Living off less

Friday, January 29th, 2010

I’ve started something new recently… mainly due to necessity.  Sure, I’d love to drop off and get a cappuccino at Starbucks and then get something tasty out but I have wasted too much money on these things.  Instead, I’m living off of less these couple of months and seeing how much I can save.

I wish it was due to better circumstances, but alas not.  The holiday season brought forward much thoughtful gift giving and despite the fact I was living with my father for near-enough a month, I dinged my overdraft one unfortunate Thursday.  With tickets bought already to return to Dundee, and about £10 in change I hope that money owed to me would arrive quickly–but instead these things have been dragging more than I expected.

It’s been almost two weeks and somehow I still have over £4 of that budget left.  I have a reserve of tinned goods in the cupboard that should last me in excess of a week, with money only spent on this highest of necessities.

I am a proud person, but in the past my money management skills have been nothing but terrible.  If I wanted something, I bought it.  If I was in the mood to eat out all the time or take those nights out partying, I would.  I was lazy, and too used to convience.

By limiting what I do and what I have it has helped me understand what is truly special to me, and what matters.  By having this experience, I have the drive to do things to make my life easier–not getting things to make my life easier.

What do you think you really need to live?

One Response to “Living off less”

  1. Nicole says:

    I think most of us have been there every once in a while.
    Hope you get the money owed to you soon.
    And you are right.
    We all get too much stuff that we do not need.
    I often have to remind myself of that too.

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