I have a goal to spend less than $1,000 a month, TOTAL!
I had a miniature financial collapse this morning and spent $56 on Sephora cosmetics online. It’s expensive being a girl!! This is something the old version of Sh’Bieue would do — spend money but get as many freebies as I could out of it. This morning, I purchased two items: an overnight mask that makes my skin glow, and an eye makeup remover.
In return I got the following FREE GIFTS!:
1. A deluxe sized face hydrating primer!
2. Three mini gifts!
3. A gift for my birthday month – 2 lip pencils!
4. Another skin primer mini!
5. Free Shipping!
The old me would go to another website and buy myself more goodies — it’s been a rough week. However on August 1, I put myself on a budget.
Some backstory: I have been in grad school for about 2 years, along with working full time. At my day job I make an ok income and I’ve been living a middle class lifestyle for several years. I’ve been a very good little consumer girl Sh’Bieue.
Two years ago, I moved in with my boyfriend. We spend a shit ton of money on groceries. We can easily go to BJ’s every two weeks and buy a truckload of food. I don’t have the exact numbers, but we have been spending a lot on food.
I was spending more than I was making and I needed to make a change.
Two months ago I had an interview for an internship, my dream internship… I wanted to get this internship more than anything! I knew that if I got it, I would quit my job, and leave my comfortable lifestyle.
So I made myself a budget. My budget had several “levels”: Current Spending Plan, Budget Plan, Broke Ass Plan, and Homeless. My Current Spending level was pretty high. If I could just stick to the Budget Plan (not my most stringent plan), I’d save over $500 a month!
On August 1, I started living cheaply. Here’s an embarrassing list of some of the things I cut out of my budget:
- Often I’d get myself a “treat” at lunch — a kombucha or a coffee or a dessert. This “treat,” at about $3 a day, added up to about $100 a month!
- I had an embarrassing scratch-and-win addiction. I was spending $20 a week on lottery tickets! Never again.
- I was getting facials. This added up to about $300 a year (3 times a year), but I decided I’d start doing “home” facials instead. I bought some facial masks for really cheap.
- I was going to a chiropractor which cost $45 a pop. No more! I was addicted — I’d get a these terrible headaches if I didn’t go at least once every two weeks. In August I started doing yoga every morning, especially stretching out my neck. It seems to be helping, for now.
- I am going to start using “cash back” from my Amex card to get gift cards to buy myself my makeup and various clothing items and keep that separate from my budget.
- Uptown Cheapskate is a great secondhand store where I can get clothing on the cheap. Before, I was spending like $300 on clothing and makeup a month but getting very little out of it!
- My old daily moisturizer cost $42 an ounce. I recently bought a drugstore product for $10 an ounce that works just as well! I’m going to slow replace my expensive skin products with cheaper replacements.
- The majority of days, I will spend nothing! If I’m contemplating a $3 coffee, I will ignore the desire and make myself a cup of tea. NO MORE EXTRAS!!
On September 1, my boyfriend joined the game and it became a competition about who could spend less. We hung out on the back porch sorting out the details. Our budgets are separate. His goal is set pretty low. Since it’s dollar to dollar I think he’ll win, but it’s still worth trying. Here’ s some things we’re jointly trying to spend less money on:
- We are going to try to jointly save about $300 a month in groceries. No more truckloads from BJ’s! We are cutting out most convenience items. He currently cooks more meals than I do, but eventually when I’m less busy I’ll cook more.
- We’re going to stop going out so much. He’s a gentleman and spends more in this category than I do. Still, it’s good for us both to spend less in this category. We are finding more ways to have cheap dates, including our “ghetto walk” which includes a $1.50 can of cheap beer, using phone apps to get free food, and making dinner at home instead of going out.
On a sad note, I didn’t get accepted into my dream internship. I’m disappointed, but my day job just bumped me up to 4 weeks of vacation!
As for my budgeting goals? In August I spent much less than my Current Spending Plan, but more than my Budget Plan. (My car battery died and put me over the limit.) And despite my little collapse this morning (my face needed a dewy glow!), I have been spending a LOT less! I’ll let you know how the competition goes.