I spent WHAT on WHAT?!

I’m off this week but I’ve been doing some budgeting.

While aimlessly scrolling the internet, I found myself back onto No Buy TikTok.

No Buy TikTok is where people share things they’re not going to buy for the next month, or sometimes, year. People make lists on their notes app and then they explain all their rules to us. It’s really popular at the end of the year when everyone’s outta money and then has to pay taxes or credit card bills 🙃 

When I first discovered No Buy TikTok last year, I was very into it—*picture me glued to the screen ready to save all this cash moneyyyyyy*—until I realized I don’t spend money on nearly anything these people are buying.

So many of the categories on the “no buy lists” are things like clothes, jewelry, video games, makeup, concerts, home decor or gym gear.

I rarely buy any of that.

I spent $381 total on Amazon for all of 2024.

AND YET.

I look at my credit card bills and think…Who spent this money? Where did it all go???

Because if you know me, you know:

• I wear the same pair of shoes every day unless someone’s getting married

• I drive a 10+ year old paid off regular ass car

• I rent a room in a house and pay $800 a month

I live a pretty austere life. I’m a newsletter dirtbag after all.

But it sort of doesn’t matter anymore how frugal you are (not that I would describe myself that way). Life in the United States is getting more expensive every year. Leaving is getting more expensive too.

I spent most of my adult life in California, so for many years, I aimed to make as much money as possible, and then, once I started my own company, I just wanted to replace my tech salary which at the time I quit was around $160k in cash compensation.

That was exhausting. And it meant I had to take a lot of work I didn’t really want to do.

Moving back to Atlanta cut my expenses in half. It gave me more time back too.

I felt a weight lift off me for the first time ever. Was this financial freedom?

That feeling did not last long because I’ve readjusted my earning targets to match it so I make less money now.

(No one is more disappointed by this than Dave, my LA-based accountant who’s been with me 15+ years now, and who last year remarked how most business owners aim to make more money as time goes on, not less…)

DAVE YOU DON’T GET IT GEORGIA IS CHEAP.

But not that cheap actually. I wanted to go to the aquarium yesterday and it was $65!

Forget it. I’ll just YouTube some penguins lol.

Here’s the starting monthly personal budget I came up with for 2025:

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