Welcome back to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live! I am lucky to have joined a terrific group of bloggers who give a peek into the places and spaces where they spend their time.
Today's topic is How I Manage Budgeting/Savings. When we discuss budgeting, we often focus solely on the financial aspects of it: distinguishing between wants and needs, allocating income to various expense areas, putting aside money for big-ticket items, paying down debt, making decisions about retirement investments, etc. Those dollars-and-cents decisions are obviously very important, but I am finding that as I get older, decisions about budgeting of other (perhaps even scarcer) resources become increasingly impactful on my quality of life. Today I'm going to discuss five areas where I want to budget more or less of my money, time, and energy this year.
My Home: Budgeting More
While I am very pleased with the bunnification process in my domicile, there are two related areas where I am distinctly less happy: (1) the amount of clutter, which makes me feel frazzled and distracted, and (2) the amount of dust, which makes me congested and headachy (nearly all the time). Both of these issues have gotten worse since I started working from home about 4 years ago and no longer escape to a different environment 8+ hours a day. Things came to a head when I recently had a monster headache and realized that with winter coming to an end, I was reaching the end of the supposedly "good" season for my allergies and that the next 9 months were going to be even worse.
We have been in our current apartment for over 7 years, which is the longest we've lived in any one place. We really did not expect to still be here after all this time (not this apartment, not even the state of Minnesota). We also thought that the work from home period that started with the pandemic would be short-term. But here we are, and here we will likely to continue to be for a long enough period that it's definitely worth making the place neater, cleaner, and less dusty.
So my husband and I are undertaking an effort to minimize dust traps in our apartment and make it easier to dust/vacuum effectively on a regular basis. This involves:
--Purging/de-cluttering/consolidating
--Buying more organizers
--Switching to enclosed/covered bookcases/shelving where possible
--Buying a new vacuum cleaner
Actually, my husband has already handled buying a new vacuum cleaner. After a lot of research, he found a brand that is highly recommended for people with allergies, which is sold in certain vacuum cleaner stores. I was like, What do you mean, vacuum cleaner stores? But apparently there are indeed stores that exist only to sell vacuum cleaners, like we're living in 1950. He came home with a plain black SEBO FELIX Premium vacuum cleaner, and after its debut sweep, I declare it a very effective appliance and a joy to use.
My Clothes: Budgeting Less
My wardrobe is in great shape (and I am really running out of storage space), so to simplify my life in 2024, I am doing a No Buy/Low Buy year in which I plan to purchase only essential replacement clothes items. Otherwise, I will shop my closet for outfits. Obviously this is a recipe for spending less money, but not shopping will also free up time and energy that I can use elsewhere. I have done a lengthy No Buy/Low Buy period before (I broke that in 2023) and really enjoyed it, so in a strange way, I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with the clothes that I already have. I'm not sure yet whether I will do another capsule wardrobe for spring/summer as I am doing (part-time) for this fall/winter, but I definitely know that significant re-wearing and re-mixing are the cornerstone of my plan. I always get a lot of enjoyment from watching my wardrobe metrics, so seeing the number of wears go up and cost per wear go down over the course of the year will be satisfying.
My Beading Hobby: Budgeting More and Less
I have a change of focus/priority for my bead purchases in 2024. My frugal default is to buy beads when they are on sale and to make a purchase that is large enough to get a volume discount and be worth the shipping cost. This made a lot of sense as I was just starting out but I have built up a pretty decent bead stash in the past year...to the point that I am running out of storage space in my main stash (yes, just like with my clothes and scarves).
So I'm cutting way back on purchasing beads and other supplies on spec. Instead I am going to focus on buying things for specific projects I am actually planning to do. If you are not a crafter, that sounds like the obvious approach; if you are a crafter, you know that limiting yourself to buying supplies you have clear upcoming plans for is not the norm! I will also continue to get my monthly subscription boxes (for which I have a separate storage system that is working well and has room to grow) so it's not like I won't have any new items coming in. I have also identified an exception to the nothing-without-a-plan rule: I fully retain the right to buy rabbit-themed supplies at any time for any reason! Spring is Peak Rabbit so if there is an adorable Easter Bunny themed bead bundle available in my price range this month, I will probably buy it!
Self Care: Budgeting More
The less cluttered, more easily dusted apartment that will (I hope) improve both my restless mind and congested sinuses could fall under this category as well (because we all know I don't make home décor choices to impress others). But I want to increase time and effort in two specific areas to support my psychological and physical health: sleep and physical activity. I actually already have made a start on improving my sleep by sleeping on a wedge pillow that has resolved my sleep apnea symptoms and by waking up later in the morning (which is easier to do now that my commute is to another room of my apartment). I also have started (a couple different times, haha) incorporating more physical activity into my day.
And finally...
News/Politics: Budgeting WAY LESS
It's only March of an election year and I am just DONE. I know that political disengagement is seen as a negative, but I'm not planning to not vote. I am simply paying less attention and making myself less emotionally invested in day-to-day political theater to save my own sanity. If you know, you know.
Thanks for joining me in sharing where I'm budgeting more or less money, time, and energy in 2024.
Next month's topic is My Favorite Season...and I have two possible options to decide between.
In the meantime, visit these lovely bloggers as they share their budgeting and saving ideas:
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Where would you like to budget more or less of your money, time, and/or energy in 2024?
Blogs I link up with are listed here.