• Adulting - Affirmations - budgeting - Frugality - Thoughts on Life

    I Gave Up Retail Therapy—And Gained Something Better

    May 27, 2025 - By 

    For years, I thought buying things was the same as self-care. A new bag after a hard week. Designer shoes because “I deserved them.” But beneath the glossy shopping bags and momentary highs, there was something else: stress. Credit card guilt. A creeping sense that I was working just to keep up with people whose lives weren’t even mine to live. Then one day, while standing in front of a mirror holding yet another “must-have” handbag, I asked myself: Who am I trying to impress? That single question unraveled a lot. What I learned was simple but not easy: being…

  • budgeting - Frugality - Thoughts on Life

    The True Cost of $20 Shirt: Spending with Your Life, Not Just Your Wallet

    May 23, 2025 - By 

    Money comes and goes. That’s what it does best. But time? Time only goes. It doesn’t loop back. It doesn’t restock. When you lose time, it’s gone. We often talk about prices as if they’re just numbers—$20 for a shirt, $4.99 for a latte, $250 for a new phone. But what if we asked a better question: how many hours of my life did this cost me? Let’s say you earn $25 an hour. That shirt didn’t just cost you $20. It cost you nearly an hour of your life. Not your money—your energy, your presence, your stress, your one…