While we have a lot more things these days, how much of it is really worth it?
I’m sure I can speak for a lot of us when I say things are
E X P E N S I V E
While we certainly can’t control the world, what we can control is ourselves. That is important as often times we feel as if all the worlds problems rest upon our shoulders.
Money is often the biggest hardship we face. Despite new money being printed daily, we still never seem to have enough for everyone.
So instead of fighting this uphill battle I have been choosing a new strategy. One that balances saving money, while still getting the most out of life.
I was a very high maintenance girly, and I would be lying if I said I still wasn’t at least a little. Personally I love being a woman, I love all the soaps, serums, perfumes, dresses, and on and on.
On top of that I sure do love a good treat. Coffee, Wing Stop, and ice cream are all my greatest weaknesses. But all of those things add up and before I know it I’m broke again.
Despite a lot of error I have gotten a lot better at prioritizing and that’s what I want to share with you all today! Let’s take a look at how we can still have fun without going into the red.
A Sweet Treat Gone Bad
A little treat here and a little treat there, yet I always feel crappy.
Addiction always starts out the same. You do it here and there, then the next thing you know your chained to it everyday. Unfortunately I am no stranger to this rodeo.
I found I had this problem with coffee the most. Now I had never even liked the taste of coffee but it slowly grew on me.
While getting a treat isn’t evil, sometimes we lose the concept of what a treat is. Something that was supposed to cheer us up became a necessity to having a good day.
The same happened with fast food. I started wanting it all the time. Not just on the days where I didn’t have time to cook. Let me tell you this, coffee everyday and fast food is the quickest way to go broke lol.
What really triggered me to start caring was two things. One is obviously the money part but the second is I began always feeling like shit.
It felt like I was always bloated, my skin looked dull, and I was always tired. That in turn negated the positives that the treat was giving. I had also been doing it for so long that it no longer felt like a treat at all.
In turn it felt as if I needed to consume more. I needed what I was already addicted to, to have a decent day and a treat to have a good day.
So while fast food and coffee are great let’s keep them great by not eating them all the time. It not only saves your wallet but it also makes going to these places feel more enjoyable as they actually begin to feel special again.
Reuse To Reduce
Quite a lot of things can be re-used or reduced, saving you a pretty penny!
The sheer amount of every day items we can reuse is actually insane. This is a topic I definitely intend to follow up on as this in itself is it’s own rabbit hole. But until then here is a quick over view.
Growing up I thought reusing stuff was icky. I didn’t exactly have the best influence as the people I grew up with were NASTY. So often times the idea of reusing something was shut down.
As an adult though I have realized that with the proper care a lot of things can be reused without being nasty!
The internet is full of ideas for anything, plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, food containers. In my case I often reuse glass bottles for drinking, vases, or honestly just incense holders.
If your a whimsy girl than recycling is literally your jam. It adds uniqueness to your entire aesthetic because everything you make is unique to you!
Now the biggest stopping factor would be time. It can be intimidating to try and recreate something you see online. But baby steps here, you don’t need to immediately start recycling everything.
Keep your eyes peeled for ideas to build a catalogue in your mind of what you want to do. When you have time for it choose something actually realistic. Something you could genuinely use, or that would just bring you joy.
It’s Time To Cook!
A hard skill but a well beloved one and one that can serve you and others well!
Cooking is a skill that some of us are born with and some of us are not. For me I was definitely lacking in my culinary art skills. Neither of my parents cooked so to me it was foreign.
But I’m as curious as a cat and I’m always looking for new things to try. Cooking though has been a battle. While I love it I won’t lie I have for sure blown a gasket after messing up the same meal for the 5th time heh.
That being said because I kept messing up I almost thought it wasn’t even worth it. With the amount of food wasted on mess ups it just felt easier to eat out.
The good news is no it isn’t a waste, in fact it significantly reduces the amount of waste you make. By learning to cook you in turn control portion size, reduce garbage, and tailor your meal to YOU!
While sure you will make some garbage meals, once you get the hang of it you come to find that 1 meal can actually be turned into 2 or even 3 meals.
Not only can you meal prep and set yourself up for the week but you can also make bases to build off of. To me the idea of eating the same reheated meal all throughout the week isn’t exactly appealing.
So what I do is I cook a base meat. You can leave it plain and incorporate seasoning after or put a base seasoning on it while cooking. My favorite is to make fajita chicken and use it in breakfast burritos, fajitas, chicken tacos and more!
It not only saves you time but also money as meat itself is expensive so learning to make it stretch is a life saver!
Small Changes
We get excited to try and change our lives overnight but often it’s the small changes that make the biggest impact.
All the things I listed sound like some pretty big asks. You mean to say I have to stop getting coffee, learn how to cook, and reuse my trash? Yes that is exactly what I’m saying lol.
BUT
Not in those hard boxy terms. Take things at your own leisure. While it’s obvious the sooner you make better changes the faster your life will get better. Sometimes to much to fast is also bad.
We already feel as if we are drowning in responsibilities so to add more feels like a big ask even if they are small changes. But even the smallest changes can impact your life.
Do things that work for you. If recycling isn’t your thing then find what is. Because at the end of the day you aren’t going to stick to something you don’t enjoy.
Learning to cook from home can be as simple as just making snacks so you don’t spend as much when you go to the store. Or learning a side dish so you don’t have to buy as much food when eating out.
Make things special for yourself again so you can start enjoying life better than ever before.
If you enjoyed today’s post be sure to leave a like and comment what other topics you’d like to see me cover. Be sure to subscribe to see what else we have in store!
With Love, Victoria Fox
Leave a Reply