A Paradoxical Experiment

For several months, my money felt very tight. My expenses nearly matched my income, leaving just about nothing left over. Well, several weeks ago I sold my car, which freed up a lot of money. I bought the shoes and clothing I needed, stocked my dog supplies, and bought ice cream for my family. And then, I noticed how money leaves much faster than it comes, so I decided to do a no-spend week.

Last Saturday I wrote a list of the things I could buy this week, namely food and gasoline. That expense would not total more than twenty dollars for the whole week. I wasn’t sure if it would be very hard, since I don’t particularly care to shop, but it was surprising.

The first two days I came up with several items I wanted to buy. I wrote them in a list and forgot about them. By Wednesday, I wasn’t thinking about everything I wanted to buy, but I switched to a different topic. “I want to go write at a cafe.” Writing at a cafe would cost a three-dollar drink, and I hadn’t put it on my list for the week. “I could add it to my list, since I’m the one who created it.”

By Thursday, I was convinced it would be necessary to go to the cafe, so I said it out loud. Mom encouraged me to stick with my decision, so I went to the library—which is free. I finally reached Friday, and I did not go to the cafe all week. I did not purchase anything not on my list, and I am glad.

I am intrigued with myself. For the five months when I had so much money funneling it’s way out of my account, instead of making a positive “no-spend challenge” I panicked under the restraint my expenses placed on me. As soon as I had freedom, I enacted a restriction which put me back logistically in the place I was before. Why would I do that?

Comments

Thoughts on Fragility

What is the most fragile thing? As I put some pencil lead into a mechanical pencil, I wondered if pencil lead was the most fragile thing. But then, there are other thin, tiny things that break easily, like a strand of crystallized sugar. A lot fragile. But, enumerating fragile objects isn’t my point. So, I think the question is, how do fragile things break? Pressure snaps a twig or a pencil lead. Glass breaks when it is dropped. Hot glass breaks when in contact with cold water. Thread breaks when the tension is too great for the strands to handle. Most lightweight things break when too much weight is applied. It depends on the item. I think, people are the most fragile things in the world. I can break with too much pressure or tension. I break when dropped or when drenched with cold water when excited or interested. I also break wh...

Wordy Benefits

I think writing is really a good idea. I do it all the time and nearly every day. Scratch that. I write every single day, even if it is just copying a Bible verse. There isn’t a day I don’t pick up a pen or tap on my keys to string coherent letters together. But different kinds of writing produce different results. When I write for my newspaper, I am presenting new-to-me facts in a way that is (hopefully) understandable and interesting to the reader. I do not include my opinion in the articles as far as I know, and I am not basing much or anything of what I write on my personal experience. While my writing ability has dramatically increased in the last nine months of writing for the newspaper, I am not ashamed of the first articles I wrote, since there isn’t any opinion. When I work on the magazine, I have a specific genre to stick to. I am not teaching, but I am, to my best ability, sharing what I have learned and what I think about it. Because Deep Encourageme...

Declutter Fever

I got declutter fever. If things are messy, it means two things: the amount of stuff is too much and the organizational system is incorrect. I found all of this is true every time. My room was a bit messy. I had gotten sick, but the stuff just kind of got out of hand. I think I only got rid of ten items, but it cleared up the space I needed in my functional organizing system. I had a couple food items taking up a lot of space in my tiny pantry area. I had not eaten them in three months, which is a sure sign I am not going to eat it in the next three months. I put the non-perishables out for other staff if they wanted it and threw out other perishable food I wouldn’t eat. This gave me the space I needed for the food I currently want to eat. I took out my trash and recycling. I got rid of a few clothing items I don’t like wearing. And, like the little thing it was, I recycled a couple containers, like yogurt containers, which freed up space. It really was only a handful ...

Jubilee's Jottings

Search This Blog