Money Musings 💭 the spending surge 🎢
If you’ve had a money party 🥳 recently and noticed your spending looks a lot different (cough, higher) than it did a year ago, you are not alone.
I have definitely seen an increase in my own spending and the Fiscal Femme community echoed this observation. Here’s what you shared you’re spending more money on:
Dining out
Experiences / day trips
Travel
Clothes / shopping
Alcohol / bars / happy hour
Theater
Entertainment / movies
Babysitters
Kids school stuff - clothes and supplies
Gas / commuting expenses
Health / self-care (ie. a personal trainer, gym membership)
Gifts for weddings, baby showers and graduations
And guess what? I don’t regret my increase in spending. Anymore. 🙈
At first, the jump in my spending made my heart skip a beat. It was really nice to be able to save and give more than I used to. It was really nice to see a $0 in my dining out budget. But what was the cost of that?
One of the good things about completely paring back our spending is that we notice what we miss and what we don’t. When we add things back in we can be really intentional about what brings us joy. We also might notice if there are things that we don’t want to do anymore.
I’m so excited to spend more time with friends and family. That might include some additional money on transit, groceries for hosting, a dinner out, or added babysitting budget. That being said, I’ve decided not to go back to my pre-pandemic social schedule. I realized after taking a year plus off that I was overdoing it.
I’m also excited to travel. 🌎 For larger expenses like travel, I steadily build up my sinking fund. If travel is something on your list, decide on a goal and start building it up.
When you look at your spending as things are opening back up, what spending is worth it to you? What are you excited to spend more money on? What are you excited to keep as is? Hit reply and let me know.
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
DO A VALUES SPENDING CHECK.
Last week we wrote our values statement (ICYMI, learn how to do it here). This week we’re going to put that values statement into action.
List out each of the items you spend money on. You can reference your budget, bank statements, or credit card statements if that’s helpful.
Score each item based on how aligned it is with your values on a scale of 1-10. Assign a 1 for purchases not aligned. Give a 10 to purchase that are a direct reflection of your values.
This is of course subjective and will look different for each of us. Make sure to think about the item or experience itself as well as the companies you are supporting with your dollars.
For example, you might decide that your phone bill is very aligned with your values because it allows you to communicate with friends and family and/or work. What about the phone company itself? Do they have women and POC on their Boards and management teams? Do they treat their employees well and invest in causes that you believe in? Include that in your ranking.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
DEFINE: CONSUMER ACTIVISM.
Consumer activism means spending, saving or investing your money in ways that support or vote for things you believe in. It also means not using your dollars (or boycotting) companies that act or speak out in a way that goes against your values. Consumer activism has become one the most common forms of political actions (besides voting).
The idea is that when we buy or don’t buy something, our group buying power can influence companies to change their practices and policies. We’re casting a vote for the world we want to see.
I recently interviewed Georgia Lee Hussey, the founder of Modernist Financial, for the book. We had a great conversation (that I can't wait to share) which included consumer activism. She pointed me to the Shop Local movement as a consumer activism success story.
Did you know that when you spend $100 at a local business, $68 stays in your community? When you spend $100 at a non-local business (i.e. a national chain), $43 stays in your community.
Use it in a sentence: I’m switching one of my regular expenses to a local small business. That’s repeat 💰into the local economy.