Where did all that time and money go? - No Spend Month

Read all my posts on No Spend Month here.

So, yesterday was the last day of July, so the last day of No Spend Month too! I'd like to say I grew up as a person and now I'm ready to move into the forest to live on mushrooms and berries, but nope, that's not the case. In fact, I think I thought about consuming and consumerism more than ever during this month! I also learned a few lessons, which are pretty obvious to anyone, but I hope I'll keep them in mind in my everyday from now on and actually see something change in the way I spend money in the future.

The things that for me really made all the difference:

1. Budgeting

Well, duh. This is the basis of all things money, and it's so basic that you'd think everyone does this every month. Nooot so. Well, of course I haven't purposefully tried to live beyond my means, but I've always had this (mostly hazy) idea of how much money I have, and then gone from there. It didn't usually go so well. :P

During July, I had a very specific amount of money, which limited my impulse buying a lot. I still bought candy, went out to eat, enjoyed an ice cream every now and then, but I didn't buy something I didn't really need. (And yes, a candy bar can be indeed be a NEED). I didn't buy books, yarn, clothes or basically anything I didn't have a very specific reason and need for. I know I can't stay in my "not-buying-anything"-mode for ever (in fact, I might splurge on an iTunes gift card for myself this very afternoon as a thanks for a job pretty well done), but I am going to budget for those expenses.

We'll see how this things goes. I just made a budget for this month, and while it's not quite as strict as July's, it's still pretty tight. Dirt-poor university student, you know.

2. Meal-planning

I know I said this before, but it's huuuge! I didn't really appreciate it before (and I'm still not very good at it), but it's so freeing to have dinner options, to know what you have in your fridge/freezer/pantry, to know what you need to buy. No stress!

The down-side of  meal planning was, for me, that I really get bored of my cooking preeettty fast. Even in July, i just had to eat out because I was too hungry and tired and moody to cook. Cooking takes time, initiative and creativeness that I just don't have every day. What helps, though, is to have enough space (or "grace" as most blogs seem to call it) for the occasional eating-out, as long as it stays occasional. Easier said than done, but I know this helped for me. "Meal-pooling" (like car-pooling?), I mean getting together with friends and cooking a huge batch of something and sharing it is great too. Especially if you're easily bored by your own cooking, like certain people here.

3. Attitude

This is not so easily explained, but I think it belongs here anyway. One of the reasons why I started No Spend Month in the first place was that I was tired of not knowing where I stand, financially. But as the month progressed, I kind of realized that I had no idea where I stood, not only money-wise but also emotionally and spiritually. I hope you don't take this as some kind of an I've-found-God-coming-out-of-the-proverbial-closet thing, because FYI, I'm still agnostic. It's rather that I've had time and space to ponder on the meanings different things have for me.

One of these "realizations" is that I really don't care for money that much. Yes, I wish I had more of it, I wish I could spend more freely without thought to what my bank account says, but at the moment that's just not realistic at all. With that I also realized that I want to spend my days doing things I enjoy, and if I make money out of them, that's a plus. Of course I hope to be creative and energetic and amazingly brilliant at everything I do, and that all that effort will make me rich one day, but honestly? I just want to live my life in a way that makes me happy. This may sound trite and superficial (because there are just about million blogs out there claiming these very things and sometimes it feels like I read them all), but I've had enough of being sad and depressed and miserable and ashamed to last me a life time. I'm ready to move forward to finding what really inspires and uplifts me to do amazing, wonderful, awe-inspiring things. Wouldn't you want that in your life too?


Oh, and the No Spend Month?  The final sum was 102,05€, so a bit over the budget. To my defense the extra was mainly from the bottle deposits and such, so I really didn't have to use any extra money to cover that over-spending. Let's just say that very tight budgeting and extreme exam stress don't go well together. A girl just had to have some chocolate, and chocolate is expensive.



