Where did all my money go?
I know I made some.
For any other fellow Sex and the City obsessives… you’ll know that the above words are not my own… however, they are the words I heard echo around in my head as I was thinking about todays article.
Its tax time. And at tax time I send my accountant my bank statements - I know, can you think of anything more horrifying or revealing? Anyway, he wrote me an email and amongst saying that he’d filed my tax for the year, he also said: “Good job, you earned $$X this past financial year.” I know that writing it out here it looks sarcastic, but he is genuinely such a nice human, I really do think he was proud of me. And I was proud of me! Wow! Little old me, earning money, being a boss. But then it got me thinking… hang on, if I earned all that money, WHERE THE F*** IS IT?!
Now I’m not going to do an itemised retrospective on the (financial) year that was. That is too bone chilling and real even for me. Of course some of it hangs in my closet, but mainly I’d say it got invested into paying for family life and kids and home improvements and just the generally outrageous cost of living that we’re all experiencing at the moment.
That being said, for the past 40 days I have been on a purchasing ban, so I was hoping to see a slight uptick in out savings. However, unfortunately for my bank account, not purchasing clothes has not translated into being able to save money. So what gives?!
I’ll tell you what gives: me! To myself!
I think because I knew I wouldn’t be buying clothes, I gave myself permission to spend money on other little luxuries and dopamine hits without much restraint… but those treats have added up just as much (if not more so!) as shopping would have.
In the past few weeks I’ve been to:
my hairdresser
had a facial (and bought some new skincare products)
went for a massage
got a pedicure
got eyelash extensions
and attended a few pilates and yoga classes with friends
Despite my bank account looking a little anaemic (oh yeah! I got myself an iron infusion too!) I have really enjoyed being able to invest in me. Not only has not shopping freed up a little more cash, it’s also freed up a huge amount of time. No longer filling my free time with trips to the shops or hours scrolling online, I now spend that time doing things that feel fulfilling to my spirit. Exercising and seeing friends, and taking time to occasionally pamper myself (when I’m not on mum duty.)
So there you go! I haven’t cracked the code to having my cake and eating it too… but I have figured out that there are some things I’m happy to live without for 75 days and glowing skin and coffee with friends just isn’t it.
Do you have a favourite way to invest in yourself that has nothing to do with clothes?