1. Courses. Paying for learning is a straightforward decision, no matter how old we get. Last year, I took my 200-hour yoga teacher training. This year, I'd like to focus on writing. I purchase courses from uDemy.
2. Writing and designing tools. These are essential for creative work. At the moment, I'm using Canva Pro (I've used them since 2018!), Prowriting Aid, and Designrr.
3. E-books. Books are, to me, the best investment.
4. Raw materials for DIY products. These are the ingredients that I usually have in stock: cold-pressed soap, essential oils, virgin coconut oil, candelilla wax, shea butter, cocoa butter.
5. Subscription services. - I pay minimal monthly fees for Medium, Spotify and Patreon. If you're not familiar with Patreon yet, check my article here.
6. Notebooks for Morning Pages and drafts. Because I eat notebook pages and I enjoy writing by hand. I write most of my zero drafts on paper. I also write in my journal daily. My thoughts about Morning Pages are here.
7. Healthy snacks. After re-reading How Not To Die by Dr. Michael Greger in 2020, I added these into my daily diet: nuts, seeds (chia, flax, sunflower, pumpkin), granola mix, oatmeal, soy or oat milk, plant-based protein powder, and Vitamin B12. I eat them as snacks, overnight oats, or morning smoothie.
First time I read How Not To Die didn't change my diet, but the second time did. Read my article on why re-reading matters here.
8. Nature trips. Often, they don't cost that much. But these moments do wonders for my - our - mental and physical well-being. When things get rough, I one thing I need to do is step outside.
9. Yoga classes. If I'm left with one thing to do until I die, it's practicing yoga. I'll be willing to spend a reasonable amount of money on my practice.
Here are some spending tips if you're having trouble seeing where your money goes:
- Use a money tracker that you can look at once or twice a month. No app worked for me so I made my own using Google Sheets.
- When you click 'add to the cart', wait 24 hours before actually buying.
- Zoom in to find out what's important to you. Is it travel? Charity work? Learning? When you know, deciding about money will be a little easier.
- Give to the people who support and are there for you the most.
I recently posted 9 things I'm not planning on buying this year with a note that if my life circumstances change, I'll post an update! I shall do the same for this post.
There you go, my friends.
Our purpose and priorities direct our actions and where our money goes. Here's to spending wisely.
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