simplefelicity

[simplefelicity]

february 2024 bookkeeping.

this month i spent more than i expected but i really don't mind.

what i spent

5€ for cotton yarn

3.5€ for a kpop photocard

5€ for a cafe with a friend

12€ for a restaurant with friends

13.5€ for a graduation present

5€ for a uni book

it was a v fun month. i met my friends more and had some delicious bubble tea (not featured here as my friend was offering).

the only expense i regret is the cotton yarn, because it was the wrong weight and now i need to buy a new crochet hook. which is fine. if that's my only bad purchase, i'm doing great.

another thing i don't regret but could have avoided is the new kpop photocard. i started scrolling down Vinted out of boredom and saw it by chance. still, i waited a couple of days before actually buying it and i managed to get a discount, so it was NOT an impulse buy.

i did try a head massager but decided it wasn't worth the money and promptly forgot about it, which is great!

what i earned: i managed to sell 2 books second-hand!

what i decluttered: i'm at 9,667 digital photos!

what i wished for: photo album, silk pillowcase.

.

march 2024 intentions

march 2024 will hopefully bring more bubble tea w friends and more books sold. i'm also expecting 2 other graduation gifts and buying a photo album at a local art shop (or online if they don't have it there either).

#budgeting #bookkeeping

[simplefelicity]

january 2024 bookkeeping.

i've decided that this is not a no/low buy anymore. i just want to keep track of what i'm spending and why, to make sure i won't fall in useless spending sprees.

what i spent

two graduation gifts. i was hoping to share the price with someone else for the second one since it was 27€ but it didn't happen. i'm still glad i went ahead as the recipient is a very good friend.

hair rollers. have wanted to try them for years. glad i finally took the plunge

a hot chocolate and a bubble tea on two different social occasions. i enjoyed both beverages and my friends' company

train tickets for march trip

what i earned: i sold 1 book

what i wished for: yarn for a cardigan; a five-year-journal; scrapbooking supplies; a skincare product; head massager; chiaogoo knitting needles.

what i decluttered: something like 2k digital photos. no physical objects.

.

february 2024 intentions

if i randomly visit the shop where they sell the head massager, i will buy it. same with the skincare product. but i don't visit those shops that often so i'm not positive that money will be spent in february.

i have plans with a friend to go to an indian restaurant together and i'm really looking forward to it.

i will probably need to buy train tickets for another friend's graduation but we'll see.

i will probably be able to declutter some old finished notebooks :D

#bookkeeping #2024

[simplefelicity]

I don’t engage with posts that wear me out so I’m making my own post to say that if you’re middle class and you go to a thrift store to get clothes to cut up for your crafts and sewing or support your purse collecting habit that’s fine.

You’re not a gentrifier. You’re not taking resources away from less fortunate people who need them more because thrift stores are businesses, not services, so the more you patronize them the more they expand. I used to work at a thrift store and my boss told me we threw away about half of our donations from the street because they were too damaged or dirty and we threw away another half of the merchandise on the floor that didn’t sell. And that was before Marie Kondo got popular.

So yeah those sheets would look better on somebody’s bed than as a tablecloth you made but they look better as your craft project than getting thrown away. You don’t know. And you’re paying the store to stay open and put another set of sheets out tomorrow. So feel free to shop at thrift stores especially if you donate to them.

[simplefelicity]

i was looking at my photos app today and was shocked to realize that i had 12.000 pictures saved! i decided that it's time for decluttering.

decluttering that many pictures seems a daunting task, so i have decided that whenever i feel bored and have nothing else to do, i'll open the app on my phone and delete a couple of pictures chosen at random, without going in chronological order or whatever.

this will also hopefully help me cure my addiction to color-by-number phone games.

my goal is to get to 5.000 by the end of the year. (of course, it's not a hard and fast number. if i decide i'm satisfied at 6k or 7k or whatever other number, that's fine)

so we start today, jan 26th 2024, with 10.763 photos. i'll check in on new year's eve.

