I can't juggle the effort of trying to make my purchases line up with my "lottery" goals, the things I would do if I had unlimited resources, with the sheer difficulty of reducing my spending. I've been a spoiled brat for so long that I need to focus on controlling my spending and buying fewer things for a while. Once I get good at that, I can focus on making my expenditures line up with my dreams.
In my July spending update, take a peek at how $1700 trickled away in personal expenses last month. It's what I used to call The Lottery Project, which I'm now just calling My Spending Record. I may start recording my spending on a day-to-day basis to get a better handle on it, just a warning if you were thinking of subscribing.
And later this week, we'll take a look at what I have to swap out for two non-clothing objects I bought this month. Hope you all are well.
Ta,
Joanna
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
July Wrap-Up, or It Can't Get Any Worse Than This, Right?
I looked at my personal expenses this month using categories from EcoCatLady's blog: necessities, secondary necessities, investments, luxuries, and fantasy spending. I was supposed to be watching my spending more than last month ($1378). This month? A whopping $1750. Where did I go wrong?
Cat was right -- the fantasy spending is what I'm most embarrassed about. But you know what? It's only $140. That's less than 10%. My real problem was my medical expenses. I spent $270 on eating disorder-related treatment this month and $615 on two pairs glasses. In my mind, that $615 was cheap. My eyes are pretty complicated and I've had the lenses alone cost $450 before. Two pairs of glasses and frames for $650? A steal. Without the glasses I spent around $1100. That's better than last month's $1378.
Cat was right -- the fantasy spending is what I'm most embarrassed about. But you know what? It's only $140. That's less than 10%. My real problem was my medical expenses. I spent $270 on eating disorder-related treatment this month and $615 on two pairs glasses. In my mind, that $615 was cheap. My eyes are pretty complicated and I've had the lenses alone cost $450 before. Two pairs of glasses and frames for $650? A steal. Without the glasses I spent around $1100. That's better than last month's $1378.
When I look at the more standard categories it's still hard to see where I can pare back, other than on entertainment and clothing. Cutting out clothing purchases will save me a bundle since I spent over $500 on clothing last month and almost $200 this month. If I can pare down my entertainment costs a bit, that would be good too. But other than that? Good question. Help, please!
Tribbles
My clothes keep multiplying. I'm getting better at not acquiring so many items. But unfortunately changing this habit isn't as easy as poisoning some grain on a space station. Okay, I'll stop with the Star Trek allusions for now.
As I recap my spending this month I'm taking a closer look at how many objects I'm bringing into my home. Not only do these things take up space but they tend to be unnecessary purchases. This month I purchased five objects that weren't consumable. Two of the five were pieces of clothing:
A pair of bike shorts to replace the old ones that I finally admit don't fit. It's hard to tell ED that it's okay that I need bigger bike shorts. But this made it final. I'm okay with this decision.
To keep up with my Friday's Fashion Fallout, I'm getting rid of three items:
Two more pairs of cycling shorts, replaced by the new bike shorts. These old bike shorts are multiplying like Tribbles. There will be more, I promise. I know there's at least one more pair in my dresser at my parents' place. Their fate: The Goodwill store.
An old pair of scrubs that are stained in some unfortunate places. These can't be worn out of the house anymore. The track pants will replace them. Fate: rags.
Do you keep track of how many objects you purchase each month?
As I recap my spending this month I'm taking a closer look at how many objects I'm bringing into my home. Not only do these things take up space but they tend to be unnecessary purchases. This month I purchased five objects that weren't consumable. Two of the five were pieces of clothing:
A pair of bike shorts to replace the old ones that I finally admit don't fit. It's hard to tell ED that it's okay that I need bigger bike shorts. But this made it final. I'm okay with this decision.
A pair of track pants. I got these because they looked incredibly comfy and I wanted something that would give me an excuse to get out of my work clothes when I get home instead of keeping them on and doing things like, oh, baking. And messing up my clothes. And needing to spend a fortune on dry cleaning. I know this was a lousy reason to spend a ton on another pair of pants. Next month my goal is to not buy any more clothes.
