As deep winter is upon us, I have a hard time falling asleep / feeling warm indoors. We had endless rain with 11-12 Celcius for the past 2 days, which makes everything colder.
I struggled whether to turn on the heater (small, portable one since we live in an Asian climate), but at the end I figured it won't be worthy to take it out from the shelf and have it open for 2-3 days and then back to the shelf again. Not worth the trouble...BUT, boy was I freezing in the bed. I had icy feet and hands after wrapping myself under the blankets for an hour = difficulty sleeping (reduced hours!). Not too sure about having a hot water bottle as I'm afraid they'll leak and I'll have burns, or an electric blanket (although I have been thinking about it A LOT). Guess I'll put on some fleece socks tonight and see how it goes. Maybe a hot foot soak before bed.
Taking a look at the figures so far in January, I am on track with the budget. My transit pass still have leftover money from last month and then at the beginning of January I topped it up as well. It looks like I'd have money left over to carry forward in February. The biggest expenditure so far (budget-wise and real spending-wise) is medical. Gotta suck it up because it should be doing me good and is necessary.
After months and months of searching, I finally found a pair of glasses, it was very close to what I'm looking for, and the price is acceptable (not cheap though), and it shall be good for 3 years plus. I also knew the shopkeeper (a coincidence...) and he gave me a discount as well. Will be picking the finished product next week. I had hoped to reduce the wear of contact lenses (made my eyes soooo dry) by getting new glasses. My old glasses are scratched on one side and looking through from it was not a good experience, and it gave me physical headaches. The new glasses had been budgeted for and will be settled by the amount I put aside, which is good because there's less worrying on finances, yay! There is a possibility that I *might* get a cheapo version of a similar frame (costs 1/3 of the price of the ones that I just bought), to extend the shelf life of the new ones. But I don't need that *right now*, so definitely will sleep on this one.
I was telling a friend today that I had NOTHING that I want. You're right, absolutely no "wants". And I have mixed feelings about it: there was hardly any time that I'm not obsessed about something I saw online/at the shop; at the same time I'm happy because this is a right move in the right direction (frugality)! I have also noticed I browsed online stores much less, and spending only on necessary things so far (food or utilities). Now, I do have a few things that I "need", but I decide to save them for another day! They are: a warm duvet, a sleeping bag, a tea strainer (maybe), a travel kettle, sunglasses.
A thought struck me the other day: nothing, no one is looking out for me. Me being the middle-income earner so is not qualified for subsidized housing (cheap rent for life at a certain flat), nor was I a high-income earner that I can just dump part of my savings as down payment and start a mortgage right away. The position I'm at is quite "embarrassing" in a sense that I'm stuck in between. And no policies are looking after the "in-betweens", the society isn't built to look after everyone. This has also got me thinking about my career (!!!), I have tried going for other opportunities but the door was closed. Since I don't have a specialty degree, there's not so much doors for me to knock on., never mind a higher salary. Well, what about studying another degree? There's something that can add value (aesthetic) on the resume but will it make me more likely to get the job that I'm after? Possibly, but it's not easy at all. Questions, more questions and more thinking on this one.
[Edit: I realized the above paragraph might come off sounding whiny, but it's all very true, day-to-day questions for someone in their 20s to think about, especially if you have 35+ years ahead to work and to make financial decisions based on the way the society is constructed. The other day I overheard a washroom janitor saying she makes 24k per month but she works 3 jobs (!) to get that amount. I don't know her family situation, but I guess my point is, the society has policies to look after people like her, but none that look after people like me. So naturally, the (financial) worries that she has or I have, are different.]
In other news, I've been more active in looking for other income opportunities...been trying some paid surveys, only time will tell if they work out. Having said that, any suggestions from those who are reading / doing this? I'm worried that some sites are just scams.
I did so-so for the goals laid out past week, here they are:
- Read 30 pages of the said book read 5...really need to get this book finished!
I struggled whether to turn on the heater (small, portable one since we live in an Asian climate), but at the end I figured it won't be worthy to take it out from the shelf and have it open for 2-3 days and then back to the shelf again. Not worth the trouble...BUT, boy was I freezing in the bed. I had icy feet and hands after wrapping myself under the blankets for an hour = difficulty sleeping (reduced hours!). Not too sure about having a hot water bottle as I'm afraid they'll leak and I'll have burns, or an electric blanket (although I have been thinking about it A LOT). Guess I'll put on some fleece socks tonight and see how it goes. Maybe a hot foot soak before bed.
Taking a look at the figures so far in January, I am on track with the budget. My transit pass still have leftover money from last month and then at the beginning of January I topped it up as well. It looks like I'd have money left over to carry forward in February. The biggest expenditure so far (budget-wise and real spending-wise) is medical. Gotta suck it up because it should be doing me good and is necessary.
