HAYITSNAY

my desk

this is weird one. i’ve had the name planned out for a while. money march. mainly because amongst my friends out here, i have been quite vocal about money. and it’s just because i think being fiscally responsible is such an important skill. but i’m not advocating for perfection. i’m not asking people to never make mistakes and make sure they maximise every single penny. because, we’re human. my main issue is with the large misconceptions that set people back. for example. being lax with debt repayments. believing you can live beyond your means when such a route is clearly unsustainable. or just making simple, dumb decisions. but as i said. i’m not perfect. far from it. i own over 8 rubiks cubes. i’m known for my empty fridge at home, as i eat out more often than not. and i run what is essentially a taxi service, when i drive my friends back and forth, even if the drive is 2 hours and includes tolls.

so in the words of my dad, from oh so many posts ago: actions speak louder than words.

i was going to clamp down. do some introspection. what am i spending my money on? where is it going? is it worth it? and most importantly. am i really in a position to be giving advice?

but then things got… weird?

because something has happened. and this month, i have been spending ALL my money.

and you know what? we’re going to run with it. i’ll tighten up ship at a later date. lets just see where this takes us.

so where’s it been going? well. here are the notably purchases that are definitely out of the ordinary.

• merchandise for the organisation i volunteer for
  • enamel pins
  • laptop stickers
  • t-shirts
  • packaging for the above
• i used my own money on a subscription to an anti-spam plugin for one of the websites i webmaster
• lending my friend money for a laptop
• phone stuff
  • smart phone (but second hand)
  • phone case
  • lightening to 3.5mm adapter *grumble* (i needed TWO as well, one for the car and one for my headphones *grumble intensifies*)
  • custom made popsocket
• jewellery
• manual food chopper (because i never want to “finely dice” another onion again)
• set up a monthly payment into my investment manager

so. that’s about all that really comes to mind.

if i’m honest. i started writing this post weeks ago. partway through the month because i felt my card was coming out to play, far too many times. but actually writing everything down has been rather nice. it’s not that much money. and some of it will be recouped. namely the merchandise and the laptop money. so really. what felt overwhelming wasn’t too bad. but then again, we have to take into account the fact i stopped travelling towards the end of the month, as the corona virus threat got more “not worth the risk”.

in the end, there are actually some takeaways from this.

1. one day i want to actually itemise every single thing i buy. whether it’s a drink from a vending machine. or a dinner. or a trinket from somewhere. because i wonder what my “oh it’s just cash” propensity to spend is.
2. i need to somehow come up with a budget that works for me. i hate budgets. i dont want someone (even if that someone is me) to tell me when i can and cant spend money. but i do need to iron out an “ideal” so that i know if i’ve been ridiculous or not. instead of just assuming every month is equal and it will all balance out in the end.

so that’s been this little low stress experiment. being a little bit mindful about where my money is going. but this is definitely the alpha phrase. beta will be coming at some point.

see you in april.