If you’re on the smarter part of the spectrum, then you probably don’t need my advice. Just in case that you ARE struggling with your less-than-stellar financing though, take from me. I’m not doing any magic, by the way. And no, apparently it isn’t really luck that’s making me survive my years.
What have I been recklessly spending my money on?
Oh, where do I start? From the milk tea I somehow always manage to buy every single day instead of a proper lunch in between lunch breaks at work, to the useless merchandise and school supplies I’m obsessed with rather than paying the bills. The merchandise is understandable (sort of) since they can be clothes sometimes, however the school supplies? I can hardly try to make up an excuse as for WHY I keep wasting my hard-earned money on them. I could say that I like to write stories manually instead of typing them down, or that I need a diary to keep a handle on my thoughts and ideas that always pop into my mind at the strangest hours.
But let’s be honest. It’s just a bad habit that started in high school at this point.
So how EXACTLY am I doing this witchcraft?
Believe it or not, it’s not entirely self-discipline since we all know I don’t have that. It’s simple and basic management. Whenever I get my salary, I separate most of that and categorize my money. Silly, huh? To make an example, I set aside a couple of zeroes for the bills, debts and groceries, labelling it as “IMPORTANT, HANDS OFF, ME”. Then I cut out about 12% of the entire thing and slapping on a note that said “SAVINGS—NO TOUCHY”. Whatever meager amount that gets left behind, I call “go nuts” so that if I ever spend that one in a single night, I won’t be in trouble for the next few weeks until the next payday because of the other two labels I kept away.
To make it even simpler:
- 50% goes to bills, debts and groceries
- 12% goes to savings
- The rest is for my bad habits
Although, I DO make it a point to also cut a bit out from the “go nuts” jar and put in an extra label I call “survival”. It’s for the lunch breaks I need at work since the groceries already count as breakfast and dinner at home. However, I can’t very well bring my groceries at my workplace, can I? So I need a bit of cash for that too. Unless I put in extra effort to wake up early every morning just to make myself a bento box, which, going to be honest here, nobody really has time for. For that though, you make sure to go to freakintastybento for some amazingly cheap recipes.