsFarrin)
• When you’re trying to get started on a task: Write down the steps you’ve already done and the steps you plan to do next. Helps a lot with spaghetti thoughts ~ (u/qui_gone_Gym)
• Drink a big glass of water when you know you are going to have to start doing a thing in a bit. When you inevitably have to go pee, start after you wash your hands. You are already up and your brain already had to switch gears. Use it as momentum. ~ (u/percyjeandavenger)

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🌟 My Favourite: On tough days. Use the 1-thing theory. Just try and accomplish just one-thing for that day. e.g. Clean the kitchen. ~ (u/soggysocks63, u/GoodGuyVik)
A bit less life-hacky compared to the others but I’ve found that getting started is a lot easier when you only have a single priority.

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Nutrition/Medication

• If you are Vitamin D deficient then take Vitamin D supplements (see a doctor first). It’ll help your mood and energy levels. ~ (u/ImprovedMeyerLemon)
• Eat lots of protein and stay hydrated. ~ (u/chlordane_zero)
• Figure out if you're deficient in anything and try fix those things. This includes getting a food allergy test, figuring out deficiencies and eating a healthy diet. ~ (u/beatadhd)

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🌟 My Favourite: Use a 7-day pill organiser with AM/PM slots and put your medication and supplements there. ~ (u/ImprovedMeyerLemon)
I know a lot of people have issues with remembering if they took their medication. This is an easy, simple and cheap fix.

Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: $25,000; I didn’t start contributing until last year. I got out of grad school end of 2017, and once I got my first job I focused on saving up a good emergency fund since I live in such a HCOL city.
Savings account balance: $25,000; $20K emergency fund, $5K for car down payment (I’ll be making this purchase soon)
Checking account balance: $1,300; I try to only keep bill money in there + $500 buffer, payday is in a few days so this is low
HSA balance: $3,600; Since I chose the HSA plan at work, my company fills it up to the deductible every year. This is my money to keep, and this has been racking up after a few years of low medical expenses. It came in handy when I had to have surgery this year, I was able to pay exclusively from this account.
Credit card debt: none, I pay balances off each month
Student loan debt: $20,000; This is all from undergrad tuition: my living expenses were paid by working and some help from my parents, my grad school was paid with fellowships. Payments have been suspended during COVID. My original plan was to pay it off this year, but COVID and everything else has made me rethink that. Instead, I’ve decided to put money toward moving (with rent prices down I was able to move to a much nicer place for only a little more) and putting a hefty down payment on a reasonably priced car. With help of my bonus and tax refund I can definitely clear my debt in 2021, but I’ll wait until we know more about what Biden plans to do about student debt.
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Section Two: Income
Income Progression:
• During college: $10K-13K a year; this was through various part time jobs in retail + working at a lab at my university later in college. It wasn’t much but it paid for my living expenses. I’m really glad I worked in college, although I wish maybe I had worked a little less so I could have more of a social life. Regardless it set me up to be a lot more independent than most of my peers
• Grad school: $30K a year stipend; Right after college I went straight into grad school to get a PhD in biomedical science. Programs in this field usually cover tuition and provide a stipend since you’re working in the lab of your advisor. Tip for anyone looking at getting a PhD in this field: if a school offers you admission but won’t cover tuition and stipend through research or teaching assistantships, DON’T DO IT. It’s a red flag, plus you’re better off minimizing debt if you want to stay in academia.
• First job in biotech: $97K salary + up to 10% bonus; Once I graduated, I got a job at a biotech company on the peninsula. I didn’t negotiate because I didn’t know that I had any leverage to since I was just coming out of school. Turns out negotiating really isn’t part of the company culture and people really are paid the same market rate for the same work within the company so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Typically get a 5% cost of living raise every year.
• Promotion early this year: $123K salary + up to 10% bonus; this was something that was expected, my boss and I had been in discussions about my work
• Unexpected raise: $135K salary + up to 10% bonus; Recently got an unexpected pay raise, I suspect this was pre-emptive since I’ve recently picked up extra work that makes me more marketable. I probably would have asked for this eventually, but they beat me to it. My company works really hard to make sure people feel well-compensated and appreciated, which really helps when the workload gets stressful.
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Main Job Monthly Take Home:
Deductions:
• Roth 401K: $1,125 a month (10% gross salary)
• Medical/dental: covered 100% by work.
Monthly take home after deductions: $6,300
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Section Three: Expenses
Rent: $2,900; I live alone in a one bedroom apartment with my cat. Moved from a studio this summer, I would never had been able to get a place this nice (nice building, remodeled kitchen+bathroom) without the COVID rent drops.
Renters insurance: $15
Savings contribution: $1000 a month at least. Right now that goes towards a car down payment. After that, it’ll be split to extra debt repayment (to pay student loan faster) and short terms savings like for vacations.
Student loan: $300 a month (suspended due to COVID)
Donations: $175 a month; Split amongst food banks, KQED, ACLU, and planned parenthood. Every time I get a raise I pick up a new donation. I also gave about $2K this year in ad hoc donations.
Electric: ~$35 a month. Steam heat (radiator) is free in my building so this doesn’t fluctuate in winter.
Wifi: ~$35 a month
Cellphone: $110; includes iphone payment that ends in a year
Subscriptions: $50; Netflix, hulu, amazon prime, hbo max (I really should cut on of these)
Car insurance: $100; Two years ago I gave my car back to my family for my brother to use after I moved to SF, but I still came back and drove it enough for me to need to keep my own insurance on it just in case. When I buy the new car it’ll get transferred to that one.
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Day One (Monday)
8:00 a.m. — My alarm goes off, and I’m technically awake but still so tired. I cuddle with the cat and catch up on youtube for a while before I get up and make some tea.
9:00 a.m. — I settle in the start the day: mostly just triaging emails and dealing with some small tasks so I can get them off the list. I’ve been working from home since March; I work in data analysis, so my computer is my lab. For the most part it’s been pretty successful, but sometimes I fall for the lure to work in my pajamas. After about an hour of work I quickly shower and get ready for my first meeting.
12:00 p.m. — My meetings are done so I heat up lunch- today its pasta leftovers from last night, along with a coke. I spend the break watching a West Wing episode, I’ve been bingeing recently and I’m almost done!
2:30 p.m. — I hit a lull in work, so I get my bags and mask and walk to the grocery store. The best part of working from home is being able to go do errands on off hours, especially now that we’re all trying to avoid crowds. I listen to podcasts on the way over: this time I’m catching up on the Wall Street Journal Money Briefing.
2:45 p.m. — I buy my groceries for the week: ingredients for chopped salads, a few snacks, and a few frozen meals. Since I have a lot of leftover pasta to eat, I don’t need as many things as I usually do, so I use the opportunity to stock up on a few staples. You have to think ahead when you have to carry everything home every week! $48.76
3:30 p.m. — I get home an put everything away. I eat a lacey cookie and make sparkling water out of my sodastream while I settle back into work. Right now I’m doing all the prep for a big analysis coming up soon, so it’s a lighter week. Once that data comes in, I’ll be working like crazy.
6:00 p.m. — Done for the day! I decompress and play silly games on my phone, then get up to make dinner while I watch more West Wing on my iPad. Tonight’s dinner is chopped salad with romaine, cucumber, tomato, green apple, bacon, blue cheese, avocado, and balsamic dressing. I only need part of the green apple for the salad so I slice the rest to eat on the side. I also crack open a shandy to have with dinner.
8:00 p.m. — My period is coming and I have a hankering for sweets. I warm up a slice of pancake bread I got today and try a little bit of the peppermint bark liqueur I found this weekend. This combo is everything!
9:30 p.m. — I’m trying to go to bed earlier so I turn off the TV, settle into pajamas, and read before bed while cuddling with the cat. Right now I’m reading Dying: A memoir by Cory Taylor. I turn out the lights at 10 and listen to the Dear Hank & John podcast on a sleep timer.
Day One total: $48.76
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Day Two (Tuesday)
7:30 a.m. — Even though I went to bed relatively early I still wake up exhausted. I hit the snooze button a few times before getting up, making tea, and getting ready.
11:00 a.m. — Done with morning meetings so I take an early lunch, more leftover pasta. I also clean up around the house for a little while, it’s hard for me to concentrate in a messy environment.
2:00 p.m. — Feeling sluggish so I make another cup of tea before my last meeting.
3:30 p.m. — My meeting is over, so I take a minute to take care of some life admin before I get back to work. I write out my rent check, drop it off in the office downstairs, and send my mom a link to an immersion blender since she wants to know what I want for Christmas. I see Naturalizer is having a 50% off sale on boots so I buy 2 pairs. My boots wore out last season and I still haven’t replaced them. I also set up a monthly donation for the Oakland food bank (see monthly expenses). I recently got a raise and want to up my donations. Since I already give to SF food bank I thought I’d spread the love. $107.43
6:00 p.m. — The last thing I need to do for work today requires running some code for a while, so I start that before making dinner. Tonight it’s another chopped salad and some sparkling water. I eat while watching more West Wing.
8:00 p.m. — Pre-period cravings are kicking my ass (or at least that’s my excuse). I have another slice of pancake bread and some tea while browsing NPR’s 2020 book concierge and tagging books on my libby account. I also text my boyfriend for a while and we make plans to hang out later this week (standard COVID note: he also lives alone/WFH and we live in walking distance to each other, so we consider ourselves one bubble).
10:30 p.m. — I get ready for bed and read more of my book. Light’s out by 11.
Day Two total: 107.43
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Day Three (Wednesday)
7:30 a.m. — My alarm goes off, and the cat jumps into bed immediately for cuddles. We hang out for a few minutes then I get up, make tea, and start getting ready for the day.
9:00 a.m. — I start work, this morning it’s a bunch of code to review. Queue staring at my screens for three hours.
12:00 p.m. — Lunchtime! More leftover pasta, I’m getting bored of these leftovers but I don’t want to waste food. I have that and some more sparkling water.
1:00 p.m. — I recently got a new ipad, and I need to drop off the old one at Fedex to get the trade-in credit. I walk over to drop it off and enjoy the fresh air. On the way back I order a peppermint mocha from Starbucks on the mobile app. I try to order from the million independent coffee shops near my house most of the year, but the holiday drinks bring me back to Starbucks every time. During the walk I listen to podcast about Biden's cabinet picks with some interesting discussion about foreign policy. I don't know enough to have a strong opinion yet, but I would like to learn more! $5.50
4:00 p.m. — I just spent a good chunk of my afternoon talking with so many people just to make a small update to code. So frustrating! I'm tempted to make a drink to have while I finish work, but I resist and just have more sparkling water.
4:30 p.m. — I get a call from the medical center I got a procedure from last month. They said they sent me a statement, but they somehow not only got my street number wrong but also the zip code. I pay the $140 bill using money in my HSA (that's money put in by my company, so I don't count as an expense).
6:00 p.m. — I just spend way too much time ironing out another issue, I’ve earned my drink. I crack open a beer and make another chopped salad for dinner. Tonight I’m drinking a Baked Hawaii pastry stout from Temascal brewing. It’s absolutely delicious, but halfway through drinking the can I realize it’s 11% ABV!! Tonight just got interesting.
9:00 p.m. — Turns out drunk at home me isn’t that interesting: I spend the night watching West Wing and texting a friend. I’m in bed by 11ish.
Day three total: $5.50
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Day Four (Thursday)
7:30 a.m. — I get up and make tea like I always do. I decide to actually get ready properly with makeup and jewelry today so that’s new.
9:00 a.m. — Start work, this morning I’m working on an internal presentation.
11:00 a.m. — I prep an apple and peanut butter for a snack.
12:00 p.m. — I heat up the last of leftover pasta for lunch. Good, I’m really getting sick of it.
1:00 p.m. — I sit down for my meeting. I present the first half, then spend second half munching on a few sour jellybeans I had left from last week.
3:00 p.m. — I make more tea and move to the couch to finish up my workday. I also customize my imperfect produce order for next week. I don't actually get a ton of produce from them, but I really like some of their meat and dairy options. I get apples, oranges, kiwi, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, avocados, bread, salmon, chicken breast, bacon, snack cheese, and some peppermint chocolate covered pretzels. That, plus my hello fresh coming next week, will be most of my food a few weeks. Those will get charged to my account next week when they’re delivered. I try to spend $250 a month of groceries, but craft beer and fun cheese sometimes make me go over.
5:30 p.m. — I’m sick of working, so I get changed out of sweats into decent clothes and walk over to my boyfriend’s place. I stop by the market on the way over to buy tea and a can of water chestnuts (the only other thing I need for meals next week). $7.58
6:00 p.m. — I get to my boyfriend’s place just as the food delivery arrives, I get chicken tikka masala, rice, and garlic naan. I only eat half so the rest is saved for leftovers. We split a stone espresso stout and talk. Since vaccine schedules look so good and cancellation policies are great, it makes sense to consider booking a trip to Hawaii for late summer. We agree to think about it and pull the trigger before Christmas. $25 for Indian food
7:00 p.m. — I’m not a fan of the stout so I open up a cider. We settle in and watch TV
9:45 p.m. — Technically we're under a 10pm curfew, although I can't really figure out what that means this time. I'm tired anyway, so I say goodbye to my boyfriend and walk home. No one is out, so I walk home with my mask off. Something about being in nice clothes and without a mask on hits harder than it probably should. I miss normal city life so much. Just as I think that a big-ass raccoon pops up walking on the next block, which ironically never happened to me in normal city life even though it totally sounds like it would. Luckily the raccoon is more scared of me than I am of it, and I make it home in one piece.
10:30 p.m. — I make a cup of decaf tea and settle into bed. I decide to start a new book Survivor Song, I find zombie-ish apocalyptic books oddly comforting right now (finished Severance by Ling Ma a few weeks ago). This one is about a rabies-like disease, really glad that raccoon ran away earlier.
3:00 a.m. — Oops, got so engrossed with the book I stay up incredibly late to read the whole thing in one sitting. I reset my alarm to 9. WFH for my company has its perks!
Day four total: $32.58
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Day Five (Friday)
10:30 a.m. — I accidentally sleep through the alarm and wake up in a panic. It isn't the end of the world, but I still go straight to my laptop while still in pajamas and start work. There was a mini crisis early this morning that luckily I wouldn't have been much help in, but I spend the rest of the morning dealing with that and various other fires.
12:00 p.m. — I shower and get dressed. Lunch today is frozen lamb vindaloo for lunch and a coke to try and perk me up.
1:00 p.m. — I’m still predictably exhausted, so I make some tea and try to power through a task before a meeting.
3:00 p.m. —More tea and a lacey cookie before meeting.
6:00 p.m. —I still have more work to do but I'm drained, so I call it a night. I heat up last night's Indian food, grab some more sparkling water and catch up on youtube to decompress.
8:00 p.m. —I clean up a little round the house while I watch the new Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t believe I’m still watching this show.
11:00 p.m. — Watched more West Wing while curled up on the couch. I head to bed; I want to get up at a decent time.
Day five total: $0
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Day Six (Saturday)
8:00 a.m. — My alarm goes off. I stay in bed browsing the internet on my iPad.
9:00 a.m. — I get up, make some tea and prep breakfast. Today I try the pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes from Damn Delicious. My resolution this year was to make 50 new recipes and I’m on track to make it! These pancakes are fantastic, I’ll definitely make them again. I pack up the leftovers to bring to my boyfriend’s house later.
10:00 a.m. — I settle in on the couch and spend the rest of the morning playing games on my ipad and listening to podcasts.
12:30 p.m. — I jump in the shower and get ready. I’m training for when we’re back in real society again, so I actually do my hair and makeup today. Today I play with eyeshadow and do a purple smokey eye. My boyfriend texts to say that he already ate lunch so I heat up frozen lamb vindaloo for lunch.
1:30 p.m. — Time to head to my boyfriend’s house. I pack up my overnight bag and the pancakes, put my boots on, and head out. I drop my stuff off at my boyfriend’s house and we head out to walk around the city. We started doing this when the pandemic started, it’s a great way to spend the afternoon. On the walk I finally see the parrots of Telegraph hill, although we aren’t at telegraph hill. They’re really cute, but so loud, I’m glad I don’t live closer to them!
3:00 p.m. —We stop by a place to get Irish coffee but the line is massive (this is the last weekend of outdoor dining, so everyone is out). I don't want to wait in line, so we keep walking to find somewhere else to go.
3:30 p.m. — We see a Mexican restaurant and decide to stop for snacks and drinks. As a bonus the tables are really spaced out and there aren’t a ton of people seated. We want to help businesses out and enjoy a last weekend being able to eat outside, but it seems counterproductive to eat at a crowded place. We get 2 margaritas each and split some appetizers, making sure to tip extra. $51.26
5:30 p.m. — As we walk back towards my boyfriend’s apartment, we see that the cocktail bar he really wanted to try has a ton of tables available. We pick a table far away from the others and have 2 more cocktails each. I also get some garlic shrimp noodles. We each tip extra here too. $66.71
7:00 p.m. — We trudge up the hill and head to my boyfriend’s apartment. I buy some snacks and a la croix at a corner store on the way. $7.00
7:15 p.m. — We spend the rest of evening watching TV and sobering up. We end up going to bed pretty early, around 10.
Day six total: $124.97
​
Day Seven (Sunday)
9:00 a.m. — I wake up and laze around in bed for a while. After I get up we eat the leftover pancakes and I help my boyfriend with some chores that require 2 people (there are a few disadvantages to living alone).
11:00 a.m. — I gather my things and walk home. Once I’m there I drop off my things, and head straight back out to grab a few items. I’m out of body wash so I walk to Walgreens to buy that and a soda. On the way home I realize I don’t have any food for today (Hello Fresh is coming tomorrow), so I pop into the deli and get a sandwich and some chips. The sandwiches are huge so it’s enough food for lunch and dinner. $27.20
3:00 p.m. — The rest of day is spent alternating between cleaning and hanging out on the couch. I look at my email to see that Aerie is doing 10 for $35 on underwear, so I fill up my cart with 10 pairs + a swimsuit and sweater. I haven’t bought any clothes this year, but now things are starting to wear out so I need to replace things all at once. $89.47
7:00 p.m. — I toast up the other half of my sandwich. I spend the rest of the evening reading and watching TV, I’m in bed by 11.
Day seven total: $116.67
​
Total for week: $435.91
Grocery + Dining Out: $239.01
Fun + Entertainment: $0
Home + Health: $10
Clothes + Beauty: $196.90
Transportation: $0
Lastly, reflect on your diary: This definitely was a more expensive week than normal. I’ve been delaying buying clothing for a long time, so I finally have started to catch up. I tend to do that after I get a raise. This was also the last week of outdoor dining for SF so I used this as an excuse to eat out more, I feel so bad for all the workers about to get laid off again.
​
Have a happy and safe holidays everyone!
(Edited because I found a few typos I missed when I proofread, so embarrassing! TA me from 4 years ago would be so ashamed haha)

