Pandemic Spending Analysis
Pandemic Spending Analysis - What do you really need?
Across the country, everyone has now been living with some form of restrictions for a month or more now. While restrictions will start to ease off soon in some areas, we have an opportunity to reflect and consider how the pandemic impacted our spending habits - and what (if any) impact that had on our daily lives.
My credit card bill comes in a record low number of pages - which is a good thing with the lower income sources - and it's an opportunity to reflect on what I've missed. I've been spending on gas - for trips back and forth to pick-up the kids. And on groceries - but about one bill every two weeks, rather than multiple trips that add additional costs and unneeded items to the bill. Beyond that... my online training software, cell phone and internet costs.
I haven't been able to order anything from Amazon that would be delivered in less than a month - and discovered if I have to "wait" for something, I conclude I don't need it that bad... exit the Prime Membership recurring charge as well which was only creating access for consumption (not to mention the opportunity to binge watch shows I never needed to see in the first place).
Coffee ... can be made at home
Gas... minimal required when not driving all over the place for random trips
Recurring charges for unused or non-essential memberships... cancelled
I'm now even working to actively purge and reduce my cloud storage needs to downgrade or cancel the my iCloud storage.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not planning to continue to isolate under a rock once the orders are lifted - and I've really started to appreciate the value of Connections - Activities - Experiences over the accumulation of stuff. We'll all play a critical role in restarting the economy - and helping the business we know and love to make a comeback. Inside my discoveries, some permanent changes in my spending patterns are starting to take shape. I'm discovering new ways to engage with my spending - new opportunities to live a fully self-expressed life through doing things (once restrictions are lifted) rather than accumulating things.
Final tip - check in on your "subscriptions" by scanning through your monthly bills. It is so easy these days to sign-up for things we think are going to be awesome - only to stop using them after a few weeks... while the charges still keep ticking away on your cards. Consider
- premium music streaming services
- video streaming services
- cloud based storage or services
- membership based websites
- software and apps you don't use for essential purposes
- any service that duplicates another service you pay for (phone services / web conferences / news and/or video services)
Consider how the benefits paid / premium charges really benefit your life. Is add-free that important in music streaming? Do we need personalized playlists downloaded in the car (remember radio..)? It's amazing how quickly "only $10.99 (plus HST of course) a months" add up and actually end up detracting from the quality of our lives.
Take some time this week to really read through your bills and get clear on the "what's so" of where your money is going - and I promise new opportunities will appear for you!
#MoneyMindset #Money #Abundance #GiveToGet #Budget #WarriorMindset #OwnYourDay #ThoughtsBecomeThings #Powerful #Happy #HealthyLivingWarrior #GayPersonalTrainer #GayTrainer #PersonalTrainer #Trainer #PersonalTraining #Training #OnlinePersonalTraining #Fitness #FitnessGoals
Across the country, everyone has now been living with some form of restrictions for a month or more now. While restrictions will start to ease off soon in some areas, we have an opportunity to reflect and consider how the pandemic impacted our spending habits - and what (if any) impact that had on our daily lives.
My credit card bill comes in a record low number of pages - which is a good thing with the lower income sources - and it's an opportunity to reflect on what I've missed. I've been spending on gas - for trips back and forth to pick-up the kids. And on groceries - but about one bill every two weeks, rather than multiple trips that add additional costs and unneeded items to the bill. Beyond that... my online training software, cell phone and internet costs.
I haven't been able to order anything from Amazon that would be delivered in less than a month - and discovered if I have to "wait" for something, I conclude I don't need it that bad... exit the Prime Membership recurring charge as well which was only creating access for consumption (not to mention the opportunity to binge watch shows I never needed to see in the first place).
Coffee ... can be made at home
Gas... minimal required when not driving all over the place for random trips
Recurring charges for unused or non-essential memberships... cancelled
I'm now even working to actively purge and reduce my cloud storage needs to downgrade or cancel the my iCloud storage.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not planning to continue to isolate under a rock once the orders are lifted - and I've really started to appreciate the value of Connections - Activities - Experiences over the accumulation of stuff. We'll all play a critical role in restarting the economy - and helping the business we know and love to make a comeback. Inside my discoveries, some permanent changes in my spending patterns are starting to take shape. I'm discovering new ways to engage with my spending - new opportunities to live a fully self-expressed life through doing things (once restrictions are lifted) rather than accumulating things.
Final tip - check in on your "subscriptions" by scanning through your monthly bills. It is so easy these days to sign-up for things we think are going to be awesome - only to stop using them after a few weeks... while the charges still keep ticking away on your cards. Consider
- premium music streaming services
- video streaming services
- cloud based storage or services
- membership based websites
- software and apps you don't use for essential purposes
- any service that duplicates another service you pay for (phone services / web conferences / news and/or video services)
Consider how the benefits paid / premium charges really benefit your life. Is add-free that important in music streaming? Do we need personalized playlists downloaded in the car (remember radio..)? It's amazing how quickly "only $10.99 (plus HST of course) a months" add up and actually end up detracting from the quality of our lives.
Take some time this week to really read through your bills and get clear on the "what's so" of where your money is going - and I promise new opportunities will appear for you!
#MoneyMindset #Money #Abundance #GiveToGet #Budget #WarriorMindset #OwnYourDay #ThoughtsBecomeThings #Powerful #Happy #HealthyLivingWarrior #GayPersonalTrainer #GayTrainer #PersonalTrainer #Trainer #PersonalTraining #Training #OnlinePersonalTraining #Fitness #FitnessGoals
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