Hello, all and thank you once again.... I really truly appreciate you for reading and sharing this.... It has been a hard and interesting experience, and yesterday was Day 30 - the final day of this experiment.
My Day 29 post was about how much I saved in comparison to what I might have otherwise spent.... Quite revealing. Day 30 is about what I've learned, and what I fear....
This is what I mean...
Autopilot: I learned that I was living my life on autopilot. Doing, shopping, buying, spending, without even thinking or blinking an eye... To me, that was the biggest eye opener to me... not just that I do it, but to what degree. So what I fear now, is that because I had made that pledge, I fear that I will be all like, Yay! I did it, and now I can spend! I fear I will lose that awareness and consciousness about spending money. I fear that "Oh, it's only 1.99, so ok" will begin to process itself in my head again, and I have to really be diligent about that. Tough one for me...
Saying No: I found my voice. I say no now, and I am comfortable with it, and it is now also understood that when I say no regarding money, I mean no regarding money. What I fear is that since it is well established that this was a 30 day experiment, that my family will have different expectations about life. But I think that this was also an eye opening experience for them as well. They saw the money that we were all pouring down the drain each month, and I think they understand that this change, albeit not as drastic, still has to change... We have to keep it up.
Preparedness: I have to be prepared for long days away from home with protein bars and such in my bag at all times. I have to bring my water bottle with me where I go, rather than buying the 6 dollar Fuji water - which, I do not care what people say, is actually the best tasting water in the world... I think I would drink water all day long if I had access that at expensive crap! But I digress... I have to have quick, easy meals available for those late evenings when I am too tired to cook. I have to do things that were suggested such as prepare meals and freeze them, or similar... I fear that I will not have the time to do this, because I already do not have (or make) the time to do other things that I know are healthy and beneficial to me.
So these are the things I have learned, and am still struggling with in some way. This is not a 30-day-and-quit activity. The reason I started this to begin with is because I was drowning and I needed to take action desperately. What I did really had to be done. I had to stop the bleeding. Next, I have to dig into my monthly bills and see what I can reduce there. I am already suffering with basic cable as it is, so I do not know what else I can cut... But I am sure I can streamline things if I really look.
As a result of all of this, I have decided that I am not stopping. I am going to keep the spend-free mindset, and continue the blog. The blog won't be daily, but it will be a regular account of my journey to what I hope will ultimately be financial health. I hope that you will continue to read, and as you have, continue to share your ideas and thoughts - because they have really truly helped me, as has your support. This was not easy, as you can tell from some of my more shall we say whiny posts, lol...
So thank you, and I hope you continue reading and taking this crazy journey with me! That's all for Day 30, yay!! Bye for now, I am going Christmas shopping before my Amazon shopping cart expires!! xo
No comments:
Post a Comment