Section One: Assets and Debt
Hello! Like others before me, I have written a small novel about my finances. Enjoy!
Retirement Balance: $655,724.99 (my 401k) + 262,817.64 (spouse 401k) + $52,020.06 (two IRAs, identically invested) = $970,562.69

• I max out my 401k plus get a 5% employee match from my organization. In a previous role, I got a 5% employee match + 5% automatically for being an employee. At my first job, I contributed in very small amounts to my 401k but cashed it out to pay off serious credit card debt. It was only $6k, but I would not recommend cashing out any part of a 401k. I have maxed out every year for at least a decade now, possibly even longer.
• My partner made significantly less than me for most of his career and was not able to max out until recently, hence the drastically lower 401k balance.
• I didn't open up IRAs for either myself or my partner until a few years ago. But I am maxing out both of the IRAs every year now.

Brokerage Accounts: $245,752.89

• We started investing in 2014. A relative left my husband a bit of money after they passed (approx $200k). We put half of that into paying off student loans and our home remodel immediately after we bought the house, and we invested the rest of this money.
• For many years I put a significant chunk of my annual bonus into the brokerage account.
• Now we invest biweekly in order to "set and forget" and this avoids any market timing thoughts that cross my mind (more on those contributions in expenses).
• Included in this figure is a Robinhood account with about $3k in it. I don't routinely fund my Robinhood account. Instead, I use it when I want to buy specific company stock (very rare).

Home Equity: $327,100.23

• We purchased our home for $425,000 in 2012. We did significant remodels on two floors.
• We borrowed $100,000 from my parents to remodel the house. We pay modest interest to them to make it worthwhile.
• We put about $20,000 down and had to pay PMI. After we completed our remodel we were able to prove equity and get rid of PMI. Right now we owe about $322,000 on the loan.
• Our home equity is so high because we bought a house that had great bones but wasn’t flipped yet in a central location in DC. I based our equity on $750,000 which is a combo of Redfin, Zillow, and DC property tax estimates. It’s probably still a little low, but I err on the side of caution with money.

Misc. Joint Savings Account Balance: $71,816.55

• This includes several accounts: (a combo of high interest and CD accounts when possible):
  • Emergency savings for six months (about $25k bare-bones for us)
  • Pet emergency savings (approx $3k in case of emergency surgery, we save $25 a month for this account)
  • Savings for a home remodel project makes up the rest of the money. We didn't remodel one floor of our home when we purchased it, and it's time to make it nice instead of "okay."

Joint Checking Account Balance: $37,706.45

• Because of COVID-19, we have not spent very much money this year. I use YNAB, so I am padding all of my categories and that money is adding up in the checking account. Right now my money is about 115 days old, which is too old to not have a job. I'm planning on moving some of this money to one of the high yield savings account listed above, CD, or funneling it towards my mortgage.

Health Savings Account: $6,283.17

• My prior corporate job allowed us to join a high deductible health plan, and so I opened a health savings account. I was only there for two more years and lost access to the account for many years. I have only recently started investing in the bulk of the funds here.

Credit Card Debt: $0

• I got into trouble with credit card early on when I first moved to DC and had a terribly low paying job. As mentioned, when I got a corporate job, I liquidated my retirement account to pay off a huge chunk of the credit card debt.
• For the remaining balance, I joined a credit card debt consolidation program and paid down that debt every chance I got. All credit cards are paid in full every month now.
• My husband also paid off any credit card debt several years ago.

Student Loan Debt: $0

• My undergraduate loans were nominal as I went to an in-state public university, and my parents paid my $10,000 a year tuition for the first three years, while I paid for my rent and expenses.
• My first job provided tuition reimbursement, which overpaid my undergraduate student loan for many years. I paid off the remaining balance after I got my corporate job.
• I attended a private university to get my Masters degree and took out loans to pay for that cost, about $50,000, all unsubsidized as I was still at my corporate job.
• My company had a generous tuition assistance program, so I paid the bulk of my loans/tuition off using that program, and the remaining balance we paid off using the inherited money.

Car Loan Debt: $0

• We bought a new car in December 2018 and paid it off in early 2020, we own it free and clear. Bluebook on the model is $27,000

Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I have been working in my field for 17 years, and my starting salary was $25,000. Currently I make $198,000 + Spouse Salary is $150,000 = $348,000 + bonuses.

