Week 1/5, Planning To Optimize (Minimize) My Spending for December

I didn’t do quite as well as I hoped. I ended up spending nearly $300 more than I wanted in just the first week. For some reason I went on a shopping spree which isn’t even that common for me. Perhaps it’s the holiday spirit.

In week-1 (12/1-12/4) I spent $528 on just seven transactions.

French Press $80
Backpack $98
Wiki Media Donation $100
Financial Adviser $125
Podcast Subscription $25
Blog expenses $5
Coffee $5
Groceries $91

What Went Well

I made food for my urgent care shift today and I didn’t spend any money on eating out these first few days of December.

I resisted a few temptations to go out to eat with friends. I tend to feel pressured in social environments to spend, partially because I don’t want to come across cheap but also because it’s the easier and funner thing to do.

I realized how many little expense temptations come my way every single day. Tons of little things like getting a light fixture for the kitchen, making an extra set of keys for the condo, renting a movie online, getting coffee at work or buying underwear (trust me, I have enough).

What Didn’t Go Well

I decided that I needed a French fucking press. No, I did not need no damn press but I already bought it and now I’m stuck with it because I have the tendency of leaving the packaging AND the receipts of things I buy at the store, less trash for me to toss out later.

I definitely didn’t need a new backpack but that’s how these things happen, an opportunity comes up and it feels like it’s necessary at the time. As if the bag wasn’t gonna be there later. I’ve been thinking about buying a smaller bag for some time but I had to go do it during “lean december”.

Looking To Week-2

I have to plan this out otherwise it’s easy to just spend on whatever seems appropriate at the time. Sure, $10 here or $30 there doesn’t seem like much but add that up to multiple times in the day and extrapolate that out to larger expenses and suddenly I’m left with nothing at the end of the month.

I don’t have any urgent care shifts so I shouldn’t have dining-out expenses. I am going to do a grocery run tonight and prepare my meals for this weak.

I like going to cafe’s in the mornings to do my reading and writing. I’ll skip eating there, just stick to coffee.