One Thing Makes a Post--Spending Break
Jan. 6th, 2020 12:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenbookwenchThis is not at all meant to be a New Year/self-improvement-y sort of thing--well, alright it is a self-improvement-y sort of thing, but it is mere coincidence that I happen to be starting in January.
I started thinking about this in mid-November, after listening to The Year of Less by Cait Flanders on audio, and by the time I was actually ready to do it, it was, well, early January.
How this is going to work is: for the next 30 days, I'm not going to buy any new things, and I'm not going to get takeout, delivery, or takeout coffee. I recognize that there's a bit of privilege in even being able to do this, but I want to try to disrupt my unthinking spending habits, with the ultimate goals of:
a.) paying off credit card debt (I've got *gulp* about about 20K all told)
b.) saving
c.) donating more to causes I care about
d.) doing longer term cool things (travel? grad school?)
I also wanted this to be realistic and something I could actually do, so here's what I'm _not_ doing/giving up:
1.) Streaming services--I actually already cancelled Hulu w/HBO, because I can get most of the movies through the library, and I'm not that into their original series tbh. But Netflix + 2 DVDs a month is definitely staying, and Disney Plus is a maybe. CBS i honestly forgot i was paying for and want to cancel, but since they already charged me I guess I'll wait and see how Picard is. Amazon Prime I will probably renew when my membership comes due in February, because I don't have the mental energy to try to replace all the different things that Amazon does right now.
2.) Grocery economizing. I'm not going to try harder to stick to a list, or vow to make my own lunch and not buy Trader Joe's Meals-Inna-Box; I know the limits of what I can take on at one time.
3.) Experiences/Travel--my overall broke-ness will probably limit this anyway, but I can buy experiences. Dining out counts if it's part of seeing friends, or if I'm exploring solo and go to a place I haven't tried before. What I want to do is get out of the _habit_ of stopping for something because cooking feels like Too Much.
4.) Gifts. My oldest nephew turns 5 this month. I'm buying him a nice fucking present, the end.
5.) Health-related items. Not just prescribed medications and copays, which will get paid for from my FSA mostly, but like, my podiatrist wants me to buy a certain type of shoe, so I probably will eventually. If I start biking again, I'm gonna need a helmet, etc.
I'm not sure how much I'll even be able to do of the bigger things, because tbh I have adjusted Really Not Well to paying almost $400 more in rent every month, in terms of living w/in my means. I needed a change and in a lot of ways it was worth it, for quiet and central air and elevators and a non-asshole landlord, it's just...a lot, and of course moving itself was a major expense. But I've been living here almost 6 months now, and I really need to adjust.
I started thinking about this in mid-November, after listening to The Year of Less by Cait Flanders on audio, and by the time I was actually ready to do it, it was, well, early January.
How this is going to work is: for the next 30 days, I'm not going to buy any new things, and I'm not going to get takeout, delivery, or takeout coffee. I recognize that there's a bit of privilege in even being able to do this, but I want to try to disrupt my unthinking spending habits, with the ultimate goals of:
a.) paying off credit card debt (I've got *gulp* about about 20K all told)
b.) saving
c.) donating more to causes I care about
d.) doing longer term cool things (travel? grad school?)
I also wanted this to be realistic and something I could actually do, so here's what I'm _not_ doing/giving up:
1.) Streaming services--I actually already cancelled Hulu w/HBO, because I can get most of the movies through the library, and I'm not that into their original series tbh. But Netflix + 2 DVDs a month is definitely staying, and Disney Plus is a maybe. CBS i honestly forgot i was paying for and want to cancel, but since they already charged me I guess I'll wait and see how Picard is. Amazon Prime I will probably renew when my membership comes due in February, because I don't have the mental energy to try to replace all the different things that Amazon does right now.
2.) Grocery economizing. I'm not going to try harder to stick to a list, or vow to make my own lunch and not buy Trader Joe's Meals-Inna-Box; I know the limits of what I can take on at one time.
3.) Experiences/Travel--my overall broke-ness will probably limit this anyway, but I can buy experiences. Dining out counts if it's part of seeing friends, or if I'm exploring solo and go to a place I haven't tried before. What I want to do is get out of the _habit_ of stopping for something because cooking feels like Too Much.
4.) Gifts. My oldest nephew turns 5 this month. I'm buying him a nice fucking present, the end.
5.) Health-related items. Not just prescribed medications and copays, which will get paid for from my FSA mostly, but like, my podiatrist wants me to buy a certain type of shoe, so I probably will eventually. If I start biking again, I'm gonna need a helmet, etc.
I'm not sure how much I'll even be able to do of the bigger things, because tbh I have adjusted Really Not Well to paying almost $400 more in rent every month, in terms of living w/in my means. I needed a change and in a lot of ways it was worth it, for quiet and central air and elevators and a non-asshole landlord, it's just...a lot, and of course moving itself was a major expense. But I've been living here almost 6 months now, and I really need to adjust.