#declutter #digital declutter #minimalism

[simplefelicity]

the older i get the more frustrating i find it how little people recognize or acknowledge it when massive problems start to get solved... i get the concept of focusing on unsolved problems and injustices to keep up the pressure of public opinion, but we should also acknowledge it when great things are accomplished. we just started rolling out the first-ever malaria vaccine which will likely save millions of children's lives. about half a million people die of malaria every year and over half of those deaths are children 5 years old and under. ive seen literally no one i know talking about this huge triumph for humanity

[simplefelicity]

marie kondo has had ENOUGH of people calling her methods minimalism

image description: a screenshot of an instagram post from Marie Kondo, where she posted a picture of a bookshelf covered in colorful boxes, books, nicknacks, and plants. Her caption is: “Fun fact: KonMari is not minimalism! While minimalism champions living with less, I like to encourage people to live with items they truly cherish. Think of it this way: tidying is about what you want to keep in your life, not what you want to eliminate. Photo by @/belorenata. #MyKurashi” /end ID

#declutter

[simplefelicity]

During the 2008 recession, my aunt lost her job. Her, her partner, and my three cousins moved across the country to stay with us while they got back on their feet. My house turned from a family of four to a family of nine overnight, complete with three dogs and five cats between us.

It took a few years for them to get a place of their own, but after a few rentals and apartments, they now own a split level ranch in a town nearby. I’ve lost track of how many coworkers and friends have stayed with them when they were in a tight spot. A mother and son getting out of an abusive relationship, a divorcee trying to stay local for his kids while they work out a custody agreement, you name it. My aunt and uncle knew first hand what that kindness meant, and always find space for someone who needed it, the way my parents had for them.

That same aunt and uncle visited me in [redacted] city last year. They are prolific drinkers, so we spent most of the day bar hopping. As we wandered the city, any time we passed a homeless person, my uncle would pull out a fresh cigarette and ask them if they had a light. Regardless of if they had a lighter on hand or not, he offered them a few bucks in exchange, which he explained to me after was because he felt it would be easier for them to accept in exchange for a service, no matter how small.

I work for a company that produces a lot of fabric waste. Every few weeks, I bring two big black trash bags full of discarded material over to a woman who works down the hall. She distributes them to local churches, quilting clubs, and teachers who can use them for crafts. She’s currently in the process of working with our building to set up a recycling program for the smaller pieces of fabric that are harder to find use for.

One of my best friends gives monthly donations to four or five local organizations. She’s fortunate enough to have a tech job that gives her a good salary, and she knows that a recurring donation is more valuable to a non-profit because they can rely on that money month after month, and can plan ways to stretch that dollar for maximum impact. One of those organizations is a native plant trust, and once she’s out of her apartment complex and in a home with a yard, she has plans to convert it into a haven of local flora.

My partner works for a company that is working to help regulate crypto and hold the current bad actors in the space accountable for their actions. We unfortunately live in a time where technology develops far too fast for bureaucracy to keep up with, but just because people use a technology for ill gain doesn’t mean the technology itself is bad. The blockchain is something that she finds fascinating and powerful, and she is using her degree and her expertise to turn it into a tool for good.

I knew someone who always had a bag of treats in their purse, on the odd chance they came across a stray cat or dog, they had something to offer them.

I follow artists who post about every local election they know of, because they know their platform gives them more reach than the average person, and that they can leverage that platform to encourage people to vote in elections that get less attention, but in many ways have more impact on the direction our country is going to go.

All of this to say, there’s more than one way to do good in the world. Social media leads us to believe that the loudest, the most vocal, the most prolific poster is the most virtuous, but they are only a piece of the puzzle. (And if virtue for virtues sake is your end goal, you’ve already lost, but that’s a different post). Community is built of people leveraging their privileges to help those without them. We need people doing all of those things and more, because no individual can or should do all of it. You would be stretched too thin, your efforts valiant, but less effective in your ambition.

None of this is to encourage inaction. Identify your unique strengths, skills, and privileges, and put them to use. Determine what causes are important to you, and commit to doing what you can to help them. Collective action is how change is made, but don’t forget that we need diversity in actions taken.

[simplefelicity]

What I wanted in 2023

this is the third in a series of posts in which i reflect on my 2023 from a financial perspective, using data from my financial journal.

things i can kind of remember wanting

a more precise scale. to weightyarn scraps with more precision. i have to weigh them like once every 5 months so it’s very low priority.

