The bleak economic situation that stems from the housing crisis, soaring food prices, shortages of supplies of everything, stagnated wages, and interest rates going through the roof (at least in the UK) got me wondering how one could start on the path to financial freedom in 2023. Taking into consideration the political, economic, social and environmental upheavals we have been going through since the pandemic …
All posts filed under budgeting
Practical Tips to Keep Your Spending in Check Before the Christmas Gift Craziness Begins
The Christmas Holiday period is already upon us. I noticed that many shops opted out of Halloween this year and focused their energy and efforts on Christmas sales instead. For many years the consumer trend was to splash on Christmas gifts and Christmas Holidays get aways. The corporate messaging, we have been exposed to for generations always implied that the bigger the gift, the more …
Budgeting, Spending and Investments in Time of Inflation
Budgeting & Spending I have been trying to control our family budget since the beginning of the year (2022). The prices are going up with lightning speed and my family’s needs are also changing and increasing. Like everyone else, we are paying more for gas and electricity. To save on heating in the coming winter, I got myself a thermal top on sale, which I’m …
The Unnecessary Purchases I Made in 2021
Some financial goals I set myself for 2021, I didn’t manage to reach by the end of December. But I’ll reach them by the end of January 2022; I’m a month late. Yes, that makes me, in some respects, upset with myself. However, at the same time, this is the first time in my life I had financial goals set that were reachable. All financial …
Learning How to Manage Money
Managing money is a skill and not a knowledge people are usually born with. This type of assumption is misleading, giving the false belief that money management is a gift rather than a skill anyone can learn. Yes, our early childhood indeed influences our financial decisions and understanding of what money is used for. However, the financial choices our parents, carers or adults in our …
The Treasures I Found in My Mum’s House
In the past year, I’ve visited my parents’ house three times. Each visit included cleaning one of the bedrooms, which gradually had become storage for all the unwanted stuff we all have gathered over the years. Last year I found so many items of clothing that it made me cry just to think how hard I had to work to buy those things, only to …
Decreasing the Amount of Money, You Need to Be Happy
I believe that one of the biggest offenders on the journey to FI is an inflated lifestyle, which doesn’t give long-term happiness, adding instead to the number of financial obligations we have. Decreasing the amount of money we need to be happy, is a long-term lifestyle choice, not a quick fix that can make people feel better for an hour or two. In my 20’s I …
Why Budgeting Matters?
For a very long time, I didn’t really understand how budgeting worked. I only used budgets to limit myself, instead of realistically looking at my needs and what amount/percentage of my income I allocated to meeting those needs. Without knowing my actual spendings, it was pretty impossible to know what percentage I could save or invest. I was stupidly unaware of where my money was …