To keep up with my Friday's Fashion Fallout, I'm getting rid of three items:
Two more pairs of cycling shorts, replaced by the new bike shorts. These old bike shorts are multiplying like Tribbles. There will be more, I promise. I know there's at least one more pair in my dresser at my parents' place. Their fate: The Goodwill store.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Have you purchased your iPride 3G yet? No?! You're a dinosaur.
Apropos of my previous post about trying to keep up in a gadget-crazy world, I thought some of you might enjoy this comic called "What It's Like to Own an Apple Product" from The Oatmeal:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple.
See you tomorrow for Friday's Fashion Fallout!
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple.
See you tomorrow for Friday's Fashion Fallout!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Keeping up with the coworkers...or the world
Our TV is over 20 years old. My digital piano is 21 years old. The hubs' laptop is six years old. One of my two is eight years old. Our desktop is a 2001vintage (though some of the components are more recent). We hang on to electronics for a long time. I only got a cell phone in 2004 and I got a dumb phone.
It makes me happy. I'm saving money, the environment, my soul...yeah, you know this already, you may very well do the same.
So what do I do when a supervisor at work comes up and points out that I'm the only one in the group who doesn't have a smartphone? And that they'd really like everyone in the group to have one since we design web pages for mobile devices and it's important that we know what it's like to use the internet on one of these things? Oh, but the office won't pay for it. What do I do?
Oh, I want one. But I wait.
A while later my coworkers walk in with fruit-flavored tablet computers the day after the things come out. Look, shiny! We'll be evaluating whether people use things things to view our website soon. So what do I do?
Oh, I really want one. But I wait.
Christmas comes and the new Android tablets start to come out. People get them for themselves and bring them in to show and share. "Oh, Joanna, did you get one of these?" I'm asked. "No," I say.
Oh, I really, really want one. But I wait.
A while later I'm in a meeting with the same supervisor and some coworkers. We're going over a job candidate's interview and deciding if we like the person. The supervisor points good and not-so-good traits about the candidate. Did we think this person was an early adopter?, we're asked. It's important that we have experience with apps and electronic gadgets and even the latest fruit-flavored product if the websites we work on are going to be viewed on these gadgets, I hear. What do I do?
I go out and buy a laptop that has the computing power and programs to develop an app. I go out and buy a tablet computer (a cheap one, though). I go out and buy a fruit-flavored smartphone and a $70/month contract to go with it. When the next one comes out, I'll be openly all excited about it and will run out to get it. I'll show it off at work and proudly view our websites on it.
And then I'll go home and chew over whether I made the right decision. I may be a librarian by training, but I do more web development and management now than anything else. It does matter that I know what it's like to use an app or to surf the web on a tablet, or on a phone.
Can I keep up in my field without owning the newest thing every time it comes out? Or am I not tech-savvy simply because I can't bring myself to stay on the hamster wheel of gadget ownership? Could refusing to get the latest device just shoot my career in the foot?
Can you be tech-savvy yet not have the latest gadget? Have you ever succumbed to consumerism for the sake of your job?
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Why I went to Spain with holes in my shoes
This is a story of broken hearts and broken bones. (okay, don't freak out too much.)
Junior year of college I studied abroad in Spain. I fell in love with the country's sensuous hills, its tempting food, its luscious parks, its endless sidewalks....and its shoes.
No, I wasn't completely devoured by a foot fetish on this trip. In fact, I followed a purchasing pattern I try to follow today on trips: literally wear out your clothes on the trip. Then buy clothing as souvenirs instead of junk.
Here's what I mean. When I went to Spain I brought a bit of good clothing, but I also packed a few items that were within an inch of their life: a shirt that had a few permanent spots so I couldn't get away wearing it around company I knew anymore. A pair of shoes that was starting to rip at the seams and couldn't be repaired by the cobbler. Et cetera. These clothes had a bit of life left in them, but not much.
Of course I brought clothes that were in fine shape as well, because who wants to be traveling in a foreign country while everything you're wearing is falling apart? But I think about 1/4 of what I brought for those four months was on its last legs.
