Treat yourself by exercising self-restraint and making better choices so that you can treat yourself better—later. Who's with me ...?

If you’re reading this, then first of all I’d like to say thank you. I appreciate it more than you know, and I’ve received a lot of positive feedback (mostly from friends and family) on my previous blogs. It’s been cool, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these blogs as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. In my last confession/blog, I discussed reviewing your visa statements and checking accounts to see where you can trim down and cut the fat. I shared my own progress and cancelled services (freelancer.com, dribble, law depot. ) I managed to get some of my money back by spending hours on the phone with customer service reps. Of course, this will help you retroactively repair some of the damage, but to avoid the damage, we need to re-evaluate our spending habits and how we choose to spend money. I say ‘we’ in the plural because it makes me feel like we’re a team, which makes me feel better and helps me stay motivated (even if I’m mostly talking to myself.)

Let’s keep going.

It’s 2022, and the memes are telling you to treat yo’self, along with every targeted ad that’s been tracking your consumer behaviour for years. Say the word ‘pillow’ out loud 10 times, and Darth Bezos corporation will flood your screen with every pillow ad in rotation. My second rule/advice/tip in my

Unofficial Guide to Being more Responsible and somewhat Financially Competent

Is to treat yo’self by exercising self-restraint and making better choices so that you can treat yourself better—later.

Step one: look at where you are spending your money and where you can scale back.

Here’s where I scaled back.

1. Book buying—officially banned.

I love reading. Over the years I’ve collected a substantial number of books. Books are expensive. I did the math and found that between 2020–2021, I’d spent $572.09 on books. I truly enjoy collecting books, and it’s been a hobby ever since I can remember—but I banned myself from buying more books. It’s too expensive, so I bought a Kindle on Amazon for like $60 ish bucks, and now I read free books online, or I check them out from the library.

2. Uber/Uber Eats—banned—except under rare circumstances, i.e., starvation.

I believe I speak for many of us when I say that a portion of my life’s earnings now belongs to the Uber corporation. I did the math (which took me like, 20 minutes) and found that since 2020, I’d been Uber Eats-ing my way to being broke. Since 2020, I’ve spent $3,444.21 on Uber (/Uber Eats.) This is honestly embarrassing, so I’m banning myself from Uber. I should just delete the app, but I’m not quite there yet.

Whether it’s Starbucks, online shopping, alcohol, weed, or anything else, I’m not saying to stop ‘treating yourself, far from it. But treat yourself with awareness of your finances in mind. Most of my advice so far has been phrased in the negative (or focused on what to avoid). Still, choosing to save instead of spending your money definitely feels like a proactive decision we are confronted with regularly.

Between Instagram, Amazon, or whatever online store I’m perusing, whispering sweet-nothings into my ear about how my life will be quantifiably that much better if I just added that product to my card and check the f out. When you exercise self-restraint, you should take a moment to appreciate and commend yourself for having that self-control. Seriously—because sometimes it’s hard to resist, and you need to affirm positive behaviours.

Blogging has been a true saving grace.

It’s forcing me to reflect on my spending. Now, when I make a purchase, I post about it. I’m confessing my financial sins and consumer consumption/participation to the internet—aka the most judgemental place on the planet. Even if you don’t blog, you can still keep a separate document tracking your spending to keep on top of your finances (online banking does a good job for you.) Hold yourself accountable by telling someone each time you make a stupid purchase. There are also budgeting apps you can use, I know my brother is a big fan of mint.com, so it’s worthwhile seeing if these work for you.

What have you spent ridiculous amounts of money on throughout your life (besides the obvious like groceries or gas)? I’m wrapping up this post here—as always, thank you so much for reading. I hope it’s been helpful.