27 - limited budget

(I know I've passed my Nov 30 deadline but I'm going to keep going until I hit 30)

As most of you know I'm in school full-time. That means no job and no steady paycheck. I have a small job working 120 hours/week during the semesters earning minimum wage. It's not a lot but it keeps me in laundry quarters.

Have you ever really watched your budget? I mean really watched your budget? As in paid attention to every single thing you purchase, every bill you pay and every penny that flows in and out of your wallet? It's a humbling process. It's also been one amazing year. When I had a paycheck I didn't really think all that much about buying the things that I wanted or needed. Toothpaste going to run out in a month? Might as well buy it now. Cute top I kind of like that's on sale? I'm game. Now it's more like Is that toothpaste on sale? Do I really need to buy it now or can I wait a couple of weeks? and Audrey Hepburn was fabulous and stylish with just a few tops in her wardrobe, I can certainly attempt to be the same.

To be sure, this year has been hard. Friends and family members with good jobs and good paychecks don't always understand how hard it is to just go to the movies (and not even a matinee!) and there have been things I've wanted to buy for other people that I just haven't been able to. One's social life in one's 30s tends to revolve around going out and doing things. When you don't have the bottomless wallet to go out and do the things your friends can easily afford, well, you don't see those friends all that much. On the other hand, I've taken more long walks than ever before in my life and have loved watching the seasons change up close and personal. My cooking repertoire continues to grow and I'm learning to make some of the things that would at one time covet. I am proud to say that some of the items of my holiday "give" list will be homemade.

Since I'm fairly far out of the consumer culture this year, I realize how much less stressed I am (to be fair, this is probably the only area of my life that I'm less stressed about!). I feel an absence of wanting, or shopping and of owning things. When you stop to think about what you really need as opposed to what you kind of want, you realize how little you truly do need and how much you really have. I have so much - what else could I possibly want?