I just posted in the May Gratitude thread about completing one year without working for The Man -- and not regretting that I left.
I figured that moving on from being a corporate working stiff would be a transition -- and it was. I spent the first three months in my new status doing almost nothing, just letting myself get used to not running at 100-mph (160-kmh). Finances were an adjustment as irregular paychecks and refunds came in and new bills (COBRA'd insurance, etc.) appeared. We became aware of just where our money was disappearing as I managed to track our expenses for an entire year (about 10-11 months longer than we'd ever managed the task before). Some money went into savings; other money came out to cover big expenses like property taxes.
But in this "new" year -- presumably a more stable one -- I want to figure out how much farther we can go. DW finally caught the fever of simplicity (though not as fervently as me). I am reminded that, even after a year, there still are projects I haven't tended to and way too much stuff around for my liking.
So my challenge to myself for the coming 12 months is two-fold:
- One, nothing major comes into the house without something else going out. We've pretty much stopped accumulating; now I want to work on minimizing. Items "exchanged" don't have to be equivalent (for instance, a new album forces an unlistened album out the door). But something has to leave. Maybe it's that garden utensil we've never actually used. Or that gizmo I keep meaning to list on craigslist and never do. Or maybe admit to myself that something that fills the need 80+ percent of the time is good enough to not justify keeping the specialty items around.
- Two, I want to re-examine our spending. DW has been getting a little burned out at work, and it seems there are few jobs out there which will pay her what she's making now. We can't accommodate less income on her part without either ramping up mine (a possibility, certainly) or (better, in my mind, because it works for both of us) cutting expenses further. Can better planning result in buying fewer things at the fancy supermarkets, saving $$? DW's mobile-phone contract is done in August. Is that the time to let DD keep the old Family Plan and get our own? Go prepaid? Go with an MVNO? Time to get past the low-hanging fruit.
I realize none of this is new New NEW to folks here. I'm just hopeful that, by stating it publicly, I add some accountability so we can push on when it's easier to just add Item A to the house without getting rid of Item B right away.
I haven't decided if it's best to use the blog format that Kelli and some others have been using for their longer-term projects. Maybe I would do it weekly to keep it from being an onerous extra responsibility for me and to avoid putting people here to sleep. Gotta think about that. But the intentions are now words. Time to get moving!
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. Or maybe put things in it destined for craigslist. Not everything we put on craigslist sells, and we're not the type to list the same item every three days forever; we'll donate most items after cl's 45-day expiration. A key to success here is keeping the box handy. If it's in the garage or the basement, items don't get there very quickly....
There's still a little pricing work to do, too, though I may have to find that level by seeing which jobs I get and which I don't and it's far more critical for the residential photography than the fine-art photography.