• My first two jobs were minimum wage and in high school and college, I didn’t include them here.
• First Organization - Public Service
  • $25,000 a year (I did a cartwheel when I was told my starting salary, I thought I was rich!) - After one year I was promoted…and my pay raise was basically COLA. I ended my public service at $28,500.
• Second Organization - Corporation
  • I started making $55,000 a year + performance bonus and stock options, plus raises every year.
  • I was promoted twice during my decade with the company, and left making about $145,000 with a performance bonus, stock options, and raises as listed above.
• Third Organization - Association
  • I began making $180,000 + performance bonus. After one year I was promoted, and I currently make $198,000 + performance bonus. I expect a slight raise this year and an above-average bonus in the $15 - $20k range. I am not getting a promotion this year to my knowledge (and I would know).
• Spouse Salary: $150,000 + small bonuses annually, though as mentioned previously he has only made above $100k for the past five years.

Monthly Take Home from Myself and Partner:

• After all is said and down, my partner and I take home about $17,000 per month. This is after maxing out our 401k, IRAs, and health insurance is removed from the equation.
• We claim 0 for tax purposes, and actually, we withhold extra money on our taxes. After the so-called U.S "tax reform" we had to write a big check to the government, and I live in fear of underpayment. I like paying taxes as I believe in public services, social safety nets, and good governance in general, but I detest that our system makes it so difficult to understand if you are withholding the proper amount.

No Side Gig or Other Monthly Income: I used to sell things through Poshmark but that wasn't exactly a lot of money.
Section Three: Expenses (monthly averages when needed)

• Mortgage: $2470.01
  • No HOA or other fees - home insurance and property taxes all rolled into an escrow account
• Savings contribution: $1500 (towards home remodel)
• Investment contribution: $1200 (brokerage)
• Donations: $125 is an average monthly donation. We contribute $25 to a left-leaning grassroots organization targeting young voters in our home state. The other $100 supported important political candidates (two of which lost, BOO), charities close to my heart like my neighborhood homeless shelter, one of only TWO women's health clinics in my home state, food pantries, or other local organizations doing good in the world.
• Connectivity (2 Cell Phones, iPad data, WiFI): $263.38
• Utilities (Gas, Electric, Water): $221.01 monthly average
• Subscriptions:
  • Rent the Runway: $147.44, 4 slot plan
  • Blog/Social Media Related Subscriptions): $1y
  • Job Board: $5
  • Patreon: $5
  • Media: HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, CBS, Extra could storage, Apple protection plan ($65.04)
  • Amazon Prime: $119
  • YNAB: $85
• Gym membership: $0
  • During normal times I did Pilates frequently, but we are no longer spending money outside the house for exercise. We have a treadmill but don’t use subscription services.
• Pets: $75, this includes food, toys, and vet bills on a monthly average
• Car insurance: $57.43
• Allowance: $800
  • My spouse and I have combined finances, but we do get an "allowance" of $200 per paycheck for each of us. This money goes to our old personal, pre-marriage, checking accounts.
  • We use this money to fund purchases that aren't really for the benefit of both of us. For example, I recently started getting Botox. I thought that since it wasn't medically necessary and it basically vanity, I would pay for it out of my allowance. Though I could make an argument that my profession requires "keeping up appearances" but hey, I already pay for my haircuts and skincare products out of our joint account!
  • He uses his account for things like golf fees, gambling, etc. It's just money we don't want to ask each other questions about, as we feel there should be some privacy with money!

Monday:

• 5:30 am wake up today. I woke up and savored the fact that it's my birthday and Joe Biden/Kamala Harris won the presidential race. This was a great improvement over my birthday four years ago, which was the worst birthday to date. I know the election was called two days ago, but I am still riding the high. And yes, I turned 40 today. I thought this would be horrible but really it's no different than being in your 30s. It's society that makes us feel old, not us! My only sadness is that we couldn't take the 40th birthday trip I planned.
• 8:00 am: My very thoughtful husband made me coffee and gave me a collection of small gifts that reminded us of our past travels. Traveling is/was our main hobby before COVID-19 and we miss all of our trips. It was a really thoughtful gift.
• 8:30 am: Before work, I walked to FedEx and dropped off a Rent the Runway package. Yes, I still do Rent the Runway, even during a pandemic. I was very conflicted to continue my subscription, especially since I am working from home and have been since March 9. But honestly getting fun new clothes is a bright spot in these bleak times. I have been renting WEIRD items of clothing because who cares!? Time to wear fake leather pants that no one sees!
• On my way back from work, I stopped and got a Grande Coconut Misto from my local Starbucks. I redeemed my free birthday drink. - $0
• 10:00 am: Finally after weeks of resisting, I bought a "mystery" box of four plants from Rooted, an online plant store. I had a membership discount from The Lounge for 15% off. Total including my discount, taxes, and 33 cent carbon offset for shipping (why not): $41.94.
• 2:00 pm: Received flowers and candy from my big sister! That will satisfy any sugar cravings for a while!
• 5:00 pm: My in-laws sent me a $50 gift card to Sephora. I wanted to get that 20% off so I ordered today, the last day of the Sephora sale. I purchased frivolous items including two Selena Gomez eyeshadow palettes and a replacement Fresh sugar lip Total cost after gift card: $12.75
• 6:00 pm: After a busy day at work, my husband made fondue for my birthday dinner. It’s one of my favorite meals and is so easy! We already had the supplies on hand aside from the bread, which was purchased yesterday.
• 8:00 pm: Got on Reddit and saw that a local fave artist made a new print featuring the celebrations on BLM plaza when the election was called. I have been waiting to order one of the pieces and this was the right time. I also picked up a cool one of the Taft Bridge in the rain. I love supporting local artists. $74.20
• Total spending: $128.89
  Tuesday:
  
• 6:00 am: I slept terribly last night, and it was one of those nights of waking up for two hours and not falling back asleep.
  
• 10:00 am: We are doing intermittent fasting, which is a nice change of pace. We both ate some birthday cookies when our fasting window ended. I tried intermittent fasting in the early days of the pandemic and I really benefitted from it, and it's great that he wants to do it together. It is much easier when you have a buddy when trying new habits!
  
• 12:00 pm: It was a very busy day of work. For lunch, we had some Chinese food that my CSA delivered, plus we got some amazing cinnamon bread. I ordered this last week but we got the bill today. Chinese food will feed two of us for at least three meals. It’s not very cost-effective but it can be hard to fix meals around zooms. $66.75
  
• 5:00 pm: Happy hour with three friends at an oyster restaurant, outside, complete with masks, social distancing, the works. We each had one drink, a few oysters each, sliders, calamari, and tacos. We don't socialize often these days because we are trying to stop the spread, but we trust these three friends. This is my second to last social engagement for…the foreseeable future. Total for both of us: $56.44
  
• Total spending: $123.19
  

Wednesday:

• 5:00 am: My habit of waking up is still going strong! I woke up at 5:00 a.m. which was 30 minutes before my alarm. To ease into the day I read more of my book, which is trying my patience as the plot moves too slowly.
• 12:00 pm: Work was nuts today. Ate a cookie for lunch while on a zoom call (with the camera off and mic muted, of course, I'm not a monster)!
• 6:00 pm: My husband brought me some frozen pizza for dinner while I still worked.
• 7:00 pm: Then I panic subscribed to Sling so I could watch the series premiere of RHOSLC. Three-day free trial…and then I figured out it doesn’t start until 10 pm? Yeah, I don’t need to watch live, I can watch in the morning if Hulu has it! Total cost: free trial, so $0
• 8:00 pm: Found out that Bath and Body Works 3 wick candles were BOGO and immediately stocked up on four candles. Look, I started with 11 in my cart so this seems fine. I have been burning candles regularly while I work from home. Bonus, I found an old gift card and used it to fund this totally useless but self-care focused purchase. The total was $58.29 but $0 cost to me!
• 9:00 pm: After finishing Season 3 of the Crown, we went to bed.
• Total spending: $0

Thursday:

• 5:00 am: Another terrible night of sleep. I stayed up until 11 finishing that boring book, and then woke up well before my alarm again.
• I sat down to watch RHOSLC but it’s not uploaded yet. I drink my coffee and find something else to watch at 5 am. Watched an episode of Schitts Creek, I’m about to finish the season! Such a good show.
• 6:00 am: While looking through Instagram, I was finally influenced to buy a sweatshirt from Phenomenal Woman. I bought the pink “I’m speaking” sweatshirt for me, and the “Vice President Aunty” sweatshirt for my BFF. She is Indian and recently had a baby, and we are so excited that her daughter gets to grow up with a phenomenal woman VP who looks like her! These are very nice presents, but my friend is really going through it right now with work, being a new mom, and everything else 2020 is throwing at us all. I'm putting together special care packages for some of my close friends, and the sweatshirt will be the centerpiece of her package! Total cost: $135.68
• I canceled Sling asap, as apparently, I couldn't watch RHOSLC on it. Why am I so obsessed with watching a Housewives show? Honestly, I never watched any of these series until this pandemic made me unfit to watch anything with a difficult ploy. After canceling, I upgraded our Hulu subscription to add on the "live tv" option, which means an additional $34.62 on top of my normal subscriptions listed above. Total cost: $34.62
• The mailman delivered a Rent the Runway rental with an adorable cropped tie-died shirt! The shirt was in great condition so I checked the price…it was worth it to buy. I don’t buy things from Rent the Runway often but sometimes I can't resist. Total cost: $33.39
• 7:30 am: Finally, I was able to watch RHOSLC while I got ready for work. Yes, I still do makeup and I try to put on an outfit each day. And by an outfit I mean either a jumpsuit (So into them during the pandemic) or a cute top (generally from RTR) and athleisure bottoms with my fave pair of New Balance sneakers. Yes, I wear shoes too. It helps my mental outlook and that was a lesson I finally figured out this summer. Getting ready changes my whole mood. And I get to be FUNKY with my eyeshadow since it’s hard to see over zoom!!! My new palettes from Sephora came in (thank you in-laws) so I am going to get weird today.
• 9:00 am: Once again, work was just…crazy! The number of zoom meetings is overwhelming and I just have so many things to write and work on constantly.
• 12:00 pm: Finally we came to the end of our birthday cookies, and we ate some sad toast from the CSA for lunch with some eggs!
• 5:30 pm: I worked until about 5:30 and had the rest of the CSA Chinese food. Turns out we only got four servings out of it, a little less than I thought.
• 6:30 pm: We watched some Golden Girls and then did our own thing before collapsing to bed.
• Total spending: $203.69
  Friday:
  
• 6:30 am: Woohoo, Friday is my sleep in day! I woke up and had a leisurely time getting ready. I try to treat myself to a nice Friday morning before starting my workday.
  
• 10:00 am: We decide to order breakfast tacos from our local taco shop. We are obsessed with keeping them open through the pandemic. Four tacos and one oat milk cappuccino later, the total cost is: $26.87
  
• 1:00 pm: At lunch, I walk to see my co-worker who lives about 5 minutes away. We grabbed a coffee from a local corner coffee shop (with the cutest walk-up window) and we walk around for a bit (with masks) and settle on a church lawn so we can chat. She is starting a new job, and she was my closest co-worker. I am glad we found time to connect as I know this was a tough decision for her, and this was a last-minute outing. Total cost: $6.67
  
• 5:00 pm: After work, we drove to a friend's backyard. 8 of us were gathering for one last time outside before the weather gets too cold, and again, these are very safe and strict friends so we trust they abide by safety protocols. On the way up we discover we need gas, so we fill up. Total cost: $44.03
  
• While we are getting gas, my friend texted me and asks if I can pick up some ice and two bundles of firewood. As I said, we are going to be outside and it gets cold. We picked up the supplies at our local grocery store. Total cost: $14.80
  
• We brought some leftover seltzers and a gifted bottle of wine for me to drink, so we did not purchase anything new to bring to the party. In a pandemic, there isn't a lot of buying for other people.
  
