Thursday, January 12, 2017

New Year...New Something

I essentially had to put my life on hold for the last year because of school. I had very little free personal time to do the things I wanted to do. So this year, it's all about me and finally doing the things I've been looking forward to for years. You know all of those things you have in the back of your mind where you think, "I really want to do that", but you're too lazy to ever actually do them? Am I the only one?

Well school made me kick my lazy habits - I didn't have time to be lazy, so I'm using my new found productive habits to make some changes this year. I'm not much for new years resolutions, but I've felt a lot of momentum with the start of the new year, and had some ideas floating around in my head so I thought I'd start by getting them all down, mostly for my own sake.

A year-long spending fast.
Last year I read an article about a guy who went on a spending fast and it was really inspiring. The article wasn't necessarily about how much money he saved by not spending money for a year, but more about how he learned he was spending money on unnecessary items. It's not like we're bad at saving money, but we're so close to paying off the loan for our house renovation and this could help us pay it off in just a few months.

I haven't quite hammered out all of the details, but for now here's some of the terms I've set for myself.

  • No new clothes (including shoes)
  • No new electronics.
  • No new music or books.
  • No new beauty products (unless I'm replacing something I've run out of, and then the replacement must be equal or lesser value of what I ran out of).
  • Eat out less (possibly only twice a month. two lunches and two dinners).
  • No new household items (unless it's a need, like we need new sheetrock for the ceiling we ripped down a few weeks ago. Not like I need to have this rug in my life.).
This doesn't mean I can never spend money. When I'm given gift cards, I can use them. I've actually been saving up gift cards for the last year in preparation for this spending fast and for when I see that skirt I just gotta have. I've reached the place where I'd rather be spending my money on experiences, rather than things and if I want to be able to travel a lot I need to start saving.


Produce less waste.
It's astonishing how much waste we produce in any given day, so I've made it a personal goal to try and produce less waste throughout the year. We waste so much money by letting food go bad in our fridge. I get bored or no longer want it, or forget it's in there, so it just goes bad and goes to waste. Here's some ideas I've had on how to produce less waste. Let me know if you've found any helpful tricks to produce less waste in your life.

  • Bring my own bags grocery shopping. 
  • Bring my own containers for bulk or fresh items.
  • Start composting.
  • Recycle more.
  • Use the food already in my fridge before it goes bad.


Cook more.
I don't love cooking, but I love eating healthy fresh food. You can see how these goals kind of intertwine with one another. I want to spend less money, and not let food go to waste - therefore I gotta cook more. Hal and I have been going more vegetarian and vegan for a while, so I'm excited to start eating more fresh healthy delicious food.

All of this is really just positive changes in my life that I can make to be happier, healthier and to travel more and experience all this wonderful, beautiful world has to offer.

2 comments:

Torrie said...

If you have time to check it out, you would love Cait Flanders blog (formerly Blonde on a Budget). She did a two-year spending ban, and her blog is so inspiring (and she has many of the same pursuits you do).

Good luck with your resolutions this year! You're going to rock :)

Susannah said...

These are such great goals! I'm always so impressed by people who can go on spending fasts!

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