Well well well, since I missed last months update, today I’ll write a two month check in. To be honest, I bought way more hinges than expected. This has a few reasons.
Impact of my No Buy Year 2022
Being frugal for many years and then doing a complete no buy year in 2022 led to me actually not having that many fresh clothes anymore. I always told myself that it’s fine to wear old clothes (which I still think it is), but I got to the point where I just didn’t feel comfortable anymore. So I bought a few pieces.
Same goes for hobbies. The long restriction made me not buy anything in that area so now I’m finding myself lacking a lot of things that I could really need for my hobbies. This is a slippery slope tho because basic equipment and unnecessary stuff are sometimes hard to discern. However, I bought a few items for my hobbies.
The other side of F.I.R.E
Listening to many podcasts of the Mad Fientist, I encountered many different perspectives on extreme frugality. I was certainly on the very intense track of „buying nothing to save as much as possible“. But to be honest, life slips by fast and if we don’t enjoy some of our interests or hobbies or sometimes splurge on cool snacks or whatever then a lot of joy can be missed. This realisation and the ensuing change of mindset led to a lot more spending tho. I’m still not sure on how to balance the two sides properly but wanted to share the thought process.
The Numbers
However, let’s look at my numbers so see where I stand with my Low Buy Year. My yearly budget for things (clothes, gadgets, books etc.) is 500$ this year, of which I have already spent 31,59$ as of April 30th.
My total spending on things in may was 81,39$.
For June, it was 96,72$.
Together with the previous months, this adds up to 267,85$.
500- 267,85 = 232,15.
So for the rest of the year I have 232,15$ left in my budget. I think this could work out since I’m close to having spent half of my budget in half the year, so it might be okay. But it’s also a bit worrying, knowing that I only have so much left. We’ll see how it goes, I’m curious myself. Hope your financial journey this year is going well so far!