budget

This needs more attention again. I spent last Sunday getting pampered in a spa with my mom, the credit card bills for the Japan trip came in, and my bike (that I had only a week) was stolen leaving me without either bike or 250 euros I paid for it. (Bastards!) So I’m going to need a new bike. And there are some other things I will need to buy, do, get etc. in the coming weeks. This means back to the old regime of asking myself “do I need this?”, bringing my own lunch and using my folding bike to get to work so I don’t have to spend money on the subway. This also because I’m going to cut on my working hours as of August and will be signing up for meditation and yoga classes as well and they are also pricey. Time to tighten the reigns! (Well… excepting if we go on vacation in August, then the reigns will be duly tightened as of September. :p)

So the ticket to Japan was cheaper than expected, that just means that I will be spending more in Japan itself! Haha, no way am I cutting on that vacation.

Ergo: must cut in other areas. Have been slacking the budgetting goal for a bit but will pick it up again starting tomorrow. Actually starting today when I decided for a home lunch instead of eating a sandwich & tea out somewhere. Hopefully this will continue tomorrow.

Currently I am mainly breaking even in the month, hopefully this will improve once I get this budgetting into gear and also with a little added income from another job I got today. More work, less free time. Means more means to do stuff I like, and less time to spend on confronting myself – will delay that as much as possible.

Yesterday I discovered a few hundred euros had been put into my account for some small job I’d done. Hurray! That means that there is at least a chance of breaking even this month instead of inheriting the overdraft from last month. Hurray!

• Bring my own breakfast along, saving €3.60 every morning. (!)
• Buy communal lunch together with the people at work, saving us all some cash.
• Wait for spring to arrive instead of looking for new shoes for the winter. (Gah.) ;)
• Make home-cooked dinners, per two days, instead of packaged dinners from the supermarket (convenient but expensive).
• Read books from my pile at home instead of buying new ones along the way.
• Stay within budget! That means, no overdraft at the end of the month.

Argh.
Okay, I know I will be spending a bit on the guy’s birthday present this week but overall the month should be doable. Right? Right.

Must do better. Must.

There are some things in the coming year that I definitely want to spend money on because they are important to me. They have to do mainly with travelling: Copenhagen in February, Squiggle (wherever) in June, possibly Japan in July (!) and also some kind of holiday with the guy :). This means that I need to save up any space I have in my spendings.

So far there is not much progress, unfortunately. Of course I am still paying (literally) for what I did in December with creditcard payments and a low balance on my account. But also this January things are not going incredibly well, it could be much better. I am thinking of making a daily overview of where my (cash) money goes – like I do every month about the money in my bank account and like I used to do when I was at uni and couldn’t afford anything. It is a lot of work but it might work.

Come on girl! Focus!

So far it turns out that two things are the biggest threats to me because otherwise I can be good at saving. The threats I am aware of (and this is apart from the increasing costs of living etc.) are:

1) Emotional spending: Shame shame shame on me but the habit has crept in over the years, like ‘I feel crap, let’s buy something’. I’m changing it into ‘I feel crap, let’s make something’, currently making paper toys from a book that I got for my birthday. It’s kind of meditative and fun. And otherwise I could always go and practice guitar, for my other goal.

2) Convenience spending: Rather than making sandwiches at home and taking juice or ice coffee with me from the fridge, I buy it at the train station for much much higher prices. This is just an example but I have been known to buy a new shirt because the one I was wearing was itchy, or buy an expensive magazine just to have something to do on the train for 30 minutes. Totally unnecessary. This could save over 100 euros a month, honestly.

Last year I spent a (little) bit more than came in. Since this year I intend to do some extra spending on travelling and things like that, I need to budget in comparison to how I did last year. Even simple things will make a difference: less impulse purchases (Do I really need a new shirt? Thought not.), keeping in mind that I am trying to declutter my house instead of filling it with more things, buying and making breakfast in advance instead of buying it on the move, making instead of buying something when my mood is down, thinking of the things I will do with the money I am saving (practice delay of gratification). This should be doable, I think.

It will enable me to spend my money on the things I really want to spend it on: travelling, meeting (and making) friends, getting a tattoo, seeking out personal gifts for people I care about, seeking out performances and exhibitions that nourish my soul (unlike shopping which empties it), skin products that really work and not loads of cheap and not-working stuff (and BTW how many black mascaras does one girl need anyway?), that sort of thing.

Hurray! Me Go Girl!