Confession: I haven't written a budget in 2 years
Plus some of my numbers, and a list of everything I bought in 2023—just for fun 💸
I hope you’re enjoying The Mindful Consumer. This is a newsletter about paying attention to what you are paying attention to—and how it impacts your mindset, your mental health, and your money.
TMC is 1/3 of my job—and I treat it as such. I’m always trying to be a mindful creator, and put a lot of time and thought into everything I share with you. And I could not do this work without the financial support of this community.
By supporting this project, you’ll get access to everything I write, including my monthly newsletter filled with curated links/resources. Also, my gratitude for helping me continue writing for a living. Thank you, friend. ❤️
Hi friend,
It’s been a magical week up here in the North of England. It started when I got my first Christmas tree since moving to the UK—from a castle (pics below)! The small town I live in came alive with lights and decorations, which I’ve actually ventured out on some nighttime walks to see (something I don’t normally do in the darker months). I went to a Christmas market with friends at the same castle. (Are you writing the script for my Lifetime Christmas movie yet,
?) And, it snowed. Not once, not twice, but many times over a few days. The rain has since come and taken it all away, but I loved briefly living in our little winter wonderland. (It even inspired me to draw some new icons to use in my posts this season!)This is my second holiday season in the UK, but the first where I’ve felt as though I’m at home. Everything about the holidays was different last year: it was the first time I’d ever spent it without my family, the first time I’d stayed with friends on Christmas Eve, the first time I’d celebrated with Tall Man on Christmas Day. I felt welcomed and wanted everywhere, but it also felt clunky and a bit sad. That doesn’t feel true this year. I really settled into my life here in 2023. My house, my town, my work, my routines, my relationships. There will still be some firsts this season, but mostly because I’m settling in even deeper; wanting to see and do more of what’s available here with my friends and chosen family.
If you’ve read my work for a while, you know I am someone who naturally does a lot of introspection and reflection. It’s easy for me to think back and remember who/where/how I was 6 months ago, a year ago, 5 years, a decade, etc., and compare it to where I am today. I did it in the example above of holidays spent as a new UK resident. In daily life, I’ve been thinking a lot about who/where/how I was when I used to write about money.
I’ve recently received a few comments and emails from newer readers saying they didn’t realize I was the author of THE YEAR OF LESS. *waves hello, it’s me!* Before that, I also wrote a personal finance blog for 8 years, worked as the managing editor of a financial startup, helped run a curation website that became a hub for the PF community, and also freelanced for both Canadian and American companies in the PF space. But my blog is where I originally documented the experiment that ultimately turned into TYOL.
Some of you know I have a somewhat-complicated relationship with that book. It’s been nearly a decade since I completed the experiment outlined in its pages, and a lot has changed since then. I have changed, and my relationship with money has definitely changed. I largely have the same spending habits I adopted during that year, but I manage my money a bit differently these days. Starting with the fact that I don’t budget anymore.
To be more specific, I haven’t written a budget since I moved to the UK. That’s been an intentional decision. Well, not at first. At first, I started a basic spreadsheet and used it to track my spending for the first 3-4 months I was here. But it started to feel messy, as I was still trying to navigate managing my finances between the two countries. Then I moved out of one Airbnb into another, then finally got into my own house (that I rent), and the costs were different in every place. Then I had to furnish this house from scratch and buy a car (used from a friend) and so on. 2022 was easily the most expensive year of my life, and certainly did not provide an accurate representation of what living in the UK would cost me going forward. Fortunately and gratefully, I was in a position where I could pay for everything with cash (meaning: debit, no credit). Instead of budgeting, I just did that and used my bank’s app to check-in with my money regularly.
Going into 2023, though, I intentionally decided to not budget again. Meaning, I wouldn’t create a spreadsheet with targets for how much to spend in all categories every month, which is something I did for a decade to make sure I was “on track.” I knew what a few of my annual numbers might be, but not most of them. So instead of budgeting the way I used to, I gave myself a year to figure out how much things cost in the UK, and how much it costs me to live here. I also needed to understand what my income would be in £GBP, which is the key component of any budget—knowing how much money you have to work with. You can’t write an accurate budget without this information. So, I just continued to live off cash (my debit card) this year and followed the numbers in my bank’s app. Now that we’re nearing the end of a full calendar year, I finally have all the information I need.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been playing around in the app, making sure I was happy with how everything had been categorized, and re-categorizing any transactions as I see fit.
Here’s what I have learned about my personal cost of living in the UK…
(Side note: I haven’t shared numbers of any kind in a long time, and have to admit: this was really fun to write out!)