For those of you who are new to my blog, you might not know that I am on a serious mission to repay my debt. I stopped shopping, am using up my sh$t, bring my lunch to work, make my coffee at work, and am picking up extra work. Basically, I’m serious as a heart attack when I talk about wanting to take care of my debt!
The other day I was working on one of my new side hustles: cleaning houses. I was tasked with cleaning one of the bathrooms in the house. Did I mention that it was a house rented by college aged guys for the past year? The first hour of cleaning the bathroom went pretty well. The second hour was a little rough because I spent the entire hour cleaning the SUPER POO that was underneath the toilet’s rim. As I scrubbed over and over again a couple of things went through my mind.
Thoughts going through Michelle’s Mind:
- WTF!!?? Who doesn’t clean a toilet for a year! What they hell were they eating? This is so gross… I think I’m going to be sick. This might be worse than when I cleaned toilets at Starbucks. Eww, I just threw up in my mouth.
- I shouldn’t have gone hiking during lunch! I was so physically tired by the end of that night that I told my cleaning boss that I could only clean on weekends. I hike a lot during lunch because I work near the Foothills…I know, life is hard. That day I did a phenomenal hike but that was too much physical activity for a day that I was going to spend cleaning.
- Cleaning is HARD work-I am no stranger to working hard, maybe it was the heat but I felt pretty freakin’ humbled that day.
- I’m over being in DEBT! You know I’m over being in debt when I clean SUPER POO for an hour. I am willing to do anything, anything-LEGAL to pay down this crap (pun intended) as quickly as possible.
So, why would I then turn around and spend almost $200 dollars on frivolous items for my home? There are several reasons, but the one that I will talk about here is that I am unwilling to do all or nothing on my road to debt freedom. I am willing to do a lot of things to take care of my obligations, but I refuse to stop living my life and doing things that will keep me comfortable, happy, and sane.
My Frivolous spending includes:
- Fresh Flowers-I buy fresh flowers every other week for my home. I usually buy 1 or 2 bunches. My place is 495 square feet so those flowers really beautify the home. I don’t like fake flowers and totally get that the flowers will die, but, my home is my sanctuary and I love how the flowers add a cozy feel to my place
- Perrier-I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Perrier and really hope to one day have Perrier sponsor an ad on my blog. Perrier is my equivalent of a glass of wine or a beer.
- Coffee with my mom or friends-I really enjoy going out for a lovely cup of coffee and having a conversation with family and friends. We linger over coffee, talk about life, love, money, you get the picture.
- Happy Hour-I don’t go that often but when I do I really enjoy it. Last week I went to a going away happy hour for a friend/colleague who is moving back East. I only spent $10 dollars. It was totally worth it!
- Trips-I will still be traveling during debt repayment. I am going to NYC with my mom for Labor Day Weekend. We are staying at the The Jane Hotel. I’ve stayed there before and the rooms are modeled after rooms in a ship. When I say that the rooms are small, I’m talking SMALL. We will be in the bunk cabin-50 sqf. It has air conditioning and a flat screen t.v. I’m only paying $270 for the hotel. It has a fantastic French style restaurant and bikes for rent. It’s located in the West Village next to Soho and Chelsea. We will also be going to the U.S. Tennis Open where I will watch my loves…Rafa and Dustin Brown.
- Whole Foods-I grocery shop at Whole Foods. I don’t buy all of my groceries there, I do buy a number of items there and I don’t plan on changing that anytime soon. I buy the following items there: meat, fish, chicken, coffee, coconut milk yogurt, eggs, Justin’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cups, bulk items (couscous, brown rice, quinoa) you get the picture. I value my health and won’t compromise quality for debt repayment.
This in the end may be a just another YOLO post. Or, maybe it’s a post about being honest about the fact that if I don’t spend from time to time that I will fall of the frugal wagon and have the spending spree of all spending sprees. How do I know this? Because it has happened before! I should mention that all items that I purchase are now being purchased with cash and I may even apply some of my side hustle money towards my frivolous spending.
Why was I picking up home decor? Because my home is super cute, but my bedroom was a hot mess! I don’t mean messy. It just wasn’t well put together and as welcoming and comfortable as a bedroom should be. How do I know this? Well, when my mom visits she makes comments about how nice my home is and what’s going on with the bedroom? Then, a guy that I was seeing last year also made some comments about the bedroom. Blush. Well, heck, I was tired after I moved into my place. Mentally. I had a lot of stuff going on when I bought my place and I just ran out of steam when it came to working on my bedroom. Also, I painted the room badly TWICE! so, the third time that I painted it (the same month) I was too tired to do much of anything else. I also need to look into buying a new bed. Coaster Furniture has some awesome beds to choose from.
Finally, I am feeling energized and am super excited about working on my bedroom.Today I purchased some bedding, a throw, some decorative lamps, some art, a wallet, picture frames, and a magazine holder. I am so happy with how the room looks so far! Some items were for the living room btw. I moved the furniture around and I am getting rid of a narrow dresser that I have. I have been actively pairing down my possessions so I will be working through my clothes-again so that I can give some more stuff away.
Where do you draw the line in the sand regarding frivolous spending during debt repayment? What can’t you give up? What have you given up during debt repayment? Do you feel guilty when you spend instead of using that money to repay your debts?
My flowers…there are two other vases that aren’t shown 🙂
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That was kind of a gross post if i’m going to be honest. Hopefully you can start to get ahead on your finances so you don’t have to deal with super poos any longer.
It was very gross Glen! The road to being debt free isn’t always pretty LOL!!
