In life there are some things we spend money on that we can't do without and some we can do without.
There are some things you have to reduce, replace or remove completely because our ability to save money totally depends on it.
However how valuable those things are, varies from one person to another either they add to one's life positively or negatively.
When it comes to my purse and how I can save more money either for saving or investing purpose ,it boils down to the value I personally place on each one of them. And I can name more than three things but I'll focus on just three in this post and how I can remove, replace or reduce their impact on my personal purse to help the purse grow or breathe more easily without choking or leaving me broke in the process, which all depends on me and how valuable they are to me(even if they case me or be unable to save my money or my purse).
Power supply
Firstly, as human we can't do without power and I wasn't talking about the one we strife for and kill for. I mean the one that power our devices, tvs, fans, miners and more importantly that lights our bulbs not leaving us to in the darkeness. It can be thought of in terms of energy that powers our artificial world.
In one word as we like to call it "electricity" is valuable to us in our daily lives and in different ways but this comes at a cost and we have to pay for them to have a go at this great innovation to ever exist in human history.
In my area(same as other places in other countries), our power supply is in one word - unreliable. And I'll use that word because I don't want to use something lesser to diminish the governments effort used in providing us one in the first place. Although the pay for what you get term isn't used where I live and we get lesser than we are paying for and its one of those things I do spend money on personally.
We all need power
I sometimes had to go extra miles to charge my devices and gadgets, which I of course, had to pay for, because they using a power generator to get this done, and it requires fuel and other stuff but that's not the point here. just pay and charge
The main point is I don't like the idea of my device going off which of course does, times without number. This enable me to be unable to get some things done. Nevertheless that would be an excuse again or rather me complaining about living in an unpowered area. I can't go somewhere else too even if I want to for obvious reasons - my purse ain't big enough to catapult me into a slightly improved environment with near to steady power supply.
Considering all the facts I'll have to find a compromise that would help impact my purse positively(else I pay to charge or buy fuel to fuel the generator which is more costlier).
If there's no power when I want it, which happen quite often like now when I'm writing this post and my battery percentage is not going to be enouh to write it to the end talkless of editing my errors. And there is no power anywhere around but I still have to pay the cost of doing whats necessary or not.
With that being said, I need a compromise(or a cross) from electrical energy to solar energy which is renewable and comes at a lesser cost as long as the sun shines, which of course is constant, except during winter. And as we know it, everything always comes with their ups and downs(good and bad) except in terms of our power supply here - there are no ups, only downs to downs(bad to worse) - it keeps getting worse on a daily. However as a functioning human I have to take responsibility for every thing, every minute and every penny in my life so I won't blame the governments for their delivery in the nations electrical supply.
On a better note I'm changing to solar energy and there's no going back(if ever there was one, maybe a move to a better place would do, but its just not today so why bother).
Goodbye to placing my power dependencies on the government, its time to take things in my own hands. And in terms of my purse, that will save me a lot of money because after getting a solar once, it comes at no extra cost.
All it needs after that is only the natural transmission of energy from the sun to my solar panels and boom my phone is undead and I can use my device whenever I want without waiting on someone else or pushing the responsibility to the government (most people still do and to me its kind of a sad thing to do).
Data subscription
Also, about my personal device. it needs data subscription and can't do without one, same as the power supply, it needs to recharge its battery before it can function at a basic level. This brings us to the second thing I spend money on peesonally but could have saved money on. And damn, data subscription is a big deal around here but then, everything has its ups and downs(cause and effect).
To access the internet I need the subscription, without it, my phone is undead but not living up to his highest potential.
However what we use(or let's say I use) with the data we(I) buy daily, weekly, monthly can either impact our(my) purses positively, enabling us(me) to save with ease. Or like in most cases use them on unproductive activities without generating any returns and therefore impacts our purse negatively.
In this case there is no cutting off or eliminating as without it I won't be be able to publish this post even if I do write them after i've charged my device. So both kinda go hand in hand with my online and offline activity and there is no cutting out only some replacement, and with my data usage. I need to reduce my activities and social presence on some social media.
Social-media-wise I have realized that most or lets say 90% of my data subscription isnt spent on productive activities on the Internet. But I can't do without the internet so I'll have to reduce or cut down on some of my activities that are not productive.
