I’ve been thinking about if there’s anything I spend money on that doesn’t align with the way I want to live. The answer so far is “Nope!” I like what I spend money on. Food, utilities, rent, medical. Less than 2% of take-home on hobbies. I can usually wait until something goes on sale before I buy it.
Part of it is the recently slashed amount of alcohol. I used to spend ~$6k a year on booze. This year will be closer to $800. I have no regrets about the stuff I bought before. I’m glad I tried it. But now… I’ve tried just about everything, and getting wrecked isn’t as appealing anymore.
I do spend like a maniac on gifts though. I buy things for people that I would never buy for myself. But… I kinda like that about me.
I’ve been thinking about things we could do to cut spending. I’m not going on a cheaper phone plan with another carrier. We go into the middle of nowhere constantly and this provider has better coverage out there. I’m not going to run the A/C less, I barely sleep as is. I suppose the biggest increase in costs lately are around meat prices skyrocketing, but eh. I’m probably not going to eat less meat.
We don’t buy clothing unless something wears out. We’re probably weird that way. Jade doesn’t do makeup or nail polish or anything. We make our own soap (not sure we save money there, but I guess we do if we compare it to equally nice soaps)
I think what I struggle with is the “not too worn” aspect and deciding whether I really NEED something or can do without it. And I tend to hold onto stuff until it’s holey, heels very worn down or worn through in the case of shoes. Sometimes not even tossing it then. I’m struggling with it even more since I’m not going into an office any more and no one cares what I look like most days so I feel like to save money I should not spruce up my wardrobe if it is just for me.
Sometimes it’s clearer - last year I realized I was down to one pair of jeans that was not torn. So I went onto Thredup and found 2 more in the style/size that works for me. That seemed reasonable. But in the case of, like, shirts or sweaters… I guess I struggle with how many I actually need and at what point does it cross over into want? Can’t I keep wearing the same ones until they fall apart, and even after that, because no one except Boyfriend sees me and most workdays he doesn’t even put on real pants so he’s not going to judge?
I think I need an intervention…
I just realized that this has a LOT to do with the fact that, where we live now, laundry is free and I can mostly do it whenever I want. No hauling laundry to the laundromat, no waiting for a washer to be free (mostly; I do coordinate with my landlord but she’s the only other one here), no need to go get quarters or ration them. I think it felt more logical to have more pieces in rotation when I had to go longer between doing loads of wash just because of logistics, so making sure I had clean clothes if laundry was unavailable was a concern.
I think you might be overthinking this. When something starts to look worn, which to me means you can glance at it and tell instantly it is not new and has been washed many times, it gets relegated to mostly home or very casual wear (like to the grocery store). I wear my gym stuff until it totally falls apart. Holes or big stains = no more wearing out of the house and usually toss.
My clothes last a really long time and I’m convinced part of it is that I have separate house clothes. I always have like 4-5 house dresses and I wear those at home a lot. If a comfy dress gets really worn looking it becomes a house dress. I also get cotton t-shirt maxi dresses online for like $10 a pop and they last for years, the added bonus is my nicer stuff stays nice.
Well, moving is an excellent time to weed through your clothes.
I did not move anything that had holes in it, or anything that I didn’t wear often, or anything that I didn’t pick up and think about how much I liked it. (I also determined that I do not need to buy underpants or socks for many years, and that was after tossing anything that was really ratty.)
I am not bothered by wearing things that are pretty darned shabby, but I’m not hauling that stuff across the country.
There’s plenty of great stuff at Goodwill, so I’ve been happily filling in things that I wished I had more of. 2 pairs of jeans! Another pair of capris! Waffle weave shirts for winter! Tunic length t shirts! I feel all spiffy these days.
Since we’ve had family in town, we’re eating out more than we do normally. Last night we made plans to go to a steakhouse (Denver hive - Simm’s, their patio is my favorite Lakewood spot so far). I know they have great gin and tonics, and I have the supplies to make a restaurant quality g&t at home. I made one at home and drank it while I was getting ready (more fun anyways) and didn’t order one at the restaurant. Saving money is my passion!
I was just checking bills and thought I’d mention Google Fi on the off chance anyone here hasn’t considered it. My latest bill is $37 and I use my phone a lot.
Uber has been trying for the last several weeks to get me back as an “active” customer, and I keep letting the offers expire, and then they give me the same offer for the next week. And each time, I wonder what happened to have the terms & conditions include these sentences side by side: “The offer is valid for up to 75% off of 2 orders only. Offer is limited to 1 order per customer.” (max value is $25, so a $33 order would probably be optimal)
$26.78 on my sunscreen and body wash
$41.26 on restaurant food (totally worth it)
$8.36 on husband’s deoderant 3-pack
$12.95 for shower flip flops that can live at the gym (wish I could have gotten these cheaper!)
