I cannot believe it’s been seven weeks since I started my new annual goals. I have no idea how that happened. Counting the weeks has made me feel pretty guilty about how little I’ve done. Still, I have done a couple of things that are important to me.
As pictured here, I went out for dinner and drinks in a joint birthday celebration with my beautiful friend, M. Our birthdays are five days apart, and we usually buy each other gifts. We do often go out for happy hour as well, but not always. I know that she is big into experiences instead of stuff, so I thought she would be the perfect person to start working on that goal with.
It helped that it was my birthday, too. It’s a lot easier to say to someone, “Hey, let’s go out and try something fun together to celebrate our birthdays instead of buying tangible gifts” than it is to say “You know how I usually take you out for happy hour and give you a present for your birthday? Well, I know you probably don’t even remember what I gave you last year (and hey, neither do I), so let’s just skip that part and spend a little more money on the experience”. The second way you just sound like a cheapass. I haven’t quite figured out to spin that yet.
M and I had so much fun hanging out. That’s what sucks about growing up- the more responsibilities you have, the more rare that time with your friends is. We used to hang out a few times a week, and now we’re lucky if it’s a few times a month. I loved going the experience instead of stuff route, and I definitely want to keep that going.
I automated my emergency fund deposits for each month. I’ve had two go in so far, which is awesome. I have really not saved anything over the last year in my emergency fund, because everything I’ve put in has come out at some point. Last year was super expensive! I also checked my credit, and didn’t see any red flags. My score is the highest it’s ever been, which was exciting!
Maybe I find strange things exciting, but I think those are my biggest accomplishments so far on my list. Simplifying gift giving and saving, but in totally different ways. Anyone else trying anything new this year that they’ve managed to stick to?
Jillian