Älä Osta Mitään (Turhaa) -kuukausi on (vihdoin!) ohi, ja vähän mentiin miinukselle. Pankkitili näyttää silti plussaa, mikä on hämmentävää sinänsä. Kuun aikana tuli mietittyä paljon omia kulutustottumuksia ja -asenteita, ja toivottavasti myös muutettua niitä parempaan suuntaan. Budjetin vääntäminen ja seuraaminen on ollut yllättävän hauskaa ja samalla haastavaa. Omiin ruokiin kyllästyin muutamassa viikossa, opinpahan senkin, että budjettiin pitää jättää jonkin verran ilmaa mm. ulkona syömiselle. Tässä elämänvaiheessa se tuntuu elintärkeältä harrastukselta. Kaikista suurin muutos on kuitenkin tapahtunut ajatusmalleissa ja -asenteissa. Vaikka ÄOM(T) -kuukausi on varsinaisesti vain rahaan liittyvä, on se kannustanut miettimään elämäntapoja ja -arvoja laajemminkin. Toivottavasti kuun opit kantavat pitkälle tulevaisuuteen. 

No Spend Month - Halfway there!

I promised an update on my No Spend Month and here it comes.

So far I have been pretty surprised how well it's been going. There has been good days, bad days, and everything in between. At the same time I've realized that a week or two weeks or even a month is not really that much time. I have started dreaming bigger dreams.

What has made all the difference, is that I finally have some kind of a grasp as to where I am, financially. I know when my bills are due, how much money I can expect each month and how much I'll have to put aside for compulsory expenses only. And even for the rest, I have made some hatchling plans. Let's see how well I'll stick to those.

Besides just money, I have been inspired. I have been inspired to consider how I really want to spend my time at this point of my life, and what I can do about it so that my days are filled with things that I find joyful, inspiring, and empowering. Even though I still have a lot of steps to take, I have planned a some kind of a path for myself, and that has helped tremendously. So, in just a few weeks, days really,  I have been inspired to take grasp of my life. Finally, some could say.

Besides these very thoughtful feelings, I have also made some very practical things inspired by the No Spend Month. Things that are going to save me lots of money in the long run, and just finally making time for these things has been very motivating as well. The biggest things so far has been:

1. Budgeting. Needless to say, writing all my purchases down is a very eye-opening exercise. Even though I know this is far from my "usual month" (spending-wise), it has made me think how much I have been depending on shopping as a recreational habit. And how much money that habit has cost me over the years.

2. Meal-planning. All mothers with families to feed know this already, but planning my meals in advance has made a huge difference in my eating habits. I haven't planned something for each day (as is usual, I guess), but rather I have a list of meals I have all the ingredients ready in my fridge and pantry, so whenever I feel hungry I consult my list and decide what to cook next. And then I eat the left-overs (and not throw them away when they get forgotten and eventually turn bad) because I'm really a rather lazy cook. Now, whenever I feel hungry, I have no excuse for grabbing some ready-made stuff at the grocery store just because I'm hungry and feel like eating just something. Instead, I recognize the impulse for what it is - laziness.

3. Resisting My Sweet Tooth. Very much related to meal-planning, I made myself a promise: if I want something sweet and sugary, I have to make/bake it myself (instead of running to grasp some chocolate bars so I can eat them all in one go). So far I haven't quite succeeded every time, but for the most part my candy/chocolate etc. eating is down by about 70%. Once again, most of the time I'm just too lazy, to first plan what I want to bake, then baking it, and then still washing up all the dishes. On the other hand, it's been marvelous to try out all the wonderful recipes for the stuff I have had in my pantry and freezer for ages. I'll have to make a post about my successful (and not-so-successful) baking attempts at some point, so stay tuned.