• We left around 11 pm, thoroughly cold but absolutely thrilled to get our last social gathering in before winter truly arrives.
  
• Total spending: $92.37
  

Saturday:

• 7:00 am: I woke up early because my body hates sleep. It's so frustrating that I can't sleep in like I could when I was younger! Let that be a warning to you younger ladies here…sleep is elusive!
• 9:00 am: We were very low on some groceries, and I decided to order some supplies by using Amazon Fresh. I do this for staples probably once a month. We still go to the grocery store for meat, produce, and other specialty items. The order will arrive Sunday morning. Groceries + tip: $127.84
• 12:00 pm: My Saturday plan was to do NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. And I succeeded. I played some stupid computer games, did some chores, we watched some tv, I read part of a new book. It was glorious.
• 5:00 pm: Since we aren't getting more groceries until tomorrow, we ordered pizza from a local fancy pizza restaurant that we have been meaning to try. We get two small-ish pizzas, a pasta dish, and some bombolini. Everything looked too good and of course, we had leftovers for the next day. Total cost + tip: $81.63
• Total spending: $209.47

Sunday

• 7:00 am: Today I planned to be slightly more productive, and I succeeded. We did some laundry, put away all the groceries, and I went through my budget on YNAB. I try to reconcile my budget weekly because I find it strangely soothing to see all my dollars playing a role. And also I can look at my frivolous spending (which um, is pretty bad this week).
• 11:00 am: My Rooted plant mystery box arrived! I repotted all the plants, and I was pleased I got some new to me plants. Sadly, I looked at my existing plants and realized one of them was completely dead. He lived a good life. In other plant news, I occasionally get a monthly plant of the month club box from The Sill. I don't count this as a part of my subscriptions because I routinely skip shipments depending on how many plants are alive in my home. However, I wanted this month's delivery. Total cost: $42.10
• 2:00 pm: While doing laundry, I realized that several of our masks are starting to break. I'm surprised they lasted so long, considering we bought them in the spring. My friend who I had coffee with had a great looking durable mask, so I texted her for the brand. Of course, it was Rothy's. I order a set of two masks. Total cost: $26.50
• 4:00 pm: Okay I said I was productive but we also managed to tear through four episodes of The Crown, plus watch two episodes of The Undoing. I like that I have what some consider to be high brow taste with prestige tv, and crap taste with reality tv. We all need balance.
• 5:30 pm: Dinner is a fridge/leftover cleanout from the week: leftover CSA Chinese food, leftover pizza, and other random fridge items.
• 9:00 pm: We decided to go to sleep early to get a jump start on the last full week before Thanksgiving. I am thankful in advance that it will be a short week for both of us. We will not be seeing family or friends this year for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I recognize that we are both very lucky to have family who all wants to stay safe this winter and no one is pressuring us to travel.
• Total Spending: $68.60

Total spending for the Week:

• Food + Drink: $366.20
• Fun/Entertainment: $49.42
• Home + Health: $158.24
• Clothes + Beauty: $140.44
• Transport: $44.03
• Other: $67.84

Some Reflections:

• When I reflect on my purchases this week, I saw that I spent a lot more on frivolous purchases. I think my birthday aligned with the Sephora sale put me in a "spendy" mood and I managed to press the purchase button on a lot of internet shopping carts. I can curb that spending for a while and be perfectly happy.
• Additionally, I was reminded that we spend lots of money on food and eating out. Part of me doesn't care, because we order from local restaurants who are trying to survive the pandemic and stay in business. But I was raised to be thrifty and rarely eat at restaurants, so this is still a conflict for me.
• Looking at my big picture numbers, I feel pretty good. I have worked really hard to get to where I am in terms of financial success, and it's been a long, hard road. I am very grateful that my mother taught me how to balance a checkbook and about compound interest. However, I wish she would have taught me that compounded interest can be BAD, like when it's interest on credit card debt. That was a hard lesson to learn in my mid-20s, and I am very grateful I was able to pick up the pieces after so much debt.
• While I am an excellent budgeter and confident with my finances, I still learned a lot from logging every purchase as it happened. With YNAB I am used to reconciling my purchases several days or weeks after I bought an item. With a money diaries exercise, I was forced to think about my purchase when I bought it, and know that strangers on the internet may judge me!

MEGA POST #2

This is the MEGA post where you can find everything you need for Android Spoofing in 2021. All the green text are links you can click with your mouse or press with your finger to lead you to the topic.

Table of Contents to this Ultimate MEGA POST:

1. Events for the Month
2. Our Subreddit Rules, read, and follow them.
3. New to Spoofing?
4. Game Guides & Tips
5. Android Spoofing Method Guides
6. Other Android Guides
7. Frequently Asked Questions

[Topic #1] February 2021 Events

• [Post Flair Filter] Active Event - To see all current event posts.
• [Infographics] Team Go Rocket Grunts, Leaders, and Boss - Cheat Sheet and Battle Hints (Feb 2021)
• [Event Countdown Site] P337 Pokemon Go Countdown Timers and Events

[Topic #2] Rules

To read with detailed information: https://www.reddit.com/PoGoAndroidSpoofing/about/rules

1. Be respectful.
2. Apple iOS: Xspoofer, iPogo, and iTools are not allowed here!
3. No Selling, Trading, Buying, Giveaway, Pokestop Nomination, Meltan Box, Donation or Account services
4. Sharing a Discord Invite is allowed if you follow the Discord Group Rules.
5. No YouTube or Video links
6. No Pornographic or X-rated images.
7. No Splitting or Sharing PGSharp key because of scammers!!!
8. Android Emulators: VMOS, BlueStacks, Nox, MuMu, LDPlayer, and etc. are not allowed here!

[Topic #3] New to Spoofing?

All About Three-Strike System: Red Warning, Temporary Ban, & Permanent Ban 2021

• This covers what you see in the post title and last known ban waves.

How to Spoof, Follow a Cool Down, and Avoid a Soft Ban (cannot spin Pokestop & all Pokemon flee) 2021?

• This covers what you also need to do when you spoof.

How to Snipe or Shiny Check a Pokemon

• This covers how to get those perfect 100 iv Pokemon.

Discord Group Invite Links List for Raiding, Sniping, Friending, Trading, and Battles

• This is where you can join Discord groups with other people who spoofing with Android or iOS.

VPN does not add a joystick to help you spoof 2021

• General information about using VPN with Pokemon Go.

Spoofing with Android Emulators: VMOS, Bluestacks, Nox, MuMu, and LDPlayer
​

[Topic #4] Game Tips

How to Level Up Fast with Go Beyond Exp Bonus Chart

• How to level up with the fastest, fast, and slow ways.

GPX Route Downloads & Creating Your Own GPX

• Covers how to make GPX Routes, Gotchas, and 900+ GPX files are ready to for you to use.

Poke Maps: Websites You Can Use to Search for Pokemon, Quests, Raids, and Go Rocket Stops 2021

• Free and paid websites to search for Pokemon, Quests, Raids, and Go Rocket in a specific area.

Nest sites & List of Pokemon that Do Not Nest

• Where you find all the current available nests.

Pokemon Inventory Search Filters & Saving Favorite Filters 2021

• How to create and save custom search filters

Regional Pokemon Locations

• Coordinates are provided on where you can find them.

Multiple/Bonus Raid Passes Guide by aditya-lr

• This is to help you get more than 5 free raid passes during special raid events.

How to get Poke Coins: Free to Play & Pay to Play Styles

• How you can get free 50 Poke Coins per day and buying tips

Shiny Rates (website)

• Gives you an idea of what the shiny rate might be for a specific Pokemon.
• The shiny rate is still random for each person.

[Topic #5] Android Spoofing Method Guides 2021

All Spoofing methods and bots are subjective to the punishment of the Three-Strike System: Red Warning, Temporary Ban, & Permanent Ban 2021 post.

[No Root Method] Pokewalk FAQ, Guide and Info

• This app is FREE. It is a replacement for Defit. You use it to for Adventure Sync rewards, hatch eggs, and walk your buddy for candies. This app does not add a joystick for to spoof.

[No Root Method] How to Downgrade OS Firmware and Downgrade Google Play Services JAN 2021

• This is FREE but setting this up may not work on your device.
• Works on Android 6.0 to 7.0 and some 8.0; the older the firmware, the better chances you may get this to work.

[No Root Method] PGSharp Modified App - up to Android 11, easy to set up, Enhanced Throw support, Free User and Premium User available - Updated January 6, 2021

• Free to use without the need of a free trial key anymore.
• Has premium option for all features and server priority.
• This is the only No Root method that is easy to install and can use it on new devices on Android 11.
• Full guide with pictures and lots of information.

[ROOTED METHOD] How to BUY and ROOT your Android device for Rooted Spoofing Methods Guide 2021

• This is a detailed guide where you have some foundation on how to get started on this.
• These are device specific guides written by other members.
  • [French/Français] Comment ROOT votre Samsung Galaxy S10/S10e/S10+ et y installer les différents logiciels afin de pouvoir spoof / fly sur PokémonGO. by Namiriu

[ROOTED METHOD #1] Smali Patcher Guide for Android 6.0 to 11.0 devices Oct 2020

• This is FREE and is the best rooted method.
• Not all devices with Android 11 are supported right away, so I recommend you stay on Android 10.
• If this one does not work on your device, you can try #2.

[ROOTED METHOD #2] Systemized Spoofing App with Tin Foil (alternative old method)

• This is FREE, it is an older method that still works but requires tin foil to block GPS signal in order to spoof.
• This only works up to Android 9.0.

[ROOTED METHOD #3] Enhancer with special features Nov 2020

• This has a built-in joystick and has premium Android features like 100% excellent throws and etc. that costs money.

[ROOTED METHOD #4] Pokemod with Virtual Gotcha, Shiny Scanner, & much more! Feb 2021

• This is FREE for some premium Android features like 100% excellent throws and etc.
• If you want the Virtual Gotcha and Shiny Scanner, you have to pay monthly for it.
• Does not work with PGSharp even on a rooted device.

[Topic #6] Android Bots 2021

All Spoofing methods and bots are subjective to the punishment of the Three-Strike System: Red Warning, Temporary Ban, & Permanent Ban 2021 post. These are all the known public bots on the internet. Since I do not have an interesting in botting, I cannot help you setup these bots. You are own your own when comes to botting, good luck!

Charbot, the very hard to set up Pokemon Go Bot

• This bot has a website but no Discord group.
• This one appears to be abandoned by the site owner because people say the owner stopped responding to their emails.

Polygon#, new Pokémon Go Bot and Enhancer in one app

• This bot has a Discord group, so you are better off with this one.

New Android Bot - RAB

• This one is found on GitHub with all the instructions and requirements there.
• The video contains their Discord Group invite.

[Topic #7] Useful stuff

Mirroring screen of your phone (rewritten)(updated) by xplod24
NemoADB for GPS Joystick [multi-device teleport and fast map loading]
Send coordinates from PC to Android Phone (Oreo or above) with Python (Tutorial Setup + Script) by notrlyinterested
How to use a Macro Recorder to Automatically Evolve Pokemon and do Raid Battles
Samsung Galaxy Split Screen Dual Accounts *Work in Progress

• Finally made videos for One UI 1.0 and 2.5 on both on a tablet and smartphone to show the difference, but I just need to edit them. I am trying to edit them on the PC because using mouse and keyboard is easier

Adventure Sync Using Machines (Defit and Pokewalk Alternatives

• Machines that are an alternative but are very slow.