Then, when I wanted to get souvenirs, I bought clothes and shoes instead. When the shirt finally got to be too embarassing even to wear around strangers, I got rid of it and bought a blouse that was in fashion in Madrid at the time. When the holey shoes wore out, I bought espadrilles, a quintessentially Spanish shoe. I came back to the States with the same amount of clothing I left with (okay, okay, I did buy a couple extra items.) But it kept the overall tally of souvenirs down. I loved the items I purchased more than I would have if I'd bought them in the States, simply because they weren't just replacement clothes, they were souvenirs.
There's only one problem with this. These souvenirs wear out.
Today's Friday's Fashion Fallout is a pair of espadrilles I bought at the end of my stay in Madrid.
I remember touring a neighborhood I'd never visited before, eyeing these and falling in love. My Spanish host family told me how to take care of them (clean the rope part with salt, make sure you reinforce the place where the laces go through the heel), and it was just a great purchase. And then I stopped liking how they looked on my feet. I couldn't keep them clean. The sole kept falling off no matter how much I glued it back down. My feet shrunk. Then I broke a bone in my foot. (Wondered when we were going to get to that part, didn't you?) High heels aren't in my repertoire much these days.
So it really hurts emotionally to let these go, but that's what photographs are for. Like, the 1000 or so photographs I have of the trip. I don't need these to remember it by.
How do you avoid souvenirs on trips?
Item 135: souvenir espadrilles. I never liked them that much and probably shouldn't have bought them in the first place.
Cost: 14 euro (about $25)
Fate: the clothing donation box
Total money wasted on stuff: $1522.00
Junior year of college I studied abroad in Spain. I fell in love with the country's sensuous hills, its tempting food, its luscious parks, its endless sidewalks....and its shoes.
No, I wasn't completely devoured by a foot fetish on this trip. In fact, I followed a purchasing pattern I try to follow today on trips: literally wear out your clothes on the trip. Then buy clothing as souvenirs instead of junk.
Here's what I mean. When I went to Spain I brought a bit of good clothing, but I also packed a few items that were within an inch of their life: a shirt that had a few permanent spots so I couldn't get away wearing it around company I knew anymore. A pair of shoes that was starting to rip at the seams and couldn't be repaired by the cobbler. Et cetera. These clothes had a bit of life left in them, but not much.
Of course I brought clothes that were in fine shape as well, because who wants to be traveling in a foreign country while everything you're wearing is falling apart? But I think about 1/4 of what I brought for those four months was on its last legs.
Then, when I wanted to get souvenirs, I bought clothes and shoes instead. When the shirt finally got to be too embarassing even to wear around strangers, I got rid of it and bought a blouse that was in fashion in Madrid at the time. When the holey shoes wore out, I bought espadrilles, a quintessentially Spanish shoe. I came back to the States with the same amount of clothing I left with (okay, okay, I did buy a couple extra items.) But it kept the overall tally of souvenirs down. I loved the items I purchased more than I would have if I'd bought them in the States, simply because they weren't just replacement clothes, they were souvenirs.
There's only one problem with this. These souvenirs wear out.
Today's Friday's Fashion Fallout is a pair of espadrilles I bought at the end of my stay in Madrid.
I remember touring a neighborhood I'd never visited before, eyeing these and falling in love. My Spanish host family told me how to take care of them (clean the rope part with salt, make sure you reinforce the place where the laces go through the heel), and it was just a great purchase. And then I stopped liking how they looked on my feet. I couldn't keep them clean. The sole kept falling off no matter how much I glued it back down. My feet shrunk. Then I broke a bone in my foot. (Wondered when we were going to get to that part, didn't you?) High heels aren't in my repertoire much these days. So it really hurts emotionally to let these go, but that's what photographs are for. Like, the 1000 or so photographs I have of the trip. I don't need these to remember it by.
How do you avoid souvenirs on trips?
The Reckoning
Item 135: souvenir espadrilles. I never liked them that much and probably shouldn't have bought them in the first place.
Cost: 14 euro (about $25)
Fate: the clothing donation box
Total money wasted on stuff: $1522.00
Friday, July 20, 2012
Dumb lessons learned: if the label says you can't clean it, maybe you shouldn't buy it!