$14.65 on a gift for husband’s mom
This week I will probably spend some money on lunch out with a friend since that got cancelled last week. I think that’ll be it? I’m running really low on my face serum but I’m going to look for cheaper alternatives to what I’m using now.
Grocery Spending for upcoming week!
Did pretty well this week! At some point I’m going to need to buy more meat but I think I can push it another week at least.
Ok, so I’ve topped out of what my insurance will pay for with PT, which means now I’m going out of pocket. This will increase costs by about $60 to $100 a month minimum, more when things are bad, so I need to find some money. I’m hopeful that soon I can cut therapy to 3 times a month instead of 4, because that could cover it, but I’m not quite there yet. I’m thinking no clothes shopping for a year and maybe making a rule that we don’t do restaurant dates as long as it’s still warm enough to be outside? Other thoughts on cutting expenses welcome but advice on navigating medical things not needed.
Have you already talked with your PT about how they will handle billing with you as a self pay client? I’ve found that they will often negotiate down to keep a steady client, especially one they can count on coming back next year when insurance will cover costs again.
I also want to try the no clothes shopping thing, but struggle with not having pretty new things. I wish we could somehow set up a clothing swap for OMD. Stupid distance and pandemic.
Yeah I have all the billing figured out. The price isn’t that bad it’s just that it’s going to be a consistent increase and I want to make sure I compensate somewhere. I internally hate how much it costs to have these issues. It’s like the least fun way to spend money ever, lol.
I feel you on the clothes, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it but I’m going to try. I would totally clothing swap with you (and @anomalily) if we were closer! You do a lot of reselling, right? I’ve never done that and I was thinking it might be a way to pay for clothes when I don’t really need something new but just want it. I have a designer handbag I really want to sell (Prada) but I haven’t looked into selling it online. The bag is in just ok condition and I somehow lost the detachable strap, but I have all the documentation proving it’s real. So maybe that will be my little insurance policy for if I find something I can’t resist. The only other clothes I might actually need in the next year would be workout clothes, but I have plenty for right now.
I feel like this is one of those months that spending just keeps popping up?
I bought more KN95 and N95 masks, because {waves hands at everything}.
I donated to a cat rescue that is facing a really horrific cat hoarding situation locally. Just 1 pack of wet food off of their Amazon wishlist. This was completely an emotional decision on my part for Reasons.
My dentist is strongly encouraging me to get an electric toothbrush (and is not personally selling them so there is no skin in the game on her part). Apparently the meds I’m on plus middle-aged hormonal shenanigans fuck with one’s gums, and mine are not in great shape despite being super diligent about dental care over the past year? Argh.
I somehow didn’t order enough cat food for the month?
And that’s leaving aside the wants, like donating to the cat cafe that had to close due to a panleuk outbreak, and trying the Lume anti-stank clothing treatment because neither repeated vinegar soaks or the anti-order Oxiclean is cutting it for some of my shirts, and replacing one of my favorite T-shirts that wore out, and getting some bright red nail polish because mine dried up and I can’t go get a pedicure thanks to my annual bout of eczema all over my feet and ankles.
I am committing to NOT spending on any of those things until I have paid the balance on my credit card, which will happen when I get paid a week from today.
I bought ~$650 worth of meat yesterday. This pleases me.
Seriously though, I buy a lot at once and then use that over a couple months. Being able to buy 100+ pounds of meat at a time wasn’t something I could do for most of my life, but now it helps keep the cost down on the ridiculous things I like to eat.
I do like my SoniCare. Obvs. it is much more $$ but I will say that mine has a brush head indicator light and I use them until the light comes on, which is less often then you would think. My teeth feel so clean now but there was a learning curve.
Definitely make sure that electric toothbrush is inside your mouth before you turn it on. Unless you want toothpaste to go everywhere. Wish somebody had warned me about that. Also the vibrations feel really weird at first but after about a week you get used to it.
I am about to have the same thing happen. I have about 4 more covered visits with my PT and then switching to cash pay. It’s insane how I have hit my OOP max for the year and deductible, yet I’m STILL going to pay $120 a session for something that I should be able to have covered by my already ridiculously expensive health insurance?
Isn’t it so frustrating? But then on the flip side everyone is practically falling over themselves to offer me more invasive surgeries, which would be covered by insurance. I am so thankful I’m finally at a point in my life where I can afford this, but part of me is like…how much better would my mobility be if I’d had this for the last 12 years? Like would I have had the last two surgeries at all? Would I still be able to work? But then I stop that train because there’s nothing good there, lol. <3