How to Create a Free Rare Pokemon Tracker Using a Second Account
[Timezone] TimeBie - Time Converters among Different Time Zones

• I also recommend "Time Buddy" app.

[Trading] Pokemon Go Global Trades (Subreddit link)
[Paid Ticket Events] All about Safari Zone and Go Fest for 2020 (was written before the Coronavirus outbreak)
[Unlinking Account] How To Unlink Gmail/Facebook from a permanently terminated Accounts
​

[Topic #8] Frequently Asked Questions

These are all the questions I get when people leave PokemonGoSpoofing to join us. I get asked this a lot about why and what happened. Time flies by so fast, I don't remember the exact dates and events may not be in the correct order.

What happened to PokemonGoSpoofing?

1. I joined as a moderator some time in 2018 in PokemonGoSpoofing. It was just Apple iOS spoofing methods: PokemonGo++, iSpoofer, iTools, and the four Android methods (No Root Downgrade & Rooted: Smali Patcher, Systemized, and Taichi). Everything was great because iOS spoofers would help out Android spoofers posting Pokemon Coords and Lure Parties. Android spoofers would go to the lure parties to help out.
2. Things started going down hill for iOS spoofing when Apple started revoking iOS app certificates more often. I used to recommend to new spoofers about buying an iPhone SE/6s as a solution to start spoofing without the headaches of trying to spoof with Android (PGSharp didn't exist yet).
3. A lot of people started to complain because installing iSpoofeiPogo wasn't easy anymore. People couldn't spoof. People also stopped sharing Pokemon coordinates, nests, and lure parties. This created a lot of problems. People complained about not getting what they want and also seeing too many spam posts where people made a request but no one completed them.
4. Pokitomojo hated hearing complaints, and he told me to handle it and put up new rules to stop the complaints. I added a post title and body text filter into the automod to automatically remove these posts and anything people complained about because manually reading and removing every post is way too much work. This was a benefit but also a curse at the same time. If someone posted something about "I got a Red Warning," the post would automatically get removed by the automoderator. Not all of the posts that were getting auto removed are spam. It was a lot of work to go through all the spam posts to read and approve them, which means to unremove them from the spam folder. I gave up on this and ignored all requests.
5. It's back to where everyone was complaining about every damn thing. I knew for sure the subreddit was going to shit because other people were saying the same thing. I opened my own subreddit PoGoAndroidSpoofing as a backup option because Pokitomojo was gone a lot. What this means is he goes on random vacations that lasts anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months without telling me he was going to away.
6. There was a banwave starting with VMOS and Pokemod in November 2019. Then, iSpoofer and iPogo in December 2019. Finally, he came back from his vacation in January 2020 to tell me to ban VMOS and Pokemod. I thought it was pointless because VMOS was dead and forgotton while Pokemod had closed their app to the public. I silenced the banwave with the post title and body text filter. (This is why you also don't see anyone posting about anything related to bans, red warnings, and strikes anymore because the automoderator automatically removes these spam posts.)
7. Then, I heard about PGSharp. I tried to reason with Pokitomojo to allow it. He said no because he doesn't want people to go through another banwave. He wanted to keep the subreddit limited to "ban proof/safe spoofing method" only. This is where I disagreed with him because he won't ban iSpoofer, iPogo, and all of the 3rd party appstores for iOS. People were still getting Red Warnings/Srikes for these but only moderators can look into the spam folder and see everyone's "I got a Red Warning" posts. The only thing for iOS that is considered "ban proof/safe" is the iTools dongle, but it was constantly out of stock. This is why he allows iOS modified apps but not Android modified apps.
8. In March 2020, I became very frustrated because of how Pokitomojo was heavily depending on me to do everything for him. A lot of people want to spoof and only want the easy way, I have a solution for them (PGSharp!), but I cannot make a post about it because Pokitomojo doesn't allow me to. Eventually, he went on his random vacation again. Then, I started driving people to PoGoAndroidSpoofing. A week later, I got banned from PokemonGoSpoofing.
9. A few months later, kiljoymcmuffin (PokemonGoSpoofing owner) came back, so I asked him to rejoin hoping if I could get him to pass ownership to me. He was gone for over 1.5 years. He still wanted keep his throne to himself, so he made me the main mod and Pokitomojo a lesser mod. I told him I was going to leave because it wouldn't work out if Pokitomojo was still around. I eventually convinced kiljoymcmuffin to pass ownership to Pokitomojo because I wanted the subreddit to see what kind of mod Pokitomojo really was, and this still holds true today.

The Problems of PokemonGoSpoofing subreddit

This is from my point of view or being a moderator. If the owner adds new moderators, this is what you would have to deal with. I think you are better off not trying to be a mod for this subreddit.

• The "spam" is everything people don't want to see in their feed all the time from PokemonGoSpoofing subreddit. These people want you to remove everything they define as spam so their Reddit feed looks clean. I refused to do this. I only removed posts if they broke a rule. Asking for help is not breaking a rule. Apparently, this is an invisible rule approved by the board of complainers. Sadly, the current owner spends all of his time removing the spam.
• An easy spoofing method doesn't exist in there. No one from the iOS spoofing side has written a real spoofing guide in a long time because it's not easy to setup spoofing on an iPhone or iPad anymore. The next easy option is PGSharp, but this is banned over there. Telling someone to read the pinned post doesn't help them especially if they have already read it and need more help. These people will never get the help they need because it's also considered spam when they post "I need help with spoofing."
• It takes a real moderator to see the real issues that plagues a subreddit. This subreddit is unfixable because the current owner and past owners never got involved with their community.

How is PoGoAndroidSpoofing is different from PokemonGoSpoofing?

1. I take a realistic approach to spoofing/cheating in a game. It's not my responsibility to restrict what you can use or cannot use to spoof with. I put warnings in my guides to let you know you can get punished for spoofing/cheating. I don't feel responsible or liable if you get a strike on your main account. If you didn't read the warnings, it's your fault. This is why I allow all Android modified apps like PGSharp, Enhancer, and Pokemod along with Android bots because I don't advertise them as safe or ban proof. The whole point of cheating in a game is to take risks.
2. The reason why I don't allow emulators is because every Reddit spoofer will tell you to avoid using emulators, since emulators have been through multiple ban waves. This is a standardized belief for most Reddit spoofers. Not everyone uses Reddit to find information on how to spoof. YouTube is also a source of information, but YouTubers fail to tell you the risks of using an emulator to make you keep watching their videos to earn more money.
3. I only use Android devices, so I cannot help people fix their iOS problems. I always tell iOS users to YouTube their problem, and I always get a "fuck you" or "Why are you even a mod?" response. There's no point to support iOS if each iOS method has their own website and Discord group with their own customer service department.
4. A new subreddit is a lot better than a broken subreddit. A new subreddit doesn't suffer from the "spam" and toxic people problem. I haven't received a major complaint since March 2020. The only complaints I have gotten so far are about the "spam" problem that plagues PokemonGoSpoofing where the complainers see Pokitomojo is not doing his job and... expect me to do it even though I am not a mod over there anymore.
5. I actively play Pokemon Go. I am more involve in the community. I try to keep everything up to date as possible instead of leaving it being archived. An archived post means you cannot comment anymore when a post becomes 6 months old.

What happened to December 2020 - January 2021 Banwave?

• Last year, due to China Virus/Wuhan Virus/Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic or however you call it, this fucked up the entire world. People lost their jobs and love ones. There were a lot of changes in the workplace too. A lot of places had to enforce the CDC guidelines and 6 feet social distancing rules. A lot of people started working from home. Everything has been more difficult.
• I think they are delaying the ban wave for maybe this year in NovembeDecember 2021 or 2022.
• You never know when Niantic starts the ban wave so spoofing is always a risk!

I'm cleaning out my hoard of PC components and I need to raise some cash to purchase a new GPU as my old one got flooded (see my last post here). Most of this stuff has to go so if you don't like my price but have your eye on anything just send me an offer. If it's still available by the time I need to leave you can have it for cost + shipping! (Yes, even free)
Shipped pricing are CONUS only and don't include insurance, if you are not in CONUS or would like insured shipping please let me know in your PM.
​
In no particular order, here's what I have on offer:
Core components:

Reeven Hans	Open Box 120mm tower cooler, if the yellow fan turns you off I can swap it for a hyper 212 evo fan or an arctic freezer esports fan (green/black) at no extra charge	$25 local only? It's quite heavy.
Reeven Vanxie	Open Box 80mm Ultra SFF cooler. Was meant for a tiny ryzen gaming pc build. Cools a 3600 perfectly.	$15 local only or shipped if comboed.
Crucial Ballistix Sport 1x4GB DDR4 2666cl16 1.2v	Paired with ram below in a budget system before getting matching sticks	$13 local, $18 shipped, $3 discount if paired with below
Crucial 1x4GB DDR4 2133cl15 1.2v	Paired with above ram in a budget system before getting matching sticks	$10 local, $15 shipped, $3 discount if paired with above
Intel Xeon x5650 LGA 1366 6c/12t	Old server cpu, since replaced by a ryzen 2600x	$5 + shipping. Are these even still worth anything?
ATI X300 PCIe Graphics Adapter	Pretty sure this is 128 or 256mb, uses PCIe, outputs are DVI and S-video	$5 + shipping
BNIB Samsung 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" SATA SSD	Purchased but found a better deal on an NVME drive, Newegg returns suck, so here we are. Seal: https://imgur.com/a/ECHzUSO	$49 local or shipped if comboed Bundle Sold to Yaibagami
OEM Liteon CV1-8B256 256GB M.2 2280 SATA SSD	Pulled from an Acer Aspire and was replaced.	$20 local, $25 shipped Sold to BlakeSalads
MSI B450I Gaming Plus AC	Turned on once as part of the tiny gaming PC. Has had its vrm block replaced with finned heatsinks and the decal on the chipset heatsink removed for extra surface area. Original decal and vrm block included with all original accessories.	$100 local, $110 shipped Pending Sale to Lower_Perspective_35
Thermaltake Smart 500W 80 Plus Nonmodular	Bought when the PSU in an office PC went up in smoke but the whole PC ended up getting replaced	$35 local, $45 shipped Bundle Sold to Yaibagami
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1050W Gold Semimodular	Bought from a fellow swapper for the x5650 server. Has the 24pin and 2 EPS 12v 8pin connectors hard attached (1x 8pin, 1x 4+4pin). Also has 3 PCIe chains for 6 PCIe 6+2pin, a molex chain, and a sata chain (4 each on both).	$70 local, $85 shipped Bundle Sold to DreamC_haste
HDPlex 200W	Part of the tiny gaming PC. DC in jack has been modified to fit in a corner. Fully functional with all cables.	$48 local, $55 shipped

​
Budget CPU/MOBO/RAM (SSD) combo:

i3-3320	Ivy Bridge i3, 2c/4t, still perfectly usable as an internet machine	~~~
2x4GB DDR3	8GB of ram really ought to be the minimum nowadays	~~~
Lenovo IH61M	Office PC mobo, mATX standard. Decent Connectivity. Will come with original fan on heatsink, not the noctua.	$30 local, $45 shipped for the combo? Should be a decent starter PC or ultra budget PC. Runs ubuntu 20.04 LTS flawlessly.
Sandisk 16GB mSATA SSD	Probably came from a chromebook or something	$5 local or with combo

​
Peripherals:

