Learning to be Financially Responsible and Less Wasteful

[tuesday_morning]

My name is Rowynn and I am someone who wants to do more with only a little.

What I mean by that is that I want to be less wasteful with money and resources, and I want to find more ways to enjoy life without having to spend money. It sounds simple enough in theory, but for me it's much different when you're actually trying to make that theory become a reality. Still, I have to try if I want this kind of change to happen, right?

My first goal is to start managing my finances more frugally. I'm still in a rough place with trying to pay my bills and all, and I voiced my concerns to one of my doctors today, who asked about my eating habits. I admitted to her that it's difficult to eat healthy when you can't afford to buy food, and she suggested that I look at local food banks to see if I could get food from there. I forgot that food banks were a thing, so now I'm looking at every food bank near me, and there's actually a lot of them. If I plan things out correctly, I could probably be swimming in healthy foods for the month, specifically because this includes local churches distributing food as "food banks" too. This would also be a no-cost way for me to start learning how to cook food on my own instead of buying processed foods all the time. I could do meal prepping and finally get to a place where I'm eating like I'm supposed to instead of risking malnutrition.

And then there are the no-spending activities I could be doing. A lot of it consists of using what I already have, so using my yarn to crochet, coloring in Dollar Store coloring books, or playing on my 3DS. And if I want any other ideas, I have a book dedicated to a list of no-spend activity ideas that I could do when I have free time. And I'm also hustling to try and find a potential second job or increase my shifts at this current job I have. I'm even willing to work double shifts if needed to get four or five shifts of work a week. At the end of the day, I'm just trying to have enough to save so I can live comfortably without worry. Not spending would also be great for my bipolar symptoms, since reckless spending is unfortunately something I struggle with during my hypomanic episodes.

At the end of the day, I just want to be able to be a more effective adult, you know?

Comments

[a_natural_beauty]

Oh yes! I relate to this post so much! I try to do this all of the time, too. It gets easier over time.
One way with food that I try to save money on is to eat smaller meals and portion my meals out so I can make two or three meals out of one big one. Like buying a big bag of Stir Fri veggies and separating it into three meals. I take those to work for lunch.
I miss coloring in my adult coloring books. I have a good amount of them and they are relaxing to work in. :-)
Also I don't have any streaming services that cost me money anymore and mostly just find all kinds of things on Youtube to watch, which is pretty nice.

[tuesday_morning]

I love this response because it's encouraging and also gives me more ideas on ways I can save! Thank you for sharing!

I think a good idea would be for me to review every subscription that I have right now, including the annual ones that I need and do use. It's always good to know where your money is going, you know? My biggest hurdle is having the courage to stop using music streaming services. I want to have and keep YouTube Premium, but I'm also trying not to use my phone as much, so YouTube Premium has to go.

Someone on YouTube made a video recently about liberating themselves from Spotify using an mp3 player, and it makes sense! I have an mp3 player myself, so maybe I'll try that out too for things I actually want to listen to. It's mindful consumption.

[a_natural_beauty]

You're welcome! I'm happy I could help! :-)

I use Pandora on my laptop and that's free. The ads on regular old youtube honestly aren't that bad. I still have my mp3 player from back when I was a teen... I can't remember if it works or not. But I think using one would work out well for you!

If you ever have any suggestions feel free to send them my way, too. I'm always up for improving my life. :-)

[shadowbliss]

Those all sound like good goals to have.

My suggestion is when in doubt, go to a Library. I mean the whole point is that will have free stuff for you to do.

[tuesday_morning]

You know, I visit a library almost every day, yet without fail I always seem to forget that they have free resources for knowing how to deal with finances and several other things. But today I happened to remember, so I signed myself up for a financial literacy class online through my library. It's self-led and it looks like it has everything I've wanted to know about, including things about general economics aside from personal finance. I'm excited to start it, honestly.

[shadowbliss]

Glad I could help

[brisus]

I think you have a really good plan to adjust your finances and considering healthier food options. Where I live, there are a few churches who give away food and a couple missions. It has really helped several families survive!

[tuesday_morning]

I was going to visit a local church for more food today too, but I didn't want to overdo it in one week. Maybe next week I'll go, but in the meantime I'm really thankful for the food I got from the food bank yesterday. I got myself a lot of brussel sprouts and I baked them for the first time in my oven. They came out delicious because I coated them lightly with oil and garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. And to think that I was going to boil or steam them at first! That wouldn't have tasted as good, I think.

This gives me a lot more opportunity to practice my cooking skills without worrying about wasting money, and I think I'm doing great so far!

[brisus]

That is awesome! I do love roasted brussel sprouts! I also like them with cheddar OR butter and a pinch of salt. Delicious!