4. Getting Rid of Useless Expenses. I finally got around to quitting my internet connection. Now that sounds pretty drastic, but the truth is, I have been paying this year for internet I didn't need! Since early this year, internet through cable has been included in the rent, so my paying for the other internet has been a total waste of money. Now that that's handled, it's 24 euros saved, every month. Inspired by that,  I also switched my electricity company to one that charges less. That's about 5-10 euros saved every month. These things put together, I'm going to have smaller and fewer bills to pay every month. Sweeeet.

5. Finding Out Where My Money Goes. This has been a huge thing, I tell you. Of course I had a pretty good idea, but seeing it written down has a way of making one consider if eating out that many times a month is that good an idea. That is not to say, that I don't want to eat out at all, but all in all, this whole project has made a lot more conscious about my spending.

Considering these things, and my previous musings, I'm pretty happy about where I am in my 100€ budget. So far I have used 55,75€, so it's a bit more than half of all the money, but still pretty good. I should be able to stay within the limits, but it will be a close thing. But that's okay, too!

Sorry for the super-long post (by my usual standards), but I hope it's been helpful! I'll keep you updated, and let you know about my feelings when the whole things is (finally) over.


Pientä päivitystä budjetti-tietoiseen kuukauteeni. Suurin muutos on tapahtunut päässä, asiat ja ideat ja tunnelmat on myllänneet ympäriinsä, ja uskoisin kokeilulla olevan yllättävän pitkäkantoisia seurauksia. Käytännön puolellakin olen saanut konkreettisia asioita aikaiseksi, ihana vaan tietoisemmalla shoppailulla ja ruoanlaitolla ja ennen kaikkea turhien menojen karsimisella. Jo sen ymmärtäminen, mihin kaikki raha katoaa kuukauden aikana on ollut kiinnostavaa sinänsä. Kokeilu jatkuu, siitä myöhemmin vielä lisää. 

Suuta soukemmalle - No Spend Month

As you all probably know by now, I'm a dirt poor university student. If you've been where I am now, you know that as much as we all love the freedom and inspiration the amazing education university gives to us, it doesn't really bring any food on the table. The situation is made even more dire by the fact that I'm one of those masses of European youth who for one reason or another doesn't have job. So yes, for now I'm living on only the student allowance which is some hundred euros a month (A LOT more than in almost any country in the world, but still, this is Finland we're talking about here).

To fight against the constant struggle and resentment against my financial status, I have decided to spend a No Spend Month in July. I stumbled upon the idea on Pinterest, and after thinking about it for about a second, I decided that this is something I would love to try as well. I'm not trying to cut my spending down to zero as such, but I am trying to limit myself to only the necessary things and only one or two inexpensive treats in July. I'm going to put aside money separately for things like rent, utilities, basic public transport and medications, since those are things that are really hard to save any money in only a month, but maybe I'll try to get something done with my internet and electricity bills too, that would probably help me a lot in the long term.

So, my goal is to manage to cover all other my expenses (groceries, other transport, hobbies and such) with only a hundred euros in July.

That's not very much, but I definitely think it's doable considering how much food and such I have in my cupboards ready to be eaten and I have to admit, I kind of cheated. I went grocery shopping today and bought just about everything I could think of that I've run out lately. Still, because I had planned my grocery shopping list in advance, and I didn't buy much processed food, the total sum was much lower than I expected. I really should stop going to the store hungry and cranky.

Anyway, I'll keep you updated how this thing goes!

Päätin kyllästyä ainaiseen köyhyyteni ja yrittää kerrankin elää varojeni mukaan (ja vähän alikin) heinäkuun ajan. Asetin itselleni satasen budjetin pakollisten menojen jälkeen (ei jää opintotuesta kovin paljon enempää edes käteen kaiken kaikkiaan) ja nyt sitten katsellaan miten pitkälle moinen riittää. Huijasin sen verran, että kävin kaupassa täydentämässä varastoja, mutta siltikin kiitos suunnitelmallisuuden, loppusumma oli paljon odotettua pienempi. Pitääpä lopettaa kaupassa käyminen nälkäisenä.