Well, its almost the end of my pay fortnight (21 July was my deadline) and I'm afraid to say I haven't quite made it.
So the whole thing about this little challenge of mine was to put the brakes on my mindless consumption. As many of you know, I'm going through a pretty tough time. Despite everything I have learned over the last few years, I have reverted to trying to buy normality rather than accepting that my life at the moment, is not normal. The lure of buying "what I wish my life to be" - even if it only gave me that illusion for a few hours - is hard to resist!
While I didn't make it, my challenge did put a stop to my mindless consumption and I managed to get rid of some stuff! So here's a little list of my spending:
$75 - social/entertainment spending - eeek! Though $50 was in one night when I went out with friends. It was a case of me needing to blow-off some steam after a hell week...and yes, buy normality for a few hours.
$35 - petrol. The weather got too cold and too rainy for me to ride my bike to work. Still, I normally spend $50 in petrol a fortnight so a $15 saving is pretty good. I did walk/ride my bike for short trips to the shops rather than drive.
$25 - takeaway food (yes after that one slip-up, I didn't buy anymore takeaway meals).
So total expenditure $135.
Now what I did to top up my "income":
- sold: coffee percolator = $10
- sold: my vinyl record bowls = $15
- sold: a not-being-used hot curler set = $5
- scrounged change: $18.60 (yes I found more change when I cleaned out my car and spare room)
Add my $50 budget, my total incoming was $98.60.
So there you go, I ended up spending an extra $36.40 from my pay than I meant to.... Which is not too bad. Strangely enough it's not the social/entertainment spending that worries me. Connecting with others socially and easily was exactly what I needed to do. I'm learningthat buying normality doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing - all things in moderation is okay.
The other thing is that, now I am once again in a comfortable position to pay the big bills that have come in AND still have money left over for savings. I haven't added to my savings for quite a long while so it feels nice to get back on track.
Photo by Alan CleaverI think this weekend, I will go through my house and identify more stuff to sell/get rid off. I know I have a study table and some chairs that can go.
ooooh, there you go, a declutter challenge! Anyone want to join me?
15 comments:
You did well!
I'm in the midst of a major de-clutter. We were going to have a garage sale...but i've just decided thats too much of a hassle. So were currently sorting into 'donate' and 'ebay' piles.
How did you sell your stuff? I'm finding much of our stuff i'm thinking of simply donating cause the effort of listing on ebay isn't worth the c$10 or less i'll get.
I am constantly trying to declutter. I was planning a Tag Sale this past Saturday, but the forecast was T-storms from 10am-8pm so I didn't get up to do it, when I did get up it was lovely and didn't rain a drop (to bad my plants needed it). I say if social spending is a bit high maybe limit your social interaction to coffee and desert (not dinners) and then you can spend just a bit less and spend more time socializing (less chewing involved). I find a $2 tea and $2 scone can last me 2 horus when I am chatting with friends, but I usually just invite them to my house and enjoy my $0.25 cup of tea and some home made baked good.
Thanks for posting your experience. It's all about that. It's a process. :)
You did so well!! I think with any kind of budgeting/cutting back it's best to remember to allow enough for you to have some fun. Otherwise it just becomes a punishment.
I found it easier to do a no-spend when there is a goal to compare to. My example is a bike. Would I rather go out to eat, or have my bike sooner? That adds a strong sense of reality to the opportunity-cost decision than just saving.
On the de-clutter front as a family we set out to rid ourselves of 1000 things, that was done easily in march. We have not set a new goal but we are still finding things to expunge from the house.
I'm glad you're not too bothered by the social spending - I always think that money is better spent on experiences than objects. It's good for your mental health and gives you lots of good memories to look back on later :)
What a great effort! I'm finding heaps of things to sell around here, less clutter to move! Vic xx
Well done! We had a big declutter when we sold our last house but I'm forever finding odd coins in the washing machine that I add to my purse - I treat myself to a 50c soft serve cone at McDonald's when I'm out without kids - shhhh!
You are such a star Eilleen. Thanks for the inspiration you always manage to provide -even when you are having a hard time. I thought of you when I cleaned out 5 - yes thats FIVE garbage bags of clothes from my wardrobe and it just makes me feel great.
Wishing you lots of peace, joy, confidence and elegant frugality!
Duckie
You didn't fail, you found what was a realistic limit on what you can do without. Everyone needs a treat (carryout)or respite (dinner with friends) occasionally. You did great!
I'm impressed and inspired. I'm about to have a frugal fortnight myself to get back on track. My big downfall is lunches - I can save huge amounts if I get my act together to make them.
I'd also like to know how you go about selling bits and pieces. I've also just taken up the challenge from unclutterer.com of uncluttering 'a thing a day' and it would be brilliant if I could make a bit of money from some of the 'objets'.
Congratulations E ;-) You really are an inspiration! I had a short fortnight recently and it's amazing how creative you can become. I agree with an earlier comment as well that I think money spent on experiences rather than 'stuff' is money well spent. This concept is something that I'm trying to teach my children at the moment as well.
Its probably none of our business, but what I am curious about is how much less you have spent in comparison to the months you fell of the wagon. I mean, you do write how much more you spent then the 50$, but how much less did you spent compared to the same period last month.
I have also decluttered big time lately, we have moved house twice, first to a temporary home because our old house was sold already and then to our permanent home (for now) which is very nice and quite spacious and which we were able to buy because I am always on about the environment, trying to make as little an impact as possible, which turns out to be a great way to save money too, creating quite a nice nest egg that has hatched into part of our house now. Because of all this moving around I threw/ gave away / sold a lot of stuff. Or so I thought, because now I am unpacking I keep finding stuff that gets me wondering what idiot has packed that instead of chucking it away (probably me)
Thanks again all!
And yes, while I did go over my $50 challenge, I still spent way way way less than I normally do. I feel a bit funny revealing my full wage here though so I'll just leave it at that.
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