Masterclass subscription. sometimes those ads really get to me, you know? but i know that i’d use it for a week and then drop it. not worth it unless i seriously commit to it.

clothes steamer. something i think about from time to time, especially in the summer. but i wouldn’t have much use of it anyway.

bubble tea with friends. we ended up not being able to go that time and when we met afterwards we were like “nah”.

i'm constantly struggling against the urge of starting a small ceramics animals collection. my heart tells me yes, my hate for dusting forbids me.

things that i’m like? but why???

getting a snack at an underground station in the city centre, specifically so that i would get change and perhaps there would be funky coins there (i collect euros from other countries)

lime nail polish. i do not use nail polish.

knives out poster. when glass onion came out, i intensely wanted a poster for 2 days and scoured the internet for one and then forgot all about it.

old letters or journals. thankfully i didn’t buy those, because i already have some and have no idea what to do with them. should i donate them to a museum? and they cost a pretty penny too!

jellycat bashful cottontail bunny. i saw it in a store and was like: mine! i don’t know why. i already have one in another colour and no intentions of starting a collection.

jellycat fluffy bunny (oatmeal). i remembered the other one but this one? why?

opal ring like the one Lucy wears in The Rookie. if you’ve watched the series, you know which one. i don’t even wear silver jewellery.

perfume. i would never wear it anyway.

scented candle. i have no idea what got into me.

books

(i would absolutely buy any and all these books but for the sake of my minimalism) (i didn’t expect there to be so many)

Cassandra Calin comics.

Strange Planet comics.

Kate Beaton comics.

(they are all brilliant & i’d like to support the authors)

Come Fly The World by Julia Cooke, a physical copy. it’s a book i really enjoyed reading on ebook (and higly recommend!). once i have purged all my other books i’ll consider getting a secondhand copy.

Knitting Comfortably by Carson Demers. a book about the ergonomics of handknitting. i’d buy the ebook but it doesn’t exist! you can only get a physical copy for 50$ + shipping from the States. no thank you.

Pride and Prejudice, Penguin Deluxe Edition. because it’s gorgeous. but i already have a copy

Pride and Prejudice, funny edition. i found on Vinted an edition of p&p with Darcy smoking on the cover. i would be more precise on what edition it was, but i unfavourited because i knew i’d end up buying it if i had easy access to it and i can’t find it again.

642 Things to Draw. because sometimes i’m like “maybe i should start drawing again!” and then i never do.

things i will consider actually buying

new coat. an item that was mentioned various times but i did not end up buying. my current coat’s only problem is that the pockets’ zip doesn’t work anymore. i should just pay to have them repaired.

stitch markers for knitting. unfortunately i only like the very expensive ones you see on Etsy. but i was able to find some on Vinted, so...

beads for jewellery making. i saw some cute ones at Tiger for like 2€ so...

cross-stitch embroidery material. i like cross-stitching but it’s so expensive! and i already spend a lot in yarn.

tarot deck. i’ve been wanting one for years, just for giggles. i don’t think i’d ever use it, though, so i never end up buying it. sooner or later i’ll relent.

a new wallet. i have had my wallet for… 10 years? it still does it’s job and it didn’t get ruined but it’s not very fashionable. it is a bit bulky but i have other small wallets that i never use for one reason or another

barefoot shoes. sooner or later i’ll buy these but i don’t really have the time or money right now. also, i hate shopping.

footstool. my desk chair is too tall.

cotton yarn for a project. i will buy that sooner or later.

#no buy 2023 #no buy #end of year #end of year review

[simplefelicity]

What I sold in 2023

this is the second in a series of posts in which i reflect on my 2023 from a financial perspective, using data from my financial journal.

i sell my secondhand books and clothes and miscellaneous objects online. i'm not a reseller, i do not purchase things to sell them online. this is all just stuff i have laying around the house.

this year i sold 18 books, 8 pieces of clothing and 5 miscellaneous objects. in total, 31 objects left my house AND i earned back 314€. yay!

what was successful

the lesson here is, once again, list everything you can! even stuff you think would never sell! i sold a bag that i wouldn't have paid 1€ for 5€! you never know who is going to scroll past your ad.

also, being on more than one website/app is very important! i am on 3 apps and 1 book-specific website. the most sales came from Vinted, but Vinted doesn't allow to sell everything. my biggest sale (roller skates for 80€) happened on a more local app that's not as well known.

my most successful months were january, october and december, when i sold 5 items each. otherwise, i usually sold 1 or 2 items per month. i don't know why those months in particular were so successful. my guess is that it was a mix of new university books time and gift-giving. i wonder if the pattern will repeat next year as well?

i have finally finished taking pictures of all the clothes i wanted to list. it was such a long process! but i did it!

what didn't work

in the name of being on as many apps as possible, i tried to branch off to Depop. i don't know how it is in other countries, but i only got spam and people trying to get me to click on links. not even 1 real person interacted with me! so i think i'll eliminate my profile and good riddance.

i also ventured on eBay, which is something i've been wanting to try for ages. i only listed 1 item just to see how it worked and it didn't lol. i guess i chose the wrong item and i should try again with something easier to sell. buying something to get a couple of more good reviews would be a good idea as well.

but mostly i need to go on the apps i already use and reupload some of the listings (especially the clothes) to give them more visibility.

plus, there are some listings that i took off for one reason or the other and never put up again because of laziness and that's not conducive to business, let me tell you.

