Good morning, Lady @kerrislravenhill, receive a strong and warm greeting from my beloved land of the sun in my city of Maracaibo. New Year's resolutions include projects, trips, image changes or habits, but there is something very important that should be our first resolution this 2024... Everything must be adjusted to the budget to reduce costs, and optimize the resources we have at hand.
We have been married for 47 years, and we have always done so with integration and communication in relation to everything, and that includes our budget. Is our secret of setting priorities, and our secret art ...
We try as much as possible to my husband and I that the pattern of consumption does not exceed income and every month, we disciplined make a list of expenses that we can reduce to identify the (unnecessary) ant expenses.
Among our strategies, which by the way have become good habits.
The first week of January we were on vacation in Punta Cana, starting the new year was not so easy, because we were 2 people eager to spend our saving in Cana Bay. But the fact is that we both contribute in equal parts, and other income compensates for the new expenses (impulsive) .
Since the beginning of the year, we are still budgeting everything we want to happen. If it does not enter there "in our budget" it does not happen.
Punta Cana came into budget since we found out the dates of the flights in 2023 to go to welcome the new year... that's the way it was, with patience and method so that everything happens in its time....so we keep doing what always works for us.
Fortunately, my husband and I are not compulsive shoppers, nor hoarders of things, but it's not easy to hold on, to look, and control the urge to spendrrrrrrrrrrr and get away from the budget.
And discover a world of possibilities of wanting to make purchases of products that are in all the windows of the mall to fulfill all our cravings, especially when I see the offers, from knickknacks, technology, appliances to precious clothes for me. But I set everything with realistic goals according to my expenses, and budget. Haha, haha, that's why we don't watch too much...hahaha.
And if we go to the mall we try not to touch the items that we are not going to buy, we optimize our shopping cart, that is, we check within reality what we need so as not to waste money.
We go to the park, ride a bike, have a coffee or eat a popsicle...but not in shopping malls. When we go to the cinema, we go to one that's in an office tower.... We try as much as possible not to make impulse purchases, and almost always we organize to eat at home before going for example to the supermarket.
This way we control ourselves better, and not feeling under pressure.
Besides, we always think that we don't have physical space to take so many things that after six months or a year pass without use, in the end we have to throw them away, give them away, donate them, or sell them depending on the use of the material good, haha.
We really want a new year free of covenants, promises, oaths and limiting beliefs in relation to our spending as a couple.
We also want to budget with our tools to take as a situation of growth and expansion in harmony, financial success, is the best way to guarantee a year of opportunities that will guide us from the best way to monetize our purpose. Here are included our expenses even budget for emergencies in relation to our health and integral well-being
I assure you that already by this date of the end of January we are thinking about the numbers or data of the should have accounted for what we statistically expect. We make a monthly budget, I think that financial education is fundamental to control our income and expenses.
Janitze
Separator made with Canva by @janitzearratia
Any images in this post are taken with my iPhone 12, the Infinix pro-note 30 or with the camera eighties Rolleiflex 2.8 f, and edited with Canva
Translation with |DeepL
