What was your last purchase of 2009? What was your first purchase of 2010? These purchases are no more significant than any other purchases, but thinking about them might provide some insight into your financial habits.
My last purchase of 2009: $19 for lunch with a friend and her mom.
My friend ordered a similar priced entree, and we both made a face when we looked at the bill and realized how much our food had cost. Her mom quietly ordered an "eggplant steak" appetizer, which looked like about the same amount of food and cost $6.95.
Was this purchase worthy of being my last in 2009? No! It was a good lunch, but I could have had a similar amount of pleasure for about 40% of the price.
My first purchase of 2010: $2.77 to mail a Paperbackswap book
Was this purchase worthy of being my first for 2010? Perhaps. I get a lot of obscure reading material from Paperbackswap, which I enjoy. But when I looked at my end of year spending, I didn't like how much I'd spent on sending Paperbackswap books. This amount should naturally decrease, since I liquidated a lot of my library in 2009 and no longer have as many books listed on Paperbackswap, but I'm also giving myself a limit of sending out 25 books on Paperbackswap. That should be more than enough credits for how I use Paperbackswap (getting books I want to read that aren't available in the Chicago Public Library).
I'm not really satisfied with either of these purchases. I especially don't like that both of them are luxuries. In 2010, I want to spend much less on "luxuries," increasing the percentage of my spending that goes to true necessities, like basic groceries and rent. This isn't because I don't feel I "deserve" luxuries, but because I have big goals (see older posts) that are made easier the less I spend.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Last Purchase of Year, First Purchase of Year
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3 comments:
Last purchase of 2009: lottery ticket for $20 ( I won $500!!)
first purchase of 2010: new grey suit for $594
Rachel- I had to track you down and thank you for the comments on my query for Mick and his kidnapper. You brought up a question I'd never considered--the voice of the query being closer to the voice of the 13 year old 8th grade boy! What a new concept. I had always thought an agent would know it was ME talking....but maybe you're right! I'm going to try to rewrite (not revealing so much) in that other voice and see how sounds. Thank you so much!!
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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