After months and months of searching, I finally found a pair of glasses, it was very close to what I'm looking for, and the price is acceptable (not cheap though), and it shall be good for 3 years plus. I also knew the shopkeeper (a coincidence...) and he gave me a discount as well. Will be picking the finished product next week. I had hoped to reduce the wear of contact lenses (made my eyes soooo dry) by getting new glasses. My old glasses are scratched on one side and looking through from it was not a good experience, and it gave me physical headaches. The new glasses had been budgeted for and will be settled by the amount I put aside, which is good because there's less worrying on finances, yay! There is a possibility that I *might* get a cheapo version of a similar frame (costs 1/3 of the price of the ones that I just bought), to extend the shelf life of the new ones. But I don't need that *right now*, so definitely will sleep on this one.
I was telling a friend today that I had NOTHING that I want. You're right, absolutely no "wants". And I have mixed feelings about it: there was hardly any time that I'm not obsessed about something I saw online/at the shop; at the same time I'm happy because this is a right move in the right direction (frugality)! I have also noticed I browsed online stores much less, and spending only on necessary things so far (food or utilities). Now, I do have a few things that I "need", but I decide to save them for another day! They are: a warm duvet, a sleeping bag, a tea strainer (maybe), a travel kettle, sunglasses.
A thought struck me the other day: nothing, no one is looking out for me. Me being the middle-income earner so is not qualified for subsidized housing (cheap rent for life at a certain flat), nor was I a high-income earner that I can just dump part of my savings as down payment and start a mortgage right away. The position I'm at is quite "embarrassing" in a sense that I'm stuck in between. And no policies are looking after the "in-betweens", the society isn't built to look after everyone. This has also got me thinking about my career (!!!), I have tried going for other opportunities but the door was closed. Since I don't have a specialty degree, there's not so much doors for me to knock on., never mind a higher salary. Well, what about studying another degree? There's something that can add value (aesthetic) on the resume but will it make me more likely to get the job that I'm after? Possibly, but it's not easy at all. Questions, more questions and more thinking on this one.
[Edit: I realized the above paragraph might come off sounding whiny, but it's all very true, day-to-day questions for someone in their 20s to think about, especially if you have 35+ years ahead to work and to make financial decisions based on the way the society is constructed. The other day I overheard a washroom janitor saying she makes 24k per month but she works 3 jobs (!) to get that amount. I don't know her family situation, but I guess my point is, the society has policies to look after people like her, but none that look after people like me. So naturally, the (financial) worries that she has or I have, are different.]
In other news, I've been more active in looking for other income opportunities...been trying some paid surveys, only time will tell if they work out. Having said that, any suggestions from those who are reading / doing this? I'm worried that some sites are just scams.
I did so-so for the goals laid out past week, here they are:
- Read 30 pages of the said book read 5...really need to get this book finished!
- Update playlist for workout 50% done
- Jog 1x (or walk if calf doesn't allow to jog) done...with inner struggle and resistance (it was COLD!)
- Make outfit plan on Sunday I have come to realize this isn't going the way I wanted...but will try for another week
- Make a list of items for blog sale nope, but must get it done soon
- Continue the glasses search done, but need to start looking for DB's pair!
- Gather some nice food for a former co-worker for lunch next week will do tomorrow since today is a No Spend Day
- Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize (face) think this is a YES
- Get to bed by 2330 (need to get better at doing this. Haven't been getting enough sleep lately and hence crankiness) Did this only for last night, since I had icy feet and hands, it didn't help much to fall asleep quickly
Goals for coming week:
- Spend 8 hours on side-hustle (been neglecting this for a while!)
- Get the other 50% of workout playlist done
- Jog 2x this weekend (ambitious I know!)
- List items for sale
- Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, with face mask
- Get to bed by 2330
- Pick up samples and gifts from stores
- Schedule dental visit in late February
- Pick up new glasses
- Take a relative to lunch (my humble treat)
- Call / pop by the store to ask about recycling program this year
- Gather some nice food for a former co-worker for lunch next week will do tomorrow since today is a No Spend Day
- Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize (face) think this is a YES
- Get to bed by 2330 (need to get better at doing this. Haven't been getting enough sleep lately and hence crankiness) Did this only for last night, since I had icy feet and hands, it didn't help much to fall asleep quickly
Goals for coming week:
- Spend 8 hours on side-hustle (been neglecting this for a while!)
- Get the other 50% of workout playlist done
- Jog 2x this weekend (ambitious I know!)
- List items for sale
- Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, with face mask
- Get to bed by 2330
- Pick up samples and gifts from stores
- Schedule dental visit in late February
- Pick up new glasses
- Take a relative to lunch (my humble treat)
- Call / pop by the store to ask about recycling program this year
Next week will be a spendy week but I aim to have all expenditures happen on the same day: medical, meals out with friends and such. Spendy, but planned, nothing going out of the budget numbers / frivolous. The best kind, yes? :-)
In the 2015 personal development goals page (HERE), I've mentioned that I want to be surrounded by people who "do good". Well, I dropped a volunteer form to the local food bank last week (don't ask me why I have this idea...it just suddenly occurred to me), let's see if I'll hear from them later on. With Chinese New Year coming, I suspect the requests/visits they plan should be more than any other time of the year (next to Christmas), so there's good chances they need somebody to help out. It's been years since I last dabbled with the idea of volunteering, and it's a huge step for me. I'd be helping in an area close to where I live if things work out, which is always a bonus!
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