At 24 I headed out to the affordable JC Penney store with my parents to buy my first real bed before I left for DC. My mom had given me a rock-hard, twin size bed as a child and I was never offered any other choice. So when my then-boyfriend-now-husband spent a fortune on his queen-size, overstuffed, super soft, $1500 mattress, I had stars in my eyes (about the boy *and* the mattress.) I *had* to have one.
Instead of realizing that I slept great on a rock-hard bed, I bought myself a smaller version of what the boy had. And then the back problems began. So I exchanged the bed for something slightly firmer, but still soft. Dammit, I was not going to let my mom win this one. She wanted me to have a hard bed. Therefore I wasn't going to get one.
Exchanging a bed is a *pain.* I wasn't going to buy a new bed in spite of sleeping terribly for over a year, so I consoled myself with an ergonomic pillow. A $60 pillow. A pillow that made promises about giving side-sleepers like me the best sleep we've had in ages. A pillow that promised to give me more productive days because of better nights. A pillow that says:
Do not wash.
Do not bleach.
Do not tumble dry.
Do not iron.
Do not dryclean.
Do not clean.
(Okay, I was just kidding about the last line. The last line really is 'Wipe clean with a damp cloth.') So after I've drooled all over my pillow in the blissful sleep they swear I'll have with this thing, I'm supposed to wipe it clean with a damp cloth?
Oh, and to add to the stupidity, this turned out to be the most uncomfortable pillow I've ever used in addition to being the most disgusting.
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Hey, at least it squeezed into the trash chute with no problems. Saved me having to call in the local hazmat team to dispose of it.
Now, I've gone back to sleeping on a piece of sheet rock. My husband sleeps on a cloud. We bought a $2000 sleep number bed and I am *finally* waking up rested for the first time in years (after I stopped crying myself to sleep because of the dent in our wallet). No fancy pillow needed.
And the best part? You can wash *every single* cloth part of a sleep number bed. Every single one.
Have you ever bought something you discovered you couldn't clean?
Instead of realizing that I slept great on a rock-hard bed, I bought myself a smaller version of what the boy had. And then the back problems began. So I exchanged the bed for something slightly firmer, but still soft. Dammit, I was not going to let my mom win this one. She wanted me to have a hard bed. Therefore I wasn't going to get one.
Exchanging a bed is a *pain.* I wasn't going to buy a new bed in spite of sleeping terribly for over a year, so I consoled myself with an ergonomic pillow. A $60 pillow. A pillow that made promises about giving side-sleepers like me the best sleep we've had in ages. A pillow that promised to give me more productive days because of better nights. A pillow that says:
Do not wash.
Do not bleach.
Do not tumble dry.
Do not iron.
Do not dryclean.
Do not clean.
(Okay, I was just kidding about the last line. The last line really is 'Wipe clean with a damp cloth.') So after I've drooled all over my pillow in the blissful sleep they swear I'll have with this thing, I'm supposed to wipe it clean with a damp cloth?
Oh, and to add to the stupidity, this turned out to be the most uncomfortable pillow I've ever used in addition to being the most disgusting.
.JPG)
Hey, at least it squeezed into the trash chute with no problems. Saved me having to call in the local hazmat team to dispose of it.
Now, I've gone back to sleeping on a piece of sheet rock. My husband sleeps on a cloud. We bought a $2000 sleep number bed and I am *finally* waking up rested for the first time in years (after I stopped crying myself to sleep because of the dent in our wallet). No fancy pillow needed.
And the best part? You can wash *every single* cloth part of a sleep number bed. Every single one.
Have you ever bought something you discovered you couldn't clean?
The Reckoning
Item: one unwashable ergonomic pillow
Cost: $60
Fate: the trash chute
Total money wasted on junk so far: $1497.00.
That's almost enough to pay for that sleep number bed. *sob*
Monday, July 16, 2012
(last) Friday's Fashion Fallout: oh, but they feel so good!
Okay, just the fabric feels good.
Sorry for the delay folks, work has gone crazy this week *and* the hubs is out of town so I'm stuck doing my own dishes <whine>. Free time is not as abundant as it was.