3 Pin Case fans	80mm, 92mm, or 120mm	Free + Shipping; Sold 120mm fans to Macho_Nachos22
Noctua NF-P14s Redux 1200 rpm PWM	Slightly dusty, came from server environment	$12ea, $30 takes all, plus shipping
Thermal Grizzly Minus Pad 8 120x20x0.5mm	Got scammed, thought I bought the 100x100mm sheet and this showed up. It's open because I needed to verify its contents.	$5 local, $10 shipped
Woohubs 8 in 1 USB C hub	USB C dongle, has Ethernet, SD (fullsize and micro), HDMI, USB-PD pass through, and 3 extra USB 3 ports	$12 local, $18 shipped
Glorious TKL Wristrest	Foam wristrest with fabric covering, stitched edges, and a rubber base, pretty standard, never used despite being sat in front of a PC for 4 months	$5 local, $12 shipped Sold to Anime314
MSI DS4200 USB Membrane Gaming Keyboard	Came with a Trident 3, been in its box with all my other boxes. Looks like 4 zone rgb and has a braided usb cable, which is nice. Box is damaged.	$15 local, $25 shipped
Dell AT101W PS/2 Mechanical Keyboard	Older Dell plank, has Alps SKCM Black switches.	$25 local, $35 shipped
Cherry MX8100 PS/2 Mechanical Keyboard	MX Brown switches from 2011, so not vintage, but do feel better than modern browns. Missing caps and some covers	$25 local, $35 shipped

​
Other:

Wacom Bamboo Fineline	Stylus for iOS devices, tested working on an iPad mini 5, micro usb cable is missing.	$30 local, $35 shipped Bundle Sold to DreamC_haste
20000mah USB-PD battery bank	NIB and pretty generic, I've owned a couple of these. They last about 2 years of daily use before the battery life starts dropping. Extends the life of your thin and light quite dramatically. No charging cable... thanks amazon.	$20 local, $30 shipped
Steam Link	Like New in box. Used to use this as a couch set up until the trident 3 came along. Pretty sure the plastic wrap is still on it.	$25 local, $35 shipped Bundle Sold to DreamC_haste
2x Xbox 360 Wireless controller	These are probably the controllers I used the most on PC. They require a USB dongle to work unless your PC supports them natively. Takes 2 AA batteries each. Comes with grippy rubber covers.	$15 ea, $25 takes both, plus shipping Bundle Sold to DreamC_haste

​
Old, Obsolete, and Awesome:

Canon P20-D Calculator	A calculator that prints! Comes with original power supply	$10 local, $15 shipped
Bell & Howell Autoload Portable Projector	8mm and Super 8 compatible, bulb and motor are functional.	$20 local, probably too heavy to ship
Panasonic TR-315B Portable Transistor TV/Radio	Analog TV with radio functionality built in. Appears functional, but I'm not an expert. Slight corrosion on battery terminals. Comes with original power supply	$20 local, also probably too heavy to ship

​
Timestamps:

• https://imgur.com/a/BHmuoba
• https://imgur.com/a/3MvrWfV
• https://imgur.com/a/fzP0EUd

​
I am also BUYING a GPU, please see my last post here for details.
​
Please comment before PM, local is 02043, I will humor any and all offers on anything because I want these things out of my room! Thanks for looking :)

"I am pleased to lead the Beef Caucus in Congress." - Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), leader of the, let's see here, Beef Caucus

Q-mmittee Assignments

The federal government has issued a warning about an ongoing threat of violence fueled by many current members of the federal government, in a decent summary of the current state of American leadership.

• On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism alert for the first time in a year, to alert the public about the growing risk of attacks by violent domestic extremists who are frustrated by the presidential transition and “perceived grievances fueled by false narratives,” and may have been emboldened by the January 6 insurrection. While the contents aren’t great, the bulletin itself marks a huge shift from disgraced former president Trump’s DHS, where officials felt they’d lose their jobs by issuing even internal warnings about the threat of domestic extremism. Welcome to the immediate post-Trump era, where a national terrorism alert constitutes proof that things have gotten better!
  
• The elected Republicans who promoted those deadly false narratives have unfortunately undergone no such transformation. On Tuesday, 45 out of 50 GOP senators voted to advance the fabricated argument that trying Trump on an impeachment charge is unconstitutional—part of an effort by Trump loyalists to bypass any trial for a president who incited a violent insurrection, let alone a conviction. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), one of the five Republicans to break ranks, has called bullshit on his colleagues who try to frame impeachment as divisive without first recanting their inflammatory lies about the election, and on Tuesday urged them to get on Fox News and affirm that Joe Biden won legitimately.
  
• It seems they have not gone on Fox News to affirm that Joe Biden legitimately. Why speak up against the voter fraud lie fueling right-wing violence when you can use it as a pretext to rig future elections? Republican lawmakers around the country have been racing to pass restrictive new voter laws in the wake of GOP losses in November, nominally to tighten election security. Georgia Republicans introduced legislation on Wednesday that would require voters to submit photocopies of their IDs both when applying for absentee ballots and when returning them, in accordance with that well-known constitutional clause that only U.S. citizens in possession of an HP Laserjet Pro may vote. It’s another perfect day to abolish the filibuster and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
  

Not only are GOP leaders still promoting false narratives for political gain, they’ve literally promoted one of the most dangerous members of the party.

• We knew Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was a bigoted, unhinged QAnon cultist before she was elected. Here’s a quick and incomplete rundown of what we’ve learned about her since she took office: She has spread conspiracy theories about school shootings on Facebook, endorsed the executions of Democratic leaders, supported the QAnon claims that there’s a global pedophile cabal involving top U.S. political figures, and said the 2018 midterms represented “an Islamic invasion of our government.” On Wednesday an awful video resurfaced of Greene harassing Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg.
  
• Most House Republicans have said nothing. A spokesperson for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Axios, “These comments are deeply disturbing and Leader McCarthy plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman about them.” (“Hey Marjorie, could you, y’know, cool it? No? Haha alright, see you at lunch.”) Without saying much, Republicans have sent a clear message about where they stand on the formerly fringe elements of conservatism: Greene has been assigned to the House Education and Labor Committee. Meanwhile, Fox News hosts are defending QAnon in a scramble to hold onto their radicalized viewers, violent right-wing groups are ramping up their QAnon recruitment efforts, and no one on the right is inclined to hit the brakes.
  

Republicans had a post-insurrection opportunity to reckon with the extreme right-wing elements they’d allowed Donald Trump to unleash, redraw the party boundaries to exclude them, and find their way back to reality. That they continue to refuse has frightening implications, but it should clear the Biden administration’s conscience about simply leaving them behind.

Look No Further Than The Crooked Media

On the latest Pod Save America stream, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki talks to Tommy about being back in the briefing room and the first week of the Biden Administration. Don't forget to smash that subscribe button → youtube.com/crookedmedia

Under The Radar

Reddit broke the stock market and now the hedge fund boys are screaming into their balled-up vests. GameStop, the brick-and-mortar video game chain whose stock had been in decline since 2015 and hit an all-time low when the pandemic hit, had become popular among short sellers. Those institutional investors borrow shares of a stock they think will lose value over time, sell those shares at the market price, then use the proceeds to purchase the same number of shares if and when the share-price drops. That way they can return the same number of shares they borrowed, but pocket the dividends. Like buying low and selling high, but in reverse.
Retail traders on the subreddit WallStreetBets began taking notice of signs that GameStop stock might actually be good (like prominent investor Ryan Cohen, co-founder of online pet supply behemoth Chewy, disclosing he had taken a large stake), as well as the short sales of the stock, and saw an opportunity. Acting together, Reddit investors orchestrated a short squeeze: They drove up GameStop’s stock price, screwing over short sellers by forcing them to buy back their stocks at a higher price (to the tune of billions of dollars) and making life-changing profits in the process. Over the last week, Redditors pulled the same stunt with AMC stock. Wall Street is in chaos, the hedge fund Melvin Capital has taken a huge loss, journalists are forced to quote people like “Thicc Dads Club”, and nobody really knows what happens next. Stonks!

What Else?

A second police officer has died by suicide after responding to the attack on the Capitol, bringing the total death toll associated with the riot to seven. The Capitol Police union said on Wednesday that nearly 140 officers were injured during the attack.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is OUT of the hospital and feeling FINE and there is NOTHING scary about a 50-50 Senate majority and if anything MORE senators should be OLDER.
A federal judge in Texas (who was, wait for it, appointed by Trump) has temporarily blocked Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations in response to a legal challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is currently under investigation for several crimes. Just spitballing here, but why not abolish the filibuster and leave Ken Paxton out of it?
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio became a “prolific” informant for the FBI and local authorities after he was arrested in 2012. A confusing time for his criminally liable white-nationalist friends, who both claim to be pro-law enforcement and also sometimes try to beat cops to death with fire extinguishers.
Notorious Twitter troll Ricky Vaughn (real name Douglass Mackey) has been arrested for election interference after spreading memes meant to mislead voters during the 2016 election.
Philadelphia let college kids distribute coronavirus vaccines and it didn’t go too well, weirdly. “Surely these unsupervised 18-year-olds won’t steal vaccine doses and take pictures of themselves vaccinating each other, while elderly people weep in confusion,” said city officials, wrongly.
Goya’s board of directors has voted to censure CEO Robert Unanue for his false claims of voter fraud. We conclude January as we began it, with a cancelled Bean Dad.
If you have an iPhone or iPad, update it right now.
Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman will perform at the Super Bowl. If you stay quiet and listen very closely, you can hear the faint rustle of thousands of gentle poetry enthusiasts begrudgingly marking their calendars.

Be Smarter

A happy Climate Plan Day to you and yours! President Biden has launched his unprecedented fight against climate change, signing a series of executive orders that aim to “confront the existential threat of climate change” across the federal government, with a focus on job creation and addressing racial inequity. The orders will specify, for the first time, that climate change be a core part of all foreign policy and national security decisions, reserve 30 percent of all federal land and water for conservation, and create millions of jobs for workers to build energy-efficient homes, install a nationwide network of electric-car charging stations, and seal off one million leaking oil and gas wells. Here’s what Varshini Prakash, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, had to say about it: “Today makes clear that President Biden hears our generation’s demands loud and clear, understands the power of our movement, and is serious about using executive power to deliver on his campaign promises.” Now Democrats just need to get serious about using their congressional power, and we’ll be in business.

What A Sponsor

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We heard that their IBI sneakers had a waiting list of more than 16 thousand--run, don't walk to get their new high-top style, IBI High! They're lighter than air, 100% vegan and carbon-neutral, down to the box they're shipped in. To make things easy, CARIUMA ships free worldwide and offers extended 60 day returns.
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Light At The End Of The Email

Democrats have introduced legislation to make Washington, DC, the 51st state. (Reason #8475 in this email alone to abolish the filibuster!)
The Bernie Memes have helped raise $1.8 million for Vermont charities.
Hundreds of Holocaust survivors in Austria and Slovakia got their first vaccine shots on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
A huge U.N. survey found that a majority of 1.2 million people across 50 countries support actions to combat climate change.

Enjoy

nuanced opinion guy on Twitter: "everybody thought we’d get less weird headlines when trump was gone but it’s day 7 and we’re at “Biden team aware of Gamestop situation”"

Ranking in Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage is not exactly an easy thing. Since the primary method of point gain for any event is to ‘play the game’, usually the solution is to ‘play the game’ more than everyone else to get the highest rank possible. This obviously isn’t always the case, as Parade has no ranking element beyond SSS rank and Carnival is just a glorified high score ranking. To break it down:

• Parade (SSS): Play the game a lot and play the game really well,
• Groove: Play the game a lot and then after half time also play well,
• Token: Play the game a lot.

…The above is all information directly lifted from a post I made nearly a year ago, where I played M@GIC Forte 2258 times in 174 hours to celebrate it being added to the game, and accidently became a Mayu/HinakoP in the process. At the time I only offered the info I had on Token, and not having officially participated in a high-end groove run felt that it would be presumptuous for me to present my expectations for one. Fast forward nearly an entire year, and I now have a perhaps unfortunate level of experience from ranking the most recent Groove, Never Ends. That said, the strategies I utilised did not resemble what is the expected style of play, so I will do my best to provide all the facts I know about Groove here.
 