2024 plans

currently, all the things i want to sell are in 2 drawers of my closet. i can't wait to have that space back! so i need to work harder on this payed decluttering.

i'm still proud of myself, because there were times when i thought "why am i doing this? why do i even bother? why don't i just throw everything in the trash and be done with it?" but the numbers speak for themselves, don't you think? and i can finally start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, thank God.

in the new year, i plan to keep experimenting with eBay and consolidate my presence on my current apps. also, i should start taking pictures of my shoes (dread).

#selling secondhand online #declutter #end of year review #end of year

[simplefelicity]

What I bought in 2023

this is the first in a series of posts in which i reflect on my 2023 from a financial perspective, using data from my financial journal.

initially i wanted to just list everything i paid for chronologically, but then i realized that data without analysis is not going to be much useful. so here is all i bought in 2024, divided in categories!

these are all unnecessary purchases (so no groceries, rent, etc).

material stuff

a kpop photocard. i’ve already talked about this, i think. there were a couple of months at the beginning of the year in which i desperately wanted to collect photocards of this particular kpop artist. i already had 2 but when i finally decided to buy this third one, i realized that i was quite underwhelmed. i do appreciate them and look at them from time to time but the itch to spend even more money on them disappeared. i’m glad i did buy it, though, because otherwise i would have spent months obsessively thinking about wanting to buy one. giving in once meant peace of mind afterward.

plastic reusable water bottle. kind of a fail. i would love to use it more, but i’d need to hand wash it (if i don’t want the water to taste like soap) and i just can’t be bothered. i’m sure i’ll use it while traveling. also, it was super cheap for a reason! the nozzle is too big and uncomfortable. oh well, you live and learn.

new passport photos. that was unfortunately necessary & they are horrible photos too. frustrating.

socks. i was on a trip and forgot to bring socks, so i had to buy some there.  

jewelry box. got it secondhand on Vinted after much thought. i don’t have much of a jewelry collection (if any) but i’d like to. i also wanted to get rid of all the small boxes and condense everything in 1 place. which worked for a while, but then someone gifted me more boxes and i can’t get rid of those ones, so that was kind of a fail.

2 secondhand books. i seriously do not need more books (i own like 20 that i haven’t read yet) but i have already read & resold one book so i’m not bothered about it. my rules with book buying are: 1) only if it’s secondhand, 2) only one for every secondhand bookshop i visit, 3) only stuff from my TBR list (that’s a more flexible rule, though). i’d say that it pretty much worked.

1 manga volume. I've been collecting this series for years because i love the art but, i've come to realize, not so much the story. i've decided to not purchase the next volume and am debating whether to sell the whole series as well.

yarn. i bought yarn for a sweater, for socks (three times), and for a cardigan (and its pattern). all in all, i’m satisfied with this amount. knitting can get expensive but i only bought yarn for planned projects, used my stash for at least another small 5 projects and i don’t think i’ll have to buy sock yarn for a while! money wise, i only had one doubt. a friend who also crochets told me that the website i buy my garment yarn at is too expensive compared to others. i thought long and hard about it & finally remembered that my friend’s cheaper yarn is super itchy. which is fine for her, as she mostly crochets bags, but i don’t knit bags! i knit sweaters! i’m fine with my yarn being a bit pricier if it makes for a comfier sweater.

25 padded envelopes. i used them when i sell my stuff online. i bought them new but secondhand on Vinted for a good price.

gifts. i bought 1 gift for a birthday and 2 for graduations. at the end of the year i tried to be smart and knit 2 gifts, but then i had to pay for shipping anyway so it didn’t save me any money. still, you know. it’s gifts and it’s my friends and i won’t be cheap with them.

immaterial stuff & experiences

i ate out with friends 3 times this year. the other times we just met and sat on a bench and talked.

movie ticket for Barbie. my only cinema going experience this year. that’s depressing. i’d love to go more in 2024.

underground ticket. that one time i forgot my underground card. ugh.