Last Friday morning I realized that a piece of clothing can feel good...while feeling absolutely awful at the same time. Here's the little conversation I had with my jeans at 6:30 AM last Friday:
Jeans: ooh, it's Friday. Wear me, wear me!
Me: Okay, I think you're too short...
ED: You're too fat for them...
Me: Oh hell, let me just try them on.
(puts jeans on and successfully buttons them with minimal agony)
Me: See? The fabric feels great.
ED: They make you look fat.
Me: ED, fat is not a feeling.
Jeans: Keep us! Keep us! Feed me, Seymour!
Me: I have to go to work...no time to talk to inanimate objects!
Jeans: Before you go...did you realize we display your beautiful ankles when you walk so everyone can see them? And your belly button too? And make you look like you took up a side job in plumbing when you bend down?
Me: uh.....okay, these don't feel so good after all. I think I've found my weekly item to discard.
Lesson learned: there are lots of things that we judge a piece of clothing on when we play the keep/toss game. If it doesn't pass every test (fabric, fit, length, height, tightness, whether it talks to you....) then it probably needs to go. The space in the closet is worth it.
I'm now down to my goal number of jeans: just three! One junky pair for painting/camping/etc, one really good pair for work and a spare for when the others are in the wash.
Item 133: Jeans that never really felt good. Money wasted: $25.
Total money wasted on stuff this year: $1437.00.
Sorry for the delay folks, work has gone crazy this week *and* the hubs is out of town so I'm stuck doing my own dishes <whine>. Free time is not as abundant as it was.
Last Friday morning I realized that a piece of clothing can feel good...while feeling absolutely awful at the same time. Here's the little conversation I had with my jeans at 6:30 AM last Friday:
Jeans: ooh, it's Friday. Wear me, wear me!
Me: Okay, I think you're too short...
ED: You're too fat for them...
Me: Oh hell, let me just try them on.
(puts jeans on and successfully buttons them with minimal agony)
Me: See? The fabric feels great.
ED: They make you look fat.
Me: ED, fat is not a feeling.
Jeans: Keep us! Keep us! Feed me, Seymour!
Me: I have to go to work...no time to talk to inanimate objects!
Jeans: Before you go...did you realize we display your beautiful ankles when you walk so everyone can see them? And your belly button too? And make you look like you took up a side job in plumbing when you bend down?
Me: uh.....okay, these don't feel so good after all. I think I've found my weekly item to discard.
Lesson learned: there are lots of things that we judge a piece of clothing on when we play the keep/toss game. If it doesn't pass every test (fabric, fit, length, height, tightness, whether it talks to you....) then it probably needs to go. The space in the closet is worth it.
I'm now down to my goal number of jeans: just three! One junky pair for painting/camping/etc, one really good pair for work and a spare for when the others are in the wash.
Item 133: Jeans that never really felt good. Money wasted: $25.
Total money wasted on stuff this year: $1437.00.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Making it count
The hubs and I went over our expenses yesterday. We've been married since October 2010 and still haven't quite figured out how to make combining our finances work well for us.
The biggest problem is that I'm a spender. When I'm stressed I spend or indulge my eating disorder. As the eating disorder gets better, the spending and acquiring seems to get a little worse.
I want less junk and more experiences in my life. We both want a bigger financial cushion. I've always lived within my means but it's time to start to keep an eye on the money leaving my wallet as well as the junk coming and going from the house.
This blog's conjoined twin, The Lottery Project (because everything has to be a project, doesn't it?), is now my open diary of my spending. It's my attempt to make progress doing more of the things on my list of what I would do if I won the lottery, AKA, the things that would make me happy in life. If I'm going to spend money I should be spending it on the experiences I want to have, not on silly junk and e-books I'll only read once. I'll likely update that blog only a few times a month. This blog is still my focus; that one is mostly my ledger. But I think the accountability of posting my expenditures online will whip me into shape. I hope!
