by Elizabeth S.
This is a quick update because, due to technical difficulties, I only have an iPad to type this on today. My dad borrowed my laptop a few weeks ago for a project but I haven’t had a chance to pick it up again and my work computer is at the Apple Store until tomorrow. I had hoped it would be ready for this morning but alas, it is not. I almost went to the library to type this but realized (as an IT person) that I would be it would be a terrible idea to log into my bank accounts on a shared computer over public Wi-Fi.
A little bit of hopeful news… my best friend Dan (who is in Ottawa completing a Ph.D.) is interviewing at my work. He did a co-op with us a couple years ago. This is good news because if he gets the job, he’s going to move into my spare room for SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH! I am trying not to get my hopes up, but last I heard, they are leaning towards him for the role. This is going to move quickly and we expect that he would be here before March.
I had a very lean weekend and didn’t spend a DOLLAR! It involved homemade bread and eating out of the freezer. I feel silly posting a picture of bread on a finance blog, but I don’t have any finance screenshots for you today. Here it is, my perfect loaf:
Upcoming Posts
Thursday: My budget update and how my spending tracked for January. I started crunching the numbers and they are bad. I’ll break these into categories for you and include screenshots. I’ll brace myself for the deserved criticism.
Friday: The state of my finances. I haven’t given you all the monthly totals in two months! I’m excited to see what kind of progress I’ve made.
I’m completely recommitted to strict finances. Life is going pretty well right now and I have so much energy. I want to crush my debt! I want financial security! And I’m going to get it as fast as I can.
Elizabeth is a single woman in her early 30s, working as a manager at a software company and living in the most expensive city in Canada. She hopes to blog about her journey to eliminate debt and build savings for home ownership someday. Whenever she has taken two financial steps forward, she’s always taken a step back with a bad credit card purchase (we’re looking at you, unnecessary iPhone of May 2019). Elizabeth lives alone with her fur kids, a dog and cat, and when she’s not in front of the computer, she enjoys running, camping, reading, and baseball.
I’m so confused. This is the same blogger that wanted to get out of debt slowly and do the things? But now it’s strict? Maybe a post on the pendulum swinging?
I think that’s fair – I’m definitely reacting to the gross overspending from January. I want to tighten the reins significantly going forward. The first month I happened to keep track of all of my spending also happened to be the month I went OFF THE RAILS.
I think critical comments are mostly folks who want you to succeed. It is hard to balance enjoying life and being fiscally on point until you get your debt paid off though.
Elizabeth,
I want to preface everything by saying I’ve really enjoyed your posts on this blog. Your spirit and energy come through and they are fun to read.
I’ve been ‘tough’ on you in the comments, but that is because I do think that you have a great chance to achieve some of your bigger picture goals, but only if you achieve a higher level of financial discipline. Your last few posts have been enlightening because I think you benchmark yourself against the version of you that less than a year ago was adding to your debt every month. In that light, the progress has been terrific and you are justly proud of that. But that benchmark is insufficient for you to achieve bigger goals like home ownership and true financial security (beyond just stability), in my opinion.
I can understand not wanting to go to huge extremes and the perception of sacrificing quality of life in the service of debt. But you seem so far away from that threshold; $220 espresso machines (no matter how good a bargain) and $30 lunches are just your most recent examples.
Anyway, just some thoughts to chew on. Great news on the possible boarder, that would make a great difference (make sure you put that ‘windfall’ to good use!).
The espresso machine is not even near the worst of my spending. I think this is like a diet, where someone feels great about losing some weight and heads to an all-you-can-eat-buffet. Sometimes progress isn’t linear.
Elizabeth,
You are correct that your current approach to finances is similar to a dieter…it’s feast or famine without consistent discipline. Just like that kind of dieting doesn’t result in lasting weight loss, it will not result in the financial gains you want to make either.
Set a realistic budget that accounts for a reasonable (not excessive) amount of “living for the now money” and then STICK TO IT WITHOUT FAIL FOR 6 MONTHS. During that time, if any “extra” money comes in, send it straight to debt or savings. After all, you will already have your “fun” money budgeted, so you won’t need to splurge with the windfalls.
After 6 months you should have a better handle on things and can readjust your budget and your goals if need be.
You have a lot going for you in that you have a good income and have at least stopped the bleeding in your finances, but you also seem to be an emotional spender. Unless you work on separating your financial choices from your emotions, you are unlikely to really make the lasting progress you want.
Good luck!
That bread looks amazing! I think it’s pretty much required to share the recipe 🙂