I'm not sure I was ever quite taught how to save money. Just how to spend it. My dad always joked around that he made the money for my mother to make disappear as soon as it hit the bank account. Now luckily, I'm not that bad...Well, maybe I am. You see I have no problem saving the money in my saving account. I just tend to spend all the money on a credit card and then pay it off at the end of the month with the money I put in the savings account. That is what good responsible adults do who spend on loan. But sometimes the spending on that card exceeds what is even in my savings account. And then I go in this loop of ugh! I have no money. Now I want to spend more because I'm mad I don't have money. Its a viscous loop. It also means I have no visible savings accumulating which is frustrating. (Yes, I do have a 401K which gets taken out of my paycheck and I don't even feel that. I am strictly talking about spending money here)

So along with decluttering my home. I have been looking at decluttering my expenses. Mainly by not purchasing as much. But funny thing is my credit card was almost double this month. And embarrassingly I actually tacked up two credit cards this month at double the amounts I usually paid off. Aka, I can't actually pay it all off with my next paycheck. (I'm paid monthly) That kind of puts a halt in my next month spending because well I need to do some damage control on those cards. (which I will). But I also need to find out my cause because I can't keep tripping myself up.

Lucky for me, this week I discovered a new podcaster, Katy Wells with "The Maximized Minimalist." I loved the first episode I found of hers and went on a full binge of her stuff this week. I came across her episode from Sept 8th, 2021, called "Major Money Mistakes Most People Make". She featured Brie Sodano which is a financial advisor who helps people "Find their bleed". And they didn't cover much about finding your bleed in the episode because she has a whole career built around doing that, but it definitely got my wheels in my head turning. I definitely thought man that is exactly how I feel each month. I don't really remember spending all that money. I surely don't remember spending double (embarrassingly quadruple) my normal amount. They also mentioned about how budgets don't work if the habit isn't addressed. That was obviously a light for me as well. Budgets have never worked well for me. (Definitely go listen to the episode if any of my situation resonates with you)

So I decided to print out my statements. I decided to find my bleed because man this has to stop. It is maddening. And honestly my first thought was that my bleed would be food. Your girl loves food. I can be lazy sometimes about cooking and often want to just DoorDash something after a busy hectic day. I also tend to eat out of our Freshfood vending machine at work like 3-4 times a day when I'm in the physical office because the free cafeteria is too long of walk. (makes sense I know). So I highlighted everything on my statement that was food. Then I went back and added them all up. For two months it came to $300. That surprised me because I totally thought that was my bleed. But $300 isn't even close to the $2,500 on my one statement. So I glanced through the statement and found another category. Weekend shopping. I often take Lily to Target, TJMaxx, Bealls Outlet, Belk, Carters, etc. on the weekends just to get out of the house. We usually look around 3-4 stores and then grab lunch and come home. She naps and the day is great. Well, Kinda. My credit card statement says otherwise.

Every store we hit the tally ran anywhere from $75-$200. Multiply that times 3-4 stores a weekend. Yep, that is my bleed. My other bleed is Amazon Prime (I doubt I'm alone there). But shopping as a whole is a major bleed in my finances. Mainly because when I'm bored I either get on Amazon and scroll or load up the baby and "window shop". Air quotes because my statement says I am very much not a window shopper.

So what I didn't take into account when minimizing spending and cluttering was how I always entertained myself. The fact that I consistently was used to entertaining myself this way has become a bit of issue when it comes to decluttering my home and expenses. Because I'm bringing back in items. Mostly ones that I do intend to use and have purpose. Unlike most of my random purchases before. But I probably didn't even know I "needed" those items if I hadn't made the outing in the first place. And it is also hindering my bigger picture goals. Like providing for Lily's possible college. Or buying land to build our dream home on. Or honestly, just being debt free.

The first step to addressing a problem is finding the root of the problem. And I do believe I might have. Boredom. So I'm writing this post mainly as a documentation of stating the problem and moving past it. It is Saturday night and I have not spent any money this weekend nor do I plan to. I have definitely thought about just swinging by a quick store to pick up stuff for Lily's birthday party next week. I have scrolled through Amazon multiple times. But decided unless I had the cash to pay for it that it could wait for payday. Progress. I am definitely making some progress even catching those moments.

I'll have to check back in next week to see how on track I am. I do believe I will still be on track. This kind of reminds me of Cait Flanders book "A Year of Less" and how she had a blog to track her progress on her shopping ban. I honestly might have to follow suit because man this whole consumerism/boredom thing has got to go. I love the idea of intentionally purchasing items and using them to the maximized potential. I'm also seeing how much easier life is with less stuff to manage. Less stuff to clean. Life is more enjoyable and I can relax more. So hopefully I can intertwine that into my financial side as well. It would be nice to not be concerned with money at all because I'm not constantly spending it all away.

I have gone through and cancelled any monthly subscriptions that added to my clutter or honestly weren't overly useful for me. I cancelled BoxyCharm. (fancy me opted for the Luxe box...way too much money). I cancelled my Cricut membership. (crafting site for Cricut owners) because let's be honest I hate using that machine at all. I kept Adobe Creative Cloud and my website hosting. Two things that I obviously use a ton of.

I have kept my subscription to HelloFresh. I love them. We have not tossed a single item of theirs since we started using them about four months ago. It helps us cook a healthier meal and eat together at home. We usually get 4-5 meals a week. It also keeps me out of the grocery store. I used to go weekly and spend at least $200 on even just the two of us. Our HelloFresh boxes are usually about $75-$100 a week and I never have to go to the grocery store except when we need milk, butter, eggs, or olive oil. I try to make those trips quick. In and out.

I have also kept my subscription to Chewy for our pet food. That keeps me out of Walmart. Which keeps me from spending $200 on random items plus the food. It also means I don't have to carry a 50 lb bag of dog food or chicken feed. So win win. Also, don't have to remind my husband to grab food after a long day at work. Another win. Plus they are honestly the sweetest company. Quick to fix any mess ups. Amazing.

When cutting costs, I try to make sure not to cut out things that technically do save me money by keeping me out of a physical store. Also, if it does save me some time (and stress) then it might also worth it as well.

All that said...this is where I am right now. $74 in my checking account. $124 in my savings (embarrassing I know) and $327.66 on my main credit card. I did pay it down twice this month already. ($425 & $700 payments). Amazon credit card is at $2,654.76. I do technically have a photography savings account which could pay all of it off. But I have always reinvested anything I made from photography right back into gear so in my mind that account is off limits. Plus intertwining business and pleasure not a great idea even if mine is a side hustle.

Plan of action - Being completely vulnerable here...I get paid on Thursday (28th) and intend to pay off my main credit card, save $500, and pay $900 towards the Amazon card. I also have an annual bonus coming up mid November which will be one months salary. I will use that to pay off the Amazon card and likely finish off my Christmas shopping.

Side note - I also keep my bill money completely separate from my spending money. I honestly don't even see it. It goes straight into a joint account with my husband who does the same. And all our bills are paid out of that account including groceries (like HelloFresh). So while the spending situation is somewhat out of control the bills are still being paid. We also have separate spending accounts. I know as a married couple it is expected that all our finances be completely merged, but we have always agreed that we've earned the excess money we make. And it is up to us individually how we want to spend it. If we have a goal together it is added to the bill account and saved that way together.

So check back in next week for my update on if I successfully made it to payday. Did any of my situation resonate with you? I'd love to hear I'm not alone in this. (I know I'm not lol) Let me hear what you have to say about it. Also, I'm definitely open to any tips or tricks. (no I'm not into buying anything to learn about tips and tricks lol)

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