low buy year – marginalia and such

video: My Year of Less 💰March 2025 & Q1 Budget Review + Low Buy Rules Update

Join me for a March budget recap… and the time has come for the Q1 low buy update! 💰

Join me for a March budget recap… and the time has come for the Q1 low buy update!

🙌🏻 Wins

March savings $503
Q1 savings $1239

😓 Challenges

too many date nights = fewer meals at home (falling on bad habits)
books are getting expensive, but I suddenly want them all

TLDR: Decent savings overall, but not feeling great about dining out as much in March and I’m rethinking some of my lowbuy rules.

💜

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You can follow my “quiet days” on YouTube or follow for writing updates on Substack.

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Note to longtime readers: In case you missed the last year’s update, I changed my name to Emilia Grace on most of my socials to align with my penname.

video: My Year of Less🍊A Small February Grocery Haul from the Fresh Market

A small, slightly spendy grocery haul from the Fresh Market… #vlog #lowbuyyear

A small, slightly spendy grocery haul from the Fresh Market… filling in the gaps before the big shop and trying to make the most of what’s in my pantry and fridge before spending on more groceries.

video: 2024 no/low buy results

my December budget review and recap of my 2024 low/no buy savings challenge

Join me for a review of my December budget and a recap of my 2024 low/no buy rules and goals. Plus, all the ways I failed at sticking to those rules, and realizing that those categories are not the real problem at all.

December was another $0 savings month, but that was expected.

Summary:

$363 saved in Q4
$2432.67 saved in 2024 overall

My biggest challenge this year was dining out.

My No buy rules for 2024 included:

NO beauty bath hair accessories bags, etc. clothes tea books stationary fragrances excess consumables

Overall, I failed, but my spend in these areas was not as bad as my dining out spend.

video: My No/Low Buy Plan Goals and Intentions for 2024

This year, I’m committing to re-evaluating my relationship with money through a targeted, intentional no/low buy plan. In this video, I share my why, my past failures, current goals, biggest spending triggers, and how I plan to succeed and hold myself accountable through monthly check-ins. A few vulnerable reflections on my background and growing up poor, and how this has led to my current anxieties about money.

Follow along on the channel for more.

quiet day diaries: week of January 24

in which the well runs dry

Monday

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Tuesday

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Wednesday

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Thursday

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Friday

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Saturday – Sunday

I started so many of these in the last two months and failed to post them. In short, I’m burned out. All my creative juices are flowing towards edits, but my general mood is one of exhaustion, particularly at day job. I’m just managing to work on the stuff I need to check off, not much mental space left for distant goals.

I’m not sure how much longer this feeling will last. It started before the pandemic and has gotten worse since.

In an effort to take control of some aspect of my life, I started a No/Low Buy for 2022 and will be documenting it on my channel.