thought i would bring this column back, seeing as i’m making frugal decisions one after another and not even bragging about it anywhere on the internet. this must change.
Roundup of Thrift was a monthly post on one of the previous iterations of this blog. I am not sure if there are any posts in the trimmed archives. If there are, they will pop up in related posts somewhere eventually. I talk about all the thrifty choices I made during the days prior. There are repeats – because if I made a frugal choice in May, it doesn’t mean that I kept making that same choice all the way through September. There may also be backtracks – some things may not work out for me after all.
Sometimes I’m the queen of reducing, reusing, and recycling – other times the frugality episodes may seem laughable for how tame they are. Such is life. It’s easier to make frugal choices when you’re not spiraling. After all my main preoccupation most days is existing within society and not letting the mask of civility slip. *eye twitch*
Without further ado.
1. I had a plethora of no spend days. Can’t say they were voluntary – there’s been some trouble with my hard earned money making its way into my bank account – but the result is the same either way. A list of expenses avoided.
2. When I had money, I didn’t rely on grocery deliveries. I actually crawled out into the world, hissing softly at passersby, and made it to the den of fluorescent sin, otherwise known as the supermarket. That saved me delivery fees and courier tips. Plus the supermarket I shop at without delivery is cheaper than the one that delivers.
3. I made sure to bring my reusable shopper bags.
4. I cancelled many subscriptions. Spotify is gone. Audible is gone. A transcript service I no longer need is gone. Canva is paused. HBO Max is cancelled.
5. I also made a list of renewal dates for all the services currently in use. Some of them are yearly. Others are monthly but have a cancellation fee if I cancel the sub in the middle of the cycle (looking at you, Adobe). That way, if I don’t cancel the things, I am at least aware when they will be charged, which hopefully means I will plan better.
6. I started budgeting again. There’s been a couple months break because budgeting seemed impossible. It still is to a degree – I have some highly variable non-cancellable emotionally loaded expenses. But I decided it was time to look at the numbers again, even if I can’t control some of them.
7. My cooking these days is heavily based on the contents of my pantry, freezer, and fridge. That’s not fully voluntary – please see the above ‘no spend’ point. But it is indeed fully frugal.
8. Minimal food waste – 1/3 of a fish preserve and 1/3 of a can of beans, 1 medium tomato, and 5 cherry tomatoes.
9. No more coffee capsules for now.
10. August was also the second month where I haven’t spent a single cent on gaming. It’s not a huge chunk of money reclaimed, but it’s something. Also no books were bought. No beauty products. No clothes or shiny things. I think the only relatively fun expense this month was a tasty beverage and a slice of cake.