Oh man, you have a way stronger stomach than I could ever have, I would have been gagging all over the place. Great job on doing what it takes to get debt-free! I also agree about still enjoying things in life, especially when it comes to spending time with loved ones or saving your sanity. The flowers are beautiful!!
LOL! The other girl who cleaned the upstairs apartment was gagging!I love the changes in my place and I don’t regret spending the money. It looks great! So I feel a lot better about my place.
I agree that you have to spend some money during debt repayment or you will burnout. I also like to decorating and sprucing up rooms. If you feel good in your home you are going to be more productive so why not fix it up?
I cannot tell you how good my room looks and I haven’t even painted the walls yet! I am really happy with what I bought and I don’t regret spending the money!
Yeah, that was pretty gross. You are DEDICATED! I did not do any super poo scrubbing when I was in debt, that’s for sure.
I pretty much guilted myself over every penny that went to anything but debt during the 2.5 years that I paid off my credit cards and student loans. Toward the end of my debt repayment – after a little over 2 years of making myself feel horrible for spending money on anything non-debt-related – I loosened up enough to go on a road trip with my husband for our anniversary and another with my best friend about 6 months before I got out of debt.
So it took me a while, but I realize now that experiences matter more to me than money goals. Now that I’m out of debt, I’m looking forward to traveling as much as possible. Other than that, I also love to go out to a local restaurant with friends to catch up every now and again.
I’m not f-ing around with this debt repayment. I’ve messed around with this debt crap long enough. I have other things that I want to spend my money on: my future wedding (fiancé yet to be found), future kids, future life in Colombia. Ok, it’s all in the future and I’m preparing for it now. If I have to clean freaking super poo-then so be it. I’m so done. I am soooo happy with the way my bedroom looks. I can’t even believe what a huge difference the small things I’ve done to the room have made to the “feel” of the room. It’s so cute and cozy now!!
I cleaned someone’s house once and I had to deal with his dirty skivvies! Never again. I am willing to do almost anything as well, but that was too much. I am not willing to give up happy hours with friends and some travel. Of course, I can’t travel as much as I want, but it’s always in the back of my mind.
Ewww!!Last week was pretty rough! But, I’m really proud of myself for doing what I’ve got to do. I won’t lie…I might not do it again! I really, really want to live abroad for 2 years. That’s about 3 years out and a lot can happen in that time but hopefully my husband (haven’t met him yet-he’s out there) will be up for it!!
When I was in HS I had a side gig cleaning vacation homes. Some of the shit I cleaned was straight up disgusting. Think-used condoms in bed sheets that you didn’t know where there until you actually touched one. Good for you for doing what it takes to kill that debt!
For the love of all that is holy!NASTY! I would love to hear about how you ended up with that side gig? I am addicted to the high of paying off the debt. It’s so exciting and I feel so empowered. I’m thinking that the next card will be paid off at the beginning of October. I can’t wait.
I feel your pain. I can clean someone else’s place and do with my friend Dave, but when it comes to cleaning the toilet (or an extremely gross kitchen) my gag reflex kicks in. I’m super squeamish about that stuff. It think when it comes to spending “frivolous” stuff when you are either in debt repayment or make a lower income in a high rent area like me, you really have to ask yourself if that purchase is really worth it. If it’s really, really worth it, and you really though things through, then my all means. For me right now that involves travel. I know next year I won’t have as much saved up for a new (used) car as I like, and I won’t have 15k in my e-fund like I’d like, but I’ve waited a LONG time to travel internationally, and I don’t want life to pass me by just so I can say I saved a buck or two. So it’s just thinking about things long and hard. What do you value most?
BTW, I love fresh flowers too, but I recently started cutting some flowers from our landscaped triplex to save a few bucks. LOL! shhhhh!
The house wasn’t so bad, but that toilet was disgusting!!! I am starting to really get serious about taking care of all of this crap as I am beginning to seriously think about quitting my job next year and going to Colombia for a year. I’m frustrated because I don’t feel like anything is changing in my life and that I’m still stuck. I plan on working my a@@ off this year so that I can explore some options. I am 100% in agreement that it’s time for you to go overseas! Visiting or living in another country is so challenging but so rewarding on so many levels (except when you get sick-then, it sucks!) The flowers look so nice in my tiny place. I just love them! No judgement on the flower redistribution that you’re doing.
Hope you overcome repaying your debts. Keep it up!
Dealing with super poo is pretty rough. Once I pay off the debt I will probably be slightly paranoid about getting in debt again because I don’t want to clean up after other people because I have to. But, because I want to…as a business!
I hope you can clear your debt really soon. You have a very well laid plan here.
I hope so too. I don’t want to keep on cleaning super poo.
Hi Michelle! This is my first time to your blog and I loved this post. The story about the Super Poo really made me laugh! I’m on a mission to repay debt too but I haven’t had to deal with any Super Poo yet. I’m glad that you haven’t cut everything out in terms of spending, we have to have some comforts still. Mine is wine I’m afraid! At the end of a hard day, I do like to have a glass of wine. But I tend not to go out much these days. I don’t buy any new clothes anymore – anything I do buy is from a charity shop or Ebay! 🙂
Welcome to my blog! I’m glad that you liked the post 🙂 I am cleaning again this week, so keep your fingers crossed that I don’t have to deal with that crap again! I love a glass of wine after a long day. I haven’t had one in so long, I need to buy a bottle. They closed Cost Plus World Market in Denver this year so I stopped buying wine. I can’t cut everything out or I’ll have a break down and spend like a crazy.