While I'm talking about wasting less, let's throw in today's decluttered item.We went through the cabinets a while back to find anything that had been sitting around too long. We ate through everything else and this was the only thing we didn't want. It may be July but it's easy to forget that food pantries need goods year-round and now is the perfect time to clear out your cabinets (when is it not a perfect time to clean out our cabinets?) This box was a 'gift' from a friend. I put it in the Summer food donation campaign box at our office.
The biggest problem is that I'm a spender. When I'm stressed I spend or indulge my eating disorder. As the eating disorder gets better, the spending and acquiring seems to get a little worse.
I want less junk and more experiences in my life. We both want a bigger financial cushion. I've always lived within my means but it's time to start to keep an eye on the money leaving my wallet as well as the junk coming and going from the house.
This blog's conjoined twin, The Lottery Project (because everything has to be a project, doesn't it?), is now my open diary of my spending. It's my attempt to make progress doing more of the things on my list of what I would do if I won the lottery, AKA, the things that would make me happy in life. If I'm going to spend money I should be spending it on the experiences I want to have, not on silly junk and e-books I'll only read once. I'll likely update that blog only a few times a month. This blog is still my focus; that one is mostly my ledger. But I think the accountability of posting my expenditures online will whip me into shape. I hope!
 |
| Item 132: I am such a couch couscous! okay, nobody remembers that commercial. |
Saturday, July 7, 2012
New anti-shopping rule: try to avoid stores when you feel lousy (or just got any injections)
Have you ever found yourself feeling truly awful and also found yourself in a store at the same time? What happened?
For me, nothing good was what happened. About two years ago I had hiked up to Baltimore from DC for a doctor's appointment. I took two trains, a taxi, and a walk in the rain to get to the office of an orthopedic surgeon who was an expert in an "unusual" shoulder problem I'd been diagnosed with a while earlier.
In the ten minute visit I got told there wasn't much they could do except stick a really, *really* long, really large needle in my shoulder and squirt in some cortisone. I would feel fantastic afterwards!
Sure. The "afterwards" is really, you know, the next day. In the meantime your arm is pretty much useless.
I naturally brought a ton of stuff with me on this five hour round-trip adventure and suddenly found that I couldn't really carry it anymore. I stopped in Macy's to purchase a small rolling bag to help me haul my belongings home.
I left with a $150 Tommy Hilfiger, top-of-the-line roller bag. Because I felt lousy.
Sure, it got my stuff home (why didn't I just bring less stuff?!). But a few weeks later I realized I had a bag that was actually much smaller than was useful and was seriously ugly. Oh, and I already owned a comparable bag.
Lesson learned: avoid stores when feeling lousy. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, it's all the same in this situation. When we feel lousy we're more likely to look for the first thing that will make us comfortable, and then our wallets and closets become the victims. Totally not worth it. Has this ever happened to you?
For me, nothing good was what happened. About two years ago I had hiked up to Baltimore from DC for a doctor's appointment. I took two trains, a taxi, and a walk in the rain to get to the office of an orthopedic surgeon who was an expert in an "unusual" shoulder problem I'd been diagnosed with a while earlier.
In the ten minute visit I got told there wasn't much they could do except stick a really, *really* long, really large needle in my shoulder and squirt in some cortisone. I would feel fantastic afterwards!
Sure. The "afterwards" is really, you know, the next day. In the meantime your arm is pretty much useless.
I naturally brought a ton of stuff with me on this five hour round-trip adventure and suddenly found that I couldn't really carry it anymore. I stopped in Macy's to purchase a small rolling bag to help me haul my belongings home.
I left with a $150 Tommy Hilfiger, top-of-the-line roller bag. Because I felt lousy.
Sure, it got my stuff home (why didn't I just bring less stuff?!). But a few weeks later I realized I had a bag that was actually much smaller than was useful and was seriously ugly. Oh, and I already owned a comparable bag.
Lesson learned: avoid stores when feeling lousy. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, it's all the same in this situation. When we feel lousy we're more likely to look for the first thing that will make us comfortable, and then our wallets and closets become the victims. Totally not worth it. Has this ever happened to you?
The Reckoning
Item 131: One seriously ugly roller bag
Cost: $150
Fate: the thrift shop
Total money wasted on junk: $1412.00
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