About 90% of my activities are tied around watching tiktok videos, whatsapp statuses and sometimes on YouTube. Although youtube is personally used for learning and gaining depth knowledge on somethings I value personally so it could be categorized as valuable, just like my activities on hive are because both helps in shaping my perspective and widening my knowledge about a lot of things. Only difference is that youtube dynamics doesn't reward consumer and engagers like me only the creators - so fuck them anyways I hope one day 3speak will replace them(but that going to take a while I might not live to see that day but its kinda cool to imagine the overturn).
So it leaves me with holding on to hive and YouTube (for now) to do as they wish with my data subscription. Back to tiktoks and whatsapp. From my own perspective, both offer little to zero knowledge nor does it shapen my perspective about anything therefore nothing productive about my activity there.
Note that WhatsApp is to some degree a messaging app to connect friends and families and this was how it started out ,until well, they brought the idea of you having to start posting videos about your day and how amazing it is.
Nowadays people don't really text each other anymore but only there to showcase their daily life and to prove to others(on their contact) that their life is perfect and smooth going only to rant about the same life after getting a reality checks. Quite ironic you see, but honestly no pointing fingers here, ive been there, done that, and now, had to scrap that.
It all depends on the relationship and how valuable it is, but i do believe people still text and call each other the proper way to talk about important stuffs not only to make constructive flattery , gossips or biased criticism of they and them.
I could delete the app. And tbh I've done that a hundred times but had to go back sometimes to check on how much people have evolved in their habits and of course its always - same shit different day. so scrap that, goodbye whatsapp(hoping I dont go back there this time).
Weed Out
After all this while its time for something we can finally weed out completely without second thoughts. You must've asked yourself like, so you don't have anything to cut out huh(?), well I do and its more like a weed out and not literally, but "weed" itself. Yes the actual pot if you want to put it that way.
Everyone has traumas and troubles. However I have come to realize that its better to go back to being the same child who was born from the womb with no attachment(oh there's one tying me to my mum - the umbilical cord) but even that was cut off immediately.
Also i didn't hit the blunt after my first cry out which I bet was a cry for help and me saying - oh my god someone should save me or put me back where I was found (wherever that was ) lol.
Anyways that kid need no weed to cope or make him sleep, and yes I have trouble sleeping due to some memories but thats a whole chapter you won't find here for now, maybe later(or not).
However I buy these damn bags of puff- puff- pass and while I won't talk about the other areas, like its causes and effect like we all know it. Saving-wise it kinda shrinks my purse and I can hit the blunt store with my last penny without thinking - no fucks given.
So now i had to find a way to save my pennies or give a fuck about other stuffs thats could be more beneficial like mark would say - we all need to give a fuck about something and in my own case I'd rather give a fuck about reading more now than rolling(sometimes I do both - roll first then read after). However I realized that the joy of reading isnt as high as my high and I can do without rolling the blunt, but reading - I can't so I'll trade a blunt for the shinning at the book store this week.
The reading I'm talking about in this regard, is one that is not for any cause(though it sometimes is for self improvement) but one that I can relax my back with, on a Sunday morning and enjoy every single word(instead of enjoying every single puff) as they take me from one world, scene and character to another(weed does that too lol). It can be entertaining too, but its purely meant to focus my mind in one place and forget about my painful memories at least until I hit the last page on the book or the last blunt.
I have to choose between spending my pennies in a blunt store or bookstore. And saving-wise, a book is way cheaper and far beneficial
it's going to be a total cut out for weed and don't think this is the first time or the second, in fact I've stopped counting and stopped telling anyone if I've quit or not. I didn't even tell myself ive quit yet(which I have, some months ago). What I do now is wake up and when the urge comes - I'll say(to myself) "hey for today no weed but tomorrow don't worry I'll buy you all the weed you want and we'll smoke the universe like its ours", then off to take a shower and meditate on some koans(downloaded from YouTube) after shower.
At this moment I can proudly I'll tell you that the blunt store wont be having a penny from my purse anymore( they haven't for months now).
So to put all these dangling after the carrot to rest, these are three areas of my life that is to be reduced, replace and removed.