Groove Ranking Primer

Groove has existed since the debut of Tulip in Starlight Stage (January 2016?), experiencing several evolutions both major and minor since its original conception. It began life taking a random selection of three (non-collab) songs from one of the three types (rainbow included as a wildcard in all three) and slapping a fourth encore song on the end that required reaching a particular point threshold (called applause) during the first three songs to actually play it. Completing the first three songs would award you points for how high you managed to make the applause go, and completing the encore would award a fixed number of points based on your score rank.
Worth noting that the fourth song is the new one people actually wanted to play the event for, thus forcing them to go through filler to reach it. A popular interpretation of the event said by men wiser than I is that Groove is taking the bus through the bad neighbourhood, having to make three shady stops before finally reaching your destination. From a purely casual perspective it at least exposes the player base to more songs they may not have had the time to explore, challenging them to diversify, and offers the chance to run into cool combinations of songs. However, it often causes problems for people trying to achieve full combos or high score runs on the event song, being forced to play three other songs before it every time they fail, which is very detrimental to those who cannot calm their nerves and extremely detrimental to those just want to play the damn song already.
Anyway, the basic mechanics have changed three times since the beginning;

• February 2018, 2x points option added for grooves beyond the half way point,
• Also, February 2018, applause cap raised from 50 to 100,
• November 2018, Live Party can now earn points for live groove.

The 2x points option being added was particularly innocuous, and in fact changed an old strategy where playing the groove and instantly leaving the encore would be more point efficient. The applause cap being raised is likely in response to continued power creep in cards added since the beginning of the game, making it easier and easier to reach 50. The difference in points received for 50 applause versus 100 on a master groove is only a mere 25 points (480 vs 505).
The real devastating calamity here is when Live Party was added as an option for Groove point gain. This would have been a neat feature to be able to casually rank Groove with your friends if it worked as everyone expected, but for some reason the points gain per minute with Live Party is significantly higher than playing Groove, at least during 1x. This change completely modified the way the first half of the event was played when ranking competitively, going from a solo endurance game into a team-based speedtest.net simulator.
 
The basic mechanics when translated into functional requirements for ranking would be as follows:

• Ensure that you spend all 198 hours (may differ) on playing the game,
• Have the fastest possible device to reduce load times,
• Have the lowest ping for connecting to the server to reduce load times,
• Do not disconnect or die in as many songs as possible in Live Party,
• Have 4 other accounts do the same as the above,
• Get the highest Applause possible in every Groove.

Groove is a wretched amalgamation of two different events in one, meaning you should be twice as prepared (or maybe 5x as prepared) to run it than if you were to run something like Token. Having a multiplayer segment means you need several other people to be as prepared as you as well, where those people also need to abide by some of the rules above (fast device, low ping, try not to disconnect). After that, you must jump into one of the most skill demanding score attacks in the game, where combo is the primary aspect that will determine your applause.
Tie the above with the requirement to have your M1 Mac Mini emulating Starlight Stage, living next to the game server in Japan using a hardline to avoid disconnects, be able to invite 4 of your buddies around to also receive the ping benefits and speed benefits, and somehow remain sane enough to press the Play Groove button after hour 190 and not think the entire game has changed into a limbo designed purely to torture you. You start to see why planning to play Groove in at least a slightly effective manner is not simple.
That said, for every insane person out there willing to take on this challenge, there will always be others attempting the exact same thing. Chances are they’re facing the exact same problems, and have likely already reached out on Twitter to find others willing to suffer with them for the first half. While it’s not possible to fill all of the above requirements with maximum efficiency, there’s usually enough instability in the event runtime to allow for mistakes to be made and still come out on top. Usually.
 

Event Preperation

My own preparation for the event saw the completion of, maybe, three and a half of the requirements above? Like I said, there’s a lot of instability surrounding this event, and getting close enough to achieving all of the above was enough to give a chance at a high rank regardless. The rank you end up with is likely dependent on how many other teams of other players were able to be formed for the first half of the event, with very little people choosing to forego Live Party in favour of just playing perfect applause grooves for the entire event, unless you’re a robot. Sorry to all robots out there, but this probably counts as cheating.
I still live in Australia, and must suffer the internet curse I am bound to with horrible stability and slow speeds. Even if I was capable of moving to Japan for a week and playing the game there, there’s the tiny problem of a global pandemic preventing anything like that from being a good idea. Not that it would be a good idea anyway. I would also expect to not play all 198 hours of the event, but more on this later.
I already had an A13 processer in the form of an iPhone 11 I picked up before last year’s December Token that was still in mostly functional condition. Since then, the A14 had been released in the iPhone 12, which would be another accessible upgrade to brainlet simpletons like myself, but it was becoming more and more evident that the increases from device speed were negligible compared to the losses suffered from making mistakes or just from ping. Alternate properties to focus on when selecting the device become apparent, such as the weight when carrying it around for 100+ hours, or the temperature to not feel like your lap is going to get burned from someone spamming the Twitch chat. Worth noting again, the speed of your device will be throttled by the slowest device in your Live Party room during the first half of the event anyway, so if you’re stuck with your pal on his Samsung S5 then you may want to consider buying them a device rather than yourself.
Another addition is to get a secondary device for yourself. This can be used to complete business while still playing the game on the first device; just being careful not to log on in the wrong order and delete your entire play.
Then comes the resource preparation for the two separate parts of the event: The Live Party segment (1st half) and the Groove segment (2nd half). Saying half is a little misleading as the Groove segment is usually always shorter than the Live Party segment, but both feel like they take a lifetime to complete anyway so that’s kind of meaningless.
 
Groove Segment (2nd half)
The Groove part is all about achieving the most applause possible with the least effort. Most of this is controlled by player skill and team composition, but is also assisted by the appeal bonus from the support team. Groove support teams work like normal ones where you get a 50% appeal bonus from the 10 highest appeal counts you have for that type of song (or groove in this case), but with the additional bonus of the Groove type being applied to the cards first. So in the case of a Vocal Groove, the cards with the highest appeal will likely end up being your vocal cards, who receive an incredible 150% bonus to that stat. If you’ve taken a look at your inventory and noticed that one weird card you’ve got with 10,000+ vocal appeal, you should think to yourself: What if I had 11 of these? And one in every colour? Or maybe, you don’t think that, since not everyone has the wallet to make that happen. Nor the stupidity. Or maybe you did have the resources to make it happen, but you spent it all on your Chieri4 instead and it’s a Vocal Groove. You can’t always win.
This is about the only way to increase applause in a passive way. The rest comes down to things that you have to control more actively, as depressing as that is.
The teams you use are going to depend on the circumstances you find yourself in after you have already been playing for hundreds of hours. The objective is to reach 99 applause on every single groove, but this is not going to be a reality, especially after all that time battling with Live Party. In the grand scheme of things, I narrowed down three team compositions that had any relevant difference: High Scoring, Ultimate Defence, and one that sits in the middle of this scale. You can see these teams below:
 

• High Scoring. Syoko5, Shiki4, Asuka4, Yukari2, Nono4.

This team uses Resonance to take full advantage of the stat bonus for the groove and combines several skills with high percentage bonuses for very high scoring per note. The amount of defence on the team is limited to only healing from synergy and nothing else. Worth noting that I had to roll for Syoko5 during the Live Party segment of the event, which was a dramatic endeavour.

• Halfway. Uzuki1, Minami4, Chinami1, Nao3, Rika2.

Offers 3 layers of protection and a plethora of scoring coverage. The combination of Uzuki1 and Minami4 effectively covers 50% of the song for you, while Chinami1 with Tuning and Rika2 with Overload give a near 100% percent resistance to anything other than misses. This offers nearly as much protection as a regular auto team, but scores far, far better. Chinami1 as centre instead of a usual Skill Boost adds 30% extra appeal to the team and gives a better scoring skill, while opening up another slot to use Symphony instead for the far better boost. The only significant difference between this team and the below one is the inclusion of Helen1, which changes the functionality greatly enough to make them worthwhile as two different teams.

• Ultimate Defence. Uzuki1, Rika4, Chinami1, Nao3, HELEN1.

A variant of the above team that allows full auto during the encore song. This team setup worked in principle but when optimising it for vocal attribute, cracks started to show. The centre effect only existed on Cool cards, Helen is the only Damage Guard of her class who is also Cool, Nao3 and Minami3 (both Cool) are the vocal equivalents that sync on 9 seconds with Uzuki1. There was no efficient way to fit a Passion in here without sacrificing either functionality or appeal. I decided to swap Minami4 for Rika4 in the end. Again, having a secondary device to complete business during the groove section can be done while autoing the encore with this team for no loss of appeal (and very little loss of time). This is probably one of the best scoring options to take while still being able to auto, and whether or not this had been figured out by other players was a mystery, but I like to think very little of myself so I assumed I was not alone.
 
Understanding the line-up in these teams requires understanding the minimum required of the player to achieve 99 applause. The most effective method is to keep one’s combo high for the majority of the Groove, trying to only break combo towards the beginning of the first song or the end of the last song to benefit the most from the ridiculously high multipliers offered around 1000 combo. The other effective method is simply having absolutely insane scoring potential per note, where any combo saving pieces are removed in favour that you’ll hopefully just gorilla your way through most of the song and end up with a bunch of applause anyway. The High Scoring and Halfway teams above try to fill those two ends of the scale.
A defensive team ideally can score 99 applause while also giving the player additional benefits, such as the ability to auto the encore song where applause no longer matters. This usually required running one of the many Damage Guard SRs that have a high uptime but low activation chance alongside one of the many cards with a centre effect that raises the chance of skill activation. Since the colour of the groove is random, you cannot plan in advance to use the type of damage guard that corresponds with the groove and get the free on-type chance activation bonus of 30%. It’s also not advisable to change teams too often, as this obviously wastes precious time. Note that while using a Skill Boost in the centre slot would be the expected solution, the existence of the Cross Type cool cards give a 35% bonus to skill activation which when combined with cards like HELEN we can create teams with 100% skill activation chance and still receive additional benefits such as more appeal bonus and a better active skill, since Skill Boost is massively outclassed by Symphony in this day and age.
Beyond that, the only plan for groove is to pray you aren’t too brain dead to play.
 
Live Party Segment (1st half)
I kinda dodged talking about planning for Live Party and talked about Groove related preparations first instead. The reason for this is that I while I did indeed achieve the requirement of having a setup that allowed as little disconnects and deaths as possible, and I did indeed have a full Live Party room with 5 accounts capable of doing the same, I was missing one crucial aspect that I did not explicitly mention. I did not have 4 other people to play the game with me.
I didn’t mention it since it’s technically not required.
 

How not to play Live Party

Cheating is hard to define. I’m not starting out with a vague statement like that to imply I may have cheated, since in reality all I did was solve a problem with a much more convoluted solution due to my extreme lack of trust in other people and myself. I did not realistically expect to get 4 other people to assist me to play a video game for ~100 hours straight, and instead of investing time into making friendships where someone would offer to help me in that situation, I instead spent it all on planning a solution that would give me full control of my fate at the cost of sanity.
I present the Rank 6 Shift Project.
Lovingly named after a certain level 6 shift project which also involved having countless clones die for the sake of one achieving great power, the basic setup was to prepare 4 other accounts that had access to the correct cards with the right potentials to form an auto team in Live Party, and do so on relatively fast devices in a setup accessible by one person with knowledge that they would still need to live as a human during the hours of operation.
What you can see in this image of it in action is 4 iPad Minis, 5th Generation assembled within a large tray with enough room for charge cables to be inserted or removed as necessary. These devices were chosen as they have a relatively fast processer (A12), have a large screen size for ease in pushing buttons, and are ‘cheap’ to afford ($600 AUD). Having all the devices have an identical aspect ratio was important to avoid confusion around the location of on-screen buttons, and to avoid speed throttling by having even one device with a slower processer. Having a high battery life was also desirable as being forced to keep this thing plugged in for too long was not ideal either.
As you’ve probably already figured, yes, this was not a smart idea and I cannot defend my decision. I will continue to explain it however.
 