subscription to one of the secondhand book-selling websites i use. it’s the only one i pay for and it’s only 2€ a year. basically, it allows you to list more than 50 books at a time. i have 63 right now, so i’ll have to pay again this year, but hopefully in 2024 i will sell enough books to get under 50 & not have to pay again in 2025 :D

a very small charity donation. i sold more books than usual that month and decided to contribute a little to (hopefully) make the world a better place. it felt really good and i would like to do it again in 2024. but i need to set some rules or i might end up donating all of my savings.

trips

i went on 3 trips this year.

i bought train tickets and meals while there. i didn’t have to pay  for accommodation as thankfully i went to visit friends and stayed at their houses. i also bought some souvenirs (in moderation!), like a fridge magnet and a christmas tree ornament.

in conclusion & plans for next year

well, damn. i spent way less than i thought or expected! there were even 2 months in which i actually spent 0€. which i’m sure felt great at the time, but i quickly forgot about it & thought i'd never accomplish something like that, ever. queue to feeling guilty over spending money.

my only true indulgencies were while i was on a trip. and i remember feeling quite guilty about spending money while there, as well.

but that’s why i save money: to buy expensive yarn and enjoy myself while traveling. so why should i feel guilty about doing exactly that?

basically, i want to spend a bit more money next year if it will make my life easier or happier, without feeling guilty. I've tried to do that during december already but finding the balance between overspending and being a Scrooge is going to be tough.

#no buy 2023 #financial journey #no buy #financial journal #end of year #end of year review

[simplefelicity]

What's going on in the congo rn is one of many many reasons that the right to repair is a VITAL tenant in leftism imo

[simplefelicity]

october low-buy results & november goals

october was a success! i only spent money on 2 things: shipping a package (and that was a planned expense for a birthday gift) and underground tickets (because i forgot my pass home that day, sigh).

i found myself wishing for materials for various crafts (embroidery, bead jewellery, cotton yarn) but i stopped myself since i already have a ton of yarn in my stash and various projects i want to get done quickly. this month i finished 1 sweater and 1 sock.

i sold 5 used books online! and since it was my birthday i also received some money gifts.

since i did so well, i decided to donate the proceeds from one of the books to a charity. it's something that i'd like to do more after I've hit my savings goals.

november should go equally well. i don't expect to sell as many books, but i don't foresee spending money at all. no planned purchases for this month! it would be nice if i was able to really hit a 0€ spent in November. i do have plans for december :) but that's quite far away now.

i wish a happy november to you all!

#low buy #no buy

[simplefelicity]

i must not get takeout. takeout is the wallet-killer. takeout is the little-death that brings total obliteration. i will face the kitchen, fridge, and pantry. i will make choices about what to cook and then execute them. when hunger is gone there will be nothing. only i will remain.

[simplefelicity]

forgot that i will for sure ship a package out and that will be around 10€. it can't be avoided sigh.

september low-buy results & october intentions

september was disastrous to my savings. i went on a trip and spent around 100€. i then bought the materials to knit a sweater for about 90€. i don't think I've spent this much in one month during this whole year.

i do not regret spending that money, but still. it would be nice if we could all have nice things without having to open the wallet. revolutionary, i know.

therefore, i plan on spending absolutely nothing in october. zilch!

i might go to the cinema next week, but that's it. everything else will have to wait for november.

i really mean it! the sweater materials will keep me entertained for 2 months at least, so that shouldn't be a problem. i might be tempted to buy cross-stitching materials, but i must stay strong.

#no buy #no buy 2023

[simplefelicity]

september low-buy results & october intentions

september was disastrous to my savings. i went on a trip and spent around 100€. i then bought the materials to knit a sweater for about 90€. i don't think I've spent this much in one month during this whole year.

i do not regret spending that money, but still. it would be nice if we could all have nice things without having to open the wallet. revolutionary, i know.

therefore, i plan on spending absolutely nothing in october. zilch!

i might go to the cinema next week, but that's it. everything else will have to wait for november.

i really mean it! the sweater materials will keep me entertained for 2 months at least, so that shouldn't be a problem. i might be tempted to buy cross-stitching materials, but i must stay strong.

#no buy #no buy 2023

[simplefelicity]

I must not buy. Buying is the purse-killer. Buying is the little-dopamine that brings total bankruptcy. I will face my wishlist. I will permit the limited time sale to pass over me and through me. And when it has expired I will turn the inner eye to see its impulses. When the mania has gone there will be nothing. Only $ will remain.

#no buy

[simplefelicity]

#no buy #no buy year #Youtube