Live Party Mechanics
The actual mechanics behind how this abomination replaces other players is more than just surface deep. In a regular Live Party room, you would have to complete the following steps to make it through one whole cycle, which would repeat thousands of times:

1. One player hosts the Live Party room.
2. Four other players connect via code, friend list or public lobby.
3. Each player that is not the host hits the Ready button, chooses whether or not to play with stamina, and accepts.
4. The host starts the Live.
5. A random song is selected and all five players are given a fifteen second countdown that can be skipped by all pressing ready again.
6. The song is loaded, played and the results are determined and shown in a secondary screen were players are again given a fifteen second countdown that can be skipped by all pressing ready again.
7. All players continue through the various results screens before being either returned to the lobby, or kicked back to the Live Party main menu due to disconnecting.
8. Repeat from step 3.

This is modified to be the following when controlling 5 accounts:

1. …
2. The four players who are not the hosts forcibly quit and reopen the game, cancelling the rejoin option when prompted.
3. They then manually rejoin the room as in step 2, while the host completes the live and skips through the results screens.
4. Repeat from step 3.

If one player is in control of all 5 players, there is several issues that need solving to not only ensure you can get through a loop, but can do so at a competitive speed. Having all devices be the same ensures that as little mistakes are made as possible when it comes to pushing on-screen buttons such as the Ready Up and Continue buttons. Where possible it is best to avoid having to press buttons all together, or to only do so when time permits. Ideally, you’d play without the use of stamina so the extra players never have to refill, but taking the extra time to check the tickbox is a significant loss of time in the thousands of live party games you’ll have to play. Not to mention that stamina can be refilled in slow time while reconnecting to the room and waiting for the host to finish the live. Since those accounts are already ready and waiting, it is easy for the host to spam through the results screen where the other players are listed as disconnected, and be returned to the lobby again. This also means that the speed of the other devices only throttles the start of the song loading times, and will have no effect on anything at the end of the song.
All devices would be operating on the same network, so it would suffer the same weakness as any other room should connection break, as failure to connect on even one account would break the flow of the room. Having the host device have access to a roaming mobile network as backup allowed me to avoid any connection hiccups which are a severe threat when playing, as connection errors during Live Party are not well understood and can lead to numerous errors such as being stuck in the Live Results screen unable to continue or randomly closing the room and not giving you any points for the play. Another common issue would be if the host starts the live before all accounts are ready, leaving one out and adding in a random from the online queue instead who probably breaks the team comp with his Nanami N card used for fan grinding. This is largely avoided with this setup since all 4 accounts are typically readied in the same hand motion before moving to the main account to start the live. It’s technically an advantage, and I will take any advantage I can get with this disastrous set up.
 
Live Party Autoplay
During the actual song playtime, if a player achieves 30% of notes as misses, the game automatically disconnects you and you receive a 20% penalty to event points. If this happens to the host, the room crashes and needs to be remade. If you die, you aren’t disconnected but you suffer a 50% penalty to event points. Playing on Master+ is required for the highest event point gain, and Passion has the overall fastest songs. Since Live Party teams still operate similar to a regular team (just without a guest) they are also capable of functioning as an auto team. The major difference is that centre effects no longer apply to every character, and instead apply individually to each character regardless of whether they are in the centre or not. This means that Damage Guards that previously would not achieve 100% activation chance could do so if they had a centre affect that gives an increase to activation chance. Cards with 60% chance to activate their affects could already achieve 100% through the on-type bonus of 30% and also the flat bonus from skill potential. Also, notably, score has no affect on the event point gain in Live Party, so you can get a C score and still walk away with maximum efficiency.
With all this in mind, the auto team I replicated on 5 accounts looked like this. Both Passion Perfect Locks are used which offers a 12s/15s setup. A full analysis of all songs reveals that 12s/15s is nearly as robust as the much more popular 9s/12s, with the weakness being that it is safer to play for the first 12 seconds (until first Perfect Lock activation) rather than only the first 9. Since scoring is not an issue, 2 Damage Guards are taken to absolutely ensure death is avoided. Skill Boosts were best for their high uptime, and would still achieve 100% activation regardless of type/colour since their own centre effect still applied to them despite not having a tri-colour team. The timer on the Skill Boost was not relevant, as long as it’s not 7. Ew.
So that’s how it would be. While this is still autoplay, it is potentially more thought-demanding than playing the game normally would be, since all 5 accounts need to be constantly managed to ensure no error is made when re-joining, that they all still have plenty of stamina, that they are not about to run out of battery, and that they are all accessible once the live is complete. This resulted in less than 1.5 minutes of actual auto-time where I did not have to do anything, and 1 minute every loop devoted to hitting ready, starting the live, closing the game, reopening, and re-joining, and playing the first few seconds of the song on my main account at the same time.
I again must repeat, this is not an ideal solution. Having 4 other players back you up and do these tasks for you as was intended is the only strategy I would recommend after trying this, and at least makes you feel like less of a degenerate since you didn’t have to create 4 imaginary friends.
 

Event Run

I already knew that I would be at a disadvantage due to using the Rank 6 Shift Project as a substitute for actual players, both in speed and in mental capability. Staying awake for a long time is incredibly hard even when just autoing a token event. If you’re trying to do the same while needing to keep the mental aptitude to manage 5 accounts at once, you have a much, much more difficult situation facing you. I was under the impression that the ‘measurement’ of remaining focused over long periods of time in sleep studies was known as Vigilance, but I don’t know if it’s fair to put this in the same category. This isn’t something you’ll have people doing research on in any official laboratory anyway, unless it’s happening in some secret underground Starlight Stage lab as we speak. The same place where they developed Haruna2.
What I’m trying to say is that while I would appreciate someone calling the application of this strategy impressive, the reality is that it’s incredibly stupid.
Knowing this disadvantage, I had to plan for as little sleep as possible but still enough to make it through the Live Party section while maintaining sanity. Thanks to the assistance of Zhu, the best in the business when it comes to supporting terrible decisions by rankers, we had prepared a 7-hour-max sleep cycle that would use three sets of sleep; 2 hours, 3 hours, and 2 hours as the expected breakdown. These sleep times would be spread to get maximum advantage of feeling refreshed and to attempt to avoid the usual problems when staying awake for very long periods, such as microsleep choking and total mental shutdown.
Sometime within the first few days the game server went down for about 30 minutes, which I used to get some sleep which overall felt kind of useless and only made my head cloudier, so thanks for nothing Bamco/Cygames. Other than that, I had two hours sleep half way through the Live Party segment, and 3 hours of sleep before the beginning of the 2x Groove segment, with a potential 2 hours of sleep to use during that groove segment if required.
Usual strategies such as quick 2-minute naps in between auto plays were less and less effective due to the immediate mental requirements of setting up the devices after waking and would often lead to making mistakes or just falling back asleep immediately.
My Brother came to stay with me for a few nights to help me out, since he’s a great guy. I feel bad since I made the implication (and truly thought) that I could do other stuff while playing, but this quickly turned out to be impossible. Fortunately, he managed to find plenty of ways to entertain himself, so I really hope he didn’t waste too much of his time here.
The painful reality sets in day by day, where you notice just how boring ranking Groove is. When your hands, brain, and eyes need to be near constantly occupied by the game, there’s really not much you can do outside of continuously managing your game state. I don’t particularly have much to add to the Event Run section because of this; I can’t remember much of what I did since I didn’t really do anything. Just play the game. And often not play the game, due to completely forgetting how to do so on two separate occasions.
 

Results

I often try to keep my personal opinions away from posts like these, beyond inserting the occasional joke that requires a PhD in the history of #cg_general to understand. It is an achievement post technically, but just like my last one about token events I found myself talking mainly about the hard facts of Groove and the strategies that can be used to combat it, not very much about the actual ranking experience from my perspective. I think an entire essay could be written on the psychology surrounding the desire for any human to willingly stay awake for 200+ hours straight, which would be best left completely separate to strategy discussion like this.
But this is a results section, and I haven’t even talked about what result I got, nor why I even chose to rank this event in the first place. I don’t know, it’s got a Cinderella Clock in the background, I guess? I like clocks? Karen and Fumika are pretty great? So are the rest of the singers?
Maybe I just wanted to test the Rank 6 Shift Project to see if it actually had any competitive viability. The conclusion I’ve come to is technically yes, if you’re not in the weak ~99.9999% of the population who can’t seem to stay mentally sane after hour 150, like me. Did I even have a choice? It’s not a muscle I can exercise, or a technique that can be mastered. Every time you want to ‘practice’ you potentially do more damage to yourself and don’t improve at all. You either can, or you can’t. Or you can cheat, I guess. I once again made countless mistakes during the event, many of which are my own fault and are somewhat expected to happen over the course of the event, but the major ones are all tied into the approach I decided to take to even be able to compete in the first place. I didn't even get rank 6, so the name of the technique is a big lie.
Despite everything I just said, I paradoxically still had a lot of fun. I don’t think anyone helping me had fun, I don’t know if any of the runners around me did, but I sure have some interesting memories from the experience. While I didn’t have much community support during the run since I did it in secret, I’d like to thank a few people who have given me information or support in the past (either directly or indirectly) and who have generally been great people to know of:

• Zhu, and the gods in his stream chat,
• Rayvur, for giving me a goal to sink to,
• Lolicore, for being aware that I exist,
• Rafe, for still managing to provide useful information despite not playing the game anymore,
• Dwr3k, and the others in VC (looking at you morstain) for doing god’s work and hosting a CG anime rewatch.

 

Fun Stats

• I earned 16.8 million fans over the event, raising me from a total of 764,079,984 to 781,869,928. This is nearly identical to the 16.5 million fans I earned during my token run last December.
  • My breakdown of fans across Cute, Cool and Passion has evened up a little where Passion was falling behind, with 249, 296, and 235 million respectively. Cool needs to calm down a little.
• I leveled up 0 times, from 500 to 500.
• I have no idea how much gold I earned since I went from 68.9 million to being capped. I haven’t even tried to empty the impossible amount left over in the present box.
• I had 63k jewels prepared, which I knew was more than enough, but I could not doubt the possibility that Syoko5 would be a relevant card to roll for. I’m not sure how much I spent in total on the event and Syoko, but I only have 17k left now.
  • I saved some jewels by using 6,450 stamina from bottles. I still have 21,620 stamina left over in bottles.
• I got 3 memory keys from live party drops.
• I gained:
  • Only 1544 rookie trainers, despite selling 4000 of them in fear of capping.
  • 360 trainers, 160 veteran trainers, 18 master trainers.
  • 158 cute earrings, 134 cute bracelets, 34 cute tiaras.
  • 243 cool earrings, 145 cool bracelets, 33 cool tiaras.
  • 2253 passion earrings, 1173 passion bracelets, 235 passion tiaras.
  • 1692 shoes, and I went from 8k dresses to being capped.
• Natalia, featured on the passion auto team I used, earned over 2 million fans during the event. I only bring this one up because she’s pretty much the only idol I used that wasn’t already 10 million or above.
• I pathetically attempted to use my Live Party Emblems before the event taking them down from 900k to 722k. I ended up capped half way through the Live Party period.